Disclaimer: Everything you recognize from JK Rowling's books, belongs to her. Not trying to get money out of this, just having a little fun. Enjoy!

Day Seven: She Stayed

Although he knew Nicole was okay the last time he saw her, the knowledge that she may not be okay the next morning was agonizing to Draco. It was quite hard to believe after knowing the woman for less then a week, he already felt more responsible for her well being then his own. Draco didn't know if it was the spell on the manor that caused him to feel this way, but comfort washed over him when he had some one to worry about.

Apparently Pansy no longer possessed that "damsel in distress" feature that Draco desired.

On his seventh morning in the putrid cell, the dread baring down on him about Nicole felt much heavier then normal. He knew that when he opened his eyes, he would be all alone in the cell with nothing more than the January sun shining down on him and the few remains of yesterday's meal he had thrown at the wall in rage. The former nor the latter seems to appeal to Draco. In the midst of contemplating whether he should even open his eyes, he heard a soft but impatient sound from his left.

In Draco's experience, hearing a sound in complete silence makes the noise seem guilty of something. Although, how a simple noise could cause mayhem never made much sense to Draco. But simply hearing the noise in the first place threw him too off track to logically figure out what trouble the sound originally caused

Finally, he opened his eyes. Figuring the person watching him had the patience to wait as long as they did, a few extra seconds wouldn't hurt. Draco hesitantly sat up, turning himself even more slowly then he normally would.

"You're determined to annoy me to pieces, aren't you?" an amused voice drifted towards Draco, causes him to sharply look up.

This time the unexpected noise made the dread in Draco's stomach settle slightly. Knowing Nicole was safe for the time being, he edged his way over to the bars, where she had placed the platter once again through the bars.

"I like to think it's a trait to be proud of" Draco said with a grin plastered on his face. Now that food was available, his brain seemed to ignoring anything but the tray heaping with it.

But Draco, being the outstanding Auror he was, couldn't help but notice Nicole's lack in conversation. Although she rarely talked while Draco wolfed down the food she provided, she was sitting too stiffly for Draco to ignore.

Reluctantly setting the half eaten sandwich down, Draco pushed the platter away and got as close to the bars as he could. His pale hands were wrapped around two of them.

Draco leaned forward to look down the hall then whispered urgently, "If there was anything wrong, you'd tell me right?"

Nicole sighed, pulling her knees to her chest, "Yeah, of course"

Draco relaxed slightly, but once again his instinct didn't easily believe Nicole. Gripping the bars tighter, he murmured once more, "Is there anything wrong right now?"

Nicole was silent but once she looked up at him, tears were evident in those eyes. Whatever had happened or would happened was something Draco was sure he didn't want to know. But wanting and needing something were two different things in Draco's life.

"You can tell me..." Draco whispered, leaning forward once more.

It seemed no matter what Draco tried, Nicole wasn't going to budge. Most people would have given up in Draco situation, but giving up wasn't the Malfoy Way. So Draco reach an arm through the bars and took on of her hands gently.

Nicole sighed, biting her lip, "If I tell you, you won't tell anyone else,"

Draco smiled softly, nodding reluctantly, "I won't tell a soul, I swear on my life."

Pausing once more, Nicole stared down at Draco's hand. As his stomach growled furiously, Draco felt Nicole squeeze his hand then pull away. She interlocked her fingers and set them in her lap as she turned to Draco.

Finally looking up, she looked more determined then ever, "You've got to get out of here"

Draco arched an eyebrow, as if to ask if that was it. When Nicole didn't say anything, he sighed in relief, "I know. We both do."

Nicole shook her head, setting her jaw tight, "No Draco, I meant out now. You don't have enough time to waste saving me" her face softened a bit, "They're not going to keep you here for much longer. They can't keep you like they did me"

Draco blinked hard, looking at the floor, "You have to come," his eyes shot up at her, "You have to, Nicole"

"I have nothing to go back to, Draco. You have a life to live," Nicole sighed, "When I came here, my sister and my parents...they hated me for it. It's not like I came on purpose, but they'd never believe it. This is all I have" Her eyes were glassy again and she had a shaky voice as she leaned forward and added, "I can get you out"

The entire time Nicole had been with him that morning, Draco hadn't taken a bite of anything. At the time he was too wrapped up in plan, he had completely forgotten about the original reason she was there. Great he thought, Another night with nothing to eat

But the part in his mind that hadn't accepted leaving Nicole tonight came forward, But another breakfast with Pansy.

Draco closed his eyes, quite tempted to actually hurt himself so badly against the stone wall that Nicole couldn't even drag him out. But no, he couldn't do that. For the pain would be extremely overwhelming not to mention the fact that Nicole would have to see him in pain. If Draco couldn't stand her in pain, how could she stand it for him?

"Hey" a voice hissed into Draco's musing. His eyes snapped open and he felt a frown come on his face. Normally he'd smile when seeing Nicole but no one could blame him for not doing so this time.

Nicole fiddled with her pockets for a second, trying to maneuver a wand that looked nothing like her's out of her sleeve. After doing so, she got to lock on the cell open. By Nicole pace as well as expression, she couldn't stand doing this either. Nicole swung back the door and gave Draco and expectant look.

"Come with me" he said, knowing what her answer would be.

Nicole simply shook her head and whispered, "Don't"

Malfoy sighed roughly and stood up, "That's not going to work," he added as he followed her quietly out of the cell and down a pitch black corridor. The only light came from a small pinpoint of light from the wand.

Nicole snorted softly, "Yeah right. You just feel like an midnight snack, then?" A silent but austere scowl was sent her way.

Eventually they too came to a rotunda that had many doors in all directions of the room. In the middle of the room was a desk with a chair hugging the cubby made for it. On the opposite side of the desk were two comfortable looking chairs with an extremely unpleasant looking red stain streaking the back of one.

Flinching softly, Draco quickly followed Nicole to a door to the left of the front. She took out the wand once more and pressed it into a gel panel next to it. The wand disappeared for a second then a deep male voice echoed in the room.

"Flint, Marcus J., Holly and Yew, Dragon Heartstring, 14 3/4 inches. Access Granted,"

Draco smirked, "You stole Flint's wand too? Merlin, I love you,"

Nicole's head whipped around and a mixture of fear and question filled her eyes.

"Uh...I mean...a platonic love. Yeah...platonic," Draco quickly added once seeing Nicole's face. But truly, he didn't really believe himself. Maybe he did love her.

"Good," she whispered, voice wavering, picking up the wand that had fallen out of the gel scanner and then pushed open the door. Draco gasped at what he saw.

With windows similar to those in a muggle basement, on the walls were painted pictures of past Marseille's showing not only their bloodline but also their achievements around them, good or bad. Stepping in, the effect of each painting was quite similar to that of the Mona Lisa, residing in muggle Paris. Gage himself stood beside a woman who Draco only could guess to be Nora. Behind them was a green glowing light which Draco was sure was painted to represent the curse on the manor.

Nicole was smiling, "This is only few rooms none of the death eaters actually go in. It used to have mounds of jewels and gold...but they emptied it out. There isn't a purpose to come in here for them, " she faded out and looked over at him, "It's an easy place to hide from everything, " Although Draco heard her, a part of him felt as though he was missing something she was trying to tell him.

Draco smiled nonetheless. Although they both knew the smile was fake, they pretended it was another morning. That Nicole was just leaving with the empty platter. But this time, she wouldn't be back in the morning.

"So, " he said, turning towards her awkwardly, "I'll see you later?" he added hopefulness to his voice, giving it one last shot.

Nicole shook her head, "No. See you later means tomorrow or the next day. Goodbye means forever," she sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Go home, put some death eaters in Azkaban, try to stop You-Know-Who and maybe have one or two little Malfoys. Don't worry about me,"

Draco watched Nicole take out the wand and wave one of the few windows open. She then interlocked her fingers and nodded at him roughly. Draco sighed and gingerly placed his foot on her hand. Surprising him, she lifted him up and out of the window with much ease.

"Nic-" Draco started to say, just she quickly closed the window. Once he heard the a door faintly shut, his body slumped.

The pit of his stomach told him things wouldn't get any better.

Things became worse.

After hours of wondering, somehow Draco ended up in his drive. As he looked from the house to his ring, he wondered if what he was doing was right.

It's an easy place to hide from everything he thought to himself.

After his arrived to the house, it was not what Draco expected. The only thing he had anticipated was Pansy there, worried about him. But when he walked in almost every auror he had ever worked with showed up to comfort Pansy and promise to find Draco. Once Draco showed up, there was much fuss made and it was till long that he was able to tell his story. Leaving out small details such as the green light and the way he saw it for Nicole, Draco could see the relief never leaving Pansy's face.

She really does love me then, Draco thought to himself as he went on.

Everyone in the room awed and flinched at the right times, it seemed to Draco that their reactions were planned. In fact, he felt so numb since he left the Marseille Manor, that he could probably brake any bone in his body and never feel a thing.

Finishing the story made it all true to Draco. He had told himself it would be hard to tell it, but the fact that it came so easily deeply disturbed Draco.

"Where is she then? Outside?" Pansy asked, genuinely interested.

"She's stayed,"

Those two words echoed in Draco's head.

She stayed.

Note Thank you for reading, and thank you to Serena giving me an idea how to finish this and making sure I knew where the Mona Lisa was really located. Review if you have something to say and look out for the last few chapters. We're getting close to finish.

-Jackie