Author's Note: Here is chapter nine like I promised. Yay! I got 8 reviewers! –dances-
slytherinsess: What's wrong? Are you mad about my story, or what?
Wrinkles the Troll: Awh, don't be that way. I just made Blaise the new Dark Lord because I had nothing else to fill up all these empty gaps.
Hermione Charlotte Granger: I feel the same way about Blaise, but there's always got to be a bad guy, right? I might kill him, might not. If I kill him, there might not be a sequel, which I plan on making when I finish this.
Pranks Are So Siriusly Padfoot: Are you calling me dumb? e-e
DudettRin101, mysteriouscharm, anna, and Ciara: Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews!
Chapter Nine: Crucio!
Blaise chuckled as he dragged her back through the door. Instead of entering the throne room, they entered a room exactly the same as Hermione's. Draco stood in the center, his legs chained to the ground. His eyes were sad and when she came in, his head snapped up. A flash of regret went through his eyes. "Draco!" Hermione wriggled out of Blaise's grasp and rushed to the blonde's side. She thrust her arms around him and buried her face in his comforting chest. "Hermione, I'm sorry." He whispered so that only she could hear. "I really do l-lo— I didn't mean for this to happen. Hagrid. Hagrid told me the Death Eaters were there, but I got lost on my way back." He look ashamed. Nevertheless, he closed his eyes kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Before Hermione could react, a Death Eater forced her away from him. "Get away!" She complained and struggled to get away. Her actions resulted in a tighter grip on her. He forced her to the wall and chained her wrists and ankles to it. "Ready to get on with it?" Blaise whispered in her ear. Chills ran down her spine and Hermione shook her head. "Too bad." He moved toward Draco, smirking. "I've been waiting for years to see you like this." Blaise remarked, twirling his wand in his fingers as he circled the helpless Malfoy. "I've always hated you… You always came out on top before me. But now, it's my turn to have some fun." He pointed his wand directly at Draco's chest. "Cruc—"
"Wait! Stop!" Hermione cried desperately, tears falling freely down her face. All eyes darted in her direction. "P-please…" She begged. "Please don't hurt him. I'll do anything! Please, I'll do whatever you say!" Blaise gazed at her for a moment, considering this. He lowered his wand just a little bit. "Whatever I say…" A smirk crept onto his face. Glancing at Draco, and then back to the sobbing brunette, he nodded. "Alright. But only if you agree," He paused, smirking even more. "To marry me."
She took a sharp breath and gaped at the sinister man. "Well, if you don't want to…" He started to turn back to Draco. "Let's just continue on with it." Hermione bit her lip. He raised his wand again and opened his mouth to speak. "Stop!" A voice yelped. This time, it was not Hermione. A Death Eater stumbled forward from the crowd, towards Draco and Blaise. "Please, Lord." The Death Eater was no doubt female. "Please, don't." She took of her hood as she kneeled to the floor. It was Pansy. "We can find some other use for him. But not this."
Blaise eyed her suspiciously and nodded slowly. "Fine. I won't kill him. You have until nightfall to find a better use for him. But for now, crucio!" He abruptly pointed his wand at Draco. Draco instantly doubled over. He didn't make a single sound. Hermione gasped and watched helplessly from the sidelines as he fell to his hands and knees. Pansy had stood and backed into the wall to watch again. She could not be identified any longer because she had raised her hood again.
This feeling for Draco was horrific. It felt as if his insides were burning and all the blades in the world were piercing his skin. Although he had felt this many times before, he had never gotten used to the feeing of pure torture. His eyes shut tightly as if it would help make the pain ease. He opened his eyes a little to see Hermione staring at him in terror. Draco heard nothing. He saw nothing… Except Hermione.
"I guess that should be enough." Satisfied, the dark-haired Lord pocketed his wand. "Take him away." He demanded with a wave of his hand. Lucius Malfoy stepped forward to take his son's arm. He immediately began quietly lecturing him about how he was ashamed to have a traitor as a son.
Draco wasn't listening. He knew that this may be the last time he could ever see Hermione again. Wrenching his arm away from his father, he ran to Hermione and cupped her face. "I love you, Hermione." He mumbled and kissed her deeply. Before they could get too into it, Draco was hauled away from her. "I love you, Hermione!" He yelled for all to hear. "Crucio!" Blaise angrily watched as Draco shrunk down. He kicked the blonde in the stomach. The same pain rushed through Draco and he grunted softly.
Hermione weeped loudly as he was being tormented. She continued crying even when Blaise had released the spell. Lucius grabbed his son's arm and flung him up. "You are a disgrace!" The older Malfoy shouted in the younger's face. "You are a disgrace to the Malfoy name!" He slapped his son and then dragged him out of the room.
The room was silent after this. Almost everyone was looking after the Malfoys. The Death Eaters soon started filing out quietly, muttering conversations to one another. Before long, even Blaise had left. They had all forgotten about poor Hermione. Not that she cared. She was too busy crying over Draco. "Miss Granger?" Someone whispered to her. Apparently, only one Death Eater had stayed. It was a middle-aged woman with fair hair. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks were damp. She seemed to have been crying as well.
"Mrs. Malfoy?" Hermione sniffed and managed to stop the tears. "Yes. I am just as heartbroken as you are…" She paused to dab her eyes with a white cloth. "Draco was and is now my only child. I know that you two really care for each other and you're the only one that can help him. "I am more than willing to trade my life for yours if you promise to keep him safe." She swiftly unlocked Hermione's hands and feet from the wall.
Rubbing her wrists, Hermione heaved a sigh. She wanted keep Draco alive and well as much as his mother did. "How can I help?" Narcissa smiled weakly. "I am sure that there are some prepared polyjuice potions in the Dark Lord's potion cabinets. Severus makes them himself. All we need to do is take some, which I will do." Hermione nodded and was silent the whole time. "We will switch off and be each other until you two are far enough from here." Draco's mother sniffled quietly.
"Alright. I'll do this, but how do I know this isn't a trick?" Asked Hermione. Narcissa laughed softly, her eyes containing a hint of insanity. It was almost hysterical, but Hermione could tell that it was mostly desperate. "I really care for Draco. I'm his mother, for heaven's sake. You don't think it's my job to protect him?" She let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't you want to help him?" Hermione nodded. "Then trust me."
Narcissa handed the muggle-born a cloak. "It's an invisibility cloak. After Potter died, the old Dark Lord swiped it from him. You can use it. Just follow me and I'll take you to where Draco is imprisoned. I'm sure that Lucius would have put him in one of the dirtiest." There was a hint of loathing in her voice when she spoke of her husband. Without waiting for Hermione's answer, she swept out of the room. Hermione quickly put in the cloak and hurried out. She followed close behind Draco's mother and made sure that every part of her body was concealed. She was thankful that she never had a very good growth spurt.
"In here." Mrs. Malfoy whispered after a long walk down various stone staircases and hallways. She unlocked and pushed open a heavy door. Without a moment's hesitation, Hermione entered and looked around. It was dark and the air was damp. She saw Draco walking across the small cell and to the door. "Mother? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here." He looked stubborn and closed the door. "I deserve this, Mother, so don't go trying to set me free. You could get hurt."
The pale woman smiled and peered through the tiny rectangular opening on the door. Just her eyes were showing. "I know, Draco. I just thought you might need some company." And with that, she left. Draco stared after her, contemplating what she had meant by him needing company. There wasn't anyone else around. He normally would have thought that she was referring to herself, but she had stayed for a short moment. One could hardly call that company.
"Draco!" A familiar voice squealed and he felt a body throw itself against him and embrace him from behind. "Hermione?" He winced at the pain, but grinned as he spun around. "Hermione!" Snaking her arms around her waist, he gazed into her eyes. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Smiling Hermione shook her head and pressed her lips against his.
After a long period of their intense kissing, they broke apart for air. "So how did you get here?" Draco said at once. "Your mother helped me." Hermione beamed and pecked him on the cheek. "She's such a sweetheart. I wonder how she and your father got together?" Draco shrugged. "Pureblood marries pureblood. Arranged marriages…" They embraced a final time and both sat on a wobbly wooden bench. The only furniture inside.
"Your mother told me about a plan she wanted me to perform with her." Hermione began telling Draco about Narcissa's ideas. "She wants me to take a polyjuice potion and act as her, and vice versa. She wants us to escape as far as we can before her potion runs out. The problem is, she will probably be killed if we follow through with this…" Hermione paused to steal a glance at Draco's sullen face. "I think that she knows that, too." When he didn't answer, she left him alone and stared into space. The rest of the day passed by in silence, and Hermione wondered several times why she wasn't being missed.
Author's Note: One word. REVIEW. See what happens when more than five loyal reviewers actually take one minute out of their life to review? This chapter was kind of forced out of me, but whatever.