Now that they knew they had their powers still, you would think things would be really easy for Hermione and Draco. This was, of course, not the case.

As soon as Hermione got done making her statement, the ground below her feet fell away and everything dissolved into darkness. This time, it seemed the darkness didn't want to go away, because for a long time after Hermione lost the spinning sensation she could make out nothing at all. She was sitting huddled with her knees drawn up under her chin, against her back was a very cold stone wall. She still could not see, but she was beginning to hear small rustlings in the dark.

Under the circumstances she would rather be deaf and perhaps unable to smell, because the stench was unbearable. Scraping footsteps and the occasional scratching and squeaking from rodents reached Hermione's ears and she didn't like it one bit. She was uncomfortable sitting as she was, but she was both terrified to move and so cold that she did not know if her legs would support her if she were to stand.

To her right she heard a dull thud and then a small moan and she scooted more into herself. Wherever she was, she wasn't alone.

"Hermione," A rough voice whispered and Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Draco, where are you," She asked letting her voice rise a bit in panic.

"I'm not really sure. It's pitch black in here. Maybe I'll just crawl to the sound of your voice, you keep talking okay?"

"No, this is ridiculous," Hermione said as she quickly thought of a spell.

'Lumos', She thought and sure enough a small ball of light shot out of her palm and hovered several inches above her head.

Now with some reasonable lighting, Hermione could see Draco laying sprawled on the floor. Now she definately knew why it was freezing cold and why it smelled so bad. They seemed to be in a cell of sorts, with only a lonely bucket serving as a chamber pot and the many big rats to keep them company. Hermione froze, staring at a rat two inches away from her left boot, he was on his haunches staring at her from glaring red eyes.

The rat must have thought better of nibbling on the rags that served as Hermione's clothes, because he scurried off into a corner, chattering disgruntledly. Draco stirred, moving to sit up. Hermione crawled over to him on her hands and knees, it was as she had fear, her legs were very stiff and would have never bore her weight.

"Isn't this cozy," Draco said sarcastically as he looked around at the tiny cell, with it's four foul looking stone walls, the floor was made of loose dirt and a small pile of straw was resting in a corner.

"Very," Hermione said, like-wise sounding as cheerful as she could.

"I wonder where we are," Draco said thoughtfully and he moved as if to go to the heavy wooden door on the north side of the cell, but then stopped moving when he realized he lacked the strength to get there.

"I guess it could be worse," Hermione said dully leaning her back against the wall, "We could each have a cell of our own." Draco didn't answer, he just leaned against the wall like Hermione and looked to be concentrating.

"We could blow that door straight off it's hinges," Draco said turning his head to look at Hermione.

"Yes, escaping doesn't sound bad to me at the moment. Let me just rest, I feel I've aged a thousand years," Hermione said sagging even more into herself.

Draco nodded, but he kept staring at the door like it might disappear if he looked away. Finally after several minutes Hermione felt a little better and sat up. She extingiushed her light, knowing she was going to need concentration and all of her power to blow the door to bits.

"Alright, ready?"

"Yes, on my count...one...two..THREE!"

'Reducto,' Hermione thought as hard as she could.

Squinting in the dark, she knew it hadn't worked. She turned to Draco, thinking 'lumos' with little effort. In the glare of light that followed she saw Draco looking disbelieving at the still solid door.

"It should have worked," He said sounding confused and a bit peturbed that it hadn't.

"I think there's a spell on the door," Hermione said and breathing in she began to rise from the floor. The orb of light bobbed as she stood and leaned against the wall for much needed support.

Taking two shaky steps forward, Hermione felt quite triumphant, four more and she was right in front of the door. Carefully she directed her light closer to the wood and felt with her hand the cold surface.

Sure enough, she felt traces of magic laced into the dirty wood. It didn't suprise her, instead she felt for the edge of the magical shield that kept the door from being harmed in any way. Grasping the ends in her hands she let her light go out again and closed her eyes, using everything she'd ever been taught to try and dispell the powerful shielding charm.

After a moment she turned panting to Draco. She didn't have the will to conjure any more light, so she stumbled toward him.

"Ouch, that was my leg," Draco called from the floor and Hermione crouched beside him, still breathing heavily.

"It's a very strong shielding charm, I need your help to get rid of it," She gasped pulling at Draco's arm insistantly.

He coughed in a scary hacking way and allowed Hermione to pull him to his feet, where he swayed.

"Are you alright?"

"Just a bit dizzy," Draco said in a fuzzy voice and Hermione had to tighten her grip on his arm as he nearly toppled over.

Finally, after what seemed like a long time, Draco was able to stand on his own. He walked determindly towards the door although he wobbled a couple times. Hermione sighed as she noticed for the first time his paler than normal face, as she summoned a little light.

"You look terrible. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I'm not sure you have the strength to help me," Hermione said in a dissappointed way.

Draco seemed to take her comments offensively, because his face hardened and he glared at her, but instead of lashing out at her with words like he usually would have done, he turned his aggression on the shield.

Feeling the edge of the magic, Draco thought of everything his father had ever taught him. His mind alighted on a very powerful destroying spell. Calming his mind a little, Draco thought about the shield tearing into a hundred pieces. Sending all his energies down his arms and into the shield, he accomplished what Hermione had not been able to do, the shield burst like a big soap bubble and dissapated into the air.

Hermione gasped behind him and Draco turned around to give her one of his most superior smirks. She didn't seem to care though because she was looking up at him in wonder.

"How did you learn to do that," She asked, but Draco was already pushing open the door.

"That will have triggered an alarm spell. We'll talk later," Draco said forcefully as he grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her through the now gaping door.

Hermione and Draco were terribley unlucky that day, no sooner had they set foot outside when they were immoblized by a group of wizards. Swaying, suspended in the air, Hermione was able to see who had cast the spell on her and she cringed when she saw the cruel looking slash for a mouth and the beedy little eyes. The man standing in the small hallway was grotesque in futures, looking alot like a clay figure that someone had forgotten to finish. He had a large dough head and tufts of wiry brown hair stood up at weird angles behind his large mishapen ears.

The other people in the hall were far more attractive. The person who had captured Draco was a tall woman with long black hair, dark eyebrows and fiercely beautiful black eyes. She looked Hermione over as a spider does a fly and Hermioe felt a squirming sensation in her stomach.

"Our two little hostages trying to escape? I think not," Said a man that Hermione had noticed before. He was rugged looking with a dark beard and a scar above his right eyebrow.

"It's quite interesting that he knew how to dissasemble the door's shield," The woman said with amusment, she seemed to think it interesting that they'd nearly escaped, rather than bothersome.

"I don't know why you would say that. I find it disconcerting," Said the doughy man in a voice much to high for him.

"Well, we can't put them back in their cell. We'll have to find some other place for them," The woman said thoughtfully.

"How about the old Black well," Said the bearded man.

"No, I'm sure this clever fellow'd get out of that," The woman said with prideful affection, as she gazed up at Draco.

"Where do you think we should put them, Boss," The grotesquely deformed man asked.

"I shall keep them in my rooms. I'd really like to study them, they're fascinating," The woman said and the two men nodded.

Hermione sat a small cushion on the floor, glancing warily from her lashes as the woman walked around Draco in an admiring circle. They were now in her private suites, an arrangement of rooms that took up the third floor of the manor house they seemed to be in. The woman had a keen interest in them, but had a soft spot, it seemed, for Draco, especially.

"Clever boy, how did you know how to destroy the shield," She cooed at him. Draco didn't like being called a boy, but he knew not to anger this strange woman.

"My father taught me," He said honestly.

"Ahh, and who is this great sorcerer?"

"Lucius Malfoy," Draco drawled without a drop of feeling. The woman seemed not to know who that was, but that didn't stop her from gazing at Draco in a hungry way.

"What is your name."

"Draco Malfoy," He said now with a prideful edge.

"Hmm, wonderful," She purred.

"What is your name, mademoiselle?" The woman flushed with pleasure at being addressed like that, "I am Chloe Veriaen Rihanda, but you may call Veriae."

"Veriae, why are we being held hostage," Draco asked.

"Because my father ordered it. He is a powerful mob boss in Italy. I, unfortunately, do not know much about why you are so important."

"We are not in Italy then?"

"I cannot tell you that! Where are you from?"

"England," Draco said motioning to where Hermione was sitting and indicating they were both from there.

"What is the name of the young woman with you?"

"Hermione Granger," Draco answered and Hermione smiled at the small lilt he added to her name.

"Is she your girlfriend," Veriae asked pointedly. Draco laughed, "No."

"I see. I do get so lonely in this large manor all by my little self. How would you like to come to dinner with me, Draco. As a formal geust?" Veriae asked anxiously. Draco looked at Hermione, she glowered back at him.

"Why that would be wonderful, Veriae," Draco said charmingly and the older woman beamed.

"Dinner is at six, I will send a maid with clothes at five. Now I must go see to preporations,

goodbye, darling."

As soon as she closed the door, Draco turned to talk to Hermione, but she had her back turned to him. Sighing, he walked across the room to come in front of her.

"Do you have an idea of how to get out of here?"

"Why not ask Miss Veriae? I'm sure she'd do let you go if you asked real nicely," Hermione said in a swotty way.

"Jealousy is never flattering, Granger. That was my plan for now, to woo the old bat and then see where that gets me, but I'd rather we got out of here quite soon. If you don't mind," Draco drawled.

"I'm not jealous!" Hermione said indignantly.

"Of course you're not," Draco said with a sarcastic undertone that rubbed Hermione entirely the wrong way.

"Get stuffed, Malfoy. If I find a way to get out of here, I'm leaving you behind to pant after Miss Swanky Knickers," Hermione said obnoxiously.

Draco started laughing and this only infuriated Hermione more. She smacked his shoulder and turned away again. Still chuckling Draco gently carressed her arm and felt Hermione stiffen at the physical contact.

"Relax, Granger. You have nothing to worry about from Miss Swanky Knickers." He said reassuringly and Hermione turned to look at him seriously.

"Why would I worry about her? I don't even like you." She said with complete conviction.

Draco just shrugged and dropped his arm. He would let her sulk, but he was smirking to himself because he knew he had gotten under the little Know-it-All's skin again.