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thanks for the reviews..more reviews- more updates :) haha, blackmail
for that insightful and lengthy review strawberrylemonade520 here is a long one...
We'll crucify the insincere tonight
We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight- smashing pumpkins
"There are two things in store for us tonight" Malfoy began.
The crowd began to slowly quiet down.
"We have special guests here amongst us tonight. The guests shall provide us with entertainment. We will also be dealing with a minor setback we had earlier this morning" Malfoy continued.
Hermione surveyed the crowd. Lavander Brown was present…Lavander Brown? That made no sense to her. Why would she be there? Lavander had been with the Order…Lavander could have betrayed them or could she be like Snape? Why was she here? They would not have allowed her to attend if she hadn't been one of theirs, if they had suspected her at all.
Lavander glanced over at Blaise. What was going on?
"Please seal the doors" Malfoy ordered.
A low, but uncomfortable murmur rolled through the crowd. People were apprehensive. Malfoy pulled out a parchment, the one with the list of every guest present tonight- everyone who was associated with the Dark Lord. She looked over at Malfoy, he was waiting for her to give him the words to the spell.
'What if Lavander had something to do with it? What if she's here as a spy? What if I am betraying my friends?' Hermione began to panic. 'Keep it simple, Hermione' she tried to calm herself down. 'Only those who seek to harm Malfoy in order to be in the graces of the Dark Lord' she thought.
"Granger" Malfoy was not amused by her pause.
Her whole body was shaking. She took a deep breath and found that it came in shivering spasms. For a moment she thought back to the cold long walk she and Ron had taken the night the two decided to be a couple. It had been November and the school grounds had been almost frozen by then…
Hermione had prepared for this. She had prepared two spells on the parchment.
"Reveilo" she whispered. "Malfoy, you must be thinking of the Dark Lord as you do it"
He gave her an odd look.
"Don't mess with me, Granger" he warned her. "I have three of your friends trapped in the dungeon"
"If Voldemort dies, so does Harry. I am not ready to make that trade…Harry can chose that for himself" she told him.
Staring at her for a few seconds, perhaps to gauge her sincerity he turned back to the crowd and tapped the parchment with his hand. "Reveilo"
There was a rumbling in the crowd. Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe and Adrian Pucey sprung into action. As if previously orchestrated they pounced on Augustus Rockwood, subduing the wizard when he tried to pull away.
The crowd was in a state of ordered chaos. Internally there was confusion and panic, externally everyone tried to pretend things were calm. The nervousness filled the air, and a few people cried out when more of Malfoy's young guards apprehended two other men in the crowd.
"Bring them forward" Malfoy motioned with his hand.
"What is going on Malfoy?" Voldemort was oddly not amused.
"My Lord, I present the men who are responsible for our little elf incidents. These men are traitors" Malfoy bowed.
Across their faces the word TRAITOR was becoming clearer, brought on by a red skin rash. Hermione smiled- 3 down and many more to go.
"Malfoy, this is Rosier…he is one of my oldest and most faithful" Voldemort announced.
"My Lord, this parchment is enchanted and any who took part in the conspiracy are now here for us to see"
"Rockwood?" he looked at the second man. "Robards?"
The three men were silent.
"I want an explanation" Voldemort demanded.
"My Lord, I know there is no use in lying to you. I did allow the first house elf access in order to lead Granger to her death" Rockwood began. "The creature was easily misled and given inappropriate directions. My goal was only to get this mud…"
"Silence!" Voldemort roared. He seemed almost terrified of what Rockwood had almost said. "You are here sentenced to death"
"My Lord!" Rockwood pleaded. "There was only the intention of cleansing this place, of carrying out our plan!"
"The rest of you will be questioned as to your involvement" Voldemort glanced at Rosier. "And it will not be pleasant for either of you…death is the penalty for treason. Torture is the penalty for betrayal"
It sickened her. As the three were led away, the new world around her sickened her. Voldemort turned to Malfoy.
"Continue with the festivities, Young Malfoy"
Malfoy nodded and Hermione could tell there was pride in Voldemort's voice again.
"You want to see your friends?" Malfoy took her by the arm.
"I did something good for you Malfoy, you can help me out now" she hissed under her teeth.
"Don't worry its not their intention that all of them die" he pulled back the curtain to reveal Harry on the floor of the cage. However there was a werewolf chained to the other side of the cage.
"Your dear Professor Lupin…didn't take his Wolfsbane" Malfoy smiled.
"No" Hermione whispered not accepting what was going to happen.
There were guards standing around the cage, with weapons.
"We don't want Potter dead, Granger" he smiled. "We just want the wolf to have fun with him for a while"
Hermione's eyes were focused on Harry who was slowly waking up.
"Release the Wolf once Potter is on his feet!" Voldemort announced. "And Malfoy, make sure Potter isn't hurt…fatally"
3:45 am Malfoy Manor:
The werewolf was dead. Malfoy sat around the large empty room were the crowd had been gathered hours before. A few candles lit the large hall. It was dark and somber now, the cheering and screaming had faded long ago. He was tired, his hair no longer slicked back. Draco felt exhausted, drained. The evening had wore on and dragged on. The torture below, the killing above. The reproachful glances of all of them. He had a glass of firewhiskey in his hand and his jacket was on hanging on the back of the chair. Granger was sobbing somewhere. She had played her role. He had seen her dig her nails into her hands to keep from crying out- she had held on for much longer than he had expected.
'To hell with it' he thought and took another drink.
Potter had been tossed around, wounded, bitten…but it didn't matter. Potter wasn't going to turn…they had taken care of that and Malfoy didn't like the idea of what Voldemort had done.
'Whatever it takes to ensure his survival' Malfoy thought bitterly. 'The wizard never believed in his own cause. The reasons he gave, the credo he spewed meant nothing to him, all Voldemort wants to do is not die'
The guards around the cage would taunt and wound the beast as Potter would lay there taking the attack without putting up a fight. Hermione had excused herself during one particular gruesome bite to Harry's arm…well it was still attached- that's all that mattered. If anything it proved that Voldemort's little spell had worked…andMalfoydidn't like that at all.
Tomorrow…well in a few hours, since it was almost dawn…Potter would be out of his household and he could worry about other things at hand. There was an echo of footsteps, he glanced back slowly…he was a little more intoxicated than he would like to have been.
"Malfoy, I know that spell" it was Millicent Bulstrode. "That witch, that mudblood you keep, she gave it to you"
"What are you talking about?" Malfoy asked.
"Why are you keeping Hermione Granger?" she demanded angrily, standing in front of him now.
"Why aren't you gone?" Malfoy drawled annoyed.
"When they had their secret little meetings, Granger had that spell" Millicent insisted. "Why would you use that on your own?"
"Well those three were obviously not part of us, were they?" Malfoy looked up at her. "Unless, of course you agree with their conspiracy to set Weasley and Granger free"
"They wanted Granger dead, as most of us do. It is an embarrassment how you parade her around. The thing with Weasley, I know it was not them" she insisted.
"Oh yeah, anything you care to share with me?" he asked yawning. "I would love to have more traitors executed"
"The only traitor here is you Malfoy, for keeping that mudblood around" she spat and turned to leave.
"Hey!" Malfoy stood up outraged and gripped her arm, digging his fingers into her skin. "Say it again, Bulstrode"
She didn't, she stared at him defiantly.
"Why do you keep the mudblood, Malfoy?" she asked. "Why did you obliviate her, instead of killing her?"
"Because of Potter" he mumbled. "Because of things you don't understand. She was leverage"
"Leverage?" Millicent sneered. "I don't know why any of them are still alive! You call her leverage? You are just a puppy with a sick crush on a disgusting mudblood, and you can't let it go!"
Draco was so stunned by her accusation that he couldn't even think of a reply. He stood there like an idiot for the first time in his life. Millicent pulled her arm away and walked off leaving him still dumbfounded that she had dared to speak to him the way she had. Part of him felt like he was dreaming, the firewhiskey had brought on a vision that was completely out of hand.
'With a sick crush' he sneered internally when his brain turned back on. 'a sick crush' he chuckled now and closed his eyes. There it was, the image of her.
Malfoy threw the glass across the room and dropped on the chair covering his face. Now he had new images. He had images of her soft, perfect breasts as Potter kissed her. He had images of her long slender legs and her skin…and he found that pressure on his throat returning.
The images before had been different. The images while in their last year of Hogwarts, when he returned pretending to be on their side…those images involved hurting her. Those images involved making her watch as he killed Potter and beat Ron. Those images involved her tears and those images were full of hatred. That was all he had allowed himself to picture Granger for…to hurt her. Except for the occasional moments when his mind had been mutinous…
"Malfoy I want him buried" she entered the room and he jumped up startled by her voice. "You can't leave him there"
Her face was red. She had been crying. Her hair was still tied back, the make up around her eyes was more prominent, smeared by her tears. She walked towards the cage which was now again covered by the curtain.
'Why was she here, ordering me around?' he thought.
"Malfoy!" she snapped as she went on the platform.
Draco stood up. "Leave it alone, Granger" he warned in a dismissive tone.
"What are you going to do with him?" she asked.
"He is human again now that he's dead" he told her walking up to her. "You don't want to see what's under that"
The hatred in her eyes burned through him. That's what he wanted, isn't it? That's what he kept her for.
"You are sick" she whispered with that thickhatred in her voice.
Malfoy smiled.
'Why do you keep her?' Millicent's voice echoed in his head. Her hair was messy, she looked distraught and angry and hurt…and she hated him but he saw her hand reach for the curtain.
"I told you no! Granger!" he shouted and yanked her into his arms. "Why don't you do as you're told" he growled.
"Let me go!" she shouted trying to pull away.
"Why do I keep you?" he asked no one becoming painfully aware of how much he liked the way her body felt. "Why do I keep you, Granger?"
"Because I can help…"
"No! I know that you're not helping me" he smiled dragging her away from the platform, walking backwards towards the chair he had been sitting on.
"I am!" she shouted panic rushing through her. "Stop!" His grip was hurting her.
She was struggling against him, he half lost his balance and slammed her against the wall. He was pressed against her their breathing coming in sharp and quick. Hermione couldn't move, she held still waiting for him to relax.
"You are out of it" she stated. "You need to calm down"
Malfoy wasn't listening. He was staring at her.
"Let me go, Malfoy" she whispered.
He pushed against her and kissed her hard. Hermione cried out. When she tried to move her face he gripped her by the hair, not letting her turn to the side. Her mouth was warm, her body was hot, he wanted to feel her skin, he wanted to bite her, to grab her harder, to crush her under him. He eased the kiss, caressing her lips with his, his tongue gently tracing the edge of hers. Each touch made his stomach tighter, the pressure in chis chest building on. He felt relieved when he pressed himself against her, easing the pain building inside.
There was an odd pattern to her breathing, an odd sound that made the emptiness around him pull back. There was a worldsurrounding him again and when he recognized that she was no longer resisting he pushed away from her and stood back. She was frozen staring at him. He smiled as he walked away, because he knew that now she was finally afraid of him.