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A/N Here is the next chapter, dont forget to review! Happy Reading!

The Plan

The following week came quickly enough and Draco was up again at the crack of dawn, dressing hurriedly and heading for the Leaky Cauldron. He had no clue what they were going to do if they saw her again. She was obviously brainwashed, just like his mother had been all those years.

Meanwhile, Hermione was getting Steven his breakfast. She was worried about going to the market again after her confrontation with Harry. But surely he wouldn't be there again. She plated his eggs (scrambled), toast (light brown, not black, lightly buttered), sausages (three) and coffee (black, two sugars). He sat down smiling at her. He ate quickly and then handed her some money to take to the market.

"Anything special you want?" she asked him.

"Nope, stick to the list." he kissed her cheek and disappeared quickly. She got dressed quickly and brushed her hair, piling it into a bun. There was a fresh cut on her head she wanted to hide. His coffee had been cold the other morning. He had smashed the cup over her head. She looked at herself in the mirror and wondered how she had gotten to be like this. She was Head Girl at Hogwarts. Top of her class. Now she was a pathetic loser, beaten to a pulp every other day. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away quickly and put her shoes on andthen walked out to the car. She thought of Harry as she drove. She had been so glad to see him, and yet so ashamed of the way she looked. All she wanted to do was hold him, and tell him everything. But that would put Harry at risk too. And why was Malfoy telling Harry of all people where to find her? It didn't make sense. She pulled into the parking lot and got out grabbing her market bags from the back seat.

Draco had picked Harry up and they waited on the same bench, sipping coffee, wondering what the plan was. Harry knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to grab her up and kidnap her. Take her away to safety. His mind had thought of this all week. He had yet to tell Ron, and made Ginny swear to it as well. Ron had a hot head, and after seeing the size of Hermione's husband, Ron would be thrown to the wayside in any fight. After 20 minutes they spotted her shopping for potatoes and onions. Harry stood up and motioned for Draco to do the same.

"When we get to her, if she refuses to talk to us, we are grabbing her got it?" Harry said with all seriousness in the world. Draco cocked his head.

"That's the plan? To kidnap her in a crowded market? Pathetic. We will make her come with us. I will put a body bind spell on her and we will calmly pull her towards my car okay?" Harry nodded.

They got within feet of Hermione before Harry called out. She froze in place again. Harry and Malfoy were advancing on her. She had nowhere to hide.

"Uh, hi Harry. I am in a hurry." she turned to leave.

"Oh no you don't. You are not avoiding me again. We are going to have a nice little chat somewhere private." he tugged on her sore arm.

"I can't really, so many errands to run. I will owl you soon." but he kept pulling her, and suddenly her whole body stiffened and she dropped her bag. Draco strolled over and they walked her stiffened body over to Draco's car. When she was safely inside Draco sped off in the direction of the manor. She could hear everything that was happening, but couldn't move. They must have put a spell on her. She had been laid in the back seat, rigid, listening to them conspire about her well-being. After a half hour or so they arrived at the manor and Draco and Harry carried her into the manor and up the stairs into his room. When they got in there Draco mumbled something and her whole body loosened.

'WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU TWO THINK YOU ARE DOING?" she screamed. Panicked, she looked at her watch. 9 Am. Three hours till lunch. What would happen if she wasn't there? She shuddered to think.

"Be quiet Hermione, listen to me or I will bind you again." Harry said fiercely. She put her lips together and looked at them with contempt.

"What is going on Hermione? Something is obviously wrong." he said trying to comfort her. She was shaking from head to toe.

"The only thing that is wrong is that I have been kidnapped while shopping for groceries." she said in a huff.

"Ok, so what's with all the bruises?' Draco asked.

"What is it to you? Why did you bring Harry into all this? I am fine. Leave it at that." tears poured down her red cheeks.

"No Hermione!" shouted Harry. "I won't. I haven't heard from you in three years almost. You disappeared from Ron and my life like we meant nothing to you? Repeated owls went ignored. You look like you had a go with the whomping willow. Just because Steven is much bigger, does not give him the right to treat you like a personal punching bag." tears shone in his emerald eyes.

Draco stepped forward.

"Let me heal those for you." he picked up his wand and started to speak but she silenced him.

"No, he will know. I am not allowed to do magic. Especially to heal my punishments." she was so humiliated. Reduced to this. "Now please, someone apparate me back to the market. I have to fix lunch by noon."

"No, you are going to stay here, with Draco until we get this sorted out." Draco looked taken aback by Harry's words.

"She is?" he said.

"It's safe. He doesn't know you, you have plenty of room. It's the safest place in the world." Harry said stiffly.

"No, I won't stay. I have to get home. You don't know what will…" and with that she broke into tears.

"What will happen 'Mione? He will hit you some more, what? How did you become this person?" Harry's eyes shone with tears for his friend. Finally she broke down, throwing her arms around Harry's neck and sobbing openly.

"I don't know how it went this way." she cried. "It happened all of a sudden, after we were married, one minute everything was fine and the next, well the next I am this…" she motioned her many bruises and cuts. Harry held her for a long time, and she let him. Finally she spoke again;

"I have to get back now, it's almost 10." she wiped her eyes.

"Didn't you hear me 'Mione? You are staying here. I won't let him hit you again. I just won't. Draco and I are going to work on a plan," Draco nodded. "And in the meantime you can stay here right?" he nodded again reluctantly.

"That's that then." he stood up and walked to the door. She was sobbing on Draco's bed.

"You have to keep her here until I can figure something out. Okay?"

"All right. What's the plan?" Draco said looking nervously at her.

"I don't know. I will owl you in a day or two. Keep her out of sight. I will arrange another place as soon as I can." Harry walked out of the room. A minute later Hermione attempted to follow.

"Sit down" Draco said coolly. And to his surprise, she sat. She looked surprised at her own actions. She supposed she was so used to following orders; it was in her nature now. She sat on the couch and stared into the fire. Her eyes were red and swollen. He sat down next to her.

"Potter has his heart in the right place you know." he waved his wand and healed her instantly. He knew all of those spells from his mum. She looked shocked. She looked at her arms, now creamy and smooth. She felt her head, the lump had vanished.

"Now, if I am going to look at you, you need to clean up." He went into the bathroom and ran a hot bath. He motioned her in there and she shut the door behind her.

'How strange.' she thought. He was being outright kind to her, well kind for Malfoy anyway. She stripped her clothes off and stepped into the large tub. She had not taken a bath for a long time. Showers only. That was the way it was. Her muscles relaxed in an instant. A minute or two later she heard a knock at the door.

"Uh, Malfoy?"

"No miss; it is the Malfoy's house-elf Dribby. Young mister sent me to give you these clean clothes."

"Okay, come in." she said.

The small elf entered the room carrying piles of clothes, robes and towels. She set them on a small vanity chair and left the room bowing furiously. Half an hour later she was dressing. She looked at her watch that she had taken off. 'Nearly eleven' she thought. She bit her lip. What would he do when he found her missing? Would he think she had run off? Been kidnapped? Met another man? She shuddered to think about what would be left of her things if she ever went back there. She put on some clean underwear. Where had he gotten these? And a scarlet robe, made of fine silk that flowed around her. She brushed her hair and it fell into loose wet curls. When she left the bathroom she felt better than she had in ages, but she was still here with Malfoy. Obviously Harry trusted him with her, so she relaxed slightly. On the table in front of the couch was a tray laden with food. Sandwiches, drinks, fruit, muffins and lots of things she enjoyed.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I had Dribby bring up lots of things. Help yourself." said a voice from the far corner. He smiled at her with those full pink lips. She sat down and picked at a muffin. She was hungry, but used to not eating.

'Granger, come on. Eat for Merlin's sake." he sat by her on the sofa. "Don't make me feed you."

She smiled in a sad sort of way, picking up a small sandwich and taking tiny little bites. She looked at the clock. It was noon.

Back at Hermione's house Steven apperated home just like he did every day. He walked into the kitchen and dropped his wand promptly on the spotless floor. No Hermione. He could feel the blood rushing to his face. This would bring a punishment most severe. He tore around the house looking for her. Nothing. He looked into the driveway. The car was not there. Had she been in an accident? He strolled out to the garage and backed the SUV out of the driveway and drove along the way she normally went to the market. If she wasn't dead, she would wish she was. No car along the way. He pulled into the market and saw her car, sitting alone in its spot near a tree. A closer look made him realize that her shopping bag lay a mere 20 feet from her abandoned car. He was in a panic now. Had someone abducted her, or had she finally got the balls to run? He didn't know, but intended to find out. He put on his charming smile and walked over to the man who sold potatoes.

"Excuse me fine sir." he smiled widely.

"Yes sir, how may I help you?" the tired old man replied.

Steven took out his wallet and pulled out a picture of Hermione on their wedding day.

"Have you seen this woman, she is my wife. She is normally home from the market by now, but when I arrived home for lunch she wasn't there. So I drove here, and her car and shopping bag are here, but she is not. Can you help me?" he forced tears out of his dark eyes.

"Ah, yes. She comes here every week. Although she doesn't look nearly this pretty anymore. She is much thinner and is always nursing cuts and bruises." the old man glared at him. Steven had a feeling he knew more than he was letting on.

"Was she here today?" he asked, a little less nicely.

"Yes, very early." he replied.

"Did she buy anything?"

"Yes, some potatoes."

"Did you see anyone with her?"

"No."

"Did you see where she went?"

"No"

"Thank you for being absolutely no help at all.' he screamed as he stormed off.

His mind was racing now, where had she gone? She was surely here this morning. She bought potatoes, but her bag was thrown on the ground, potatoes gone. Had someone snatched her and then stolen her purchases? Silly as it sounded he had heard of petty thieves living in muggle London. He hadn't given her much money, maybe they were going to hold her for ransom. Or maybe…just maybe, she planned all this. She had finally left. When he found her, well, let's just say she would never leave again. It would be the basement while he was at work and a magical binding when he slept. She would never leave the house again. No more shopping without him. He paced the crowded square, asking every vendor if they had seen anything. They all looked at him with contempt for some reason and said they saw nothing. That was it. He needed to go to the police, and file a muggle missing person report, and then to the ministry and have the best Aurors work on his case. He got back in the truck and followed the signs to the muggle police station. He walked inside and up to the desk.

"Good morning" the redheaded police woman said. "How may I help you?"

"I need to file a missing person report please." he flashed his charming smile at her and she returned it widely.

"Who is missing?" she asked leaning across the counter.

"My wife. She went shopping in that outdoor market in the square this morning. She is usually home by lunch, but when I got home to eat with her, she wasn't there. So I drove to the market and found her car there and her shopping bag laying 20 feet from the car door." he lowered his eyes and forced out some tears.

"Oh you poor dear, come with me." she motioned for him to follow her down the busy hall where she seated him in front of a rather menacing looking man. He was large and bald and had no neck.

"So, your wife disappeared?" he said with a grunt.

"Yes, while shopping." he said sadly.

He continued to fill out forms for the remainder of the afternoon and even drove the detective over to the market and showed him her car and her bag and where he found it. By the time he was done, it was 3pm.

Back in Malfoy Manor, Hermione had begun to nervously chew her fingernails. She kept looking at the clock, and then back into the fire. Draco watched her carefully, not really knowing what to say. He didn't know how he had gotten himself into this situation. He was sure not used to comforting someone. He tried to think of something she would like.

"I'll be right back." he said to her. He got up, walked over to the door and magically locked it behind him. He ran to the library and grabbed an armful of books. His mother looked at him from the sitting room as if he were quite mad. He ran back up the stairs and into the room. She blankly looked at him, silently pleading. But for what he didn't know. He plopped the books onto the bed. An array of literature. Mystery, romance, fantasy. Every kind of book he could carry.

"There." he said pointing to the pile.

She cocked her head and said nothing.

"I know you used to like to read, I grabbed some books to pass the time." he smiled, proud of himself thinking of it. She turned away from him, staring back into the dying flames.

"Granger, are you not going to speak to me?" he said, starting to get annoyed. She merely looked back at him; her eyes were breaking his heart. She looked like a lost puppy. He went over and sat down again.

"Look, I know you are not happy about this, and frankly neither am I. But, Harry, through all of his many, many, many faults he loves you more than you can imagine. I didn't plan out this situation, but here we are. Right in the middle of it. When I saw you in the market that day, well I knew right away what you were involved in." he said softly.

"And when I saw Potter in the Leaky Cauldron I felt like he needed to know." she turned to look at him.

"And he just wants to keep you safe." he said knowing what needed to be said.

"Look, I know how you feel. I lived with it for many years. It feels hopeless. Like death would be better. But eventually something happens to change that, and life can get better." his stomach felt sick from thinking of his former life. This seemed to spark some interest and she said;

"How did you live with it?" her voice was so soft, he barely heard her.

"My father." he said, regaining some composure. "If I tell you this, you can speak of it to no other, understand?" she nodded.

"From the time I was old enough to walk my father would hit me with his cane. When I was older, I realized it wasn't just me. I walked in on my father beating my mother countless amounts of times. I watched her try to protect herself, I tried to protect her, but I was too much of a coward. Eventually you get numb, just try to live through them. And when he died, I shed no tears; my life was finally able to begin. And my mum, has regained her beauty and grace that was once marred by ugly scars and bruises, which my father would not allow her to heal either." he had never told another living soul about the state of his home life.

"I am sorry, but that is not me." she said, knowing that was a lie. He raised his eyebrow at her.

"Its not. I just get punished fo…"

"For not doing what you were told, for not giving him what he wanted, for the coffee being cold?" the last comment struck a cord in her head. She started to sob. He panicked not knowing what to do. He reached over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Look, no one deserves that." he said comfortingly.

Big fat tears ran down her cheeks, falling onto the crimson silk dressing gown. She looked at him ashamed.

"I am sorry. I didn't know about your dad. Was he like that when you were in school?" she said wiping her tears.

"That's why I stayed during lots of holidays. When ever I could."

"Oh." she said quietly.

"Now that we got that out of the way, what would you like to do?" he asked.

She looked over at the clock. Almost 5pm. She hadn't done anything for herself in ages. The schedule was strict.

"Uh, I don't know. Can I have a look at those books?" she said meekly.

"Help yourself. I am going to go get some tea and snacks. I will be back. Would you like anything?"

"No." she said scanning the book covers. He started to walk out.

"Uh, Malfoy." she started.

"Yes"

"Thank you." she smiled genuinely as he shut the door and locked it behind him.