Who Can You Turn To?

by morgannia

New Chapter Uploaded Hermione is devastated by a major shock and her friends aren't around to help, but Draco is there to gleefully pick up the pieces. And this is just the beginning . . . So please read and review

22. Cinnamon Rain

Disclaimer time - ok . . .blah, blah no, I do not own Draco (much to my great dismay), Hermione or any other characters you may recognize, if I did the movies would get far more interesting, trust me. And of course, any typos & grammatical errors are, as usual, my fault . . . sorry. Normally, I'm one to skip the AN, but one or two concerns were raised about this story that I feel the need to discuss (although, please feel free to skip, if you'd like, lol).

And honestly, I was a bit confused, I thought Draco had been behaving himself for the last chapter or two, but apparently some of you disagreed.  This story is rated R for a reason, if there are things in this story that you feel you can't handle, I am sorry, but they are plenty of other stories out there for you to read if you'd prefer.  Yes, they are BDSM elements in this story - they've been there since the very beginning & were always intended to be included.  Come on this is AU, people, most if not everything in this fic would never happen in the cannon, although I do believe the main characters are acting fairly in character (you may well disagree - if you really want to debate it, feel free to email or im on it).  On the other hand Hermione & Draco are my among my favorite characters, so the last thing I'm planning on doing is destroying them.  So have a little bit of faith, ok? Because if you can't trust your author, who can you, lol . . . Anway - back to the story  

Chapter 22 - Cinnamon Rain

At this point, Hermione was beyond frustrated . . .  Where the hell was he?  This was getting ridiculous, she'd been waiting for nearly twenty minutes and he knew they were working with a time constraint.  If he thought she was going to do all the work by herself, then he was out of his mind.  Sighing heavily, she began shifting through the thick books she had scattered across the desk, before selecting one and flipping through the pages to find the specific spell she needed to look at.  Ten more minutes, she decided.  She'd give him just ten more minutes, before she took off, because if she was forced to do this by herself, she could at least make sure she was working somewhere comfortable, like the library.

Quietly standing in the doorway, Draco watched her for a moment.  A soft smile gracing his lips, before he confidently strode into the room, letting the door slam behind him.  "So how is our project coming along?"  He asked in a teasing tone, as he walked up behind her and began playing with her hair, winding and unwinding the silken strands around his finger.  He grinned at the stunned expression on her face as she turned to stare at him in disbelief, completely at a loss for words.

Hermione couldn't believe his arrogance, smacking away his hand; she stood up explosively and began gathering her books.  "You got us into this bloody disaster, then you can't even be bothered to show up?!?"  She put up one hand in a warding away gesture as she continued, "no, nevermind, I don't even know why I bother.  I'll just do it myself . . . as usual."  Shaking her head in disgust, she tried to storm past him, only to find herself trapped within his arms, securely wrapped around her.  Resting his head on her shoulder, Draco easily held her still despite Hermione's best efforts to break free of his grasp.

He bit back his laughter, "You really need to calm down, Hermione and remember that I'm very different than Potter.  I already handled most of the research during my free period and made you a copy, complete with citations.  Knowing you, I was sure that you'd want to double-check my work.  This way I thought we could spend our time engaged in more . . . interesting activities."  His breath was hot against the delicate skin of her throat and she actually felt her muscles begin to relax in his embrace.

"Hmmm, 'interesting' you say?  Dare I ask?"  She quickly added, "and don't think we're going back to your room, either."

Draco laughed.  "Aww, poor baby, is the temptation too much for you?  Even if I promise to be on my best behavior?"  The last question forced a reluctant smile from Hermione.

"Best behavior . . . Ha.  You don't even know the meaning of the word."  She lightly mocked him.  "So if we're not going to do any work, then I'd like to get some food, which would entail you letting me go, ok?"

            "Fair enough," he responded as his arms fell away at her request, leaving Hermione feeling slightly bereft, something Draco noted with a sense of satisfaction.  Stepping back, he looked at her all too slight figure critically for a moment, before continuing, "besides feeding you is always a good idea.  You don't eat enough as it is."  She rolled her eyes at him, but let that last statement pass without comment as she started out of the room.  Draco smirked at the small victory, snagging her bag and tossing it over his shoulder.  He captured her hand within his own as they walked off towards the kitchen.

Hermione was vaguely surprised that Draco even knew where the kitchens were.  She expected that he'd consider such knowledge below him, instead learning that he was very familiar with layout of the place.  Hopping up onto the counter, he snagging an éclair off a tray just set down by Winky, who scolded him in a motherly tone, "Master Draco, you shouldn't be eating such things before you eats dinner."  Hermione rushed in after him, hoping to forestall his angry reaction and was shocked when he laughed in response.

"Aww but Winky, you know you make them better than anyone else."

Shaking her head, the house-elf smiled for the first time Hermione had ever seen, as she bustled away, taking the éclairs out of temptations reach.  "Winky knows your sweet tooth and your sweet manner when you wants something, sir and Winky isn't fooled either.  The éclairs will be waiting after you've had some real food."  Draco popped the last bite into his mouth, before hopping down and wandering back around to Hermione. 

"Is Dobby back there somewhere?"

"Winky will send him up to you, Master Draco," came the faint response from the rapidly retreating house-elf.

"Are you ready for a special treat, Hermione-mine?"  Draco had somehow snuck up behind her, as she tilted her head to try and visually follow the house-elf with her eyes, his lips nibbling on the back of her neck.

Hermione shivered for a moment under his attention, before she remembered her newly found resolve against him and she broke free, turning to face him.  "What are you up to, Draco Malfoy?"  Her voice was lightly teasing, just bordering on flirtation, she quickly rationalized to herself, but that was fine because after all there was nothing terribly wrong with that.

He intently searched her eyes, silently calculating her response, before deciding to play along and give a careless smirk.  "Just trying to show you a good time, Hermione-mine," his voice dropping to a rough whisper that made her wish they were somewhere a bit more private.

Taking a deep breath and wondering if she was playing too deep yet, she decided to take his more than obvious bait and ask the burning question. "Ok, I'm probably going to regret this," she looked up to see his smirk broaden and she had to restrain herself from sighing, "but why are you calling me Hermione-mine?"

His eyes began to melt as they stared into hers and his fingers traveled the distance between them, brushing across her check to curl snugly around the back of her neck and gently tugged her towards him.  "Simply stating the fact that you are mine."  Somehow his words penetrated that place inside of her that only he was able to reach and her hand involuntarily rose to grab hold of his forearm, as if to help balance her.  She opened her mouth to respond, but couldn't think of a word to say.  Her tongue slipped out to run lightly across her lips and Draco nearly groaned.  Taking the last step forward, her head fell on his shoulder, as his hand fisted through her silken hair, wrapping around her head in a loose one armed embrace.

"Master Malfoy, Dobby has everything prepared just as asked to, sir."  Dobby's very excited voice broke the spell of the moment and Hermione backed up and turned to face the house-elf.  Dobby gasped, "And Harry Potter's girlfriend, sir?  Oh Dobby thinks this is wrong, Master Malfoy."  Draco sighed, mentally castigating himself because he really should have expected this, given the house-elf's tiresome adulation of Potter.

"Now Dobby, calm down, ok?  Remember what we talked about the other day?  Remember?"  Draco squatted down on the floor, lowering himself to the house-elf's level, his hands held out in an almost pacifying gesture.

Dobby looked up at him quizzically, before realization seemed to set in.  "Oh then Hermione Granger is the girl, sir?  But Master Malfoy, Harry Potter's girlfriend?"  He still seemed confused on that last point though.

Sighing, Draco stayed where he was, turning his head slightly towards the young woman in question.  "Hermione, will you please tell him that you are not Potter's girlfriend?"

Caught off guard, she paused for a moment, before realizing that they were both waiting for her response, Draco seemed unusually impatient. "Ummmm, no, Dobby.  I'm definitely not Harry Potter's girlfriend.

"See, Dobby, what did I tell you?"  Draco rose to his feet in a smooth motion, "now about that 'surprise' . . . " and his voice trailed off, his eyebrow raised in expectation. 

"Oh yes, Master Malfoy, Dobby set everything up, just as you asked, sir."  The house-elf quickly set into motion leading the two in a darkly lit alcove off to the side, where a little table for two was set up.  Hermione walked in with a soft smile, noticing a selection of her favorite food and deserts, pleasantly surprised when Draco insisted on pulling out her chair, before sitting across from her.

Looking at the table laid out with everything he had asked for, Draco was pleased.  Finally something was going right tonight.  "Excellent job, Dobby.  I knew I count on you."

"Oh Master Malfoy, you know for you this was nothing for Dobby."

"Dobby, what have I said about the Master Malfoy bit, hmm?  You no longer work at Malfoy Manor and you know that you can just call me by my name now."  Draco's voice was gentle but firm as he looked at him with an expression that Hermione found inscrutable.

"Mas - Draco is right but it's a hard habit for Dobby to break, sir.  Dobby is sorry and promises to try harder, sir," and abruptly began bashing his head against the wall apologetically.  Looking at him, Hermione felt her old compassion begin to rise up and was about to intervene, when Draco spoke.

"Dobby stop that!"  Draco's voice was loud and harsher than Hermione had ever heard in what seemed like years, despite the recent provocations from Harry and others.  Her eyes widened as she realized that this time he was really angry.  When he saw that he had the house-elf's full attention, he continued in restrained compassionate tone, "you should know by now that you have no reason to ever apologize to me."  The anger was still visible in his bearing and the stiffness of his shoulders, but Hermione could see how he kept it almost entirely sublimated and she wished, not for the first time that she knew what was really going on.

Dobby gave a quick smile of relief and they exchanged a strange sort of understanding, before he quickly backed out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.  Draco took a deep breath, allowing himself to relax again and looked up at Hermione.  He had the odd thought that she was looking at him as if trying to dissect him.  He quirked up one corner of his mouth and asked, "well are you hungry or not, hmm?"  She broke out of her reverie and blushed to have been caught so blatantly staring at him.  Dinner passed quickly enough and quietly as Hermione suddenly discovered that she was indeed famished.  Draco just smirked through most of the meal, as she studiously avoided eye contact with him.  As they were leaving, Draco snagged two éclairs, conveniently left on a tray near the doorway.  Arching an eyebrow as Hermione opened her mouth to protest, he popped one into her surprised mouth and ate the other one himself.  "What?  You know that you wanted it."  Draco laughed at the expression on her face, while she simply rolled her eyes. 

They wandered off into the hallway, going nowhere in particular.  "So what's the deal between you and Dobby?"  Hermione's curiosity over their interaction, considering what she knew about how his father had treated Dobby, drove her to break the comfortable silence that had fallen between them.

Draco looked surprised and paused for a moment as if debating how honestly he should answer that question.  "Well, you know of course that Dobby was one of my father's house elves, right?"  Giving her no time to respond, he quickly went on with a strange cadence in his voice  - hesitating on some words, rushing through others - in a manner that she was unused to from him, "you have to understand that when I say my father is bastard - I'm not exaggerating or making a joke, I am deadly serious." 

At the first hint of the odd emphasis in his words, Hermione looked at him, unable to ignore the surge of concern she felt and that feeling only grew stronger as she listened to what he said and what she was afraid he refused to say.  Draco could feel her eyes on him, but wasn't quite ready to face whatever emotion might be in them, so he made sure to keep his safely averted from hers.  It was always such a careful balancing act with Hermione - between what he could say and what he knew he would never be able to say to her.  If only she didn't matter so damn much, then he wouldn't have to agonize over this shit!!!  But of course that was always the problem with her. . .

"I know you've had the unfortunate luck to have met him a few times, and I can only apologize for whatever insulting things he did or said to you.  Believe me when I say that no matter how loathsome he might have seemed then, he is far worse in the privacy of his home- "

Hermione broke in at that point, her voice serious. "Look Draco, you don't have to apologize for him," try as she might, she was unable to keep all of her distaste for that man out of her voice. "I would never hold you responsible for your father - "

He shrugged off her words, not wanting to acknowledge them, instead interrupting her to continue, "well, Dobby and I had . . . an alliance of sorts, since we usually topped my father's hit list, looking out for each other whenever things got really bad.  Of course, since it was my father who technically owned Dobby there was nothing I could do to set him free without incurring his more than painful wrath, but there were some things that I could do, like letting Dobby leave the house for instance."

"Ok, so that is how Dobby was able to sneak out to find Harry.  I had always wondered about that," Hermione exclaimed, beginning to fit certain pieces of the puzzle that was Draco Malfoy together.

Smirking for the first time since the start of this particular conversation, Draco finally felt himself back on comfortable ground, adding, "yeah, and who do you think had to give Dobby the directions to find that idiot, hmmm?  Ahhh, I only wish that I could have been there when he dropped that cake on that muggle's head."

"Draco . . . " she reproved him, holding back a sigh.

"What?"  His eyebrow arched.

"Oh never mind," deciding to let that matter drop, she instead asked, "so where did you want to go?"

"Well, since my room is apparently off limits, " and even as he said that, he cast her a quick sidelong glance to see any weakening on her part regarding that decree, sighing faintly when he saw her look of resolve, "both of our common rooms are out for obvious reasons and I seriously doubt the dining hall would be particularly exciting, I'd suggest one of the classrooms.  How about the Astronomy room?  It should be empty at this hour and considering the view, would probably be our best bet."

"Hmm, well we do both have our cloaks and it's still relatively warm . . . so sure.  Why not?"

In agreement, they started the long climb up the stairs, vehemently debating the worth of "The History of Hogwarts," not that Draco really believed it wasn't worth the pages it was printed on, but he enjoyed played Devil's advocate and that even more, simply couldn't resist provoking her formidable temper.  Smiling down at her, he let her words flow over him as he instead focused on the excitement in her face and her voice as she passionately defended her most beloved of books.  Seeing that they had nearly reached their destination, he decided to give into his long restrained impulse and leaned down, brushing a light kiss across her forehead, "and of course, you're right, love.  How could I possibly argue with that?"

Hermione fell silent mid-word in bemusement and turned to stare at him.  Did she hear him right?  Did he actually just call her "love"?  In a distant corner of her mind, she wondered how long she might have stood there in confusion, if hadn't gently pulled her into the room alongside him.  She watched him as he dropped her bag on a desk near the closet, before he walked her out towards the open platform, her thoughts running rampant inside her head.  It wasn't fair, she decided, for him to casually drop something like that and then to act like it was nothing.  Well, if he wanted to play that way, then she could do the same.  On a certain level she was fully aware of how petulant that sounded, but didn't care.  She refused to react on command.

Shaking off his hand, Hermione walked out as far as she dared, until she was standing on the very edge and staring out across the night vista.  Despite her annoyance with Draco, it really was such a beautiful sight.  She turned back to him a brilliant smile, "This was a great idea, Draco.  I haven't been back up here since I quit Trelawney's class and never at night before." 

He smiled indulgently, taking a quiet and relieved satisfaction in her obvious pleasure.  For a moment there, he was afraid that he had gone too far, in calling her 'love,' maybe he'd miscalculated and she wasn't ready to accept that level of intensity from him yet, but he loved pushing her buttons.  He could always play it off and she'd never be the wiser, if worse came to worse.  This tightrope act was beginning to get to him, but what else could he do, when time was so rapidly running out?  Waiting until she turned back to look out over the castle grounds and the Forbidden Forest, he closed his eyes, trying to regain his mood from a few minutes ago, only to abruptly open them again when she began speaking.

"Look you can see the Big Dipper over there, " and she pointed up to the constellation, "it seems so close, like if you just reached up high enough you could touch it."

"Ha!  Anyone can find the Big Dipper," Draco laughed, stepping directly behind her.  He quickly captured her outstretched hand, in a loose grip, as he moved it a few inches.  "Do you see the Little Dipper?"  She nodded her head and he continued, "ok, now follow that to the very end of the 'handle', now that is Polaris, the North Star."

"Ohhhh . . . be still my heart . . . the Little Dipper, because that is so much more exciting than the Big Dipper," the sarcasm in her voice was unmistakable.

Draco arched an eyebrow in response, "Feeling a bit cheeky tonight, aren't we?"  He shook his head in rueful amusement for a second, before his other arm slipped around her waist, pulling her back tightly against his hard chest.  Dropping his chin down to her shoulder, until she could feel the warmth of his breath against the air-chilled skin of her neck, "now if you'll stop being a brat, I will show you something that, well, if it isn't 'more exciting', than it is certainly more interesting than the Little Dipper."  Tilting her head a fraction of an inch to challenge that last statement, she turned to see his eyes almost glowing in the dim light and completely forgot what she was about to say, when for a long moment felt herself sinking into the abyss of conflicting emotions that she always sensed were just barely held under control in some deep and dark place within him.  Suddenly he pulled back slightly, his eyes flickering back out to the starlit sky and she felt off balance, as if she had just been set free from some invisible tether, leaning back against his warm body helped her re-gather her bearings. 

After a brief but seemingly significant pause, he continued speaking, "anyway, if you look between the last two stars of the Big Dipper, the pointer stars, and the North Star, "his fingers directing her own as he spoke, "they lead you to Thuban, the star that forms the end of the tail for the constellation Draco."  His fingers slowly traced through the stars, drawing the picture for her to visualize.

Carefully following the image he outlined, Hermione, took a deep breath, hoping the crisp night air would help clear her head.  "I remember reading about this constellation and the legends about the dragon."

"Yeah, there are few stories, but my personal favorite is the one of the golden apple.  Draco was traditionally the guardian of temples, treasures, the springs of life and immortality, because of his vigilance, perception and loyalty.  The goddess Hera, queen of the heavens, choose him above all else to serve as protector of the precious golden apples that she had given as a wedding gift to her husband Zeus.  It's kinda of ironic when you think about it.  Draco was murdered by Hercules, Zeus's own son, who stole the apples for his 11th or 12th task, I forget.  Fucking upstart demi-gods. . .  Anyway, Hera rewarded Draco for his faithfulness by lifting him up into the sky to be remembered forever as a constellation and to be seen by all for eternity.  Who says there is no reward in death?" 

Draco gave a briefly sarcastic smirk, before shrugging his shoulders, "in that story, my namesake at least comes off better than in most of the others, but always ends up brutally dying in the end, no matter what.  When I was younger, I always wondered if that was somehow supposing to be foreshadowing my own eventual death."  At Hermione's sharp look, he added, "but then again, I was a bit morbid as a child.  Whatever . . . another interesting fact about Thuban," he once again pointed his hand and hers along with it, "is that about four thousand years ago, it used to be the North Star.  The Great Pyramid in Egypt is perfectly aligned to it and in a few thousand more years, it will once again be aligned perfectly North."

"You are definitely a strange one, Draco Malfoy."  Hermione wasn't quite sure what to say after all that, but felt the need to say something and figured that was as innocuous as she could possible get at this point.

One corner of his mouth quirked up into a half smile, "and you're just noticing that now, Granger?  I'm shocked, your highly vaunted powers of observation must be slipping."  She rolled her eyes and pulling her hand free, lightly smacked his arm, relieved that the awkward moment of seriousness seemed to have passed with little to no damage.

"Well, whatever the stories may be, I don't think anyone would argue about how very beautiful it is," her voice was very quiet, barely more substantial than a whisper, as she continued to gaze out the at the brightly lit sky.

Draco, drew back a millimeter or two to look down at her, taking the opportunity to brush a few stray strands of hair off her face, carefully tucking them behind one ear, and looked down at her fondly.  "Definitely beautiful," he murmured.  A faint noise caught his attention as he looked back towards the staircase, one of his fingers pressing against Hermione's lips in that universal understood gesture of silence.  After a moment of intense concentration, Draco was ready to chalk it up his imagination until he heard it again; only this time it was a steady creak and getting louder.  Someone was coming up the stairs!  If they were lucky it might be Flitch, if they were unlucky . . . well, there was always that ever-growing list of people that he was in no rush to have to deal with, especially with Hermione here - dammit, he needed to think fast.  He leaned down to whisper in her ear, his voice barely audible, "Hermione, do you trust me?"

"Draco, what the hell is going on?"

"Yes or no, Hermione," he ground out, still in that low whisper, "awww, fuck it, we don't have the time to argue."  Pulling out his wand, he brushed his lips against her, "I'm sorry, Hermione, but this is for your own good.  Petrificus Totalus."  He winced at the look of shock on her face, as he dropped his wand to brace himself to catch her body.  Struggling to keep her body upright, he very carefully maneuvered her body a few feet away, straining himself to open the closet door without tipping her over, to lay her on the closet floor.  "I know, I know, you want to kill me for this.  I promise that I'll get rid of whoever is coming as quickly as possible and afterwards I'll give you your chance, ok?"  With an apologetic look in his eyes, he quietly shut the door, leaving her lying there helpless in the darkness.  Grabbing his wand, he sat down leaning against the wall, one leg outstretched along the edge of the floor, the other hanging outside and waited.

"So this is where you choose to lurk . . . an interesting choice, almost makes me wonder what you're trying to hide," the words dripped with a nearly visceral sense of oily suspicion.  Draco was glad he was facing the nighttime sky, since he doubted that he'd have been able to control his expression, as it was it took all his effort not to visibly flinch away from that voice.  Of all the people he least expected to see, of course, it had to be him . . . at least he'd made sure Hermione was safely hidden away, but that was only a small consolation at this point.  Draco closed his eyes fiercely for a moment, exhaling a deep sigh, before he turned to face his father.

"Who were you up here with, Draco?"  Lucius prowled around the room, searching intently, randomly swinging his walking stick through the air.

"No one, sir."  Despite his best efforts to ignore it, Draco could feel the overwhelming impulse to confess all and to throw himself on his fathers mercy, before it happened, but knew all too well from experience that there would be no mercy to be found, there never was.  Nor could he forget that Hermione was in the closet, completely unable to defend herself in any way and it was his fault.  The last four words echoed through his head, like a sick mantra he couldn't ignore.

"Really?"  The disbelief was overly exaggerated and patently obvious.  "You wouldn't be . . . lying to me, now would you?"

"No, I'm not that stupid, sir."  He's just fishing . . . he doesn't actually know anything - he's just trying to fuck with me, as usual.  Draco felt his dread continue to rise within him as every second passed.

"Considering how much time we've spent together . . . correcting your many flaws, I would hope not, but then again, I never thought I would have to hear reports of you lowering yourself to associate with mudbloods either."   Lucius' words struck with the impact of an uncoiling viper, playing with its prey before moving in for the kill with deadly accuracy.

Draco's body suddenly froze very still for a second, a lack of movement that would only be detected by someone who was waiting for it, someone like Lucius Malfoy.  Draco's mind went completely and utterly blank, the only thing he could focus is on was the knowledge that he was fucked and that this time, it might be beyond any chance of redemption.  It didn't matter where he got his info from and there was no way to tell how much he knew, except to play this out.  Fuck.  Fuck.  Fuck.

"Can you image how bad it looks for me to have my only son and heir willingly spending time with that mudblood whore of Potters?  Hmmmm?  What do you have to say for yourself, Draco?"  Each word was bit out and crisply enunciated like the drawn out lash of a whip upon flesh.  In the midst of Draco's spiraling and almost uncontrollable panic, a corner of his mind was sarcastically laughing in relief, at least the chances were good that even his father wouldn't actually bring his whip onto school grounds.

"It's not like that, sir," the words began tumbling out of Draco's mouth without any conscious thought.  Come on, dammit, think of something and fast.  Just remember you have Hermione, in the closet, listening to every word and your father, standing in front of you, who'd have no compunction with killing you - don't worry, Draco, there's no pressure or anything, he thought to himself, the laughter in his head building up to a near hysteria.

"Place your wand on the desk," his father's voice was low and malevolent and Draco knew what was coming.  The only outward reaction he allowed himself was the white-knuckled grip on his wand, before he forced his hand open, allowing it to fall out of his now nerveless fingers. 

Trapped in the closet, Hermione felt like she was going to go insane with an intense combination of fear and frustration.  No matter how much she struggled against Draco's spell, there wasn't a dammed thing she could do and she was all too aware of that fact.  Her eyes and back of her throat burned, with the tears that would not fall and then she heard Lucius tell Draco to put down his wand and gasped in shock.  Whatever Lucius was intending to do, he obviously wanted Draco to be unable to defend himself, but Draco had to know that, right?  Hermione told herself that he was going to tell his father to fuck off . . . and then panic welled exploded inside her, when she heard the next few words spoken.

"Well, I'm pleased to see you haven't forgotten how, at the very least, to obey your betters," the elder Malfoy was almost gleeful in his smug satisfaction.  Ever since Draco was a young child, he had used every trick in his vast arsenal to indoctrinate his son into conditioned and unthinking obedience: teaching him that submission on command was far more preferable than the punishment for even appearance of failure.  The slightest hint of rebelliousness, independent thought, free will or defiance were not to be permitted under any circumstances and would be punished in the extreme.  He had far too much riding on his son's continued loyalty and compliance.  Originally, he had wanted to send Draco to Durmstrang Institute, afraid the mudblood and mudblood-lovers influence at Hogwarts would weaken him, but decided with Harry Potter being his same age, it would be a prime opportunity for his son to prove himself as a deatheater and thus yet another coup for Lucius.  "So now why don't you tell me exactly how it is."  He didn't even try to disguise the sneer in his voice.

Draco could feel his slight veneer of control begin to give way to the intense fear his father was able to draw out of him.  He toyed with the idea of giving the story of his detention and then the potion assignment, but looking up at his father briefly he knew that he had already waited too long to be believed.   He couldn't risk his father putting him under the Imperius curse, Merlin only knew what he might to forced to say or do.  No, he'd have to give his father what he wanted, this time, at least.  "I was planning on getting close to her and then turning her against Potter.  She might be a muggle, but she is also the brains of the group, without her assistance, I though it'd be that much easier to capture him for our lord."  He tilted his head in a half-bow, his eyes lowered respectively to the floor.  Draco knew that if he looked Lucius in the face, then he'd never be able to disguise the hatred in his eyes.  Hopefully, Hermione would let him explain before she attacked him, although at this point, he'd be thankful just to get that chance. 

In that split second, Hermione cringed, cursing herself to hell for allowing herself to end up in this situation, while waiting with a morbid curiosity to hear the words that would damn her followed by the opening of the closet door.

"Hmmmm, while I applaud you for taking the initiative, I wonder why you never bothered to keep me informed.  Perhaps you need a reminder of exactly whose orders you are supposed to following, boy."  His voice was suddenly silken with menace and he raised his wand abruptly, smiling cruelly, "Crucio."  Draco involuntary tensed his muscles a split second before he heard the curse, knowing what was coming but unable to keep himself standing when the wave of intense agony struck, nor able to stop his scream of pain.  "Now why don't you tell me what you've really been up to?  You know the drill, all you have to do is tell me the truth and only then will I allow all pain to stop."

"Nothing sir," Draco gasped out, "I was just trying to . . . ahhhh- " he bit through his lip trying to hold back his screaming; hoping that the taste of his blood would help ground him.  "Just trying to . . . to make you proud, sir." 

Hermione flinched internally when she heard Draco's confession, waiting for him to continue, and again when she heard Lucius use the unforgivable curse on him and the sound of what had to have been Draco's body hitting the floor.  Her emotions racing from one extreme to another as she realized exactly what he was knowingly sacrificing in choosing to remain silent. 

Lucius stared at his son lying helplessly on the floor below writhing in throes of the agonizing pain, still fighting to rise to his feet.  He was completely indifferent to the suffering before him or the fact that it was his son.  On the contrary, the only issue that seemed to disturb him at all was uncertainty of whether the boy was attempting to deceive him.  It was possible to lie under the effect of Crucius curse, extremely difficult, true, but not entirely impossible.  He couldn't image Draco having the strength of will needed to focus on deception while being tortured, but he had to allow for the possibility, no matter how improbable it might be. 

Not the first time, he contemplating walking away, but he'd invested too much in the boy to allow him to die just yet, besides this scheme the boy had begun might actually show some results, although he seriously doubted that idea.  Something shadowed Lucius's cold features as he stared down intently at his son. Suspicion and contemplation moving like deadly undercurrents.  Draco might be developing some sort of misplaced sense of loyalty or even worse a conscience, and its emergence must be carefully controlled and manipulated. And used before being ultimately destroyed, he reminded himself.  Draco knew better than to try and evade the piercing gaze.  The world was graying at the edges of his vision from blood loss and pain, but he kept control of himself and stood quietly, but violently shivering, and waited for the next question or death, whatever came first.

Reluctantly, Lucius waved his wand, bringing an end to the curse,  "never forget, boy, you owe everything to me, including your very life.  I will allow you a bit of leeway in this matter, but I except to be kept informed on your progress.  The Day of Reckoning is fast approaching and you damned well know of your special role in the proceedings to come.  Fail me again, in any way, and the consequences will be severe enough to make you long for today, do you understand me?"  At Draco's weak nod of assent, he generously added, "excellent.  I have to leave, so you can tell your little friend they can take off their invisibility cloak now," and walked out of the room, leaving his son who finally completely collapsed on the floor, slipping in and out of consciousness. 

Draco was drifting in and out of awareness, between a hazy impression of a pale, washed out gray mist and the all too vivid sensations of what he recognized from experience as reality.  He knew there was something, something waiting for him, but couldn't follow the faint tendrils of memory, wondering why he even bothered to struggle anymore when letting go was so much easier.  What could possibly be so important?  And as if in response, cinnamon rain seemed to color his world as he remembered her eyes, then her face, and he forced himself back.

Get up, Draco thought contemptuously, even as he tried to ignore that coppery taste of blood in his mouth.  Get up.  You don't have time for this shit.  Get the fuck up.  Blinking he saw the coarse planks of wood, liberally splattered with his own blood, and took a deep breath.   Draco braced himself, placing his palms flat on the floor and forced himself off the floor.  He staggered to his feet, grabbing the edge of the desk for support and weakly found his wand with his free hand.  Stumbling to the closet, he pulled it open and nearly fell over in the process.  Hermione stared up at him, as he slumped against the doorframe next to her, sliding to the floor.  She wasn't sure exactly what she had been expecting, but this was as about as bad as her worst fears.  "Finite incantatum," his voice was rough and hoarse, as he waved his wand unsteadily, before it slipped though his numb fingers and his head fell forward to chest.

Suddenly freed from the spell, Hermione sat up and immediately crawled the foot and a half distance between her and Draco to kneel before him.  "Oh my god, are you ok?"  She reached out with gentle fingers to tilt his head back slightly so she could look him in the eye and was startled by how cold his skin was to her touch.

"Define ok."  He opened one eye to peer at her, giving a weak laugh.  "You know all the times, I've imagined you on your knees, this isn't quite how I pictured it."  She could tell that he was trying to sound as normal as possible, but the forced humor in his voice did nothing to alleviate her concern, especially when contrasted by the dull look in his eyes.  His skin was pasty white, making the blood dripping down from his lip seem that much more ominous and she could still see the muscle convulsions running just under his skin.  Her smile was shaky, but she decided that if he needed to maintain this facade, the least she could do was to play along.  "Sorry to disappoint," she quipped, her mind focusing on figuring out what to do next.  "Come on, let's get out of this closet, I've spent enough time in here anyway."  She gingerly lifted one of his arms around her neck and very carefully helped him stand.

Bearing most of his weight, Hermione fought to keep her balance and gave a sigh of relief, once she finally reached the desk.  Looking up at her, in a weak imitation of his usual smirk, he said, "thanks for the lift," as he fell heavily into the seat.  She just raised her eyebrow at him before she grabbed her bag.  Dumping it out onto the floor, she hastily began picking though various things, flashing a brief smile of triumph, as she found the object of her search.

"Ha!"  She exclaimed, "I knew this was in here somewhere, I always keep at least one on hand for emergencies," she said as she quickly unwrapped the thick bar of Cadbury chocolate.  "Here, eat this, it should help a bit."  He accepted it with a slight nod and color began to return to his checks, taking a slight edge off Hermione's worry.  Draco could feel his strength slowly returning, although he still felt half dead, but figured that he'd gotten off easy so far.  For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why Hermione hadn't cursed him herself yet, maybe in the name of Gryffindor fairness, she wanted him to be able to stand on her feet, before attacking him.  Bloody honorable Gryffindors . . .

Sick of waiting for the other shoe to drop, he kept his eyes averted from hers asking, "so now what?"  His voice was filled with painful anticipation and he hated himself for allowing it to escape.

 "Hmmm," she looked up in surprise, breaking off another piece of the chocolate and putting it in his hand.  "Well, I figured that the first thing we should do is to get you to see Madame Pomfrey.  The chocolate is good, but she probably has other medicine that would help you even more."

"What?"  Draco looked up startled.  "Why the hell are you still trying to help me?"

"Oh . . ." Hermione's kept her voice steady as she was beginning to understand that he expected her to just abandon him.  Sighing, she pulled up a desk and sat down, brushing away some sweat-dampened hair that had fallen into his eyes.  Taking a gamble and hoping like hell it was one that she would win, she asked him, "Would it make you feel better if I left?"

He opened his mouth to immediately retort, but they closed it almost as quickly, almost as if he had thought better of the impulse.  "Actually, yeah it would."  He shook his head and it only took a moment for the sudden stab of pain to convince him that was a bad idea and he sighed.  "Look, if this some sort of Gryffindor charity shit, you don't have to worry about it.  This is the last place you want to be, so you can run off and do whatever."  The words tumbled out, one after another, as he stared over her shoulder, refusing to meet her eyes.  He laughed sarcastically, "It's not like it was the first time he's cursed me and it won't be the last, so it's really no big deal."  Draco then closed his eyes, figuring that would do the trick.  He needed her to leave, before he completely broke down.  At this point, he was more than willing to insult her, even force her to leave if that was what it was going to take, not that he sure he'd be able to magic his way out of a paper bag at this moment. 

Something inside of Hermione felt like it was breaking as she listened in horror to his toneless and apathetic recital of the facts as he saw them.  When she realized that he believed in what he was saying, her anger began to grow.  He honestly expected her to just get up and leave!    Granted, she had been more that a little freaked out by what she'd heard, but considering what he'd went through, she could feel nothing but an intense sense of compassion for him and a violent desire for retribution from his father, although she was quick to realize that now was not time for either emotion.  She knew from what he had let slip earlier that his father had seriously fucked him up as a child, but she had no idea that it was anywhere near this bad.  Walking out now, she knew without saying would be beyond disastrous.

To everyone who reviewed my last chapter - YOU ROCK!!!!  LOL.  Thank you all so very much - you really do make this all worthwhile for me ;)  The next chapter is about half way to completion & will up fairly soon, hopefully within a week.

Ok . . . once again, if you've left me your email, I added you to my brand new mailing list for this story, so you get a happy little email each & every time I update, if I didn't get one, well obviously I don't have your email or I missed it somehow. If you review this chapter & leave your email in the review or I can get it off your profile.  Now I know more of you are reading this than are reviewing & I hate to whine, but come on . . . this chapter is 30 pages double spaced!!!!  A line or two review won't kill you & you really have no idea how much I wait for & get excited by reviews, checking my email OBSESSIVELY & it would be nice to break 300.  Don't forget that it's good karma to review, you'll be more than amply rewarded in the next life, plus it's terribly encouraging to be to post the next chapter that much quicker.   So please read, enjoy & review ;)