Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. All credit must be given to J.K.

The Cradle Will Fall

Chapter 11

Harry stumbled forward but caught himself before he fell. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and looked up. Harry's eyes grew wide and his mouth was agape when he saw the sight. He assumed he was in Draco's manor. No. Manor was an understatement. This place was like a palace, but more eerie. He was in a hall that extended into the shadows. The ceiling was almost non-existent, so high up you couldn't see it. The walls were completely bare. No tapestries, no family photos. It was cold. Harry was so distracted by the hall he didn't notice anything else, not even sound. That included Hermione's earsplitting screams. When his excitement finally diminished, Harry turned around, expecting to find Hermione and Draco. He saw gold...then black.

The Malfoy Manor melted into place around Hermione, only elevating her fear. She continued to scream, but for some reason Harry didn't seem to notice her. She took a step back, unsure of what to do. A couple steps away, Harry stood trying to examine something above.

"Harry! Harry!" She tried desperately to catch his attention, but no matter how loud she screamed, he somehow remained deep in his own thoughts.

She looked over to her left and noticed Lucius trying to get the mud stain out of his new cloak. Hermione attempted to sneak over to Harry before Malfoy looked up. For some reason, though, her feet would not budge. The harder she tried lifting her foot, the heavier it would become. She must have been under a spell. One of the few spells she didn't know.

"If you think you're going to outsmart me, Granger, you're wrong." Malfoy spoke, startling Hermione. He was standing straight now, looking very dominant and fearsome. If he couldn't see the fear in her eyes, he most definitely could sense it.

Malfoy walked slowly towards Harry. Hermione continued to scream, but to no avail. His pale hand disappeared into the black folds of his cloak, reappearing seconds later with the golden orb they had used to get here. He was not, however, using it to portkey somewhere else. He lifted it high above his head.

"Harry!" Hermione tried once more. His head snapped forward and he began to look to the sides. As he turned around, Malfoy smashed the heavy orb against the side of his head. Harry lay still on the floor, blood oozing from his head. The sight alone caused Hermione to feel lightheaded. Malfoy turned then, focusing his menacing gaze upon her. He smirked, momentarily reminding her of Draco. She cursed herself for ever believing this man was Draco.

He stood face to face with her now, laughing at her silence. His gray eyes pierced through her like ice, sending shivers through her entire body. He set his hand on her chest and pulled at the fastenings of her school robe, pushing it off when he had undone them all. She felt bare, but was relieved he didn't proceed to remove her school uniform.

He pressed himself against her, grabbing every spot available to him.

"Please...Please stop." Hermione's voice was barely audible, but he still heard her. She regretted saying anything, though. He stepped back, his face contorted in rage. He lifted his hand and Hermione squeezed her eyes shut. He didn't slap her like she was expecting. He punched her, hard, leaving two large bruises on the left side of her face and a bleeding cut lip.

"Would you like to say anything else? If you do, go ahead. And for every word you utter you will pay." He hissed into her ear. She shuddered at his voice but made sure to nod.

Malfoy slid his hands into her hair and moved closer. He kissed her neck slowly, moving up to her mouth. Hermione kept her eyes shut, not wanting to look at him. She wished Harry could save the day. That was impossible though.

He was sucking on her cut lip now. She couldn't help feeling pleasure. Perhaps that was why she was clenching her teeth together. She didn't want to lose control of herself. Especially to this man. This disgusting, vile man.

Hermione opened her eyes and realized everything was blurry. Her body was completely numb and she almost forgot where she was. She remembered, though, when her vision became clear once more. It had been a long time. At least fifteen minutes.

She had somehow been laid out on the stone floor, which explained why she felt so cold. Malfoy towered over her as he buttoned up his trousers. He had had his way with her and she hadn't done anything about it.

"Get up, mudblood." Malfoy kicked her hard in the side as he tucked his shirt in. She pushed herself onto her knees. "You've spoiled my family's good name. For that, you'll suffer." Hermione looked up momentarily, just in time to spot the golden orb coming down fast. And then...nothing...

The second Harry woke up, he opened his mouth. It felt as if it were stuffed full with cotton, making it difficult for him to breathe. His eyes shot open suddenly and he sat up quickly.

"I'm late for class." He frowned when he noticed his surroundings. He was in a very long, dark dungeon. The only light source in the dungeon came from the very end of the dungeon, which was about thirty cells to his left. Harry squinted into the dark, trying to figure out an escape route. He could make out stairs to his right that lead straight into the ceiling. He could not, however, figure out how to get out of the cell. There were no openings to it. All the cells had metal bars without openings. They were also very small and cramped, only allowing one to sit, not stand. He felt like a gorilla.

Harry crawled to the back of the cell and set his head against the wall. He wasn't sure what happened.

"One moment I'm checking out Malfoy Manor, the next I'm in a dungeon. This is Draco Malfoy's fault." He rubbed his face and realized his head was wet. He pulled his hand away, eyes widening when he realized it was red. His bleeding head was soon forgotten when he heard stirring to his left, though.

"Who's there?" He slowly crawled to the edge of his miniature prison, pressing himself against the bars to better see into the next cell.

"Hermione?" She was lying against the vertical bars at the other end of her cell. Harry noticed she had blood streaming from a spot on her head as well. Unlike Harry, though, she had bruises on her arms and very dark bruises on the left side of her face (his right). She was in her school uniform, which puzzled Harry.

"Hermione, where did your robes go? Did that bastard Malfoy do this?" He reached through the bars, beckoning her to come to the other side of her cell. She was not awake, though. When her eyes finally did flicker open Harry's motioning became more frantic.

"Over here." Harry whispered to her. She took her left hand and pressed it against her right side to stop the throbbing. With her right hand, she attempted to crawl over to where Harry was. Harry tried tearing a piece of his robe off for her, but it wouldn't rip.

"Shit. That always works for people in films." Hermione began to laugh, stopping immediately when the bruises on her side began to sting. Harry pulled off his school tie and tried wiping the blood from her face.

"Thank you." Even those few words caused her much pain. It hurt her to even breathe.

"Did Malfoy do this?" The two clasped their hands together when he said this. When she nodded, his grip grew suddenly tight.

"Harry, you're hurting me." He loosened his grip but did not let go of her hands.

"Sorry. It's just—I'll beat that Malfoy the second I get my hands on him. I knew we shouldn't have followed him." He frowned.

"No—Harry—Draco didn't do this to me," Harry now looked truly puzzled. 'But she just said...' He thought to himself, "It wasn't Draco. It was Lucius Malfoy. I think he used Polyjuice Potion to trick us. His body started to return to normal right as we touched the orb. I'm a little confused by it as well." Now her bruises were searing with pain, but by now she didn't care. Just then, a burst of purple shot at them, causing them to fly to opposite ends of their cells.

"Quite yous!" A squat house elf walked over to their cells. He had an eye missing and his skin was very leathery. He looked ancient. He eyed Hermione's bare legs and grinned, revealing six teeth.

"Pervert." Hermione's voice sounded very meek but she was angry and very serious. She pulled her skirt down, snapping the elf out of Perv-land.

&"You shtay aware firm eachudder. Mashta's odash." He winked at Hermione, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he spoke as if he had a mouth full of marbles.

"And who are you?" Harry pushed himself off from the stone floor and came up to the cell bars. He glared at the elf, determined not look away.

&"Meh? Meh ish Bashtawd." The two teenagers laughed but the elf did not understand. He was about to return to his sleep in his dark corner, but delayed his sleep when he heard noise from the entrance. Harry pushed his face against the opposite cell, trying to see what was happening.

The ceiling above the stairs were opening up, flooding the dungeon with more light. A figure walked down the steps carefully and then headed towards their cells. Harry squinted and sighed.

"Malfoy! How did you get here? Help us out!" Hermione sat up quickly when she heard Harry speak.

"Draco?" She couldn't quite believe her eyes. She smiled at the sight of him and was relieved he was there. He was not, however, smiling.

"Draco? What's wrong? Are you going to help us out?" Hermione tried to speak to him again, hoping he'd respond this time.

"Of course." He said in a monotone voice. She sensed no emotion from him. Not excitement, not joy, not gloom, not even anger. It didn't make sense to her. Draco pulled out his wand and tapped the two cells. Immediately the front bars disappeared. Harry crawled out quickly, relived to be out of the cramped space. Hermione hesitated briefly before Harry proffered a hand to her. It felt nice to stand and stretch their legs.

The three stood very close now. Close enough for Hermione to notice the bruises on the right side of Draco's face.

"Are you alright?" She reached out her hand and intended to caress his face. Harry felt a little jealous at this. Draco didn't allow it, though. He stepped back and frowned. Hermione dropped her right hand to her side.

"Follow me." He turned and walked towards the exit. Harry and Hermione both exchanged frowns but complied. He was their only way out. The odd thing, though, was Bastard the elf had not tried to stop them. In fact, he continued to stand in his spot, hands folded behind his back.

You stay away from each other. Master's orders.

Me? Me is Bastard.