How much did he hear? Hermione asked Severus, still frozen in her position on the floor.
"You tried to kill Hermione?" Harry asked Draco, his tone bewildered. "When? How?"
Draco straightened up. "I didn't try to kill her," he said, looking as lost as Hermione was feeling. "I didn't know what would happen when I put the spell on her. It wasn't supposed to nearly kill her. I don't know what my father was thinking."
I don't know what he heard – he was asleep when you and Potter started your conversation. I think he heard enough.
Now what do I do? she asked helplessly. Sooner or later Draco was going to ask how she knew he was after her and the minute Draco told his father, Severus was a dead man. Even if Lucius didn't kill Severus right away, he would be in for a pretty thorough beating and would definitely pay later.
Stop worrying about me, Severus told her. Hermione's thoughts were jumbled and frantic and were starting to give him a headache. I was never going to get out of here alive, Hermione. Do whatever you have to do.
Harry reached down to help Hermione up, his eyes still on Draco.
"I think we need to go somewhere more private," Harry said, nodding to the rest of the people in the room who somehow had stayed asleep, or were at least pretending to be asleep through all the shouting.
Hermione nodded and walked into her bedroom. She waited for Draco and Harry to come in before closing the door, warding it and casting a silencing charm on it.
God, I'm so sorry, she whispered to Severus. I wasn't thinking. I am so sorry.
It's all right. Talk t Draco. I'll be here for you when you've finished. Whatever happens, you couldn't have changed what would happen to me, Hermione. Understand that. This is not your fault.
Severus let his head drop into his hands and groaned. It was make or break time now – Draco had finally found out that Hermione knew what he was up to and now all Hermione could do was either talk Draco out of carrying out his plan, or she would have to make a bloody quick getaway, before Draco could try anything sudden – because as soon as he realised how screwed he really was, he was going to do something extreme.
Don't let down your guard, whatever you do, he warned her, feeling helpless. He's going to be pretty desperate now that he knows that you know.
I wish you were here.
So do I, Severus said quietly.
I won't let him find out it was you, Hermione promised. I won't let you get hurt because I wasn't thinking. I'll think of something to tell him.
"How did you find out?" Draco asked, dropping into one of Hermione's chairs and putting his head in his hands, unknowingly mimicking Severus. "I don't understand."
"Will someone fill me in here?" Harry asked, taking Hermione by the shoulders and forcing her to sit down. "All that pacing is making me feel dizzy," he told her.
"Malfoy has decided to join Voldemort's little club," Hermione said, her voice tired. "And has to hand me in to become a member, or die a painful death. That's about the sum of it."
"You were going to kill give Hermione to Voldemort to save your own pathetic arse?" Harry asked incredulously. "Just when I'd started to think you weren't all bad."
Draco cringed. "Look, I got carried away. And we'd never really got on before. Bringing him 'Harry Potter's best friend' would have given me an early advantage – it was father's idea. How did you know what I was doing, Granger?"
Hermione thought fast, biting her lip as she did. When she finally spoke her voice came out surprisingly strong and confident. Even she would have believed herself.
"I'm not stupid, Malfoy," Hermione said. "I know what Death Eaters have to do to become initiated. When horrible things started happening to me, I figured I'd been chosen. It didn't take much to work out who I'd been chosen by."
You lie like a Slytherin, Severus informed her, feeling strangely proud of her.
I'll take that as a compliment, she said with a small inward smile.
It was meant as one.
"I didn't kill your parents, you have to believe that," Draco said, suddenly getting out of his chair and dropping to his knees next to the bed. "I didn't want to hurt you, but this is the only choice I have. If I don't do this, I won't have anything left."
"I understand why you're doing it," Hermione said, hating herself for feeling sorry for Draco, but doing it all the same. "But you do have a choice."
"He doesn't bloody have a choice," Harry interrupted. "We're going to turn him in to Dumbledore and that's going to be the end of it. Dumbledore can decide what to do with him."
"You don't understand, Granger. How could you, up here in your precious Gryffindor tower with all your bloody ideals?" Draco got to his feet and started pacing around the room in almost the exact same way Hermione had been moments earlier. "Do you know what will happen to me if I don't hand you over to the Dark Lord? Do you have any idea?"
"We've both had more than one run-in with Voldemort, Malfoy," Harry said, putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders in a comforting gesture. "We are well aware of what he's capable of – that's why we chose to fight against him, instead of siding with him which only makes him stronger."
"Do you really think that once you become a Death Eater, it's all going to be okay?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco. He looked scared and lost. "If you have some misplaced ideas that your Dark Lord looks after his own, then you're going to be sorely disappointed."
"What do you know?" Draco spat back at Hermione. "Stupid little Mudblood with ridiculous ideals. Except you're not so sweet and innocent anymore, are you? Who knocked you up, Granger? Who did you give that precious virginity of yours to?"
"Watch your mouth, Malfoy," Harry said, his eyes flashing in anger as he got to his feet, gripping his wand tightly in his hand.
"You think you can make me, Potter?" Draco asked, getting to his feet and taking a step towards Harry. "I should have known all this was fake, just to get what you wanted. Did you really think that a few drinks and a few friendly words would save your friend?"
"You will not lay a finger on Hermione," Harry said quietly. "She's worth ten of you, and if I have to kill you to protect her, I will without a moment's thought or hesitation."
"Oh for God sake, sit down, both of you," Hermione snapped. "Harry didn't know about any of this until just now."
"So who was it, Granger?" Draco said, not moving, but turning his gaze to Hermione. "Who did you break Weasley's heart for?"
"That's none of your business, Malfoy," Hermione said, putting her hand on her stomach unconsciously. She jumped when Draco took a few steps towards her.
"Stay away from her," Harry said, moving to stand between them.
"Can I see?" Draco asked, his face suddenly unreadable, his eyes on Hermione's stomach.
"See what?" Harry asked, his wand still pointed at Draco.
Hermione looked at Draco questioningly, before pulling the top of her pyjamas up to show Draco her stomach. She pulled the pyjama bottoms down a little, so Draco could see the barely noticeable swell that was her and Severus' tiny baby.
Draco took a step forward and Harry, unsure of whether to hex him or back away from his sudden apparent insanity, stepped to the side.
"I had a baby," Draco said, his voice suddenly different. He dropped to his knees in front of Hermione. "I never got to see it – the moment my father found out, Eleanor disappeared. He told me after that he'd sliced the baby out of her stomach and torched it. Told me, just like that, then he bought me a drink and took me to meet some of his friends, as if it had never happened."
Hermione looked down at Draco, Horror evident in her eyes.
Did you know about this?
I'd heard rumours, Severus confirmed. There were some whispers a couple of years ago about Draco bedding one of the servants at the Malfoy Manor. When she disappeared and her parents started searching for her, people joked that maybe Lucius or Draco had managed to get her pregnant and had to… dispose of her. I had no idea that there was any truth in the story or I would have tried to talk to Draco about it.
"She was nice. Pureblood, but not rich. Father approved of me screwing her, but when he started to suspect I cared for her, he got angry." Draco was staring intently at Hermione's stomach. He lifted his hand and placed it on her stomach, making her flinch. "She was the only person who's ever let me be myself," he said, so quietly Harry and Hermione had to strain to hear it. "We were thinking of running away together. It was the only way, but of course my father couldn't have that. Couldn't have a Malfoy marrying a servant; couldn't have a servant bearing a Malfoy child."
If he doesn't back away from you in a moment, I am going to find a way to get out of here and skin him alive. Severus could feel how Hermione had started to shake – this was all getting too much for her. Draco was sounding more and more hysterical by the second and he didn't want Hermione close to him, especially not with his hand so close to Severus' baby.
And I don't want his hands on Hermione either, he admitted to himself.
"If you weren't pregnant, this would be so much easier," Draco said, dropping his hand from her stomach. "Sacrificing you isn't difficult. I don't like it, but I can do it if I have to. But I don't want another baby to die in the Malfoy name."
Harry put his hand around Hermione's shoulders and pulled her to the side, away from Draco. He pushed her behind him and then took a step towards Draco.
"Look Malfoy, that was an awful thing to happen to you," he said, not quite knowing what to do or say. "Your dad was really out of order and you probably need to talk to someone about this properly – you can't bottle something like that up. But right now Mione needs to get some sleep, and I think we all need to sleep on this. We can talk in the morning."
Draco looked up at Harry and Harry flinched at the tears started to spill from Draco's eyes.
"I really thought you had changed," Draco said, his eyes burning into Harry's. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
Before Harry could react, Draco had Harry's and Hermione's wands both safely in his fist. At a murmured word, the walls began to shimmer and suddenly Harry had disappeared from sight. Hermione gasped.
"What have you done to Harry?" she asked, flying at Draco. She used her nails, teeth, anything she could to hurt him. All the things he had done to her and her family were churning up inside her and she wanted to hurt him, make him see how it felt. "What. Have. You. Done?"
"Relax Granger," Draco said, dropping the wands into his pocket to grasp the girl's wrists in his hands. "He's fine – he's back in the other room with everyone else."
"What on earth did you do that for?" she asked, breathing deeply.
"I need to decide what to do. I've put up a barrier – no one can get in or out except me and it would take even that old fool Dumbledore at least a few days to get in."
"There is no decision to make, Malfoy," Hermione said, fighting the tears that were still threatening to come. "I'd have to pledge myself to Voldemort willingly. Locking me in here with you for a couple of days isn't going to do that."
Please say you can still hear me, Severus? Hermione asked, trying to calm her thoughts. Severus?
"Oh God."
Severus?
"What?" Draco asked, frowning. "Is the baby okay? What's wrong?"
Hermione tried reaching out with her mind, but she seemed to hit some sort of wall. She groaned and pulled her hands free of Draco's grasp. She climbed onto her bed and scooted up to the top, so she could rest against the pillows.
"The baby is fine," Hermione said, tiredly. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Now?" Draco's brow furrowed and Hermione sighed.
"Yes, now," she said. "You've got me here, so what are you going to do now?"
"Oh, just shut up," Draco snarled, going over to one of Hermione's chairs and sitting down, folding his arms defensively.
"I thought so," Hermione said, sighing and closing her eyes. She didn't trust him, but if she stayed awake much longer she was going to collapse from exhaustion. Tomorrow she'd think of a plan – some way to get out of here and some way to rescue Severus.
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The reviews are much appreciated – my boyfriend reckons my head won't be able to fit through doors soon. Keep reviewing – could use an excuse to stay in all the time and write this ;o)
To the people reading this on Whispers and put Hermione and Severus' thoughts in italics, but as I just copy and paste from Word instead of doing the HTML thing, it doesn't show. My grammar isn't that bad, really. If it gets confusing trying to work out what is text and what are meant to be thoughts, try reading it at http:
