The apparition was rough and unsmooth, so much so that as soon as Hermione landed, she fell to her knees and Draco was dazed. Duncan laughed wickedly and immediately grabbed the witch's arm. They didn't have time to notice where they were. Draco snarled and lunged, but Duncan stopped him by pointing his knife at him.

"One more step and her blood will splatter on your pretty face," Duncan snarled.

The Slytherin stood still, his shoulders heaving with his ragged breathing. If he dares to even get a whimper of pain out of her... He stared into Duncan 'Mackie' MacMillan's eyes and saw the full extent of his perverse madness. Hermione's eyes looked down in terror at her partner, but she didn't move.

Draco finally looked around.

"Familiar, isn't it?" Duncan smiled.

The shadows of the trees rustling in the wind surrounded them. A dirt path. Cloverhill. Penshaw.

"Home sweet home!" Duncan crooned, walking straight around Draco, still pulling poor Hermione by the arm.

As he pivoted to follow Duncan and Hermione, he came face to face with Duncan's old house. Had he returned to live there since their visit months ago? He wanted to fight, to snatch his girl from the hands of that psychopath, but he couldn't risk her life. Mackie wouldn't hesitate to kill her. But if he had really wanted to kill her, he would have done it already. He wants something, Draco thought, coming up the steps behind them. He wants something from me.

The stairs creaked under their feet and Duncan opened the unlocked door. It was much less dusty than before. He didn't look back once at the Slytherin, knowing that he was following him like a lapdog. He walked further into his house, taking a dark corridor that Draco and Ginny had already walked down.

Draco let his anger overwhelm him. "Where are you taking her?" he growled, grabbing Duncan's coat to hold him back.

Duncan turned around.

"A short stay," he replied, stoically. "I'm still not sure whether to put you in the same room or not. But I guess I will because I'm nice like that."

He turned again and continued down the corridor. He finally stopped in front of the last room on the right. It had been completely emptied. Draco remembered that at the time of their visit, this room had been set up like an office, with shelves for books, an armchair and a table. On the floor, scratches showed that the furniture had been pulled out of the room, probably by hand. Duncan pushed Hermione inside so hard that she almost tripped.

Draco took advantage of the fact that the knife was no longer near the girl and grabbed Duncan by the collar of his coat, pinning him to the corridor wall. He tried to ignore the fact that he didn't see where Duncan had put his knife.

"Tell me what you want from us," Draco roared violently.

Duncan pushed him away with ease before pointing his finger at him without saying a word.

Draco frowned. "Me? You want me?"

"That's right," Duncan replied.

Draco lunged at him again, pinning his arm to his throat and slamming him to the wall. Duncan let out a hoarse sound from his throat.

"If you want me, take me and let her go, you fucking bastard!" Draco shouted, anger contorting his features.

Duncan made a childish face, as if sulking. "Oh, but you know as well as I do that if the Mudblood's gone, you won't obey me. Let go of me."

Draco didn't let go and tightened his grip on him. He glanced at Hermione, standing in the empty room. "Apparate," he ordered her firmly.

"Draco..." she breathed.

"APPARATE."

Hermione closed her eyes to focus and Duncan laughed. After a moment the brunette opened her eyes again, a dazed expression on her face.

"It's not working..." she whispered.

Draco's eyes widened in horror.

"You really think it would have been that easy?" Duncan sneered. "Let go of me."

The Slytherin assessed the situation. Duncan had probably applied the Anti-Apparition Jinx in the room, or even the whole house. He wanted Hermione to run, but he and Duncan were blocking the door and Draco refused to let go of his grip on him. If Hermione managed to sneak out, even behind Draco, he was sure Duncan would manage to grab her anyway.

"I'll do anything you want if you let her go," Draco gritted.

Duncan shook his head, unfazed. "Don't play smart," he spat. "She'll stay here as long as you're here. This is the last time I'm going to say it: get off me. Right. Fucking. Now."

Draco refused. He didn't have his wand, and all he could do was try to get the upper hand on the situation. Anything that would allow Hermione to escape.

"All right," Duncan said. "I warned you."

With one of his free hands he stabbed Draco directly in the side. Draco couldn't see it coming. Hermione screamed and rushed towards her partner, who immediately collapsed to his knees, hands pressed to his side from where so much blood was already flowing. His head began to spin at once.

"Invisible sheath," smiled Duncan, the knife dripping red beads on the floor. "Convenient, isn't it?"

Hermione dropped in front of Draco, but Duncan kicked her away and she fell back hard into the empty room. "NO!" she shouted.

Draco dropped a bloody hand to the ground, bending over a little more. His vision was dotted with small white spots. Sounds came to him only faintly. It couldn't end like this... It couldn't end like this, on the floor, in a pool of blood, leaving Hermione to fend for herself with this monster.

Hermione began to cry harder. "Duncan!" she begged. "You don't have to do this! Heal him! Please, I'll do anything you want!"

Duncan didn't move a muscle and looked down at the young wizard at his feet. His floor was wet with dark blood. Pure blood. He sighed. "What a waste..." he muttered, sounding genuinely disappointed.

"Please, please!" continued Hermione, desperate. "Don't do this to him! I'll do anything you want, I promise! Please! You have my word!"

Duncan raised an eyebrow and put his hand theatrically to his chin, as if he were thinking. At his feet, a trickle of blood escaped from the Slytherin's mouth.

"You promise?" he finally asked.

Hermione nodded vigorously, still on the floor. "I promise," she wept. "You-You know me. I keep my word. Heal him, I beg you. Please, Duncan…"

"You do have a soft spot for Purebloods, don't you?" he scoffed.

The brunette did not answer and continued to beg him over and over. Two metres away from her, Draco was shaking with his entire body, one hand still firmly pressed against his bloody flank. He was panting and could not speak.

"Alright," Duncan sighed at last. "Fine." He drew his own wand, knelt in front of the wounded man and pointed it at his side. He recited healing spells. Deep down, he didn't want to kill Draco. It would have been a real waste.

After a few minutes, the Slytherin's complexion regained its colour and his breathing steadied. Slowly, Draco stood up, one hand still pressed against his side.

"There, you're going to be fine now," Duncan grumbled. He looked back at Hermione. "Happy?"

"Thank you," she stammered, still sniffling.

Duncan rolled his eyes, grabbed Draco by the collarbone and shoved him into the empty room. Still weak, the young wizard fell to the floor without resistance. Hermione rushed to his side, holding his head in her arms.

"You two are so dramatic," Duncan spat. "I'll come back for you, Malfoy." He slammed the door shut and locked it.

The Lioness helped her partner to her feet and cupped his cheeks in her hands. "I'm so sorry," she cried.

Draco stroked her cheek. "It's not your fault. He wants something from me. He won't really kill me. He's manipulating both of us to get what he wants. I'll talk to him, but not before I get you out of here."

He looked around, but the room was completely empty. There was one window, square and a bit small. He took off one of his shoes, took it in his hands and walked towards the window.

"Stand back," he ordered the witch.

Hermione complied and Draco hit the window with his shoe with all his might. It did not break. He tried again and again, and before long he couldn't count how many times he had tried. He kept hitting it with violence, out of breath and arm numb from the effort. He would get her out of here. Hermione would escape. He would not allow the window not to break. He would not allow Hermione to be trapped. He should never have agreed to this plan, never should have, never should have, never should have...

After a while a gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder. He didn't stop, his hits slower and slower and more desperate. Never should have! Hit. Never should have! Hit. Never should have! Hit.

"Draco..." Hermione whispered weakly behind him. "Stop…"

He struck again. Never should have! Hit. NEVER SHOULD HAVE! Hit. NEVER SHOULD HAVE! Hit.

NEVER! Hit.

SHOULD! Hit.

HAVE! Hit.

Hermione tried to lower his arm. "Draco! Stop it!"

He finally stopped, panting. His eyes were filled with tears. I shouldn't have...

"He probably put a spell on the window," she whispered. "It's no use."

"I— I'm going to get you out of here, Hermione…"

"I know…"

"I'm going to get you out of here. With or without magic. I'm going to get you out of here."

He repeated this sentence several times, leaning closer and closer to his Lioness, until her forehead finally rested against his. He caught his breath. The shoe fell from his hand to the ground, and he hugged her tightly, ignoring the still lingering pain in his side.

"I'm so sorry," he said into her hair. "I should never have involved you in this plan…"

"It was me who agreed to it. I don't want you to blame yourself."

"I'm going to get you out of here…"

Hermione stroked his back. "Yes," she murmured. "I know you will."

The hours went by, and the only way to tell how much time had actually passed was by the slow descent of the sun through the window. Draco thought of Fergus, dead from a single quick spell, too quick for him. Would Clive and Willem be able to find them?

Once night fell, darkness enveloped the entire room and the two Heads stayed pressed together, Draco with his back against the wall and Hermione resting her head on his legs. He played absentmindedly with her locks while looking out the window. Suddenly a flash of insight lit up his eyes.

"Hermione!" he gasped quietly, his voice barely audible.

No matter where Duncan was, Draco didn't want him to hear them. As little as possible.

Hermione looked up at him ; he had a little trouble making out her eyes in the darkness. Only moonlight filtered through the window, but the whitish glow wasn't enough to make out any detail. They hadn't spoken for several minutes, and Draco had even thought she had fallen asleep, but that didn't matter to him now.

"The coins!" he whispered.

The brunette sat up abruptly, gasping too. She shoved her hand into her bra and grabbed the warm coin. Draco did the same, pulling it out of the depths of his trouser pocket.

"How do you activate it again?" Draco whispered.

"Tap three times in the centre of the coin."

They did the same motion. A very thin relief filled the Slytherin. Now not only did Clive and Willem know what had happened, but Blaise, Ginny, Potter and Weasley would also know that they needed help. Surely they would be rescued soon.

"I don't know what we're supposed to be waiting for..." said Hermione.

She kept her coin in her clenched fist and lay back down on the floor, resting her head again on Draco's thighs. He dropped his head against the wall and began stroking her hair again.

"Shhh..." he hushed gently. "We'll find a solution. Try to sleep for now."

She took a moment to answer, and it was only faintly that she did so. "You should try to sleep, too…"

"No way," he refused. "I'll watch over you day and night, Hermione. I won't let him near you."

The Lioness raised her arm and reached out into the darkness to touch his cheek softly with her fingertips.

"Promise me you'll run away when you get a chance," she said, her tone low.

Anger churned in the wizard's stomach. "No."

Hermione lowered her hand. "You're stronger. You have a better chance of getting past him. If I can distract him, you can run away, or even take your wand, and you can get far enough away to apparate and get help."

Draco gripped her beautiful face, not too fiercely, and turned her chin towards him. "You're the one who has to promise me that," he snarled. "You're the one who has to find some opening and run as far away from here as possible. Do you understand me, Hermione? It's me he wants. He's only keeping you to make me obey. Can you understand, Hermione? Answer."

She swallowed with difficulty and wrapped the hand that was clutching her face. She clasped it in the palm of her hand.

"What about this," she murmured. "We'll both try to get away... okay?"

Draco bit his lower lip, suspecting that the brunette couldn't possibly see his expression in the dark and from this angle. No matter what would happen, he would make sure she was the one who escaped. No matter fucking what.

He slid his arm around her belly and held her close. Her head warmed his thighs. The silence surrounded them like a blanket, but not warm like underneath Hermione's bed sheets. Draco was determined not to fall asleep. His side still ached, but he didn't care. Duncan wanted him alive. Hermione was of no importance to him, she was just a commodity, a bargaining chip. Just thinking of her face, the memory of her bloodstained body in the snow that night, and an extreme, infectious rage ate away every nerve in his body.

"If he lays a finger on you, Hermione," he said after a few minutes, "I have to kill him."

He felt his partner tense up slightly. "I know you don't want to kill anyone," he said in a low voice, keeping his eyes fixed on the window. "But you have to understand that I will have to do it. With or without magic. For you. For us."

He wasn't sure she would answer.

"I know," she said in a whisper. "I know you'll have to... I…"

Draco finally lowered his head to examine his Lioness. "You what?"

"I just don't want you to die in the process…"

Draco took a slow, long breath and let the oxygen fill his lungs to their full capacity before exhaling slowly. He knew that things might be coming to this. Death. His death. He'd never thought about it more than necessary before, but he realized that he didn't care. He didn't care if it meant that Hermione could live in a world without Duncan.

In the middle of the night, Hermione was startled awake by loud, aggressive banging on the closed door of the room. Draco wasn't asleep, but he was startled too.

"Hey, Malfoy!" Duncan exclaimed from the other side of the door. "Have you thought about whose side you're on?"

Draco pulled Hermione close to him, bringing her head to his stomach. She curled up further on the floor, covering her head with her arms as if to drown out Duncan's words.

"Fuck you, Mackie!" Draco retorted coldly.

He didn't give a shit about being 'rude'. Duncan wanted him alive, and he'd made the mistake of proving it.

Silence filled the room for a moment, and then Duncan's voice came again. "You know I won't let her eat, drink or sleep until you join me! I know who you are, Malfoy! I know that deep down you really want to exert your superiority as it should be! I'll help you achieve it!"

"Fuck you!" the Slytherin repeated, articulating every word.

Duncan guffawed wildly, and the sound of his footsteps drifted away. "You'll beg me later, you'll see!"

The room fell silent again. Hermione did not open her mouth and shivered. The blonde man clenched his fists and tried to control his anger. He wasn't going to allow Hermione to be hungry or thirsty. He was going to get her out of here before it was too late.

Guilt. Anger. Hunger. Thirst. Pain. These emotions and needs crushed the minds of the two locked inside the room. They had been trapped in there for two whole days. It was getting cold, which was strange since the room was locked shut and the window wasn't broken. Perhaps another of Duncan's cruel spells? It felt like they were outside in January. The only way they could keep warm was by hugging. They spent their days pressed together in the hope of sharing what little warmth they had. Their voices became increasingly hoarse from lack of water and their moods were mostly foul from lack of food.

Duncan pounded on the door every night, every hour, to make sure that neither of them, especially Hermione, could sleep. They dozed during the day. Their conversations were running out of steam. Duncan hadn't opened the door since he'd thrown them both in. If Draco really wanted a chance to let Hermione escape, he had to get Duncan to open the door... it was the only way. Wasn't it?

As the sun rose high in the third day's sky, footsteps sounded near the door and a fist slammed into it with a loud bang.

"You okay in there?" Duncan shouted. "Not too hungry? How many times have you shagged?"

Hermione, outraged, ran as fast as she could to the locked door. She banged hard against the door, but that only made the psychopath on the other side laugh harder.

"Duncan!" she shouted. "You can't get away with this!"

She heard him laugh. Draco, his face strained, had his palms pressed against the wall, his head bowed. He couldn't stand to hear that fucking maniac laugh anymore...

The young witch slammed her fist against the door. "Duncan! If you want Draco so badly, then why are you leaving him here? Let him out!"

"Do you think I'm that stupid, Mudblood?"

Hermione struggled to hold her words back. It didn't matter to her at this point. Her stomach was rumbling, and her throat was so dry that just swallowing hurt.

"You dirty rat!" she screamed, feeling her voice break with thirst. "Why do you insist on letting us die slowly like this when you could just stab us to death?"

There was a moment of silence before the assassin replied, "Really, you don't know anything…" More silence. Duncan spoke a little louder. "Malfoy? Still there?"

"Fuck you," Draco muttered, not even bothering to speak loud enough to be heard.

"So you decide to let your bitch starve to death? That'll be on your conscience, you know."

Draco dashed to the closed door and slammed his fists down on it violently several times. "GO TO HELL, DUNCAN! YOU HEAR ME? FUCK YOU!"

The footsteps faded behind the door and Hermione slid down to the floor with her back against the wall. She breathed heavily in an attempt to calm herself down. Her head hurt and her stomach was aching. Draco leaned against the door, his back arched, breathing angrily. Hermione, his beautiful Hermione, was slowly dying of hunger, thirst and exhaustion. He could see it in her features. He could feel himself the sting of hunger, of course, but he managed to ignore it. For now. But he could no longer ignore the weariness and discomfort he could see in his partner.

In his mind, the possibility that he might have to make a deal with Duncan suddenly seemed like his only hope rather than his last option.

The next day, by the end of their third day in the room, neither Hermione nor Draco had the strength to get up from the floor. The cramps that bit into their stomachs were now so painful that they cut their sentences in half. The coldness continued to seep in from some unknown source and made the two wizards shiver as they were clinging to each other. Their lips were dry and cracked and they breathed with difficulty. Draco could swear he was hallucinating at times. He could see faces peering through the window glass and saw snakes in place of his fingers. And when he jerked himself up, everything came back to normal. Despite their pain, they leaned on each other. In just a few days, their condition had worsened dangerously and they felt their strength diminish with each passing hour. Their stomachs were jerking, their heads were spinning and blood pounding against their temples. They were shaking from head to toe.

It was when he heard Hermione cry, for the first time in five days, that all of Draco's resilience collapsed.

"Hermione," he breathed with difficulty.

She was lying flat on her back on the floor, her complexion pale and her eyes circles darker than ever. She turned her head slightly towards him and opened her eyes. He reached out to take her cold hand.

"I have to do this," he whispered.

She shook her head and her eyes widened in panic. She wanted to say the word 'no', but only the movement of her lips allowed Draco to understand what she was saying.

"I can't let you die like this." He kissed her hand, and moved towards her with difficulty. His muscles were numb. He was dizzy. He wasn't going to last much longer either. If they went on like this, soon they would be in a state of total immobility and would actually sink to their deaths, mute and exhausted.

He stroked her soft curls against her forehead and let his gaze wander into the Lioness's amber eyes. They still had their sparkle. How gorgeous she was...

"I love you, Hermione," he whispered, almost inaudibly. "I'm sorry."

"No, Draco…"

She tried to hold him back, but he was already getting up, grunting with difficulty, and walked slowly to the closed door. He did not look back. He knocked and waited. After a moment, soles clattered on the floor and stopped at the door.

"Who am I speaking to?" Duncan sang.

"Draco."

"Oh, Malfoy!"

"Promise me you'll feed her and give her something to drink." His voice was weak and hoarse, but he knew Duncan could hear him. Behind him he could hear Hermione whimpering very faintly, sniffling.

"So you accept my deal?" Duncan exclaimed happily.

"Only if you let her go."

Duncan sighed loudly. "That wasn't the deal, my good Death Eater."

"Don't fucking call me that."

"Draco..." Hermione sniffed behind him. "Please..."

Draco ignored her.

"You join my ranks," Duncan said, "and I'll give her everything she needs to survive."

"She can't stay here. I'll do anything you want, anything at all, if you let her go too, without laying a fucking hand on her."

Talking was wearing him out, but it was now or never. Suddenly the door flew open and Draco nearly stumbled forward since he had put his weight against it. In one swift movement Duncan pulled him into the corridor and slammed the door shut behind them, leaving Hermione alone in the room. Duncan pinned Draco against the now closed door, his arm tucked under his throat.

"How can I really trust you?" Duncan spat.

"I have nothing left to lose but her," the Slytherin growled. "If you're a good Legilimens, you can see for yourself."

An evil smile stretched the psychopath's lips. "I know a better way."

He released the young wizard and rubbed his hands together, as if he was up to something. "Okay, I'll tell you what."

Draco didn't have the strength to fight Duncan now that he'd released him, and he was sure he'd lose the fight anyway, which would have consequences for Hermione.

Duncan pointed to the closed door. "I'll give her food, water, anything you want. I'll even let her go. With her wand."

Relief hit Draco hard. Duncan held up a finger, as if to indicate he wasn't finished. "On one condition."

Draco's face fell.

"To prove your allegiance to me," Duncan continued, his eyes sparkling with excitement, "you'll have to perform the Cruciatus Curse on her."

The Slytherin felt like throwing up, and all his feelings buzzed around in his head in a frightful mess. If he didn't find something to lean against, he would collapse.

"No," he breathed.

"It's the only way I'll accept to let her go. And, of course, that you join me after."

Before Draco could say anything else, Duncan opened the door to the room and strode in, approaching the Gryffindor girl dangerously. He kicked her in the stomach so hard that a horrific wail escaped her throat and she began to cry. Draco lunged behind Duncan and grabbed him, very weakly, by the shoulders to pull him back.

"Don't you dare touch her!" he spat.

Duncan drew Draco's wand from his pocket and held it out to him.

"Do it, or I'll do it myself," he ordered.

Draco stared at his own wand, his redemption, his only defense, but now he saw it as a terrible, sadistic instrument. His eyes slid to the body of the Lioness on the ground, her arms tightly wrapped around herself, still twisted from the pain of the kick. Crucio would be worse, so much worse...

An unfamiliar voice sprang to his mind. The spell would not work to its full capacity until the wizard performing it had a real deep desire to cause harm to the other. Did Duncan know this? Surely Duncan had always been filled with hatred and cruelty, so all his Crucios must have worked perfectly.

Draco swallowed, not reaching for his wand. "There's no guarantee that you'll actually let her go afterwards."

Duncan's face was hard. "I promise."

"I don't take your fucking word for it," Draco hissed.

Duncan rolled his eyes and waved Draco's wand to insist. "Damn it, Malfoy, you're a pain in the ass! I promise you the Mudblood can leave afterwards, and you can keep your fucking wand until she's gone."

Draco, eyebrows furrowed, locked Duncan's gaze in his own. He tried to detect any trace of sincerity, but he couldn't read him, and he didn't trust him either.

He clenched his jaw. "Hermione." Draco wasn't looking at her. He repeated her name until he saw her struggling to her feet. Her pale face was streaked with tears.

"You'll have to do something for me," he said, now turning to her and ignoring Duncan completely.

The Lioness gazed into her partner's eyes, speechless. Her head hurt like hell. Draco took her face in his hands and heard Duncan sigh in annoyance behind his back.

"You'll have to perform an Unbreakable Vow," he whispered.

Hermione started to argue but he planted a dry but gentle kiss on her lips to silence her.

"It's the only way I know that really ensures that he'll let you go without harm," Draco continued.

Duncan, who could hear everything, let out a triumphant exclamation. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that! It's fucking genius!"

Hermione continued to shake her head, grabbing the Slytherin's wrists still clinging to her cheeks. "Draco, there are other ways..." she whispered.

"No," he said. "You must do as I say. Please…"

The brunette kept shaking her head, unable to accept such a proposal. Draco held her face more firmly in his palms to force her to look at him. Surely she could read all the love he felt for her at that moment, and how he could not bear to see her suffer like that for another day.

"Just do it," he whispered.

Hermione began to cry weakly.

"I've heard enough," Duncan spat. "I don't have all fucking day."

He began pacing the room, and the Slytherin took the opportunity to pull the brunette against him in a warm, passionate embrace, burying his face in her collarbone. His dry lips brushed against her ear, hidden in her thick hair, and he whispered, as low as possible. "I love you. Never forget."

He didn't let go of her, but heard her whisper against him. "I love you too."

Duncan returned to them with an impatient step and yanked Draco back to break their embrace. "That's enough."

He looked at Hermione with disdain. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

"So, Mudblood, can you do it, that Unbreakable Vow?"

Looking at her, Draco felt as if she wanted to spit on Duncan. But, with a cold and now hard face, she agreed with a confident nod.

Duncan exclaimed in delight.

"Good girl," he hummed. "It's simple. For my part, I promise to feed and give you something to drink, and to let you go without any harm from me. For his part, he must promise that he will have to perform Crucio on you—" He looked intently at Draco. "…like he fucking means it, and that he will join me and do whatever I tell him to do, whether he likes it or not. He must reclaim his proper role."

Hermione blinked. She held out a trembling hand to receive her wand. She didn't take her eyes off Draco.

Duncan drew his knife and pointed it at her. "You have your wand in your hand," he warned. "If you try anything else, I'll kill your boyfriend in front of you before I kill you myself. Slowly. All over again."

The brunette said nothing. Duncan planted himself in front of Draco and held out his right arm, the knife now firmly in his left hand. The Head Boy continued to examine the woman he loved and held out his right arm. The two men clutched each other's forearms. Draco wanted to murder him. But he continued to look at his beloved, who let her tears fall.

She raised her wand, made a circular movement and pointed it at their hands. Immediately a thin golden thread snaked around their forearms.

"Duncan, do you promise to give me food and drink and let me leave here without any harm at your hand?"

"Yes," Duncan replied.

The first reddish chain appeared around their arms.

"Do you promise to feed Draco properly and not harm him in any way once I'm gone?"

Duncan's eyes flared and burned through the Lioness, who stared at him intently. That bitch, he thought. He gritted his teeth. "Yes."

A second small chain wrapped around their arm. Hermione turned her gaze to her partner. Her gaze was soft.

"Draco... Do you promise to... give your allegiance to Duncan and do whatever he asks you to do, whether you like it or not?

Draco swallowed and offered a thin smile to the Lioness. "Yes," he whispered. A third chain curled around them.

"Do you… promise to perform… on me… the Curse he asked you to… intently?"

The Slytherin shuddered. "Yes," He swallowed.

A fourth and final red chain, more glittering than the others, appeared and wrapped around their arms. All the little chains disappeared, and Hermione lowered her wand. She felt empty.

Duncan snatched her wand from her hand. Without saying anything more, he held Draco's wand under his nose again. "You do the honours," he sneered.

Draco was shaking. Even though he knew the vague theory that the spell didn't fully work if the performer wasn't truly sincere, he dreaded the mere thought that even a tiny wave of pain might pass through his lover because of him. He had sworn that he would do it intently. It had to be.

With a sure hand, he reached for his own wand and Duncan sighed contentedly, excited to witness the scene. Despite the Unbreakable Vow that now bound them together, Duncan still pointed his knife at Draco.

"Your turn," he hissed. "Do it. Intently."

The psychopath moved back slightly to stand a little further behind Malfoy, so he could have a full view of Hermione. Draco raised his wand and pointed it at his Lioness. His Head Girl. The love of his life. The energy that flowed between them at that moment surpassed any other energy they had ever shared. She had cocked her shoulders, ready for the blow, and was looking at him with unparalleled softness. The Slytherin's grey eyes were warm as twilight.

Draco's lips moved with subtlety and articulation, but no sound came from his mouth. Hermione stared carefully at his mouth to read the words he was saying to her. "Fake it." He was mouthing.

She understood.

Duncan sighed loudly behind Draco. "For fuck's sake, hurry up!"

"Crucio!" cried Draco.

He tried to put as much intention in the Curse as he could, because it was the only way he could fulfil his promise and have a chance to actually let her go.

Hermione collapsed to the ground and began to scream so loudly that her shrill cries screeched against the Slytherin's ears. Her body twisted in all directions. And she was sobbing. And she screamed. And she yelled even louder. Draco, his heart pounding in his chest, felt like retching. He had no idea if the spell was really causing her this much pain or if she was faking it so well. He couldn't ask either way. He just kept looking at her agonizing under his own fucking wand. Faking or not, her screams reminded him of her torture in his own Manor over a year ago.

Duncan laughed behind his back, the sound buried by the Mudblood's misery. Draco's tremors increased the hoarser and more desperate his lover's screams became. This was far from faking. And when she began to beg, a single tear rolled down the Slytherin's cheek.

He closed his eyes.

He inhaled.

He exhaled.

He opened his eyes and was back in McGonagall's office, Clive looking at the two young wizards as if to ask their consent once and for all. Draco bit his lip and took a deep breath.

"NO!" he said loudly.

No. It was too risky. He had just imagined all the things that could go wrong if he agreed to this plan. He had too much to lose. Even if they were all prepared, even if they had a plan, everything could go wrong. If the goal was to go to the graveyard to make sure the person creeping around Angela's grave was really Mackie, then they had to be Extra. Fucking. Careful.

Hermione, who was standing beside him, looked at him. Fergus stopped pacing and Willem raised his eyebrows.

"No?" repeated Clive.

Draco shook his head. "No. He's a psychopath. He could kill any of you with a wave of his wand before you even lift a finger. From there, everything could go wrong. All he would have to do is grab Hermione and threaten her to have me stopped. He would ask you to drop your wands. Then he'd do whatever he pleased. He could kill Hermione in front of us, or kidnap her, or even kidnap me with her in order to make me do whatever deeds he wants. He could torture Hermione until I finally agreed to join his ranks and do whatever crime he chose."

The three Aurors were stunned and Hermione shuddered. Even McGonagall looked uncomfortable and frightened at the hypothesis. She shook her head sharply.

"We'll have to come up with another plan." She pleaded with the Aurors with her eyes. "Please..." she breathed.

Willem placed his hands on top of his head and took a few steps before looking carefully at the young Slytherin.

"What do you suggest, then, Mr. Malfoy?"

No one knows what it's like

To be the bad man

To be the sad man

Behind blue eyes

And no one knows what it's like

To be hated

To be fated to telling only lies

Behind Blue Eyes, Limp Bizkit

oOoOoOoOo

Oops, I did it again... I made you believe something that wasn't real. I did my best not to write inconsistencies, but since it's a "daydream", some things may not seem logical. I decided to focus on Draco's thoughts because he's the one imagining all of this.

I know I said my story was gonna be 41 chapters, but I have to say that I had no choice but to cut a way-too-long chapter in half, which means there are gonna be 42 chapters total, including the epilogue. This number is NOT supposed to change!

Thank you for reading me until this point. Thank you for giving me your opinions and kudos, it means the world to me. Thank you dear ghost readers, I don't forget you!

** I have to remind you that chapters 1-5 have been re-uploaded because I made some changes / additional scenes. It's mainly for the newest readers who will start my fic, but you "old" readers can give it a try.**

Axiomea