Chapter 3
The next thing Hermione knew, she was being jolted awake by the sensation of ice-cold water on her bare skin. She shook her wet hair out of her face, and looked around frantically at her new, unfamiliar surroundings.
The elf had placed her in a porcelain bathtub with freezing water that was filled to the brim.
"What are you doing?" Hermione squealed, covering her bare chest with her hands, her frantic movements caused water to splash onto the shiny, checkered, black and white floor.
"Ruby is cleaning the mudblood," The elf said. "What Madam Red says to do, Ruby does."
Water. Before the conscious thought occurred to her, Hermione was scooping up small puddles of it with her hands and slurping it up as fast as she could.
"It's not supposed to do that," Ruby said, slapping her on the back with a long-polished stick causing Hermione to choke. "It's dirty. The mudblood already soiled it."
"You mean me." Hermione said through chattering teeth. "I soiled it. You don't have to talk about me as if I'm not here, you know."
The elf ignored her and continued to talk to herself.
"Smelly, smelly mudblood." She muttered as she picked up a sponge and scrubbed her back as hard as she could.
"Ow," Hermione hissed, recoiling from the elfs rough touch. "You're hurting me."
"We has to clean it," Ruby told her. "It's smelly."
"You don't have to be so rough," Hermione told her, even though deep down she knew the elf didn't care.
When the elf was satisfied that Hermione was clean, and her bathwater had turned into a murky grey, the elf handed her a fresh towel and clothes and told her to get dressed before disappearing with a loud crack.
Hermione stood up in the dirty bathwater and wrapped the towel around herself, in doing so her eyes caught site of the door. The odds of it being unlocked were slim, but she still had to try. She stepped out of the tub and reached for the doorknob, giving it a slight shake. It was locked.
Hermione sighed and looked down at the garment the elf had given her. It was a pale pink nightdress with a lace robe. "What on earth?" She whispered to herself. These weren't clothes. That's when a disturbing thought occurred to her. She was being put on display.
The moment Hermione slipped the nightdress over her head, the door to the bathroom opened. It was Madam Red.
"Wonderful," She said, eyeing Hermione up and down. "I wasn't sure whether to go with the pink or blue, but I think the pink suits you just fine."
"Where am I?" Hermione wrapped her arms tightly around her chest.
"You're at Madam Reds, dear." The witch told her sweetly.
"What are you going to do to me?" Hermione asked her, afraid of the answer she might give.
"I'm not going to do anything, except for give you this," The witch in red handed her a small black vial." Now follow me."
Hermione studied the foreign potion in her hand. She'd never seen one like it before.
"Hurry along," The witch called. "And don't think about running. There's only one way out of this place and it requires magic."
Despite the urge to run, Hermione thought it better to follow the rules for the time being. She shadowed Madam red all the way down a long candle lit hallway with several doors before stopping at door number thirteen.
"This," Madam Red told her. "This is your room."
Madam Red pushed the door open with ease.
Like the hallway, the room was candle lit. The chamber itself was beautifully decorated, with portraits on the walls and a magnificent four poster bed littered with an array of soft feathered pillows.
"Come sit," Madam Red patted the front of the mattress.
As soon as Hermione obeyed, a silver cuff closed around her ankle, chaining her to the bed.
"No," Hermione cried, trying with all her might to pry her ankle from the chain. "Please don't."
"Now, now." Madam Red cooed. "There's no need to throw a fit. You'll wrinkle your nightdress."
Hot tears spilled from Hermione's eyes, "Why are you doing this?"
"Because dear, I have a business to run," Madam Red's voice went from kind to cold in a matter of seconds. "And as much as I'd love to go into detail with vermin like you, I'm on a tight schedule. Now, you have two choices. You can either sit here awake, while my clients come to inspect your goods, or you can take that sleeping drought so you don't have to remember a thing. This will repeat nightly until you have a buyer. I'd ask if you have any questions, but frankly I don't care. Now, I have customers to greet. The first guest will be here in five."
Hermione's heart filled with dread as Madam red closed the door behind her. Buyer? She was being sold?
Hermione bit her bottom lip as the tears continued to spill from her eyes. She turned the small vial over in her hand, contemplating her next move. As much as she didn't want to be a party to whatever happened next, she couldn't bare the thought of not ever knowing what was done to her.
Hermione laid down on the bed, slid the vial under the pillow, and closed her eyes. When the guest showed up she would pretend she was asleep, and hopefully, by the grace of god, they'd lose interest and go away.
Hermione's stomach dropped when she heard the door to her room open.
"This way Mr. Malfoy," Said Madam Red. "I think you'll like this one."
"I'll be sure to let you know," She heard Draco say. He didn't sound amused.
Hermione tried to steady her breathing as the door to her room clicked closed.
She heard Draco sigh as he walked towards something. He sounded far away, and not at all near the bed.
She cracked her eyes open slightly and saw that his back was towards her. He was staring at the portraits on the opposite wall.
"This is ridiculous," She heard him mutter.
She quickly snapped her eyes shut when he started to turn towards her. She heard his footsteps approaching and she held her breath.
"Bloody Hell," She heard him whisper.
Hermione tried to remain as motionless as possible despite the fact that her entire body was shaking.
She could sense Draco standing near the bedside when a warm hand touched her face. His fingers were soft, almost gentle as they traced the contours of her cheek.
"Gods, Granger." Draco said in a low voice. "What did they do to you…."