A/N: Dear Amanita Nightshade, I really liked your review and point of view so I decided to respond to you this way. I wanted to show that they were equally lost, but also to describe the main difference between two lost young people by writing that chapter, and the main difference is Hermione's ability to empathize and be a bigger person, while Draco had lost his empathy over time, even though we now he had it in himself when he couldn't kill Dumbledore and couldn't identify Harry at the Manor. Also, she's isolated from the outside world and can't quite grasp the bigger picture, she can only assume and suspect what's going on outside. Malfoy is not the main antagonist in this story, the main antagonist is society and his wrong upbringing, teaching him from his childhood some beliefs. Lastly, he chose to be a new leader because he knew the alternative would be a lost war and his and his family's ultimate death. This story will be the story of right and wrong, but mainly about human beings, very lost and confused. Thank you for your review, and thank you, all of the other reviewers, I'm really glad you like the story and think about it on a deeper level while reading it!

Chapter 7

When Hermione woke up the next day, it was barely sunrise, and the only things she noticed were her pitifully stiff shoulders and Malfoy's scent surrounding her. That was odd; mostly, she would wake up after him and he would be already gone when she became conscious. Right now she was lying in a very uncomfortable position, with her legs awkwardly folded near the edge of the bed, tangled with Malfoy's. They were lying horizontally in bed and he was hugging her awkwardly from behind, not looking comfortable either.

Hermione didn't want to acknowledge the fact that she enjoyed and missed human touch so much, that even he and his unbelievably soft hands were satisfying. She craved any kind of gentleness in her empty and cold survival so much that she became accustomed to his body close to her, and she just realized it now. She craned her neck to watch his face closely, cherishing the rare luxury of her freedom to roam with her eyes as much as she wanted while he was asleep.

His feathery hair was tousled, blond silky strands covering his small forehead and slightly darker brows. Longest of his fringe even touched his eyelids and long, weirdly dark lashes which were hiding his striking eyes. Everything on his face was wonderfully symmetric and pleasing for the eyes, from sharp cheekbones to the long and narrow nose, finishing with thin aristocratic lips. Everything was almost inhumanly perfect except those dark circles under his eyes and two little scars Hermione barely noticed in the weak morning light. One was on the tip of his nose, and another one on his left cheek.

Hermione didn't know how much time had passed while she was lazily tracing patterns on his face and neck with her eyes, not daring to lift even a finger, when she noticed him stir. She felt a twinge of panic for a moment, felt like she was intruding just by watching him and just wanted to pretend to sleep when he opened his eyes slowly and looked at her curiously.

He looked at her like a child then; perfectly relaxed and safe, like he had never in his life witnessed anything bad and evil. She only saw that look on him once before, when they consummated their marriage and he experienced his bliss. Hermione blushed on the thoughts invading her already muddled brain and averted her eyes.

But she had to glance at him again, when she felt his hand lift and his finger play with one of her tangled curls.

"Your hair looks awful," he whispered with a weak spark of laughter in his throat but she just scowled at him, "but it isn't terrible at the touch."

"It's the best I have." She shrugged and he actually smiled. Tiredly and without previous ease, but still.

"You're not scared of me anymore, are you?" He asked in the same quiet tone, as if trying not to disturb a veil of sleep threatening to cover them again.

"Never been, never will be," she answered, closing her eyes and trying to stretch delicately, but not to lose warmness of his body. "You should be scared of me, though."

It sounded almost... coquettish, not at all like real Hermione, and she didn't know why she had said it, but she meant it. Good food, clean air and time to think and research did wonders to her. She felt her power and spunk coming back and she loved it. She was ready to fight the world.

When she opened her eyes she saw Malfoy looking at her strangely, completely at loss of words. His eyes weren't so childish anymore, nor dead like the night before. They looked feral, something wild burning in them.

He breathed out heavily and she felt hot air burning her neck. The atmosphere of the room changed, it wasn't that sleepy anymore. It was intense and Hermione's insides churned, her body having some weird reaction to his closeness, which she had never felt before. For the first time, she noticed how nicely his body contrasted her own, how he was all hard and tall and his shoulders were wide against her soft, smaller frame.

It took a second for that body to jump and turn them over, making them both fall off the bed with Malfoy falling on top of her. She then felt something else big and hard against her and it didn't disgust her like before, it actually sent some weird tingling down her spine and up her lower abdomen.

His face was inches from her own and she shivered when she met his eyes, but looked at him defiantly, sticking to her word. Not afraid.

That was all she mustered to do before his hand flew to her hair, pulling it and pulling her head up to meet him halfway in a heated kiss. His lips were burning her own, scorching her with some mad animal instinct, it was so wild, so fiery and so different from anything she had ever experienced that she moaned in his mouth. She felt his body grinding against hers and she started to move too in that weird haze, desperate for more, more touch, more friction, more...

His hand flew to her arms and pinned them on the floor above her head, he pushed away from her and kneeled, still holding her arms.

"You don't want this." He whispered, now harshly, and his eyes took that dark shade they had every day.

"Wha-" she started, her breasts heaving with quick breaths, trying to deal with his sudden withdrawal.

He let go of her, stood up quickly and pulled her up to stand on weak and shaky legs.

She sat on the bed and watched him go around the room and dress in his uniform, his movements hasty and hands shaking slightly. He was quiet and she was still trying to comprehend what the fuck was going on, when he came to the door and on the exit simply said,

"Maybe you should be afraid of me." She looked at him questioningly and he spared her one short, desperate gaze.

"You don't want this." He repeated, rasped it painfully and closed the door after exiting.

The problem was, she was afraid. Because she wanted him.

The next few days dragged on and Hermione felt it immensely. She was very confused with Malfoy's behavior and couldn't quite comprehend his words, and it frustrated her deeply. He said she didn't want him as though he wished she wanted him, even though she for a fact knew she was a low, disgusting, dirty being in his eyes. So what did he want?

That little incident in the bedroom was explained easily- he was horny and she was there. So why did he choose not to act on his instinct? Maybe he returned to consciousness fully a little bit later and then remembered she was Hermione and he was repulsed of her. So she explained that oddness to herself too. But what about the third one? What about her wanton reaction and jelly legs and brain after he had left her alone? What about her unnaturally strong heartbeat, her blood boiling and her skin tingling because of his touch? She didn't want to understand that one. She decided that ignorance was a bliss and some things should simply never get uncovered.

Hermione didn't want to admit it to herself: she was terribly bored without him. After the incident, Malfoy decided not to speak to her anymore. He didn't teach her Russian anymore, and even though she had so called freedom to roam the estate and search the library, he didn't help her with wandless magic either. He simply disappeared and avoided her, not coming to their bed at nights and not bickering with her for the silly things. He disappeared and Hermione hated to admit that the bed was colder and the days were dreadfully longer.

The final blow was when the letter from St. Mungo's came, for Hermione's monthly exam. Narcissa brought it saying that this time, she would be accompanying Hermione to the hospital, because Draco was too busy. And the worst part was Narcissa's disappointment when they announced that Hermione was still not pregnant. Then they started buzzing around her, checking her fertility and health and sent her home with disapproving looks, ordering her to try harder. Like it was her fault.

After the dreadful morning Hermione was already in a very irritated mood, being somehow rude to Narcissa and dismissing her request to spend some time in the parlor with her and her beloved Draco who was working so hard these days.

Hermione bit her tongue not to curse the name of her son and declined hurriedly, retreating to her bedroom and taking delight in breaking one expensive vase by throwing it at the unbreakable window, then practised her wandless magic while repairing it. And then she threw it again.

All the ornaments in the bedroom were broken and repaired by the afternoon and when she was tired, she went to the kitchen to grab a quick lunch and see her only friends, those Muggleborn women who worked down there and respected her very much.

What she didn't expect when she went down there was Kate hurrying to her, with blotchy face and shaking hands, and hugging her tightly. She wept in Hermione's shoulder for a second, just enough for Hermione to notice all the other women looking at her with empathy.

"Kate? What's going on?"

"They... They will marr- marry me off, Hermione!" she wailed and Hermione froze.

"Who will marry you off? Kate- Kate please calm down, come on, sit here. Do you want a glass of water? Okay. Easy. Who wants to marry you off?"

"The Malfoy's, they-they said that Avery needs a wife and that he asked them to- to ask me to-" she couldn't finish, her shaky voice losing the battle with tears and uncontrollable cries of pain.

"Did you talk to him? When did this happen?" Her head was starting to hurt from anger. It was not good.

"N-no, I was bringing some groceries when he saw me, he was talking to master Malfoy and- and asked him when I was passing was I married. He said n-no and Avery said that he needed a wife because of-of a law and I don't... What will I do?!" The girl was spilling the water she was holding everywhere, her hands going white, matching her scared face.

Hermione was seething; Firstly, Avery could easily be the girl's father, and secondly, Malfoy was giving him his servant, as if it was nothing!

"I'll take care of it." Hermione barked and ran up the stairs, while the other women tried to comfort a poor girl.

She ran through the manor, not acknowledging passing men who looked at her oddly but paid her respect. She passed and ignored Narcissa, who told her that Malfoy was in the dining room with some of the men, so it would be better for her to wait.

She barged into the room and saw Malfoy sitting at the head of the table, drawing something on some map while the others, all in the same black robes stood around him and listened to his instructions. The murmur quieted up when she barged in and they all looked at her quizzically, with Malfoy raising his brows in shock at her sudden entrance.

"Mrs Malfoy, we're-" some man in his thirties tried to say something but she was quicker.

"Out."

"Excuse me?!"

"Out, all of you. Get out!" She raised her voice for an octave to show them she was serious, and all of them turned to Malfoy, not knowing what to do.

"You heard the lady, get out. The meeting is over." He gritted trough his teeth, not taking his icy cold eyes off Hermione.

His followers started scurrying away one by one and Malfoy was patiently waiting for the last one to leave, while Hermione visibly fumed. When they were finally alone in the room, it began.
"You didn't have enough, Malfoy? When will it stop?!" She screamed and he casted a Muffliato spell, frowning in confusion.

"First, I don't have a clue what you're babbling about, as usual. Second, what gives you the right to barge in here and command my men?"

"Oh, you think you're sooo important, do you, Malfoy? You think you can easily act like a God and ruin innocent lives without consequences?!" Hermione screamed, her posture getting straighter and more aggressive with every word she said. "You think you can just marry off your servant, like she's just one of the millions, like she's a replaceable little thing which will just disappear when you don't need it anymore?"

"...Is this about your little Mudblood friend from the kitchens?" He acted calm even though she saw fury in his eyes and it infuriated her even more. All the acting, all the hypocrisy. She was sick of everything.

"Yes, it's about my mudblood friend! Do you have any humanity left, or you're just no different than Voldemort?! Do you know what will her life look like with that psychopathic maniac?! Or you just don't give a fuck, as long as your cowardly Pureblood arse is fine?!" He leapt from his chair so fast she didn't even have time to blink before he was in front of her, his mean look inches from her fiery eyes.

"Don't you ever, ever compare me to that... being!" He barked and she flinched inwardly, but kept her stance.

"For fuck's sake Granger, I didn't know he wanted her, the law is on his side and I can't do shit! Nor do I care! If it isn't him it will be someone else and there's nothing we can do!"

"So you're just going to... let him take her? Just like that?" Hermione whimpered, forgetting her rage in the helplessness. Malfoy took a step from her and sighed, bowing his head in despair.

"It's not my law Granger, it's a necessity. I hate it too, but here we are."

"You're consciously ruining lives. You ruined mine, now hers, how many more?!" She stepped close to him, looking spitefully directly in his eyes.

"Listen here, you can't possibly lecture me on something you don't know shit about! I have a nation to lead, I have to please everyone, they wanted this, I'm-"

"You're a coward, Malfoy." She said coldly.

"You think you know everything, Granger, do you? Well guess what, this isn't McGonagal's lecture, this is real life and you can't prepare for it. Survive or die and fuck off with your patronizing when you don't. Know. Shit!" He punctuated the last words with shouts and she felt some sick satisfaction mixed with anger.

"I hate you so fucking much." She murmured, head held high, her lips just in line with his. So close.

"Likewise, wifey." He whispered, his breath mixing with hers, just a moment before capturing her lips with his, in yet another heated kiss.

He was familiar to her now, but still it was different than before. But she enjoyed it even more now, pouring all of her loathing and rage in that kiss, biting him, pulling his hair and making him growl. She hated him with such intensity that she wanted to kill him. Or fuck him senseless. Or both.

It looked like he was reading her mind, because before she knew it, his hands were on her shirt, tearing it open with buttons flying everywhere around the room. His lips were trailing fire down her neck and breasts, making her moan incoherently and biting her lip not to cry out his name.

Her hands instinctively undid his belt and she didn't know when did she get her courage while throwing his robe carelessly on the floor and taking off his black shirt, biting his shoulder with all the strength she could muster. He growled louder, took her by the hips and turned her around, making her bend over the table.

She didn't know what was going on behind her, nor did she care, she was too busy closing her eyes and feeling the sweet ache of need while his hands pulled her skirt up and his lips kissed one naked shoulder. Was she in hell or heaven, she didn't know then.

She could hear a zipper opening, could feel her underwear sliding down her legs, could feel something hot and hard at her entrance, but didn't want to turn around and visually accept it all. This way, it was more like an amazing dream.

And amazing it was, how nicely he fit in her, how it burned at first, just enough to remind her where she was and what was she doing, and she moaned, she wanted to experience something else instead of that horrible emptiness of her dreadful life.

And it burned, and it pleased, it was fast and hot and messy and he was growling in her ear and she was crying out and he was pulling her hair and he was kissing her, biting her, they were punishing each other and showing their animosity. And there it was, she felt it like a firework, like something bursting within her and his free hand flew to her clitoris, helping her get it stronger, and she came.

His hands were holding her desperately now, he was thrusting at even faster pace than before and she felt him pour his essence into her, just a couple of moments later.

Malfoy was breathing heavily and trying to calm down, holding her close to him until she moved. He blinked dazedly, looking ridiculous with his pants around his ankles and his shirt falling off his shoulders.

Hermione repaired her shirt, tucked it in her skirt and tried to calm down her impossible hair, looking at him with no shame whatsoever. Shame would come to her later, when she was alone with her thoughts and regrets. But one thing was true:

"I hate you even more now." She tried to say if venomously but it came out shaky, and he actually grinned and nodded.

"Likewise, wifey."