'I need you to promise me something,' Hermione said. She turned in Draco's arms, her face only inches away from his.

'What?' Draco's tone was wary. 'I can't help you to escape, Hermione. You know what they'll do to me if I even try.'

'I know that.' Hermione fixed her gaze on Draco's eyes. They really were a beautiful colour and she could look at them forever. 'I don't want you to help me escape, Draco, at least not that way.'

'Then what?' Draco's hand was stroking down her back now, his fingers brushing down the length of her spine, caressing her soft skin and causing goosebumps to rise all over her body.

'When they try to take me away, you have to stop them,' Hermione said quietly, 'Please promise me you won't let them take me to the Dark revel.'

Draco snorted with laughter, 'The Dark revel? Why would they take you there? You're mine. You have no need to worry about that.'

Hermione shook her head, frowning. 'I don't think your father intends to let me stay here. And your aunt would be more than happy to kill me. She's already shown that on more than one occasion.'

Draco hugged Hermione to him. 'Don't worry about them,' he said. 'My father was happy to give you to me and my aunt always does what he says.'

'I've seen the way your father looks at me,' Hermione countered, 'with utter hatred. There's not a single ounce of compassion anywhere in him, Draco. I think he could change his mind about me on the spur of the moment, especially if he sees that you're not living up to his expectations. He's not going to be pleased that you're not torturing or humiliating me. Remember, you only got me in the first place because he was so sure that being in your control would be my worst nightmare.'

Draco sighed and bent to kiss Hermione tenderly on the lips. 'I think you're worrying too much, Hermione. My father likes to make me happy, and you being here makes me happy. Why would he change that?'

'Because this isn't a nightmare for me,' Hermione said honestly. 'It should have been, and it was the first time — no, that's not fair: the idea of it was a nightmare. You were actually far more pleasant than I had ever imagined and you were considerate, which I certainly hadn't expected. And that's the problem.'

Draco pulled back and looked at Hermione in confusion. 'What do you mean, that's the problem?'

'Do you think your father honestly expected you to treat me so well?' Hermione asked. 'That he thought you would seduce me and be nice to me? Of course he didn't, Draco. He thought you hated me and had far more painful experiences in mind. That was the only reason he gave me to you rather than returning me to Bellatrix. He thought you would hurt me more than she would, and probably wouldn't drive me mad doing it.

'Your father expected you to rape and beat me up at the very least, like the good little Death Eater he so desperately wants you to be. But instead, you were tender to me, treated me kindly and considerately, and gave me more pleasure than I ever realised I could experience. And you continue to do so. Apart from that first hour or so we spent together you've always treated me as a lover, not as your captive — as an equal, not as an inferior and I can guarantee that won't please your father at all. To him, I should be constantly cowering in terror and begging you not to hurt or kill me, while you take your pleasures as brutally as possible.'

'I can assure you that you don't need to worry about it,' Draco told her. 'Regardless of how you think my father will react, I know him rather better than you, Hermione, and I know he wouldn't really allow you to be hurt or killed.'

Hermione snorted. 'He was happy enough to give me to you,' she reminded Draco, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. 'And he was definitely expecting you to hurt me.' She looked at Draco critically for a moment. 'I still don't quite understand why you didn't.'

Draco's face softened as he returned Hermione's gaze. He reached out to stroke her face, pushing a lock of hair from it.

'You weren't anything like I'd expected,' he said honestly. 'I think I'd always been slightly attracted to you, had always found you more desirable than I wanted to admit, but I tried to bury it under my hatred for you and it worked pretty well. Initially, I really was worked up to hurt you after watching Aunt Bella and my father in action. But I'll admit I was impressed at your determination not to let the pain beat you, however badly you were treated.

'Once I got you alone, however hard I tried to hate you, to torment you, I just couldn't. The seventeen-year-old horny bastard took over. What was the point of hurting you when I could get so much pleasure from you instead? By the time I'd undressed you, seen and felt your beautiful body, the idea that you were mine — that you were a virgin and I would be the one to teach you and give you pleasure — was far more infectious than the hatred had ever been.

'I was going to be the one to have you, not Weasley or Potter — me, the one who had wanted you for so long but had repressed it so deeply — and I was determined that you wouldn't hate me or be scared away, that you would want me as much as I wanted you. I needed you to want to stay with me, Hermione, not with your friends.

'I'll admit it was close, though. You had infuriated me so much over the years that my temper was at breaking point when my father gave you to me, and you calling me inferior almost got you killed. But once I reined in my anger and the desire took hold, my pride meant that I had to win you over rather than use force against you. Then, afterwards, when you cried so deeply, my heart melted and I knew there was no way I would ever be able to hurt you.'

He leant over and planted a kiss on Hermione's temple. 'Whatever happens, you're mine,' he whispered as he pulled her close.

Hermione sighed deeply, aware that as far as Draco was concerned the conversation was over. But she knew how Lucius looked at her, what he had threatened her with before, and she was convinced that Draco's treatment of her was a test after his failure to kill Professor Dumbledore. And she knew for sure that Draco wasn't treating her in a way that Lucius would be happy with.

She had been scared when Draco had dragged her to his room, only too aware of how his hatred for her had simmered inside him over the years. His relatively quick change towards her had come as a surprise. At first, she had been terrified that he would continue where his aunt had left off, driving her into madness as the memory of the Cruciatus Curse ravaged her still-painful body. But maybe even he had sensed how close she was to crossing the divide into madness so he had spared her that.

Although she had been sure then that Draco would rape her and at the very least a beating would follow, once again he had surprised her. Once his ego had finished talking, his soothing words had helped to stop her tears, replaced by the discovery that just as he had misjudged her, she too had been guilty of misjudging him.

With his candour and tenderness, she had realised that beneath all the brashness and the bluster he was just a man, and she was convinced he was as scared by what was happening as she was. That he found her attractive against everything he had ever believed in was obvious, and he needed her to want him in return.

As they had lain there on that first evening together, Hermione realised that Lucius giving her to Draco had, in fact, been a lucky break, not the nightmare she had originally thought and if her luck continued she could use it to her advantage.

As far as she knew Harry and Ron were alive and were surely still looking for a way to escape. With Draco pacified and better disposed towards her, surely he would see reason if the chance to escape with them arose. But to ensure that she would need to keep him happy and that meant giving in to his demands.

It had hurt at first, although Draco had tried to minimise that, too, proving himself to be a far better lover than she would ever have imagined he could be, and to her great surprise, it had been intensely pleasurable for her as well. Feelings she had never realised she could experience had raged through her body and soon she was crying again, this time not from terror or despair but from enjoyment. Draco was at an age where his appetite for pleasure was frequent but Hermione had found she didn't mind. He was considerate and took her pleasure as seriously as his own, so even in this short space of time they had truly become lovers.

Hermione had wondered whether she should remind Draco of his father's expectations but in truth, she had been enjoying not being subjected to pain, humiliation and hatred and was unwilling to do anything that would return Draco to his previous state. Her body was still recovering from her time with Bellatrix, so although she worried that Lucius might discover his son's lack of enmity towards his captive, she had spent the last couple of days pretty much doing nothing but sleeping and having sex.

But earlier that day Draco had discovered that Harry and Ron had managed to escape with the help of Dobby the house-elf, and to Hermione, this meant everything had changed. Not between her and Draco; he had no intention of giving her up, which in some ways was a comfort. But she knew it wasn't enough.

Lucius, already filled with hatred towards her, would surely turn his wrath at her friends' escape upon the only person left.

Hermione understood why they hadn't tried to rescue her, too. Sequestered away in Draco's rooms they would never have managed to get her out and escape the manor in the short time they would have had available — even if they had known where to find her, which was unlikely. It was possible that if Draco had known what was happening he might have helped her, but that wasn't certain and she had hoped she would have had a little more time to convince him why she needed to get away before the escape attempt was made.

Now, although it hurt that she had been left behind, all she could do was hope her friends could get someone to come and rescue her before things turned bad. But who could they send? The Order of the Phoenix couldn't risk attacking Malfoy Manor, and with the Ministry of Magic now under the control of Voldemort, no one knew who could be trusted any longer.

And now time was running out and there was the Dark revel coming. Hermione felt sure that in order to save face with Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy would make her the centre of attention, regardless of his feelings for his son.

She was a realist and knew she had no chance of escape. Asking Draco to help her do so was going too far. He would never go against his father when he was convinced the man would do the right thing, and if he did he would get into more trouble than she could bear for him to be put through.

Which really left only one solution. It was unpalatable, but something that had to be seriously considered.

She pulled herself free of Draco's arms.

'What are you doing?' he moaned. 'I was just getting ready to—'

'This is important,' Hermione cut in, her tone serious. She sat up and looked sternly at Draco.

Draco sighed. 'Oh, not my father again, Hermione. I've told you, you're perfectly safe. You're with me.'

'Yes, but Harry and Ron got away. You-Know-Who must be furious, and it'll have put your family in a bad light with him again. Please, Draco,' she pleaded. 'I know what I'm talking about.'

Draco shook his head. 'I know you've always hated my father, Hermione, but I can assure you that however evil he seems he wouldn't throw you to the wolves at the Dark revel. It's Potter that the Dark Lord needs, not you.'

'And if they thought it might get Harry there?' Hermione asked.

Draco shook his head again. 'They're not that stupid. Even if he was tempted, Potter wouldn't know where to go. They're hardly going to leave pointers or the Aurors will be down on them like a ton of bricks. Really, Hermione, you're worrying about nothing. You're perfectly safe here.'

Hermione sighed and shook her head unhappily. 'No, I'm really not,' she said weakly, but she knew now that she was onto a losing battle with Draco. 'Just promise me one thing, please, Draco — just one thing. When they try to take me away, you'll stop them. Please don't let them take me, or at least give me a way to defend myself against them when they do.'

Hermione's eyes bored into Draco's, willing him to see how scared she was. Draco looked back at her, his face set with a scowl.

'I don't need to promise,' he said coldly.

'Then you don't care about me at all?' Hermione asked sadly.

Draco gave an incredulous bark of laughter. 'How can you say that?' he countered. 'Haven't I shown you how much I care for you? How much pain have you had since you've been with me? After everything, can you really believe that?'

'Then promise me, Draco, please. That's all I'm asking.' Again Hermione's eyes bored into his until eventually, Draco turned away.

'All right. If it makes you happy, Hermione, I promise,' he said dismissively. 'Now come here.'

Hermione lay back down and slid into Draco's arms. He had promised to help her. Now she just needed to hope that when it came to it, he would keep his word.