'But you said I could keep her.' Draco's voice was bitter as he glared at his father.

'This isn't my decision,' Lucius replied loftily, although Draco didn't believe that was true since his father avoided looking him in the eyes as he said it. 'Now let her go, Draco. There's no need to be stupid about this.'

Draco glanced at Hermione, seeing the fear in her eyes. She had been right again; stupid of him to doubt it, really. For a second he pondered refusing to release her but he knew there was no point. There were too many of them. They would take her anyway, and then there would be pain — for Hermione as well as for him.

'Help me,' Hermione mouthed.

'Don't make this any harder than it has to be, son,' Lucius said. 'She's only a filthy little Mudblood, after all.'

Hermione looked at Draco, tears now flowing down her cheeks like a river. Her eyes were pleading and it broke his heart to look at her. He looked away from her, knowing what she was trying to communicate to him. He didn't want to see it. Slowly, he shook his head and released her to the custody of the waiting men. They pulled Hermione from him roughly and she struggled as they dragged her off the bed, manhandling her into a standing position before starting off towards the door.

'Don't hurt her,' Draco said, his voice full of pain. 'She doesn't deserve it.' To Hermione, he said, 'Hermione, please don't give them a reason to hurt you.'

'Please, Draco, don't let them do this,' Hermione begged, her voice ragged with tears. 'Please, save me.' She whimpered in pain as the taller of the two men holding onto her slapped her hard across the face.

'Shut up, Mudblood,' he said coldly. 'No one wants to hear your pathetic voice. Now come quietly or you'll regret it.'

They continued to drag her across the room, Hermione still struggling with all the passion she had shown previously. The slap seemed to have done nothing to dampen her spirit. Draco, who had been watching the scene unhappily, got up from the bed and turned to his father, who had a tight, cold smile on his face.

'What's going to happen to her?' Draco asked quietly.

Lucius shrugged easily. 'She'll be taken to join the others. It's the Dark revel this evening. She will be used there — I know Crabbe and Goyle want a go at her.' His smile became more perverse at the thought of the two gorilla-like men with the young witch. 'I'm sure your Aunt Bella is eager to make her acquaintance once more, too. Anyone who wants to play with her can. Then she'll be killed and disposed of with the rest of the vermin.'

'But you said—' Draco began, his voice full of anguish.

Hermione had known this would happen, he thought, and he — stupid fool that he was — had ignored her fears, so sure was he that she was wrong. He had been so convinced that whatever his father thought of the beautiful albeit annoying Muggle-born witch he would never actually kill her. But now Draco saw that Lucius was every bit as evil as Hermione had always said. To hand her over so callously to thugs like Crabbe and Goyle Senior and his aunt, knowing how they would treat her proved that. He had no choice. He had to help Hermione.

The taller man hit Hermione a second time, giving her a split lip which was bleeding profusely. She was sobbing loudly now but still fighting to get away.

'But you said she was mine,' Draco said angrily. 'That I could do with her as I chose. I don't choose to send her to the Dark revel!'

'I know what I said,' Lucius replied soothingly. 'But that wasn't my decision to make.' He still didn't look at Draco as he said this. 'Anyway, at least you got to have your fill of her before the rabble does. You have nothing to complain about. Surely you've fucked her more than enough.'

'I want to keep her here with me,' Draco said. 'Why does she have to die?'

Lucius looked at his son with interest, a mean smirk crossing his face, 'Affection for a Mudblood, Draco?'

Draco shook his head curtly, but this time it was his turn to avoid his father's gaze.

'She dies because the slut is already working her filthy Mudblood wiles on you,' Lucius continued smoothly, disgust evident in his voice. 'I saw the way you were with her — treating her as a lover, as an equal, not the piece of filth she truly is.'

'You're doing this because she wanted to be with me, aren't you?' Draco asked. 'You don't like the fact that she enjoyed having sex with me, that she was happy in my company. It doesn't matter what her blood status is — it's the fact that we were happy that's caused this.'

Lucius waved his hand dismissively. 'That has nothing to do with it,' he replied stiffly. 'The Mudblood dies with the others. That's all there is to it.'

'But they know where she is,' Draco said, now looking at his father defiantly. 'Potter and Weasley . . . and their friends. They know we've got her. If she turns up dead they'll know we did it.'

Lucius laughed coldly. 'Do you honestly think they'll be alive to say anything?' He looked imperiously at Draco as if daring him to argue. 'Once the Dark Lord has finished with Potter and his friend they'll be in the same state as the Mudblood — and with Him in charge, who will care about the death of one annoying, insignificant little Mudblood when so many more will be following her?'

'But what if they've already told someone where she is? Surely we can't take the chance. I mean, I know we can't free her, but we could at least keep her here,' Draco pleaded.

Lucius laughed coldly. 'I can assure you, Draco, it will make absolutely no difference who knows she is here. The Dark revel is taking place elsewhere and the Mudbloods will be disposed of far away from our estate. If anyone were to ask — which they won't — we just say she was taken away by Death Eaters. Anyway, there are far too many people who want to pay their respects to Hermione Granger for her to be excused from this evening's festivities.' Lucius' eyes glinted wickedly. 'I can promise you she will meet a truly spectacular end . . . full of pain, suffering and humiliation.'

Draco looked once more at the sobbing Hermione, still fighting against her captors. She was beautiful but bloodied — a fist to her face having broken her nose, adding copiously to the blood from her lip and the scratches that now covered her body. Her bushy hair was even more of a mess than usual, and although naked she held herself with a grace that made his heart soar with desire for her. Another hard thump from one of the Death Eaters holding her and her head bowed, her body seeming to crumple slightly. She was clearly only still standing because she was being held up.

'Hermione,' Draco called out as he walked towards her, his hand sliding the wand from the bedside table as he moved.

Just let her look at me, he thought desperately. Please, just let her look.

Hermione had stopped struggling with her captors now. She raised her head slowly to look at Draco. She was dizzy from the hard beating she had taken and her eyes were still swimming with tears, but she tried to focus on the sound of his voice and follow it. She reached her hands out towards him, her body language pleading for him to come to her, to touch her, to hold her, to help her — to free her from this hell she suddenly found herself in.

As Draco took another step closer to Hermione, Lucius grabbed his arm, pulling him back and holding him fast.

'Let her go, Draco,' he said warningly. 'You can do nothing for her now.'

Draco ignored his father and stared directly at Hermione.

'Hermione,' he said again, his voice softer than before, the emotion seeping through.

Hermione returned Draco's gaze, her tearstained face softening as she looked at him. 'Please, Draco,' she said simply. 'Save me.'

Draco gave the barest hint of a nod.

Hermione smiled beatifically. 'Thank you, Draco.'

'I love you, Hermione,' Draco whispered, and he realised it was true. Whatever she may have been during his long time at school and however they may have fought over the years, right here, right now, Draco loved Hermione Granger with all his heart and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was doing the right thing — that he couldn't let her be taken away by the Death Eaters.

'Avada Kedavra!'

A blast of green light shot from the end of Draco's wand, hitting Hermione squarely in the centre of her chest before anyone had a chance to react. Still smiling, she dropped to the floor, dead.

The two Death Eaters who had released her when Draco had cast the Unforgivable Curse looked at him in stunned surprise.

'What have you done?' Lucius cried in horror, looking at his son. Draco's arm was still up, wand extended as he gazed at the spot where only a second before his beautiful Hermione had stood.

'You killed her!' Lucius screeched. He shook Draco hard. 'What did you do that for, you stupid boy? Why stain your soul for a filthy little Mudblood?'

Draco stared at his father. 'Because I loved her,' he replied evenly as if it was obvious.

He pulled away from Lucius and moved quickly to Hermione's side. He dropped to the floor and pulled the dead woman into his arms, cradling her gently as his tears began to fall, not caring that his still-naked body was becoming covered in her blood.

'. . . Because I loved Hermione Granger and I didn't want her to suffer at the hands of people like you,' he repeated as he looked down at the woman he loved.

He looked at Hermione's face, so peaceful, the smile still on it. Her eyes were open. Draco gently closed them. There; now she looked as if she was sleeping. Brushing her hair down with his hand, he held her tightly, rocking her gently, seemingly now in his own little world.

'Safe now, love,' he said quietly, repeating the phrase over and over again.

The Death Eaters left. No longer needed, they were eager to be away from this room that was full of death. Lucius remained, watching his son as he continued to croon to Hermione, still holding her close to him.

He walked over to Draco and looked down at him imperiously, 'All this for a Mudblood.' His voice was full of disgust.

Draco shook his head. He looked up at his father his eyes still full of tears. 'No. This was for love.'

Lucius gave a snort of disapproval. Saying no more, he walked from the room, leaving his son alone with the woman he had just killed.