Please review, any suggestions for plot future welcome although I have a good idea where this is going. Sound track to the story is "Money, Power and Glory" By Lana Del Rey. I'm not writing lyrics into my story but if you listen to the song you'll see the tone of where this is heading. This will be strongly M rated for Sexual scenes shortly. Also to clarify, in this story free travel in/out of Hogwarts has been enabled for those in their last year as they are now qualified witches/wizards.
It was dinner time before the group reunited in the great hall, Ron, Harry and Ginny sat talking in hushed whispers when Hermione finally joined them. Her afternoon had been spent alone, contemplating his return. The last time she had seen Malfoy was the night in the Manor, whilst she was being tortured and it was a memory she had purposely avoided replaying ever since.
Until today, when she heard he was back. Ron was still flushed red "I can't bloody believe it" he glanced around the great hall to see everyone huddled in whispers such as their own. "Everyone's talking about it, like its entertainment, it's a travesty, that's what it is! That evil, vicious, Death Eater!" Hermione let out a muffled squeak at the word and as though feeling her pain Ginny laid a comforting hand on her arm. Ron glanced over at Hermione offering an apologetic smile as he continued "He tortured Hermione for god sake, she'd be dead if it wasn't for us…and dobby" the whole group paused for a moment in a sad recollection of Dobby the brave little house elf.
"He didn't torture me" Hermione's voice was barely a whisper and began to crack as she continued voicing the memories she had spent all afternoon analysing. "He didn't torture me, he just stood there while… they did."
"AND THAT'S BETTER?" Ron's face was almost the same shade as his hair. "Hermione, you could have died, he watched, he didn't do anything."
Hermione shut her eyes, she could picture the look in Draco's eyes whilst he had watched her squirming on the floor, she'd avoided the memory for so long then when she recalled it so clearly this afternoon she'd remembered the details she'd had once erased.
Harry shot his arm abruptly across Ron's torso, pushing him firmly back to the seat he was slowly raising from and knocking the wind out of him momentarily, he gave him a strong (shut up) face as they waited for her to continue, this was difficult for her and it was the first time she'd told them anything about what happened in the manor before they intercepted Bellatrix.
"He…He….I just remember the look in his eyes, pity, fear, he was scared."
Ron gulped a breath about to retaliate but the (Don't you dare) expression shot his way from both Ginny and Harry left him speechless. Ginny squeezed Hermione's arm softly. "He should have helped you, Ron is right, your life was at risk."
Her voice grated on the back of her throat "I keep replaying it and I thi…. I think… I heard him shout. I think I heard his shout stop, seconds before you both burst into the room. I think he did, I can't remember for sure."
They sat there in silence for a moment, Hermione was clearly disturbed by whatever memory his return had conjured.
"…Well, he probably wanted to finish the job himself! OUCH!" Ron recoiled away from the table as Ginny rather obviously kicked him with some force under the table. Like a rainstorm breaking a heatwave the tension at the table washed over almost immediately and the group tucked into the meal. Harry was always their voice of reason, to brush off the bad feeling "Maybe it's a rumour, maybe he's not even…."
The whole room dropped into an eerie silence as they heard the doors to the great hall open with a creek. The entire table held in a breath of anticipation. From round the door strode the tall, broad, white blonde boy with the chiselled jaw and icy blue eyes. His robes perfect as always and his expression determined and fierce.
They heard the uproar of the slytherin table, erupting into cheers and commotion at his entrance, falling over themselves to clear a place for him between Zambini and Parkinson.
The eyes of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables shifted firmly to Giffindoor as though waiting to see the reaction that would surely follow. Ron flew to her feet, wand in his hand but was firmly pulled back to his seat by harry. They finished their meal quickly before leaving the great hall as quickly as possible, each of them knowing full well that avoiding Malfoy for the rest of the year would be completely impossible.
It was two days later that he finally saw her alone. Draco had kept as low of a profile as his friends and house would allow him. Slytherin wore him as a badge of honour, despite the rest of the school considering him to be dangerous. He had just left his first quidditch practise of the year when he called in at the library, only to be greeted by the image of Granger, asleep in a quiet back corner, her face resting on her arm and a book open next to her. A stray curl fell across her face as it twitched into a pained expression. He smirked to himself he couldn't help himself, he placed his hand gently on her shoulder. Hermione shot up in her seat, almost falling off it side wards, her tired, watery, hazel brown eyes fixated on him.
She's attempted to speak but her sentence came out as a string of incoherent words.
"Well, sleeping in the library granger, I'm surprised" he smirked, grabbing her book from the table Hermione stood and fled past him out to the corridor. He followed her, cutting her off before she managed to completely disappear. "Are you ok?" there was genuine caring in his voice and Hermione felt a sudden, strange and unfamiliar warmth toward him. "No, I'm not" she couldn't stop herself. Malfoy waited in front of her for an explanation, "I've been given the room next to Neville, he went through so much, he has these awful night terrors." Her head fell for a moment "he just screams in the middle of the night, every night. I've tried every charm, spell and curse I can think of but nothings working." There was desperation in her eyes "I haven't slept in days."
Malfoy stood silent in front of her as though he were contemplating her problem deeply "I can help, if you'll follow me" Draco strode towards the stairs and Hermione stood there digesting his brief words, why would he think she would possible consider following him to god knows where? Why did she want to? Was she that tired, that Draco Malfoy was suddenly her best option?
Draco didn't turn to look behind him until he was stood outside of his door, when he did he was pleased to see Granger there a few feet behind him. "What is this place?" She stared at the large oak moulded door in front of her, he wasn't surprised by her question, after all the Malfoy Suite had been built for his sole use this year and he had purposely not made it public knowledge. He had even gone as far as to enchant the door so that it was only visible when its key was within a few yards of it. A door that could not be seen and could not be opened using magic, it was the safest thing he could have done.
He pushed it open and gestured for Hermione to enter, which she did slowly and cautiously. He watched as she marvelled at the chambers that lay within. Hurrying her through the living area he took her to the door of the second bedroom and muttered a quick incantation as the door flew open to reveal the most beautiful room Hermione had ever seen, it had the same purple colour scheme that her childhood bedroom had once had and it smelt like lavender and freshly washed linen. Draco handed her his Key. "No one can enter, here without this, you saw that for yourself, I'm going to the office, there's urgent business that needs my attention I and won't be back until this evening. All I ask if that you wait till I'm back… and let me in." He uttered the last words hesitantly and Hermione sensed his concern that she could in fact lock him out of his own… she wanted to say room but this was so much more, trust Malfoy to build himself his own house at school. Hermione had no idea why she was trusting him but she put it down to the sheer level of desperation she had reached in her need for sleep, she was at Hogwarts after all and with all the security steps taken, she doubted anything truly terrible could happen now within the walls. Taking the key and entering the room she heard him leave. Laying her head on the pillows of the bed she breathed in the lavender scent and drifted into a deep, peaceful, blissful sleep.
Hermione woke with a start as a loud crack echoed around the room. Looking around she saw a small house elf stood next to the bed, "I'm sorry Mistress but Mistress needs to let Master Malfoy in." Hermione groggily checked her watched and flinched when she saw that it was almost 10pm, she smiled to herself for a moment when she realised she had locked Malfoy out of his own home until now. "Where is Malfoy?" she spoke gently to the elf, pushing her wild curls out of her face. "Master is sat in the corridor, Master has been there for more than an hour and Fumri cant let him in without…. The key." The elf pointed toward the key that Hermione had slept holding.
Climbing out of the bed Hermione padded through the suite and to the large door, opening it she poked her head out to see Malfoy as described, sat on the floor of the corridor leaning back against the wall. She couldn't help but smile to herself. He stood in silence, strode towards her, pressing closely against her as he swept past and through the door, he smirked "Didn't think that one through really, did I?" a low chuckle escaped him as he walked through. What…What was that smell? An enchanting Dusky scent embraced her and she suddenly felt warmth spreading through her body. Was that him? Hermione turned, following him and came to a stop in the living room. "I should be going…Thanks Malfoy" she offered the key to him but he stood still, unresponsive to her gesture. He lifted an eyebrow. She hadn't noticed until now that he was wearing a smart midnight blue suit, where his robes had once sat, it suited him, his shirt sleeves rolled up carelessly to his elbows and a tight waistcoat hugging the outline of his chest. He spoke in an amused tone "You're going back to your room now? At this time? Well, wouldn't want to miss your 8 hours of screaming Neville now would you? He laughed deeply again. Hermione didn't think she had ever heard Malfoy laugh before, not properly. He was right though, they both knew it. "Look Granger, I'm tired so I'm heading to bed, I assume that Fumri woke you" he glared at the little elf then back to Granger "so you're probably not done sleeping either. Keep the key, go back to sleep and leave in the morning." Without another word he slipped through what she assumed was his bedroom door. Hermione took a moment to weigh up her options, before grasping her key and walking back into her room.
Her eyes crept open slowly in the dark room, she felt incredible, every inch of her body was perfectly rested and wonderfully warm. She checked the time, 5am, her belly rumbled as she pulled herself out of the bed. Padding to the living room she placed the key on the large sofa, she was almost sad to leave this place it was so beautiful in comparison to her small basic room but she scolded herself fiercely. This was just another of Malfoys ill-gotten gains and she was better than to envy this. A loud crack lit up the room as she saw Fumri appear "Fumri make Mistress breakfast" Hermione shook her head, no I must go I'm sorry. Fumri looked sad "Mistress is a guest, If Mistress leave hungry Fumri is a bad elf." Oh no, she knew where this was going and she didn't need a self-punishing elf on her conscience today…. She was hungry… what could it hurt?
She watched the little elf as she tucked into her French toast, she felt sorry for him, being stuck here with Malfoy "Fumri, you know that there's an agency set up for your protection now, you don't have to be here." Hermione was proud of the Dobby foundation for abused house elfs, it was one of the first actions she took after the war and thanks to generous funding they had helped hundreds of house elves be released. Furmi didn't flinch as he continued tidying up the Kitchen "Mistress it very Kind but Fumri know about Dobby Fund, so do others at manor. Master Malfoy fund it to help, he feel bad for what happen to Dobby." A few minutes later Hermione still couldn't understand what she had just heard, it had been him who gave her funding, well, she supposed that did make sense. "Typical" she chuntered taking another bite of French toast. "Funds a foundation to free house elves and keeps an army of his own." Fumri took her empty plate "If Fumri can be so bold, Mistress not know what she is talking." Hermione stopped eating, she was being scolded by a house elf. "Master give us all choice after the war, we want to stay or go? We want to stay, Manor is our home we have been forever we don't want to go. Master is good Master, not his father, Master give us reward for work" Hermione's eyes widened "He….Malfoy pays you?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The little elf smiled "We have no use for monies, we is not people Mistress, we does not want to be." The little elf looked embarrassed as he continued, twiddling a dish rag between his tiny fingers. "Master Malfoy gives us trains….little trains….magic trains. We have a dungeon our own at manor, we build track, looks like, little world in our dungeon." Hermione erupted into a giggle, she couldn't have stopped if she had tried. The little elf snapped back to his duties then disappeared. Hermione couldn't believe it, Malfoy was letting his house elves build model trains in his Dungeons, Lucious would have turned over in his grave.