Title: The Misfortunes of Virtue
Author: Winter Ashby (rosweldrmr)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J.K. Rowling & Misfortunes of Virtue (title only) were written by the Marquis de Sade in 1787 (more notes about the literary allusions in the footnote of the last chapter)
Rating: M (for language and adult themes)
Summary: Draco steals away in the dead of night on orders from the Dark Lord to either kidnap or kill Hermione. But who is he really loyal to?
Timeline: Post 'The Half-Blood Prince' Some incorporated plot of 'Deathly Hallows'
Warning: Major Character Deaths! Inferi!Character, Necromancism: controlling the dead (NOT necrophilia), strong language, violence, blood, gore, & DH spoilers
Authors Note: Snape makes a cameo! Clap for him, damn it! I think this fic may have driven me quite insane.

Part Three
Notion of Reason

"Draco." Snape responded, without looking up.

"Professor!" Hermione cried, nearly sobbed. And Draco was overcome with the urge to not let her go. It was fleeting only, but for long enough that he held his vice-like-grip of the side-along apparation for a second longer than he should have.

"Miss Granger." Snape inclined his head.

"Be our bonder." Draco spoke before he thought better of it. Two sets of eyes pinned him. He merely looked bored, and haughty, a look he'd perfect over a lifetime.

"Bonder?" Hermione looked past him to Snape, "Bonder for what?"

Draco liked to think that she was scared. He relished it, savored it, like a finely aged enchanted wine. He liked the idea of being frightening, of making her shutter against him.

"For an unbreakable vow." He said, sounding bored, but his heart racing. It was a foolish idea, a foolish notion that would only end in ruin. Draco knew that, even then.

"Ah." Snape quirked an eyebrow and pushed his book aside.

"An unbreakable vow?" she cowered, and Draco nearly grinned with joy. "But that's forbidden."

"Ministry red-tape." Snape waved a hand dismissively. "It's just a simple binding contract."

"I know what it is." She didn't sound pompous, like she usually did when she knew something. Her voice wavered. Her hands shook, and Draco wanted her to cry.

"We'll make the vow, and then you can go home."

Snape didn't look pleased. Draco smirked, gleeful, nearly. He had control and power; he was drunk on it, high from defying the Dark Lord.

"What do I have to vow to do?"

Draco laughed. "Nothing."

She pursed her lips, and she came dangerously close to feeling the back of his hand across her face. But he stopped himself, with effort.

"Nothing Miss Granger." Snape's quiet, calm voice broke the silence.

Draco still wanted to be a bad guy. He was raised on it, bottle-fed it, suckled it, lived it. He liked causing pain, seeing blood, killing. He was good at it.

He sneered and shuffled into the sitting room. He didn't wait to see when they would follow, or in what order.

"Nothing?" she asked, skeptical.

Draco turned. Snape's hand was pressed against her mid-back, leading her into the room. And Snape gave him a wicked smile that made his insides curdle with rage.

"You will be making the conditions." Draco said, spinning on his heel. He sat down in a low chair. "You know how this works, correct? You ask if I swear not to hurt you, or betray you, or hand you over to the Dark Lord. Blah, blah, blah." He tossed his hands through the air and tried to keep his expression markedly blank.

"Why?"

"Because, we need to come back to the Order, now that we are risking our lives for you, and the vow will prove our allegiance," Snape informed her coolly. He stood by the fire, his wand at the ready.

She was thinking. Mulling it over, passing it back and forth through her mind. Draco licked his lips and imagined it was her he tasted. She wasn't at all ordinary, as she should have been.

Always the exception.

"Do I have a choice?" she asked with her hand on her waist.

"No." he answered plainly and watched her.

She nodded. "Alright."

"Let's begin." Snape made a grand, sweeping gesture at the carpet of the room. And with a muffled kind of grace, Draco slid to the floor, kneeling.

Hermione followed, though not as fluid as he. She teetered, indecisive, and landed with a thud. She winced.

Draco held up a hand and waited for her to reciprocate. She hesitated, and he couldn't stop the hiss of warning he gave her. Snape cleared his throat.

"I haven't got all day, Granger. Places to go, people to kill and all that."

"Hush." He could have sworn that there was a smile playing across her tight lips. She wiped her palms against her pajamas and gave him an apologetic look. Her hands were hot and clammy. Sweaty.

Disgusting.

"Miss Granger, when you are ready." Snape positioned his wand over their hands.

"Just a contract." Draco heard her whisper to herself, eyes closed, screwing up the confidence. Draco gripped her hand a little harder and watched her brown eyes focus on him. He could see a flare of anger there.

Good, he thought, anger makes her more determined.

"Draco Malfoy," he liked hearing his name from her, "do you swear to behave?"

"What?" Draco tried to tug his hand away, but she dug her nails into his skin and smiled, sweetly. He wanted to lunge at her.

"Draco," Snape interrupted, red snake poised at the tip of his wand, ready to coil.

"Yes. I swear to fucking behave!" he ground his teeth together.

The flaming snake burnt all the way up his arm. He could feel a string, a tie, a rope wrapping around his mind. The snake coiled through his veins and around his heart. His mind burned from the heat of it. It felt like legimency, except this was a searing hot flame, not a cold trickle. He felt like he was being bound.

And a panic set in when he realized that was exactly what was happening. It was only sometime much later that he realized just how exposed he'd made himself to her that night.

"Do you swear your allegiance to The Order of The Phoenix, and Dumbledore?"

That one, at least, he'd expected. "Yes." He tried his best to sound bored as another snake wound its way up through his bones.

He bucked and groaned. It seemed like the harder the promise was, the more it hurt.

She smiled.

"And, Draco," she called to him through the swirling magic, her own brow lined with a thin sheen of sweat. He wondered if it hurt her to ask. That made him happier.

"Do you swear not to let me die?"

"No!" Snape bellowed.

But it was too late. She smirked and cringed at the same time.

Too clever for her own good.

It was too late to stop, and she'd already cast her end of the enchantment. She'd sealed his fate the moment she said it. He almost smiled. It was a very Slytherin thing to do. Sneaky, selfish and manipulative, so unlike her.

He had to agree. He had no choice now.

"Not unless I kill you myself." Draco answered back. It was a mean answer, one he didn't give much thought to at the time. But haunts him still.

And this time, the snake that coiled was soft and gentle, just nudging the connection that was already formed. Maybe it was because the connection was already there, or maybe it was because promising it wasn't difficult at all. He wasn't sure.

But as the magic faded, she looked horrified. And Snape looked absolutely incensed.

"This isn't a game!" he snapped, putting his wand away, tucking it into the folds of his robes. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

"I made an unbreakable vow to save a mudblood's life." Draco stood up and turned his back to her. Hermione gasped and he smiled over his shoulder at her. "Oh, don't get your knickers in a bunch."

"I thought you had to behave!"

He smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, behave like what?" he raised an eyebrow and she chewed on her lip.

There was a surge of pain before his thought even registered.

I'd like to bite clean through that lip.

Maybe her vow really did have an effect.

"No, you fools! You've condemned each other to death." Snape crossed between them, and Draco was struck with a momentary annoyance of not being able to see her anymore. He moved to the side just in time to see her look utterly unaffected by what Snape had to say.

She stood up, her hands on her waist and nodded. "Good."

"Here, here!" Draco chimed in and gave her a little nod.

Snape leaned over, close to her ear and spoke softly. "That was a very stupid thing to do, for such a smart girl." And then, he was gone, leaving the room in a flurry of flapping fabric as the door shut behind him.

Draco turned to look at her in the firelight. Her hair was a mess, falling around her face. Her pink pajamas were wrinkled and made her cheeks look rosy. Her eyes met his.

"Take me back."

Now that Draco's made the unbreakable vow, will he be accepted? What will be the consequences of making this pact? And did I smell some sweet Snape/Hermione undertones in this chapter? (Why, yes you did. Thank you very much, overactive imagination)