I Can't Say Goodbye.
Chapter 4. Irresistible Coercion
"During the war more and more people just simply disappeared. After awhile it became a regular occurrence, so we all just stopped caring. Whether they killed people, or kidnapped them, eventually people stopped looking for the victims. We all thought Voldemort was going to win. Most of us gave up and gave them what they wanted."
By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower. ~ Rabindrath Tagore
"What are you?" Was all Lucius said as he stared down at the crying girl.
"What?" Hermione looked up at Lucius, confused. He was the one keeping her here, he was the one who tortured her and watched her be tortured, he was the one who probably hated her more than anything, so what on earth was he asking her a question like that for?
"I said; what. Are. You," Lucius was turning redder by the moment.
'Who knew, me just being alive could anger someone so much. I'm doomed already, may as well have some fun until the end.' Hermione thought as she contemplated her answer. "Well I'm a girl obviously. Let's see, I'm also a muggle-born, I'm Harry Potter's best friend, I'm someone you hate, I guess I'm also-"
"That's not what I meant you ignorant little Mudblood!" Lucius shouted, unable to help himself. He stepped back and took a deep breath. He couldn't let this girl get him worked up. She's nothing. Nothing, He told himself.
"Well to be honest, I don't quite understand your question." Hermione tried to sound sweet, even in the current circumstances. She was certainly not going to give in to these people-as she had decided before-but she was going to try to not piss them off anymore than she had to.
Lucius sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand. He didn't want to tell her what he meant, because even he didn't quite know how he wanted her to answer. Seconds passed and the silence aggravated him. He had only seen this girl three times total, and he was already losing the presence he usually had around people, especially his enemies. "I can't believe I'm even here talking to a Mudblood." Lucius said as he turned around, not really directing it at her.
Hermione tried her best to ignore his comment. "What do you want? If you don't mind, I really am not in the mood to deal with you." Lucius turned around, looked down and saw her and Ginny. To be honest, he didn't even notice Ginny was there until now. He didn't care what happened to her, and as far as he could tell, she could be dead. They did torture her enough; it was possible that she was.
"Is she dead?" He said looking down at the broken, bleeding girl before him.
"And why the hell do you care?" Hermione yelled at him. "You did this to her! Are you just going to stand there or do you actually have a purpose on why you're here?"
Lucius raised his wand, "Crucio!" Hermione instantly fell to the floor screaming in pain. "Stupid Mudblood! I'll teach you to back talk to me!" Lucius yelled over her screams; his hand showed no sign of stopping the curse. Minutes passed, all filled with screaming and agony. He looked down and finally stopped the curse. A small smile crept across his face. Maybe he wasn't losing his touch, he thought.
Hermione lay there coughing, and almost choking on her own breath.
"I will ask you one more time. What are you?" Lucius said in a calm voice.
"I don't know what you want..." She said as she stared at the ground beneath her, not having the strength to get up.
"I mean," He paused. "Are you some sort of Veela, or something? Or are you incredibly conceited to the point that you cast some sort of spell on yourself in some way? I just." He stopped. This wasn't like him. He kept on talking to one of the people he hated the most. Why was he even here? Couldn't he just ignore her?
Hermione sat there dumbfounded. Was he saying she was pretty? She wondered. She wanted him to continue, but it seemed he wouldn't.
"I hate you-," He started again when Hermione interrupted him.
"Yes I think we made that clear." Lucius' nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath, to insure he wouldn't lose to his temper again.
"I loathe you, but for some reason you..." He stopped again. He couldn't do this, he knew it. He glared at Hermione one more time, then turned around and left the cell.
'I what? He couldn't find me attractive could he? No. He wouldn't, and he's old enough to be my dad! That's sick. That's not it. But still, I wonder where he was going with that...'
Lucius
Lucius must have walked around the house for hours in search for Bellatrix. He needed to get that Mudblood out of here. He wasn't even in charge of that thing for goodness sakes. Why couldn't Bella keep her at her house? The complexity of women; Lucius would never understand. 'Maybe Narcissa knows where she is. Her and Draco must have come home by now. She is her sister, maybe they have some weird sister telepathy thing going. Oh lord. I must be going insane.' He turned the corner and stopped in front of two big oak doors. 'Hopefully she's in here.'
He opened the doors which lead into their bedroom and walked in. The room was huge. It had at least a dozen candles evenly placed around the room, and two on a desk that sat on the right side of the room, right beside a huge, elaborate fireplace. On the other side of the room was another door that lead into the master bath. On the wall opposite the doors was a big, black, four poster canopy bed.
He walked slowly over to the bed and saw his wife sleeping. Her long, blonde hair fanned out around her. The curtains on the windows beside their bed were open just a crack, but the light shone in and landed on her face, giving her an angelic glow. She was truly beautiful.
With him looking at this sight, for the first time in his life, he felt almost guilty. He hadn't done anything, but he felt like he was cheating on her, because she wasn't the one in his thoughts all the time; it was that Mudblood. He stood there for a few moments watching Narcissa sleep calmly. He couldn't wake her.
He sighed and got up. He went over to the curtains and pulled them shut, trying to keep the light from shining on her face. It made him feel all too guilty looking at her. To think that he, out of all the people; had her, when he didn't deserve her one bit. He wasn't sure if he loved her, but then again, they have been together for over twenty years, and they had a son. Through that time they had developed a connection, not love, but a connection. He liked it though. Love only got in the way of things, and it was always best to avoid it altogether.
He looked back at her one last time and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He started to walk down the hallway, almost forgetting what his original intention was. He turned the corner and ran into Bellatrix, who too seemed to be walking around aimlessly.
"Oh you, just the person I wanted to see." Lucius said with a smile.
"Oh, really?" she purred. "Well to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Now don't be smart Bella. I wanted to know why you and Rodolphus can't take the filthy Mudblood so she isn't in my house, tainting everything she touches. The Dark Lord gave her to you as your responsibility, you take her to your house."
"And you really think I want that girl in my house? Don't be silly, as you said she has already tainted your home, why should she leave? Plus you get to see me a lot more." Bellatrix said with a grin. She possessed annoyingly high self-confidence, and a narcissistic attitude.
"Bella, just take her. We don't want her here. Plus the Dark Lord said he wanted you to get information out of her. He thought you were the perfect person to do it, so I still don't understand why she's here. She has no purpose."
"You know, I'll think about it. But I'll tell you what. Break her down some. Crush that annoying Gryffindor ego of hers, make her into practically nothing, and then maybe I'll take her. But until then, she's your problem." She started laughing. Lucius was going to say something back but as soon as she finished talking, she disappeared, but her laughter lingered. 'I will never understand that woman's thought process.'
He thought about her words though as he walked down to the cell the Mudblood was staying in. He just wanted her out, and if he broke her down, then the faster she would be gone. He had the perfect way to tear her apart in just hours, and maybe it would help him release some of this built up tension he had when he looked at her.
When he looked at her, especially in her eyes, he was someone different. He didn't know what it was, or why it happened, but it needed to stop. By doing this to her, maybe it could stop it. His smile grew as he was only a few feet away from the cellar. He couldn't wait to destroy her.
Hermione
It had been only a couple hours since Lucius had left, leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts. She hadn't moved from her position; not even an inch. She just sat there holding Ginny's hand, whose breathing had been more regular and deep, which she figured was a good sign.
She couldn't handle to lose Ginny now, especially since she was positive they were going to be saved by the order soon.
"Just hang in there, Ginny." She had been saying encouraging words for about an hour now, ever since Ginny showed signs of improvement.
"Hermione..." Ginny started to say, but it seemed to take her breath away.
"Ginny, I'm here. It will be okay."
"W-we...are going to get...out of here...right?"
"Yes, the Order knows we are here. They could be here anytime. Just hang on. We'll make it." Hermione brushed Ginny's hair behind her ear, like how a mother would for her child. She saw a tear land on Ginny's cheek and roll down. She lifted her hand to her face and was surprised to find moisture there. She hadn't realized that she was crying. She wasn't sure if they were tears of relief, fear, sadness, or maybe a mixture of all of them.
She was so focused on Ginny, she didn't hear the footsteps coming down the hallway, or when the person was right outside the door. The cell door burst open with a bang and Lucius stood in the doorway. He looked different from earlier. He was more fierce, almost business-like.
"So she's alive?" Was all he asked, without moving. The question took Hermione by surprise. She expected him to throw insults, or curses of some sort. But to ask that, it was odd.
"Why should I tell you?" Hermione shot back.
"If you want to live, you will tell me. Sounds fair right, Mudblood? All you have to do, is answer my questions correctly, and you can live. But if one word comes out of your mouth, that doesn't involve an answer, I won't hesitate to just kill you and your little friend." His voice sounded very smooth and quiet, it was almost comforting. His words were horrid, but the way he said them, made him look like he was on her side. She wasn't dumb, so of course she didn't believe his tone, but yet...
"Is that clear Mudblood?"
Hermione didn't want to say anything. She just glared.
"I said is that clear?" Pain shot through Hermione's stomach and up her back. It made sick, and she threw up all the water she had drank earlier that day. "I can, and will, do worse. But you can avoid it. Just do as I say." Hermione spit to get the taste of vomit out of her mouth. "So will you comply?"
"Fine," Hermione mumbled. She figured the questions weren't going to be life-threatening, so what was the harm in answering some of them. They surprisingly knew a lot about her, so what else could they possibly want?
"Excellent," Lucius said in a low voice. "Now, as I asked before, is the blood-traitor still alive?"
"Yes."
"Good." He smirked.
'Why is he smirking?' Hermione wondered.
"And how are you?" Lucius asked delicately raising a pale blond eyebrow.
"How am I?" 'Why is he asking that? Why does he even care?'
"Did I stutter? I asked how you are."
"Wow, well I wonder. I'm locked up as a prisoner by the one person I hate, one of my friends is dying right before my eyes, I'm in pain, I'm hungry, I'm tired, and well frankly I could be better." Hermione was almost yelling by the time she finished her sentence.
"Good." Lucius was getting what he wanted. Before he tore down her ego, he had to see how proud she was. He almost liked her feistiness. Most of the prisoners he had, had immediately been crushed, and had no fight in them. It seemed he had quite a job to do, and he decided to enjoy every moment of it.
He moved a little bit closer to where Hermione was sitting. "So how close are you to the Weasley family, especially this little blood-traitor?" He said motioning to Ginny.
'What is with these questions?' "And why do you care about my personal life?" Hermione furrowed her brow. Lucius lifted his wand up and continued to smile. All of a sudden Hermione felt an invisible force grab her arm and start twisting. No matter how hard she fought against it, it was stronger.
"Wha-What's happening?" Tears started to well up in her eyes. She could feel her skin and joints stretching beyond their limits.
"Will you stop back-talking and just answer the damn questions? When will you learn your place?" Lucius asked calmly. Hermione looked at her arm in shock; it continued to twist and she felt her bones start to break. A cry of pain escaped her lips. She thought about what he could do with the information if she were to answer him.
"Okay fine, fine!" She yelled, the twisting sensation stopped, but the pain lingered. She looked down to see blood running down her arm, and the bones sticking out of her skin. She noticed her elbow was on the inside of her arm instead of the outside.
Lucius looked down on her with no intention on fixing her arm. "So how close are you with the Weasley family?"
"Not that close, I'm best friends with Harry, and Ron was just there. I was staying there because I knew Harry would be there as well." Lucius stood there in thought for a moment.
"Crucio!" He said as he pointed his wand, not at Hermione, but at Ginny. Ginny hollered out in pain, which was weird in contrast to how she was before. She had looked like a corpse, and now she was moving around and screaming. Hermione collapsed on top of her as if trying to comfort her.
"What are you doing? Stop it! I answered your question!"
"Do you think I'm dumb? I have my sources, and I do in fact have a son your age, who you must have forgotten. You're the smartest witch of your age? Well if that's true, the future of the Wizarding world is doomed. You are such an imbecile. I'm being lenient with you. That thing I just did to your arm? That's nothing compared to more of the dark magic I have learned over the years. Now, Mudblood, tell me the truth." As soon as he finished his rant, Ginny's screams stopped. Hermione didn't move. She was too angry with herself to even say anything. 'Draco, how could I forget about him? Damn.'
"Okay..." She whispered mainly to herself.
"Okay what? I'm not going to wait much longer." Lucius answered back.
Silence came over the room.
"Well?"
"They are like family." 'What? Why did I just say that? Come on Hermione, you can handle the pain. Ginny can too, she wouldn't want me to tell them anything. She couldn't have told them anything, could she?'
"See was that so hard?" She looked up to see Lucius standing there with his arms crossed. His face looked happy, but when she looked into his eyes she saw nothing.
"Is that all you wanted?"
"Hmm, well not quite," His smirk grew bigger, into a smile. "It seems, you still need to learn your place in this world. You are nothing but a maggot. You aren't even fit to lick the dirt off my shoes. Petrificus totalus!" He shot at Hermione. She fell on top of Ginny and looked at Lucius as he walked closer to her. He knelt down and placed the tip of his wand on the tip of one of her fingers, on the hand of the arm that was already twisted.
He murmured a few words that Hermione couldn't decipher, but once he was done uttering them, she felt her skin tearing at that finger. The pain went up her hand – finger-to-finger – and then very slowly made its way up her arm. 'What's happening? I have to look. Oh my god! It hurts, so bad. What does he want from me?'
Her skin peeled away and dissolved, leaving all the muscle, bone, everything exposed. When she felt the pain reach between her elbow and shoulder, it stayed right there.
"Finite Incantatem." Hermione could feel her joints and muscles moving automatically. She looked at her arm and all of her skin was gone. 'Oh my God! My arm!' The pain lingered even though the spell wasn't in effect.
"Pain...such a small word with a big definition. With the right techniques, inflicting pain on the right person, can really pay off. Torture is the best form of coercion if I do say so myself. It can really alter one's mind to believe almost anything. So Mudblood-,"Hermione took a deep breath and spoke without thinking.
"I am not a Mudblood. I am just human as you. Your theory is ridiculous, and so inaccurate. May I remind you, Voldemort is a half-blood, so what does that make him? Are you superior to him as well? You are all just a bunch of hypocrites." Lucius face distorted and turned beet red.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Everything happened in slow motion after that. A green stream of light shot from his wand, and came flying across the room. 'No...' It seemed to be heading toward her, but instead it was aimed 5 inches to the right of her, at Ginny.
"Ginny...no, NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione screamed like a banshee and tears seemingly exploded from her eyes. She watched in horror as the light left Ginny's eyes. "Ginny?" She shook her gently. "Ginny, answer me!" She shook her harder. 'She can't be dead. No, he didn't do that. I had to have heard the curse wrong.' She thought as she looked down at Ginny with blurred vision. She was gone, and Hermione knew it, but she couldn't accept it.
"That is what you deserve. Your dear friend is gone because you couldn't keep your know-it-all Mudblood mouth shut. Soon enough, you will become nothing, you will want to die, and that will happen. You aren't getting out of here alive. That is the only thing now that you can count on. Mark my words, Filthy scum." With that he turned around and very calmly walked out of the cell.
"Ginny, my god, Ginny...We were going to get out of here, only if I kept my big mouth shut, you wouldn't be..." Hermione sat there crying for hours.
Lucius
Lucius kept walking. He didn't know where he was going; he just needed to get as far away from her as possible. Bellatrix surely would take her now, and she would be gone. 'I can't stand to have her here. I don't know what is going on, but I can't do this.'
When he was torturing her, all he could think about was how he could make her feel better. He wanted to comfort her, make her wounds better, but at the same time he knew what he was doing was right. Those thoughts in his head couldn't be his own. She had to have a spell on him, that little slut, trying to get herself out of here. He wouldn't fall for it. He hated her, she hated him. It was as simple as that.
But every time he looked in her eyes, something sparked inside him. He never felt that when he looked at Narcissa, or any woman in his life for that matter. He was always one to love himself and only himself. He had learned the hard way that you couldn't trust anyone but yourself. So with thinking that all his life he thought he was perfect. In any time of doubt, he had his beliefs to fall back on. Mudbloods, muggles, and half-bloods were all abominations to this world. So thinking that, he knew what he had to do, and he knew it was right.
So what made this situation any different? When he saw her eyes once he killed her friend, he thought he would cry just as she did. He had never cried, not even once. He was losing his mind. He needed this girl away from him, so things could turn back to normal, and they can move onto create the new Wizarding world.
But is that what he really wanted?
Hermione
In the last hours that passed, she curled up in the corner of the room and cried. This was all her fault, her stupid plan. She had to have done something wrong along the way.
Maybe she was what they called her; a stupid Mudblood.
She was unravelling already. Piece by piece her facade was being chipped away from her and her real weakness was showing.
Maybe it was all a front before? Everything she believed, was it all a lie?
She now began to question even her beliefs. She was the brightest witch of her age, but she always had to work twice as hard. Maybe if she only worked as much as everyone else, she would simply be dumb. Maybe muggle-borns and half-bloods weren't as good as everyone else.
No, she couldn't let herself think like that. Despite her efforts keep such thoughts out of her mind, they still came creeping back. She looked over at Ginny's lifeless and a feeling of self-loathing rose within her. Ginny is gone, and it was all her fault. How could she ever face the Weasley's, how could she face Ron? Initially they had come to rescue Ginny, and now because of her, Ginny was dead.
Dead.
She couldn't believe it. They all were supposed to grow up together. Ginny was supposed to graduate from Hogwarts, marry Harry, and have kids. She wasn't supposed to die now, not by the hand of the man Hermione now hated even more than Voldemort; something she hadn't believed to be possible.
After awhile she remembered she had her wand tucked into her now dusty, bloody robes. She pulled it out and walked over to the door. "Alohomora." She heard a little tick, but the door stayed shut. She pushed on the door a little bit. It gave way, but not enough to where she could get out.
She needed to get out of here. She was not going to die here. She felt as if she was going crazy. One moment she would feel hopeless and almost want to die, then the next moment, she was determined to live and get out of here. It's funny how just being left alone with your thoughts in such a short time can actually affect your look on life. "Deprimo!"
She felt a big wave of air shoot out of her wand, causing her to fall back. The door-she noted in pleasure- had been blown off its hinges. Freedom was close. She jumped up and started running as fast as she could. She reached the spiral staircase and stopped, listening for any footsteps. Not that it would help if she ran back to her cell, the door was smashed off.
She started up the stairs and after a few minutes reached the top, and entered the room where she was tortured. There was blood splattered across the floor and even up on the wall. 'These people are so sick...' She continued on, and tried to find her way out. Without shoes on her steps were light and quick. Doors and candles all passed in a blur. Up ahead she heard what seemed like at the most three people talking.
She looked behind her to see how long the hallway was. It was too long, and even if she ran, she would get caught. They would see her and she would probably be killed. What purpose was there for them to have her alive? The voices were getting closer and she decided to go into the nearest room. She quickly opened the door and quietly shut it behind her. She stood there staring at the door and exhaled. She heard them walk past, with no clue she was only inches away. She turned around and fell against the door to the ground. Then she froze...she wasn't alone...
A pair of blue eyes looked at her in bemusement. The woman had long, beautiful, blonde hair flowing down past her shoulders, and it hugged her face perfectly. She had very pale, almost icy looking skin. Her delicate black clothing hugged her curves and cascaded down. Hermione figured she was none other than Narcissa Malfoy.
"You must be the Mudblood." Narcissa said, but in a voice that didn't seem harsh, almost as if she wasn't purposely trying to insult Hermione. She made the word Mudblood sound like just a nickname, nothing else. "What are you doing out of the cellar?" She continued.
Hermione sat there thinking. Narcissa didn't appear to be evil, and she had even left when Ginny was going to be tortured and questioned. She was just a woman caught up in a horrible situation.
"I...Well..." Hermione wanted to say something back, and not just leave her question in the air.
"I should take you back." Narcissa walked forward and put out her hand, as if wanting Hermione to take it. Hermione was shocked. There was actually a Death Eater's wife, not afraid to touch a 'Mudblood', and seemed so calm about Hermione escaping.
"No." She said quietly as she looked at the ground. Narcissa took a deep breath.
"I said I should, I never said I would," She let out a small laugh. "It's kind of pathetic really. Here I am, a descendant of the Black family, where most of my relatives are Death Eaters, my own son is one now, and here I am...helping you"
"I think it's brave. I mean you wanting me to get out alive, which I probably won't when I really think about it. But you don't believe in any of the 'pure-blood supremacy' stuff do you?" She couldn't believe she just went off and asked that, to the wife of the enemy.
"No, I don't. I think it's all ridiculous. I will be honest; I don't like pure-bloods, half-bloods, Mudbloods, and muggles mixing. Ever since day one, that is what I have been told, and it's hard to change that. But the rest is just foolishness. I don't think I am any better than anyone else for the sole reason that I am a pure-blood. Then on top of it all, having a girl here, the same age as my son, being tortured and going to be killed for being something she can't control. I just can't handle that. I can't sit back and do nothing. To be honest I was going to come down and help you soon. But now that you are here, it's almost fate. Now come with me. You have been here far too long." Narcissa held out her hand once more. Hermione took it and stood up. "This is not an easy place to get out of. With me, I can get you to the fireplace we use for the floo network. You are in no condition to disapparate from here." Narcissa opened the door and peaked out. Nobody was coming as far as she could hear. "But we need to fix that arm of yours first. It looks painful. Did...Lucius do this to you?"
"Yes."
"My God." Narcissa fell silent as she walked into the bathroom with Hermione in tow. Narcissa rummaged through a cabinet by the sink, which seemed to have at least twenty different potions in it. After awhile she pulled one out and handed it to Hermione. "This should heal your skin at least, but for your bones, we don't have anything brewed at the moment. I'm sorry, but at least it won't all be exposed." Hermione drank the potion and felt a tingling sensation go to her arm. She looked down and saw her skin grow back almost immediately. "That seems to be working. Now come. We need to go." Narcissa ushered Hermione out of the bathroom and bedroom, and into the hallway. Hermione frowned.
"Wouldn't you get in trouble if anybody found out you helped me? And when I do escape, won't your family be punished?"
"Yes, we would. But did you notice clothes and a small bag on the bed?" To be honest Hermione didn't look much at the room. She was too focused on Narcissa and what she was doing. "I'm taking Draco and we are leaving. I've talked to Lucius about it, and he can come if he wishes, but unfortunately he thinks his so called 'job' is more important." Narcissa let out a small, shaky sigh, and Hermione could have sworn she heard a little cry. But she couldn't be sure.
"Won't you miss him though? I mean he is your husband. Why risk all of this just for me?" Hermione asked. It all seemed suspicious, but she couldn't bring herself to stop Narcissa. She believed her, despite her brain telling her to run the other way. There was silence for a few minutes, and Hermione began to wonder if she had said the question loud enough. Maybe Narcissa didn't hear her. She started to repeat it but Narcissa broke the silence before she could.
"Lucius is my husband, yes. But now, he is not the man I married. I was attracted to him, but I never loved him. Pure-blood families, especially the Malfoy and Black family, are very proud, and most pure-bloods believe they should only marry other pure-bloods. But it doesn't stop there, they also believe and want their children to marry into other wealthy families. So in order to keep it that way, most marriages are arranged, and that is what happened with Lucius and I. When we married I did have a great deal of respect for him, so I wasn't opposed to it, plus that's all we ever knew. It's what we grew up with. But over the years, he has become more and more sucked into these ideals and beliefs, and he went from never hurting a soul, to being in battles, to kidnapping people, to torturing them, and then to killing on a whim. I've gotten fed up with it all, and when I look at him, I don't see the handsome man I had this connection with. All I see is a monster. I gave him the opportunity to leave this place and run away until the war is over, but he won't take it. So, I'm leaving and he can take the punishment." By the time she finished tears were falling down her face.
Hermione was in shock. First of all, she never would have thought someone as sophisticated and elegant as Narcissa Malfoy would cry in front of people. Second of all, she just met the woman, and she was already almost to the point of telling her life story. It seemed odd to Hermione, but she had no doubt that Narcissa was telling the truth.
Another long silence fell between them and Hermione couldn't think of anything to say. She wasn't even sure if she could say anything that wouldn't make her sound absolutely absurd.
"We are almost there." Narcissa whispered. Thank god they hadn't run into anyone. Who knows what they would have done to her, and Narcissa. Hermione started to shake from pure happiness. She was almost out of here and she could be back with Ron and Harry and with people on her side of the war. She would be safe for now. But she thought too soon.
"Cissy, Now what are you doing with that Mudblood?" Hermione turned around and looked into the black eyes of Bellatrix. 'Has Narcissa thought this far? What is she going to say now that we are caught?' "You weren't trying to do anything to help that piece of filth were you Cissy?"
"Of course not Bella," She looked over at Hermione and had the guiltiest look in her eyes. "She kept knocking on the cellar door and I decided to let her out on a walk."
"My god you are soft. I don't get how I can be related to you. Show prisoners no mercy. Why can't you understand that? I guess I'll just go and take her now. I talked with Lucius earlier and teased him a bit, but I promised I would take her. Also he did kill that blood-traitor, so that should have taken its toll on that Mudblood," She continued to talk as if Hermione wasn't even there. "Well we best be going. Come you." She motioned over towards Hermione.
Hermione spared one last glance over at Narcissa and started to walk towards Bellatrix very slowly. "Come on I don't have all day. Plus we don't want to lessen the girl time we have together." Hermione was waiting for the right chance, so she moved even slower. "Dumb bitch." Bellatrix mumbled and looked up at the ceiling.
There it was. Hermione reached in her robes as quickly as she could and pulled out her wand.
"Stupify! Expelliarmus! Diffindo! Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione shot as many spells as she could remember, hoping at least one would hit Bellatrix. Bellatrix seemed to deflect all the spells but the last one, which Hermione realized she didn't cast. Another flash of light came from beside her causing Bellatrix to fly up into the air, and down the hallway. Hermione looked back at Narcissa in shock.
"Go. Follow this hallway then turn left." She said. Hermione knew she was risking her life for her, so she ran as fast as she could. She got to the end of the hallway and turned left as Narcissa told her. She kept running and came upon two, big oak doors. 'This must be where she told me. Oh god I hope it is.' She pushed open one of the doors which took an immense effort. She stumbled into the room and saw a large bed across from her. The windows seemed to reach the ceiling, which was at least fifty feet high. She noticed candles were neatly placed around the room on different tables and desks. There was another door leading somewhere, which she guessed was maybe a bathroom, since this looked like the master bedroom. 'Of course they would have the floo powder fireplace in their room.'
She saw the fireplace next to a huge desk and walked over to it, but she couldn't find the floo powder.
'Where is it? Shouldn't it be right beside here? Why hide such a thing as floo powder?' Hermione started to panic. She tore apart the desk and a few nightstands around the room trying to look for the little bottle with her only hope in it. She went to the other side of the room to where a wardrobe stood . She didn't particularly want to look through it. She thought about how personal it was looking through their stuff, even if she wasn't paying attention to any of it. But looking through their clothes, his clothes, was just too close.
She stood there and looked at the wardrobe for a moment. Despite the circumstances, she did think it was breathtaking. It was a deep brown, red wood, with intricate carvings of snakes wrapping around the sides. It was weird to see something other than black, green, and silver in the house, so it stood out like a sore thumb. 'I better open it just to look. I mean I've looked everywhere else, and if this works out, I won't have to step foot in here ever again.'
She turned the knob and opened the wardrobe. The scent of him came wafting out and filled Hermione's nose. It was a sort of musky, but pleasing smell. She figured this was where Lucius kept his clothes. How could someone so evil, smell so...good? She closed her eyes and took another breath through her nose to get the scent again. It reminded her of cologne she would smell in one of those muggle magazines with the little samples on paper. When she was a little girl she would love to get those in the mail, then always try to get her dad to buy it because 'the big man on the paper wears it.'
The simple smell brought back memories-so sweet at the time-but painful now to think about.
She stood there thinking, and almost lost herself in a trance. She jumped as she heard someone open the door to the room. She looked down and saw the floo powder sitting beside a pair of shoes at the bottom. She turned around and saw someone she hadn't expected to see at all.
"Granger?" Draco looked absolutely disgusted as he sneered at her. Hermione had no time to respond to him and jumped over the bed to get to the other side of the room before Draco thought to move.
Draco's eyes widened as he realized what she was doing. He ran to the fireplace in an attempt to block it, but Hermione got there before him.
"62 Talisman Drive London!" She yelled as he jumped in with her. The fireplace spit them out and she realized where she told them to go. She looked around at her parent's home, not seeing them anywhere which was good.
"Granger, what the hell," Draco yelled as he jumped off of her, seeing as he was lying squarely on top of her. "We have to get back. Why take us to some muggle house?"
"Hah, yeah like I would tell you, and why Draco, tell me, would I go back there with you? Are you really that dense?"
"Wait, this is your old house isn't it? It was a natural instinct to yell your house address. Nice Granger, but that was a big mistake." Draco grabbed her by the arm that was previously injured. The skin may have been healed, but it was still sore. It caused Hermione to lose her balance. Draco jumped into the fireplace and dragged her in as well. "Malfoy Manor!"
The green flames engulfed them, and once again they were shot out into the room they were just in a few minutes ago. "Draco! No! Give me the floo powder!" Hermione tried to get the floo powder back from him, but he was too quick. She chased him around the room like it was an innocent game of tag.
She reached for her wand, but it was missing. 'Oh, no! My wand! I must have dropped it, or...' She looked at what Draco held in his other hand. Her wand...She stopped trying to catch him. "Draco, give me my wand."
"Oh you want your wand, Granger? Well what are you going to do about it? Do you really think I would give it to you, especially since you aren't even supposed to be out of your little filthy cell? I think I'll keep this if you don't mind." He grinned gloatingly at her.
Hermione scowled at him as she thought about how to get out of the room. He blocked the door, had her wand, and had the floo powder. She was stuck. She surely couldn't tackle him, he had to be at least six inches taller, and he was most likely stronger. But she had nothing more to lose, so she went for it. She ran as fast as she could towards him and jumped, knocking him back. He dropped the floo powder in alarm and the glass shattered on the floor.
"What the hell?" She heard him scream. She gave it her all, trying to make him fall to the floor. She grabbed his neck, his arms, and after a few moments he fell. She went for her wand in his right hand. She leaned over to the side to get it, and he managed to throw her off. He had a pretty hard grip on her wand, and with her trying to get it, it snapped in half.
"No! My wand!" Hermione cried in dismay. She held about four inches of it and the remaining was still in Draco's hand.
"So what are you going to do now Granger?" He teased.
Before she could say a snide remark back, he pulled up his left sleeve and touched the elevated dark mark that was tattooed into his arm. Not a minute later the door slammed open and in came Lucius and Bellatrix by his side. Bellatrix was beaming with happiness, but Lucius looked furious.
"And what the hell are you doing Mudblood?" He said through clenched teeth. He raised his wand, only to have it be taken by Bellatrix.
"Now now, Lucius. How about we wait until the Dark Lord gets here, and he can deal with her. Maybe it can speed our little plan along and we can get rid of her faster than we intended?" Lucius stood motionless for a few seconds.
"You're right. The Dark Lord can take care of her, and we can get some of this questioning done sooner. Then she will be out of our hair, little pest." He seemed to get quieter as he went on. Every time he talked, he always seemed to have this tone in his voice that always said he meant business. But Hermione noticed that was gone. It made him seem almost innocent.
She didn't know when the sudden change in him happened, but she didn't have much time to think about that. Another thought clicked in her head. Voldemort was coming for her; and he would be there any second now.