Disclaimer: See last chapter.

Hermione jumped up when the door finally opened after what seemed to be days, her eyes taking a while to adjust to the new source of light that met her eyes. She bit down on her lip as she looked up at the large man that she didn't recognise from before. "Come." He pointed his wand at her and beckoned for her to walk out of her cell, she nodded slowly as he watched her struggle to get up. She sighed, more and more tears falling from her eyes as she shook her head; trying to tell him she couldn't move.

"Draco, help her." He looked behind him to the smaller, pale and blonde boy she knew so well; Hermione stared at him – fear instead of hatred creeping up through her body. He walked to her, kneeling down, "It's going to be okay.." He whispered, looking behind him to make sure the other men couldn't hear him before looking back as his eyes met hers, smiling a little.

"I'll look after you.." He put his fingers to his lip and moved his hand down to her wrist, looking behind him, "We're going to need some bandages for her wrists." He told the man behind him, wishing he didn't have to stick to the strict instructions of no magically healing the girl in front of him. Hermione looked up at him, unable to stop the tears falling down her face.

"Come on, your father wants her cleaned up before he meets her properly." Hermione felt her heart drop at the thought of Draco not being her master – she hated him, of course she did, but he showed her the biggest amount of kindness since she had been captured. "How do you feel?" Draco asked her as he lifted her up, walking out of the cell she had been kept in for what seemed to be an eternity. She shrugged a little and then looked down at her wrist, a tear falling when she saw the deep cuts caused by the restraints.

"Don't worry, it'll just be a light scar after a while." He smiled down at her, walking her up the stairs as she nodded and bit down on her lower lip, trying to make the tears stop.

"Right, I'm going to get you cleaned up." He whispered to her gently, putting her on the ground when they walked into a bathroom. He told her to take off her clothes before checking the bath was warm enough for her. "I can take it from here," He told the other two men as they nodded and shut the door behind them as they walked out.

"I'm going to make sure you get out of here alive.." He murmured to her as he closed his eyes, lifting her into the bath. He sighed, wiping away the tears from her face when her wrists hit the warm water. He shook his head and smiled at her gently, "I haven't been able to help the other girls but I'm going to sure you get back to your boyfriend.." He spoke quietly, making sure only she could hear him.

Hermione nodded, staring at the water as it turned a light shade of brown from a mixture of all the dried blood and dirty, "P-Promise?" She whispered, watching him as he washed her hair, "I promise." He muttered, looking up when the door opened.

"Here's the bandages," A gruff voice chucked some bandages at him before shutting the door again. Draco nodded, looking at Hermione, "Let's get you out of there." He closed his eyes once more, lifting her out of the bath to avoid embarrassment for the both of them – she was the girl he had called mudblood for years, but at the same time, the war was over. The war was finished and done with; he had given up the fight, he only wished the others had too.

Hermione looked at the fellow teenager; trying to smile a little, thinking of how there was now a chance of her leaving this place she hated already, the place where nothing but bad memories from the war had stored. She thought about the chance that she might get out of here.

~ .. ~

Ron sighed and looked down at the photograph he held in his hands, tears hitting the frame as he shook his head, moving his fingers up to trace the smile on her face, more and more tears falling down his face as he thought about Hermione Granger – the girl who had stolen his heart.

He had been looking, he had been looking everywhere he knew to look and yet there was nothing, no leads and nothing to go on – she was gone without a trace, and he had no idea what to do or where to look. But he couldn't just give up on her, he'd never stop looking. He couldn't cope with the thought of losing her.