Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks for starting to read this story. I enjoy the idea of writing Draco's point of view, as I think he could be a very complex character! I will try to post updates fairly regularly each week, but we will see how I go getting into the rhythm.

I owe a special life debt to the great JKR for gifting us with these books. They are the defining novels of my childhood! Now onto the chapter...

He could feel a heavy heat in his stomach that made him want to vomit or drown himself in icy cold water, anything to wash away the sense of foreboding as he stared at Hermione Granger, inert and bleeding on the floor of his parents' drawing room. Bellatrix prowled over to Granger's prone form at last and leaned down to grab her chin.

"Ennervate," she hissed, and with a gasp of air, Granger blinked awake with heavy eyes. She looked exhausted, as if she were going to simply drop off into unconsciousness again.

"Oh no you don't-" Bellatrix spat angrily, and she slapped her across the face to keep her awake. Hermione took in a ragged breath but didn't make any other sound as she tried to get a hazy grip on her surroundings. She must have used a lot of magic wandlessly to drain her like this.

"Wakey wakey mudblood," she said in her sing-song voice that set his teeth on edge.

Granger made a vague murmuring sound and moved her head to look around her. She spotted Lucius and Narcissa standing to one side. His mother was looking timid and nervous, and his father had an expression of barely contained glee. Then her eyes swept past the glittering sword on the ground beside Bellatrix and over to him.

Draco felt his throat go completely dry.

Seconds before her eyes had been unfocused and bleary, but now as she looked at him she appeared much more alert. She stared at him with an intensity that frightened him. He tried to swallow as he stared back at her, but found he couldn't. He realised that his hands were shaking too. For so long he had waited for some miracle to make her look at him with desire in her eyes, or at least understanding. He had bored holes in the back of her head in class trying to will her to turn around and give him that soft, affectionate smile she gave the two dunderheads she called friends.

And now she had her gaze fixed on him unblinkingly. He couldn't look away. Her brows creased in a small, puzzled frown, and that sweet line in the middle of her forehead appeared that she got when she was cross or scared. Her lips twitched but she didn't open her mouth or say anything. Yet somehow he just knew that she was pleading him with her eyes. She didn't look at him with hatred or disgust, just a silent plea for mercy.

Draco's fists were clenched so hard he could feel his nails digging into his palms.

"I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to tell me the absolute truth. If you don't I will know. And you will suffer… more." Bellatrix spoke in a soft chant that belied the threat of her words. It was creepy, and he noticed Granger shudder as she finally flinched and drew her eyes away from him to look at his aunt. After a long time she spoke in a hoarse voice.

"I don't…don't know…anything-" she began, but Bellatrix just laughed and kneeled back.

"How did you get into my vault?"

"I…I didn't," Granger was trembling, and he was sure that it was from the head wounds and exhaustion she was feeling as well as from fear.

"This sword-" Bellatrix gestured to the glittering, ruby-hilted sword next to them, "this sword was in my vault, and now you have it."

"Pl-please-"

"If you haven't been in my vault, then where did it come from?" Bellatrix was still talking softly, and Draco shuffled nervously from foot to foot, hoping that Granger would just answer her so she didn't get too hurt. For now at least. He didn't hold out any hope for her long-term safety, but maybe the Order would send some help or something if she managed to keep herself alive in the meantime. Surely someone would come and try to rescue Potter at least. Not that he gave a shit about Harry bloody Potter. But then she might be saved as well.

"We found it, it was just in an old forest. Please, we didn't take anything."

"LIAR!" Bellatrix screamed suddenly, and Granger flinched away from her but didn't respond.

"Maybe the cruciatus will loosen your tongue, girl," she spat.

Before Draco could even think of a way to stop it, Bellatrix had risen to her feet and cast the curse with a vicious twist of her wand.

"CRUCIO!"

The next thing Draco knew, Granger was screaming. It was a hoarse scream of agony that echoed hauntingly around the room as her entire body curled up and thrashed and the pain took control of her.

He shuddered, visibly cringing at her sounds of pain.

She was completely lost to it; her body was jerking uncontrollably. He had never been on the receiving end of his aunt's wand, but he knew from countless Death Eater events over the last couple of years that she could inflict pain like no other.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally raised her wand, cutting off the curse in the middle of a pained scream that quickly turned to a whimper. Draco let out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding. His lungs were stinging from lack of air and he knew that if he unclenched his fists there would be blood on his palms.

He took a deep, shaky breath.

If she could just hold on a bit longer, maybe someone would come.

Where is her precious Order of the Phoenix now?

He could see in the determined set of her jaw that there was no way she would reveal any information. And even if by some complete reversal of her character she did chicken out, Bellatrix was not likely to spare her life in return.

His aunt had knelt down next to her, stroking her curly hair condescendingly as one would touch a pet.

"There, now. You wouldn't want another round, would you?"

"No…please no…" Hermione croaked, her eyes misty and unfocused.

"No?" she leaned closer with a harsh whisper, "Well then you had better tell me where you found the sword!"

Granger looked confused for a moment, her brows furrowed and her eyes gazing unseeingly at the ceiling. After a pause she shook her head. She didn't need to use words; she just tightened her lips as if bracing herself for the next round.

"Very well," Bellatrix cooed with glee, and raised her wand once more.

This time Draco had to blink and turn away slightly so that he wouldn't have to watch.

It was a complete turnabout from what had become his 'normal' behaviour at school. He was so used to watching Granger's every move this past year, and now he couldn't bring himself to lower his gaze to where she was writhing on the floor of his own house. Especially since her bottomless brown eyes were clenched shut in pain.

He was jarringly reminded of the times she had returned his stare when they were at school and he had become lost in those same eyes. He clung onto the thought to stop himself from looking down at her.

Every now and then they had shared looks. He treasured every memory. She was the smartest witch in school from the moment she entered the front doors in first year. So it came as no surprise that she had been able to tell when someone was watching her. And he had been watching her intently for months.

Every now and then her eyes would flicker away from those books she glued herself to, and he wouldn't be able to look away quick enough. She'd catch him staring and frown a little, pursing her delicate heart shaped lips as she became curious about his attention. Maybe she thought he was plotting something. It wasn't that far-fetched. He had been vocal in his early years about her filthy blood status. And even if he had faded into the background a lot in fifth and sixth year, he was pretty sure she knew that he was the reason Katie Bell was cursed.

But once or twice in the hundreds of times he had sat studying vanishing charms in the library – when he had chosen the same desk that allowed him to see her perfectly – she had not frowned at him. Once in a blue moon she would simply cock her head to one side and look back at him as if trying to work out a puzzle.

He remembered holding her gaze and smirking at her, waiting for her to shake her head and return to her books. Every time it happened it had taken his breath away. He had no idea how a simple look shared across a library between two enemies could be hotter than any of the beautiful slytherin girls who threw themselves at him through the years.

But here and now her eyes just made him feel the icy cold grip of fear.

He wasn't sure he could watch much longer without losing the last vestiges of his sanity. Thinking about Hermione Granger had been the only saving grace for him these last few months. Every time he was forced to witness something grotesque or participate in a sick ceremony, he had to remind himself of the good in the world; of the good in her. If he didn't he would go mad. And now he had to force himself to stay where he was and not race from the room. He had to stay and see if she was going to be rescued.

It seemed the moronic duo were also struggling, as he heard the ginger in particular yelling at the top of his voice from the cellar. A strange, detached voice in his mind wondered curiously whether Granger and Weasley were an item now.

The thought was immediately suffocated by the suddenly loud scream torn from her on the floor even as Bellatrix got tired of waiting and cancelled the spell.

"You're a tough little bitch," she murmured, starting to sweat from the effort of holding the torture curse against someone who was naturally strong-willed. Interestingly, the ability of a muggle-born to resist this kind of curse through sheer bloody toughness did nothing to change pureblood attitudes. Shit, even if she leapt up right now and started performing wandless charms on the very fabric of time itself, her parents would still turn up their noses.

His aunt paused and started to chant an incantation as she drew something from the folds of her robes.

Draco shivered in anticipation. He was starting to feel more and more nauseous.

Granger was twitching a little bit on the ground, but otherwise becoming more alert once again. She rolled slightly onto her side and took a few deep breaths, taking advantage of Bellatrix's distraction. For a brief second her eyes looked up blearily and met Draco's. The look she sent him was one of absolute anguish.

His eyes were wide and dry as he stared back at her.

His heart thudded. There was bile rolling in his stomach that made him want to vomit. What would he do if his aunt or worse, Voldemort, decided she was of no further use? What if they killed her? Draco was sure that the last threads of his sanity would be broken by it. And yet he was frozen in an impossible situation.

If he made any move or showed any sympathy then his aunt might just be crazy enough to kill them both. The only one who would show mercy was his mother, but she was powerless here.

Then Granger opened her cracked lips, her gaze still fixed on him.

"Pl…please…" she moaned, and his spine tingled with icy cold dread.

She was begging him, but he still he remained motionless.

"It's alright, little pet" Bellatrix whispered in a sing-song voice, "Let's spill some of that dirty blood and take a closer look."

Granger's eyes were still boring holes through him as Bellatrix raised the cursed dagger she had drawn from her robes and started to press the tip into her skin.

"Please…please…"

The blade pressed into her forearm, breaking the skin and coaxing the blood out to the surface. Then Bellatrix began to carve in earnest.

The desire to vomit became stronger as her blood dripped down her arm.

It was red. Bright, warm red.

Just like his. Just like any blood.

But as it dripped down her arm and onto the wooden floor, almost lethargically splattering one drop at a time, he couldn't imagine anything more monstrously ugly. He was aware on some level that his aunt was writing a word out of her flesh, but he couldn't focus on it at all. The tang of blood hung in the air, and her screams pounded in his ears. He was shaking in earnest now, lucky that no one was really watching him. The blade was cursed to burn itself through her muscle and flesh and into her very bones, and her throat was becoming hoarse with cries of pain. Eventually her body just froze and the screams tapered off into croaky moans as a way of dealing with the overwhelming torture.

Draco felt a strange prickling in his eyes, but he refused to let himself cry. Imagine being seen crying over a mudblood. He may as well just turn his wand on himself right now. He blinked and stared at the opposite wall as he fought the urge to scream himself raw and hurl his body on top of hers.

His aunt wasn't even trying to get information out of Granger anymore, he realised with a sick twist to his gut. She was just enjoying it.

Why isn't anyone coming to save them?

His eyes flickered over to his father, but he instantly had to turn away when he saw the delirious joy lighting up Lucius's face.

So this was his family. Their blood ran in his veins. It was darker than the blood that had run down to soak the thick carpet in the middle of the hall. Darker than hers.

His morbid thought was cut off by the change in pitch of Hermione's yells – Bellatrix had begun cursing her again with the cruciatus as the knife clattered to the floor. Her whole body curled in on itself as his aunt focused the curse on her head. Granger's hands jerked up to grip her head at the temples, writhing on the floor.

Draco's eyes flickered down to her and then quickly away again. Her eyes were clenched shut and there was blood dripping out of her nose onto the rich wooden floors.

Draco felt himself sweating. Too much time had passed.

If no one was coming to rescue her, then she was getting to the point where Bellatrix would destroy her mind. As strong-willed as Granger was, there was little that could stand up to that crazy bitch's wand when her intent was malicious. He imagined for a moment a Granger who had lost her mind. She would turn into a brainless zombie or a gibbering wreck.

The brightest witch of their age.

Draco clenched his teeth. Death would be a kinder option. Hermione Granger should never have to live with insanity; she would never want to live like that. One of the things that had drawn him to her at first was the depth of knowledge in her eyes; real intelligence. For all that Snape insulted her for simply regurgitating textbooks, the reality was that she didn't just practice magic, she understood it.

When Professor Vector paired them up in Arithmancy – being the only two students who weren't in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw – he had developed an obsession with her eyes. It had only taken five years of being beaten by her in every subject to realise that she really was as smart as people said. Actually, far smarter than they said, since her friends didn't really appreciate her. He was so used to girls batting their eyelashes at him and making their doe eyes wide and appealing. He had power, money and looks. And they really knew how to make themselves look attractive to him. They knew exactly what expression to pull to tease him.

But when Hermione sat quietly and stubbornly next to him, completing as many problems without his assistance as she could so they wouldn't have to interact at all, he finally saw how fake those other girls were.

When Hermione looked at him critically, piercingly, he felt like her stare went right through him. There was such a weight of intelligence there that he was overwhelmed. It was the weight of her personality – fiercely independent, confident and completely free from artifice.

So if she went mad, what then? Bellatrix was cackling now. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was only a matter of time.

And Draco was getting to the point where, if he didn't do something himself, then it might be too late.

A flash of movement caught Draco's eye as he stood there in indecision; a tiny dark green dress being twirled nervously by long bony fingers.

Tilly. He wide eyes were flickering nervously between the body of Granger shuddering on the floor, and him.

He saw her point her finger shakily towards him and felt her gentle magic wash over his hands. He unfurled his fingers and saw that the cuts he had made with his fingernails on his palm had disappeared.

He looked back at her more closely, his brain starting to kick back into gear out of the red mist that had clouded him since she arrived.

Tilly was jerking her head a little to the side, gesturing towards Granger, and widening her eyes meaningfully.

He stared at her in surprise.

She wanted to help? He suddenly remembered her asking about Granger earlier and how important she was. He thought urgently about what he could do. If he gave the game away then he could make things worse.

Well how much worse could it get?

But he'd be no use to her if he were caught or suspected of betrayal. He'd just end up joining her. He didn't think his father loved him enough to spare him.

He pursed his lips and stared back at Tilly, his mind working furiously. If he could just get Granger alone, then he could send her to his cottage. No one knew about it and it was heavily protected by enchantments. He could find a way to sneak her out without anyone realising he was involved. It was either that or somehow get a message to their friends in the Order. Surely they would launch an attack to save their precious Chosen one.

Before he could do anything there was a distinctive cracking sound that echoed up from the cellar. His parents and aunt looked up in surprise, giving Granger a momentary reprieve from the pain.

"What was that?" Lucius asked angrily, "Rowle!"

The bulking figure of Rowle could be heard clambering up the stone steps, and after a little while he limped into the room, grazes down the left hand side of his face.

"What have you done?" Bellatrix shrieked.

"It wasn't my fault…" he croaked nervously.

Lucius strode forward and grasped the man's throat, slamming him up against the wall.

"What happened, you snivelling coward? Spit it out."

Rowle shrunk under Lucius's fury, and it was strange to see such a grown man stammering like a schoolboy.

"There was an elf – he was dressed in woolly jumpers and hats. Layers of them. He grabbed the boys, all of them, blondie and the wand-maker too!"

Lucius's eyes narrowed, the vein in his temple throbbing as his grip on Rowle's throat tightened.

"What exactly are you saying, Rowle?"

"Well…they…they're gone!"

Bellatrix made a strange shrieking sound and raced from the room towards the cellar. Lucius spat at Rowle, throwing him to the ground and hurling a stunner at him before following after her.

Draco's eyes shot towards his mother, but she had spun around to gaze out of the window with glazed, unseeing eyes. There was no one else around but he and Granger, and she was barely conscious. She kept emitting small moans of pain. He desperately wanted to reach out and touch her to reassure himself that she was ok, but knew it was still too risky.

"Tilly," he whispered, and she appeared beside him meekly, her horrified eyes still staring to her right at Granger's pathetic form, her wrinkly lower lip trembling.

"Yes master?"

He leaned down closer to her level.

"Do you know what's happened?"

Tilly nodded, leaning in as well and speaking in a tremulous whisper.

"It was Dobby, he was here!"

"Dobby?"

She nodded quickly.

"He popped into the cellar then popped out again with the others."

"Do you know where he took them?"

"No, Master!"

"Has he tried to return for her?" he gestured to Granger.

Tilly looked heartbroken.

"No," she said shaking her head mournfully.

Draco nodded. The house had some extremely powerful wards placed on it, but they were less restrictive on the cellar so that the elves could do their housework. While Dobby could clearly come and go freely from downstairs, he would have difficulty penetrating the upper levels since he was no longer marked as a Malfoy elf.

Bellatrix and Lucius had likewise just discovered that their prisoners were indeed free, if the screaming and cursing below was anything to go by. He could understand his father's panic. He had hoped to get back into the Dark Lord's good graces. And Bellatrix would have been dreaming of the bliss she would have put on her master's face for bringing him Potter. She would've gotten off on it for sure.

Draco couldn't care less what happened to Potter and Weasley. The idiots were most definitely responsible for them getting caught somehow, and they deserved everything that happened to them. And now it seemed that they had managed to escape while leaving Granger behind. They'd just left her to fend for herself, knowing she was being tortured. Why hadn't they broken out of the cellar with the help of Dobby and grabbed their supposed friend? He couldn't believe how incredibly selfish they were. They hadn't even tried. A small part of him acknowledged bitterly that he couldn't really talk, since he had just spent the last hour watching her being tortured by his own relatives.

But that was completely different, he reminded himself, I had no choice!

He felt the blood pounding in his ears. Well now he could do something about it. He'd been left alone in the room with her – since his mother didn't really count in her current state – and he had Tilly's help.

"Ok, Tilly, I want you to do something for me. But I'm going to need you to be really careful," he murmured down close to her.

Tilly nodded eagerly, rocking on the balls of her feet.

"Anything, Master. Tilly will be so careful."

"I want you to take Granger and apparate her to my cottage. But you mustn't be seen. I want them to think that it was Dobby. Once you get there, put your own undetectable wards around the cottage on top of mine. And start some basic healing spells until I get there. I don't know when I'll be able to get away. Can you do all that, Tilly?"

"Yes, Master Draco. Tilly will do as she's told right away."

"Ok, go!"

With a shimmer of magic Tilly became invisible. Draco glanced up at his mother who was swaying near the window. She seemed lost in thought and her fingers were idly playing with the tassel of the curtain tie. For the first time ever he was pleased his mother had lost her marbles. She didn't notice anything going on behind her. Of course, she had her lucid moments, but she was basically a shadow of her former self. A wraith that haunted the halls of the manor.

Draco's heart pounded faster as he heard the thundering footsteps of his aunt and father returning upstairs. They were still yelling at each other.

He looked frantically towards Granger's form, and felt a thrill of relief when he saw Tilly make just one old long-fingered hand appear and grab onto her wrist. It was convincing. No one would be able to tell that it was Tilly; it could be any elf's hand.

As Lucius and Bellatrix burst back into the room, the hand's grip on Granger tightened and they both suddenly disapparated with a loud pop.

"NOOO!" Bellatrix shrieked in horror as she saw Granger vanish.

"What happened? Where did she go?" Lucius whirled around in a frenzy.

Draco stepped forward, eyes deliberately wide and confused, ready to play his part.

"It was a house elf – that hand! It must have disapparated with them all."

Lucius frowned. "That's impossible. The wards wouldn't allow it."

"Actually, Father," Draco paused for dramatic effect, not having to try very hard to look shaken and upset considering what he'd had to watch this evening, "I think…it was Dobby."

"What?" Lucius whispered harshly, "Are you sure?"

Draco just nodded and Bellatrix whirled to face them.

"That little twerp who broke his servitude to help itty Potter?"

Lucius grimaced and nodded, "Yes – he was a rabid little cretin. We were glad to be rid of him."

"He must have still been able to access the manor. A loophole or something. The piece of filth practically hero-worships Potter."

As Lucius dropped his head into his hands, Bellatrix let out an almighty scream and blasted a hole in the stone wall.

Narcissa didn't even flinch at the damage done to her home. They all just stood there with silent intensity for some time before Lucius took a deep breath and spoke.

"What will we do? The Dark Lord-"

"Must never know!" Bellatrix yelled.

Lucius shook his head.

"He'll read it from our minds," Lucius reminded her.

Bellatrix cursed and blew another hole right next to the first one. Draco had never been that surprised that his aunt and father didn't know occlumency. They didn't have the subtlety or intelligence. Their magic was more violent and ham-fisted than his or his godfather's.

"He is in Europe right now," Lucius murmured.

Bellatrix nodded.

"We won't call him now. It can wait until he has returned."

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. He was sort of hoping, maybe foolishly, that he could be sheltered from the Dark Lord's wrath. But it was a vain hope to think that his father would protect him. His father was a selfish sadist.

With a great sigh and a last look at his mother who was still staring absentmindedly out the window, Draco began to stroll out of the room slowly. He was trying to appear calm and nonchalant. With a great feeling of relief, no one called him back or questioned why he was leaving. To protect his excuse for being absent for a while, he decided as he was leaving to call out,

"Screw this, I'm done. Call me if it's worth it next time. I didn't even get to see the mudblood die."

He almost choked on the words, but they helped him keep his cover as the petulant blood purist who had missed out on some fun. He even had the whining voice and slow, casual saunter of his own youth to base his performance on.

But by the time he made it upstairs to his room, he was running.