A/N: I would just like to say thank you to all of you who have been reviewing, it thrills me to read them and you have no idea how much more satisfying it makes writing these fics feel. Please keep reviewing, because your opinion is very important to me! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

If you are taking the time to add me to your fav's, or alerts, why not review at the same time! –smile-

Chapter Four

Wretched Girl

Draco cringed slightly at the sight of her leaning against the wall. If he had not known what cell block to find her in, he didn't think he would have recognized her. The very sight of her made him sick. Though, even deep down in his dark and untouchable soul, he felt pity. She squinted at him through the blackness, her eyes barely visible through a thick sheet of dried blood and dirt.

There she was, the great Hermione Granger, not so great now. This was the witch that so many people had made such a fuss about, 'the best witch of our time', they had called her. What Draco saw was nothing more then a helpless girl, lost and confused. He shuddered then, still waiting for her to respond to the sound of his voice. She did not move to follow him, he would have thought she would be ecstatic to get out of there.

Draco licked his lips nervously, glancing behind him to make sure that no one was coming. He looked back at her, her eyes dull and sunken. Her eyelids were drooping and her head was rested against the stone wall.

"Granger, you have to come quickly," He hissed, walking over to her, cringing as he took her around the arm. "We have to get moving right away, they can't know I was here."

Her eyes flickered open with a weak movement, and she stared at him for a moment. He wondered if she had lost her wits, or forgotten how to speak. He found this was the first time he had ever looked into her eyes without despise and jealousy. This time he was looking into her eyes out of compassion and pity.

He grabbed hold of her arm, attempting to pull her forward in the most careful, but assuring way possible. She did not move, she just stared at him, her eyes like empty pools, almost black they were so dark. Her pupils were dilated to the point where the brown was barely visible, from being trapped in the darkness for so long. He pulled at her arm once more, insisting that she follow.

Why did she not want to get out of there?

Then she opened her mouth slightly, as though she was going to speak. A soft noise seemed to pass through her lips, but no words escaped. He moved closer to her, trying to hear what it was she was trying to say. Her eyes shifted slightly, as they would if she were insane. He stiffened a little as she reached out a ghostly hand towards him, the tip of her finger touching his chest. Then, as if she had never been awake to begin with, her eyes were rolling back in her head, and she had fainted. Draco jumped forward bravely and caught her in his firm arms as she fell, supporting her head with an open palm and staring at her for a moment. He then reached his other arm underneath her, and hoisted her up into his hold.

He looked back once more nervously to make sure that no unwanted trespassers were coming around. Then Hermione is his arms, his mother's words on his mind, he stepped over the lifeless corpses of the creatures he had saved Granger from, and exited the doorway.

She felt far too light in him arms, and that made him nervous. If you had asked Draco Malfoy if he thought he would ever be concerned about Hermione Granger's safety, the answer would have been no. He had always despised the very being of Granger, and had always wished nothing less for her then what she had been given these last years. However, seeing her lying in his arms, pathetic and broken, made his heart quiver with a surprised longing to help her.

He shook his head in disgust as he walked.

Snap out of it Draco.

She stirred slightly in his arms, as he began down the hundreds of stairs. He was strong and firmly built in his older age, but she still began to grow heavy while descending further and further. She smelled horrid, but he ignored that fact. His brain swam, never ending with ideas of what he was to do. The trolls at the front gate would have to die, they had seen him there and the Dark Lord would hear about it. Draco had chosen not to kill them before, because he hadn't wanted to grab the attention of the other creatures in the castle.

Coming down another flight of stairs, he paused for a moment in an oh-so familiar doorway. He leaned back, Hermione remaining desperately unconscious in his arms, and peered into the old Transfiguration classroom. He felt overwhelmed with longing for the days when he marched throughout Hogwarts, every boy and girl any age stepping out of his way, Crabbe and Goyle by his side.

Draco gasped, almost dropping Hermione. He had completely forgotten, Crabbe and Goyle had planned on being at Malfoy Manor that evening, to give their condolences to his Mother's failing health. He wondered it they would still be attending, now that his mother was deceased. He lowered his eyebrows as he thought this to himself, and Hermione stirred softly in his arms. He looked down at her, innocent and near death.

He knew he had to get her out of there.

Then, forgetting of his thoughts of Transfiguration and expected companions, he took off swiftly once more, towards the large double-doors that held his freedom, from this now blood-stained and horrible place.

Then there came a sound from the corridor across the hall, and once more the flickering lights of torches could be seen, illuminating the stone around them. It was those patrolling imps, and this time, Draco had no where to hide.

They rounded the corner before Draco even had time to attempt to think of an action. They were caught up in a bustling chatter amongst one another. It wasn't until the one in the back saw Draco, and dropped his torch. They all stopped dead in their measly tracks, taken back by the sudden appearance of their third in command.

Draco stared at them for a moment, not knowing what to say or how to say it. There he was, the supposed heir to the Dark Lords throne, holding a mudblood close to his chest, and wearing a hooded black cloak. He moved to the side, placing Granger down on the floor, and readying himself for the fight. He knew he had no choice, they had seen what he was doing.

They snarled slightly, the front imp creature speaking in a high pitched, loud voice.

"Lord Malfoy, sire." It said, raising its torch higher as though double-checking that it was indeed Draco. "We were not informed of your visit, why are you taking away a prisoner?"

Draco felt his heart beginning to race, and his head spin.

Then, without so much as a word to them, he had reached for his wand and pulled it out.

"Avada Kadavera!"

The killing curse that consisted of those two terrible words, haunted him in his sleep. Though unforgivable, he was trained to use it at all costs, for it was fast. The Dark Lord has always said to him, 'Draco, if the person you wish to kill is hated, or just deserves to suffer, give them a Crucio first'. Draco had never used the Crucio curse, and he never would. With the Avada Kadavera, it was fast and utterly painless, that is why he chose that curse.

The creatures all lay dead on the floor now, and he plucked up Hermione without a word.

He descended the last of the marble staircase and snuck quietly across the tiled floor, now almost invisible under the bones and blood. He made sure to be cautious, and crouched down low, placing Granger down once more very gently in the darkness behind a broken statue. He then reached into his robes and removed his wand, creeping up behind the backs of the two massive trolls. They were quarrelling between one another like children, completely oblivious to his approaching.

He took a deep breath, raising his wand.

He hated to kill.

But he was just so good at it.

He closed his eyes tightly, as though showing remorse for his actions in which he was about to commence. Then, raising his wand he whispered ever so quietly, as though speaking to a lover, his full lips moving just barely.

"Avada Kadavera."

Before the creatures had even known what had hit them, they were down on the floor, a light green mist rising from their now dead bodies. Their tongues hung out in death, and their breath reeked of a mixture of dead fish and damp soil.

Draco gagged softly, as he walked back over to where Hermione lay, and scooped her up gently in his arms.

Who would guess that a Malfoy could be so gentle?

Then, from the corner of his eye he saw something. Granger's rags for clothing had slid down her wrist slightly, revealing an image he couldn't believe he was seeing with his silver eyes. He double took on the marking, and stared at it for a moment.

There was no way. But there it was clear as day, painted on her arm and snarling his way.

His head began to spin, and his mouth ran dry. His hands shook, as she stirred once more in his arms, her eyes opening slightly, revealing a soft brown that filled his head with confusion instantly. He swallowed aggressively, attempting to recollect his thoughts and process what had just happened.

Draco shifted uncomfortably, looking down into Granger's face once more.

Was he really one-hundred percent sure that this was the right girl?

Was this Granger?

She was so massacred he couldn't be sure it was her. She had the eyes, and the hair.

Yes, it was her.

He looked down at her wrist once more, and recoiled, his entire body stiffening and his heart beginning to race faster then it had in ages. He was confused and repulsed to the point of utter exhaustion.

Granger continued to look at him with her piercing stare, weak and helpless in his grasp. Looking back down at her, he suddenly felt nauseous from what he had just discovered. He put her down on the ground as fast as he possible could, without harming her in any way, and then vomited on the grass beside her. She forced herself up with her arms, watching him with that ever piercing stare.

What Draco had seen was the most unnatural, most unbelievable sight, and he couldn't bring his thick, arrogant, Malfoy head to believe it. So once again, he looked at her wrist, taking her arm in his hand and scanning it thoroughly. Yes, that was definitely what he thought it was.

The mark of the Death Eater.