A/N: I've decided to take pity on you and put you out of your misery, my lovelies.
I will donate one dollar in dog food to the Lake City Animal Shelter in Lake City, Florida for every review I receive on this chapter.
Ten years ago the place was a mess, but through private donations and a shake up in staff, they are really trying hard to care for and find good homes for dogs. I adopted my pit-mix Bloo there. So what do you say, lovelies? Help me feed the doggies?
-Elvee
Snatch
Chapter Twenty Six
"My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me."
-Winston Churchill
Hermione led them back out of Pansy's old cell, locking the door on the still drooling Bellatrix LaStrange. At their request she had given them the whole story of the fight, including Bellatrix's taunting song, which was why Ron was singing as he stepped into the hall:
"Bellatrix LaStrange droolin' on the floor, D-R-O-L-I-N-G."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ron, you idiot! Drooling has two Os."
"Oh, right," Ron smiled sheepishly.
Pansy waited in the hallway, tapping her foot impatiently.
"You shouldn't have done that, 'Mione," said Harry, gravely. "She's one of his favorites. Voldemort will come after you."
"He'll come after both of us, you stupid mudblood," hissed Pansy. It took less than a second for three wands to be pointed at her face. Harry and Ron's faces were hard with dislike.
"You're talking about my fiancee, Pansy," Draco growled.
Shocked, Pansy whined, "Drake! You can't marry a mud..."Ron poked her in the chest with his wand, burning a hole in her muggle jumper. She squeaked and backtracked, "Her! What would your mother say?"
"She gave her blessing this morning." Draco roughly ran a hand through his hair. "We've been friends a long time, Pans. I've known you since we were kids. I know things ended kind of abruptly for us..."
"Abruptly!" Pansy spat in disbelief. "You disappeared!" Hermione had the good grace to wince and Pansy caught it. "Wait...You!" She shook a finger at Hermione, then turned back to Draco, still yelling, "She kidnapped you, didn't she?"
"She kidnapped me to save my life!" Draco defended. "And if you really think about it, she saved yours, too. I was in hiding. I had no way of knowing they took you. Even if I did, I wouldn't risk my family's safety to rescue you. If Hermione hadn't been here..." He trailed off and shrugged. Clear as a bell, Hermione watched the emotions play across her face. Pansy wanted to scream. She wanted to hit him. It might have been the truth, and it was very Slytherin of him, but hurt settled over her features. Pansy looked away, her eyes shining in the blue light..
They didn't have time for all this personal drama. Lucius could be returning at any moment with a handful of Death Eaters. "Speaking of which," Hermione tried to steer the conversation in a more constructive direction. "There's still the matter of what to do with her."
"Just bring her back with us, love." Draco said, gently. Pansy's face lit up.
"I'm still not sure we can trust her." Hermione shook her head, and Pansy's face fell from hope that she might have a chance to pry her Drakey-poo away from the mudblood, to a pointed glare. Hermione sighed and continued, "Even if we could trust her, Lucius put a tracing spell on her. Any of you know how to break it?"
Ron sniggered, and said under his breath, "Like we'd know if 'Mione doesn't."
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think. After a moment, she looked up and said, "Okay, here's what we're going to do: Pansy, you're coming with me. Ron and Harry, you take Draco back to the safe house. I'll take Pansy to Professor Dumbledore."She whipped out her wand and pulling off her shoe, she created a portkey to the Shrieking Shack.
"Oh, no! Not again! You're not going anywhere without me!" Draco said sternly, taking a step closer to her.
The stabbing pain of a headache began right over her left eye. Gods, this man was trying her patience! "In case you forgot, Professor Snape wanted to turn you back over to your father! You can't go anywhere near anyone from the Order, it's too dangerous."Hermione shot back.
"Says the pot to the kettle," Draco groused.
"No, Malfoy. She's right. Unless..." Ron trailed off. Ron having an idea of his own was rare enough that Hermione and Harry both looked at him and waited. "Well, think about it, Harry. If we go and we say we want Pansy left out of it, they're not really going to go against you, are they? I mean, you're the Boy-Who-Lived! If 'Mione can hide Malfoy, she could hide us, right?"
Hermione snatched the jar out of Pansy's hands, "No. You have a mission, Harry. We've kept you long enough. I have everything I need in this jar. Bellatrix's memories will be plenty of leverage to buy Pansy's freedom."
"What about your freedom, 'Mione? Do you really think Dumbledore and Snape are going to watch you make fools of them and let you walk away?" Harry wrenched the jar from Hermione, "No way. Ron's right. The only thing that makes sense is for Ron and I to go. You and Draco go back to the safe house. We'll get these to Dumbledore."
"Good plan, Potter," Draco said hastily, grabbing Hermione's arm and preparing to disapparate. He turned to Pansy and gave her a pat on the shoulder, "You can trust Potter, Pans. He may be a prat, but he keeps his word. Tell Dumbledore you want to go live with Zabini in Naples. Get out of the country and keep your head down."
Hermione wrenched her arm away from him, "Now wait one bloody minute!" She risked her life to get that information! It was the richest source she'd uncovered to date, and she wasn't willing to let it go without a fight.
"Say goodbye, Granger. We are leaving." Draco grabbed her arm again, this time refusing to be pried off.
"Don't you dare!" Hermione huffed, "I harvested those memories! I have a right to know..."
"She says goodbye," Ignoring her, Draco leaned over and hissed at Harry and Ron. "Thanks again."
"Don't mention it," said Harry, smiling, even as Hermione was still speaking about her right to see the contents of the memories and needing Professor Snape to identify the contents of some of the potions vials.
Draco turned on the spot and they disapparated. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Hermione charged for the door. Draco, however, grabbed her elbow firmly and frogmarched her. "Granger, I fancy a spot of tea, and you're going to join me."
What the hell? She didn't come back here for tea. She tried to halt in her tracks, but Draco bulldozed her on ahead. "I do not want any bloody tea, Malfoy. I want to reset the wards, alter the documents and..."
"And what, Granger? Leave?" He pushed her through the back door. "I don't think so."
How did he do that? How did he know exactly what she had planned? It was infuriating! The stupid ferret wanted tea? Fine. She'd have tea, then finish what she came here to do.
Once in the dining room, he called for Dobby. At once the elf cracked into the room and upon seeing her, gave a cry of delight, "Mistress Hermione! You're back! Oh, Dobby is so glad Mr. Malfoy didn't hurts you!"
Something clicked in her brain. She frowned, asking, "Dobby, did you tell anyone where I went?"
Dobby blanched, "No, Mistress! Mistress says don't tell and Dobby doesn't! Dobby is a good elf."
"Leave the elf alone, Granger."Draco stripped her of her beaded bag and pushed her into a seat. "He didn't need to tell us where you went. You told me yourself when you asked for the map. Hell, Potter and Weaselbee knew. You weren't exactly subtle. Dobby, bring tea for Hermione and I."
Hermione fumed inwardly. He was right, of course. She'd been anything but subtle. He'd kept her so off balance with the whole engagement sham, she hadn't been thinking clearly at all. Damn him. Well it was time to get her head back on straight. She tried to stand.
As soon as she started to rise, he pointed his wand at her, and said darkly, "We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way; but one way or another, we're having bloody tea." Hermione sank back into her chair, crossing her arms. Once he was sure she wasn't going to stomp off he opened the beaded bag. "There is one thing I know my father keeps in every dungeon. Veritaserum." He summoned a small bottle of clear liquid out of the bag and held it up for her inspection.
As Dobby served tea, Draco held up the little vial and wiggled it. As Draco watched her reaction, he put three drops of the liquid into her cup. Unseen by Draco, behind him, Dobby frowned as he poured a second cup. Draco put the vial down and turned a triumphant smirk on Hermione.
Hermione's left eyebrow went up in a sardonic challenge. She had no intention of drinking the stupid tea even before the truth serum was in it. Her right eyebrow joined the left, before her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you playing at Malfoy?"
Behind him, Dobby picked up the vial with a broad smile and held it over Draco's cup, his eyebrows raised, asking for permission. She gave an almost imperceptible nod. Dobby hastily placed three drops in Draco's cup, then replaced the vial. He disappeared from the room with a wink and a crack.
"It's time we had a bit of truth in this relationship, Granger. You asked em to drink it for you, and I did. Now you're going to return the favor." He wiggled the nearly full vial. "Plenty left to make sure all of my questions are answered." He held up his cup and challenged, "Bottoms up."
She bit her lip. She'd been present at interrogations when one person had been given the truth serum, but she'd never seen more than one dosed person in a room together. Just how would they effect each other? Would she even be able to ask questions? He took her hesitation as reluctance, quirked an eyebrow and reminded her, "The easy way or the hard way, Granger. You'll be drinking it either way."
"Fine!" She gulped the hot tea, choking it down. To her surprise, Draco downed his in one go as well. "What do you want to know, Malfoy?" She seethed. The average duration of veritaserum was twenty two minutes, dependent on body weight, metabolism, magical ability and immunity. At the end of that single thought, she felt the reticence to the blond across the table melt away into nothingness.
Across from her Draco blinked. "You minx! You dosed my cup!"
She smiled, because the truth was so very easy. "No I didn't."
"The bloody elf then!" Draco got to his feet. "I'm going to hurt the good for nothing..."
Her eyes narrowed. "Touch one hair on his head and I'll make what happened to Bellatrix look like a stroll in the park. Sit down, Malfoy. You wanted truth? Well so do I. I drank the bloody tea, ask away."
"Why don't you want to marry me?" The smoothness in his voice was gone, but she almost missed the nuance of the change. In it's stead was a mellowness that she'd never heard before.
She didn't want to answer. It was too embarrassing to say 'because you don't want me'. Her tongue, however, had other ideas. It was like it wasn't attached to her brain at all. "Easy. Because you don't want to marry me." her eyes slid shut as mortification washed over her.
"Wrong, Granger. I do want to marry you." He scooped up her right hand and fingered her engagement ring. "I asked you. I got down on my bloody knee like a muggle and gave you my grandmother's ring. I'd consider myself a lucky wizard to marry you."When his eyes met hers, all of his feelings were there to see. He wasn't hiding anything any more. Was she just as transparent to him? She looked away.
A muscle in her jaw jumped. It said pride and haughtiness. It also said anger, and just a touch of hurt, as if she was trying to hold back tears. "Then you want to marry me for all the wrong reasons. You told me yourself you don't love me."
"I told you I didn't love you yet. That's a far cry from not loving you at all. Why were you going to leave?" How did he have the presence of mind to slip that other question in there? That wasn't fair.
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it. "Because it hurts to stay, knowing you don't want me." She groaned internally. She tried to rally and put him on the defensive by asking, "What are your reasons for wanting to marry me?"
He shrugged, as if it was the easiest question in the world. "I owe you a life debt. My mother owes you a life debt. We'll have strong, magical children. We'll make my mother happy..."
"I knew it!" She hollered, cutting him off. Ripping her hand out of his grasp, she tried unsuccessfully to unscrew the gaudy ring from her finger. "You only want me because you think you owe me? Well, I release you both from your life debts, Malfoy! Now quit messing with my head!"
He snatched her ring hand away from the one trying to pry his family jewel loose and jammed the ring back on her finger. "I never said that! There are tons of reasons it's a good match, Granger! You're bloody brilliant and beautiful and sexy. Merlin, I want to crawl between your thighs and..." His expression shifted radically from lustful to insightful. A sudden light of understanding flared in his eyes and he changed tack instantly. "No one's ever told you, have they?"
She blinked. "Told me what?"
"That you're a beautiful woman, that you're desirable, that you're downright hot. They've never told you that bossy little attitude of yours is like liquid lust. And that quick tongue, Merlin, I can think of quite a few things I'd like that tongue to do. And your hair... your hair is wild and free and so, so soft. I could get lost in it for days. Nobody's told you that, have they?"
"No," she mumbled.
He beamed. "Well, good on me, then. Because I see it, Granger. I see you. And I like what I see very, very much."He brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them, then kissed the engagement ring.
As much as she wanted to stay silent, as much as she wanted to stop the world and take all of these truths in, her tongue wouldn't have it. She blurted, "You really want to marry me, Draco?"
"I really do," he nodded. It looked like he was fighting with himself now, before he suddenly asked in a rush of words, "Do you love me, Hermione?"
She bit her lip. He told her this morning he didn't love her. He told her a few minutes ago he didn't love her yet again. She wanted to say no. Just say no, she told herself, but once again, that traitorous tongue of hers rolled out the truth like a red carpet. "I- I don't know. I've thought about it, but I've never- I've never been in love with anybody."
"Me either!" He crowed. "You make me crazy. You argue with me. You insult me. You beat me down, but I keep coming back. I don't even know why! I kick myself, because you make it anything but easy to be with you. But I'll tell you this for free: there's no place I'd rather be, Granger. I don't care if you're kidnapping me, spiking my drinks with love potion or you're taking a bath in front of the fire. Although, since I'm compelled to tell the truth, I'd rather the later," he smirked. "As long as I get to watch."
"Pervert." The word escaped her lips before she even realized she was thinking it. She followed it with a laugh.
"So?" He asked. "Tell me you don't want me, Granger."
Just tell him you think he's repulsive, she thought. Say anything to make him go away. But, apparently she didn't want him to go away; or at least her tongue didn't. "I..." She tried to grind her teeth together. She willed her tongue to be still. If she could have whipped out her wand and cast a tongue-tying curse on herself in that moment, she would have, but the potion prevented it. To hell with it. If she couldn't say what she wanted to say, she wasn't going to say any bloody thing at... "You know I do." She dropped her head to the table with a defeated thump.
She felt his fingers smooth over her hair. "Draco?" She asked, her voice muffled against the crook of her elbow.
"Hmm?" His voice was much closer, right next to her ear. When had he come around the table?
He'd already answered this question. It was dumb to drag it out and examine it yet again. Something about what he'd said earlier rankled her. It might have been the truth, but something was missing. "Do you love me?" She asked, without taking her head off the table, without having to see the rejection in his eyes.
She felt his lips on the shell of her ear in a gentle kiss. "I'm trying, Hermione. I really am."