The Uneventful Story

By: Snowflake Imp

Rated: NC-17

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I hate you. I think the very fact that I'm writing this on a shitty-ass PC and that I'm on assisted-living rent proves that I don't own Harry Potter, so why I have to physically SAY that I don't own any part of the franchise eludes me.

Earlier that day…

Severus Snape couldn't ignore that little tickling in the back of his mind anymore. Something was off with his godson when he saw him yesterday. Usually he was moody and tried his hardest to get out of drinking a potion he didn't really understand. However, that time Draco was calm and almost amused. As if it all didn't matter.

"Draco? Have you left for work already?" Severus called out, looking around. If he was still home, Severus had an excuse all ready, having conveniently left a few books behind. From the looks of things however, it seemed he didn't have to bother.

He knocked on his bedroom door. No answer.

Severus opened the door slowly, only to be greeted by a cold, empty room. He shook his head. Even he, as dour and unattached to material things as he was, decorated his room slightly with objects that pleased him. But this room…it was like no one lived in it. Everything was bare, with only the very essential pieces of furniture and enmities present. He had a suspicion that the only reason why the rest of the manor was still so well furnished was because Draco couldn't be bothered to take the effort to get rid of everything. He walked around, not quite sure what he was looking for. An affirmation, perhaps, that something was amiss.

And then he found it. Or to be more accurate, his foot found it. When he walked around the large, antique desk, the part of the carpet he stepped on procured a very distinct squelching noise. He looked down. His heart froze.

Weeks, even months worth of potion was slowly seeping out of the trash bin. Glass vials, carelessly, violently tossed and broken. This could only mean one thing.

Severus quickly ran, already knowing his next destination. The Ministry. The only logical place he would be. Because she was there.

As he ran, he wondered how long ago did Draco begin to remember. And then he prayed to whatever deity that hadn't turned its back on him yet to give him a little more time. Just enough to save them both.

"I really don't see any bit of Lav in him, Harry," Ginny said with a soft smile gracing her lips. Currently on a little holiday herself, she chose to spend some time at the Potters and reacquaint herself with the little black-haired baby.

And his son.

"It's all in his personality, I swear," Harry said with a chuckle, swatting his son's bottom affectionately as he toddled across the floor. "Vainest little creature I've ever seen."

"What are you talking about? He seems perfectly fine to me," Ginny commented, tickling the squealing boy. "Whoosagoodboyden? Huh? Is it you? Is it you!?"

"I'm serious Gin, he spends more time in front of a mirror than anywhere else!" Harry exclaimed, exasperated.

"He's just a bit lonely, I bet. Only natural for babies to be interested in their own reflection," she said, wiping some drool that had escaped James Sirius Potter's mouth.

"I guess," he said with a grin. "Sometimes I can't sleep at night, thinking that he might become a nancy boy of the worst kind."

Ginny laughed. "You know you'd still love him."

"True, but I'd love him even more if…"

Harry was interrupted when a regal falcon-eagle tapped impatiently on his window. He scowled. He knew whose bird that was. He had half a mind to just ignore it but when Ginny opened the window on her own, he sighed.

He dutifully opened up his palm while rolling his eyes, waiting for the torture to begin. The falcon-eagle dropped the fancy, gold-leafed letter into his hand and quickly made its way back to the blue skies. Damn bird. Acting like it couldn't stand being in such a non-aristocratic atmosphere any longer.

A snort escaped him when he saw the letter; it was addressed to POTTER! in a ridiculously fanciful script. Leave it up to that poof to write like that, even in this day and age.

"Excuse me Ginny, I have to read this," he mumbled, walking into his study. He was pretty sure she didn't even hear him.

With another sigh, he ripped open the letter. Reading the first few lines, he muttered a few expletives. Someone should really tell Malfoy that starting out a letter with insults was not a good start. He really was childish.

Potter,

Well, this letter better find its way to you soon, you miserable piece of wank. Hope you're happy – your little plan has all gone to cock, no thanks to you. I swear if we all survive this, I will find centaurs that would gladly rape you then stomp on your quivering remains.

You bloody, bloody, bloody bastard, wiping out my memory! Don't think you can fucking get away with this! You had ONE task. ONE, Potter, and you failed miserably. How typical. You great flaming shit. You couldn't even protect her properly.

Hopefully after reading this, that will be quickly remedied. I don't have much time left now, so my overdue diatribe will have to wait for some other time. You probably don't know what I'm talking about. Thankfully I remembered all on my own and I shall now do you the honors.

Harry's teeth gritted as he was reading the long-winded contents, frustration swelling up in him. What the hell was that bastard talking about? Once he found him, he would give him such a fist to the face.

Moving his eyes downward, his eyes then rested upon an unfamiliar symbol on the middle of the page. As soon as his mind registered that image, it slowly began to peel off the paper. It started to twist in the air, moving toward Harry's head. He could only stand in shock as the inky black lines glowed an eerie light and wrapped around his head like halo. Suddenly, the apparition enclosed around him, sinking into his skin. Harry's entire body stiffened and jerked upward, like an invisible string tugging him toward the sky. For the briefest of seconds, his entire body was engulfed with the black light and then…all was normal. Except for one thing. He remembered everything.

It was lifted.

Harry quickly shook himself, re-reading the letter. He realized there was more written on the bottom, below the now vanished symbol.

Go quickly and find her. I can't guarantee anything anymore. Out of everybody, I trust you to –

You know what. Forget it. Leave everything to me, Potter. I've got it all under control now.

Harry broke out into a cold sweat. The more Malfoy wrote, the more erratic and shaky his usually immaculate handwriting became. But that last line, it was in a completely different script. It was rough and uneven. Like an entirely different person wrote it.

"Oh god, Hermione!" he hissed, crumpling the fragile paper in his cold hand. He grabbed his wand from the mantle and ran out into the living room.

"Harry, look what your son just did – " Ginny announced when she heard his footsteps, unaware of the state her friend was in.

"I have to go Gin-something important-take care of James!" Harry shouted in a blur, rushing out of his house.

Ginny blinked. She shrugged and resumed playing with his son. With a swish of her wand, she made sure to close the front door.

"Now Jamey-boo, where's your nose?"

Harry was out of breath after he scoured half of the Ministry. Damn, she wasn't in her office or in the labs, and Ron hadn't seen her all morning. Where the hell could she be? He had even barged into Malfoy's office on Level 5 with no luck. He growled, his heart pounding in his chest. Panic was setting in. As he ran down the corridor paying no attention to the stares he was getting, his mind raced with possibilities. What if Malfoy already got to her? What if they're not even here? What if –

"Oomf!" he sputtered as he knocked into someone taunt and bony. When Harry looked up from the ground, his eyes were greeted with the sight of a scowling Severus Snape.

"Do try to refrain from running about like a hyperactive first-year, Potter," he sneered, but Harry noticed a hint of urgency and impatience in his voice, the usual languid rhythm lost.

Not even reacting to the barb, Harry quickly picked himself up and asked, "Severus! Have you seen Hermione or Malfoy around?"

Severus was slightly taken aback. The way he asked that, the fact that he looked so scared – did he remember as well? Was he here too, to look for them? He attempted to feign disinterest. "Why would you want to know that?"

Harry sighed inwardly. So that was the game he was going to play? "Forget it," he snarled, pushing past his former professor. "I'll find them on my own!"

With that, Harry ran off again, preparing to search the Ministry top to bottom. He couldn't risk a formal announcement asking where they were because that would tip Malfoy off that someone was searching for them. He also couldn't enlist others to help because he just didn't have the time to explain to them why those two needed to be located immediately.

Suddenly a very swift figure appeared on his left. "I'll search the top, you the bottom," Severus supplied before running past him. Harry grunted. At least the greasy git dropped all pretenses and understood that finding them was their first priority. Harry made a sharp right at the end of the building while Severus ran the other way.

There were a million questions tumbling in Severus' mind, but he focused on the task at hand. There would be plenty of time to figure out how and when Draco receded back into that old persona, as well as what exactly Harry remembered and how.

He managed to race across the Ministry with relative ease. As he neared the end of one of the endless hallways, he heard Draco's distinctive deep voice coming from the break room, laughing.

"Are you quite done or should I give you another minute?" Hermione's clear voice asked with a touch of annoyance.

"Oh no, I'm finished. Please."

He was so close, so close. Just a little bit further and he would be there. Severus prayed he was not too late. Time itself seemed to move slowly, like molasses dripping down a cool surface. The world lost sound. All Severus could see was his arms slamming the door open and the first thing he saw was Draco holding a coffee mug, smirking, with his gaze fully focused on the woman in front of him.

His mind quickly and unconsciously linked their two cups together, somewhere in his consciousness remembering the past. Severus' hand slowly, painstakingly made its way across the room and slapped Hermione's cup away from her lips, hoping that she had not swallowed anything.

Partly out of logic, partly out of anger, he swung around, Draco's gloating face almost illuminating Severus' line of sight, and punched his godson on the cheek. Even though the man slid down without a fight, Severus was on the edge, prepared for anything. Sound slowly began leaking back into his ears and he heard Hermione gasp and walk forward.

He quickly stuck his arm out, effectively blocking her path. He allowed himself to finally catch his breath, panting slightly. Looking at Draco's face, he couldn't help but shudder. So devoid of care, so devoid of malice…it was worse that he thought.

Vaguely the loud thudding of Harry's feet echoed through the hallway, stopping by the opened door. "Hermione!"

He quickly noticed Severus and Malfoy, sitting on the ground, smiling like an amused saint. Irrational anger mounted in his veins and he yelled out, "Stupefy!" Malfoy immediately slumped over. Severus finally allowed himself to turn around to take a look at the frightened woman.

Hermione looked between the two of them, words lost in her throat. Perhaps it was the loss of sleep the night before, perhaps it was all of her fears and emotions finally catching up to her; whatever the cause, she fainted. For the first time in her life, she fainted. Thankfully Harry was fast enough to catch her limp body. The two men exchanged looks.

Now what?

Hermione blinked. Where was she?

Wherever she was, it was cold. She shivered. It was oddly familiar…

"Hermione, how are you luv?" Harry asked in a soft voice. She turned her head and looked at him.

"H-Harry? Where am I? What happened?" she asked. She didn't like the way Harry was talking to her. It was as if he was treating her like some fragile doll. His tone was dulcet and hesitant. Harry had never addressed her like that.

He grimaced, not sure what to say. His earlier resolve to lay everything out on the table for her, no punches held, did not seem that appealing of an idea now. He was scared he was going to lose her. Again.

"You have to understand, this is for your own good," he began, not really meeting her eyes.

"What is? Wait, don't tell me you – why am I the only one that doesn't know anything?!" she demanded, her voice getting louder. She was frustrated to tears. What was going on!

"Hermione, listen to me!" he said roughly, shaking her shoulders slightly. "I…I…you have to see with your own eyes. You have to see – you have to trust me. Okay?"

She couldn't do much but agree, seeing as how she didn't understand a word he just said. But she knew it was something important since he was so worked up. His voice was gravelly with suppressed emotions; if she weren't so occupied with being mystified, she would have been more worried for him. As he led her down the dark and frankly, dank hallway, the cogs in her head were slowly coming around, cranking.

"We're at Spinner's End, aren't we," she said quietly, gripping Harry's cold hand tighter. It was more of a statement than a question.

He snorted without humor. "Yeah, isn't Severus' house brilliant?" he muttered.

He turned a little bust of some relative of Snape's around 180 degrees on a nearby mantle. The bookshelf full of musty, leather-bound books slowly creaked open to reveal a secret stairway leading down into the abyss. Long ago it may have been some sort of torture chamber or dungeon, but Snape had managed to clean that all up and typically used the large underground facility to store supplies.

Hermione couldn't help but notice that Severus had kept some of the underground intact, like leaving in the bar doors to some of the cells. When they turned a corner, a new installment surprised her. She was pretty sure vanity was not one of her old professor's vices, so why did he have a large, rectangular mirror installed on the wall?

Harry apparently knew the purpose of the mirror as he walked up to it with confidence and whispered a few words to it. The mirror shimmered and suddenly, they could see inside one of the cells.

"A two-way mirror," she breathed. When her eyes focused, she realized something more shocking.

Severus was inside the dreary cell, his back to the mirror. The cell was sparse, with nothing but a flimsy cot, a tiny sink, and a toilet. For now, glowing balls of light illuminated the entire underground, but Hermione remembered that once the lights went out, it really was a frightening place. In front, facing Severus, was an unconscious Draco Malfoy, tied securely to a metal chair.

She quickly turned to Harry. "Why did you tie Malfoy up? What's Severus doing to him? What's going on?!"

Harry didn't respond. He merely kept his eyes forward, staring at the scene in front of him. His body was rigid. Hermione's stomach twisted in a knot. She had a bad feeling about all of this. The sense of foreboding was suffocating her. She slowly turned and followed Harry's line of sight.

Draco's eyes were beginning to flutter. Hermione gritted her teeth. The bruise on his cheek was a blue-ish shade now, marring his otherwise perfect features. He groaned. Slowly, slowly, his eyes opened.

The only thing Hermione was able to see was Draco's inky, swirling, midnight black eyes.

She found it hard to swallow.

Draco shook his head, wincing as he tried out the muscles on his face. "Where am I?" he muttered, his voice thick and scratchy.

"Draco, I want you to focus on the sound of my voice," Severus said calmly.

"Godfather?" He squinted, trying to get used to the light.

Snape appraised the man in front of him grimly. He wasn't going to fall for that innocent act.

"Do you know why you're here? Restrained to a common chair?" he asked, his voice easily filling the entire cell.

"No! What's going on here?" Draco shouted, struggling against the spelled rope. "Where's Granger?"

"Now why would you bring her up?" Snape asked smoothly, clasping his hands behind his back.

Draco stopped his struggle to glare at his godfather. "Because the last thing I remembered was being in the break room with her, that's why! Now tell me what's going on!"

"Well, she is not here, I'm afraid," he lied easily. "What I want to know is, how long has it been since you stopped taking the potion?"

"You're lying," Draco hissed. "You're LYING!"

"I am NOT lying!" Snape sharply rebuked. "I saw the vials, you've wasted them all!"

"NO!" he roared, twisting against the ropes with renewed vigor. "Granger! I know she's here, you're hiding her somewhere! Where is she?!"

Severus released his breath through gritted teeth. He just wouldn't focus on anything else.

"For the last time, Draco, she is not here. She's back at the Ministry, so please, calm down," he tried again, holding up his hands in a placating manner.

Draco stared at him for a moment before continuing his struggle. "Granger!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, as if he hoped his voice could reach her somehow. "You have to help me!"

Hermione gasped behind the mirror.

"They've taken you too, haven't they!? You have to get me out of here, they're crazy!" Draco looked around wildly. "Trust me Granger!! They're CRAZY!!"

Hermione shook. She didn't know what to believe anymore. Both sides were hiding something from her, she knew that much. She looked hesitantly to Harry, who reached around and gripped her shoulders with a firm arm.

"It's not true," Harry said fiercely, holding her close to him. "He's trying to manipulate you. Just wait a little longer, then you'll see this snake's true form."

She bit her lip, heart pounding and resumed looking into the glass.

Catching his breath, Draco knew his tactic wouldn't work. Severus noted as much.

"You see Draco? She's not coming," he said grimly. "Are you calm enough to answer a few questions?"

"Like what, godfather?" he spat out.

"How long have you not taken the potion?" Severus stressed.

Draco started to chuckle at the absurdity of it all, shaking his head. In a flash, all amusement left his face. Something much darker replaced his features, his eyes almost glowing with madness.

"GRANGER!" he screamed, twisting around, struggling once again.

"GET IN HERE GRANGER!!" he ordered wildly. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! GRANGER! GET THE FUCK IN HERE!"

His eyes found hers.

Hermione's entire body froze, like she was made of ice. He looked straight through the wall, straight through the mirror. As if he could see her.

She began shaking uncontrollably. Something was wrong. Her feet, her heart, her body – all of her started to move toward him, as if obeying his every command.

Why.

Why.

His words wrapped around her like a barbed wire, encircling her, grabbing her, biting her, forcing her to go to him. Why was she so compelled to listen to him? Hermione was horrified. Was this really Draco Malfoy? When he raised his voice, why couldn't she support herself? Why was she shaking so much she collapsed to the ground?

Harry gripped her, forcing her to stand back up on weak knees. "You have to fight him, 'Mione! Fight him!!"

She let out a cry of frustration. "I don't….understand!!"

"It's going to be all right!" he assured her desperately. "He can't see you! You have to trust me!"

She held onto her best friend like he was her savior. Harry didn't care. He didn't care if her nails broke his skin, if she would leave bruises on his body. He wouldn't let him take her.

She once again forced herself to look. Once it was apparent she wasn't going to come to him, Draco ceased. His voice was hoarse from screaming.

"Shall we move on to the next question?" Snape tried to make his statement glib, but he couldn't entirely eradicate the slight quiver in his voice. When he received no response, he continued. "How many people have you involved?" It didn't need to be said that he meant, how many people had Draco manipulated that concerned Hermione.

Like a light switch, Draco suddenly went calm and went along with the interrogation. "Not too many, surprisingly," he said easily, his black eyes heavily lidded. It was as if the little fit he just had never happened.

Both Severus and Harry tensed.

"But you couldn't possibly expect me to remember them all, do you?" he drawled, making himself comfortable despite his restraints. How could he be in captivity yet still look like a king sitting on his throne?

"Try, Draco," Severus ground out.

A long, tortured sigh. "Well, there was Alex Grace," he offered nonchalantly.

Hermione pressed closer to Harry. She knew about that – that was when he tried to scare Alex by telling him of her crush – but she had no idea that he directly wanted a rift between them. She thought he was just being an ass, as usual.

"I mean, at first I thought hiring that girl to keep him distracted was enough, but they were getting too close for my tastes in the end," Draco continued, not at all bothered by his actions.

She brought a hand up to her lips. He…hired Amelia to seduce him?

"It must have been fate. I met her after she had a few dates with him – purely coincidental. When she told me she was thinking he wasn't her type at all, I offered to compensate her for her troubles if she would continue holding onto his attentions," he said, his voice almost sing-song in its amusement. "I think it worked out best for everyone in the end. He was a horrible bore. Why he was so attractive to Hermione, I'll never know."

Hermione couldn't help but notice the easy way her name fell from his lips. It was so casual, like a caress. She held her breath.

Getting into the swing of things, he continued, "And of course, Blaise. Wasn't I brilliant? Got him arrested and all that loveliness all on my own. Now he can't have her."

Despite knowing that Blaise was a cold-hearted murderer, it was still unnerving to hear that his supposed best mate had no qualms over betraying him.

"And also now he can't kill again?" Snape ventured, hoping there was still some sort of goodness left in him. His hopes were drowned when all Draco did was shrug.

"I suppose so," he said dismissively, as if bored with the subject now that it wasn't on Hermione.

"Draco, are you telling me you have no concern over anybody else at all? You have no consideration for the lives you may have irrevocably damaged?"

Draco barked out a laugh. He looked up at him, locking his eyes onto Severus' and told him with conviction, "I would gladly manipulate and ruin any number of lives if that's what it took! I would steal for her, cheat, lie, kill – whatever it took, Severus. Don't think I give a damn about anyone else!"

Severus couldn't help but take an unsteady step back. Draco's voice was getting louder as his mind was gradually becoming more unhinged.

"Do you think I actually care about anyone other than ourselves? I don't give a fuck about you, I don't give a fuck about Potter or about anything else in this worthless, godforsaken place!"

His vicious, spiteful, selfish words were like barbs in Severus' heart. Even though he knew Draco was being corrupted, he also knew that underneath, there was still a seed of truth. Deep inside Draco, in the core of human where things were simply black and white, he really did feel that everyone else in the world paled in comparison.

Severus shook his head and waved his arm, dimming the lights in the room. He had enough. He turned around to look at the wall where the two-way mirror was. He couldn't see through the other side, but he gestured for Harry that he was through with the interrogation. Hermione didn't have time to react to Draco's words. Having heard enough, Harry dragged her away from the dark and cold basement.

Before he could turn around to leave as well, he heard his godson laugh. "Poor godfather, are you sad? Does it distress you, knowing that no one else matters? That was always what hurt you the most, wasn't it? To know that you could only amount to second-best, if that," his deep voice riddled with mockery.

"What distresses me, Draco, is your inability to empathize with others like a decent man," he responded roughly. He couldn't bear to turn around to look at him.

There was a long pause. Severus was beginning to wonder if he had even heard him. Then, almost to himself, Draco whispered:

"Other than me and Hermione, everything else is ugly."

Some answers are in the second chapter, so I'll keep this short and sweet. Thank you for sticking with me and thank you to my lovely betas katdiva and pinkmartini!!!

Oh crazy Draco, mama still lurve you….