Hermione stood in her cell, staring at Draco. She probably weighed no more than a hundred pounds. White skin hanging on white bones. Like glass he could break with a whisper.
She was afraid of him. He could tell.
Good. She should be. Though he did not come here to hurt her, he could. Easily. There were few lines left he had not crossed.
"You can walk," he said stiffly. "Or the guards can drag you by your hair."
Her face reddened, body stiff. She stepped out of the damp claustrophobic place.
"Why not just kill me here?" she whispered.
"You're more useful alive."
She had sunken haunted house eyes, hardly recognizable as the girl he'd bullied at Hogwarts. "You're not going to kill me?"
"Not yet," he said.
They walked down a dark corridor, moist and murky. It was hard to breathe. Like being buried alive with slick coffin walls and earthy graveyard air.
"Where are we going?" asked Hermione.
"Wouldn't say a word to me in the cell and now she won't shut up."
She pressed her chapped lips together, flakes of skin breaking away. They stopped in front of a guard whose name did not seem important enough to know. "Allow her to shower."
"Excuse me, sir?"
"She's coming with me. I'd rather not endure her nauseating stench."
"Yes, sir." The guard had gorilla hands, black-haired and fumbling. He slid open a metal barred door. Behind it was a white tiled room with one drain in the center and one shower head. The guard grabbed Hermione.
Draco couldn't believe the fabric ripped that quickly. Easily. She was completely naked. Exposed to him. Draco bit down on his tongue as Hermione was thrown into the shower. Her knees hit the tile. Hard. She fell on her face. The water crushed down from the head with a force that pinned Hermione to the floor. Her arms and legs pushed out at odd angles. Eyes and mouth open, being pummeled with knife-like pellets of water.
She screamed.
It had to be cold. It had to hurt.
Something stirred in Draco's stomach like slimy fingers digging inside him. He looked away from her bare, struggling form. He knew how to do what was necessary but he'd never been able to revel in other people's pain the way the Dark Lord wanted him to. But he was clinical about it professional, so why he cringe at the sight of her?
"We could have a little fun with that one." The guard chuckled. "It's gets lonely in our line of work, doesn't it, sir?" His thick, murky eyes leered at Hermione.
It just sort of happened. Strange because Draco was always in control. Everything in perfect order. Not a stray thought or action tumbling out of place.
Draco cast a dark stunning spell. The guard lifted off his feet, spun in the air and slammed against the stone with a snap, crumpling to the floor.
Hermione had managed to stand up and crawl away from the spray. Tears streaked down her face and she wrapped her arms around her legs, covering herself. Shaking like there was a hurricane trapped in her bones.
Draco shut the water off with a flick of his wand and glanced down at the torn rags that had been her clothes. His fingers gripped the buttons of his own shirt, pulling them from their fabric hooks. He slipped the shirt off, exposing his bare chest to the damp, cold air. Draco made his way into shower, never looking away from Hermione's huddled form. He draped his shirt over her shoulders.
Draco waited there as her shaking hands worked the buttons. When she was finished, he pulled her to her feet and dragged her from the shower. It was hard not to look at the wet, nearly transparent fabric clinging to Hermione's body.
"Why did you curse him?" Her voice had no heartbeat.
"He... bothered me."
"That's what you do if you someone annoys you, attack them?"
Draco grit his teeth. "Would you like me to wake him? He did seem particularly interested in you."
Hermione tensed beneath his tight grip. She would learn soon enough that it was easier, safer, not to question him. She didn't say another word until they stepped from the darkness of the prison into snowy sunlight.
She gasped, chest heaving, as if she was trying to breathe in all the air in world. "I forgot what that felt like."
"What?"
"Breathing." Her bare feet crunched in the snow but she didn't react to the cold, even though she was wearing almost nothing. Goosebumps had already erupted across Draco's exposed chest but Hermione's arms and legs were smooth as glass.
Draco gripped Hermione tightly, fingers digging into her skin. She winced – and without warning her – he apparated into his bedroom at Malfoy Manor.
Hermione toppled out of his touch and fell on the floor, nearly hitting her head on the side of his dresser. She struggled to her feet still trying to cover herself.
"Where are we?" Her eyes scanned the room.
"Home."
She swallowed so hard he could the muscles on her neck move. "We're in Malfoy Manor?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
He slid open the closet, grabbed one of twenty pressed white button-ups all in a row on wooden hangers. He slipped into one, slowly buttoning. For a split second, he saw Hermione watching him.
Draco had prepared for her to come. For awhile now. It took a great deal of convincing, of time, to get the Dark Lord to agree to his plan. Hermione Granger was the best student at Hogwarts, the smartest witch he'd ever met. To destroy her power would be... a devastating loss for magic, mudblood or not. If only, only, only he could turn her to his side. If he could, then she wouldn't have to die.
The drawer to the white bow dresser squealed as he opened it. There was a pair of white socks, underwear, a bra, black slacks and a white blouse. Perfectly folded. With creases in all the right places. His hands gripped the soft fabric then held them out to Hermione.
"Change," he commanded.
She did not react other than to slowly reach for the clothes. Hermione stood there, cradling them in her arms.
"I said change, Granger."
Her thin face fell. "W-with you here?"
"You think I'm going to leave you alone? You could kill yourself with a coat hanger or hang yourself with the bedsheets."
He held his gaze on her, fear painted her features but only for a moment. She stared straight back at him. Ever the Gryffindor.
As soon as she unbuttoned the first button, Draco turned his back to her. He'd never intended to watch. Those were the kind of lines he still wouldn't cross. But he needed to test her, break her down. So he could make her into what she was intended to be.
"I'm dressed," she whispered.
He spun on his heel. She looked more like the girl he'd known at school. Draco suppressed a smile. Nostalgia was dangerous. Corruptive. He couldn't let it in.
"You may take a proper shower after dinner."
"Come on," he said, walking to the door.
"Where are we going?"
"I thought you might want some actual food."
Hermione pressed her lips together. "Can't you bring it here?"
Draco sneered. "Do I look like a house elf?"
Something like a laugh broke through her sealed lips but she quickly muffled the sound. "Are y-your parents here?"
The blood rushed out of Draco's face. He wouldn't talk to Hermione about his parents. "No" was his short, clip answer.
"Who else is here? Are we alone?"
"The Death Eaters under my charge. We're about to eat. You're expected to join."
Her back stiffened. "I won't eat with Death Eaters."
"You will eat with us or you won't eat at all." She was emaciated. How could she still turn down food? Still be so stubborn.
"I know what it is to starve," she spat.
"Fine. Then starve. I'll eat my dinner in here and watch you die of hunger."
Nothing. No reaction.
Draco grabbed the bedroom door and flung it open. Crabbe was standing in the hall. An idea flickered across Draco's mind. If he couldn't get her downstairs with threats maybe he could entice her with the prospect of seeing an old friend.
Though when she did, she'd be in for a hell of a surprise.
"Crabbe," shouted Draco. "We won't be joining you for dinner. Tell Longbottom to issue tomorrow's orders."
"Wait," Hermione's voice cracked as she skidded up beside him. "I'm coming to dinner."
Thanks for reading. Longbottom, a Death Eater? You'll find out next chapter. I will probably update a third chapter in the next couple days then slow down to once a week. Thanks for the reviews and favs and follows so far.