Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, if you doubt me, why would I be writing fan fiction if I was JK Rowling? Hmm?

A/N: Ok, so this is actually the very first chapter I wrote for this story. Hope you enjoy it! I really loved writing it. It may seem a bit off, but I explain it all soon :). REVIEW PLEASE! I already have chapters written but please review or I won't update :)

Now without further adieu, the newest chapter!

Chapter Four

The Dungeon

The war. What a pivotal period in the history of the Wizarding world. So many people fighting for what they believe in, so much time spent killing and hiding and worrying. And all for what? Harry was dead, Ron was nowhere to be found, I was stuck in a dungeon hoping that the end would come quickly. I didn't know who else was dead. Ginny? Mr. and Mrs. Weasley? Where were they? Had they escaped in time? Things had never looked good for the Order during the Second War. We didn't have quite as many on our side as Voldemort did. I knew it would be a long shot to beat him this time, we all did. The only thing that saved us even a tiny bit was the sacrifice on Harry's part. He knew that giving himself up would give everyone a little bit more time to escape and find refuge somewhere else.

Me and Ron stayed behind as well. Even though Harry was furious that we weren't leaving, we had refused to leave his side since 1st year, we wouldn't do so now. Not entirely anyway. Me and Ron had distracted the Death Eaters and other fighters on Voldemort's side, so that Harry could go in and draw attention away from everyone on our side. It worked well enough, I hope. Unfortunately, I had been knocked out halfway through the raid, and taken prisoner. When I woke up it was a few moments before I was taken downstairs to a cellar where Bellatrix tortured me. She dragged a knife along the inside of my arm; it left a deep cut, along the length of my arm and left a fine scar. She then moved to my other arm. She slowly dragged the knife across my arm, but this time she wrote the word Mudblood. I couldn't take it. I screamed, for what felt like hours. The pain was never ending, it felt like my arms were on fire. Bellatrix laughed the entire time. Something shifted in the cellar. She tied me up to a chair and disappeared.

Nearly 30 minutes later she returned, with a malicious grin on her face. She looked as if she had had the best news of her life. But from the sounds that had come from the floors above me, I thought everything had gone well. Things had been silent, a few muffled voices, but soon I heard feet shuffling and my ceiling gave a near groan as more weight was piled on top of it. I knew that everyone was either staring at Harry's body, or Voldemort's body.

She looked at me with a terrible grin, the cellar doors closed behind her. "You are going to have so much fun!" She said quietly next to me. Then she spoke louder, turning her head slightly towards the door, "Oh Mudblood! I've got some good news for you! The Dark Lord has found a use for you after all. You'll be receiving visitors for quite some time. I won't say what they'll be doing with you, cause to be honest, some of them I'm not entirely sure what their likes are." Bellatrix looked at me again, and beckoned the first 'visitor' in. I wanted to scream, to cry out, to curse him, and Bellatrix, and Voldemort, but when Bellatrix had left the first time she put me under a Silencing Charm. I was completely helpless. The Death Eater advanced towards me, his toothy grin showing missing teeth, and his eyes... oh his eyes made me fear for my life. I refuse to talk about what happened over the next... 12? 24? maybe 36 hours? I don't know how long I spent in that dungeon, how long I was... it'll take me years to forget all that happened there. I'll never forget. Not completely. I can only hope that someone'll lift that memory from me. And now here I am, captor to God knows who and alone. My best friend gone, my other best friend dead, all my schoolmates dead or safe in some foreign country. Things were never going to be the same.

I looked around at the depressing dungeon I would probably call my home. It was dark, and damp. And had an air about it that let you know the people who lived above you were rich, and better than you. I could tell even by the dungeon that I was in Malfoy Manor. How had it come to this? I was a captive of the Malfoy's and who knew how long I would be there, how long I'd been there already, and what would happen to me. I slumped against the stone wall and felt the hot tears sliding down my cheeks. How could I have gotten myself into this? I had been a quiet intelligent girl who loved learning and was thrilled when I was told I was a witch. I knew what a privilege it was to have these powers and I vowed to never abuse them. I had studied and gotten good marks in Hogwarts. I made friends and had fun in my 6 years. But now I was captive of a dark wizard because of my association with Harry Potter, because I was muggle born, because I fought against him. And I had no idea what lay in store for me. When I got my letter I was so happy and I wanted nothing more than to prove I deserved these powers. And what happened? I was now paying the price.

I felt myself grow angry and I cursed the day I met Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. I cursed them, and I cursed Hogwarts for bringing me close to them. If I had been just distant class mates with them, like any smart person would have done, I wouldn't be in this mess! I would be in Australia with my parents, away from the war, away from Voldemort and away from captivity! I would be free, I would be happy with what I had, and I wouldn't be worrying about whether I had saved as many lives as I was expected to, I wouldn't worry about whether the Order was still strong enough to get me out. I cursed the day I my letter came because that day started a chain reaction that got me into this mess. And then I was angry at myself. I had spent the last 6 years having the time of my life. What would I have done without Ron or Harry? They were my best friends, my brothers. How could I hate them? I started to cry freely, my head between my hands. I brought my knees up and hugged them close to my chest, and I prayed to God, to Zeus, Jupiter, Ra, whatever was up there to take my life and take it quick. Without my best friends what would I do? I was never getting out of here anyway, and it would be a useless waste of the Death Eaters resources to keep me alive. It was in everyone's best interest if I just died.

"You don't have to die." The voice was sudden, and so quiet I barely heard it. My head shot up and I looked around the dungeon. Apparently I wasn't alone. Who else could be here? I got up slowly, slowly trying out the floor and started to look around the dungeon. I finally saw her, a small girl around my age sitting in a corner, stretched out as if she made frequent visits to this place. She smiled at me and handed me a handkerchief to wipe my eyes with. I took the handkerchief gingerly and quickly wiped away my tears and other such things on my face before handing it back to her.

"I'm Desdemona by the way. Desdemona Miles. But you can call me Dezi." She held out her hand for me to take, but I was still shaky from all that had happened and wasn't sure about her. She retracted her hand and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, this is probably real rough for you." She said quietly, probably not wanting to bring attention to the dungeon. She looked like she'd been here a while and knew what the deal with this place was. I nodded and was about to speak before a noise above distracted me and caught my attention. My head swiveled in the direction of the noise, and I calculated whether the noise was coming or going. Dezi obviously was doing the same as she quickly said, "Going. Don't worry, they usually don't bother you too much on the first day. They want you to think like you'll die down here after a few days. Really, once the Dark Lord leaves, they'll bring you upstairs and you'll live with them as long as you're good." Dezi said reassuringly. Oh yes, cause living with the Malfoy's is reassuring. But it would be better than living down here.

"Have you been here long?" I asked, it seemed like a question you would know by the way she acted, but you could never be too sure. Plus the way she answered would help me gauge how good an ally she'd be. Whether it would be worth it to get her on my side. She shrugged and coughed a little to the side, her cheeks coloring a little.

"About, a year or so. I have a complicated history, and as long as the Dark Lord don't know about me, we're all much better off." She said shrugging her shoulders and examining her nails. She suddenly shrunk away and told me to go back to where I was before. Then I heard what sounded like someone coming into the dungeon. I raced to the other side, where I had been sitting not too long ago. I assumed the crying position from before, knees hugged close to my chest, head buried deep in my legs. I heard a door creak open and a small sliver of light invaded the dark dungeon, and foot steps entered slowly in. I chanced a quick glance towards where Dezi was hiding, she was perfectly in the shadows. I guess she most definitely wasn't supposed to be here. I looked up at whoever had invaded the dungeon and saw Malfoy. That slimy git would get what was coming to him if he closed that door. I nearly willed the door to close, but I guess his will was much stronger than mine. It would be, he had just won the war, and I was a lonely prisoner waiting for my dark fate.

"Granger?" He sounded surprised. I looked up at him, I was too shocked to glare. He didn't know I was here? He hadn't come to torment me and bring the horrid news of Harry's demise? He walked towards me and held out his hand, as if to help me up. I took it confused as to what he was doing, and to what I was doing. Once I was standing up, he looked me over and muttered a few things under his breath. I had no desire to guess at what it was. He wrapped his arm around my back to help keep me steady. I didn't need it, but he didn't know that. He then jerked his head to the door and suddenly Dezi appeared from the shadows and followed us out the door. Malfoy led us through the Manor keeping to dark passage ways and secret tunnels.

"So by the way that you're taking us I'm guessing the Lord is still in the house." Dezi whispered to Malfoy as we walked along another dark hallway. He nodded and looked over his shoulder quickly before speaking.

"Yes he is still here, but I am in charge of you until he leaves. And I am not going to let you starve or get sick." Malfoy whispered fearlessly back to Dezi. I looked at him as we walked, and saw up close how good looking he is. He had a strong jaw and flawless skin, his eyes were a light shade of grey and his mouth was perfectly proportionate to all the other features on his face. But there was something in the way that he had spoken that was... different. As if he cared. I looked at Malfoy again and he was staring back down at me. I didn't blush or turn away, why should I? I wasn't ashamed. I couldn't understand why he would care about Dezi and I. Apparently he saw the confusion in my eyes, "I'm not quite the person you've assumed me to be," was all he said.

Dezi looked between the two of us, "You know each other?" She asked innocently. Malfoy nodded and explained to her that we were Hogwarts class mates and had known each other for 7 years. He even shared a few stories of our encounters with her. We finally reached a room that was furnished in silver and green. It was beautiful. Everything was antiquities and the bed was huge. There were at least two doors on two of the walls, and on the third wall was a beautiful set of double wooden doors probably leading out into the main hallway. We had just come from one of the doors across from the large bed. Malfoy led me over to an ornate wooden desk, pulling the chair out for me to sit on. He and Dezi disappeared into the door next to the one we had just come out of. They were gone for only a short amount of time, when they reappeared with food. Malfoy set a small tray of food in front of me and Dezi sat down on the floor with her own food and for awhile everything was silent. Malfoy roamed about the room, fixing minor things that no one else would have noticed and putting spells and jinxes on the room so no one would find it. He really was in charge of us, and he was taking it quite seriously.

"So, Malfoy, what exactly is going on here?" I asked him when he finally stopped moving about. He looked over his shoulder at me and then looked away, his face hardened. He sat a few moments in silence staring at the bed in front of him.

"The Dark Lord wants to keep prisoners here at Malfoy Manor. However my mother and father never enjoyed being the Dark Lord's servants. And they hate how he had his head quarters here for awhile. He finally moved head quarters to the Notts' home, and ours is just the dungeon. Once the Dark Lord leaves, the prisoners are free to roam around the house. When he returns for his monthly visits, they all pile into the dungeon again and stay there until he leaves. Unfortunately, because of Potter's attack on the Dark Lord, Dezi and the other prisoners were forced to stay down longer than normal. All morning I've been carting the prisoner's through secret passages and hiding them in rooms throughout the house. But if he's still here by midnight, I'll have to bring you back. And depending how long he stays, I'll be bringing you in and out of the dungeon regularly." Malfoy finished. I stared at the ground for a few minutes, shocked at the generosity of the Malfoy's. Another short period passed where not a word was said in the room.

As if out of nowhere a small noise came from Malfoy's wrist watch and he glanced at it quickly before excusing himself and leaving through the very door he had led me and Dezi through not 10 minutes ago. I looked at Dezi as if she would add more to our current situation. She shrugged her shoulders and continued eating. I'm guessing he had more prisoners to cart to another room. When I was finished with my food I took a turn about the room, and explored the other three doors in the room. One led to a large closet filled already with clothes that looked like they would fit perfectly on me and Dezi, the second door was a bathroom. It had a pool sized bath and multiple toilets. The room was very well equipped to fit multiple people inside it at any one time. The third was the kitchen, it had two house elves in it, both of which bowed to me and introduced themselves as Lizzy and Libby. And the fourth was the door to the secret hallway through which Malfoy was secretly carting prisoners to more comfortable places right under the nose of the most powerful wizard since Dumbledore.

I could feel Dezi's eyes on me the whole time I explored the room. I turned around and made eye contact with her. She smiled a little from her spot on the floor. I finally decided to just ask the question.

"Why can't the Dark Lord know about you?" I have no idea to this day when I started calling him the Dark Lord, but it made no sense to call him You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and it seemed a bad idea to call him Voldemort. And I certainly wasn't going to start calling him Tom, so Dark Lord seemed to be the best option in present company. She smiled a kind of half smile at me and her eyes unfocused a little.

"Because if the Dark Lord knew about me any who knew me would be tortured and brutally murdered."