Whoohoo! New chapters! Fun stuff...

I'm updating this chapter as a procrastination for my Math HW, which is actually a bad idea seeing as I'm scraping by with a C+ and my teacher's getting pissed.

So halfway through this, I was at about 1,000 words, my computer restarted the page, and i ended up losing all of my work...I was so pissed, and so I had to rewrite it, and of course it's never good second time around, because you're trying to remember what you had gotten done, and it just ends up sounding choppy and gross and eugh...

Anyway, here is my re-written chapter. See you all at the bottom!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter Series!

Hermione awoke early that morning, idly wondering what Bellatrix had planned for her today as she sat on the cold ground. She had no concept of time down in the cellar, but the sun creeping through the small opening high up in the wall led her to believe it was somewhere between 8 and 9 in the morning.

She was alone.

That's odd...Hermione mused. Usually Bellatrix is here by now, the first bird gets the worm. The first pureblood gets the mudblood. Or something along those lines. However much Hermione loved frustrating Bellatrix, it always ended in more punishment for her, and her resistant victories were short-lived.

Oh how she longed for the chance to have Bellatrix on the other side of her wand. She would avenge every one of her friends' deaths, and extra. If only she were free.

Free. The word floated around in her head, like the sunlight that taunted her through the hole in the wall. She still had yet to conceive a plan, so unlike her. She was so uneasy in this environment, it disturbed her. It wasn't a normal prisoner situation, that she could handle. Some days Bellatrix came, some days she didn't, but it was always the same. She never asked questions, she only used Hermione as her guinea pig for torture methods. Hermione was being broken, and she knew it.

She didn't know of Bellatrix's weaknesses, if she had any, or how to use them to escape. Bellatrix could not easily be fooled, and Hermione wouldn't know where to start. But the way that Malfoy talked to her, threatened her, made her think that Bellatrix wasn't the one in charge, as long as she was being kept here. There would be no point in trying to use Bellatrix to escape, if she were not the higher authority. Malfoy would be much easier to manipulate anyway, and much safer. Safer? Hermione didn't know. It almost seemed like Bellatrix was afraid of him. She contemplated that. She could use Malfoy to get rid of his sadistic aunt, and then she could escape without fear of consequence.

But what about Malfoy? He's a ruthless killing machine. There's no way you could hope to escape alive.

But Hermione had seen the emotion in his outburst yesterday; the uncertainty in his eyes, the childish fear. And she could definitely use that to her advantage. All she had to do was manipulate his emotions, his thoughts, and when the opportunity arose to escape, hopefully Malfoy would be too conflicted to comprehend what had happened or follow.

Approaching footsteps jerked her out of her thoughts, alerting her of a visitor, and she could tell that it was not Bellatrix. These footsteps weren't eager and quick, ready to torture, they were almost unwilling.

Step One of Escape Plan: Manipulate Malfoy in action. She thought grimly, standing up, he legs shaking, to face the doorway.

Only moments later, there was the sound of a key turning in a rusty lock, and the door swung open with a BANG! Draco Malfoy strode into the room. Hermione was almost disappointed to notice that his attire was much more reserved than yesterday's robe and pants, that had so nicely revealed his sculpted chest.

Not like I was staring at his chest...I'm only female.

She took a deep breath, clearing her thoughts, and attempting to put on an indifferent facade.

"Had a nice sleep mudblood?" Malfoy sneered in greeting.

Hearing his voice, all her rational thoughts of a plan and escaping flew out the window, and she slipped back into her icy demeanor.

"However nice mine was, I'm sure it couldn't have possibly compared to the one you had. How much did you have to pay to get her to sleep with you? One hundred Galleons? Two hundred?" She snarled back. Her eyes widened too late.

Oops. So much for sucking up...

She watched as Malfoy's eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint in them. "What did I tell you about keeping in your place? I won't have you talking back to me like that."

Hermione figured her best bet would to be not to respond. She didn't trust her tongue anymore. She looked at the wall above his left shoulder, focusing on the crack in the dirty stone like it was the most interesting thing in the world and stayed mute.

"What? No smart comebacks? No 'Malfoy, you're a bloody git'? I didn't think it would be this easy to break you." Malfoy taunted.

She whipped her gaze back up to meet him and he felt his breath hitch in his throat when those brown eyes connected with his, ablaze with fury.

"I thought you said you didn't want me to talk? Wanted me to keep my place? Which is it? Your teenage indecisiveness is agonizing." She snapped.

He almost didn't respond right away. The sunlight was illuminating the wispy hairs that had fallen to frame her face and complimented the creamy tone of her skin, visible behind the dirt which was smudged on her cheeks like some sort of ironic rogue. He found his gaze involuntarily following the angle of her jaw and down to her neck, exposed by her torn shirt, begging him to stoop down and kiss his way down to her prominent collarbone. Her thin shirt allowed him to perfectly see the curve of her breast, aroused by the cold, and he noticed (as any other male would have he thought) that she had quite grown since school. Certain anatomical parts of his body had noticed too, and he felt all the heat in his body rush to his groin.

He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, slightly ragged. There was no denying she was attractive, even now. It was all he could do to not take her as she was now, here. He pegged it up to the sexual frustration from Astoria, and brushed it off, focusing on calming himself down.

Meanwhile Hermione stood, arms folded across her chest (which helped none with Draco's little problem) and glaring at him. Her lips were pouted slightly, and he found himself amused. She's hot when she's angry. He thought to himself, taking in the view, and not hiding it at all.

On Hermione's end, she was no better off. She had been glaring at him when she noticed the golden flecks in his grey eyes. It had gone downhill from there. The faint blonde eyelashes, the perfectly full lips, the defined jaw and high cheekbones. Her eyes scanned his brow, his tousled hair, and continued south, across his pale neck where just a hint of flesh was shown behind the white collared shirt. Her gaze was drawn to his hands, which looked soft, yet Hermione knew them to be slightly calloused from when he had grabbed her earlier. They were refined and well-trimmed, and she sneaked a glance at her own hands, dirty with dried blood and dirt, and felt a hint of disgust at her appearance.

Snap out of it Hermione! You need to focus! She mentally slapped herself out of her daze just in time to see him giving her the once over. She could have sworn she say a flash of lust in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. She smiled. Perfect. I can play on that. Step Two of Escape Plan: Manipulate Malfoy:Seductress in progress.

Trying to look inconspicuous, though she doubted it would matter if he noticed, she hiked her shirt down just a little lower, exposing only an inch more of her flesh, and watched as his eyes once again clouded over.

She sauntered closer to him, putting a coy smile on her face and her lips parted. She stood in front of him, hands on her hips, and smirked. "Like what you see?" She breathed. When he made no response, she stepped closer to him, and rested one hand on his chest. The other she placed on his shoulder, and she lifted herself up on her toes until her mouth was next to his ear. He had bent down slightly towards her throughout this action, and she smiled to herself, knowing that his will was crumbling. "Because I do." She whispered in his ear.

She stepped back from him and licked her lips slightly.

He was obviously trying hard to restrain himself, and she could see him shaking practically, trying to resist. There was a noticeable bulge in his trousers, and Hermione felt a hint of pride in her skills. But internally, her mind was screaming at her. What are you doing?! Do you know what he could do to you? Will do to you? You have brought upon your own destruction! What would Ron say? Does he, does Harry, do any of your friends, do they mean nothing to you? You are seducing your enemy! Your dangerous enemy! You heartless, mindless, thankless girl!

She almost stopped herself, but knew that if she stopped now, then things would only get worse, and fast. She decided to wait for him to make the next move.

And to her disappointment, it was a step back. Away from her. Towards her cell door.

Despite her fleeting confidence, she managed to still smile and say in her hoarse voice "I'll be here all night." She turned away and faced the wall, opposite of him, and sat, listening to the door swing shut and his footsteps fade away.

It was only then that she let the tears fall.

Done! Yay. It's only 7:30pm this time. So that was that. It was kind of awkward writing this, even though nothing was happening...I don't do well with sexual tension scenes.

Well, that is the fruit of my efforts, or something along those lines. Hope it wasn't too bad.

Please Review! Love to all who do! Thanks to everybody who reviewed last chapter...hearts to you guys!

Also, special thanks to vickifay, who has kept with this story since it started practically, and has faithfully reviewed every chapter! Thanks for staying with me!

See you guys next time!