A/N: I just want to quickly thank everyone reading this story so far. I've finally made it to chapter 10, but I still got quite a ways to go. ;)

Reviews would be great. I'd really love to know what you think~

Chapter Ten

In Which She Becomes a Prisoner

"Ugh…" Arabella groaned and tried to sit up. Her muscles ached and her head pulsated. She looked around the room, shivering slightly. The room was lavishly decored. Dark drapes decorated the windows and a few paintings hung here and there. She herself sat upon a soft, queen-sized bed with velvet green covers. Arabella racked her brains, but for the life of her couldn't recognize where she was.

What on Earth happened to her? There was a party…the Spencers! Was this one of their rooms!? Did she faint or something?

Her body sore, she struggled to get off the bed and make it to the door. She turned the decorative handle.

Locked.

A feeling of dread swelled in her stomach. If she was at the Spencers…the door shouldn't be locked. There was no reason to do so. That's when she remembered seeing an unexpected guest at the party: Mr. Lucius Malfoy.

Her fingers racked her hair back as she slid to the cool floor below. Mr. Malfoy was there and he…he did something to her. He took her away like magic…actually he did use magic. He must have, but why would he do that? Sure he was…rough around the ages, but for the most part she took him to be gentlemanly…

She did everything in her power to stay calm, but what could she do to get out of here? There was no other exit. She went around her room feeling walls, hoping for a hidden exit, like the ones you see in the movies. Arabella should have known better; she couldn't find one. She really was trapped.

What she needed was magic to fight with magic. What she needed was Tamesis and Linore. She wasn't sure how much magic they had, but she knew Linore would be able to unlock the door, and that would be a start at least. The only thing was, she didn't know where they were and she had no way to contact them.

Arabella was very close near to crying, until she heard voices on the other side of the door.

"I don't want a muggle of all things sleeping in one of our guest rooms!" A woman harshly whispered.

"I want her to be comfortable, to let down her guard. She'll be much more useful to us that way," came the cool voice of Mr. Malfoy.

"And what use would she be to us?" She snapped back.

"I already told you. She can see our world, even though she possesses no magic of her own. Anybody who is anybody wouldn't know her. She'd be most beneficial in spying for the Dark Lord, don't you think?"

The woman seemed to think over Mr. Malfoy's line of thinking before responding. "I don't know. I don't like it."

"Just think how he would award us for finding something so useful? We could even get more information out of her about the Order than Snape is allowed to tell us…"

The talking stopped and on instinct Arabella flew back to the bed to "sleep".

As if on cue, the door opened. Her heart jumped at every footstep that clicked along the hardwood floor. The person stopped right beside the bed and Arabella was positive that it was Mr. Malfoy.

"I know you're awake."

Arabella remained unmoving, trying to keep her breathing as steady as possible. Mr. Malfoy, on the other hand, was in no mood to play games. She could feel his weight settle beside her and a hand slid up to her shoulder. He whispered in her ear, "I said, wake up."

An involuntary shiver shot down her spine. Slowly she rose from the pillows. "What do you want from me?" She dared to ask.

"I never said I wanted anything from you."

"Then how come I'm not at the party anymore? Where am I? Why am I here? And who were you talking to outside the door?" The stream of questions flooded from her mouth without a filter.

Mr. Malfoy raised a light eyebrow. "So you were listening. I thought as much..." he said while Arabella blanched. "What does it matter to whom I was speaking to outside the door? Are you, in fact, jealous?"

"Of course not! And you didn't answer my other questions!"

"If you start acting up, you will be punished for it. I swear it." Mr. Malfoy spat, before answering her previous questions cooly. "You're in a room in my manor, a "special" guest if you will. You should be grateful that I gave you such a nice room for your stay."

"You…you kidnapped me…" She pointed out weakly.

"I don't think of it as kidnapping. I'm on a bit of a time constraint. My employer is in need of something and you might be able to help him find it."

"Then you ask me. Don't just sweep me away off my feet!"

"Then I humbly apologize for upsetting you so. I've always had a liking for the dramatics." Mr. Malfoy apologized, not sounding very apologetic at all. "However, I truly believe it is of upmost importance that I brought you here as soon as possible. My employer…he is a patient man, but would rather not have to wait for what he wants, if you understand my meaning." He said, his blue gray eyes piercing directly into hers.

Arabella, suddenly flustered, darted her eyes away. "Well…what does he want?"

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. When you meet him, and if he thinks you are useful, then you will be informed. Until then…"

She stood abruptly. "I will not have you push me around like some brainless mannequin any longer, Mr. Malfoy. I don't understand why it's so difficult for you to answer the question."

Mr. Malfoy also stood to his feet, easily towering over Arabella. "Need I remind you where you are? You are in my home and this house is undetectable to every muggle who tries to locate it. You are in the wizarding world, when you do not belong here and if the ministry were to catch wind of your existence…"

"Are you threatening me?"

He seemed to have forgotten his self-control, but was quickly able to gather himself. "I don't like to see this as 'threatening'. I merely am reminding you. It's for your own safety after all."

Arabella began shaking her head. "I don't want to be here. I want to go home. I have to go apologize to Ann for that night at the party."

"You don't mean that." He said, with an alarming smirk. "Haven't you always wondered, or wished, you could be taken away from the muggle world to a world of magic? To a world of superior being? Don't tell me you never thought of it, when you've seen all the wonders you've seen, like the magic of fairies. Even few wizards can say they've seen something like that."

Mr. Malfoy's smirk felt as though it couldn't possibly grow any wider, but the feeling of triumph in his chest was beginning to swell. He had rendered the young lady silent. She was thinking; he could practically hear the gears in her head whirl as she took what he just said into consideration.

"Besides, I don't see why you should worry about apologizing to that girl." He added. "She made you look like a fool didn't she? Lower class people, like her, don't even understand the simple matters of…"

"There's nothing wrong with her!" Arabella stepped up to her friend's defense.

"You…you are so much more than she is and any other muggle out there. You are different and that is why you are here." Mr. Malfoy said calmly in response to Arabella's outburst. He became dangerously close to her as he said this: the backs of his finger ever so slowly stroking her cheeks, his lips a mere inches from the top of her head. "A beauty," he murmured, before drawing back. "I suggest that here on out that you stay as quite as possible. Other people live in this house as well and if they find out you're here…well, let's just say they won't exactly welcome you with open arms."

"Can't…can't I just see your employer now?"

"He's a busy man that will not be pleased than something less than perfect. When I present you, I want everything to go as smoothly as possible, don't you agree?"

Arabella found herself nodding yes.

He eyed her closely before saying, "Good. I'll be sending a meal shortly. The servant will appear instantly in the room, so please try not to shout or scream." With that he strode out of the room, leaving her alone once more.

There was a faint click.

He'd locked the door again.

Arabella didn't know whether to count herself lucky or not. On one hand she was alive and Mr. Malfoy had done nothing to harm her…yet. On the other hand, she was trapped in a room in a manor in an unknown location and had to meet Mr. Malfoy's employer, whenever that would be. It was a meeting she didn't look forward to in the slightest, especially if the employer was anything like Mr. Malfoy and very hard to please.

With nothing left to do, her eyes drifted around the room. Their sight caught onto the bookshelf.

As if in a trance Arabella walked over to the tall shelf. Her fingers grazed lightly above one of the books spinning, before removing it. The title read: The Pure and Noble Bloodlines of the Wizarding World. Without hesitation she opened the book and was amazed.

The pictures were moving all on their own.

They looked left and right, and seemed to be speaking silently to each other. They took notice of Arabella and their expressions immediately turned to ones of scorn. Some made rude hand gestures at her, while other spat at her. A bit taken aback, Arabella hastily flipped through the pages of the book. The trees of pureblood families were quite extensive, many of them marrying cousins and close relatives, all to keep their blood "pure". That's when Arabella realized that the people in the pictures must have somehow known that she was no pureblood witch; she wasn't a witch at all.

She was a non-magical person, plain, boring and on the bottom of their social pyramid.

Arabella was about to close the book, when her eyes caught on a family name: the Black Family. She couldn't believe it. It felt like this name was popping up everywhere. She traced the family tree down and low and behold she found his name: Sirius Black.

He looked very young in this picture and about ten times more cheerful than the rest of his family. While a vast majority of his relatives snubbed her all together, his small picture was the only one that smiled and waved at her. He looked nothing like the wanted posters from a couple years ago that she vaguely remembered.

Although his lips were moving, she couldn't hear what he was saying.

But his "presence" brought her great comfort.