.

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If this machine doesn't stop, what will you do if it never goes out
Never goes out of season

It never stops as it turns, there ain't no passion, yet it burns
Introducing my prison

Losing myself in this place, soon I'm gone without a trace
Freed with that final incision

Look my heart it's a bird, it needs to sing and to be heard
Not this clockwork precision

And the machine grows idiotic
Who's gonna be its ingenious critic

~Poets Of The Fall, Revolution Roulette~

He woke up in a desperate need to pee.

It was dark and silent. He needed a moment to remember where he was.

Oh yes, Grangers house. He had agreed to stay here, as her test subject, to keep himself alive a little longer.

It was funny how much he wanted to live. After all he had been ready to die in the forest. But now, given the opportunity, he was ready to make some sacrifices to keep his life.

Sacrifices like agreeing to Grangers terms and trusting Granger.

She had left him some potion for pain on the table next to him. She had also charmed a chair to float him to the toilet and back when he needed to go. Then she had told him that she was going to lock her bedroom door just in case, warned him not to move much and went to her room.

He still didn't completely buy her reasons for holding him as a 'patient' but not trying to turn him to her side. It didn't seem like she'd get much out of this deal…

After past events he wasn't so sure about his side anymore though. He was here because his own people had tried to kill him. He was positive that he wouldn't be too welcome back to that side. But he sure as hell was not joining the order either, even if he would be welcome, which he wouldn't be. At the moment his only options seemed to be death or this.

But he felt claustrophobic here. Granger's apartment was small. Compared to the place he used to live in, this was a cupboard. The sofa he was lying on was in her living room. Every surface was covered in books. The walls were full of shelves with books and the two small tables were cracking under their weight as well. The kitchen was an open one on the left. It had only one sink, a fridge and a stove.

She wasn't very tidy person. He reckoned. The kitchen benches, too, were full of pots, pans and dishes.

The apartment also had a small bathroom. He wondered how anyone could cope with a bathroom so small. It was about the size of his bed back at the manor. And then there was her room, which he hadn't seen.

She could do magic. Why didn't she make this house a little more spacious? And it wouldn't have taken her too much to clean up a little.

Stupid muggle. He thought.

He had been here barely a day and he already felt the walls closing in on him.

He yanked himself to the charmed chair and grimaced. It hurt like hell to move. The potion she had given him only helped on some amount. Moving was still painful.

The chair floated him to her bathroom which smelled like flowers. He wrinkled his nose. How much perfume she used? She must have splashed it all around the room to get it to smell like this. He didn't like strong smells. His home always smelled only tidy, thanks to his house elf.

No, he should stop thinking 'his house' or 'his house elf'. Those things must have been taken as soon as he was left in the forest. Of course, they wouldn't find anything there. He didn't keep his secrets in the house. On the dark side man could trust no one. Lucky, he had known it before he was given the firsthand experience.

Back on the sofa he drank the potion she had left him and lay down. Closing his eyes, he wished her potion had contained dreamless sleep potion. He really didn't want to wake up in the middle of nightmares.

.

.

.

Someone was attacking him! He woke up and someone was attacking him!

"What the fuck!"

"Relax Malfoy, it's only me."

He opened his eyes and saw Granger hovering over him.

"You can't just do that when I'm sleeping!"

His heart was still hammering against his ribs. He had been ready to reach for his wand and fight. What if he had hit her?

"I'm in a hurry and didn't want to wake you." She sounded almost bored.

"I don't care if you're in a hurry or not! I don't like anyone near me when I sleep!" He didn't feel like calming down.

"Fine!" She huffed, "I'll wake you up next time! Now will you let me do these spells, so I can be on my way."

He lay back down.

She began to wave her wand.

Maybe a minute went by before he became frustrated.

"How do I know you're not doing more damage!"

She stopped and lifted her gaze.

"I guess you just have to trust me! or do you wish me to quit?" She snapped

Of course not, so he shut his mouth.

She gave him one questioning look and then went back to her work.

For a moment they were both silent. Then she began to talk.

"I think the combinations of all the spells and curses have done damage to nearly all of your internal organs. Yesterday I stopped them from bleeding, but they are still far from healed. Also, some of your ribs are broken and I think your arm too. I don't have skele-gro and I can't do spells that fix bones immediately. I just tried to attach the broken bones to each other and make them grow a little faster, so they'll grow together on their own. I'll repeat the spells I know every morning and evening and try to look for something more effective when I have the time. I'm also brewing you some potions to see if they'll work." She glanced him, "If you remember any of the spells they used it would be helpful."

He was silent.

She rolled her eyes, "Look, Malfoy. I know you don't want to help me, but surely you want to help yourself? So could you just please tell me what you remember!"

He didn't remember much, and he didn't want to reveal to her how fast he had gone unconscious.

"No, I must have hit my head when I fell. I remember cruciatus but not much else." He finally said.

"And the wound across your chest, the one that made you bleed heavily, seems to be sectusempra. I healed it first but it's going to leave a scar." She explained.

"Great, there's room for all the sectusempra scars on my chest" He muttered. His skin was already scarred all around. He didn't need any more scars, he'd begin to resemble Potter.

Suddenly she got up.

"Good. You should cope the day. I need to be on my way."

She went to the kitchen and brought three sandwiches to his table.

"I'll lock the doors because I don't want you to leave without me knowing. The floo lets through only me. I'm gone for a few hours, you should manage with those." she pointed the sandwiches. "Try not to move much."

She turned and flicked her wand and one of the bookshelves turned around to reveal a small fireplace.

"What am I supposed to do here?" The words came out before he could stop them. "I can't move!"

But she had already stepped in to the floo and gone.

.

.

.

Seven hours later he was pissed to say at least.

He was not used to survive that long with few pieces of bread! This was not a few hours. This was the entire day! And she was still gone.

Where was she anyway? She hadn't said anything. Of course, he couldn't expect her to tell him anything. He was here, on her mercy and she had decided to starve him! This was just great!

Fuck Granger! No, that came out wrong! As if he'd touch the bookworm.

Ok, he needed to concentrate…

…when was the last time he'd touched a woman?

No, he needed to concentrate on how to get food! Not getting laid!

…He still wouldn't touch Granger, even if she was the last woman on earth.

Draco! Get a grip!

On the same moment the floo roared and she was home.

"About time!" He huffed straight away, "Thank you so much for the generous amounts of food you left me! What the fuck took you so long! I'm starving here!"

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, it took longer than I expected. I should have left you more." She said with a tired voice.

That took him by surprise. He had expected her to argue. Assumed she'd tell him to shut it and cook his own food. But now she was walking towards the kitchen.

"What would you like to eat? Is chicken soup ok?"

His mouth hung open. Was she asking what he wanted to eat?

"What is wrong with you!" He blurted.

"I'm not in the mood for your hostility." She said quietly and continued her cooking.

Seriously? Who was this girl who did not want to argue with him? Definitely not the Hermione Granger he knew.

For a while they were both silent. He watched her working.

"Why don't you use your wand?"

"I'd rather do everything by myself. Keeps my mind out of things."

"Well that is just stupid! Doing everything the hard way. You could use a house elf anyway! Apparently, you can't clean with your wand either."

She turned to him and he could see a flash of anger in her eyes.

"If you can't figure anything else to say but insults Malfoy, shut up! I told you already, I'm not in the mood for arguing with you…"

She didn't say 'too'. But he heard it anyway.

"Where were you the whole time?"

She didn't answer.

Suddenly a frightening thought hit him. She had been with The Order? Telling them about him perhaps? Asking their advice for what to do with an injured Death Eater who couldn't move, couldn't run and worst of all, had no wand.

"Were you with your precious Order? Asking their advice maybe? What to do with me?" His voice sounded more unsure that he had meant, "Do they all know about me now?"

"No one knows about you."

"What?"

"I told no one!" She said louder. "Do you think, that if I had told anyone you'd still be here? Comfortably on my couch? No, if I'd tell them, you'd be in the prison, at headquarters, being interrogated of the things you know." Now she sounded angry.

"So pray tell me Granger! Why am I not there? I belong in prison, don't you think?"

She had now forgotten her cooking and was staring at him with blazing eyes.

"Because you'd die there! And they wouldn't give a damn. They wouldn't let anyone heal you as long as you could talk. They wouldn't give you potions for pain. They wouldn't care whether you killed Dumbledore or not. They wouldn't care that your own side nearly killed you because you refused to kill in that forest the other day."

She knew? How did she know? But he didn't have time to ask, because she went on.

"This is war and they…we… are supposed to be the side of the light. But we have prisoners, who are not treated well. We have very questionable interrogating techniques. And on the battlefield, we kill just as eagerly as any Death Eater…" She snapped her mouth shut.

Too much information, he reckoned.

"You were there? In the forest." Was the only question that came out.

She didn't say anything for a moment.

"Me and Ginny were supposed to protect that family." She said sadly. "The Order did not believe they were important for your side, so they didn't put much thought to their safety."

"They were not important." He said almost to himself, "But they were an easy target. You should have known."

She was staring him now.

"I was there, on the other side of the house when you came. I saw you walking towards the house and then hesitating. I also saw the others dragging you to the forest. I was already leaving but then I thought that this was the second time, you refused to kill someone. So I came looking for you."

He didn't know what to say.

"I might be crazy, but after all I've seen, I believe you don't deserve a faith in The Orders dungeons. Not yet at least"

Always so noble "You might be wrong."

She looked at him a while with unreadable eyes.

Then she turned back to her stove. "I might."