chapter 7 A MISTAKE

Only a moment after Hermione slapped him, there was a dead silence in the room. And that made Hermione even more terrified. She knew she had made a huge mistake by hitting him and she regretted it, but she would have done it again. If she kept her feeling bottled up inside her, she would surely explode.

She couldn't see Lucius' reaction, she couldn't even hear his breathing. Maybe he wasn't breathing? She knew he was standing in front of her, because she could still feel something from his body. Some kind of warmth or energy, she wasn't sure.

All of the sudden he backhanded her across the face. Hermione almost lost her balance and fell to the floor, but she somehow managed to stay on her feet.

"You despicable creature! How dare you raise your hand upon me?" Lucius hissed at her, pure fury in his voice.

Hermione realized she had never before heard him talk with so much rage and hatred. She tried to back away from him, but couldn't when he slapped her again across the face only this time he used a lot more force. Hermione could already feel the bruise starting to form.

At that moment she wished he would use magic to punish her. She would much rather be tortured with Crucio or some other curse than having to endure his touch on her skin.

"Please..."she started, but didn't even know what to say. What could she say to make him stop?

Then he grabbed her arm and used his right hand to slap her again.

"I don't believe I asked you to speak!"

Pain ripped across her face as he slapped her hard, once, twice, again and again. Hermione's ears rang and she cried out with each hit. But she wouldn't allow herself to cry. No, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

The last slap caused Hermione's legs to give away and she landed on the floor.

"You will never again allow yourself to touch me!" Lucius continued to scream at her and all Hermione could do was to stay quiet and hope he would calm down. But luck wasn't on her side.

Lucius pulled her to her feet and threw her across the room. Hermione stumbled in the darkness and screamed in pain as her head hit the hard wall. He threw her with such force that Hermione almost cracked her skull when she hit the wall.

"Stop..." she managed to say as she slid down to the floor again, curling into a ball when she heard him approach her.

Her whole body was betraying her, shaking as never before. And it hurt. Everything hurt. A few days ago she never imagined that that kind of pain really existed, but now she was familiar with it. And it was all because of Lucius Malfoy.

'And Harry.' a small voice in her head said. Suddenly Hermione felt shame at that thought. How could she blame Harry for what was happening to her? He wasn't the one to blame.

'But if he hadn't killed Draco..'

'No, that does not matter! Lucius would have probably found another reason to torture me.'

"Maybe you haven't learned your lesson. Should I call my friends back and leave you alone with them? It seemed to me that they left somehow...unsatisfied."

Hermione quickly shook her head:"N-no..."

All air was pushed out of her as he brutally kicked her in the ribs. Hermione froze in panic as she heard something crack when his boots connected with her body. Maybe she only imagined it. Biting her lip to stop her from crying out in pain, she tasted blood in her mouth. Her whole face hurt and her lower lip was burning. It was still split from when one of Lucius' friends pulled her by her ankle and caused her to fall on the floor, hitting her face into the hard ground.

"Do you think you're being strong, Mudblood? Stop wasting your time because I don't believe that you are. I know you're faking it. You cannot hide anything from me. You think I can't see the fear and the pain written all over you face?" Lucius said with arrogance.

Hermione could almost see him raise his eyebrows at her as his aristocratic eyes dug a hole in her.

She tried to roll to the side, but he grabbed her before she could move more, crouching down over her and pinning her down with his hands at her shoulders, his strong grip pushing her into the cold stone floor.

"I will not have you behave so disrespectfully ever again, Mudblood! Is that understood?" his voice was slightly calmer now.

Hermione felt like something was choking her, she could hardly breath and somehow words couldn't leave her mouth.

Lucius tightened his grip on her:"Is that understood? Answer me, you filth!"

"Y-Yes," Hermione said, her voice hardly above a whisper. Then she realized why. She was almost choking on her tears. But she had promised herself she wouldn't cry and that made her even more doubtful disappointed in herself.

Slowly his weight was lifted off her and his grip disappeared as he released her.

"I advise you to avoid provoking me into a rage," he said coldly, once again controlling himself.

Hermione could barely hear him. Her head was hurting like hell, her ears were ringing and every breath she took caused unimaginable pain to rip through her. Trying to hold back the tears and whimpers of pain, she concentrated on him and his voice.

She knew he was standing next to her, looking at her from above. He must be satisfied. Finally he had her where he thought she belonged. At his feet, trembling in pain.

Hermione hugged herself with her arms and prepared her body for another punch or kick. But nothing came and slowly seconds passed by. Hermione still couldn't hear him breathing. Thousands of thoughts were traveling through her mind. She couldn't understand why was he looking at her, why wasn't he saying anything? Was he thinking about new ways to punish her? She hoped not, because she couldn't take much more.

"No food for you today. And I had hoped you would show some cleverness and the right attitude. It seems that Mudbloods really do learn the hard way."

Hermione listened quietly, clinging to his voice. At that moment she couldn't care less about food. A small part of her wanted him to starve her to death. Maybe that would be her escape.

"You will be allowed to show your gratitude later," he said to her calmly.

Hermione couldn't stop herself from asking:"What gratitude?"

"My my, you really have a short memory," he drawled, amusement clear in his tone.

"Do-Do you think I should feel gratitude towards you because what happened with your...with Death Eaters?"

"Shouldn't I? I saved you if you don't remember. They were only moments away from taking what they wanted and I do not think you would like that."

Disgust and rage started to build inside Hermione. She could feel her heart beating faster and words flew out of her mouth:"You sick bastard! I would never feel gratitude towards you! How dare you even suggest that?"

"Shut your mouth..." he warned her, but Hermione cut him off.

Anger shot up from the pit of her stomach, sending electricity pounding through her veins.

"It was you who put me into that position in the first place! You almost got me raped and you expect me to thank you? It's pathetic, you're pathetic! I hope you rot in hell!"

Hermione's throat was burning from screaming, but that didn't stop her. She was yelling at him through her sobs, she needed him to know that she hated him, that she wished him dead.

She couldn't explain to herself why that mattered, but she just needed him to realize that she would never feel anything but pure hate towards him.

"I hate you!"

A moment later she screamed in absolute pain as he slammed his boot into her ribs once again, harder than the first time. Hermione couldn't breath, every breath she took felt like a knife through her chest. Gasping, she let herself cry, not caring if he could see her. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her before. In the last three days he had made her cry more times than she did in all her life.

Without another word, Lucius walked away from her. Hermione could hear his footsteps. They were louder than they normally are. It was as if he was still furious and there was still rage in his body. But why did he walk away? Why not take his anger out on her?

Hermione concluded that if that were to happen, she would most likely not survive it and he needed her alive. He was very smart and he didn't want to kill her too soon. It would be too easy.

Lucius strode out of the room, slamming the door and locking it behind him.

Hermione was finally left alone, but that didn't make her feel better. For some unknown reason she wanted him to stay so that they could finish their fight, so that she could tell him her opinion about him. She needed to get that off her chest otherwise she would explode.

As she was laying on the floor, she found herself thinking about what almost happened to her not only half an hour ago.

When she first came to the Malfoy Manor, she was terrified. Horrified of what would happen to her and what sick torture would Lucius come up with for her. She wasn't stupid. She knew well enough what Death Eaters were famous for.

But when she was forced to take a bath, Lucius made it clear that he would never touch her that way. And at that moment Hermione never was more thankful to her blood status. But what happened with Lucius' friends changed everything. She realized that she wasn't safe as she thought she was and as safe as she could be in the given circumstances. If Lucius was too disgusted with her to try anything like that, his friends certainly weren't. And Lucius would allow them to do whatever they liked with her.

Shear panic shot through her as she realized what had almost happened to her. If it had happened and if Lucius hadn't stopped them.... Hermione didn't know what she would do. That was one of the things she would never recover from. Bruises could heal, insults could be ignored, slap across the face could hurt, but only for a moment. But it they had finished what they started, it would be much more horrible than anything else that she had to endure. It would humiliate her more than she could handle, Hermione was sure of it.

But why did Lucius stop them? Was it all just a game to him? A game to see how much can she handle before going completely mad or- or before seeing him as her...owner?

As someone who holds her life in his hands and does what he wants with it?

And what Hermione didn't expect from him was that he demanded gratitude. What in hell gave him the idea that she should be grateful for what he had done?

However, Hermione could lie to him, she could even try to convince herself, but the truth was that she did feel...grateful. A small part of her, the illogical and stupid part of her was thankful that he had stopped them. When she heard him order the other Death Eaters to stop, she couldn't help but to see him as her protector, even if only for a moment.

Tears were clinging to Hermione's eyelids as she thought about that. She reminded herself to stop being stupid, because he couldn't claim that title, not after everything he's done to her, not after he himself took her to his friends and let them do what they pleased with her.

Everything was complicated and Hermione didn't have the time or the energy to think about it.

Brains were the only part of her that didn't hurt. All she wanted was her friends and her parents. At least her mum and dad were safe in the Muggle world. For now.

Hermione wondered what had happened to Ron, Ginny, Luna, even Lavender. She knew the possibility of them being alive was very small, but it existed. When she was at the battle field, she heard Voldemort saying that there were survivors. She could still hear the pleading of some girl as she was chosen as a Death Eater's award and taken away with him.

Her last wish before unconciusnoss took over was that she would see at least one of her friends again. That way she wouldn't feel so alone, knowing she still had someone in this cruel world ruled by Death Eaters.

*

Slowly she drifted into consciousness.

Hermione had no idea how much time had passed since she fell asleep. All she knew was that she was still on the ground and in the same position that she was before. But the growing pain on her body and already formed bruises told her that at least a couple of hours had passed. She still had her eyes closed and it surprised her how quiet everything was. It was probably night or early morning. Slowly her senses awakened and it surprised her that she didn't hear Lucius. His breathing was usually very steady when he's asleep.

Was she alone in the room? Where is he?

Hermione held her breath and listened again, pressing her ears into the darkness, trying desperately to ignore the shiver that threatened to run through her. She listened for any kind of a movement, sign that he was in the room.

A small noise from above her answered her questions. She was not alone.

When she concentrated, she could hear light breathing coming from above her.

Was he standing beside her? Why?

Hermione kept her eyes closed, hoping he didn't notice she was awake. Somehow 'awake' wasn't the right word to describe the state she was in. She wasn't completely awake, it felt like she was floating. That kind of a feeling Hermione had only when she was dreaming, but she knew that it wasn't a dream. Trying to keep her breathing soft and steady, she tensed when she heard him move. And he didn't move away from her. From all she could tell, Lucius kneeled down next to her.

His breathing was closer now and Hermione could hear it clearly. She felt his gaze on her, burning her, leaving a mark and all she wanted was to be left alone.

Maybe he was thinking about what he would do to her once she's awake? Looking for new ways of sadistic torture.

'At least he's not touching me.' Hermione thought and tried to calm down.

As if he was mocking her, at the same moment she said that in her mind, she felt something on her cheek. Someone's touch. His touch. It was light and warm, but it was a touch.

Slowly he trailed his finger down her throat. Hermione could hear her heart was beating like crazy with blood pounding under her skin and she hoped Lucius couldn't feel that. But he was somehow ignorant to that fact as if he was concentrating hard on something or lost in his thoughts. If she could read his mind or at least see his face, see the expression on his face as he touched her. What was he trying to accomplish with that?

The trail his finger left on Hermione's skin felt like burning. It was all in her mind, but she was barely preventing herself from flinching away from him. His touch was pure torture, it sent shivers down her spine. She was in delusional state, but she was very aware of the way his finger moved. She couldn't be just her imagination. His touch was gentle and soft as if he was touching someone else, not a filthy mudblood. But at the same time it was restrained like he was inspecting something.

His finger stopped for a moment on her throat before he pulled it back, as if he was burnt.

His breathing was now different- too fast, too heavy. It was as if someone had upset him, as if he was angry. But why?

'I haven't done anything to him.' Hermione thought.

He moved away from her and stood up. Hermione was expecting him to hit her again, because by the sound of his breathing he was very angry. And he was completely calm when he was just observing her. His rage showed when he touched her and that meant he was angry with her.

But then he just walked away again, out of the room. He didn't hit her or said anything to her. And why didn't he go to bed?

Too many thoughts, too many questions for Hermione at that moment. She was half asleep and only a few moments later she lost herself in the darkness around her and sleep overpowered her once again.

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