Chapter 16 DISCOVERIES

There were only few events in his life that made Severus lose his temper. And watching the young girl scream at him and insult him was slowly starting to piss him off.

"I hate you! And I hate her!" Ginny screamed through her tears.

"Calm down and listen to me," Snape ordered calmly, even though he was burning inside. The girl had put him in danger with her reckless behaviour. At that moment he realized that he would have to discipline her and put a stop to her attempts to escape and revenge her family.

"You don't tell me what to do, Snape. You..." she then send him a look full of hate, "You hit me."

She could swear she saw Snape's eyes soften for only a second, before his cold expression took over again.

"You left me no other choice, Ginevra."

Ginny approached him, her body shaking with pure rage. As she stopped before him, she looked straight into his eyes as if she was daring him.

"Hit me again," she demanded, earning herself an amused look from Snape.

"Do not play games with me," he warned her.

The moment the words left his mouth, Ginny's hand connected with his face. She slapped him hard, but he didn't even flinch. It made Ginny even more furious and she couldn't stop herself from hitting him again. And again. And again. Her hand hurt, but Snape didn't show he was in any kind of pain.

Ginny clenched her fists together in rage and stood completely still, sending Snape a murderous look.

He spoke after a few seconds:"Are you quite finished?"

All her emotions took over her as she lunged herself at him, trying desperately to hit him with her small fists, trying to get rid of all the anger and pain she was feeling.

"I've had enough of this!" Snape growled in anger and grabbed her wrists in an attempt to calm her down.

"Let go!" Ginny screamed at him, pulling away from him. The last thing she wanted was being that close to him and his touch disgusted her, "Let go of me!"

He released his hold at once, watching her inquiringly. She rubbed her aching wrists, taking a step back from him. His dark eyes skimmed over her skin, seeing his fingerprints from his bruising grip. His eyes rested there for a while as he lost himself in his thoughts. He hadn't noticed that he had held her so roughly, probably underrating his strength.

"Don't ever touch me again, Snape," Ginny said in a threatening voice, but she knew she had nothing to threaten him with.

Snape took a deep breath, then raised a small knife in his hand:"I want you to tell me where and how you got your hands on this," his voice was controlled as he spoke, but there was a warning in it.

"It doesn't matter," she hissed at him.

Snape studied her for a long moment, before sighing and nodding:"You are right. It does not matter, because from now on I will have you on my sight all the time. You will not be allowed to walk alone around the house anymore."

"You can't stop me."

"You will learn that I can," Snape smirked, then continued in a dark tone, "Your attitude almost got us both in serious trouble."

"Us? You hit me!" Ginny exploded with rage once again.

"You should be thankful that was the only thing I did."

That sentence caused Ginny to take a step away from him, the look in his eyes frightening her. His eyes had never been so dark as they were at that moment.

"Do you have any idea what you could have caused with your little show?" Snape asked, completely serious.

"Bring Malfoy here and I'll show you what I can do," Ginny shot back.

"I will not tolerate your attitude from now on. I have been patient with you, but you've crossed the line."

"Malfoy deserves to be dead! And I will kill him the next chance I get," Ginny insisted, anger showing in her voice.

"Sadly for you, you will not get another chance. And I'm afraid this was the last time you saw your friend Granger."

"She's not my friend! She's a traitor. Just like you!"

Ginny couldn't control herself anymore. All her anger and pain threatened to explode inside of her. Insults were coming out of her mouth, not caring what would happen to her.

Snape just rolled his eyes:"Granger acted smart. Unlike you."

"I hate her," was the only thing Ginny could say.

Snape looked deep into her eyes, making her uncomfortable. Ginny felt like he could read all her thoughts when he looked at her like that.

"You do not hate her. You're hurt, you feel betreyed. But you do not hate her."

She let out a forced laugh:"You have no idea how I feel. She destroyed my only chance of revenge."

Snape raised an eyebrow:"And do you know why she did that? Have you even thought about her reasons for acting the way she did?"

That confused Ginny for a second, but she quickly pushed it away:"What does it matter-"

He cut her off:"You are too captured in your hate to distinguish between right and wrong."

"I have every right to hate him. To hate all of you."

Snape nodded, then asked:"What do you know about the world outside?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes in confusion and opened her mouth to say something, but she closed them again, realizing she didn't know what to say.

Snape continued in a cold tone:"Death Eaters rule the Wizarding world. There is chaos on the streets. Murder and violence is legal now."

"I know that-"

"Mudbloods are being hunted like animals and tortured for fun or killed. Would you like me to describe that to you?" he spoke as if he was unaffected by what he was saying.

Ginny tensed, horrible images making their way into her mind:"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to know what kind of world we live in now. What do you think would happen to Granger the moment Lucius was out of the picture?"

For a moment Ginny didn't know what to say. She realized she had never thought of that before. All she could think about was vengeance.

"She...She could join resistance or-"

She was cut of by Snape's cold laugh:"Resistance? There is no resistance."

"Yes, it is! Hermione told me," Ginny insisted.

"It may have existed before, but it surely does not now. Lucius and the others took care of that," he informed her, observing her as her eyes widened in horror and desperation.

"You're lying to me," she whispered, complete despair taking over her. It was then that she realized there was no escape for her. No happy ending. All her hopes were destroyed.

"Why would I lie?"he asked, his dark eyes boring into hers.

Ginny looked at him, not sure what to retort but he didn't give her much time as he continued.

"Granger would be given to another Death Eater, who would treat her worse than Lucius. She would be an empty shell in a matter of days."

"I-" she started, but then trailed off.

Ginny remained silent, feeling guilt taking over her. She realized she was selfish, not thinking what would happen to her friend. But the anger was still inside of her and didn't plan on leaving soon.

"I can't understand why she saved his life," Ginny confessed quietly, "I understand that she was afraid for her life, but..."

"What is it?" Snape asked in suspicion.

Ginny couldn't understand why she was talking to Snape about this, but she needed to say it out loud.

"Something is happening between the two of them," when the words left her mouth, Ginny realized how outrageous it sounded, but she continued, "She's becoming attached to him."

"Your reasons for that theory?"

"I just know," she said firmly, "And if I'm right and she is starting to feel something other than hate towards him, I will never forgive her."

"You do realize that you are speaking nonsense?" Snape drawled, looking at Ginny as if she had lost her mind completely, "I can assure you that Lucius would never lower himself enough to involve himself with a Mudblood."

When Ginny didn't say anything, Snape walked past her towards the doors:"Come. I will escort you to your room."

Ginny didn't have the strength to fight anymore. The whole day was stressful and all she wanted was to rest and hopefully fall asleep and forget about all the horrible events that had happened.

*****

He was wrong. He had to be wrong. Hermione couldn't accept that Lucius was right. It was absurd. There was no way that she would want to belong to him. She didn't belong to anyone.

But as she sat alone on the floor, with her back resting against the wall, she couldn't ignore that little voice in her head.

You do want to belong to him. Why do you keep lying to yourself?

Ever since Lucius had left her alone in the room, she kept fighting with that little voice.

Lucius' words were on her mind all the time. She couldn't deny that she had became more attached to him, but that was normal. He was all she had now. Her life depended on him and it was perfectly understandable that her feelings towards him would change.

She almost laughed at that word. Feelings. She would die out of shame if Ron and Harry heard that. It was bad enough that Ginny knew. Maybe it was a good thing that Ginny hated her, because Hermione wouldn't dare to look into her eyes ever again.

Pushing those horrible thoughts out of her head, she forced herself to close her eyes. After everything that had happened, Hermione needed some sleep, so she decided to make use of the time she had until Lucius returned.

After a few minutes she started to slip into unconsciousness, her body felt light and completely weightless, all worry disappeared from her mind as calmness made it's way into her thoughts.

"Poor little Mudblood, has this day been too exhausting for you?"

Her eyes flew open at that voice. It cut through a complete silence like a knife. Hermione blinked a few times, feeling completely disoriented and confused. Had she fallen asleep? When did Lucius return? How much time has it passed since she closed her eyes?

"What...what time is it?" she asked quietly, slowly pulling herself up from the floor.

"That does not concern you."

Hermione blinked a few more times, trying to get rid of the strange burning feeling in her eyes. It wasn't painful, just annoying. She concluded it was probably a consequence of being woken up so suddenly and getting up so quickly.

"Why can't you tell me a simple thing as what time it is?" she asked while rubbing her eyes with her hands.

Lucius' smirk was evident in his voice:"Because I like you ignorant and helpless."

Hermione said nothing to that as she kept blinking and rubbing her eyes in an attempt to stop the uncomfortable feeling.

It didn't escape Lucius's attention what she was doing.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked, slightly suspicious.

"Nothing," Hermione replied and opened her eyes.

She was surprised when she wasn't faced with darkness, but with light. It was pure white light and Hermione blinked a few more times, trying to see if it will go away.

But it didn't help. Shock probably showed on her face, because Lucius grabbed her arms and pulled her closer to him, looking into her eyes and trying to figure out what was happening.

"Do not lie to me, Mudblood," he threatened in a low voice.

At that moment the light before Hermione's eyes started to fade away, but it wasn't replaced with darkness as she had expected it to. The image before her was unclear, but Hermione could clearly see a face and long blond hair. She almost forgot to breath and didn't even try to hide the shock on her face. For the first time in her life she wasn't using her head, all she cared about was that she could see something other than darkness again. Her heart started to beat uncontrollably fast. Without thinking her eyes locked with Lucius'. For the first time since he took her, she looked into his eyes and became almost hypnotised by the depth in them. Their connection lasted only for a second before the image started to fade away into darkness again.

"No..." Hermione whispered, feeling despair raising inside of her as the darkness took over her sight again. She blinked, trying to push the darkness again, but it didn't help. Only a moment later she wasn't able to see anything again. It was a dissapointment, but she didn't have time to think about it or anaylize it as Lucius' grip on her arms tightened until it was painful.

"What was that, Mudblood? Tell me or I will force the truth out of you," he growled, anger taking over him.

For the first time since she was captured, Hermione was one step ahead of Lucius. He was always the one who knew everything about her, even personal things that no one except Hermione should know. And finally the moment came when Hermione knew something that he didn't. And she wasn't willing to lose that advantage.

Her mind started working quickly as she tried to think of an appropriate answer.

"I just...felt dizzy for a moment," she forced the words out, hoping she sounded convincing.

"I do not appreciate being lied to. I assumed you knew that by now," he spoke calmly, but he still didn't release his grip on her.

"I'm not lying. I got up from the floor too fast and everything started to spin around me."

"How is that possible when you cannot see a thing?" he questioned and Hermione noticed the suspicion in his voice.

"It felt like everything was spinning around me," she corrected herself, then narrowed her eyes, "What are you afraid of?"

Lucius was silent for a moment and Hermione could actually feel his eyes burning into hers, trying to find life in them.

"For a moment it seemed...." he trailed off as if he was lost in his thoughts.

Hermione decided to take a risk:"Are you afraid that I might get my sight back?"
After a long moment of silence, Lucius released her and took a step away from her before speaking in a mocking tone:"I am not afraid of anything, girl. And do not think that gaining your sight would help you. You would still be in my possession and without any option of escaping."

Hermione realized that the smartest thing she could do was to keep her mouth closed and let that issue pass.

"This evening will be something special, Mudblood," Lucius changed the subject and Hermione let out a breath she was holding.

"What are you talking about?"

"A celebration. We've finally gotten rid of the resistance that was causing us trouble," Lucius announced proudly.

Hermione didn't even flinch at that information. She had lost hope of being saved by the resistance a long time ago.

"That's why you went away," she said quietly.

"Yes. You do not have to worry anymore, Mudblood. From now on I will not leave you alone," he said to her firmly, waiting for her reaction.

Hermione just bit her lip, not knowing what to say or feel at that statement.

"I thought you would show more happiness hearing that," Lucius drawled with false sadness.

"Why would I be happy? Do you think I enjoy spending time with you?"

"Well, one would think you prefer my company to Dolohov's or some other Death Eater's," he said coldly.

Hermione tensed at the mention of Dolohov Those few days with him were the most horrible time in her entire life. She could still clearly remember every disgusting word he had said to her, every slap and punch. But the most of all, she remembered loneliness. As she was laying on the cold ground, barely alive, she felt completely alone and abandoned. With Lucius she didn't feel like that. The reason behind that was still unclear to her.

Hermione refused to answer him, realizing that he enjoyed reminding her of Dolohov and her time spent there. Lucius wasn't stupid and he knew all to well that Hermione would much rather be with him for the rest of her life than one more day with Dolohov. And that gave Lucius even more power over her, because she willingly chose him over someone else.

"You are not very talkative today," Lucius noticed, "I wonder why."

"You can't stand it when I do talk, you don't like it when I'm silent. What do you want from me?" Hermione raised her voice.

But Lucius' tone stayed perfectly controlled:"For now I want you to take a bath."

"Why?"

"Severus always complained how eager for knowledge you were, but I never understood how annoying that had to be," he insulted her.

"I will not take a bath if you don't tell me the reason for it," she crossed her arms over her chest, demanding an answer.

Lucius let out a short mocking laugh:"Muggles need a reason to clean themselves? My my, I will never be able to understand your kind."

"I didn't mean-"

He interrupted her:"And I feel the need to remind you that you are not in a position to give me orders," he paused for a moment, "I can force you to take a bath, but it would make things a lot easier for both of us if you just do it without complaining."

Hermione believed every words he said and decided not to push him. She gritted her teeth together and nodded, feeling anger slowly rising inside of her.

"Good girl," he grinned, "Go to the bathroom. New clothes are waiting for you there. If you're not out in five minutes, I'm coming in for you."

Hermione bit her tongue to stop a snarky reply and slowly walked towards the bathroom, careful not to hit a wall or trip over something. Wanting some privacy, she closed the door and than waited to see if Lucius would have problems with that. Luckily, he said nothing. Not wanting to waste time, Hermione filled the tub with water, then quickly undressed and jumped in. When she was a child, she used to take long hot baths and enjoyed washing her hair. That was the only time she could stand her hair. When they were wet they could be easily controlled, but as she dried them, they seemed to get a will of their own.

She could hear minutes passing in her head as she got out of the the tub and dried herself before putting new clothes on. Underwear and something that felt like a robe. It went past her thighs, almost to her knees.

After a few more minutes she was done. When she walked back into the bedroom, she was met with a complete silence, but she could sense that Lucius was in the room. It was illogical and couldn't be explained, but she felt that she wasn't alone. Her other senses have been getting stronger as she had to learn to live without her sight.

Without words, he made his way towards her and dried her hair with his wand.

"I liked it better wet," he murmured quietly, but it was meant for Hermione to hear it.

"What now?" she asked, ignoring his insult.

"Now we go downstairs."

"Why?"

He took a deep breath:"As I said before, this evening we will celebrate our victory."

"Over the resistance?"

"Such a smart girl," he mocked, "The party will be held in my house."

Hermione knew she should be afraid, but somehow she wasn't. She was aware of the fact that she will be attending a party with Death Eaters, but it didn't frighten her. She knew she had Lucius to protect her from the others. She could rely on him in at least that aspect. His possessive and controlling nature would keep her safe from his other colleagues.

"I wouldn't have taken you with me, but the others all decided to brag with their awards and I cannot be seen without mine. Wouldn't you agree?"

A small hope formed inside of her that maybe some of her friends would be there as well. Maybe Luna or Ginny. Ginny. Her throat closed up as she remembered that their friendship was now over. Even if Ginny will be at the party, there was no way she would want to talk to her.

"Shall we?" Lucius asked, then without waiting for her answer, he took her arm and guided her out of the room.

After stairs, Hermione lost all her coordination and found herself unable to tell where they were going. Never before had he taken her to the room he was taking her now.

Soon she heard them. The noise, the sound of conversations, laughing.

When they entered the room, Hermione tensed, but she was telling herself that nothing bad would happen. She wasn't the only award in the room and she didn't look that special, so there was no reason anybody would notice her.

The moment she felt Lucius' hand disappear from her arm, she felt completely alone. The noise was too loud and she couldn't concentrate on anything. She desperately wanted to reach for Lucius, but she still had her pride.

"Lucius, you've finally brought her!" a man with rough voice said and approached them, "I clearly remember her from that evening a few weeks ago."

Hermione brought back memories of that night when Lucius brought her in his study and let his friends have his way with her. Shame overtook her as she remembered how she humiliated herself and begged Lucius to help her. Now when she looked back at that, she couldn't help but wonder if he would really have done it? Was he really planning on letting his friends do all those sick things to her and just stand by and watch or was that all a part of his mind games?

"I am sorry to disappoint you, but I do not wish to share her with anyone. So you will just have to satisfy yourself with observing only," Lucius said in a polite, yet firm tone.

Hermione relaxed a bit at that. She realized she wasn't in any real danger as long as she had Lucius beside her.

"I understand completely, Lucius. I can imagine why you want her all for yourself," the other man replied, "Come with me. I would like you to meet my award. A Pureblood."

It didn't escape Hermione's attention how he had said the last word. It was obviously meant to insult her, but all it did was annoy her. Hermione was well aware of the fact that she wasn't a Pureblood and that never bothered her. It was difficult to live in a world where blood status meant so much, but insults and mocking only made her stronger.

"Of course," Lucius said, then leaned closer to Hermione, "Try to stay out of trouble."

At first Hermione didn't understand what he meant by that, but then she heard him walk away and it completely shocked her. At that moment she felt as if the wall around her that kept her safe collapsed. Trying to calm herself down, she took a few deep breaths and concentrated on everything around her. All she could tell from listening was that the room was quite big and that there were a lot of people. They were talking, laughing, celebrating. It angered her knowing they were celebrating deaths of her friends, of good people.

She made a step forward, but she bumped into someone. She instantly took a step back and found herself bumping into another person. Suddenly she felt claustrophobic. There were too many people around her and everything was too loud, making it impossible for her to form a clear thought.

She stood completely still for a few long moments, then decided to try and find a wall. That way she would feel a bit more safe and she would be in a far better position than in the middle of the room.

As she pushed her way through the crowd, she tried to ignore the fact that she was touching Death Eaters. She walked as fast as she could with her arms stretched in front of her, hoping to find the comfort of a wall. She was almost pushed to the ground as someone roughly bumped into her, causing her to lose balance. After few more accidents her hands finally touched the wall and Hermione let out an exhausted sigh.

It surprised her that nobody seemed interested in her, no one bothered her or even said anyhing to her as she made her way through the crowd. Why would they? Surely there were prettier Pureblood awards.

It crossed her mind that she might be faced with Dolohov again and she wasn't sure she could stand just hearing his voice ever again.

"I'll be damned!" someone said from behind her.

Hermione heard it, but didn't pay attention to it, convinced it wasn't directed to her. Then someone's hand grabbed her arm and turned her around, making Hermione tense with fear.

"I remember you," the man said to her in a hoarse voice.

Hermione caught his scent and it almost made her sick. He smelled disgusting, as if he hadn't bathed in a month.

"Let go," Hermione said calmly, trying to hide the panic in her voice.

"How come you are still alive, girl?" he demanded from her, tightening the grip on her arm.

It was obvious that he had seen her before, but Hermione couldn't remember ever hearing his voice. Maybe was drunk and he confused her with someone else. With that thought in her head, Hermione struggled harder, trying to get away from him.

"I don't know you. Let go!"

He let out a short laugh:"You really are tough, little girl. I never thought you would stay alive this long."

Lucius. Where is he?

With panic taking over her, Hermione was unable to pay attention to the words of a man before her, all she was doing was listening for Lucius' voice, hoping that he was near by.

"I was convinced you would die at that field. How did you survive without being able to see anything?" the man asked with interest, still not letting go of her arm.

When those words left his mouth, Hermione completely froze and she felt something go through her.

Then he laughed again. It was a disgusting laugh and at that moment a distant memory came flooding back to Hermione.

She was at the Battle field, with her wand in her hand, throwing curses. The sight in front of her was terrifying. It was night, but she could see everything clearly because of all the curses flying around. Never before had she felt that helpless and terrible as she watched good people around her being hit with curses. Many of them fell to the ground immediately, the others still fought until life left them. She found herself completely disgusted and shocked as she realized that Death Eaters were not using the Killing curse. They probably thought that death by that curse was too mild and they wanted to torture their opponents and watch as blood leaked from them.

In all that chaos Hermione couldn't take it anymore and she stopped just for a moment to take a breath. But that moment was all it was needed for someone to sneak up behind her and snatch the wand away from her. It was completely unexpected and shock was making it impossible for Hermione to run or try to get her wand back. She stood still, looking deep into the Death Eater's eyes. She was positive that she would die and that there was no escape for her. Not wanting to act like a coward in the last seconds of her life, she proudly raised her head and sent the man in front of her a cold look, hoping she hid the fear she felt.

Without any words, the Death Eater raised his wand at her and Hermione reflexively closed her eyes, shaking and waiting for the death to take her. An unknown spell was murmured and Hermione prepared herself for the pain. When nothing painful hit her, her eyes flew open and she was faced with something she had never expected. A complete darkness. The Death Eater in front of her laughed before walking away from her.

The laugh of the man in front of her was completely the same. Her breathing became erratic again as realization dawned on her. The man holding her was the same Death Eater that stole her sight and made a hell out of her life. Her life would have been different if she could see. She wouldn't have to depend on Lucius so much. If there wasn't darkness before her eyes, she wouldn't spend one more minute in the Malfoy Manor. She would plan her escape, but without her sight she was forced to live through a thousands of humiliations with Lucius until he finally grows tired of her.

All rage exploded inside of her, as she growled at the man before her:"Get your disgusting hands off of me!"

"You didn't say please," he teased her without releasing her.

The smell of alcohol hit Hermione and she felt even more disgusted. Without thinking, she tried to kick him and she hit his leg, causing him to let go of her and letting out a hiss of pain.

"You really shouldn't have done that," he threatened and then whispered something.

It sounded as a spell, but he had said it too quietly, making Hermione unable to tell which kind of spell. But when she felt no pain, she figured it wasn't a spell but maybe an insult directed at her.

"Soon you will come begging to me," he whispered, leaning close to her.

Before she could stop herself, Hermione spat on his face, letting out all anger she was feeling.

Not even a moment later she was slapped hard across the face. The force of it made her hit the wall. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, but nobody could hear her, because the noise was too loud. And even if they did hear her, why would anyone want to help her?

"Lucius..." she whispered weakly, hoping he would somehow hear her.

"Lucius? He's the one who took you?" the man asked surprised and a little disgusted, "Why would he choose a dirty Mudblood over some beautiful Pureblood is beyond me."

He roughly pulled her away from the wall before speaking:"Now what should I do to teach you that it's not polite to spit on those who are superior to you? Maybe a Cruciatus cure?"

"Lucius!" Hermione screamed this time, panic rising in her. She realized she was not as safe as she thought she was.

"Phillix, what is going on here?" was heard not even two seconds later.

The man immidiatly released her as Lucius approached them, demanding to know what happened.

Hermione could feel a weak smile on her face and as Lucius returned to her side, so did the feeling of security.

"I was just having a conversation with this lovely Mudblood. Isn't that so?" Phillix answered, keeping his voice calm and composed.

Lucius wasn't fooled that easily:"And why was she screaming my name?"

Hermione didn't realize she had screamed that loudly. Phillix remained silent at Lucius' question and Hermione too didn't know what to say. Lucius wasn't her friend, he wasn't interested in keeping her safe because he didn't want her hurt. He protected her just because he was possessive. She was his possession and only he had the right to hurt her. So why would she tell him that she had just been slapped? And the last thing she wanted was to let him know that she was seeing him as her protector now.

"What happened, Mudblood?" Lucius turned his attention towards her, "What did he do?"

Hermione bit her lower lip in frustration, feeling his eyes on her face.

"Tell me," he demanded calmly.

"Nothing," she forced the word out, but it didn't sound convincing.

"You see, Lucius, nothing-" Phillix started, but was cut of by Lucius.

"I don't believe I asked you a question," his voice was cold and it had an angry tone in it.

Hermione still refused to tell him what happened and then she felt Lucius' hand grasp her chin and raise her head in his direction.

After a long moment of silence, he removed his hand and Hermione let out a breath she was holding.

"Why does she have a red cheek?" Lucius demanded, angrier this time, "And I hope you have a good explanation."

"She insulted me, Lucius. Surely you do not expect me to just let that slide," Phillix said nervously.

"I am not interested in what she had done, " Lucius hissed at him, "I am interested in the reason why you raised your hand on my award. In my house."

"Are you saying I should ignore her disrespectfulness?"

"Only I am allowed to touch her. I thought that was clear to everyone," Lucius growled at him.

Hermione realized that she had never heard him talk to one of his fellow Death Eaters with such anger. Why was he angry?

"Pippy!" Lucius called out and immediately the House Elf appeared.

"Take her to the bedroom," he ordered and before Hermione even realized what was happening, the small creature touched her and the next moment they weren't in that room anymore.

"You is in the bedroom, Miss. Now Pippy need to go," the Elf said before leaving Hermione alone again.

She leaned against the wall and let herself think about everything that had happened.

She had finally met the person who took her sight away. Anger started to rise inside of her at just the thought of him and his disgusting laugh. He deserved much more than he got from her. He should suffer as she had suffered. And even that wouldn't be enough.

As minutes passed, she slowly felt her body temperature raising, but she didn't pay attention to that. More important thoughts were on her mind.

Even though she should be used to that by now, she still flinched when she heard the doors open.

He was angry.

That was the first thing she realized when she heard his breathing. She kept her mouth shut, waiting for him to speak. He was silent for a few long moments and a tensed atmosphere could be felt in the room.

"What is it with you?" he finally asked, "Why do you always cause trouble?"

Of course he would end up blaming her for everything. What else did she expect from him?

"I didn't-"

"Is it that hard for you to keep your mouth shut? Why do you insist on complicating everything?" he asked angrily, approaching her.

His closeness was not something Hermione needed at that moment. She felt even more hot and it seemed to her as if all air went out of the room. But Lucius was breathing without any problems, so something had to be wrong with her.

"He was the one who started everything," Hermione said calmly, trying to ignore that sweat was forming in her forehead.

"What did he say to you? How did you earn that slap?" Lucius questioned, slightly calmer.

"I didn't earn it!"

"Do not dare to raise your voice again," he warned her in a cold one.

"Do you really want to know why I hit him? Why I spat on him?"

"If I wouldn't want to know, I wouldn't be asking you about it, would I?"

Hermione nodded, then spoke:"He was...He was the one who threw the curse at me on the...on the Battle Field," she had trouble speaking and forming sentences in her mind.

Lucius remained silent and Hermione continued:"I can't see anything because of...of him."

"Well, isn't that interesting?" Lucius said more to himself than to her.

Suddenly Hermione felt dizzy and she had to lean against the wall behind her for support. She had trouble breathing and her body felt like she had a fever.

"Hot..." she whispered, wiping the sweat from her face.

"What is wrong with you?" Lucius asked, a bit alarmed.

"I don't know. I-" she started, then closed her mouth, feeling as strength was slowly leaving her body. Why was she feeling so sick all of the sudden?

"What is happening to me?" she let out quietly and gasped for breath frantically.

"Mudblood?"

Hermione knew that Lucius was standing in front of her, but now his voice seemed as if it was coming from far away.

The last thing she felt before falling into unconsciousness were strong arms around her waist.

Hi, guys! I know it's been two weeks, but I was really busy! I will try to update sooner this time...