Author's Note: I wasn't planning to post a chapter tonight, but I just finished re-watching part 1 of Deathly Hallows, and I'm just in a very Harry Potter mood right now, so here's the next chapter for you guys! I seriously can't wait to see part 2 tomorrow (well, technically today, I guess…)

Hope you guys like it!

Chapter 34

"Did the Dark Lord say why he wanted me to babysit you?"

I've heard this a thousand times already.

"Aunt Bella, you really are like a child sometimes," I say, smirking. "It won't be that awful. I'll give you a good show. Besides, I thought you liked watching pain."

"I did once. But quite honestly, it bores me now," she replies with an exaggerated yawn.

"Sorry to hear that," I say.

We pass by the eight guards at the entrance to the dungeons. It's just past sunrise, but I couldn't sleep at all last night, so I decided that I should just come early. It wasn't too difficult to convince Aunt Bella to get up early—I reminded her that as soon as this chore was out of the way, she would be free to go back on her raids again.

When we enter the hallway, it's very quiet. But I sense that something's not right.

I move to the door swiftly and see the backs of two large Death Eaters.

Fuck.

I throw open the door to her cell, and the sight that meets my eyes has me tense and poised for the kill.

A Death Eater is seated in a large chair, and sitting atop him, completely naked, is Granger. I immediately recognize the culprit as Graham Montague.

I repress my instinctual reaction to kill him and settle for Vanishing his chair, careful to keep Granger from falling with him. I avert my eyes from her body and flick my wand to put the robes that I'd conjured yesterday back on her. I set her down carefully and look at the intruders.

"What the fuck did you four think you were doing?" I say quietly.

If I've learned anything from all this time with Voldemort, it's that sometimes, calm silence is much more effective in stirring fear than raging anger.

Lucian tries to speak. "M—Malfoy, we were only—"

Graham interrupts him, having gotten to his feet and covered himself up already. "What right do you have to be here, Malfoy?"

"Granger is my prisoner," I say. "You should know better by now. No one touches my prisoners without permission. Are we clear, Graham?"

He looks at me incredulously. "Since when was she yours?"

"I was here with the Dark Lord yesterday," I reply readily. "Didn't the sentries give you a heads up? Oh right, I forgot. You offended them a few days back, didn't you? I suppose they wanted to put you on my bad side."

I shake my head and click my tongue. I love treating this bastard like a child. And if I can't rip his head off at this moment, the least I can do is agitate him to no end. Maybe he'll blast his brains out himself to be rid of me. Unlikely, but one can hope.

"You had better watch your tongue, Graham," I continue. "It'll get you into trouble."

"Stop calling me by my first name," he says heatedly. "You have no right."

Before I can reply, Aunt Bella speaks. "Well, I do, Graham, and you will respect my nephew."

I don't need her help, but I suppose it'd be ungrateful to tell her to back off.

"I didn't know you were here, Ma'am," Graham says contritely.

My aunt's presence clearly intimidates Graham and his three followers—they were all members of our Quidditch team. Peregrine Derrick and Lucian Bole were Beaters, and Miles Bletchley was our Keeper. I'm still surprised that Peregrine and Lucian are willing to take orders from Graham. After all, when he was named Captain, the first thing he did was replace them with Vince and Greg.

But that's all ancient history, and now, old Quidditch ties mean hardly anything.

"Do you think my absence excuses your actions?" Aunt Bella says.

"No, Ma'am."

I feel my self-control wearing down. If Graham doesn't get out of the room soon, I might just explode that giant head of his.

I jerk my head toward the door. "Get out of here," I say.

He glares at me, and I'm sorely tempted to gouge out his eyeballs and set them on fire. Fuck, I haven't had such violent urges for years.

When they're gone, I look at Granger.

"Mind getting back into those shackles for me, Mudblood?" I say.

Her eyes dart between me and my aunt. Looking longingly at the exit, she backs up and places her feet in the open shackles. I chain her up again and feel my heart wrench at the desolation so clearly expressed on her face.

"My, my, she's so obedient to you, Draco," Aunt Bella muses.

I don't have anything to say to that. I suppose I could make some comment about having tortured her the day before.

Instead, I move toward Granger, smirking. "Are you ready for day two?"

She meets my eyes, unafraid. "As ready as you are," she says.

She's so fiercely beautiful in that moment that I can't seem to take my eyes off her. I feel like time has stopped. My lungs cease to draw in air, and my heart stops beating. I wish I could prolong the moment, wish I could preserve this powerful expression on her face forever.

But I know that I will be the one wiping it away, in less than a minute.

Fuck me.

"Get on with it then, Draco, I don't have all day," Aunt Bella says.

I back up a step and try for an apologetic look—Aunt Bella is still standing behind me, so she won't see. I've already royally fucked up my chances with Granger, but that ridiculously hopeful idiot inside me still wants me to give it a shot.

I point my wand at her head and clench my jaw.

Crucio Locus.

She screams immediately, and though I spent all night trying to prepare myself for it, I still can't stand the sound of her torture.

I maintain focus, but my eyes are beginning to water.

Fuck.

I hear Aunt Bella's footsteps as she moves toward Granger to get a better look. I'm not sure she's seen this curse in action before.

I try furiously to blink the tears away. This is no time for weakness.

Then I'm looking into Aunt Bella's infuriated eyes. Fuck!

"Draco, please tell me you're not crying."

I glare at her and choose not to respond. The tears have mostly dried anyway. I keep my focus, but she doesn't turn her attention to Granger, instead looking at my face.

"No," she breathes.

Somehow, I can still hear her above Granger's deafening screams.

"No, it's impossible."

"What is?" I ask through clenched teeth, losing concentration for a moment.

Then I berate myself for being distracted and focus on the spell again, trying to block out Granger's unending cries. I shouldn't have taken the bait. She's going to kill me.

"You're in love."

Fuck, no!

Alarm bells go off in my head as my mind scrambles for a convincing rebuttal. Instead of an outright denial—I'm sure she would take it as a lie anyway—I go for an attack.

"What would you know about love? You're a habitual tormentor. You derive joy from others' suffering," I say.

Bugger the spell. I can't focus already, and Granger's screaming isn't helping. I have to convince Aunt Bella that I'm not in love. Fuck, Malfoys don't love. I'm infatuated, hopelessly obsessed, mad. Not in love.

Not a snowball's chance in hell.

I lower my wand.

"I wasn't always heartless," Aunt Bella says softly. "Do you know why I tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom to the point of insanity?"

I shake my head, but I can already guess the story.

"I was in love. Long before I joined the Dark Lord, before I married Rodolphus, I was in love with Frank Longbottom. And I thought he loved me too, but he chose that perfect Gryffindor girl, Alice, to be his bride. I swore revenge and vowed never to love again."

I scoff. "And that makes you an expert on the dreadful emotion? I would never—"

"You are in love. I saw it in your eyes, Draco. Don't deny it."

"Look at me, Aunt Bella. Look into my eyes—my mind. I don't care about this Mudblood at all."

"I know that I've trained you well. If you really don't want me to see something, I'm sure you can hide it quite well by now."

"Fine. If you're that convinced that I care about her, why aren't you summoning the Dark Lord?" I ask.

"Because that you are my nephew, and my favorite student. And there is still one way to remedy the situation," Aunt Bella says.

"What is it?" I ask.

She glances in Granger's direction. "Kill the girl."

"If she dies on my watch, the Dark Lord will have my head," I say.

"And you claim not to care for her," Aunt Bella says quietly.

I meet her gaze, daring her to delve into my mind. But instead, she turns around and points her wand at Granger. Fuck.

"Well then, if you don't care about her, I suppose this won't matter," she says.

Aw hell, I'm not going to like this.

"Sectumvasculus!"

God, no. Not that spell. I hadn't learned it yet when I made the charm. I let out a fierce roar and lunge forward, snatching Aunt Bella's wand right out of her hand.

"Draco!" she says, her face aghast.

I point both of our wands at her. "If I leave, you'll summon the Dark Lord," I say.

It's a statement of fact, not a question.

I'm shocked to see that her eyes are filled with tears.

"Draco, don't do this."

"I don't have a choice," I say, speaking my mind to her for the first time in a long time. "If your spell kills her, I will come back and rip you to pieces. Do you understand me?"

She pulls up her sleeve, exposing the Dark Mark. "Then you leave me no choice," she says.

For a split second, I consider killing her. She's defenseless, and I have two wands trained on her. I could kill her and save countless lives.

But she's my aunt. She watched me grow up. And even after discovering that I might be the traitor, she hesitated before summoning the Dark Lord, someone she pledged to serve for her entire life. I realize in that moment that I can't kill her.

Before she can touch her finger to the Mark, I let loose the spell intended for her.

"Obliviate!"

She crumples to the ground, a glazed expression on her face, and I turn around to face Granger. Blood spews from her neck, and I know that Aunt Bella aimed for her carotid artery with that curse. Fuck!

I staunch the bleeding as quickly as possible, but I can tell that she's already lost a lot of blood. Maybe too much.

I turn away from her and step out of the cell, Transfiguring myself temporarily into Ronald Weasley. Then I call out for the eight sentries to come down and help with an attempted escape. They race into the hallway, and I incapacitate each and every one of them swiftly. Bloody hell, if I'd known those guards were this fucking useless, I'd have tried this last night.

It's a good thing I came so early in the morning—it seems no other Death Eaters are down here to torture prisoners.

Fuck, I was wrong.

Rowle appears from a cell down the hall and races toward me, shouting curses. I counter the ones that he fires at me and dodge back into Granger's cell. He swears loudly and runs to the doorway, and I thank whatever higher power is up there that it's Rowle here and not another smarter, more powerful Death Eater.

As soon as he appears, I point my wand at him.

"Imperio!"

After a moment of struggling, he looks at me with a glazed, placid expression—his will power has never been strong.

I consider simply modifying his memory and Stunning him, but I might be able to use him in the future. I command him to erase the memory of the person he'd just been torturing and return to his home.

As he walks back down the hall, I lift the Transfiguration on myself and go about modifying each of the guards' memories. One of them will remember that Weasley coerced him into opening up two cells before being knocked out. The other seven will remember hearing a strangled cry, rushing down to help, and being completely outnumbered by members of the Order whose faces they won't be able to recall. In the fray, two of them witnessed Aunt Bella sprawled on the ground of Granger's cell, unconscious.

Then I pull open the door to Blaise's cell and undo his shackles with a flick of my wand. He looks at me, surprised.

"Draco, what—"

"I don't have time," I reply, tossing him a wand from one of the unconscious Death Eaters. "I'll find your wand when I return. Get out of here. Now."

"But Hermione—"

"I've got Granger. Get out of here."

Blaise gives me a long look before Disapparating. Then I hurry back into Granger's cell. With shaking hands, I free her from the shackles, and she collapses into my arms. I thrust my aunt's wand back on the ground beside her and then Disapparate.

As soon as I reach my cottage, I take Granger into my bedroom and gingerly place her on the bed, pulling the covers over her. Right now she needs… a glass of Blood Replenishing Potion, some fresh blood for a transfusion, and a bezoar—maybe two—for recovery. This spell greatly weakens the victim, even after recovering from blood loss.

I sit down on the side of the bed and Summon an empty glass, a bottle of Blood Replenishing Potion, and a bezoar from the kitchen—that'll be for tomorrow morning.

I fill the glass to about halfway with the potion and stopper the bottle.

A look at her abnormally pale complexion fills me with remorse for my aunt's actions. I wave a hand over her to clean the blood from her skin. Only a thin scar remains where the curse hit her.

Then I pull open the drawer on the nightstand and retrieve a thin dagger. I hold my wrist over the half-filled glass of potion and make one quick incision. I barely feel the pain, watching as my blood flows into the liquid, thickening it. When the glass is nearly full, I close the wound, feeling slightly dizzy.

I point my wand at her.

"Rennervate."

Her eyes flutter open languidly, and I pull her up into a sitting position.

"Malfoy?" she croaks.

"Shh, don't speak," I say.

I slide my right arm behind her back to support her and then lift the glass to her lips, but she only stares up at me, wide-eyed.

"It's not poison. Drink it."

She doesn't trust me. I can see it in her eyes, and it's killing me.

"Look, Granger, I'm sorry. I didn't have any other options. But if you don't drink this potion, you're gonna die. So please, drink it. I did not spring you from that cell for you to die in my bed."

Her eyes are still fixed on mine distrustfully, but she parts her lips, and I begin to pour the liquid into her mouth. She winces at the flavor, and I pull the glass away to let her try to get used to the taste.

I had to drink this potion three times a day for two days after the fight with Blaise. Aunt Bella always said that I barely had a few drops of blood left in my body when she found me. To this day, I still remember exactly how awful it tasted—sharp, bitter, metallic.

Then she nods, and I tip the glass back toward her. She drinks until the glass is empty.

The potion works quickly—already she is regaining her natural skin tone.

I place the empty glass on the nightstand and gently lay her back down against the pillows. She groans in pain and closes her eyes.

"Get some sleep, Granger."

As I slide my hand out from beneath her, her hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me. I freeze, half-standing, and slowly lower myself back down to sit on the bed.

My mind blanks, but for some reason, my mouth knows what to say.

"You'll be fine. I'll stay right here."

She opens her eyes a little to look at me.

"Thank you," she whispers.

I sigh. "Don't mention it."

Her eyes close again, and I can tell she's already unconscious.

Fucking hell, when did I become such a bloody fool? Sitting here like an idiot, watching her sleep before she even asked me to.

But I would have come back to watch over her anyway, whether she wanted me here or not.

Her eyebrows furrow, and her eyes begin to move rapidly beneath her closed eyelids.

Is she dreaming?

Her expression grows desperate, and she twitches.

"I'm here, Granger. Calm down, I'm here."

She seems to hear my voice, but she still looks terrified out of her mind. Her hand squeezes my wrist tightly, cutting off circulation to my hand. Fuck.

I kick my socks and shoes off and shrug off the heavy Death Eater robes that I'm still wearing, using a quick spell to get them around my wrist without forcing her to let go. Beneath the robes I'm wearing a pair of designer pants—I'd never go to sleep in them. But I don't exactly have the luxury of changing for bed, at the moment.

Her hand tightens like a vice around my wrist. I've already lost feeling in my fingers.

I slide under the covers beside her and use my free hand to pull her over to face me, pressing her into my chest.

"Calm down, Granger—and if you can hear me, please let go of my hand. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

She turns her face into my chest, and I feel that her cheeks are wet. She's crying. Oh, Merlin. I've never been good with crying girls even when they were awake, let alone asleep.

I pat her back with my free left hand, praying that she'll let go of my right hand soon. I find her right hand and pull it around my back. Maybe she'll do the same with her left hand on her own.

Thankfully, a moment later, her left hand joins her right. She pulls herself closer to me, burrowing into my chest, and my heart seems to swell.

Fuck.

I wrap my arms around her and flex my right hand experimentally. Well, at least it looks like I won't be losing my fingers.

I press my nose into her hair and inhale. Despite the time she spent in that filthy cell, her hair still retains that fresh, subtle fragrance that I noticed back when we met at the headquarters of the Order.

I place a soft kiss on the top of her head and close my eyes.

I don't think I've ever felt so complete before.

It's a pity that she'll hate me once she remembers everything that I did to her.

Author's Note: This chapter is a bit longer than my average chapter because it was originally two separate chapters—the original cut-off was Bellatrix's line, "You're in love." I thought it was the best place to stop, for effect. But then the chapter would be too short, and there wouldn't be much new in this update. And then I'd feel guilty, boo hoo.

Hopefully this was believable… review! I'm anxious to find out what you guys think about this chapter.