Disclaimer: Please see previous chapters.

A/N: First let me say how much I enjoyed reading the reviews for the last chapter. Thank you everyone! We passed the 100 reviews mark. Woo-who! Someone was observant enough to point out that once I used the word "manner" in place of "manor". I do that often, but usually I catch it editing while my computer doesn't, for obvious reasons. Thanks and I'll make those corrections as soon as I get a chance. Also, someone was curious about Snape's loyalties. I purposely withheld that, but answers are coming. Glad to see so many enjoyed the dance and kiss. I re-wrote them about 5 times and was very unsure what you would think. Thanks for the feedback! Enjoy chapter 8!

P.S. I know I'm not allowed to do this, but I want to credit and thank Sam Derevko for all the help.

Chapter 8: Good-bye Mudblood

Hermione sank into the feathery bed before her. It was warm, soft, and ever so inviting. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to allow it to swallow her up and for the blackness of sleep to envelope her completely. Her body was exhausted and her mind was weary. She felt so drained that she doubted she'd be able to raise her wand to an attacker and vaguely thought, as she was climbing in bed, that if it was the Malfoy's plan to attack her now, it would certainly prove a successful one. However, once she slid under the covers she forgot all about that notion. In fact, she was quite literally asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Only once was her sleep disturbed. In the dead of night, sometime around 3:00 a.m. she would estimate, she awoke with a start for no apparent reason. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up as she surveyed the absolute darkness of the room. Just as suddenly as the eerie mood had captured her, it slipped away and she slipped back into her shallow hibernation.

Although, subconsciously, Hermione had hoped to sleep until noon, soon enough she was to realize that was not to be the case. She was awoken around 9:30 am by the house elf she had seen earlier: Dumpy. He had prodded her awake with a large wooden spoon and was now pushing on to her lap a lovely breakfast.

"Why thank you, Dumpy," she attempted in her early morning groggy voice. Grumpy looked at first surprised, then agitated. 'Only a Malfoy's house elf would take a simple thank you as an insult,' she reflected sourly.

As she gazed down at her eggs, toast with jam, and grapefruit she became aware that she was hungry, something she didn't believe would ever happen again after last night's feast. Beside the food set a lovely cup of hot, breakfast tea, a single rose in a crystal vase, sugar cubes, and milk.

Just as she was about to dig in, preparing her tea and grapefruit with sugar, she spotted the elf staring at her with anticipation. It had always humored her the way the house elves seemed loved to see what people thought of their cooking. This elf, however, was giving her the strange feeling of apprehension Kreacher had a knack at giving. He looked especially eager. Perhaps he was hoping she'd choke on it. Maybe it was just his strange fit of fury from the day before that made her wary. Either way, she didn't exactly feel like being stared at, just then; so, she put down her tea cup and began polite conversation.

"Where is Knobby this morning?" He seemed to having been expecting her to ask that question.

"Knobby's not well, so Dumpy got Miss' breakfast this morning."

"Oh, dear. Is she ill?"

"No, she had a little bit of an accident in the kitchens."

"Oh, that's awful." Hermione was appalled, and hoped for details. Dumpy offered none. The house elf was still staring rudely. It dawned on her that if she only took a bite of her eggs, he might be satisfied and go away. She did so. The eggs were simply delicious.

"Hmm. Wonderful." That seemed to jolt him back to reality.

"Yes Miss. I hope Miss enjoys her breakfast."

"I'm sure I will. Thank you." Again, he cringed at the out-of-place manners. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye," he murmured. Then, under his breath, his back to her, he added: "mudblood."

'How obscenely rude!' she thought and frowned at the elf's receding back, but said nothing.

Once he had left through another set of door in the corner of the room that she suspected were just for house elves, she began to sip her tea and eat her breakfast. She'd need her energy today, and even as she chewed she could feel herself waking up and seeming to come back to life. The grapefruit was both sweet and tangy, pouring with its wonderful, sticky juice. She finished her eggs in not time. The jam was strawberry, her favorite, and homemade. The Malfoys must have gardens for it to be so fresh. She ate hungrily.

As she put another bite of sugary grapefruit into her mouth, she noticed it felt a bit too tangy and sticky. Perhaps the citrus acid was just more pronounced than she was expecting. Laying it aside, she moved on to the toast and sweet jam, but a bit of it seemed to get lodged in her throat. Immediately, she grabbed her tea to wash it down. She gulped it, choking on the bit of toast, but it scalded her whole throat. She swallowed hard, trying to get the piece down, but even as she felt it go, the awful sensation in her mouth and throat did not leave. It was unusually painful. She coughed and gasped for air. Touching her throat and chest, she noticed her breath was in fact strained. Her head usually light. Still, the pain did not ease. That is the moment Hermione Granger realized her drink had been poisoned.

As realization dawned, her eyes grew wide as a night owl and she tried to call for help. She could not manage it. Instead, she stumbled from the bed, coughing harder, wheezing, and trying to get regain her composure and catch her breath. It came increasingly more shallow and her sight began to blur. She felt as if her throat was on fire, as if she had accidentally swallowed a dragon healing potion.

Overcome with the urge to purge her body, she stuck out her tongue and retched, but even that brought no relief. Blurry eyed with pain and breathing roughly, but still coherent, she rushed frantically to the door. Wrenching it open, she proceeded to step out into the hall to scream for her help, but her coughing and sputtering disabled her from that. Panic began to bite at her. She could not die, not now, not like this! Moody would be furious with her. It was stupid to take food from the house elves. The hall was desperately empty.

Just as she began to feel lost and hopeless, somewhere in the pandemonium instinct and reason told her to open the door next to hers, recalling how last night Draco had said it was his. She did so, without so much as knocking, to find Draco sitting up in bed enjoying his taintless meal, topless, donning satiny, silvery pajama pants. Though Hermione was surprised, nothing could have prepared Draco for such a sight.

"Is this about that stupid fur ball of a cat?" He snapped.

To say that he was surprised to see Granger collapse at his doorstep after entering unannounced, colorless in the face, while coughing, gasping, and sputtering desperately, was the understatement of the century. Appalled was closer. Perhaps utterly disturbed would fit his expression. Nevertheless, he leapt from his bed and darted to her side.

"Have you been poisoned?" He asked, catching on quickly.

She nodded through the intense pain, her lungs begging for air, her head spinning unreasonably. God how it burned! She wanted to tell him that, but all she could manage was a nod. As he ran to a corner of the room she could not see, Hermione felt her lungs scream and wrench wildly for the oxygen she so severely needed. Fear and panic began to take hold as her senses began to desert her. She was felt herself shaking and trembling violently.

All at once, her eyes could see nothing, she felt like a fish pulled from the water, gills flapping hopelessly. All she could register was the pain coursing through her body, the tremendous pace of her beating heart, the feel of the floor beneath her, and a hand touching her skin. There was a hand gently tilting back her head, placing something in her mouth. It was cold and solid.

Finally, Hermione Granger could fight it no long. She collapsed.

When she came to again, she registered that she was laying in a huge, comfortable bed. A cold cloth was pressed to her face. Someone was calling her name.

"Hermione!" It stressed.

In a single and overwhelming rush, the events of this morning came back to her. Once again, her heart raced, as did her mind. The elf! The elf that had called her a mudblood must have poisoned her tea. She shivered again, recalling awaking in the middle of the night. Had he been watching her?

Where was she now? The bed in which she rested was larger even than hers in the guest room, it's giant columns attached to ceiling and floor. It's enormous down comforter was emerald green, it's sheets silk and silvery. A mountain of pillows supported her and, unless she was very much mistaken, the bed was not empty. She turned her head to see two grey blue eyes staring urgently down at her. A curtain of white blonde hair fell forwards into them. Draco.

She was in Draco's room, but how did she get there? She remembered trying to call for help, stumbling in there, seeing his surprise. It could not have happened very long ago, because his breakfast was spilled on the floor to her left, and still laid there. She had thought she was going to die. It felt so sure. She shivered.

"Hermione?"

"Yes?" she croaked. He breathed a visible sign of relief. For a moment, she felt a wave a friendliness at his concern before remembering how bad it would look if his fiancee were to be poisoned in her first day there. He could go to prison, or worse if Voldermort was alerted first.

"What happened?" she asked, still feeling miserably weak.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're going to have to tell me that."

"I was poisoned. I think it was that mad house elf that yelled at me yesterday. Dumpy."

"Dumpy?"

"Yes. He called me a mudblood and then Knobby had an accident in the kitchen. He brought me a breakfast tray and then watched me like- like he was w-waiting for something." Tears sprung to eyes, burning them. "Once he left, and I began eating it, I chocked and it burned and I realized he'd-he'd"

"Poisoned you," Draco finished for her.

"Yes. I remember trying to get help and remembering where you were and coming here. What happened next?"

"You started convulsing and were going a funny color in the face, so I got a bezoar from my packages for school and shoved it down your throat before you passed out. I put you in my bed and a used this cold rag to wake you up. You went sort of cold. For a moment there, I thought maybe you'd died."

"I was afraid of that too," she said softly. Even under the situation, she had to be pleased with Draco's unsuspected show of intellect. A bezoar. I guess there was something to be said about his potions potential.

"Well, are you all right now?"

"Yes, I suppose." She wasn't at all sure, but it felt like the only answer.

"Dumpy? I'll ask him about it at once. He can't lie to me."

"Maybe he was ordered to do so," she voiced her nagging fear.

"That wouldn't make any sense. Why would my father go through all that to have us married only to poison you? I certainly didn't do it. Why would I poison you and save you?"

"To gain my trust."

"You already trust me." It was true. She didn't like him, but she had to trust him or she would never have agreed to this.

"You're right." She admitted. He must know that so he could trust her as well, or they could both face death.

"I'll go take care of this," he said, suddenly very authoritative. "Stay here and rest. We'll be calling a healer to the manor, of course." He rose from his position of propping his body up on the pillows, half-laying sideways beside her. He slipped the rag into her hands, grabbed a royal blue robe, slipped it on, and left.

In the state she was currently in, she had not been able to become thoroughly embarrassed by her position or by his now completely bare chest. The toga last night had been seemed to tease her and the crowd with it's partial revealing of what promised to be a fine chest. This morning, her eyes had lingered on it when his eyes were turned, after the threat to her life was eliminated. If not for the toned muscles that stretched and rippled across his pale chest, he may be little more than skin and bones. A few unexpected freckles dotted his shoulders, collar bone, belly button area, and back. A fine trail of blonde hair, caught in the light of the room, crawled down his chest bone and disappeared beneath the silk of his pajamas. Why was she gawking at him?

She looked down at her own apparel. Last night she had though only of the comfort the silky cream night dress offered and how easy it was to slip on and off. Now, in the light of day, the very same traits unnerved her. Finding herself, or imagining others seeing her, in her fiancee's bed- Malfoy's, no less- wearing a short, silky night gown would certainly have caused her to blush furiously under usual conditions. Upon realizing this, she did exactly that as a delayed reaction.

Considering explaining the occurrence to her friends and the Order, she redden even darker. Ron and Harry may very well take vengeance against the house elf and kidnap her from the Malfoys. Also, the thought that only moments previously she had been so close to death made her feel no better. They would be disappointed at her foolishness. They may even want to call off the mission. Perhaps she could brush over those details in her diary report, or say that to not eat the food offered to her would have looked too suspicious.

By the time she heard footsteps bounding towards the room, she winced, well aware she was scarlet and was about to go bright cherry. Sure enough, in came Lucius Malfoy, Draco, and a slightly limping, obscenely bandaged Knobby. They rushed towards her and she covered her face with the rag, relishing its coolness, as she pretended to nurse herself rather than hide her embarrassment. Draco and Lucius both looked outraged.

"Are you alright Miss Granger? A professional is on the way," Lucius all but spat.

"I'm as well as can be expected, I suppose."

"Your face is terribly flushed." Lucius stopped short of actually reaching to touch her burning face, but handed the rag to Knobby to wet again. Draco sat gingerly by her side. Lucius seemed so furious by his slave's disgraceful behavior and the prospect of a possible ministry inquiry that he didn't seem to mind her being in Draco's bed and having him sit be her. Perhaps he wouldn't have cared anyway, or maybe he was confident nothing could have happened between them. Neither thought was comforting, so she stopped thinking about it. Instead, she resumed massaging her temples with the cool cloth.

"Knobby clean up this mess!" Lucius shouted irritably at the elf.

"Yes, sir. Right away master." Knobby squeaked and followed the orders.

"Go and see if our guest is here and show him to the room." Lucius said as soon as she finished. He paced back and forth through Draco's room as Draco watched the door intently, throwing Hermione a series of odd looks.

Moments later, the door was opened respectfully by Knooby and in strode a livid looking Snape.

"Professor Snape!" Hermione declared, utterly surprised. At first, she thought it was a terribly blunder on her part to exclaim so and was all too aware that her current condition would serve as little or no excuse to the vexed potion master/ spy. However, she quickly realized she should appear startled to see him and believe he was on Dumbledore's side. Lucky save.

"Of course," said Lucius, full of himself once again. "He's a good friend of the family and a master at potions."

"Well, it seems her abilities to both recognize people and to blurt out answers has not been effected by the poison." He came to her side, signaled Draco to move away, and performed a series of spells.

"It seems several poisons were administered. All were fairly simple, luckily, and curable by a bezoar. Clever. Draco. I'll still need to see the food to be sure. We wouldn't want to take any chances with her life." His voice dripped with sarcasm on his closing note.

Without waiting for the order that was sure to follow, Knobby apparated next door and back with Hermione's tainted tray. She looked away unable to look at the offending plater. Snape raised an eyebrow, but made no comment, and proceeded to examine the dishes closely. He sniffed them, brought a finger across each and licked it. That was, apparently, all it took for the skilled master to identify each poison used.

"The fruit was only slightly tainted and would not have been fatal. The jam was also contaminated and caused the inflamation of the air way. The tea was what really did it, one of the most effective and easiest to make. The effects are very painful and eventually shut down the liver. Although, why you would drink tea that came on a plate of tainted food is beyond me. I thought you were supposed to posses some manner of intellect."

"I-I didn't realize-"

He cut her off and handed her a potion he had produced from his robes. "You'll need to drink this to repair the damage done to your throat and digestive tract."

She hesitated. The others read it as mistrust, but the truth was that actually she wasn't to keen to swallow anything after that tea this morning. At Snape's impatient insistence, she attempted to swallow it only to cough it up several times.

A few minutes of her pathetic efforts later, Snape looked exasperated and Lucius angry. "I'm sorry. I am trying," she all but whined.

Out of virtually nowhere, Draco said: "Let me try."

Snape handed him the potion and stood back. As Draco sat down beside her once more she grew noticeably uncomfortable. He reached a hand around her neck and held her hair in his one hand against the back of her neck. The unexpected and unprecedented gesture made her shake with chills again. He put the bottle in her hands holding onto the both. He fixed his eyes upon hers with that intense stare he had, and, very slowly, lifted the vial to her mouth.

"Open,"He instructed licking his lips. Unbidden, hers parted. The glass felt cool on them as she recalled how terribly they had burned this morning. It soothed them. He rubbed her neck, distracting her, and tipped it in. She refused to swallow and her chest knotted in sudden panic and stubbornness.

"Hold it there." She held the liquid in her mouth and turned to look at him questioningly. He leaned forward and put his mouth next to her ear. He whispered: "I can she down your night gown." She gulped and immediately slapped him.

He looked away. Snape raised his eyebrows. Hermione blushed. Lucius covered his face in his hands. Draco laughed. The filthy rouge had tricked her and taken advantage of her half conscious state to do so!

"Well done." Snape recovered for her, addressing Draco. "She'll be fine now. I'll come again this evening to check on her."

"Thank you, Severus. Please join us for supper when you do." He nodded in response to Lucius' invitation and left.

"Dumpy!" Lucius shouted barely a moment later. With a crack the elf appeared. He looked surprisedly at Hermione, sitting up in bed alive, then his face was overcome with unmistakable dread. He trembled and cowered before the furious wizard in the black bathrobe with serpent emblem on the chest pocket.

"Did you poison the food of this guest?" Lucius went straight to the point.

"Sir, S-sir. Dumpy was trying to save Master Draco from ma-marrying this terrible, filthy mudblood-"

"Silence!" Lucius demanded. Draco, without any warning whatsoever, got up from his place in bed and struck the elf violently. Hermione gasped.

"How dare you harm anyone we take in and offer protection, let alone someone who is about to be a part of the this family, the family you serve! It is not your place to decide what's best for our family, nor is it your place to question your orders. You are a servant it is your place to serve and obey. You have shamed our family, failed to serve your purpose, and disobeyed directly. You know then penalty for such an offence!" He spat vehemently.

The elf dissolved into sobs, crumpled to the floor, and began to rock backwards and forwards. It distressed Hermione to see it, and she may even have intervened if she had not instantly recalled that, mere moments previously, this elf had tried to kill her and had nearly succeeded.

"Death," came Lucius' answer. The elf simply wailed and wailed.

"I failed!" Dumpy screamed madly. "I failed!" Draco grabbed his filthy tea cozy and threw him bodily, and roughly, from the room. The elf allowed himself to land on the floor, ungracefully, fall unbroken and painful. From there he continued to shake and weep as if in pain. He made no move to save himself. Hermione's stomach turned over on itself again.

"Say goodbye, Dumpy." Lucius instructed coldly.

"Good-bye, mudblood."

Hermione's blood chilled. She made no reply. No one defended her, of course. She was surprised at herself for finding that a small part of her actually half hoped someone might. They were only angry at the elf because he had risked blowing their false cover. A sad and oppressing realization passed over her. Her life meant less to them than their slave.

"I'll do it." Lucius addressed his son, and, composedly, took his leave. With a typical swish of his cloak, he made his way to execute one of his oldest servants. It sent chills down her spine. She vaguely wondered, even in her shocked and sickly state, if this was the elf that had nursed a young Lucius Malfoy in his sick bed, as Kreacher had once nursed a young Sirius. She recalled the look in his eyes when she met him, a hateful creature who could have no idea his end was so near. He had served so faithfully, and now he was to die by the hand whose honor he was trying to restore. Poor elf. Wicked or not, he didn't know any better.

Now she was afraid for herself as well. If she were to mess up, or was of no further use the Malfoy's, would he dispose of her in such a way, or feed her to Voldermort to torture first? The lack of respect for life she was seeing was staggering. It must take such an lack appreciation for it to be able to take it so mercilessly. Why had she ever agreed to this?

She glanced at Draco, as if hoping to find the answer there. The younger Malfoy stood at the closed door, shaking with anger. In the floor, a shocked little Knobby stood aghast and trembling, tears spilling down her cheeks, haphazard bandages askew.

"How dare he?" His teeth were gritted as he whispered angrily. "How dare he?"

He stalked towards Hermione and sat down again forcefully on his own bed, barely aware she was still laying helplessly there.

Emotions she had been fighting for days overcame her. Was she to suffer the same fate as the that awful Dumpy? What would she have to do for Draco? She owed him her life.

It wasn't until she felt the hand upon her cheek that she realized her face was wet. Why was her face wet? Oh yes, she was crying. It felt so strange to be crying. It had just escaped her without her consent or knowledge.

His arm seemed to move of its own accord to the rag in her hand and wipe her face. She drew in a shaky breath. That seemed to be enough to bring him to his senses. Looking around like a child caught stealing, he placed the rag down again and forced himself off the bed. Looking at his hands like they were burned, he staggered backwards. Again, he threw his eyes all around the room, in a manner not unlike that of a trapped animal, and backed up. As he looked at her, she was surprised to find his face covered with confusion and fear, as if he had realized his arrow had killed the sparrow, only to late. His helplessness soon vanished and was replaced by a fierce anger and loathing. He blamed her. He was furious with her. Why?

Her head spun painfully, she winced, squinting her eyes as the room darkened.

"Draco?" she managed, before she felt herself begin to fall away.

"Goodbye mudblood." For the third time she heard the words, but this time they brought no stab of hurt or shame. She had passed out and Draco had slipped from the room.

Important A/N: Were you surprised? This was one of my favorite chapters to write. Just as people expect the action to fall, it doesn't. I like a little action and surprise in my stories. I hope you do too. Check my profile for news of when up-dates are coming and a new challenge I pose to all my readers involving a sneak preview of a chapter before it's officially posted! Bear with me as I make my transition into University. There may be delays. As always, please review. A few seconds of your day can make mine and knowing what you think (good and not so good) helps me improve the story.

Also, if I the transition from my desktop to my laptop does not go smoothly, then the next chapter will wither be up tomorrow or in a couple weeks. Hopefully I can sort it all out.