SORRY! ff gliched and made me delete a chapter, so now I just fused it with this one. Sorry if its confusing!
-ooo-
She didn't hear him.
Her heart pumped loud in her ears making his words sound like a whisper. She didn't even notice the sound his cape made when it swayed, how his boots sounded loud on the stone tiles, or his heavy breaths came out like gusts. Nothing but the sound of hot rushing blood filled her ears.
Hermione gazed up at him and tried to study his face. She expected him to be angry, foaming out the teeth but he just looked bothered. As If he was carrying out a deed he did not wish to perform. "Is someone making him do this?" she thought to herself. But no, she could tell from the way he acted before this was something of his own doing.
She kept wondering why he was doing this, why take her? She never thought of herself was wildly talented and didn't feel she had many skills than being able to study and read just about anything. Cleaning wasn't her strong point, she could do the job at hand but then again, who couldn't?
If he needed a maid so badly why not hire one? From his hallway alone she could tell he lived in a very expensive mansion, so paying a maid or two would only be pennies out of his pockets. Even her nan had a maid for a short period of time, and she wasn't very rich.
This man, was obviously in top peak for his age. If maybe he had no money to spare at this point he was certainly strong enough to get the job done. Hell, cleaning should be the least of his worries if that was the case. So then that brought her back to the question she first asked herself, "Why me?"
Her mind wandered and she dreaded that he'd want more from her than to clean ash from the hearth or polish his silver. "No, no, no, no, no," she kept chanting to herself. A man like him, one that had already called her repulsive even she had been dolled up could have never wanted someone like her. She thought if he did, he'd be rather stupid.
She'd rather scrub the floors till her knuckles bled than have some man get his grimy hands all over her body. If he ever dared try, she would not hesitate to hurt him, even if he could hurt her back. But the thought of him touching her made her blood rush even more. She didn't want to spend her life down in that cellar being treated like an object.
Hermione began to panic.
She pulled back hard against him, resisting his movements. Lucius tripped back awkwardly, but he never lost his grip on her arm. She tried to pull back again but he was prepared and dug his gloved fingers deeper into her skin. She winced in pain, first letting out a sniffle that trailed off into a sob.
"Please just let me go home!"
Lucius pulled her to the side pushing her against a pillar and took her by the shoulders, "Stop this now, Muggle."
She tried to shake him off but could barely move under his grip, stuck between stone and flesh.
"My name is NOT Muggle, it's Hermione! Her-my-oh-nee! Hermione Granger!" she stomped her feet hard on floor, almost jumping. "My name is Hermione and I want to go-"
Her cheek felt like it was burning, there was a sharp sting across her face. He has slapped her hard with the back of his hand.
"You will stop this at once, Muggle. To me you have no name, because to me you are a nobody. Get that ridiculous thought out of your mind that someone's coming for you. We are thousands of miles away, in another world that your tiny little Muggle mind couldn't even begin to comprehend. Your filthy little Muggle parent's don't even know you exist anymore. As for your friends, they won't even notice you are missing, it's Christmas break."
She was even more furious now; a cocktail of anger and fear. If he thought she would let him talk to down to her, he was truly mistaken.
"They do remember me and they will come. With the police. And this little fairy tale mascaraed you're living in will crumble all around you when they arrest you. Then you'll see how much YOU like being locked up all alone! I will not play pretend with you; I do not want to play this game!" Her voice boomed louder than his.
"Enough!"
Lucius pulled out his wand and flung his arm to the side. Not once did he look away from her.
"Expulso!"
A large flash of green erupted from the tip of his wand with a large burst of light.
BOOM.
The beam had broken off a large part of marbled granite from one of the pillars in the hall. The crumbled pieces lay scattered across the floor, smoking hot from the intensity of the spell.
How was that possible? She couldn't comprehend what has just happened. Was he truly not lying after all? No, no, no, Magic isn't real. It's a work of fantasy fiction just like in her childhood story books. He's bluffing; it's just smoke and mirrors. Then why? Why did it feel so real?
Her whole body felt like it was made of bricks, unmoving and frozen. In the corner of her eye she could see he was looking directly at her like lion about to pounce on it's pray. Unable to move by herself, he grabbed her by the chin and slowly moved her head to look at him.
His dull grey eyes pierced her soul, his look expression was so empty but there was something about his eyes. Something she could not quite make out but it sent a chill down her spine and made her heart tighten. Something that made Lucius Malfoy feel inhuman.
"Next time that will be you, Muggle."
Instinctively she nodded; her eyes were wide like dinner plates. Her whole body was shaking, and her insides churned loudly. It was almost as if her stomach was to climb into her throat and pour out of her mouth.
His hand traveled away from her chin to her cheek where he wiped away a stray tear.
Lucius guided her back and they walked down the hall in silence till and they exited through the doors.
-ooo-
He had taken her to the main parlor and they stopped for a second.
Hermione had been looking at her feet the entire time they walked there so when she looked up to see the rest of the room she stood there amazed. She was impressed with the beautiful architecture of the room and awed over every fine detail.
She admired each and every curve of the room, the carvings around the walkways, the beautiful end table that held expensive milk colored candles, and even the beautiful dark beige carpet that covered most of the dark stone tiled floor. There was even a large black leather chair and a roaring fireplace next to it. The warmth of the fire was so inviting, it let of such a strong glow even in the light of day.
Lucius watched her eyes light up, she acted like if she was a lonely present being invited to stay the night in the queen's castle.
"This is the Parlor, I expect you to take good care of it. You make sure this room to be cleaned every day, Muggle. Each day you shall clean the ashes from the firebox, polish and dust the tables, replace the candles when needed. Don't worry about the carpets and drapery; a house elf will clean them much faster. Do NOT touch my chair in anyway."
"Yes sir."
The room wasn't dirty at all other than a couple flecks of ash that blew out from beyond the hearth, but this room didn't need cleaning and certainty not everyday.
"Good, let's continue."
He didn't guide her this time, he walked at a reasonable place and she strolled behind him. In a way she swore she could still feel his hand digging into her skin.
They exited the parlor and walked down another dull colored hall filled with closed doors.
"I expect every hall to be swept and scrubbed each day, any furniture to be dusted, books put away, empty glassed washed and put back into the kitchen." They turned into another hall of doors.
"When I hold my dinner parties you'll clean, polish and set the table. I don't know if I quite trust you yet with my food, Muggle. But if the situation ever calls for it, you will help Ditzy with cooking."
"Ditzy"? Who was this "Ditzy" person? Perhaps another girl he had taken. She felt even more uneasy but didn't dare asking, if it was another person she'd surely cross paths with them soon enough.
"All your cleaning supplies are in the second door in corridor outside the cellar. The supplies are labeled so even a simple minded little Muggle such as yourself could see their uses. I don't expect you'd understand something like that but I'll hold trust in you for now."
They arrived in the dining room, it didn't take too long but walking with him made anything feel like a thousand years.
The room was very large and seemed darker than the rest of the house. It contained a very long dining table that stood on top of an even larger brown carpet. The room was so great; it almost felt like she was inside of the parliament. The windows of the room stretched high up, and she could see it was still snowing outside.
That gave her some slight hope that he was lying, that maybe they weren't too far from home after all. If she did manage to escape, she could probably flag someone down for help.
"I am hosting a meeting tonight. I accept this place to be spotless by that time. I do not want to be made a fool in front of all my guests. If it is not cleaned to my liking I will harm you."
She felt nervous again but ignored it as she suddenly had a bucket full of soap water in her hand and a fresh rag in the other. She never picked those things up or saw them when she walked in. This was getting much too strange for her.
"Get cleaning, I will have Ditzy come for you in an hour to show you the kitchen and what needs cleaning."
-ooo-
Hermione scrubbed, wiped, mopped, cleaned, and washed every piece of furniture in the room. She had managed to clean all 20 chairs in the matter of an hour. Even scrubbing underneath them, were no one could even see filth, especially in this lighting.
It was grating on her fingers having to scrub into deep crevices of the carved designs. She let no loop, curl, or dent go unwashed. Sure was sure her attention to detail wouldn't matter, she could already tell no matter her efforts he'd find something he didn't like.
She was to start on the table itself, a very easy task compared to having to clean so many dining chairs. Her arms were so tired by then, it seemed when the rag hit the table her arms collapsed on themselves.
If Lucius walked in it would look like she hadn't done anything, but she was so tired she didn't care. She leaned over the table resting for a moment. He muscles were sore and she could finally feel her body calming down from the traumatic experience she had maybe only a few hours ago.
As cold as she was on the outside she can feel how warm her insides were. Working hard so to heal whatever damage he might have caused her. Now that she had this moment to rest she was able to finally feel her hunger and dehydration.
"Just a little longer Hermione, they will come for you soon to work on the kitchen. There will be food there."
It was very hard to pull herself back up after resting, but she did anyways and continued to scrub. Again she repeated with large circular motions on the table so that the cherry wood would shine bright. She thought it was so ridiculous he was making her clean a room that didn't have a speck of dust to begin with. Her rag was still almost completely white, no dirt at all.
As she cleaned the table she got lost in her own thoughts of loathing that man.
Much like the rest of the house, everything was quiet, so her heart jumped out of her throat when she heard a small voice.
"Excuse me miss. D-Ditzy is here to t-take you to the kitchen."
She spun on her heels backwards, hoping to see another human face that wouldn't hurt her. But she was wrong. There was no other girl. She looked down to be met with a small wrinkly creature, with big wet eyes and loose floppy peach skin that hung on his bones like thick sheets. He was wearing a faded potato sack tied with an old worn down rope.
She recoiled in fear and let out a shocked scream.
"Miss! Miss! Please don't scream! Master will surely come down here and beat us," the thing pleaded.
She tried to calm down but he looked so strange to her, like something from beyond the stars. It was possibly a puppet from the Labyrinth come to life.
"W-Who are you?" Hermione demanded.
"I'm Ditzy, the h-house elf. I've come to get ya miss. Masters orders." Ditzy fiddled with his fingers, and looked shyly up at Hermione.
She could see this, "Ditzy" creature posed no threat to her. He was probably as scared and had taken 10x as many beatings as she'd ever get. So she very quickly forgot his appearance and felt sorry for the poor thing. Hermione wondered if he had taken this thing too, if he had a family of other smaller elves waiting at home for him. Missing their father.
She rolled the damp rag up in her hand and placed it on the side of the bucket, "I'm Hermione. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I've never seen an… elf... before."
"Hogwarts doesn't h-have house elves?"
She didn't know what "Hogwarts" was either but she figured maybe it was some sort of magical based slang for the non-magical world.
"I suppose so," she said, "Ditzy? I know I must clean the kitchen but will there be food for me to eat there? I haven't had anything to eat in days."
"Oh, yes Miss! Plenty of food. Ditzy has already prepared leftover stew for you."
Her stomach roared in excitement, how wonderful stew sounded to her. She didn't care what kind, she hadn't eaten in three days so anything sounded lovely to her. For a moment she felt comfort from this strange creature, she was the only other creature here to show her any kindness.
If she could become friends with him, than they both might have a better chance at escaping and going home to their families.
"Shall we go miss?" He gently put out his hand to her.
She took his small hand and they walked.
-ooo-
The kitchen was grand; a mixture of old Victorian and Goth architecture. Smoothed stone counter tops, sturdy hickory woodwork, with dark stained steel drawer pulls. The diamond paned windows were frosted over from the outside snow. Across the kitchen was another roaring fireplace that held a large cauldron, with its lid bubbling over.
All around her, pots, pans, and cutlery were busy at work. Some were self-scrubbing; others sautéed and flipped while others diced onions and carrots. All of them suspended up in the air by themselves, like magic. It was getting harder now to convince herself that this wasn't real. She still tried to believe that this was an illusion. But if it was, it was very impressive.
The smell of cooking vegetables and stewed meat danced around with the smell of fragrant fruit desserts that Ditzy had finished preparing. This made her stomach growl.
"What's this all for?" She already knew that answer to that but wanted to get a better understanding.
"Dinner party, Miss. Master holds them every now and again."
"What for?" Hermione perked up; maybe who ever came to the party could help her. Hopefully these people would be much more humane than Lucius.
"Just for the occasion I suppose."
Why would Lucius lie to her? Would telling her it was a "meeting" just a tactic to be more ominous? Pathetic. If fear and control is what he wanted then Hermione knew she had to play along, make him feel comfortable. To take full advantage of him she had to make him underestimate her. Even someone like Lucius had to slip up eventually. This would be hard as she was a natural born fighter.
-ooo-
She sat down at a very small stone table pressed against the kitchen wall. From the other side of the room as Ditzy tended to the roast in the oven. He snapped his fingers and a small bowl of brown broth with a mug of pumpkin juice floated over to her table, resting gently in front of her.
It was a beef stew, composed of large chucks of meat and carrots. The stews broth was thick and warm, perfect for a cold winter's day. She could feel the heat from the steam the food gave off. Hermione put her face over it for a second to feel its warmth. Finally she started to drink to soup, carefully, to make it last. She wasn't sure when she'd eat again, and god forbid it was her last meal she would at least want to enjoy it.
Halfway through eating, she put her bowl down from her face, looking at Ditzy from across the room. Again she wondered about the creature, where it came from and how it was working for Malfoy. Perhaps there were other House Elves or maybe he was just forced to work alone in solitary.
"Did he… Did he take you away from your family too?"
She could see he flinched at this question.
"Ah no miss, you see Ditzy has no family. Ditzy was born into his life, Miss."
"Born into this life? Like a servant or a slave?"
"A House Elf."
It was apparent Ditzy was never given a chance at life and probably his entire race never had. How cruel of these people, to treat anything like a slave at birth. If he could speak and act, beg and plead, then he should be treated at a citizen. Anyone with a heart wouldn't force someone to live a life of house work and chores. Maybe that's why she was here, but it couldn't be. Ditzy was still being forced to cook for Lucius, which meant he wouldn't free him.
Hermione was silent for a while. She thought of what to say next, "Does he treat you well?" was one question. But from earlier she could make a logical assumption that he doesn't. Or she could say, "You know, we could work together to escape." But he probably had orders to tell Lucius if she ever dared to ask.
She sipped her pumpkin juice, and with a daring tone spoke, "I'm not one of them you know. I'm not from here. I can't do magic like you guys can"
Ditzy jumped up slightly and shyly turned to her, "But Miss, I thought you-"He stopped dead silence. She saw his eyes shift from her to something else, and she looked too.
Lucius was standing there watching them. He turned to face her and they locked eyes. Once again he was gracing them with his nefarious presence. Hermione could herself feeling defensive again at the sight of him, but tried to keep her calm. "No speaking with my House Elf while he is working."
Ditzy jumped and hid his face under his arm while he stirred the pot. He was ready to apologize but knew he wasn't being spoken to. She scrunched her nose and glared, but forced herself to apologize. "I'm sorry, Sir…"
"Never mind that, have you finished with the dining room as I have told you? I have my meeting very soon and I expect you have cleaned it like I asked."
"Yes."
"Yes?" he voiced hinted there was more she had to say.
"Yes, Sir." It was a sarcastic tone, but the "Sir" he wanted to hear none the less.
"Come now, I will see how well you did. Then I shall decide what to do from you from there."
Hermione slowly got up, trying to take her time. She didn't really want to go with him, nothing good was going to happen, she could feel it.
"Now," Lucius commanded in a deep growl. She was trying his patience, but not to make him mad. He had a short fuse that she did not want to ignite. So she hurried behind him.
-ooo-
The two of them stood silently in the dining room.
Lucius left her side and started walking around the table and chairs, examining closely. As he walked he ran his finger over the backs of the chair. He acted as if he must inspect every centimeter of wood for the slightest grain of dust.
But he found nothing, it was spotless.
"I know you are up to something." He stuck his nose up at her and stiffened himself up. His eyes narrowed on her. "When I figure it out, do not think you won't be punished, Muggle."
"…..It's Hermione," she muttered under her breath.
Lucius furrowed his brow and moved closer to her. This almost made Hermione step back but she stood still. "You are… are… vile." It was all she could say but it was what she was feeling. The look on his face made her instantly regret what she said, so she prepared herself for a hard slap, but it never came. A small cocky small formed from Lucius' lips.
"Amusing Muggle, now could tell me something I don't know?"
"Why are you so cruel to me?" The words came out in angry grunts of frustration. Hermione attempted to push him but he was too heavy. "Let me go home!"
"I told you to stop with that, Muggle. I'm getting sick of your sudden outbursts. This is your home now and you should be lucky enough to live in it." He circled around her as he spoke and moved a wisp of loose hair away from Hermione's shoulder with his wand.
"H-Hardly… You have me staying in an ice cold cellar! If I stay there, I'll surly catch some disease from the filth down there…"
He jotted up an eyebrow in a way only a true Malfoy could.
"If that room isn't suited enough for you I could tie you chain you up outside like the animal you are. I'm sure that would make you feel right at home." His wand was starting to dig into the side of her neck.
She wanted to shut up but couldn't help herself. "I'd rather do that than be in this god forsaken house with you!" She had really done it now.
"Have it your way then." He grabbed Hermione by the hair slammed her against one of the chairs. Her chin clipped the top rail of the chair and she fell hard to the ground, her face being scrapped along the way.
"Don't! "
He kicked her hard in the gut, slamming her back harder into the legs of the chair and driving the tip of his shoe deep into her gut. She coughed and wheezed to get back the air he kicked out of her lungs, then curling herself up into a defensive ball, trying to prepare herself for whatever came next.
Lucius picked her up by the collar of her dress and looked her right in the eyes. "Oh Muggle, I'm trying to show you kindness but you always reject it. I can't expect you to know any better, you non-magic folk are so animalistic." His grip on her collar was so tight that the fabric being pulled was making her choke.
"S-St-oo-p-p. P-Plea-se…" Her gagging voice was painful to listen to.
He dropped her collar and let her head hit the carpet. Finally she could breathe again; sweet cold air filled her fighting lungs. But it still felt like she was being gagged by the collar of her own dress.
"I guess you really do want to spend the night outside don't you Muggle? I'll have Ditzy make you a bed of dried leaves like you are accustomed to."
"N-No…"
"No?" He looked down at her and glowered. "But you seemed so determined to stay as far away from me as possible. I thought you couldn't stand being in this house?"
"No." She wanted to cry but no tears came out. It was still hard to form words; her throat was burning.
"Is that all you have to say? No?" Lucius' cruelness was uncalled for, he tried to fight the feelings for her he held deep inside. As much as he claimed to have loved her, seeing her on the floor make him feel a damn thing. She moaned something out, that neither of them sure what it was. It sounded almost like a whimper but it was apparent she tried to speak. He had a slight arrogant smile on his face, half expecting her to start begging. "What was that, Muggle?
"Let…" Hermione took in a large sharp gasp of air. "Let me go home!"
Those words knocked the smile off his face and turned it into a deep scowl.
"You are never going home! You are MINE. I own you know and you will work for me till the day you die."
"I was never yours to take!"
Lucius let out a wail of frustration, like a little boy throwing a tantrum. Why was he so angry? This was his entire fault. This was a fact he could not deny and it made him angrier.
"Diffindo!"
The waistline of her dress cut open, as did her stomach. There was now a large lesion stretching from her bellybutton reaching to her back. She didn't even feel it. Hermione just looked up to Lucius who was looking down at her at her stomach; there was a sort of shock and disgust hidden in his face.
Blood…. Blood…. Blood…. There was so much of it. It poured out like a thick river maroon, running down her stomach. Her shaky hands touched it, to make sure it was real. It was as real as she feared; her hands were covered in a sticky red.
This wasn't happening…. This wasn't happening….
She passed out from shock.
-ooo-
The sun was down now, and the first of Lucius' guests started to arrive. They all flocked inside, happy to escape from the brutal weather.
One after the other, they dining room was filled with death eaters. Lucius welcomed each and every one of them in, making them feel like they were good friends. They all sat before another miraculous feast that Ditzy had prepared for them. They all greedy eyed the food, while talking. But they waited on Lucius who had just sat down.
They talked and laughed and torn into most of the food within a matter of minutes. The way they ate was like a wild animal shredding apart its meal with large fangs.
Half way through the meal there was a dead silence from them all. Their eyes had gone from being glued to their plates of meats and pies to a small like girl with mousy brown hair who was holding onto a small house elf that had materialized right across the table.