A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading my story with patience till now.
THE MOST ANTICIPATED CHAPTER IS UP NOW.
I have been waiting to write this part for a long time but somehow I was suffering from writer's block for last three days. My head was full of ideas but no word to write them properly.
This chapter is short and I kept is short with a sole purpose: I didn't want to adulter it with other parts of the next chapter. I wanted to keep the essence of this chapter intact.
Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows. They were most rewarding.
Thanks to: nikki98, louisethelibrarian, arya, Ramyfan, Grovek26, v-x-y-zz and 8Poisoned Kindness8, smileyk, cordee for their kind reviews.
I/R: Thanks all for liking my last chapter. It was always fun to write Adrian and Audré together. As for Draco, the real game starts today.
Acknowledgement:
The quote about denial was taken from website called 'goodread.'
Well I guess, that's it. So enjoy and don't forget to leave a review.
My fiction 'The Poisoned Apple' has been nominated for The Hogwarts award in the category Hermione Romance. It is posted on the site and I would like you to cast your vote on the site under 'vote' tab.
The website is hogwartsawards DOT weebly DOT com **replace DOT with a . The link can also be found in my profile.
THERE IS ALSO A POLL IN MY PROFILE. FEEL FREE TO VOTE.
For adult language and theme this chapter is rated: M.
Disclaimer: The copyright to Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling. Any other characters are purely work of fiction and any resemblance is co-incidental.
Chapter 27: Beyond Endurance
In between her cries of plea to be released, Draco Malfoy bit her hard on the neck.
Tears leaked down her face in hot rivulets as she struggled to endure the searing pain.
"No, Malfoy, please don't bit me like that." she cried and pleaded feebly.
"I am going to bit you the way I want, you filthy little Mudblood!" came Draco's malicious drawl from her side as he licked the wound and bit it harder.
Screaming loudly this time, Hermione tried to roll over as the sharp teeth of her violator pierced her skin mercilessly and she hit the floor with a loud thud.
Groaning in pain Hermione opened her eyes and looked around for her assaulter only to find an upturned chair at her feet.
Slowly but steadily, senses crept back into her overly panicked mind and Hermione realized that had dozed off while preparing the report she would be presenting next week and in her nightmare, fallen off the chair she was occupying.
Wiping her sweaty face with the back of her hand Hermione stood up, straightened the dining chair and arranged her parchments before deciding to call it a night.
She looked up at the clock on the sitting room wall which read quarter to one.
'That meant apart from me, no one was awake in my quarters.' Hermione deduced remembering Adrian and Gabrielle had left for bed once Edmound bade them goodnight after delivering the Pain Relieving Concoction earlier that evening.
Rubbing her painful neck, which was stiff from being pressed awkwardly on table for prolonged period of time, Hermione decided to take to take an extra mouthful of Dreamless Sleep and went to her kitchen where she had shifted all her medicinal potions to keep them away from Adrian's prying eyes.
For some strange reason that Hermione was unable to discern, Adrian had been enquiring what his mother drank every night before going to bed and Hermione, who believed in being truthful to her only child if not an extreme situation, had decided to keep her potions in downstairs kitchen rather than their upstairs bedroom.
Hermione opened the cabinet and reached for the purple potion that she prayed would give her some hours of dreamless sleep. She desperately needed rest since tomorrow a foreign delegation of Curse Breakers would be arriving from Germany and Geccemp was counting on her presence in the meeting.
Smiling at her boss's confidence on her, Hermione took three mouthful of Dreamless Sleep and started for her bedroom upstairs where Adrian was already sleeping.
It happened suddenly.
Hermione was just about to put her right foot on the first step of the staircase that would lead her to her bedroom when her vision swam and she lost her balance.
Hermione reached for the banister and gripped it hard to break the fall as everything started to spin around her rapidly.
'What is it?' Hermione thought as she fought to regain balance and clear vision, 'Did I take wrong potion?' she asked, trying to remember the label of the potion that she had drunk just minutes ago.
'It was purple and I don't have any other purple potion.' She talked to herself, 'So it was definitely Dreamless Sleep.' Hermione tried to deduce from her earlier memories, holding on the banister tightly as her dizziness lessened.
"What is it, Mudblood, scared of me?" a cold drawl came from so close proximity that Hermione jumped and whipped around.
Eyes wide fear and disbelief, Hermione looked at the man who stood so close that he almost breathed down her neck – Draco Malfoy.
"What do you want?" Hermione asked, her voice shaking as a fresh bout of panic rose inside her chest.
"Nothing that even 'you' can't give me, filthy little Mudblood." Malfoy smiled at her mischievously, "Just a bite on your soft neck so that I can leave an imprint." He said mockingly, baring his sharp white teeth.
"No," Hermione shook her head in frank disbelief and rubbed her tired eyes, "No, you can't enter here. This place is under Fidelius Charm and aunt Audré is the secret keeper. There is no way you can enter here, Malfoy. It's all my imagination." She said resolutely.
"Let's decide on it after you get your bite." Malfoy said in a sickly sweet voice and bent his head down on her shoulder.
"No," Hermione screamed and pushed him hard on chest with her uninjured arm to throw him off her.
"You filthy bitch." Malfoy snarled as he landed on the floor and hit his head, "I'll get back to you for that." he growled.
Shaking from head to foot and all rationality completely gone, Hermione ran for the only person she knew could save her – Audré Chombrun Malfoy.
•••••
Draco was browsing through his uncle's huge collection of Law books in his study when he found it.
A Muggle exercise copy.
Wondering what a Muggle exercise copy would be doing in his uncle's study since wizards used parchments to write on, Draco reached for it and wriggled it out from it's place between two thick tomes on Business Law.
By the looks of it, the copy was old and long forgotten; a writing across the front cover declared that it belonged to his uncle, Morpheus Malfoy.
Feeling curious Draco sat down on a nearby chair to examine it more closely.
He flipped open the cover and scanned the first page.
"Notes on Criminal Behaviour.' He murmured, reading the heading of the first article and arched a golden eyebrow.
Feeling acutely interested on what his uncle might have written Draco started to read it attentively.
The article was informative and explained various aspects of human mind from different angles. Draco was so immersed in it that he didn't notice how late it was until the clock on the mantel piece struck one and issued a sonorous chime.
Draco looked up from his uncle's copy and stifled a yawn. The copy was full of similar articles and deciding that he would read them tomorrow since he needed to take rest in order to look fresh for his most anticipated 'Criminal Law' class on Friday, Draco stood up and stretched his limbs.
He placed the exercise copy inside his thick tome of 'The codes of Criminal Law' and proceeded to the door that led off his uncle's study only pausing to look at his uncle's Muggle portrait for a second.
'What an amazing man he was, Uncle Morpheus.' Draco admired his uncle as he closed the door behind him and locked it using the usual locking spell and started for his suite when a female voice echoed across the long corridor.
Draco immediately turned his head to the direction of the sound.
It was coming from downstairs.
Not wasting another moment in standing and thinking who it might be, Draco dropped his books and shot like an arrow out of bow reaching for the staircase that would take her downstairs.
Taking two steps at a time and finally jumping on the bottom step, Draco landed on his feet steadily and very alert, his wand gripped tightly in his right hand.
'Lumos maxima' he thought and the wand tip ignited, casting a bright light for him to see forward.
"Who is it?" Draco asked, looking cautiously at the empty corridor.
No one answered but a whimper came from somewhere on his left.
Recognizing the voice immediately, Draco span around, "Granger?" he asked incredulously.
His query didn't reply. Instead, she screamed this time.
"Get off me, you beast!" Hermione's voice echoed loudly and reached Draco's keen ears, "Aunt Audré! Save me, please save me!" She pleaded.
'What the hell?' Draco thought and ran along the corridor as fast as he could, looking around wildly for Hermione.
He found her on the floor beside the sitting room, her face both panic and tear stricken, her night clothes in complete disarray, her brown curls disheveled, her plastered arm hanging limply and her legs spread in a very indecent manner.
"Granger, what are you doing here at this hour?" Draco asked, purposefully avoiding looking at Hermione's bare legs that were uncovered up to mid thigh, "Who attacked you?" he asked, suddenly feeling a surge of inexplicable anger.
"Get off me, you bastard, get off me!" Hermione screeched, fighting with one arm with an invisible someone who seemed to sitting over her.
Draco lost control of his temper completely and lunged forward, hoping to grab the invisible attacker who was trying to assault Hermione.
"How dare you touch my wife?" he barked and grasped the thin air over Hermione.
But the air was empty. There was no invisible man who was attacking Hermione.
"Let go, let go off me, you horrible monster." Hermione screamed and gripped her left shoulder, "Don't bite me there. It's still raw." She said as she struggled with her attacker, "Leave it Malfoy, leave it!" she howled in evident pain.
Draco's feet slackened under him and he collapsed on floor beside Hermione, his grey eyes wide in horror as the true identity of the attacker dawned upon him.
It was him – Draco Malfoy and he was violating her.
Completely forgetting to move, he continued to look at Hermione as an imaginary Draco Malfoy violated her.
In his peripheral vision Draco saw two feminine figures approach them rapidly and moments later his aunt Audré and his mother Narcissa appeared on the scene.
"What's it Draco?" Narcissa asked her son, pointing at Hermione's writhing and twitching form on the floor, "Did you curse her?" she asked him sharply.
Draco shook his head silently, staring vacantly at Hermione who was thrashing violently as his aunt examined her.
"No. He didn't curse her, Narcissa." Audré replied in Draco's stead as she fixed a restraint on Hermione's hands and legs to prevent her from hurting others, "She is hallucinating." She declared gravely before clapping twice authoritatively.
The aged house-elf Zilek, who Draco knew served his aunt, appeared immediately and bowed low at her.
"Zilek, no time for pleasantries. Just go and fetch me Master Morpheus's Anti-Hallucination Draught." She commanded and the small creature disappeared without a word.
"Why is she hallucinating? Is she mad?" Narcissa asked Audré, eyeing Hermione's struggling form.
"No, Malfoy, please don't do this to me. No. I am a virgin." Hermione pleaded, clamping her almost bare thighs shut, "I never meant to kill your mother, never, Malfoy. I just tried to scare her so that I can escape from here. Please don't do this to me. You'll regret it." she cried in desperation.
Draco felt his mother's gaze move on to him but he remained silent and motionless.
Meanwhile his aunt Audré was reciting an incantation in a tone like a lullaby as she gripped Hermione's forehead tightly and tapped it lightly with her wand.
"No….no….Malfoy…no….no…." Draco saw Hermione's thighs separated on it's own accord with some violent invisible force, "No…" she screamed as an imaginary pain hit her core, "NO…MALFOY…..NO….why did you do this to me…..why? WHY?" Hermione cried helplessly as tears started to roll down her cheek.
Audré was reciting the incantation loudly now, her face screwed up in concentration as she continued to sing it like a lullaby.
The house elf appeared and left a crystal phial full of clear liquid on the floor beside Audré, who snatched it immediately and unstoppered the cork.
"Quick, Narcissa, help me open her mouth steadily." Audré said to her sister-in-law, urgency in her voice.
Draco instinctively moved forward to help but her aunt held up a hand to stave off his further movements.
"No, Draco. Not you." She said in a warning voice, "Narcissa what are you looking at?" she asked directing her gaze at Draco's mother, "Come quickly." She urged.
Nodding her head weakly, Narcissa came forward and crouched down beside Hermione's limp form who was crying uncontrollably now. She opened Hermione's mouth with steady hands while Narcissa force-fed her clear liquid from the phial.
Stirring feebly one last time, Hermione quietened at last and passed into a deep slumber.
Draco watched silently as his aunt magically levitated Hermione and took her to the adjoining sitting room. After they left, his saw his mother as she turned to him and grasp him roughly by his collars, forcing him to stand up.
Unable to look up at her, Draco kept his gaze fixed on the floor between them.
"Look. At. Me. Draco." He heard Narcissa command him icily, pressing every syllable.
Like a puppet under Imperius Curse, Draco looked up at her mother's blue eyes which had turned extremely cold.
"What did you do to Granger that day when you took her in our dungeons?" Narcissa asked him, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Completely hypnotized under his mother's cold gaze, Draco voiced the truth to her for the first time in six and a half years.
"I violated her, mother."
A hand came up and struck him hard on his left cheek as Narcissa slapped her son for the first time in her life.
"Why?" she asked him through gritted teeth.
Not daring to massage the place where his mother slapped him, Draco opened his mouth to answer the inevitable question.
"I was angry on her because she tried to kill you." Came his honest reply, his face still turned on his right from the force of his mother's slap.
Another slap struck his right cheek and turned Draco's face on the opposite side this time.
"How dare you, Draco? How dare you?" Narcissa screamed at him, "How dare you do that?" she asked incredulously, "How dare you touch her that way? Is that the way I taught you to behave with women? Is that the way?" she screamed again, "How could you destroy all my upbringing in just a second?" Narcissa asked her eyes tearful now.
Draco had no words to reply his mother.
Narcissa was crying in earnest now, "That day when you took her in the dungeons, I thought you intended to lock her up to prevent her from trying to escape again." She confessed looking pale, "I didn't even came to my bloody mind that you could stoop that low in the name of punishing her." She shook her head in disbelief, "I may be Bellatrix's sister, Draco, but I never supported her method of torture. That's why I was reluctant to let the Dark Lord use our home as a base. His presence was ominous and I wanted to keep you away from him." She said weakly clutching her chest, "But what did you do instead? You went and violated your own classmate!" she spat at him, "Who gave you that right? Who?"she screamed at Draco.
Every single thread of thought in Draco's already numb head froze as his mother's accusations hit him hard. He stood there, before her, like an ivory statue.
"Thank you, Narcissa, for that question." He heard Audré's firm voice from behind them, "It was about time that it was asked." She commented gravely, "You see, Narcissa, I have been asking Draco the same question as to why he violated Jean like that and the answer he gave me was the answer he gave to you too – that he was angry on her for attacking you, his pureblood mother. But he doesn't seem to understand that no one gave him the right to punish that Muggleborn girl like that." she stated firmly, "He was angry; he could have slapped her or beaten her and then locked her up. But violating her – that was extremely savage." Audré said fervently and turned her gaze to Draco, who saw a slow fire burning in her blue eyes, "The worst lies are the lies that we tell ourselves, Draco. We live in denial of what we do, even what we think." She said grimly, "We do this because we are afraid; we are afraid that the other person, who is telling the truth is right and we somehow can't accept the right. You said that you were angry when you did it and told me that Jean infuriated you to the point of doing this. That is the lie you told yourself, Draco, because deep down you know that you had no right to punish her for that she did to survive. You denied your part in it because denial is often the preface of justification and you justified your crime by blaming the victim and denying your own heinous role." Audré said vehemently and raised her chin in defiance, "Anyways, I didn't come here to lecture you, Draco, because now I know that it's no use. You'll never change your view." She commented firmly, "I tried, Draco, I really tried to change your views on your crime. I was even happy that you sent Jean a Pain Relieving Potion. But now that I have seen how she is still haunted by your presence in her dreams, I am thinking it otherwise. Tomorrow morning, I'll be putting Eva, Edmound and the Delacours under Fidelius so that you can never harm them in your insane fit to reach Adrian and Jean." she informed him, "And if after that, Draco, you do anything…anything that may frighten her, I swear on my dead husband, Morpheus Malfoy, that Audré Chombrun Malfoy will not rest until Draco Malfoy is behind the bars getting his long due punishment." Audré declared haughtily and left them.
Draco's senses were completely numb and his thoughts were blank.
"Don't you ever call me mother again." Narcissa's icy threat reached his ears and Draco looked up at her pleadingly, "I'd better be dead than be called a rapist's mother." She announced firmly and with a swirl of her nigh gown Narcissa was gone, leaving Draco alone in the empty corridor.