"Why am I here?"
He walked to his drink cart and took the top off what Hermione could gather was a very expensive bottle of whiskey and drank straight from the bottle. Silence filled the space between them and he glanced at her for just a moment.
"Why didn't you leave the castle when the battle was over?" He snapped. "I saw you and Weasley exit the courtyard. Everyone was distracted, no one would have followed you."
"We couldn't leave anyone behind," she answered simply.
"Of course, you'd have to play hero and save the poor, helpless, pathetic fools who decided to wander the halls in the wake of a battle." He stepped toward her. "Thought you'd get some glory for yourself, did you? Not so hard to step out of Potter's shadow now that he's rotting in the ground!"
He hurled the bottle of whiskey into the fireplace. His hands braced on the mantle, and he labored to get his breath back in control.
"I saw you too, you know," she stated matter-of-factly, refusing to let this posh, arrogant boy bully her. "Hiding in the shadows of a corridor, behind your mummy."
He recoiled like she slapped him, then quickly recovered. "Yet here I am, safe in my home. And here you are, a prisoner."
"Does this look like a dungeon to you?" She repeated his words from the drawing room.
"Make no mistake of it, mudblood. You're no guest of this manor."
A small pop sounded between them. Neddy shrieked as she found herself between the witch and wizard, the tension apparent.
"The wolf is asking for her, master. Greyback. He wants the mudblood. Says she's his, sir." Neddy's hands were trembling. "They- they are searching the manor now, sir."
Hermione's face had gone white. What was she thinking provoking Malfoy when he was the only thing standing between her and Greyback?
"Let me leave," she finally stated, no longer trying to mask her desperation. "Let her take me somewhere else. I won't tell anyone you helped me Malfoy I swear it."
"She can't. The wards were reinforced. Elves can't apparate others out of the grounds, only within." There was no need to explain why this level of security was added since her last escape.
"Then have her take me to the edge of the grounds and I will walk across and apparate on my own!"
"Do you have a wand?" he considered.
Searching her person, she found that her wand had been taken. Tucked under her jacket, she felt her small, beaded handbag. She hid her reaction on her face and simply shook her head.
Malfoy cursed as he ran both hands through his hair. "I need to get out there before they come looking for me. Neddy, take the girl through to my sleeping quarters. Do not let her out of your sight unless I call for you."
Neddy choked, "Sir-"
"Now!" he said as he pulled his robes over his clothes and left the study
Neddy walked to the door to the left of the fireplace and raised both of her hands. With a palm held out front of her, her other arm crossed the air as she wordlessly opened the wards for Hermione.
There was an oversized, four-poster bed against the wall directly in front of her. Two more doors to the right of the room must be the closet and en-suite. There was a small sitting area in front of another fireplace, likely sharing a chimney with the one on the study. To the left is a large window with a bench seat, and double doors that lead out to a balcony.
The bathroom was large and open, warm with dark colored tiles. There was a large, extravagant shower stall next to a bathtub that could be described as a small pool and sunk partially below the ground. Several spouts came off the wall behind it, not unlike the prefects' bathrooms at Hogwarts. A single large sink sat within a bright white countertop, a mirror taking up the space of the wall in front of it. Opposite of the sink and mirror was a line of large cabinets. Two open spaces on the wall bore hooks that held luxury bath robes. As large as the bathroom was, it did not feel empty or sterile. It felt warm. Private.
"Neddy, I would prefer privacy if you don't mind?"
Neddy nodded and stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Taking advantage of the moment, Hermione pulled out her small-beaded bag. Her disillusionment charm she added was still holding. Gratefully, as she did not have a wand to cast it again.
Books, clothes, tent, and other survival items were still packed safely inside with the undetectable extension charm. Hermione let herself feel hopeful and relieved tears fell down her face. There was another item in her bag that gave her hope. Something other than the mercy of others that could help her survive. If the invisibility cloak could help the third brother hide from death, surely it would help Hermione hide from the swarm of death eaters hunting her down.
The hem of Malfoy's sweater reached the middle of her thigh. It was surprisingly soft, though several sizes too big. She was grateful to Neddy as she had magically tailored the trousers to fit. She was about to ask about undergarments when she remembered whose wardrobe she was borrowing from and thought better of it.
"Should I be sitting out in the open like this?" She asked as she sat on the couch and took a cup of tea from Neddy's outstretched hands. "What if someone walks in?"
"No one can enter master's bedroom but him," Neddy stated before adding as an afterthought. "Well… master and now you, miss."
Hermione sat back further on the couch and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Her body was exhausted. The battle had ended in the early morning, right after sunrise. Now the sun was setting just like any other day.
"Errr… master won't like blood in his bedroom miss." Neddy pointed at the fresh blood seeping down her forehead. "Neddy can help miss?"
Her request came out sweet, but Hermione could see the begging in her eyes. She knew what elves were treated like in the Malfoy family. She didn't wish for her "dirty" blood to cause any problems.
Neddy headed off to the bathroom and came back with two vials in her hand, holding one out for Hermione. The content looked like blood replenishing potion, with just a hint of what she thought might be lavender. She drank the entire thing without a second thought.
"Thank you, Neddy," she said with her eyes closed.
She should probably stay more alert, but the longer her eyes were closed, the more the tightness around her body was released and she felt at ease. Neddy's magic wrapped around her like a blanket and laid her down on the couch. By the time the elf covered her with an actual blanket, Hermione had succumbed to a deep sleep.
Malfoy came into focus, slouching in the chair to the left of the fireplace. Hermione was taking in the sight of him, snuggling her head deeper into the pillow, when she tried to remember how she got in that position.
"She drugged me!" Her voice was raspy from a mix of trauma and sleep. Malfoy simply raised an eyebrow to her. Seeing that they were alone in the room, she started to check herself for anything suspicious. Other than the blanket falling around her waist when she sat up, nothing else appeared to be different.
"If you've misplaced an animal, it seems the beast has made a home for itself atop your head," he stated flatly.
She whipped her head to glare at him, causing several curls to fall in front of her face. The act earned a wicked grin. She tucked the loose strands back into her bun, watching Malfoy take a sip from his tumbler of brown liquor.
"That shifty little… She guilted me into letting her help me and she slips something into my potion!" Hermione searched around the room from her seat, determined to find the little traitor.
"Why would she do that?"
"Drugs lower the inhibitions of the consumer and renders them more compliant and-"
"I know the premise of drugs, Granger," Malfoy cut off her rant with a small wave of his hand. "My question is why would you think she would waste them on you?"
"I suppose another one of master's orders," she snapped.
This had him sitting up straight. Failing to hide his amusement as he crossed his ankle over the opposite knee. "Tsk, tsk, now Granger. You know if master wants you to do something he will give you a direct order-"
"Oh, shove off it." She barked back, throwing a pillow at him that he lamely tried to dodge.
"Neddy!" He laughed. The elf immediately popped into the room, looking at Malfoy with those big, round, trust-me-while-I-betray-you, eyes. "I would like to know exactly what you provided our guest in your aid to heal her?"
"Yes sir. Neddy put master's dittany on the head wound. Then Neddy gave her a vile of blood potion with one drop sleeping draught. Master likes three in his night tea, but miss is much smaller." She looked at Hermione with a small smile that turned to fear when she saw the witch's expression.
Malfoy looked at Hermione amused. "We'll take the tea now. Better brew an herbal since our guest has such sensitive tastes."
Neddy nodded her head eagerly and disappeared with a crack. Hermione and Malfoy stared at one another. Malfoy amused by her discontent.
"One drop–"
"Stop it."
"I think mother used to give me one drop when I was an infant-"
"I don't know if you know this, but I had an extraordinary long day-"
"Even that didn't knock me out though-"
"Not to mention multiple head wounds-"
"And to think sweet, innocent Neddy, unknowingly drugs her master's first guest-"
"Alright!" Hermione yelled.
The tea appeared on the table between them. Malfoy raised a brow at Hermione, and she sighed, leaning forward to fix herself a cup.
"How did it go?" Hermione finally broke the silence.
"Not a trace of her- escape plan was brilliant. Rotten luck really," he earned a small smile from her when he finally looked in her direction. "Didn't stop the search until the Dark Lord arrived. No need to clue him in on a missing prisoner. The others assume you have escaped the grounds. Again. Your friend Goldstein was quite inconsolable until he realized one of us didn't just take you for themself."
Was that not what Malfoy had planned for her?
"When do I leave?"
"You don't," he replied. "My father altered the wards when you escaped. Anyone who wants to cross must be added by my him personally. Even those who are granted permission to come and go alert him. Only my father and I traveling alone can cross freely."
Hermione's lip quivered. Malfoy helping her was impossible enough. The possibility of Lucius aiding in her escape was laughable.
"So… I'm to stay here?"
"Do you have competing obligations?"
"No."
More silence.
"This is your bedroom."
"Profound."
"Neddy said no one is allowed in here."
"They're not."
Hermione huffed with frustration. "And in there?" Hermione pointed her finger towards the study.
"No – well," Malfoy thought for a moment. "Guests can enter my study by invitation. The wards to the bedroom are different. Blood wards."
Hermione didn't understand. "Blood ward? but I-"
"There was plenty of your blood to use when you arrived," he said shortly. She could tell Malfoy was getting defensive of the questioning, but she couldn't help from wanting to know more.
"Your parents can't even enter?" She pestered him again.
"Not this room, no."
"But they have the same blood as you."
"The wards are confined to the person, not the family. The Malfoys are an old and powerful family, Granger. It is not uncommon for a brother to murder another in his sleep to claim their inheritance."
"That's just ridiculous." She insisted.
"Tell that to my elder brother."
Hermione's jaw dropped as Malfoy hid his smile behind his tumbler. "Relax. I am, and have always been, an only child. The other Malfoy heirs that have lived in the manor are another story however, so the wards remain."
The arrangement couldn't last forever, but for then her temporary was something. Hermione finished her tea while looking over Malfoy somewhat discreetly. Beyond being completely pissed, exhaustion, both physical and mental, was evident on his face. He must read her mind as he finished off his whiskey and stood. His eyes traveled down to her tailored trousers, and he blinked several times before walking to the bathroom.
"Malfoy?" she whispered hidden by the back of the couch, after she heard him get in bed. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
He must have been asleep.
"It seems so pointless now," he responded as she had nearly drifted off.
"What does?"
"All of it."