Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Blood on the Ground	By : pepperdoc Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 15292 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Universe, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
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The meeting had ended and Harry, Lupin, Hermione, and Malfoy were in the library dissecting the contract. A table held the Contracts of the Black Family book, opened to the Lucius and Narcissa contract. Hermione was on one side with Lupin and Harry crowded next to her. Draco was seated in his leather armchair drinking a cup of tea, as the trio wouldn’t let him see the blasted contract just by standing so closely to each other.

“Here it says Lucius can enter any House of Black, what an audacious phrase…” Lupin was muttering.

“Right, but only with cause,” Hermione muttered back pointing into the book.

“And only with permission from the owner if that owner is no longer a member of the audacious House of Black,” Malfoy sneered from his chair.

“Well said,” Hermione said blandly.

Harry asked, “So, he needs my permission to enter the premises?”

“Well, that’s where it gets tricky, Harry, owner in this case might be me also.” Hermione said standing and stretching.

Draco was watching her stretch her arms above her head with her eyes closed, Harry and Lupin were still pouring over the book. He allowed himself to admire her slim waist and broad hips, before catching himself and looking away before he was caught.

“But it’s not your property, Hermione.” Harry answered after a moment of re-reading the clauses.

“She lives here, so it is considered at least partly her property.” Malfoy said over the rim of his teacup.

“And what would you know of it Malfoy? You’ve never studied law, or anything else for that matter…” Harry said absently.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong, Potter? My grades disturbing you again? Don’t think it possible for me to understand a contract better than you?”

“Hmph, not better than me,” Hermione crossed her arms, looking ready to fight.

“I know that Granger, I’ve often been reminded of it, as you know.” He was smirking at her watching a blush rise to her cheeks.

“Malfoy, I…” She looked very sorry, then thought better of it. “Don’t use your father as a trump card. Shame on you. I almost felt sorry for you!” She started to walk out of the room.

Malfoy caught her arm, she looked down at him with fear in her eyes. Fear and fury. His eyes were dark, his tone menacing, “I meant by our professors, Granger. Go have a pout if it makes you feel better. But remember, that is privileged information you just brought up, and I’d thank you to not do so again.”

She slammed the door behind her as she left.

Lupin spoke first, “You’ll want to apologize for that.”

“I already do.” He set his cup down. “But she’ll need time to cool down before I attempt it. Else I may come limping back and bleeding from various places.”

Harry looked between the two, astonished. “Is this what Ron and I sound like when we piss her off?” He asked the room.

Lupin chuckled, “I’d imagine.”

“So he needs either you or her permission to search the house. What about if no one else is present?” Malfoy asked.

They heard a scream from down the hall and all three ran to the door. Malfoy reached it first, flinging it open to reveal the manic face of his mother grinning over Hermione’s bare shoulder. Her wand was pushed into her slim neck. His quick assessment of the situation was that his mother had gone insane. Her face looked as if she had aged 30 years since he had last seen her. Her hair was unbound and unwashed. She was wearing a shift which was an off-white color from not having been washed. Gone were the rings and jewelry which denoted her highborn status, even her wedding band.

Her once beautiful face was contorted in rage. She screamed, “You thought you could hide this from me? The Dark Lord will finally give us our just rewards for bringing in these three. Grab Potter, Draco, and let’s go get our glory from the Dark Lord.” She hissed, the last, reminding Draco of his Aunt Bellatrix.

“No!” His face full of fear, “Mother, I’m a traitor! Take me with you and let her go!” He said forcefully, taking slow steps towards the deranged witch.

“A traitor? Not my Draco. You know your place, you’ve just manipulated them into believing you’re one of them. My son would never betray his father. Come on! Grab the boy! Let’s go!”

“No, mother, let her go. Let’s talk about this. I’ll tell you everything I know and the Dark Lord will give you many rewards for your loyalty.” His life was at stake, her life was more important. If he could just get that wand pointed another direction, he might be able to save her…

Hermione was shaking her head, mouthing NO!! NO!! over and over again.

“My loyalty? In the situation, my loyalty will be questioned as well! Don’t you know Draco? They’ll kill me for your dishonesty!” Her grip loosened, her voice dropped. “I will be tortured,” her wand dropped slightly. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she said, “I’ll be raped.”

“EXPELLIARMUS!!!!!!” Was shouted from behind Draco as soon as the wand pointed at the wall.

The spell flying over his shoulder triggered Draco to begin taking large steps toward his mother. Narcissa’s wand flew out of her pale fingers before she could begin to react. Hermione jerked herself out of her grasp, and Draco caught her as she tripped on the rug below her feet. He righted her and grabbed his mother.

“To think I tried to protect you! You are a vile woman! The things you watched them do to me! And for what? To protect your own fucking virtue?!?” He was shaking her and screaming in her face. His hands felt strong enough to crush her tiny arm bones in his rage. Hermione gasped behind him and his voice became a whisper, “You don’t deserve any less than what they would have done to you.”

Narcissa began to cry as Harry showed up at Draco’s elbow. “Let her go. We have to do something with her, but let her go now.”

Draco let go of his mother’s arms and she sank bonelessly to the ground. Her tears stopped and her face went blank. Harry whispered an incantation and pointed his wand, she became bound and gagged in ropes.

Draco turned to Hermione and gently touched her shoulder, “Are you ok?” His voice concerned and brow furrowed.

She had tears on her face as she looked up at him with gratitude. “I am now. Thank you.”

He turned to Lupin, prepared to accept his screaming, his triumphant ‘I told you so’s but Lupin looked sadly at his former student. “Where has she been, Draco?”

“In a sanitarium. Without my father to stake his claim… she would have been… everything she said that would happen… because of my disloyalty…” He answered haltingly.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Lupin asked, the same sad expression on his face.

“Why would I tell you?” Draco answered, kneeling to his mothers’ vacant face. “You don’t have reasons to believe me. But I… I couldn’t just leave her behind. I sent her to live with Muggles who would think her schizophrenic. She could be safe there… I thought.”

“How did she get in, Malfoy?” Harry asked, his voice betraying his rage.

“She’s still a member of the Black family. She was not any of our concern, she was locked up. I don’t even know how she got a wand. We may as well ask if scared little scar-heads can defeat snake obsessed madmen. No one knows.”

Harry stepped forward as if to attack Malfoy, but Lupin’s hand on his chest stopped him. An indecipherable look passed between the student and teacher. “Right, Could it be her that you heard rumor of, Professor?” Harry asked as he put away his wand. He was taking deep breaths while Lupin was answering his question, Draco was sure it was his way of calming his misdirected anger.

“Possibly. I only heard of the Malfoy part while I was in the woods. ‘Malfoy is back’ was exactly what I heard, as you remember from the meeting. But the rabbit which bolted at my scent stopped whatever would have come afterward.”

“What shall we do with her?” Hermione asked softly. Her face was pale from her fright still, and she was holding her hand over her heart.

“Contact Madam Pomfry? She might help us locate a safe place for her at least. One where she won’t be found by the Death Eaters?” Harry suggested.

“I agree.” Lupin added.

“As do I,” Draco sighed as he stood again. “Come to the kitchen, Granger, let’s get you some tea.”

“I’ll Floo Pomfry, and see what she can do.” Lupin said, his expression still sad.

Harry looked at the clock behind Draco, “I’ll need to get back shortly, will you be alright, Hermione?”

“Yes,” She nodded and left the hall.

Lupin levitated Narcissa and took her to be taken with him, she still seemed to be comatose. “Before you go to your Aunt and Uncle’s house, Harry, will you help me with her?”

“Yes, Professor,” Harry said, locking eyes with Malfoy. “Take care of her, Malfoy.”

“I will.” He said. His was voice sincere, his face marred by a frown. “Take care of her,” he said with a nod toward his mother.

Harry nodded.

Hermione was seated at the breakfast table when Draco entered the kitchen. She seemed so small perched on such a tall chair. She glanced at him with her hand propping up her chin. After an uncomfortable second, she looked resolutely at the calendar tacked to the wall. She may have thought she looked normal, but the calendar was from 1877 and was currently showing December. He smirked as he placed the kettle was on the stove- thinking her emotions so easy to read- when he heard her sobbing softly behind him.

He hesitated. He thought she needed comfort this time. So he padded softly to the side of her chair. She was turned away from him. “Hermione?” He asked, “Look at me.” She made no response. He turned the chair so she was facing him.

Her face was covered by her hands, her hair pulled out of its tie on the far side of her face. She was shaking violently. He put an arm around her shoulder saying, “Hermione?” She jumped and tried to turn away from him. “Hermione, come here.” His voice was half order, half comforting. She turned toward his presence. He pulled her small body towards him, she trying to fight it, finally relented and allowed him to hug her. He tucked her head under his chin and began to say softly, “Shh, that’s it, just let it out,” He used the same words Molly used to comfort him, they had worked for him, it should work for her, right? Apparently it did.

Her hands suddenly came around his body and she hugged him fiercely. “How? How did you ever survive in that world?” She sobbed.

“I pretended it didn’t bother me. If anyone sees how something bothers you, they can use it against you. Anyone who knows another’s weaknesses can use it against them.” It was past time for him to talk to someone about his life before here. “My father taught me that as a child. It was the first in a great many hard lessons.”

Her sobbing had begun to ebb as he spoke. “You know, I always figured it was bad, but…” she sniffled. He quickly pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her, without backing away from her.

She took a moment to wipe her face, cleaned it with her wand and handed it back awkwardly because he still held her. “Why did you tell her you were a traitor?” She asked into his shoulder.

“Because she has a weakness and I exploited it.”

“That weakness is…?”

He pulled back slightly and looked at her in the face but left his hands on her shoulders. “She’s a terrible judge of character when it comes to me. She thinks I’m still 7 years old and blindly obsessed with my father’s approval.”

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, her eyes still looking into his.

“For what?” He was confused, but still took the opportunity to slide his fingers up the side of her neck. She apparently didn’t notice. Too worried about not having me think her a lesser being for crying, he thought.

“Crying… I think it’s adrenaline or something…. I…”

His fingers on her lips stopped her words. He watched himself gently trace her soft skin with his fingertip as he whispered, “You are allowed to be vulnerable, Hermione.” He moved his fingers and started to cautiously lean in for a kiss, checking her reactions in case he was overstepping his bounds. “You’re allowed to be emotional from time,” an inch was left between them, “To,” half an inch, “Time” The tea kettle began to whistle and she jumped, pulling back.

He sighed and stood, feeling rejected. She sat stock-still, her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, when he looked down. She did not meet his gaze, so he went to get the blasted tea.

He brought it back and she was unmoved. He set the cup in front of her and began to walk out of the room when she quietly said, “Draco?”

He turned with a questioning look on his face. His heart was hammering in his chest at her choice of address.

She stood and took the three steps to where he waited. She reached up and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him down to her level. The heat between them was tangible, but he let her have control over this one. Just this one, he thought, watching her lean closer. She lightly pecked his cheek and grinned, “Thanks for the tea,” and walked out of the room, teacup in hand.

Draco stood there stunned. He stood straight again after a moment, his mind was completely blank. He heard a door close upstairs. He still stood, trying to figure out what he’d done wrong. He’d rescued the damsel in distress, shouldn’t he have gotten a kiss for that? A real kiss, anyway… Not some damn kiss on the cheek. He sighed and rubbed his face. He realized suddenly that he had not slept in at least forty hours, maybe he’d made a rash decision due to sleep deprivation. Or maybe he had hallucinated the whole thing?

He pushed it from his mind and resolved to go to bed. Where is my bed? He thought dumbly. No one had told him which room was his. Nor where the bathroom was. How was he supposed to bathe? He couldn’t go after Granger and ask her, not after that little performance she’d put on. Well, I could but things might get out of hand… he thought to himself as he climbed the stairs. He frowned. This was a Black House… The doors would have names on them, wouldn’t they? He studied the first door on the second level and found the nameplate above the doorknob. It read: Bath.

One problem solved. He opened the door to see the room. A grand tub sunk into the floor, he watched the tiles on the steps moving in an intricate pattern for a moment. He closed the door and considered the hallway he was in. The first door on the left was a white door, the second a blue one. On the right, the bath was a green door and the second was black. He thought the white one would probably be Granger’s and the black his. Unless, his room was on the third floor… He examined the nameplates as he walked past, the white one read Hermione, the blue one was blank and the black one, as expected said Draco.

He opened his door and noted the dark leather bound armchairs in the sitting area, green upholstery, and already glowing fireplace in front of the armchairs. He looked into the closet and saw Abeille and Triste had already placed his belongings where they belonged. He turned back to the bed and decided he didn’t like the size of the bed. It was only a double, and Draco preferred a king to make sure he had enough room for his long body. He snapped his fingers and called, “Abeille.”

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Draco was freshly bathed and dressed only in his silk pajama bottoms, lounging on top of his bed. His recently resized bed in his recently resized room. He had charmed a few Muggle pieces of technology so he might have some soft music playing as he waited for sleep to claim him, but the wait was longer than it should be.

He was considering his situation. The Order seemed like the best option at the time, but maybe he should have gone with Blaise to neutral territory. Or gone on the run alone. Even America was supposed to be a neutral country when it came to all this madness brought on by that snake. He had some family living off ‘oil money’ in Texas; he probably could have done well there.

The only thing which had kept him in England was the little witch who he was trying desperately not to think about. Should mentally label her like Snake-man, he thought wryly, She-Who-Should-Not-Be-Thought-About. He shut his eyes, seeing her face again. Damn he opened them again. She cried over my life. Not even I’ve done that much. I wonder if she’ll ever ask about it. We’ll be alone a lot… Stopthinkingabouther! He turned onto his side with a groan of frustration. No, think about anything else… The music! Think about the lyrics! He listened to the song on the stereo.

Oh, no, I see

A spider web, it's tangled up with me,

And I lost my head,

The thought of all the stupid things I'd said,

Oh, no, what's this?

A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle,

So I turned to run,

The thought of all the stupid things I've done,

And I never meant to cause you trouble,

And I never meant to do you wrong,

And I, well, if I ever caused you trouble,

Oh no, I never meant to do you harm.

Oh, no, I see

A spider web, and it's me in the middle,

So I twist and turn,

Here am I in my little bubble,

Singing out...

I never meant to cause you trouble,

And I never meant to do you wrong,

And I, well, if I ever caused you trouble,

Oh, no, I never meant to do you harm.

Draco drifted off with unnoticed tears on his cheeks, marveling at the simple lyrics of the sad man coming from the radio.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

The sun was still down when he woke from a nightmare. He must have screamed as he woke. His terror was still very real. His wand was in his hand although he did not remember grabbing it. He whispered “Lumos,” into the darkness around him, trying to stave off the feeling that someone was present who shouldn’t be. There was no one in his room.

Just before he was going to say ‘Nox,’ he thought he heard something from downstairs. He suddenly felt very much like the child Lupin had accused him of being earlier that evening. “Scared of the dark? Never, you’re a Malfoy, Malfoy’s aren’t afraid of anything… except maybe their deranged fathers who might possibly be inside the house and ready to murder its’ occupants…” He muttered as he stood and crossed the room. He took a deep breath before whispering “Nox,” and opening the door as silently as he could. He listened at the door while waiting for his eyes to readjust to the darkness.

Shhhhk, he heard from downstairs. It wasn’t a human voice… Cht he heard it again. Something being dragged. No, moved, don’t jump to specific adjectives until you know what it is, he reprimanded himself. He began stepping slowly down the hall, trying to remember if anything had made any noise when he’d been up earlier. He took the stairs slowly. He was beginning to think it was nothing and he was acting foolishly when he heard it again, Shht. It sounded like it was coming from the Dining Hall. Was it sniffling? It could be.

He looked at the bottom of the door to see if the light was on. It wasn’t. He could feel adrenaline coursing through his body. He was fighting the urge to run as he walked over to the door. Kshhht he heard again. Was it paper ripping? He took a deep breath and held it while he pressed his ear to the door. He couldn’t hear anything. He took another deep breath. He put his hand on the door handle, gripping his wand tightly in his other hand. He debated calling out in case it was Hermione, decided not to, in case it was his father. He turned the handle slowly.

He pushed the door open quickly, calling out, “Lumos!” while looking into the now bright room. His eyes were opened wide and he was ready for battle as he took in the scene before him.

Sitting on the table was Crookshanks. Under his paw was a dead mouse, and on his face was surprise. He jumped off the table and darted past Draco’s feet. “Fucking cat,” He muttered as he considered the mouse. His eyes opened wide again as he hatched a plan.

He cleaned up the mouse and went back to bed, chuckling at his own brilliance. Tomorrow I can set this in motion. He thought as he curled into his recently resized bed in his recently resized room.

A/N: Short chapter, I know… The song is “Trouble” by Coldplay, I am not making any money from using the lyrics, and it is only used as an insight into the character. Also, Observer’s POV is a-comin’ up next! What could be Draco’s plan??? Any theories? I’d love to hear about it!

Reviews? Rating??? Please!!???!!!

Thanks to margiere for a nice review!
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Blood on the Ground