The Sweetest Sin

Chapter 4: Crimson

Hermione swallowed hard, then knocked tentatively on the heavy oak door that stood before her. It swung open the moment her knuckle made contact with it, as if the room had been expecting her to visit.

She stepped in, afraid of what sight would greet her. To her surprise, it was empty. Although the sparse light emanating from a few flickering candles resting on the windowsill was barely enough to light up the large, circular room, she could pick out no shadow or form. Even though she was relieved that Draco was not there yet, her uneasiness couldn't help but be enhanced by the emptiness of the room.

"Hello?" she whispered, her voice choked and barely audible.

"Hello, Granger," said someone from behind her.

Hermione froze at the sound of Draco's voice. Instead of letting her fear show, however, she made no move to turn around and said in as calm of a voice as she could muster up, "So what are you going to do to me tonight?"

"Turn around and face me."

She didn't oblige.

"Turn around right now," he said again, his voice harder and more demanding.

Her pride could no longer keep her from obeying, and she followed his orders. What she saw was what as far from what she had expected as possible.

Draco was casually leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his bare chest. The only garment of clothing he wore was a pair of loose pants, and even those looked like they were about to fall off of him any moment. He chuckled when he saw the shock cross over her face. "Take off your clothes, Hermione."

Although her body had stopped obeying all commands from her brain, Hermione still managed to say, "I refuse to."

"That's not the attitude I like to see in my house," he said in a calm voice. "We can either have you do it, or I can do it for you."

Hermione's cheeks burned, but she replied, "Or you could just let me go."

He laughed coldly. "Come here, Granger."

She stood her ground.

Instead of repeating his order like he had done earlier, Draco made the move toward her this time. In one stride, he was standing before her, holding her robe.

Hermione shrieked and wrapped her arms around herself. She had no idea how he'd managed to remove her outerwear so quickly, but she would do anything to prevent him from exposing her any more.

While she was wrapped up in her surprise, she didn't feel his arm snake around her and his fingers unclasp her bra. Within another few seconds, her undergarments also lay on the ground. The moment she felt the last few scraps of clothing on her fall away, Hermione let out a cry of surprise.

Draco laughed again. "Save your cries for later," he sneered. "You'll be needing them." As he said the words, she felt his hands grasp her hips tightly and pull them toward him. She cried out again and struggled against him, but his hold on her was like steel. He roughly pressed his lips against hers, catching them in a brutal kiss, and she felt tears beginning to fall out of the corners of her eyes.

He pulled away momentarily to trace a path down her back. She opened her mouth to make an attempt at words, but before a sound could escape her, she saw Draco's form begin to twist and writhe. His skin turned a bright acid green and his eyes narrowed to red slits on a flat face. With one final twist, a giant snake loomed above her where Draco had just stood moments ago.

Hermione screamed in terror as she watched the snake rear up and lash out its crimson tongue. The sound resonated within the room, blowing out the flames of the candles and leaving her in utter darkness. All she could see were those two red slits, gleaming in the pitch black before her...

Hermione woke up to the sound of a little girl crying. At first, the sound was mixed in with her screams, and she could barely pick it out. Eventually, her own cries and the image of the snake faded away to be replaced by the pitiful weeping.

Her eyes flew open. Sitting up quickly, she looked around and her eyes quickly came to rest on Kathryn, Draco's daughter. Taken aback and still caught in the remnants of her nightmare, Hermione simply sat there and stared at the little girl.

As if she seemed to notice Hermione had woken up, Kathryn's mewing ceased and she looked up at Hermione with wide, watery eyes. She seemed afraid of Hermione, and appeared to be looking for an escape route.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione finally managed to stammer out, not wanting the girl to leave for some strange reason.

"N-nothing," squeaked Kathryn, looking even more terrified now that Hermione had spoken up.

"Don't be afraid of me," Hermione said softly, trying to comfort the girl. "There's nothing to be scared of." Hesitating, she tentatively asked, "Was I screaming?"

Kathryn nodded fearfully.

"I was just having a nightmare," replied Hermione, carefully choosing her words. She paused again, then said, "There was a big snake in it."

""Snakes are scary," whispered Kathryn, looking somewhat relieved. "I have nightmares about them too. Mum always comes and sings me a lullaby when that happens."

"I don't have a mum to sing me lullabies," said Hermione wistfully. "You're lucky you have one."

Kathryn's eyes lit up with curiosity and she edged forward, her earlier fear seeming to have been forgotten. "What happened to yours?"

"She..." Hermione bit her lip. "She passed away."

"You mean...she died?" gasped Kathryn.

"She's in a better place," Hermione answered with a sad smile. "I miss her, but I'm sure she's happy where she is right now."

"I'm sorry," said the little girl in a quavering voice.

Hermione laughed and responded, "It's okay. Would you like to sit on my bed?"

Kathryn nodded bravely, and clambored onto the mattress beside Hermione. "Why are you here? Are you another one of Daddy's business ladies?"

"Yes...I suppose you could call me that. I'm here to take care of things and help your father with...problems."

"Oh." Kathryn looked awed that she was talking to someone who in turn talked to her dad. "I wish I could help Daddy with problems too."

"I don't think you would want my job," said Hermione, not wanting to imagine for one moment the innocent little girl sitting beside her in her position. She quickly switched the topic. "Why are you down here?"

Instead of avoiding the question like she had earlier, Kathryn replied, "Tommy dared me to. He said that I would be eaten alive by you and I said I wouldn't, so I came down here to prove it."

"Well I'm definitely not going to eat you alive," replied Hermione, somewhat amused. "So you can tell your brother that you win."

At that moment, the sound of Pansy's voice drifted down to them from upstairs. "Tommy, Kathryn, do come up here for one moment."

Kathryn looked at Hermione then said, "I have to go. Whats your name?"

"My name is Hermione."

"Her...myne?"

"Yes, that's it," said Hermione with a laugh. "You can call me Hermyne."

"Okay," said Kathryn cheerfully, jumping off the bed. "Bye-bye Hermyne."

"Good-bye Kathryn," Hermione replied quietly as she watched the little girl bound up the stairs happily. The moment the door shut behind Kathryn, she felt the gloom of the room settle down upon her again.

It's a good thing she came when she did, Hermione realized, or I would never have been able to shake that dream off. Still...I can only pray that it doesn't foreshadow anything that will happen tonight...

The image of the snake's eyes glaring down at her burned behind her eyelids once again, and it took her more than a few minutes to collect herself before it would fade away.

---------

Later that night, Hermione stood before a door identical to the one in her dream. Instead of bothering to knock, she shoved it open and stepped into the room, expecting the worst.

A shiver travelled down her spine when she realized the setting of the room was the exact replica of the one in her dream. It was like she was experiencing it all over again, only this time, it was reality. The fine hairs on the back of her neck prickled as the creepy, indescribable feeling of deja vu began to grow in her gut.

"It's nice to see you're punctual," said a voice softly from behind her.

Hermione spun around to see Draco standing behind her, his white-blonde hair gleaming in the faint light. Despite the smile resting on his face, she could pick out no emotions in his features. Unconsciously, she backed away as he quietly shut the door behind him and took a step toward her.

"Now now, don't be afraid," he said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Despite her growing fear, she asked out loud, "Why do you want me up here?"

Instead of answering her question, Draco began to stroll casually around the room. His eyes lingered on the candles he passed by, giving off the impression that he was entranced by their dancing flames. He at last stopped by a crimson candle, the exact colour of the snake's eyes, carved into the shape of a rose. Hot wax dripped down the sides of it, and Hermione was reminded instantly of blood. She shuddered and cast her eyes downward toward the floor.

"My first intention was to punish you like I have done so toward all my disobedient slaves in the past," Draco said at last, his voice sounding distant. "But," he added as he turned around to look at Hermione, "I've changed my mind. We're going to do something a little different tonight. We're going to...how would you say it?" He paused for a moment, then a smile - but it hardly seemed to be a smile, because his sharp facial features lacked any sort of emotion - spread across his face. "Ah yes...we're going to catch up on old times."