Labelled Caustic

Chp 7: Listening to Observations.

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The dream team landed in Malfoy Mansion with a thud. Hermione though, was covered with Harry´s invisibility cloak. They figured that whoever was doing this wanted Harry. So Hermione would try to find Ginny while Ron and Harry would hold down the fort, so to speak, whilst trying to find out what the hell was going on.

When they landed on the hard floor, Hermione made sure she was fully covered and slowly, trying to not make even a squeak, made her way to the very back of the room. She looked around in amazement. They seemed to be in some sort of library, from top to bottom was stacked with tomes and numerous volumes of books. Hermione gave a tiny smile and then looked forward towards the fireplace where there standing in front of an enormous armchair was Lucius Malfoy himself. Hermione´s eyes swept around the room once more and standing at the doorway was none other than Draco Malfoy himself. He was looking down at the floor with something clutched in his hands. He looked up and saw Harry and Rona and with a frown shoved whatever it was in his hands into his pocket and went over to his father.

"Gentleman, good of you to come to our humble abode," Lucius drawled. Draco tried to acknowledge them with a nod but all he got were hard glares from both of them. He looked confused for a second but changed it to a smirk.

His mind was reeling and it just made him sick. Typical Gryffindor behaviour really, but he expected more from Boy Wonder and his sidekick, Wonderpants. They didn´t read the whole letter. He could just picture them in his mind, reading the letter, finding out that Ginny was gone and just bungling straight on without a bloody plan.

This was just going to ruin all of his plans and if he didn´t make another move, they will all die, Draco included. Bloody Potter! Wait a minute. `Where is mudblood Granger?´ Draco thought to himself. At least they did something right, he knew Harry possessed an invisibility cloak so she must be somewhere around here.

"- in the mean time, you´ll be staying somewhere more appropriate while we wait," Lucius finished. Draco finally listened to what his father was saying. He looked over at Harry and Ron and saw that they were bound. Lucius looked over to Draco and he nodded back to him; understanding.

Draco then walked over and levitated the two boys out of the room but not before hissing out to the wall near the door. He had felt a swish of material against his arm. `So careless,´ he thought, " Come along Granger," Draco´s eyes still forward as he led them down. Deep down the Malfoy mansion to the dungeons.

He kept his ears perked to hear another pair of footsteps and he did, smirking to himself. He led them to the very last dungeon, which was one of the best as there wasn´t much blood or bones in them. He opened the door and floated them inside and making land with a thud. He released the binds around them and cast a charm on the door, making sure at least Granger could hear them.

Draco looked around suspiciously for the sounds of anyone, for the sounds of a servant or his Father. He looked at Harry and Ron in contempt.

"You didn´t read the rest of the letter did you?" he snarled at them, keeping his voice barely above a whisper.

Ron looked as if he would strangle Draco there and there if he could reach out farther than the bars as words currently failed him, as per usual.

Harry on the other hand looked indignant. "Read the rest of the letter? Malfoy, you bastard, you kidnapped Ginny and you expect me to hang around while you do God knows what to her? I think not!" he cried

"Keep your voice down you fool! If you know what´s good for you, to keep you alive you´ll keep quiet!" That seemed to shut Harry up, temporarily that is.

"If you had read the rest of the letter you would know that I had a plan, you would know that I wasn´t planning to harm Ginny in anyway. You could have come prepared to face Lord Voldermort but you just bungled it. Fool! Now I have to think of something else," Draco hissed through the bars, his face getting flushed as he said this.

"But you´re a fucking death eater that´s what you are. You´re a fucking death eater," Ron spluttered out, his eyes tiny slits, staring back at Draco with hands balled in tight fists.

Draco took a step closer, shaking his head. "No Weasley I´m not. I might be one of my father´s pawns in this whole charade but I won´t do everything he tells me to. I will never give in willingly, but if it helps to be one to go against him and his master. Then maybe so, maybe so."

With that, he turned on his heel whispering "Come," to Hermione who was taking all this in silently and of course not speaking a word so as to not blow her cover. Her mind raced with thoughts and thinking of what Draco was planning. Trying to think of what was happening.

"Come back here Malfoy! Where is my sister? Malfoy!" Ron cried out and then he gave a yell as he was thrown back. He had touched the bars and a surge of current seemed to have shot through his body.

"Wouldn´t touch the bars if I were you," Draco said loudly as he continued walking. Hermione followed on cautiously. Desperate to try and not make a sound; looking around for any other people walking around. It was very tiring but she took in with awe at the vast amounts of artwork in the corridors as well as the elegant tapestries. They started to ascend a stairwell and Hermione was getting rather tired.

Finally they had reached the top and there was but a single door ahead of them. They were in a tower of some sort. Draco went over to the door and performed a spell and with that, the door flung open.

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The minute Draco had walked out of the room, the door slammed shut. Ginny tried to open the door but her hands had gotten scalded. She tried to perform a spell that would treat it but it didn´t work. Her wand wasn´t working in this blasted room.

She didn´t understand anything that was happening or she rather let herself not understand. What she already knew was cutting her up to pieces and she couldn´t control it. She cried, she sat in the darkest corner of the room, where the light did not shine and cried. Until she couldn´t cry anymore; her eyes, red and puffy, her head heavy with pain and her chest hitched with sobs. Ginny didn´t know how long she was there as her mind was thinking of other things.

She wanted so badly to be in her room in the Burrow once again. Safe in her mother´s arms. Go back to before all of this had happened but then again she would never have been with Draco. Did she really want to be with him in the first place knowing all of this? Her heart held a dull ache and she felt horrible.

Ginny was wondering whether Ron and the rest would notice that she was gone and if they would be on their way looking for her. She hated to admit it but her brother was right. He turned on her, that damned bastard turned on her. The question went on over her head over and over again. `Why? What did he want? What did he gain from doing this?´

Ginny now and then looked back onto her conversations and arguments she had with Draco. Looking back in fondness at their Christmas together. She wanted to hate him; she wanted to just think of him as the mean Draco Malfoy, she heard about from Ron when he was a first year. To just ignore him but she couldn´t. It just made her think of him even more. A silent tear rolled down her face and she brushed it away with the back of her hand angrily.

`Didn´t he love her? If he did then why was he doing this to her? Then again he never really tell her he loved her did he? How can he act so cold?´ This made her go mad with rage and she wanted to just hit something but the minute she curled up her tiny hands she cried out in pain; her burns on her palm stinging.

Ginny´s hand reached into her robes for her wand once more trying again to take away the pain that subdued her. Instead of that her fingers brushed against the box that held the ring. She took it out and opened it. The ring shone back at her and she took it out. It was pure silver and untarnished. She wanted it and her hand immediately went to her neck where her pendant was supposed to be; but it wasn´t there, she had given it back to Draco.

"Ginny! Grow up! He was just using you! Fuck him! Forget him!" she yelled to herself, her hands pulling her hair.

Ginny threw the ring to the other end of the room but it bounced back and magically rebounded into her hand. Shaking with sobs and confusion she tried on the ring and it was a perfect fit. She suddenly felt it warm her hands and when she looked at her palms it was free from all her burns. Her eyes widened and she looked over at the ring once more. `What the hell is this?´ her mind thought. She wanted to take it off but as she was about to the door flung open.

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Draco Malfoy looked into the room and saw Ginny in a far corner, looking bewildered. He swallowed hard at this and took a step forward. Ginny turned out her lip and lifted up her chin defiantly. He stared her with a longing but she just turned her back towards him.

"What do you want?" she asked her tone as cold as ice. He looked down but something caught his eye. On her left hand she was wearing his ring. It had been his as long as he had remembered and she was wearing it. He felt his stomach lurch and he turned away.

Hermione looked on this with contemplative glances between them. She stared at Draco intently and knew what was going on in his mind immediately. She knew this wasn´t the right time to let Ginny know she was here. It might botch up whatever Draco was planning. Hermione knew she shouldn´t be trusting the foul snake that was Malfoy but what she just saw. The emotion in his eyes betrayed his cold front. She took it in and remained silent.

"Harry and Ron are here," Ginny turned as he said this but she looked down, not bearing to look up at him. "Soon, things will be unravelled," Draco said and opened the door to get out, "Draco, wait. What´s going on?" Ginny asked, her voice quavering. Draco couldn´t answer her just yet and as such just walked out, followed by Hermione.

"Why don´t you just tell her?" Hermione asked.

Draco looking around him as he spoke replied "The less she knows the better. Look Hermione, you know who´s coming and you know what´s going to happen. Get them out and well, you´ve been through enough scraps to bungle through with something. You remember how to get them out?"

Before she could reply anything, Narcissa Malfoy´s voice rang out, "Draco! Oh Draco, I´ve heard you´re back home and you have yet to see me!" Hermione did the first thing that came to mind and that was to throw the invisibility cloak over them.

"Why Hermione, I didn´t know you liked me that much," They were now squished together as Narcissa came up the stairs.

"Shut up Malfoy!" she hissed. Draco gave a pout and looked back.

"Strange, I thought I heard him..." Narcissa´s voice trailing off to a whisper, she looked around for a moment before descending the stairs. Draco waited till he heard the footsteps fade away before being pushed away by Hermione herself.

"Get off me!" she huffed

"Not like you didn´t enjoy it," Draco smirked.

"How can you joke at a time like this?" she wondered aloud.

"It helps," he said in a soft voice.

Suddenly the air became thin just as he did when he sensed his father. "He´s here."