Playing for Time

Chapter 6

Hermione dashed over the floor, almost tumbling over in her haste to reach Lucius' cane. She grabbed it and tried to pry the wand loose, but her frantic tugs on the snake head were fruitless. The wand refused to emerge from its sheath. Lucius' hands burned brighter, flames lapping up his arms - and then they were gone.

For a moment the wizard stood still, staring at his hands. Then he lunged for Hermione, lifting her as if she weighed nothing, throwing her into the wall, where she hit her head and slid down to the floor. The cane clattered to the floor and Lucius picked it up. Without effort, he unsheathed his wand.

Tonks stared at him. The fire had burned away his gloves, leaving his hands bare. Red marks streaked them and in his hurry Lucius had forgotten any pretence of calm. His hair fell over his shoulders in disarray and for a moment, a fleeting second, Tonks saw fear in his face. It was quickly replaced with his usual arrogant sneer. With a toss of his head his hair once again hung smoothly down his back, but Tonks knew what she had seen and somehow it made her feel a little better.

Lucius turned to Hermione, who was crouching down against the wall, one hand gingerly feeling her head. When she removed her hand it was smeared with blood.

"What," he said slowly, "was that?"

Hermione opened her mouth, but Lucius didn't give her any time to answer. He pointed his wand toward Tonks, uttering a single word.

"Crucio."

Tonks was suddenly engulfed in pain; wave after wave of it went through her body. It seemed to go on forever - though in reality it was just minutes. When it was over she found that she had curled herself up on the floor, tasting blood in her mouth where she had bitten herself. Lucius had already turned away from her, once again leaning over Hermione.

"Now tell me, Mudblood. What kind of antics were those?"

"You were supposed to die," Hermione whispered. She raised her head and stared up at him, giving him a challenging glare. "You were supposed to burn up altogether and I'm so sorry that my spell failed!"

She tried to stand up, but was still dizzy from her injury. Lucius suddenly took a step forward and helped her to her feet. He looked at her with something that was close to respect.

"Such bloodthirst from a little girl. But that wasn't what I wanted to know. What kind of spell was it? I warn you, tell me or your friend will suffer more."

"It was a really old spell. I found it in a book about Medieval warfare in the wizarding world. It was used to protect virgins from rape. It was a really difficult spell, and so was the potion that went with it. It was more difficult to make than Polyjuice. I guess that is why I failed."

Lucius touched her face with his burned hand and Hermione cringed away from him. The look of hesitant respect on Lucius's face deepened.

"You didn't fail, Miss Granger. You did it just as you should. You just forgot that a wizard skilled enough has his own defence spells. A lesser man would indeed have died very quickly. Now, tell me how to break it."

"I can't," Hermione whispered.

Lucius's face darkened again and he raised his wand in Tonks's direction. Hermione grabbed his arm, holding on to it as he tried to shake her off, speaking with some desperation.

"I really can't, because I don't know how."

The wizard let his arm sink, turning toward Hermione. "Somehow I find that very hard to believe."

"But it's true. I did it on purpose. I never even read the page on how to counter it. I figured that if I didn't know it, no one could force it out of me." She made a defiant gesture with her chin. "I didn't read the title of the book either. I just took as many as I could from the Restricted Section, and read. It's there, I'm sure- along with plenty other books."

The last was said with a smirk and to Tonks's utter surprise, Lucius threw his head back and laughed.

"Very good. Very, very good. Well then, your virginity is safe, for the time being. Soon, I am sure, my son will get the right book from the library." His face grew serious again. "The question now is; what am I going to do in the meantime?"

He paused, thinking it over. "There are indeed other things I had planned to do to you. But I fear that I might get a little carried away and that could spoil it a bit. I want you to be able to notice everything I do to you. No, my dear, it will just have to wait. You are, after all, not the only guest I have here tonight."

He led Hermione to Tonks's side, bestowing her with the same elegant bonds as the older witch. He did not, however, replace her clothes and Hermione sat down, curling up to hide her naked body as much as possible. She was crying now and Tonks was reminded of how very young the girl actually was. Despite brains and courage, she was still not much more than a child. Tonks wrapped her arms around her, whispering into her ear;

"Bravo Hermione, that was brilliant." She saw Lucius hovering above them and she knew that it was her turn now. She quickly added a few words. "Try not to look now, OK? You don't really want to see this, it won't be pretty. Try to..."

There she was interrupted. Lucius's hands closed around her arms and she was pulled away from Hermione. The silver chains melted away and she was dragged away, almost losing her footing.

Tonks looked up into Lucius's face, trying to read his features, but he only showed her his usual mask of haughtiness and superiority. Hermione's unexpected protection must have thrown him. Tonks had seen the surprise and alarm, but now he appeared his usual calm self. Still, there was something that was wrong here. Tonks knew it, but she couldn't quite think of what it was. She needed some time to mull it over, time that she didn't have now.

Her heart was beating hard in her chest, while Lucius slowly twisted her hair around his fingers. Then, just as slowly, he untwisted the lock of hair and stroked down the length of her hair. Slow strokes, as if he enjoyed feeling the texture underneath his hands. It was a soothing feeling and despite the circumstances, Tonks relaxed a little.

That was when Lucius viciously tugged her head back and Tonks couldn't help but give a surprised cry. He brought his head down and kissed her. It was a gesture of supremacy; there was nothing erotic over the gesture. Tonks could not fight it with her hair so hopelessly tangled in his hands and he used her surprise to his advantage. When he broke the kiss she could see that he was smiling again.

"Ready, half-blood?"

Tonks took a deep breath and then she spit in Lucius Malfoy's face.