Never Before

Chapter One

Draco peered out the window of his room. Just entering the manor's outer gates was a person he always hated to see. Rasmuss.

Rasmuss Black was a trader that had been dealing with the Malfoys for over thirty years, and what he traded was something that Draco had never developed a taste for. Muggles.

Rasmuss kidnapped muggles and would sell them off to rich wizarding families, obviously the ones who were followers of the Dark Lord, as slaves. Then they were, more often than not, slaughtered. The act was pure evil, and it disgusted Draco to be in a family that participated in such a thing. It was true that he never liked muggles, but the thought of them being traded into a life of torture and death made his blood run cold.

The door behind him creaked open and Draco whirled around to find himself staring at one of the house elves, a new one that he didn't recognize.

"Master Malfoy, sir. You are wanted in the great hall, sir." The small creature barely whispered and winced as if he expected to be struck.

Instead Draco nodded and left the room. It was not like him to hit the help. No, that was more his father's forte. He would only beat a house elf if his father was watching. If he didn't then he would be the one receiving a beating and that was something he always tried to avoid.

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Hermione could no longer feel her feet for the ache that had been numbing her entire being for the last three days. Her back was in an almost unbearable pain from the beatings she had endured. That's what she received for her constant escape attempts.

It had been a week since she and the rest of her family had been abducted. Hermione had just arrived home from her seventh year of Hogwarts and was unpacking when she'd heard a crash from downstairs. Without thinking to grab her wand from its place under her pillow, she'd made her way to the living room.

Hermione had no chance to react to seeing her parents tied up and unconscious on the floor before a hand was clamped to her mouth and she heard a knock-out spelled uttered. Not even a second later Hermione slipped into the deep abyss of her subconscious.

They were coming up a private lane now. The manor it belonged to was enormous and Hermione might have been impressed with its fashion if she hadn't wanted to spit on its pristine white walls. No doubt the people living here were followers of Voldemort. She was about to struggle some more when the rope that bound her wrists together was tugged hard and she was pulled to stand with all the other prisoners in a line.

What she took to be the lord of the manor had come outside to inspect them. He went down the line, studying each one carefully, as if he were looking over a piece of meat before he purchased it. It made Hermione sick. She glanced to either side and noticed that everyone else had their head bowed low in submission. She raised her chin and held her head high and proud. She wasn't about to bow to anyone.

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Giving a curt nod of acknowledgement to Rasmuss, Draco started to walk down the long line of people. He gave each one careful consideration. It was true that he didn't care for the practice of buying or selling muggles but it was still his responsibility. One of the only things his father thought him competent enough to handle. And if it was a job that he had no choice in doing he might as well be good at it.

Draco had already inspected almost all of the slaves when he noticed her. She couldn't help but catch his eye, seeing as she was standing up straight with her head held high and her eyes trained forward. She was beautiful from what he could tell. Although it was difficult to really be sure when she was covered with cuts and bruises and dirt. This girl radiated stubbornness and strength which probably accounted for all the blemishes that marred her body.

He abruptly turned back around. Approaching Rasmuss, he gestured to the girl. "I'll take her."

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Hermione watched as Rasmuss approached her. Why did he look so smug? It wasn't like he had sold any of them. The reality of the situation hit her. "No!"

Rasmuss grinned at her, showing teeth that were black and decaying. "Yes. You are no longer my problem."

"No, no, no, no...." Hermione kept mumbling herself as she was lead into the manor.