Abyss

Abyss

Hermione looked at the source of the voice, confusion etched on her face. "Where... where the hell am I?"

Draco stood up from the chair he was sitting on and placed the book he was reading on the table. He had been waiting for her to appear for the past thirty minutes; after Apparating from Hogwarts, he went straight to his room to wait for her there. After the first five minutes of waiting silently and impatiently, he busied himself by reading. His nerves kept him from getting past the first paragraph, for he continued to read and reread it until she appeared. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked her. "You're in my room." He gestured around him. "Welcome to the Malfoy Manor."

She allowed her gaze to sweep around his room, before she settled her eyes on him again. "Your room," she said disbelievingly. "I'm in your room."

He nodded. "Yes, unfortunately, you are."

Hermione clutched at the wand she held, as panic began to settle in her heart. She took a deep, calming breath, before she muttered, "Bastard."

Draco raised a brow in return. "What did you say?"

"You heard me!" She pointed the wand at him. "You tricked me, you selfish, arrogant git!"

He rolled his eyes at her actions. "Granger, you are an idiot, do you know that? How many times do I have to tell you that you can't curse me with my--"

"Oh yes, I know I can't curse you, Malfoy. However, that doesn't prevent me from hurting you through other ways, does it?" Hermione then pointed at his book, and sent it flying towards him.

Draco managed to roll out of harm's way as the book whizzed past him harmlessly. It hit the wall hard and fell onto the floor with a thud. He looked at it, before he turned towards her. "You IDIOT!" he yelled, his face purplish with anger, before he closed his eyes in an effort to rein in his rage.

"Yes, I really am," Hermione agreed amicably. She watched him as he opened his eyes to look at her. "I'm really an idiot to trust you, Malfoy! You told me this wand will lead meo safety, and I was foolish enough to believe you!" She kept her wand pointed at him. "You manipulating piece of--"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence because at that moment, he attacked her. Draco used his speed to his advantage, and jumped at her until she fell on her back on the floor with him on top of her. He caught her hands with his and pushed them until they were pinned just above her head, then leaned in very close to her face until they were looking at each other's eyes. "Now, you listen to me, Mudblood," he spat. "What I told you was the truth, you stupid girl. That wand did lead you to safety. It led you to me, didn't it?"

Hermione's eyes blazed with ire. "It led me to your house, which for all I know is the home of Death Eaters," she retorted. "How on earth can you tell me that I am safe here when the very same ones who attacked the school are also in the same place?!"

Draco slowly lifted his face awfrom hers, but kept his hold firmly on her wrists. "They're not here at the moment," he said.

"Oh, so are you saying that I can relax at the moment? Well thank you very much, Malfoy, now I can totally relax!" She wriggled from underneath him. "Get off me! I can't breathe!"

He maneuvered so that one hand was holding her wrists, and then allowed the other to travel slowly towards her neck. He held her there, too, as he stared at her widened eyes. "Granger," he said, his voice dangerously low, "I'll say this to you only once. Try and hurt me again, and I guarantee that I'll be the one to hand you over to the Death Eaters. They know just what to do with you. Do we understand each other?"

She lifted her chin and said nothing.

Draco gritted his teeth, and then applied pressure on both her wrists and neck. "Do we?"

Hermione grimaced in response, before she hissed reluctantly, "Yes!"

He smiled. "Good." He removed his hand from her neck, and then grabbed his wand from her hands before he moved off of her. He watched her as she scuttled away from him. "You might want to refrain from making any loud sounds. My father and the others may be away, but that doesn't mean there aren't be others who might hear you."

She gingerly touched and rubbed at her wrists and neck. "Where are they?"

Draco deposited his wand at the table before he went towards the book that Hermione threw at him. "Buying me a new wand," he responded. "I told him I lost the one I gave to you."

"Despite your doubts, I can honestly say that you are safest here, Granger," Draco told her as he picked up his book. He looked at her. "And because no one will try and look for you in my house."

She still looked doubtful. "And your parents? What will keep them from finding me here, in your room?"

Draco glanced at his book before he showed the title to her. "That's why I've been rereading this."

Hermione looked at the book. "That's--" She slowly stood up and walked towards him. "That's--"

"Transfiguration spells," he said to her. "Advanced."

She grabbed the book from him and looked at its contents. "It's not just advanced, this book... the spells in it... it's... it's dark magic," she muttered, almost to herself. Then, she looked up at him. "Do you know how to use these?"

He smirked satisfactorily. "Of course I do. I study dark magic more than I do our subjects at Hogwarts. I am required to."

"When do you study this? I don't recall that any dark magic books are permitted inside the library!"

Hermione glared at him. "You're going to transfigure me?"

Draco shrugged. "When the situation calls for it."

"So, what then?" she asked. "I'm going to be locked up in your room and transfigured when the situation calls for it? You didn't really think this one through, didn't you, Malfoy? When you saved me, you really didn't know what predicament you were placing yourself in."

He returned her glare, before he turned away from her without saying anything in response. Draco then disappeared behind one of the doors in the room.

Hermione looked down on the book she held, and then touched the title. The words began to blur as tears formed in her eyes. "I don't know which is worse," she whispered. "Being locked up in here, or running for my life outside." She walked towards one of the huge windows that lined up on the side of the room. She looked out, and saw nothing but the darkness of the night. She heard the door open again, and she rubbed her eyes dry with the sleeves of her nightgown. She turned towards him when he spoke.

"Here," Draco muttered as he handed her a robe. It was a deep red robe, with white floral prints. Clearly, it was meant to be used by a woman. "Clean yourself up."

She accepted the clothes with her brows raised. "Whose is this?" she asked curiously.

He looked passive as he answered, "Pansy's." Draco then pointed at the doors. "That's the bathroom, and there's the door to the halls. DON'T ever make the mistake of stepping outside this room, do you hear me? We can't risk the othersnding out that I'm hiding you here." He walked towards the door. "I'm going to get us something to eat. When I get back I expect that you'll already out of the bathroom." Then, without waiting for any word from her, he left the room.

Hermione hugged the robe and the book to her chest as she slowly made her way towards the bathroom. As she stripped herself off of her clothing and stepped into the shower, she thought of the events that occurred that night. And as the water fell from the showerhead, so did the tears from her eyes. "Merlin," she whispered with a shuddering breath, "I wish he'd never come to save me."