The Keeper Of My Heart

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CHAPTER 3

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Hermione found herself at the center of the dancing floor and back in the haven of the masked stranger's arms. All her thoughts and worries were abandoned as she gave in to the heady pleasure of being held by those strong but gentle hands.

With her face closely pressed to his chest, she could hear the steady drumbeat of his heart. His hands started to caress her neck, sending delicious shivers down her spine. She looked straight into his stormy eyes, and felt the magnetic pull of his gaze. Their eyes locked for several minutes, then he kissed her and it was like drowning in a myriad of emotions. His kisses made her feel lightheaded as if she was floating in the air. She put her arms around his neck as he kissed her deeply, passionately.

When he moved his head back, she moaned in protest. Then he pressed his lips lightly on her eyelids, she smiled, feeling warm all over. Her eyes fluttered open when he stopped kissing her, the glow still in her eyes as she looked up to his face. To her utter astonishment, she discovered that the man holding her wasn't the masked stranger anymore, but instead, was another man.

With a strangled cry, she pushed him away and went for the door. Suddenly, the room was spinning dizzily around her. It took her a moment before she realized with a shock that she was lying on the ground of what seemed to be the Forbidden Forest. She frantically looked around her.

'What the hell is going on?' Hermione immediately stood up, shaken and confused. Panic started to set in and she begin to tremble. Then she heard heavy footsteps coming closer to where she was. She didn't know why, but she started to run as if her life depended on it.

She ran across the middle of nowhere, as she race ahead of whoever was chasing her. Blinded by panic, she kept on running, ignoring the scratches on her arms as she weaved through the thick forest. She could hear footsteps coming nearer to her, and this spurred Hermione to run faster. She kept on running aimlessly, all that matters was to get away, but suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. A dark figure loomed in front of her blocking her way.

He was unusually tall, and garbed in a black flowing robe, with his face hidden by the dark shadows of his hood. He held in his right hand a wooden rod. She tried to back away but the spectre raised his right hand, waved the rod and a greenish mist encircled her body until she couldn't move an inch. Slowly, she was lifted and carried towards her captor. When she was merely inches away from the dark-robed man, his hooded face leaned closer to her, and she could feel his icy breath dangerously close to her skin. Her eyes widened when she finally saw his face beneath the hood. It was a skull with blazing red eyes staring venomously at her as his skeleton mouth opened to deliver her a kiss. The Kiss of Death. She let out a piercing scream.

Her screams woke her up and she opened her eyes in shock. Hermione realized she was soaking wet and breathing heavily. Her whole body shuddered with relief that what she had just experienced was merely a horrible dream. But her relief proved to be short-lived. Her hands, she discovered with dismay, were pinned to a moss covered wall.

"Awake at last," a voice said from behind her. She twisted her head. Her breath was caught in her throat when she saw a group of black-robed men, standing a few feet behind her. Death Eaters!

As they slowly surrounded her, she felt like stepping into another nightmare, but this time it's for real.

Hermione became fully aware that her green gown was extremely sheer when wet. She squirmed uncomfortably, her eyes flashing furiously as she struggled against the chain that shackled her to the wall.

"Well Mudblood, how do you like your accommodations?" She knew that voice. She couldn't see his face, but she had definitely heard his voice before. Her gaze dropped at an empty bucket he was holding. Apparently, he was the reason why she was cold and dripping wet. She racked her brain, trying to place his voice from her memory.

He put down the bucket and advanced towards her. Her skin crawled when he pressed his body against hers. She had to stop herself from flinching when he caressed her cheek. "Afraid, Mudblood?"

She quickly turned her face and bit his hand with a vengeance. He yelled in pain. "You stupid bitch!" And slapped her with such force that blood trickled from her lips. Seeing this, he laughed harshly and yanked her hair hard. As his laughter echoed across the room, something triggered in her memory.

Hermione spat at his face. "I'm not afraid of anyone, especially you!" She stared lividly at him. "It's you who should be worrying about rotting in Azkaban."

"What makes you think we should be worried?"

"Because I know who you are," she sneered back. "I don't have to see your face to know that you're Vincent Crabbe."

The man who was apparently Crabbe seemed taken aback by this.

"So what," grunted another familiar voice, "you're not going to live after this."

Hermione guessed instantly. "Goyle, Gregory... without a doubt." His sharp intake of breath confirmed her suspicion.

"You will all rot in hell!" she spat furiously.

A bone chilling laugh behind her made Hermione whirl her head to look at the direction of the sound. She made an audible gasp. The other man in her dream!

He was also garbed in a black robe like the others, but his hood was down, exposing his identity His face was unnaturally pale and extremely gaunt. A solitary torch hanging by the side of the wall cast gloomy shadows across his bony face. Long dark locks fell over his shoulders like a dark mantle. It was his eyes which totally unnerved her. It was a sickening white.

He merely stood there, looming over her, but the hair rose on the back of her neck. A faint thread of fear entered her mind.

"Such a pity," the stranger rasped throatily. She cringed as he looked her up and down. Pushing the bile down her throat, she stared defiantly at him.

With a swift gesture of his right hand, the chain on her hands abruptly fell on the ground. Wide-eyed, she couldn't believe she was let loose.

"Avarus, what the bloody hell are you doing?" One of the Death Eaters shouted incredulously. His outburst was only met with an ominous stare, he immediately went silent. It didn't escape Hermione's notice that they seemed to be afraid of him.

His eyes remained steady on Hermione's face. "You have twenty seconds to run for your life," he said, a cruel smile on his lips.

Knowing she could never outrun them, her mind started to race. She's not that stupid to believe that they were setting her free. It was more bloody likely to be a cat and mouse game, and she is the helpless prey. Her eyes darted wildly across the room, looking for a means of escape. She spied next to a stack of dirty wooden crates, a wide oak door at the far end of the room.

"One...two...three...four...five..."

She started backing away from them, all the while trying desperately to think of something. The glint of the golden bangles in her left hand caught her attention. It hit her that it was no ordinary accessory, but a Smoky Stunning Bangle. It's a powerful combination of a stunning spell and exploding smoke bomb. George Weasley gave it to her as a Christmas present. She quickly pulled out the bangles from her hand.

"Ten... Eleven... Twelve..."

Quickly, she threw the first bangle on the floor. The men simply looked at it stupidly. In a split second, it exploded loudly and filled the whole place with thick smoke.

She ran quickly towards the wide oak door, but it was locked. "Alohomora!" But the door wouldn't budge. Approaching footsteps alerted her and she leaped and took cover on one of the wooden crates.

She could see a faint outline of a shadow coming towards her. She threw the remaining bangle on the advancing Death Eater, stunning him instantly. He dropped head first on the ground. His wand rolled next to her feet, she immediately grabbed it.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she yelled and pointed at someone coming towards her. It was Crabbe, his stiff form crashed on the floor with a loud thud.

She stunned two more Death Eaters who were completely caught by surprise.

"Useless fools!" hissed Avarus, his eyes glowed menacingly as two more Death Eaters fell on the floor stunned.

Goyle stuttered. "We didn't know she was carrying an explosive." He pointed an accusing finger at Larkin. "You didn't check, you stupid moron."

Under his hood, Larkin went deadly pale. "Please forgive my carelessness. I didn't think-"

"It doesn't matter." The smoke was starting to clear. Avarus advanced towards the crate where Hermione was hiding..

Hermione hurled a stunning spell at him, desperation gnawing at her; knowing that the smoke would clear in a few seconds. Six down, seven to go...

He took a step closer.

She couldn't believe that the stunning spell didn't have any effect on him. Not a faulty wand at a time like this. Oh please...she thought in panic. She decided to stun the other two Death Eaters behind him.

"Accio wand!" Her wand flew straight to Goyle's waiting hand. She was so busy keeping her eyes on Avarus and fighting the other two, Goyle was able to snuck from behind, catching her by surprise. He threw the wand to Avarus.

Avarus took one look at her horrified expression and smiled even more cruelly. Without removing his gaze from her face, he pointed his wand straight at her. Her face went paper-white.

"Crucio!"

An excruciating pain racked her whole body. She crumpled into the floor, writhing in agony. The pain was everywhere, radiating through her in stupefying waves. She wanted to scream, instead, she bit her lip hard. Her brain felt like it would explode. Keeping her eyes tightly shut, she gnashed her teeth to stop herself from crying out. Hermione thought the pain would numb her senses, but she was wrong. Instead, the pain intensified to a sickening degree. A small whimper escaped her lips as her vision became hazy. The only thing she remembered before her world spun into worlds of gray and black was the deafening laughter ringing hollowly in her ear, then the darkness was complete.

~*~*~*~*~

Draco woke up with a nasty hangover. He looked at the clock, it was five in the morning. His temples throbbed and felt like a dozen Red Caps pounded on his head. He showered, finger-combed his hair and fixed himself a strong cup of black coffee. He looked bleakly at the countless empty bottles on the floor. Well, it certainly looked like he had wiped out the entire contents of his bar. He stirred his coffee and stared at the window absentmindedly, his thoughts were dark and troubled. The ghost who haunted him for months, which he thought had long been banished away, was now back in full force. Last night, after dancing with her, he realized he needed to get away from that place before making an entire fool of himself.

He had Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron the minute he left the ball, and downed a few drinks within ten minutes. There were some blondes who gave him sultry inviting looks but he merely ignored them and concentrated on his drink. Tom, the old barkeeper, kept throwing him suspicious looks that he realized Tom must have recognized him as a Malfoy. He averted his eyes and kept on downing drink after drink. He couldn't understand why he felt so depressed.

When Ron 'the Weasel' Weasley entered with an unnamed brunette, he stiffened visibly. Ron was busy looking after his date that he didn't notice him sitting in a corner. Draco immediately left, not wanting to be in the same vicinity with him. That they never liked each other during their school days in Hogwarts would be an understatement.

He walked along the streets, his mind lost in deep thought, unmindful of the fact that he was walking along Muggle streets and people were gawking at the robe he was wearing. When he reached a dead end, he realized that three Muggles had followed him. They were holding a knife and heading determinedly towards him. His lips curled into a derisive smile. 'Idiots!' He took out his wand and uttered, "Accio Knife!" and the knives zoomed into his hands in a flash.

The three Muggles looked at him in shock, then they immediately ran away. Disgusted, he threw the knife on a canal and Apparated back to his home, where he drank himself to a drunken stupor.

'She probably danced all night,' he thought angrily. Draco remembered the way she looked in that cursed gown, so incredibly innocent and beautiful. The feel of her in his arms was so overwhelming that he wanted to kiss her and brand her his. His eyes glittered with self-disgust. 'I've seen women more beautiful than her...so why are you letting her get to you?'

Cursing himself inwardly, he closed his eyes, shutting them tightly, but the vision of her standing in the ballroom glowing and vibrant wouldn't go away. 'Maybe I need to put the memory charm on myself,' he thought derisively. He was seriously considering that thought when the fire in the living room crackled with a different light. He went towards the hearth and took a jar and threw some of its contents into the fire. Goyle's ugly face suddenly popped into view.

"What do you want, Goyle?" he asked coldly. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, Goyle normally do not use this method to contact him, especially this early.

Looking like the cat that swallowed the canary, Goyle's face split into a wide smile. "The group finally allowed Larkin to join." Goyle seemed disappointed to see no reaction from Draco, he tried again. "His first initiation was to kidnap a Muggle and bury her alive."

He didn't tell Goyle that Larkin was so damn eager to join that without any orders, Larkin took his own initiative and kidnapped Granger six months ago. Instead, Draco merely looked at him.

Goyle's smile widened. "I thought you should know, it was the Mudblood you hated most. The one named Granger who was close to Potter," he finally revealed.

"She did put up quite a fight," recounted Goyle proudly, his eyes glazed. He didn't notice that all the blood had drained out of Draco's face. "She was placed by Larkin inside a coffin. I placed the anti-float and sound proof charm, while Crabbe did the lock charm on the coffin. The rest of us watched, while Avarus sent the coffin plunging deep into the lake. "

Images of Death Eaters levitating the coffin in dizzying speed flashed in Draco's mind. He snapped out of his trance.

"We buried her alive. It was bloody exciting," Goyle said, glancing finally at him. "Where were you all night?"

"You moron, she's not a Muggle, she's a Muggle-born witch," Draco rasped, totally ignoring his question.

Goyle looked unperturbed. "What's the difference? Muggle born, Muggle, they're all the same. "

Draco fought hard to keep his face a blank mask. Goyle failed to notice that Draco's hand were tightly balled into fists.

Goyle laughed harshly. "The lake now became her watery grave." Goyle laughed harshly. "I can imagine how Dumbledore would look when a former Hogwarts student's dead body be discovered floating by the lake.

Draco willed his face to remain composed, but inwardly, he wanted to slit Goyle's throat. "Since when did this all happened?" he asked in an indifferent tone.

"Around midnight last night," Goyle answered smugly. "The plan is for Potter to get the message after four days. He would be fishing her lifeless body by then. Damian said this is only the beginning." His eyes gleamed before his head popped out of view.

After Goyle's head disappeared, Draco forced himself to stand upright, his hand gripping the side of the sofa. His head was reeling from shock. 'I must find her!'

~*~*~*~*~*~