Temptation - Dramione

Chapter 2

Hermione

Stepping into the shower, the hot water thawed my freezing body. As I closed my eyes, vivid flashes from today rushed back.

There he stood, Draco Malfoy, right before me. His eyes, as cold and grey as stone, devoided of any emotion met mine. The boy I loathed almost as much as Voldemort himself. He was the reason my parents were gone, his betrayal that night when he let Death Eaters infiltrate Hogwarts, The Order came to help but we were outnumbered. Some death eaters got bored and stole students' information.

They got to my parents.

Returning home the next day, I was met with the sight of their lifeless, bloodied forms on the floor. The word "Muggles" carved into their stomachs. Their deaths were my fault – my selfishness led to their demise. Had I acted sooner, obliterated their memories, they might be alive. Ultimately, it was Draco's actions that night that led to their deaths. If he hadn't allowed Death Eaters in, they'd be alive. I would have had the time to obliterate them and send them off to somewhere far away, like Australia.

I could never forgive Malfoy for that day but above all, I could never forgive myself.

I barely had time to process what happened before my eyes met with Voldemort' and I froze in dread.

This is it, I thought, this is the end. But this couldn't be how it ended – not as a captive. I was meant to die fighting, not like this.

Pain surged through me, the Cruciatus Curse. Uncontrollable screams escaped me, the agony too much to bear. I didn't even notice that I was the one producing those sounds until I felt hot tears running down my face.

"Where's the boy?" Voldemort hissed.

"I don't know!" I cried out, feeling as though my bones were breaking over and over again.

The physical pain faded only to let place to a searing pain in my mind – Legilimency. Very had to resist when You-Know-Who rips your mind open.

My head throbbed relentlessly, as if on fire. The pain surged through me, compelling an impulse to grasp at my hair and tear it free from my scalp.

Fighting back was futile; Voldemort delved into my recent memories with Harry. The wedding, infiltrating the Ministry, the locket, the forest, the Horcruxes, Ron's departure, Godric's Hollow.

I felt him split out of my mind, an unreadable expression on his face.

I heard him speaking in parseltongue to his snake, my mind couldn't focus on anything except for the pain I was in and the fact that he now knew Harry was after his Horcruxes.

I barely had time to process what happened when I felt two strong arms helping me up, guiding me somewhere else. I slowly started to regain full consciousness as I was sat on a bed. I glance up only for my eyes to meet Draco's icy ones. Curiously, his eyes didn't look as cold as they did a couple of minutes ago, he looked somewhat concerned.

"Are you okay?" His voice was surprisingly gentle. It caught me off guard. He'd always tormented me, ridiculed me for being a Muggle-born, a 'know-it-all.'

"Don't pretend to care; you hate me," I retorted, my scepticism evident. With no reason to trust his sudden concern, I wasn't about to let my guard down. Moreover, if I was going to rot here, why bother with the formalities?

My fists were clenched tight and my stomach was tied in a knot.

"You should shower; you look disgusting," he spat, his hostility returning. "The bathroom's there. A house elf will bring you dinner in an hour." He left, sealing the door behind him.