Eye to Eye: A Dramione Fanfic

Chapter 44

As usual, there was nothing but darkness surrounding Hermione as she sat on the cold floor, her back against the stone wall and her face buried in her hands - she didn't want anyone to know that there were tears streaming down her cheeks. She'd tried desperately to keep her sobs quiet and controlled, hoping to draw less attention to herself if someone entered. So far, it was working.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been here. She didn't even know what time it was; there were windows lining one side of the room, but they were far too dirty to see out of and barely let any light in. Every once in a while, a door would open somewhere and allow a very small amount of artificial light into the almost pitch black room, but it would disappear almost as soon as it appeared. Why? Because they only wanted to check that she hadn't managed to conduct a miraculous escape from her cell. She'd counted that the door had opened three times since she'd woken at whatever time it had been, but that alone seemed to set her on edge; yesterday (whenever that was) the door had only opened four times throughout the whole day.

Something was happening.

The door swung open again, a little too quickly for Hermione's liking, and three figures entered, dragging something along the floor behind them. One of the figures, who turned out to be male, mumbled something to one of the others and, less than a few seconds later, the room was flooded in light. Hermione closed her eyes and waited for them to adjust, but once they were open again she wished she had kept them closed...

Draco was lying on the floor, his body covered in his own blood as he remained worryingly still.

It took everything for her to remain exactly where she was and maintain some kind of control over her racing mind and heart, but the three people who'd entered with Draco must've known how she'd respond. Why else would they have brought him here?

The man who had turned on the lights let out a laugh and approached the bars which kept Hermione from escaping. "Well, would you lookie here, boys. It appears we've struck a nerve."

One of the other men kicked Draco's leg and scoffed. "Mr. Malfoy was right."

"He's always right." The first man snapped as he moved away from the bars. "He said he'd be back, and he is. He said he'd get revenge, and that's what he's doing. Mr. Malfoy is never wrong."

A groan escaped Draco's lips as he began to regain consciousness and, despite knowing she shouldn't, Hermione let out a sigh of relief. He's still alive! However, her mind quickly returned to its darkened state when the third man began to chuckle. "How adorable. She's getting her hopes up."

All three men turned to look at the girl in the cage and grinned. The first man shook his head. "Don't get too hopeful, only one of you will make it out of here alive."

Her breath got caught in her throat. Alive? She shuddered to think what might happen between now and the next time she'd see ther's men - if she was them again. She waited until the men were gone, turning off the lights as they went, before she rushed forwards and pressed up against the bars that confined her.

"Draco." She hissed, attempting to wake the badly injured boy.

There was a slight groan, but no actual words.

Hermione rolled her eyes and tried again. "Draco."

"Hermione?" His voice was hoarse, but it was definitely him. She saw him attempt to sit up, but fail and collapsed helplessly back against the floor.

Right there, in that moment, she wanted to smile - to show some form of happiness... but she quickly realised that it didn't matter; Draco wouldn't - couldn't - see her, and, not just that, but she had already been told that this day - or night - would be the last one that either she or Draco would see. Whether it had been a scare tactic or genuine confession of what lies ahead, Hermione didn't know. However, one thing she was certain of was that she wasn't going to be the one to survive, not by a long shot; she'd been here first, so they obviously had more of a motive for doing something to her as opposed to Draco.

Was it to hurt Draco? Was it to hurt her friends? Even then, she still didn't have an answer, but she did know that she would ensure that Draco survived whatever lay ahead for them. He had to survive. Why should she get to claim that privilege for herself? She had nothing left to live for.