Out of the Silent Planet

Title: Out of the Silent Planet (13/39)
Author: moirasfate/ianthe_waiting
Rating: MA/NC-17
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter books and their characters are the property of JK Rowling. This is a work of fan-fiction. No infringement is intended, and no money is being made from this story. I am just borrowing the puppets, but this is my stage.
Genre: Plot driven smut, Darkfic, Romance, Drama, Angst...
Warnings: M/F, Bondage, slight non-con, Dark!Draco, and HBP spoilers.
Summary: Post-Hogwarts - Hermione Granger fulfills Severus Snape's final wish, to journey to Japan to ‘retrieve' something of importance. Set eleven years after HBP.
Author's Notes: This is my first DM/HG ficlet, so please be kind to the newbie! The title of this fic is taken from C.S. Lewis' book, first in the Perelandra Chronicles.


Many thanks to kazfeist for helping me this chapter and so many others! Cheers!




Out of the Silent Planet
Chapter Thirteen - Of rivals, self-berating, and rueful goodbyes.







The strain in her chest was less severe than it had been earlier that day, but Hermione could still feel the palpable sensation of loss at not being at Malfoy's side. As much as her body felt out of sorts due to the oath, the healing waters of the onsen worked the stiffness and discomfort from her joints. It was a shame that this night would be the last she would be able to take advantage of the spring. In the last two weeks, her leg had not pained her as it usually would have had she stayed in the dreary cold of a British winter. Hermione knew the treatment had nothing really to do with magic, but all to do with the minerals and the heat of the water, yet it was something much more effective than taking pain-reducing potions when the aches and slight arthritis in her joints flared up.

Too wrinkled and hot from the water, Hermione rose feeling much at ease and ready for a warm bed to sleep on, and as she dried off and applied her yukata, she wondered if once again Malfoy would be in her room. She felt the familiar blush burn her cheeks thinking of the night before and her wanton lack of control when it came to fulfilling her sexual appetite. Would that happen again tonight? Hermione could not stand Draco Malfoy's personality with the exception of his fervent passions when it came to sex, and Hermione was not totally adverse to the idea of having another night of the same attentions. At this point in her life, what did it matter if she was indulging herself with a person she disliked so deeply? It was not as if Harry or Ron were around or even in her life to look at her scornfully or ostracize her from their company...they had abandoned her for no other reason than to live their own lives. Why couldn't she live hers?

Slipping through the darkened corridor with her cane hooked on her forearm, she noticed that a faint glow hovered about her door and a sliver of golden light streamed from between a crack from the doorjamb and the panel.

"Hanako?" Hermione whispered cautiously, blinking in confusion as the light from inside her room streamed through the ghost's translucent form.

"Shhh...Listen."

Hanako hovered away from the door to float at Hermione's side.

"Master Yuki is talking with Master Ryu...about you..." Hanako whispered her voice as airy as her form.

Hermione's brow furrowed. She had not seen Yuki since the day before, and as she moved to the crack in the door, she could distinctly hear male voices.

"...Treated her horribly and now you have bound her to your side? Do you intend to kill her with your madness, Draco?"

"Why would I want to kill her, Yuki? She is an asset, despite her low birth, and I intend to use her until I no longer have a need for her."

Hermione gritted her teeth. Of all the pompous, cruel and callous things to say...but she should have expected nothing less from a Malfoy.

"I will not let you harm her."

"Who said anything about harming our lovely little witch? No, I will see that no harm comes to her, at least not from me...I have sworn not to harm her, just as she asked, and who am I to tempt the ancient magic that sealed the oath? You are just upset that you could never get a chance with her...to see how beautiful she looks when you make her come..."

Yuki snarled, and Hermione could just see through the crack in the door that Severus' son drew his wand and had held just as she had only moments before, between Draco's pale brows. "I am no animal. Unlike you, dear brother, I have no need for savagery or low-handed tricks to woo a woman into my bed. I respect Miss Granger, and if I find it necessary, or find that you have somehow damaged her, I will take her by force!"

Draco began laughing, his pale face thrown back to laugh like a madman. "So...so chivalrous, Yuki! It amuses me when you act like this..."

Hermione shivered as she saw the glint of silver in Malfoy's eyes turn from a pleasant shade of molten argent to hard slate chips.

"She is mine for the time being, my trump card, and my passport to what I deserve in life.

You two belong together, both low born and inferior... You have too much of your father's half-blooded nature...and too much of your Matsumoto family honour to make you into a wizard worthy enough to ever challenge me," Malfoy growled dangerously. "Shall we decide it now, Yuki? I have been released from the fetters your family unfairly placed upon me; I can leave Japan with or without Miss Granger. Shall we duel for her hand? If you win, you can have the bitch, and if I win, I take her away. Honestly if it were not for the blood oath I would have given her to you as a parting gift to do with as you pleased, but I need her at the moment...but if you beat me..."

"Shut up! You speak of her as though she were some possession, a pet. A doll!" Yuki snapped, sounding so much like his father that even Malfoy seemed momentarily stunned at the familiar sound of Yuki's voice.

Hermione could see that Yuki's black clad back was moving as if he were panting, but she could not see his face for his back was to the door. Silence fell between the two men and Hermione could just see Malfoy's face, screwed up in anger and frustration.

"Then why bother coming to me? What do you want from me, Yuki? You want to deride me, poke the caged beast to see if it will attack?" Draco yelled, leaning across the table and Hermione was almost afraid that Draco would attack, but he stayed seated, only half roused to anger it seemed. Draco's face was a horrible mask of insanity and wildness, it was frightening to the point that Hermione was ready to enter the room and stun the man to calm him.

"Why does it have to be this way?" Draco asked quietly, settling his body down again behind the table, his voice tremulous almost hurt. "One woman upsets my entire world...the world I have come to accept after denying it to myself for years...to upset a kinship that I have come to cherish in my time in this house. I hate her, Yuki...I hate her so much that I could kill her, but I know that I would regret it for the rest of my miserable life. She sways the stars from their fixed place in the skies; she always has been that way..."

Hermione felt her lips tremble from a mixture of anxiety and regret. Was this what Draco Malfoy had always thought of her?

"I would have been content to live here for the rest of my days, secreted away and cut off from everything that defined me from birth...I would have been happy in my seclusion, I was beginning to feel so comfortable living with your family. I would have found myself a wife perhaps, settled down and been part of the branch family...living a simple life where all my mistakes as a boy were erased, forgotten, lost forever in the steady march of time."

The room fell silent again, but Yuki still seemed stiff and tense for his back was straight and his shoulders rose as if ready to strike again at any moment.

"You're becoming rhapsodic, Draco, and as eloquent as it sounds, I still do not trust you to keep Miss Granger from harm."

Draco's body seemed to shoot up from the floor as if pulled violently by some invisible string and Hermione shuddered as she felt a wave of magic, akin to static electricity running over every bit of her skin, as it passed from the room and beyond the walls. Hermione glanced at Hanako as the ghost seemed to blink out of existence for a few moments only to reappear looking very dishevelled and fearful.

"I am bound by a blood oath! If I harm her, I harm myself! Even unintentionally...if harm comes to that wench, I will most likely die! What do you want from me, Yuki? Do you want me to destroy myself right now so that you will be reassured that I cannot ever harm your precious 'Miss Granger?'" Draco roared his voice unearthly as his magic began creating a gale of wind around his body. It was unintentional, Hermione knew, she had seen similar things happen when Harry became extremely impassioned or angry, but that had been at the height of his powers before he defeated Tom Riddle. For Draco Malfoy to emit such raw energy, filling the area with the smell of ozone and to begin destroying objects within a twenty-foot radius was proof that he was formidable as well as bordering on the edge of insanity. The table cracked and fell in a heap on the floor. Several of the tatami mats flew up from the floor and hit the walls, and as Yuki rose to his feet calmly, his wand extended to protect himself with a simple shield charm, Hermione drew her wand as well and moved away from the panel doors afraid that the doors might jar loose and hit her. The doors were rattling, as was the floor under Hermione's bare feet.

As quickly as Draco's magic flared, it died down and Hermione felt a pressure release in the air around her, but still she knew Draco was incoherently angry for she could feel his rage deep in her chest, so strong that it was affecting the invisible link that bound her to him.

"Get out..." Draco growled in a low, even voice, sounding just as dangerous as the moment he had first accosted her that night in the dressing room outside the spring.

"Draco... I..." Yuki began his voice uncertain and Hermione winced at his weak retort. It would do no good for Draco to hurt Yuki and it was then she moved to open the door.

"Get out!" Draco roared and Hermione pressed herself against the wall beside the door just in time...she yelped in fright as the door beside her exploded outward from the force of Yuki Matsumoto's body crashing through the wood to land in a heap against the far wall of the corridor.

Eyes wide in shock, Hermione could not move to help the dark clad man who was covered in splinters of wood and dust, slowly rising to his feet. She still could not move as Draco's shadow fell over Yuki, Draco standing in the doorway just inches from Hermione.

Yuki slowly rose to his feet, nonchalantly brushing splinters and dust from his robes, his wand still in his left hand, and a trail of blood running down the side of his face from his dark hairline. Hermione whimpered seeing the predatory gleam in the man's eye as he glared at Draco, ready to duel with his wand or brawl with his bare hands, but Hermione saw no more of Yuki as a strong hand grabbed her by the arm and jerked her inside the room sending her cane clattering to the floor.

"At this point, my dear brother, I would duel you for this lovely lady. Not for love or honour, but for opportunity...my opportunity. Unless you have nothing more to say, a goodbye or a 'bon voyage,' I suggest you go to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow, so I and my bound companion wish you a good night," Draco drawled, and with a flick of the wrist he cast a spell that began pulling the splinters of the door up to reform the broken door and blocking Yuki Matsumoto out of sight.

Hermione blinked as Draco released her arm and went through the room, casting spells to set the room to rights. After everything was back in place she felt him cast several more spells to lock, silence and ward the room. He said nothing to her about the fact that he had caught her hovering about outside the door, or any apologies or explanations for his comments about her character; instead, he moved into the bedroom and slipped into the spread futon. Hermione glanced back at the door, idly wondering about collecting her cane, wondering if Yuki were unhurt, and wondering if Hanako had disappeared before or after the door exploded for she had not seen the ghost when Hermione had pressed herself against the wall out of fear.

The candles that lit the room went out with a quiet 'Nox' while Hermione stood idly in the sitting room. She scowled as she was momentarily lost in the dark, waiting for her eyes to adjust with the moonlight streaming in the window to see how to get to bed. She dared not light her wand to find her way; Hermione did not want to draw attention to herself after the violent display she had witnessed only moments before. Quietly she moved into the bedroom only able to see that Draco was on his side facing the window, leaving only enough room for her to lie at his right side.

After she settled into the futon, thankful for the warmth of the comforter over her, and placed her wand within easy reaching distance, she listened. Draco was breathing softly, but made no noise to speak to her or acknowledge she was even in the same bed with him. Hermione could never hope to understand; she thought...how Draco could be so energetically mad and suddenly as calm and demure as a sleeping lamb. The mood swings, the contradictory words and actions, all of it was only proof to Hermione that she had bound herself to someone she would have to be aware of at every moment. But at that moment, as she rolled to her right side and settled her head against her pillow, absently noting that the bed had been laid out with two pillows, she wanted nothing more than to rest.



* * *



Sometime during the night, Hermione awoke as if she could no longer bear to sleep. The room was cold and Hermione could hear the wintry wind rattling the windows just enough to fill all her senses. Draco lay beside her, his back to her as he slept and if she listened closely, she could just hear him breathing slowly and deeply. He had not touched her while she slept and by the state of the comforter that lay over them, Hermione believed she had only slept a short while for nothing about the futon had been disturbed while she slumbered.

Why she had awakened was evading her, but she felt as if some outside voice had called her out of sleep, wishing her to wake fully. Hermione lay on her back, staring up at the dark ceiling, her mind suddenly whirring into thought and calling for action, and slowly as her body woke, she had the overwhelming urge to tip toe to the loo. Slowly she rose to sit, pushing the comforter back slightly and gazing out to the foggy and condensation coated window. It was no where near dawn, and Hermione cringed at the idea that she might not get back to sleep, but her body tingled and she rose, the urge to find the bathroom overwhelming all other thought.

As carefully as she could, Hermione rolled out of bed, pulling back the comforter lest Draco would get cold. Taking up her wand, Hermione started around the head of the futon, but as she passed Draco's pale head, a hand seemed to snake out from under the covers and grasp her ankle nearly making Hermione scream from shock.

"Where are you going?" Draco said softly, sleepily, his face still obscured by the edge of the comforter.

Hermione swallowed thickly, her heart in her throat. "The loo..."

"Be quick about it."

The hand slid away, back under the warmth of the covers and Hermione sighed in relief. Quietly and stealthily, she continued her trek through the bedroom and into the sitting room, the heat from Draco's large hand around her ankle still tingling warm. Passing through the door and into the corridor, Hermione lit her wand tip sending silver rays of light out before her and into the shadows. Feet thudding against the cool wooden floors, Hermione found the W.C. and quickly went inside. Moments later, hands washed and wand relit, Hermione slipped through the door and sighed. She still did not feel sleepy and all the thoughts that she had set aside to query over before came rushing into her head. Shutting the door behind her, she knew that her inability to rest was partially because she would be leaving with Draco Malfoy in a few hours, out of Japan and into the world at large. Of course, she was tense, nervous even, at the thought that she had allowed herself to be tied to a man that was as stable as trying to stand in a dinghy in the middle of the North Sea.

Turning slowly, almost hesitantly to return to her room and back to the bed she had to share with Malfoy, Hermione wondered if future sleeping arrangements would have to be the same...sharing a bed with a man that inspired so many mixed emotions and feelings in her already taxed body and mind. It was indecent...sharing a bed with a man who was little more than a stranger, and to top it off, Hermione did not care much for the man who Malfoy had become.

Her feet becoming like ice, Hermione picked up her pace down the corridor, anxious to get back in bed despite the other occupant's hateful personality. Her wand stretched out before her, lighting her way, Hermione tried to clear her mind again and prepare to sleep. Passing other guest rooms, Hermione knew that she was close to her own door, but before she could take another soft step, the darkness before her seemed to swirl, and she quickly found herself being pulled roughly by the left arm in a direction her body had not intended to go...pulled into an empty guest room.

The force of the pull upon her left arm sent her sprawling into the floor, her wand taking flight and the light dying as if being shut off by a Muggle switch. Dizzy from her fall, Hermione rolled off her stomach and sat up, her eyes wide with fright and dismay. Had Malfoy gotten impatient with her and come looking for her?

"Draco...I..." she began, addressing the dark of the empty guest room which was at least ten degrees cooler than the corridor and severely needing a warming charm.

"Forgive me, Miss Granger," a familiar voice said in the dark, near to what Hermione supposed was the door. After falling, she had lost her bearings and her eyes had not adjusted to the sudden change from the pale silver light of her wand tip and the utter darkness of the room. "I did not mean to pull on your arm so hard."

"Yuki?" Hermione asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Behind her, the tip of her wand flared, and Hermione winced at the sudden light, but quickly came face to face with Yuki Matsumoto who was kneeling on the floor to her left.

"I wanted to speak with you, Miss Granger, before you left with...Draco."

Hermione nodded slightly, and reached out to pluck her wand from Yuki's hand, but he drew back slowly so that she fell slightly to her side, the hem of her sleeping yukata tangled around her legs. "Give me my wand, please."

"Not yet, I want you to listen to me, Miss Granger," Yuki said firmly, rising to stand, Hermione's wand held loosely in his left hand and his own wand in his right, hanging limply at his side. Hermione studied what she could discern of Yuki Matsumoto, he was dressed in a black yukata, similar to what Draco wore, but wore black silk pajama bottoms that pooled atop his bare feet. A curtain of long jet hair obscured his face, but Hermione could see that his face was bruised and the corner of his lip bloodied. She wondered why the wizard had not bothered to heal himself, but stiffened unconsciously as Yuki knelt before her, his knees only millimeters from her toes as she sat with her legs bent at the knees before her body.

"I wish you had not opted to form a blood oath with Draco."

Hermione blinked, Yuki's voice regretful and baritone, sounding so much like Severus as she realized that Yuki was not speaking to her in Japanese, but in her mother tongue.

"I would say that you have made a grave error, Miss Granger...Hermione, but it is too late now for any recompense in the matter. You have heard my warnings about Draco, and even though he has vowed to not harm you, I cannot trust that vow for what it appears to be. He will harm you, whether by binding you to his side or by exposing you to things and people who will harm you in his stead. Draco is not one to care for anyone but himself, as I am sure you well know. Therefore, I would like to offer you my protection, in the likely chance that you will be harmed...and you WILL be harmed, Hermione, if you are with Draco Malfoy for the foreseeable future," Yuki said softly, but sternly, passing Hermione her wand.

Hermione sucked on her lower lip as she took her wand from Yuki's large hand, his cool fingers brushing against the back of her hand in a gesture that made Hermione feel slightly uncomfortable.

"What makes you think that I cannot protect myself?" Hermione asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

"The oath...and your noble personality and drive to fulfill the obligations you yourself have created to do whatever you believe is right by Draco Malfoy. You are nothing but a toy to him, Hermione...a major character in his mind games. You have already made yourself vulnerable to his games by relenting to him...by letting him touch you."

Hermione drew herself back and away from Yuki. Even in the pale light from her wand tip she could see something in Yuki Matsumoto's eyes that made him seem a hundred times more dangerous than the broken and mad man that lay in her bed only two doors down.

"I don't need your protection," Hermione growled, trying to get to her feet and eventually out of the room, but her yukata was still tightly tangled around her legs and she did not want to release her wand to try and get free. She could not trust the dark man who knelt before her, his face alternating from something twisted and dark to something that was familiar and friendly... There was something wrong with Yuki Matsumoto and Hermione did not want to stay on the floor looking at him long enough to find out. All she knew for sure was that she had been deceived in thinking that Yuki wanted only for her welfare...there was something sinister about the way he gazed at her, his eyes hard and black, deep and fathomless.

"But I believe you do, Hermione...and you have been deluded into a false sense of security in thinking Draco will protect you if only to have an easier transition back into his old life. You are key to his reinstatement into British Wizarding society. You heard so much yourself tonight while you stood in the corridor. He only wants you so that he can return to his old way of life...he hates you...he does not respect you and in the end he will be more of a danger to you if he returns to Britain than if he remains here," Yuki utter silkily, his hand reaching out to touch Hermione's cotton clad knee gently, caressing her raised and bent leg.

Hermione's breath was coming out in rasps now, her mind in a near panic and screaming at her to run...something was not right and she was not sure if she wanted to have to fight her way to safety. It was then she realized...she had never truly been safe since she had come to this house...had she?

"The wards have been lifted...the vows broken...Draco can come and go as he pleases..." Hermione panted, trying to keep Yuki talking as she slowly shifted her legs in the fabric of her robe and slowly feeling the cotton give and loosen. "The blood oath has been sealed...there is nothing to be done but go now..."

Yuki chuckled, almost amicably. "We could kill him...and you would be free of any obligations, and my family would never be burdened further with what Severus Snape..." at Severus' name, Yuki seemed to growl angrily, "...entrapped here eleven years ago."

Hermione could move her legs, and with a bit of concentration made her wand tip glow suddenly brighter, blinding Yuki so that he fell back and shielded his eyes. Hermione jumped to her feet and rushed past Yuki and to the door, but before she could get very far she was jerked back as two hands grasped the hem of her robe and held her fast.

Twisting in her clothing and hearing the cotton begin to rip, she flicked her wand to send a stunning hex at Yuki. Hermione really did not want a fight or even to harm Severus Snape's strange son any more than she already had. Nevertheless, as the stunner whizzed past Yuki as he rolled on the floor to evade, Hermione cast a quick 'Diffindo' on her own clothes and felt her body spring free, the hem of her yukata cut and her body propelled toward the door.

"You're making this more difficult than it should be, Hermione...I offered you my protection, so why do you run?" Yuki called almost in a roar as Hermione stumbled out into the corridor and began pounding the wooden floor with her bare feet as she ran in the dark, her wand no longer lit and still clenched in her hand. It was because of the darkness that Hermione did not see whom she ran headlong into or whom it was that stood over her as she fell back to land on her bottom, but she had a pretty good idea.

"Duelling in the dead of night, Granger? How Slytherin of you..." Draco drawled sleepily, and Hermione felt his hand take hold of the front of her yukata and lifted her up to her feet.

Relief flooded Hermione's mind and body, she knew that compared to what she saw in Yuki Matsumoto's eyes only a few moments before, Draco's madness was so much more tolerable and almost like a minor personality flaw compared to the insane lust and want in Yuki's eyes... Hermione fell against Draco in a moment of weakness and embraced him, not caring that Draco had stiffened under her touch and had held his breath. Finally, realizing how silly it was to even think about holding to someone who hated her so much, Hermione let go, slipping past Draco and into her room. As she passed into her room, she felt the subtle crackle of magic run over her face and body, the protections of wards. A candle was lit in the bedroom and Hermione made her way to the warm and welcoming light; Draco had followed her, closing the door and sealing it with additional wards.

Hermione knelt by the futon, waiting for Draco, and as he approached she could see that his face was impassive, his hair dishevelled like a person who had been rudely awakened and had literally jumped out of bed.

"He tried to convince you to kill me, did he?" Draco growled, his eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep, his mouth a vicious line in his stern face.

"I would not say 'convince,' but he mentioned it, yes," Hermione said softly, still grasping her wand and wishing for the first time since her arrival in Japan that she were home... "Does he hate you so much?"

Draco leaned down to arrange the comforter to slip back inside, "No. He just fears me that much. In the morning we leave and you will not be bothered with him again." He lay down, pulling the comforter over his prone body and rolled to his side so that he was facing away from Hermione. The candle flickered out and Hermione was left to kneel in the darkness by the bed. Draco said no more and soon Hermione could hear the change in his breathing indicating that he was asleep.

How could Draco sleep at a time like this? Hermione knew that she could never sleep now, her adrenaline still pumping through her veins and the uncomfortable, dirty feeling that she felt like a film on her skin would never allow her to shut her eyes. The fact that Severus' son had inspired such a dislike in Hermione's body and mind seemed almost impossible, but Hermione reminded herself that Yuki Matsumoto was nothing like Severus when it came to personality. There was something very wrong with the man, something that made him seem even more a threat to her than the man sleeping just feet away. The gleam in Yuki's eye had been nothing more than a twisted form of longing, much like she had seen only two nights before when she woke. Hermione shuddered; she did not trust Yuki, even more so now that he had made his intentions of killing Draco Malfoy known.

Hermione was torn. In truth, she did not like her situation one bit, and if what Yuki said was true...she had fallen into a well-constructed trap. How had it gotten so complicated, how had she let herself be so wrapped up in the madness of two men? She was more angry with herself than with the two men who seemed to be as mad as the day was long...she wondered if she too were insane for ever thinking that she could fix Draco Malfoy or believe that she would ever be safe in his presence.

There was no way to break the blood oath and come out alive. Damn oaths, vows and all the damn conditions and restrictions! Hermione clenched her wand tighter in her hand and bit down into her fleshy lip. She was supposed to be the sane one, the intelligent one, and sitting there, staring down at the slight luminescence of early morning light in Malfoy's fair hair, Hermione knew that her life had taken a strange and frustrating turn and she was shackled with someone she would have never wanted to look at again.



* * *



When dawn came, Hermione was already up and dressed in the clothes she had been left with after the kappa had packed just before the gray light of pre-dawn. In the sitting room, Draco Malfoy snoring softly in the other room, Hermione thanked the kappa for all their assistance. The Kappa said nothing, but seemed to smile revealing long, razor like teeth and began setting out a light breakfast for Hermione while others began removing her packed belongings from the room in little pops of magical apparition.

Hermione finished her breakfast of rice, soup, and tofu curd, and was sipping on her tea when Malfoy woke. Breakfast had been laid out for him as well, but Hermione knew that the food was most likely cold by that point. She did not acknowledge her roommate as he stumbled about the bed room, his hair more dishevelled than it had been hours before, and the silvery tresses stuck up at strange angles from his head, tangled and much like Hermione's hair had been when she was at Hogwarts. Her wand near her hand, her cane at her side on the floor having been retrieved by the kappa sometime during the night, Hermione sat stiffly at the table, her socked feet rubbing together under the warmth of the kotatsu.

Draco stumbled into the sitting room and settled down at the table, sitting Indian-style as he began eating without so much as a word of greeting. He ate as if he had been starved and grains of rice stuck to his face and lips as he seemed to be going for a world record in eating. Hermione held her tea in her hands, amused and at the same time wondering if she were going to have to watch Malfoy eat like a pig during the rest of their trip.

And then it hit Hermione...she had either refused to think much about it, or she did not remember to think about it...she and Malfoy were heading to Italy later that day. A new arm...the idea flitted through her mind, and she frowned disdainfully. By this time, Draco had finished his hasty breakfast and was drinking his scalding tea as if it were ice water.

"I'm going to clean up a bit, do not leave this room."

Hermione blinked as Malfoy rose and moved to the door.

"Twenty minutes and I'll be back. Prepare yourself to leave."

Hermione nodded as Draco left the room, the wards resetting with Draco's departure, changing the palpable air pressure in the room. Hermione felt the familiar strain in her chest return as her breath felt as stale as the air in Draco's wake.

Stacking her dishes, as well as Draco's, Hermione smirked as the dishes popped out of sight and her cup of tea refilled itself. All she had to do was wait. As much as she liked the springs and the setting, she was thankful that she was leaving, even with Draco Malfoy... If it had been a different situation, Hermione knew that she would have enjoyed herself much more without the distraction of past acquaintances, surprises of the existence of children of past mentors, and the amount of violence and annoyance she had endured during her days at the ryokan. She could not trust Malfoy in the least, and now Severus' son, but she liked the Matsumoto elders, the two that she had met...

Sipping her tea thoughtfully, Hermione knew that as soon as they arrived in Edo she would have to send a few letters. First to Millie, and at this thought, Hermione wondered what she would tell Millie...Draco Malfoy was alive, somewhat well in body, not in mind, and she was bound to him until Malfoy saw that he no longer needed her... Hermione could only imagine what Millie would have to say in response. Also, a letter to Mr. Watanabe for reassurance that she was somewhat safe, thanking him for his assistance, and apologizing for not contacting him sooner... She felt like a total failure for not even telling her friends and her guide that she was safe, it was careless of her, and Hermione winced at her lack of responsibility.

Ten minutes had passed, and Hermione finished her tea.

"Mistress?" a voice whispered from the door and Hermione nearly dropped her mug in surprise, it had been totally quiet in the room and she had been so deep in thought that the sound of Hanako's airy voice startled her so badly.

"Come in, Hanako."

Hermione set her mug down with shaking hands and tried to smile as the girl ghost floated through the panel door and into the room.

"Pardon the intrusion, but Mistress Fuumi would like to speak with you, but she cannot enter due to the protections Master Ry-Draco placed upon the room. Can you open the door for my Mistress to enter?"

Hermione scowled, she knew that Malfoy had locked her in like a prisoner, but what sort of ward had he used so that even the matriarch of the house could not enter? She slowly rose to her feet, using her cane due to her slightly pained leg and moved past Hanako and to the door. Hermione reached out to open the door and received a nasty shock as she touched the door. Stepping back, Hermione drew her wand and swished it through the air, disabling several of the wards so that she could at least open the door without being hexed. When the last of the wards fell, Hermione opened the door to come face to face with Lady Fuumi and a man she had never seen before.

Stepping back to let the two older people enter, Hermione closed the door and cast several of her own protections on the door. Turning back to the two elder folk, Hermione bowed as Lady Fuumi sat on the floor, the older man at her side. Hermione felt uneasy, and moved to kneel before her guests. When she settled herself with her cane at her side, Lady Fuumi spoke her face very stern and her eyes almost obscured by her wrinkles.

"We would like to apologize to you, young lady, for the abhorrent manner in which you have been treated while in our inn," Lady Fuumi said softly, her old, gnarled hands clasped upon her short knees over which she wore a dark kimono.

Hermione opened her mouth to speak in retort, but Lady Fuumi continued. "My grandson has made insinuations toward you that were improper and downright shameful and we have come to apologize for that as well. The boy has been reprimanded, but we fear that the nature of his attraction to you is indecent as well as dangerous."

The older man who wore a black yukata that seemed to be the standard dress of the men of the inn, spoke next. He was perhaps as old as her own father, for his long black hair was streaked with gray and his well trimmed moustache and beard were peppered with signs of age. "We have spoken to his employers at the University and have arranged it so that he cannot apply to work in Britain. We fear, however that he has learned his true parentage and seeks to leave Japan to claim whatever inheritance he believes is his... We have been careful to keep the identity of Yuki's father a secret, as per Master Severus' bidding, but it does not prevent Yuki from learning this matter on his own. It has nothing to do with your coming here, Miss Granger, but more to do with Master Draco, we believe. However, your affiliation with Master Severus has made you a source of interest to my grandson."

Hermione said nothing, realizing that the gentleman was Toku Matsumoto, the father of Lady of Kaede and Lady Kaori. His voice was very deep and Hermione could feel his voice rumbling deep in her chest. His words, however, were disturbing to say the least.

"Yuki is a good man, but troubled. Perhaps it is our fault that he has become so, but he is an adult and we can only do so much for his well-being. We are more concerned with his unnatural attraction toward you and how it might be troublesome to you," Toku said with an air of regret and pain. "We know you have enough to deal with at the moment, and for that in part, we must thank you. We knew that the day would come eventually when the protections on Master Draco would be broken and that he would leave this house. It is a shame that this task fell to you, Miss Granger."

Hermione frowned. "A shame?"

Toku Matsumoto blinked at Hermione's question and glanced at his mother. "Surely, Miss Granger, some of the misdeeds and injustices that befell you in this house are due to Master Draco and his instability. We only feel that we are partly to blame for the mishandling of your person. We know that there is nothing we can do now or give you that will atone for our lack of aid to you in the past few days. We could only prevent your death...and Master Draco was set on killing you..."

Hermione bit her lip. It had been true...what Yuki had said when she had first awoken from her drug-induced sleep.

"Even with the blood oath you are still in grave danger," Lady Fuumi added and before Hermione could open her mouth to ask about how the old women knew, she answered herself...it was a mixture of Legilimency and the fact that nothing seemed to go amiss in this house in Lady Fuumi's old, crafty eyes.

"But to kill Master Draco would be killing yourself...or even to have Master Draco killed most likely would result in your death. And of course, that is the most extreme alternative to your situation and I am sure that is something you would never want to do..." Lady Fuumi continued. "To kill that boy would be a waste. He is dangerous, yes, but he could be a powerful ally if his mind were settled and at peace."

Hermione nodded.

"In the meantime, we leave you to Master Draco. We can only pray that you are not further mistreated and that in the end, all will be well and when all is over and you are free of your obligations, we invite you to return someday to this house. You have done this family a service, as terrible as it seems now, but a service that will not be forgotten," Toku intoned softly, bowing down in thanks to Hermione.

"In better days and times, do return. We are sorry that we could not have done better by you, but we will do so in the future," Lady Fuumi said with a toothless grin and bowed to Hermione as well.

Hermione smiled sadly and returned the gesture of thanks. It was a shame...yes, a shame that matters would have to be so complicated and that she could not learn more about this country or this family other than the current scandalous, but now revealed, secrets.



* * *



Malfoy returned twenty five minutes after the point at which he left, by which time Hermione had said her goodbyes to Hanako, Lady Fuumi and Sir Toku Matsumoto who claimed to want Hermione to return as soon as possible so that they could discuss her field of work. Toku Matsumoto had been close to Severus in the sense that he shared a passion for potion making and was delighted yet saddened that he had not spoken with Hermione sooner.

When Malfoy returned he was cleaned, groomed and dressed in a pair of black slacks and a stylish black shirt that clung to his chest very tightly. The arm of the shirt that covered his maimed arm was neatly rolled and seemed very strange compared to the rest of his physique. With a few muttered words to hurry, Hermione took up her cane and placed her wand in a pocket in her long black dress to glance back at her room one last time.

Into the entrance room, no one was there to see them off and Hermione frowned as Draco produced a long black coat for himself and Hermione's cloak, dropping it unceremoniously on her shoulders. Slipping into her shoes for the first time in days, she followed Draco out into the cold of the outside of the ryokan, making herself increase her pace to meet him on the damp flagstone walk. With an arm about her waist, pressing her tightly to his chest, he Apparated...and that was the last time Hermione saw the Matsumoto ryokan for many years.

Many times afterward, Hermione would dream of the inn and the people who had lived there in virtual isolation throughout the winter months. Many times Hermione dreamt of the room in which she met Lady Fuumi for the first time and the moving painted screens that portrayed dragons, tigers, and phoenixes. Many times Hermione felt as if Lady Fuumi reached out to her through her sharp mind beyond space and time, just to see if Hermione was in good health and spirits...and many times Hermione wished she could speak with the older woman about trivial matters. In fact Lady Fuumi reminded Hermione so much of a female version of Albus Dumbledore, that Hermione wished she could seek out the old woman's wisdom about the world when the situation seemed to call for it.


When Hermione and Draco came to Edo, Hermione felt as if a great weight had been lifted, but still something remained. Hermione had an intuitive feeling that the further away from the ryokan she and Draco got, the more Hermione would feel that she had fulfilled her teacher's dying wish...but regret remained and lingered for many years until Hermione returned to the ryokan again.