Living in Darkness

Chapter 21: The Dragon's Lair

Hermione sat in the dusty floor of her room, her knees pulled tightly to her chest, her arms embracing them. The dark shadows cast by the light of the moon danced eerily before her, taunting her, trying to evoke her to do something rash.

But she just sat quietly in the dark, wanting all the light to disappear. She wanted to live in darkness...

In the darkness she would be allowed to love such a dark creature...

Such a beautiful, intoxicating, breathtaking and agonizingly out of reach creature. A dark, yet sincerely passionate person who seemed to only consume every thought she had.

He was a drug... and she was addicted... and she had no idea how it happened.

Hermione felt the tears slide down her cheek as the early rays of dawn streamed through her window, illuminating her face as the crystal droplets began to obscure her beauty.

XXX

The kitchen was gloomier than ever as the trio sat discussing the plans for retrieving the final horcrux, the locket.

"Hermione... Hermione?" Harry was looking at her, waiting for her to acknowledge him. She seemed to be in her own little world. Ron leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Hermione squeaked, jerking her head up suddenly. She looked at her best friends and felt her face grow hot. It was as if they were reading her mind... they knew what she was thinking.

But they would surly never speak to her again if they knew what she was thinking... and here they were talking to her.

Because if they knew she was thinking about Malfoy being in the shower on the floor above them, clear hot water streaming down his torso, his immaculate skin revealed to her eyes only, his dark silver eyes pouring into hers, a small smirk on his face as he whispered to her to get in.

And his enormous, bulging, hard...

"Hermione!" Harry said exasperated. Hermione actually flinched this time and looked up at Harry, her thoughts momentarily mortifying her as she saw his green eyes staring at her dangerously.

"Care to join us back in London?" Harry said, shaking his head. Hermione heard the water shut off.

"Can you perform these defensive spells effectively, we need them to be able to get through the necropolis safely?" Hermione took the list from Harry's hand and nodded as she scanned the spells.

"Good, because we need to get this planned out and move today..." Harry continued to drag on as Hermione felt her thoughts slip again.

She was sitting on the edge of a rather high building, rain pouring over her, soaking her to the bone. Someone was holding her, kissing her, taking her drenched clothes off of her...

The kitchen door swung open and Hermione looked around as Malfoy strode past her and began grabbing various leftovers from breakfast.

Hermione looked directly down at the papers in front of her, scared to even look at him.

Draco saw her tense form and decided to save her the awkward exchange and addressed Harry.

"Potter, you're wasting your time, did you know?" Harry looked at him sharply.

"And what makes you think that?" Harry said smugly.

Draco looked at him pointedly, amused at finally breaking that air of arrogance Potter always had.

"Your horcrux... I know where it is...and it's not in the Glasgow Necropolis," Draco said, which caused Hermione to look at him, her nervousness vanished.

"What do you mean you know where it is, how do you even know about them?" Hermione said, back to her old self.

Draco looked at her and sent a chill down her spine but she didn't back down.


"You're just going to have to take my word for it. I know where the locket is and I can get it for you. But I may need some help," he said, never looking away from her.

Hermione turned back to Harry and saw him contemplating the idea.

"How do we know your telling the truth Malfoy," Harry asked. Malfoy narrowed his eyes.

"Why would I lie about it," he replied.

Harry glanced at Ron who spoke, "I say we let him go and get it if thinks he can, and we still go to the necropolis like planned. That way, he's not screwing us over if he's full of it."

Harry looked thoughtfully at Ron, "Good idea. Hermione, I want you to go with him and make sure he isn't up to no good. We'll manage the spells, I hope." Harry smiled at her weakly as she looked at him in a way that said, "If looks could kill."

Draco smirked inwardly as he watched Potter and Weasley leave Grimmauld Place on their little pointless adventure.

Hermione continued to sit quietly in her chair in front of him as he watched her silently.

He walked around the table and sat in Potter's vacant seat across Hermione.

"You don't have to pretend you didn't enjoy what little action you got last night," he said in a low, husky voice. Mental images of him from the previous night came to her mind causing invisible drops of sweat to form on her forehead.

Hermione closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.

"What are you doing to me, Malfoy... I don't understand, did you bewitch me..." she whispered, slowly looking up at him. His dark expression was haunting...

"No."

Hermione stared at him and unconsciously licked her lips. The tension in the air was like heat, attempting to suffocate her. She could barely breathe under his gaze. There seemed to be only one thing that could stop her suffering...

She slid out of her chair and onto the table to rest on her knees, she thrust her arms around his shoulders, pressing her body close to his. She briefly looked into his eyes and saw nothing but pure shock as she pressed her lips none too gently against his. There was no surprise in how good he felt to her, no shock that she had just threw herself at him. There was only a euphoric high that she craved desperately. His lips kissed her bruisingly and without regret as she willingly let him take control of the kiss. The exchange deepened exotically as Draco pushed his tongue past her lips and she moaned freely into his mouth.

Her fingers trembled around his body, each movement creating a complete sense of satisfaction as he stood up out of the chair and pushed her back onto the table. Her body was warm underneath him as he pressed his gently down to hers. He smoothed her hair back from her face and saw the sheer terror and delight in her shining eyes. Her whole body was trembling as she pressed her hands to his chest and explored freely, like she was looking for something.

Draco leaned down to whisper in her ear as he closed the space between them, "Don't be afraid of me."

Hermione looked into his eyes, tears gently falling now and spoke, "I'm not scared of you, but that idea simply terrifies me. I don't understand what has happened between us... I can't stop thinking of you Malfoy. I can't get you... you out of my head. I want you near me, I want you to touch me and I want you to fuck me... I want you to fuck me so hard I can almost feel it happening... I can see it... like it's happened before..." She closed her eyes and shuddered violently, as if the confession took her last breath.

Draco opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by an alarming pain in his left arm. He looked over at the mark and winced as the black letters seared a message into his skin.

Draco,
I have escaped, I got your owl and I hope you know what you're doing... or else we are both dead. Meet me at the Dragon's Lair. ~Melanie

Draco looked up to Hermione and noticed she was staring at the message.

"What does it mean?" she asked quietly.

"We have to go, she has the horcrux... come on."

XXX

The air was thick with fog as they made their way through the dark forest. There was no underbrush, just very old trees and a certain sense of magic in the air. This was a magical forest, like at Hogwarts, Hermione was sure.

"Malfoy, where are we?" Hermione asked, trying desperately to keep up with him. He seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"In the forest outside Malfoy Manor. Come on," he said, not looking back.

The moonlight was no longer shining through the trees at this point as the forest turned into a jungle. The ground was damp and clear as Hermione recognized many rare plant species and animals.

"We're almost there," Draco said, disappearing down into hatch that was not visible unless you were looking for it. Hermione approached the wooden hatch, finally seeing it and hastily followed Draco down the old ladder.

Finally, she reached the bottom and saw a torch lit tunnel before her and Malfoy way ahead of her.

When she caught up to him, she noticed his cold demeanor.

"Malfoy, what is this place?" she asked, looking around. Draco ignored her. The damp tunnel seemed to go on forever when finally they reached the end. Hermione stepped out of the steep opening into a moonlit clearing.

The trees around them formed a circle; they towered over them, guarding them from the depths of the forest she was sure she would have never ventured into on her own. She could hear the movements and rustles of the forests hidden occupants outside of their safe haven. The grass was alarmingly green for this time of year.

There was one single tree in the clearing that's branches spread over the whole area, the light dancing on the ground as the wind shook the leaves. Around the tree were several black roses that seemed to entwine around the tree as well as the surrounding area.

Hermione looked at them carefully... they didn't have any thorns.

There, next to the tree, was a beautiful girl in black robes. Hermione stepped closer as she realized who she was.

She had been in their year at Hogwarts. She looked absolutely stunning where she stood. But her face expressed no concern for her appearance.

Hermione glanced at Draco, he too seemed rather displeased to be here...

"Draco... I'm sorry, I didn't know where else that we could meet safely..." Draco did not look at her.

"Do you have the locket?" he asked, approaching her. She pulled a shaky hand out of her cloak and jerked the locket from around her neck.

Draco took it from her and looked at it. He handed it to Hermione who inspected it carefully.

She looked at Draco surprised.

"This is it," she said quietly. She almost didn't believe it.

"How come she had it," she asked curiously, but was simply ignored by both of them.

"Lay it down," Draco said. He withdrew his wand from his cloak and pointed it directly at the locket.

"Aboleo," he spoke clearly and a black jet of light struck the locket. It cracked violently and released a torrent of black smoke that permeated the air.

The smoke curled eerily through the air like a snake. It seemed to be sucking out their darkest memories... sort of like a dementor... but...

As soon as Hermione breathed the air with the smoke mingled into it she felt her vision cloud.

She was in a dark room with death eaters surrounding her; she looked down... Ginny lie before her on the cold floor... She was clutching a dagger tightly in her hand as a strange dark spell she didn't know consumed her thoughts. Blood sprayed her chest as the dagger sank into her chest...

There was a blinding white flash back to total darkness again as she saw a vision stream into view.

She was sitting in the same place Ginny had just been in a chair. There were once again Death Eater's surrounding her, only fewer. One was standing right before her. He took off his mask and lowered his hood to reveal silver-blond hair. Malfoy's eyes were as dark as ever as he pulled on her left arm. Hermione looked down at his gloved hand gripping her pale skin. She noticed her own hair, which was a raven color and realized she was Melanie.

Draco began a long strand of archaic words that had to be dark magic. She could feel the tense way Melanie was sitting. She was scared.

Hermione felt a chill run down her back as the Dark Lord approached the two of them and addressed Melanie.

"The Dark Mark must be given by a devout servant of mine. Draco is worthy to do my bidding. However, it can only be given through an act of violence committed by the giver... to accept the dark ways is to live by them..."

Draco looked down to the ground at this, never looking at Melanie-Hermione.

She felt hot tears slid down her face as she saw the Death Eater's in the room begin to file out. All was quiet, as the only two people in the room were herself and Draco.

"What are you going to do Draco?" her voice trembled.

Draco's eyes flashed as he looked at her with a cold expression.

"What I must," he replied just before he struck her with the backside of his hand. Hermione felt the blow as if it was really she there before him. She felt her lip bust and blood trickle down her chin. Her head collided painfully with the ground. Draco was quick to take advantage of her weakened state and jerked her robes off her.

"Draco... what are you doing... you didn't tell me... please... st... stop..." she stuttered as her tears turned to sobs and desperate pleas.

"You wanted this Melanie... you knew what would have to happen if you ever wanted to be my wife... You knew..."

Hermione seemed to be able to understand Melanie's thoughts.

Melanie stared into his cold silver eyes as if she were seeing him for the first time. Her body grew numb as she felt Draco tear her clothes off her shaking body.

She closed her eyes tightly, "Draco, why, you knew I was... why do you have to do it like this... I thought..."

"You thought wrong."

Draco's cold voice seemed to penetrate her skull. Her bright eyes dulled as Draco pulled her panties down her slender thighs.

He entered her virgin body without remorse. He entered her forcefully. And she felt the pain. She was screaming; screaming with each thrust, each hard, painful and sickenly delightful thrust. Her pain was matched by the erotic pleasure she had by being with Draco... whom she had always loved.

Draco fucked her hard, his body slowly losing its grasp as he plunged deeper and harder into her. His fingernails were digging into her thighs as he fucked her, pulling her to him each time, drawing tiny streams of blood from her broken skin.

Her large, supple breast were deeply hardened, her dark hair spread over them as her screams began to share her mouth with her moans.

Each thrust caused her whole body to move, her breasts jiggling for Draco's pleasure. He fucked her harder just to see her touch herself to stop the violent shaking.

When he came, he came hard, spilling his seed into her. She winced at this, but wisely kept her lips shut.

Her breathing was deep and erratic as she opened her eyes to see Draco flip her onto her stomach.

"Draco... please, no... I don't think¾"

She felt him push into her again, her dryness causing the pain to be overwhelming. She pressed her palms hard into the ground to try to escape from him, but he was quick to force her back down. His strength held her there, through her cries of pain and forcefully as she bled.

Crimson droplets sprayed the ground and made it easier for him to thrust deeper. On her left forearm, she saw the black outline of the dark mark begin to emerge.

Hermione felt her vision fade out and in again. The cold night air was crisp. It surprised her how numb she felt. She saw the blanket of stars in the sky through the branches of the tree. The grass was cool with dew and Hermione realized she was lying on her back. She sat up slowly and felt dizzy. In front of her she saw the locket with a large crack in the center of it, lying broken on the grass.

She glanced around and spotted Malfoy leaning against the tree, gazing in the opposite direction of her. His face was in the shadows, but she could tell he shed silent tears. Melanie was no where in sight.

Hermione stood up and steadily made her way over to Malfoy. She opened her mouth to speak but was shocked when he spoke first.

"We need to leave."

Hermione stared at him for a few moments rendered temporarily speechless. As he walked away from her she found her voice.

"Wait, Malfoy!" he stopped, but didn't turn back.

When she didn't continue, Draco turned around, his the moonlight illuminating him. Hermione saw the tear streaks on his face and desperately wanted to understand what he was feeling. She wanted to rush over to him and embrace him... but somehow she knew he would never allow it.

"Hermione..." he began but looked away. The truth was, he didn't know what to say. He knew what she saw... he knew what she would have seen... He had seen her memory of Potter nearly dying with dementors surrounding him...

She was so beautiful he didn't want to address any of the issues that needed to be discussed. If only she would remember him.

"Malfoy, I need to understand what is going on..." she looked down to her feet, "I want you to tell me what I need to know so I can understand... I know you're keeping something from me."

Draco stared at her hard. What if she believed him...

"Hermione... we... you and I were in love. I committed acts that I do not wish to speak of... and then I met you. You changed me, you gave me something to live for... I became a different person with you, the person I am now. What you saw... in the memory... that is not me now..."

Hermione stared at him with obvious confusion on her face.

"How can that be... what exactly are you saying Malfoy?"

"I used dark magic to return the state of matter to a specific time. I changed everything back to before I fucked up everything... I'm fixing my mistakes... for you... you were supposed to remember, but so far..."

Hermione was shaking her head as tears fell freely down her cheeks.

"No, it's impossible... you can only use time turners and they were all destroyed... there is no such dark magic to turn back time..."

"I didn't really turn back time... I changed the state of matter to return to a specific point... it's different."

Hermione clasped her hands to her head, "I don't remember anything... what happened, what did you undo..." she looked up at Malfoy.

"No... Ginny... you really... Oh my god," she said turning away from him and taking a few steps away.

"Hermione... I regret it, I risked my life to undo it... and I succeeded... please, forgive me," he said desperately.

Hermione turned around angrily, "Forgive you for killing one of my best friends... and you were in love with me??? How can you expect me to believe that? You HATED me, Malfoy! Hated me. There was never an opportunity for us to have even fallen in love... I don't know what kind of game your playing at but I'm tired of it. Stay away from me... do you hear me, stay away from me!"

Draco watched hopelessly as she disappeared into the wooden door in the ground and was gone...

XXX

AN/ REVIEW!!! Please! :)

Okay, I know it's been awhile! Really sorry about that! But hey, we got Deathly Hallows. Let me know what you thought of DH if you review! Or pm me if you wanna discuss it! My husband hasn't finished it and he's driving me nuts about ruining stuff even though I haven't, lol!

Hope you like the chapter. I can't believe it got so long. Not that its really really long, but I think it's the longest chapter.

Oh well, not too much left to go. Maybe 1 or 2 chapters and an epilogue!!!