Blood Ties

A/N: Thanks again for all the awesome reviews. This chapter is here on this site in its entirety. Sorry this is so late today. I fell asleep right after the kids left for school. It was a hard night at work last night.

Chapter 23

Draco pulled her forward when they landed. He pulled her into some low lying hedges, concealing them from any eyes that might be guarding the property. The land surrounding Lestrange Manor was devoid of vegetation. The landscape was sparse when compared to that of the Malfoy's.

They were out in the open other than the hedge that they were crouched in. "My aunt blasted away all the trees and bushes after she broke out of Azkaban," he explained quietly. "She's paranoid and didn't want anyone to be able to sneak up unannounced. She cares little for appearances anyway."

Hermione nodded and scanned the interior of the house. She found three minds, one being the darkest mind that she'd ever had the displeasure to encounter. She thought Cormac's thoughts were disgusting, the Dark Lord's were revolting. It was a good thing that she could no longer throw up. She shivered as she sifted through the blackness of his thoughts.

Draco ran his hands up and down her arms as she shuddered once more. He truly was a monster. She could see each time that he fragmented his soul. She counted six times and committed the objects to memory. She catalogued a seventh time that was questionable. She would have to look more into that.

She hoped that it wasn't the case. She prayed to any god that was listening that it wasn't true. She would be devastated if it was. As would the whole wizarding world.

"We can go," she whispered quietly. She rested quietly in Draco's arms as he pulled them into the blackness once more.

They reappeared in Diagon Alley. Hermione looked at Draco confusedly. "I promised you some new clothes," he replied to her silent question.

"But," she protested as he led them down the alley.

"But nothing," he interrupted before she got going. "I insist. I want to do this. Besides, the castle is dead boring. Admit it, even you are bored. School is too easy. Especially when it only takes minutes to do what used to take hours. Besides, there are some things in Knockturn Alley that we need."

Hermione nodded and allowed him to pull her further into the alley. He stopped in front of Harper's Hotel. It was the nicest hotel in the alley. "We'll stay here for the night," he explained as he led her inside.

She followed him and allowed her eyes to travel around the lobby. She'd never been here before. She only ever stayed at the Leaky Cauldron. While the rooms there were nice enough, they were very spartan and not at all Malfoy's taste. This place oozed luxury. The walls had gilded wallpaper and the floor was made of tile that was inlaid with more gold.

It was almost too rich for her taste but she said nothing as Malfoy checked them in. It wouldn't matter if she complained anyway. Malfoy did what Malfoy wanted. Besides, there was no use arguing with someone that could command you to do whatever he wanted.

She allowed herself to be led to the elevator and they were in their room in no time at all. She walked passed Malfoy and entered the bathroom. She needed a bath. She felt dirty after having been in the Dark Lord's mind.

She washed herself thoroughly, scrubbing her skin twice to be sure. Her mind drifted back over what she'd encountered in the mind of that madman. He certainly was a monster of the highest caliber. He made his first horcrux by killing his own father. She saw his childhood. It hadn't been easy. In fact, it was eerily similar to Harry's own childhood. In fact, in some instances it was better. At least at the orphanage, Tom had his own bed and he was fed three times a day. Harry had lived in a cupboard and was lucky if he got to eat once.

And yet, Harry wasn't a monster. Harry was good and kind and fair. She couldn't pin the blame totally on his childhood. She'd wondered if perhaps his mother had used a love potion on the Dark Lord's muggle father. If she had, that could have twisted him in some way. Either way, it was going to be extremely hard to defeat him.

She finished up and dried her hair with her wand. Then she gave her clothes a good scourgify before she out them back on. She found that now that she didn't sweat, her clothes didn't feel nearly as dirty. It would be nice to have a few new things. Some clothes that fit her new body.

She was still getting used to it. She hadn't gotten much taller but she had filled out. She liked the change. Her hair was easier to manage. Her breasts had become bigger. And she had hips.

She exited the bathroom and found Draco laid out on the bed, his hands laced together behind his head. She went to the other side of the bed and sat down facing the wall. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he turned to her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

She looked at him a moment before she laid down next to him. "No," she said quietly. "I'm already having a hard time banishing some of those images from my mind. Let's just say that we are going to have quite the fight on our hands. It's a fight that I'm not sure that Harry can win, despite what Dumbledore says. And there's something else that I'm sure that he's holding out on. I plan to get some answers tomorrow when we return to the castle."

He nodded his head before he reached over and pulled her close to his chest. She relaxed against him when it became clear that he wasn't trying to bed her. She was in no mood for intimacy. Not when she believed that her best friend was a horcrux.

End Note: So, thoughts. Leave me some love, my rabid readers. I'll see you Friday.