The Taste of Pain

Authors Notes: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I got swamped this weekend with all sorts of junk.
I am currently in search of a good Beta. I would love to hear some feedback on how to go about this.
Thanks much for the reviews guys.


Like some child possessed, the beast howls in my veins. -Florence and the Machines


Chapter Three

Silencio

Thump

Hermione snapped open her eyes at the sound of the slamming door. She was surprised to find that her body was completely numb and void of any pain, and on top of that, surrounded my soft white sheets. She slowly turned her head to the offending noise of clicking footsteps coming towards her and found herself in direct eye contact with a ruffled and very distraught looking Draco Malfoy. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her looking at him with her wide expression.

He kept his eye contact with her as he pointed his wand at the door and muttered a soft Silencio.

Her first instinct was to jump off the bed and make a run for it, even though there was no way she would be able to escape from what looked to be his bedroom. To add to it, she knew by the feeling of the sheets against her skin that she was void of any clothing.


Despite the situation, she couldn't help but feel shy about her nudity.

Draco turned on his heel and stomped over to the desk across the room facing the large bay window that would have spilled sunlight through if it wasn't covered by heavy dark green drapes. He sat all of his weight onto the large leather arm chair and put his face into his hands with a sigh.


The rustling of sheets made him snap his head back over at the nude girl preoccupying his bed. She was now making her way to a standing position on the right side of the large mattress.


“Don't even think of trying to run anywhere Granger. The doors are locked and the windows are charmed.” Her face fell as her eyes shot from the window to the door with a look of defeat.


“What do you want from me Malfoy” she shifted uncomfortably against the sheet that barely covered her form. He slowly raised a blonde eyebrow at her that reminded her uncomfortably of his father.


“I would think for how smart you are that would be obvious. By choice, I want nothing to do with you, but we don't have the option anymore as you know.”


His explanation was enough to make her slowly sink back down to sit of the bed. She felt herself tremble as all of her memories played back through her head on repeat.


There was no light anymore. The Order was over, and there was nothing in the way of Voldermort to take over everything. Her friends were either dead or in the same position as her, her guess was that the survivors were in an even darker place than she.


She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even see Draco move directly in front of her until he shoved a vial of clear potion in her face. She looked up at him with disbelief and confusion.

“Take this, your body is still recovering from the shock of the pain. It will help with...everything that has happened.” She glared at him, sniffing and turning her head to the side.

“Don't be so bloody stubborn Granger, you are in no position to do so. Take the damn potion.” She turned her head back to him and looked at him for the first time since the incident in the ballroom.

His features spoke of the familiar boy she knew about a year ago. He had grown even more since the last time they had come face to face. His hair was tossed and sweaty, as if he had been running around all night. Guessing by everything that had happened he must have been doing the bidding of taking over the rest of the Ministry and god knows what else. He still held his tall, lanky form, but it seemed he had filled out a little more.


What caught her eye the most though was the look in his eyes. He looked defeated and worn. His face wore dark, splotchy circles all over it. They had won right? This is what he wanted. Then why in gods name did Draco Malfoy look like he wished to be anywhere but here.


She cautiously took the vial from his hand and sniffed at it, relived to find that it was indeed just a pain reliever. She gulped it down with a quick swing and scrunched her face at the bitter taste it left in her mouth. After handing back the empty tube he stood quickly, causing Hermione to scoot back on the bed from his sudden movement.


He gave her one last look and turned to the dresser to set the vial on its mahogany top. He opened the second drawer and pulled out a few articles of clothing, tossing them over his shoulder and onto the end of the bed.

“If you plan on staying alive, you'll do as I say. Even if it's not your intention to stay alive, you will do as I say anyways. The Dark Lord has ordered your survival until he states otherwise, and it will be my arse on the line if you decide to up and kill yourself. I transfigured some of my clothes for you, so that you don't feel it necessary to drag my bed sheet around all day” She glared at him and felt all of her anger hit her at once.

“You must be fucking insane if you think I will do anything you say Malfoy after everything you have done to me. I'm not going to spend the rest of my living days being your whore, let alone live in the disgusting presence of your company.” He couldn't help but smirk at her when the Hermione Granger he knew had decided to show face.

“Language Granger, I'm surprised to hear such words come from the Golden girl of Gryffindor. I'll say this once and only once. It's either me you'll have to put up with or another death eater, and I promise you they will be much more unpleasant than myself to say the least.” Even though his words did not surprise her she still felt herself boil with rage.


“My language is not of any importance Malfoy, I think raping me in a room full of sick bastards stripped me of any dignity I had left.” His smirk fell and he went silent at her words.

The silence spoke thousands of words between them.


Hermione knew that Draco wouldn't have a choice to turn to the light after Dumbledore's death. Even when Harry had spoken with her about his inability to carry out out the mission, she knew that with his families background no one from her side would have accepted him. Even though he had made some terrible choices Hermione had always believed he had some good left in him, she thought the incident at Malfoy manor a year back had proven just that.

This new world, the one where Harry Potter was no longer The Boy Who Lived, but The Boy Who Died, there was no free choice. There was only one side. But she couldn't help the words that slipped from her lips.

“Why...”

He shift uncomfortably but slowly edged towards the ledge of the bed where he had thrown the clothes. He lowered himself onto the plush mattress and ran a dirty hand through his hair. She turned her head slightly and glanced at him from the corner of her eye, not really expecting an answer. She was shocked when she heard the low rumble of his voice.

“I didn't want this, any of it. I have no choice. We have no choice Granger. We won't speak of it anymore. If survival is to be an option, I need you to know as little as possible. You're knowledge could make my entire position a liability.”

Silence hung in the air until he spoke once again.

“What I did...I...I'm sorry. There was no other option.”

Hermione let the words sink in before she felt the first tears spring in the corner of her eyes.


She wanted to turn to him and scream at the top of her lungs, to tell him how much she wanted to kill him for what he did to her, to rip him limb by limb for taking away something she would never get back, to escape, and a small part of her that screeched inside of her to survive.

Hermione felt her mouth go dry, and she couldn't speak or voice any of these things that plagued her mind. Instead she turned her head to look straight ahead at the bathroom in the front of her vision.

I feel so dirty.

As if Draco had read her mind he glanced over at the bathroom towards the direction of her gaze.

“Go ahead and take a bath. I'll have one of the elves bring you something to eat.” He stood quickly from his seat at the end of the bed. “Here.” He tossed the clothes and she reflexively caught them with both of her hands. She held up the separate articles of clothing to examine them and was surprised to find a decent black cotton dress with a pair of knickers.

“You can't open or touch anything in here, everything is charmed against your blood.” He turned his back and started to walk towards the door, but before he could open it he heard Hermione's voice and stopped in his tracks.

“You can't be serious, you're leaving Malfoy? You just arrived here, and as much as I despise being around you we still need to talk!” He turned back to face her and gave her a grim expression.

“As I said before, there's nothing to talk about Granger. Where I go to and from is none of your damn business. The Dark Lord will not rest until everything is taken care of.” He tuned again and and swept out of the door. It clicked behind him and she heard a series of locking charms register from the other side, as well as him muttering another Silencio before his hard footsteps softened down the hall.

Hermione slowly slid to the ground onto her knees from the side of the bed and did the only thing she could think of doing before making her way to the bathroom.


She dropped her face into her hands and released a muffled scream that she had been holding since she came back to conciseness. Everything she had suppressed from fear or from being blacked out poured from the bottom of her soul.

What she couldn't see was the figure making it's way away from the door stop for just a second and turn towards the muffled scream and sobs. He gazed at the closed oak door and closed his eyes slowly. With a heavy sigh he swept down the hallway.


Authors Notes: Once again guys, thanks so much for the reviews. Chapter four should be posted within the next few days. “Burn it to the ground” is taking a bit more time for me so hopefully three days at the most. I'm also working on a H/Hr one shot, so that is taking up a bit of my spare time as well.