Out of the Silent Planet

Title: Out of the Silent Planet (8/39)
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, many thanks to kazfeist!



Out of the Silent Planet
Chapter Eight – Of violence, madness, and repose.





It was akin to floating up from a deep depth at the bottom of the ocean, a subtle rising with promise of air and freedom. Hermione knew that she was moving towards consciousness, the feeling returning to her body and sensing that, first of all, her face hurt. And as if her soul were filling in the shell of her body, Hermione's eyes snapped open.

Hermione was lying on her stomach, her right cheek pressed against a tatami mat. She could taste blood in her mouth as she swashed her tongue about her mouth she also felt a loose molar that ached when she prodded it with the tip of her tongue. Her right brow had been cut and blood had dried around her eyelid, but the eye had not swollen shut.

The next noticeable sensation, Hermione came to realize, was the fact that she could not move her arms from behind her back or her legs for that matter. She resisted the urge to struggle violently for she could already feel the rough rasp of rope fibers digging into her wrists, ankles, upper arms and the back of her neck. Pressure from ropes also pressed her through her garment, which she soon understood was not her dark green yukata, but a sheer white gown that pooled atop her ankles above the rough ropes about her legs.

And Hermione realized how dire her situation was...and began to struggle instinctually against her bonds. But no matter how Hermione thrashed on the floor, the rope did not give or even slip against her skin. The ropes were not so tight so as to cut off circulation, but were tight enough that she could not slip her slender limbs free.

From beyond her range of vision, chuckling could be heard, amused, but cruel chuckling. Hermione froze like a deer caught in headlights, her amber eyes wide, and her body stiff with fear.

"Just like the silly Mudblood I remember..."

Draco... Hermione had almost forgotten, and soon the violent events of why her face ached returned fresh to her mind. It had not been carelessness on her part, Hermione knew that she had done everything she could to prevent being attacked and now at Draco Malfoy's mercy...she had been warned. He did not need a wand, and as Hermione recounted the details, she knew that Malfoy had used some sophisticated wandless magic to banish Hanako, subdue her, and now to have her tied down in such a harsh display of vulnerability. Hermione gave one last struggle to confirm the state of her body more than trying to escape.

"Useless, Granger..." Draco purred outside of Hermione's sight, but by the sound of it, he was sitting somewhere near her bare feet.

"Surely you have heard of ‘hojojutsu,' since you are a know-it-all."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but her jaw ached terribly and could only answer in a clumsy mumble of swollen lips.

"Release me," she muttered, feeling a wet string of bloody saliva drip from her lips to the matted floor beneath her cheek.

"Then, there is something you don't know...amazing," he drawled, and Hermione could feel Draco's eyes upon the back of her head, her hair still slightly damp and matting in long tangles. "Well, let me teach you, so listen well, Granger."

Hermione swallowed a mouthful of blood and coughed on her bile, sputtering ungracefully.

"Hojojutsu is an ancient form of martial arts, using rope to bind and subdue a captive. And you, Granger, are my captive... But you might know more about ‘shibari,' which is the sexual application of hojojutsu...and the art of the rope I have used to subdue you is called ‘hon kikkou' or the tortoise shell. I have used a variation to subdue your upper and lower body, and from where I am sitting, it suits you...you filthy Mudblood..." Draco ended with a suggestive whisper.

Hermione shuddered at Draco's tone and tried to curl her body so she could see her captor, but found the movement difficult since her arms were folded behind her back and her ankles bound.

"But to your credit, Granger, you have grown much since the last time I saw you...you have somehow tamed that mess you called hair. And it was a surprise to find that you actually are a woman."

Hermione grit her teeth, the loose molar throbbing as she did so.

"Release me," she ground out, her fear transforming very quickly into anger.

"I think not... I may have snapped your wand, but I do not want you to do something wandlessly. I would rather much talk than fight right now," Draco intoned, his voice a mixture of hardness and strange childlike innocence.

Hermione swallowed another mouthful of saliva, finding it did not taste so much of blood.

"Why, did you of all people, come here?" Draco asked quietly and Hermione could just see the empty left sleeve of Draco's yukata moving out of the corner of her eye.

Hermione panted through her nose, rustling the small hairs that had fallen into her face, which were beginning to dampen with sweat. "Severus sent me," was all she managed to grit out, her jaw feeling as it might be broken or at the very least deeply bruised.

The chuckling began again, but was quickly beginning to sound maniacal and frightening. Hermione could feel the rumbling of Draco's laughter through the floor and into her breasts that pressed painfully into the tatami mats. Hermione shifted slightly so that the ropes that looped under her breasts and the knot just above her belly did not press so roughly into her body under her weight. And as sensing Hermione's great discomfort, a strong hand gripped at Hermione's left shoulder and pulled her backwards off the floor. Hermione flinched at Draco's touch, but was grateful to be able to sit upright, drawing her bound ankles up so that her knees were drawn up under her chin.

Draco knelt before her, far enough away that Hermione could not imagine attacking...not that she wanted to for the _expression on Draco's face was so twisted with madness and anger, Hermione was almost afraid to face him.

"Sev sent you? Severus Snape sent ‘you' to me?"

Hermione licked her lips feeling that they were crackled from swelling. Slowly she nodded, her neck sore from laying in the same position for what seemed like hours, and by the sunlight that streamed through the rice paper doors on either side of the room, it had indeed been several hours since she lost consciousness.

"He's dead then?" Draco asked seriously and again Hermione nodded, averting her eyes to look at the vee of pale skin just below Draco's jaw. She knew that Draco was an Occlumens and she did not want to test his powers. Hermione could only sit silently, her arms behind her back, her legs fettered, considering what she must do to get out of this situation unharmed. The wards protecting Draco from being noticed as a Malfoy had been broken when Hermione had read Severus' diary entry, but she wondered if the key was to say his name aloud to break the protections to keep Draco from leaving Japan. Hermione knew that it would be dangerous to release Draco from his bespelled protections without at least ascertaining that Draco would not harm anyone when and if he returned to Britain. And so Hermione said nothing.

"So the bastard died, but before doing so, contracted you to come and get me...he's probably laughing in his grave right now," Draco trailed, talking more to himself than to Hermione. "Oh, the irony," Draco drawled.

Hermione flinched as Draco reached forward with his one hand and grasped the front of the ropes crisscrossing before Hermione's breasts. Pulling her forward, Hermione was forced to look up into Draco's face, her chin just coming up to his collarbone.

"I have had almost twelve years to plan the ways I would kill you, Granger. I wanted to kill Severus for leaving me here... I wanted to kill Potter on principle... But that time has passed, and I have had much time to think things through," Draco whispered cruelly, holding Hermione close against his chest, peering down at her as if she were the most disgusting thing he had ever seen, his nose wrinkling and his lips drawn back from his teeth in a snarl.

Hermione gasped as Draco jerked her closer, pressing his cold lips against her mouth, bruising already swollen lips. The kiss was not gentle or passionate and Hermione was staring into the silver pools of Draco's eyes finding only ice and disdain staring back at her. Whimpering as Draco ran the tip of his tongue over Hermione's closed lips, she fought the urge to close her eyes. But as Draco rubbed his wide chest against the thin material covering Hermione's breasts she could not stop herself from opening her mouth to sigh. At this opening, Draco's tongue snaked into Hermione's mouth, tasting her. Releasing the hold on the knot under Hermione's breasts, Draco's hand wound into Hermione's hair, pressing her mouth tighter against Draco's. Hermione winced and closed her eyes, but as she shut out the sight of argent orbs she was thrust back violently, landing heavily on her arms on the matted floor. Hermione cried out at the pain, but remained still although tears began to fill her amber eyes.

"I hate you," Draco hissed and Hermione could only stare at the water-stained ceiling. She listened as Draco rose to his feet and walked over to her again. Shutting her eyes in anticipation of another blow, Hermione whimpered as she was once again pulled up into a sitting position. Draco knelt behind her and she heard him whispering.

The ropes that bound her seemed to move on their own volition like snakes, but before Hermione could draw her hands free, her arms were forced from behind her back and forward. Muscles protesting at the abuse, the ropes unwound and rewound again to bind her hands before her body, the ropes twisting about her wrists and around her forearms. The cords about her ankles unraveled and fell away only to wrap around her upper waist, rebinding her breasts and forcing them apart.

Hermione moaned unwillingly as the rope slipped sensuously over the silken material of the gown, teasing her nipples into hardened peaks and sending shivers running up and down her body. When Draco fell silent, the ropes fell limp, but Hermione was still bound, her wrists together and fettered, but her legs free. If she were quick, Hermione thought that she could possibly run...

"I would catch you," Draco purred, his breath hot against her ear.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. Draco did not need eye contact to initiate his form of Legilimency, proving that he was quite skilled, but in the same right it was disconcerting. She wondered how long he had been privy to her thoughts and immediately let the walls rise in her mind.

"Again, Granger, useless," he whispered, his lips brushing against the shell of her left ear.

Hermione bit her lip as she felt a pressure in her head and in her mind's eye a silver dragon was literally breaking down the walls that kept her safe. And when the pressure grew to be too much, Hermione nearly screamed as her last defense was battered down. The force of Draco's intrusion nearly sent Hermione falling forward in pain, her vision blurred and she could feel more of her life blood trickling out of her nose and to her lips.

"You..." Hermione began, all of the lesser pains in her body seeming to become one all encompassing pain.

"Yes?" Draco asked seductively, seemingly proud of himself.

"You want to break me..." Hermione gasped out as her chest began to seize, her body slowly slipping into a state of physical and mental shock.

"That is the idea, I knew you could figure it out, Granger," Draco hummed, running his lips over the exposed expanse of damp throat on her left side. Hermione's head bowed, she knew that any moment she would slip again into unconsciousness, and that would be the end... Her mind had been raped in a sense and she could still feel Draco's presence in the corridors of her mind, rifling around like a robber. But she had to stay conscious...

"Break me...why?"

Draco's right hand run up her side, but Hermione could not focus her mind on her body at the moment it was taking all her faculties to stay conscious. Her only internal thought was a subtle mantra to stay awake...stay awake...

"Because I can, and I want to. I cannot say that you, Granger, have been the bane of my existence, but you have been one of my greater annoyances... Why don't you just let go, there's no need to keep your mind moving."

The idea sounded quite nice to Hermione, but she knew if she just let the darkness take her everything would be over. Draco would kill her.

"I...I will not..." she mumbled, her thoughts becoming random as Draco pushed through memories of the last twelve years, flashes of the Battle of Little Hangleton, flashes of the trials she was subpoenaed to appear at, the execution of Anton Dolohov, flashes of Millie, of Ron, of Harry, of Ginny, of Neville, of Tonks...and of Lucius Malfoy's trial. The memories of the older blonde wizard's trial began looping behind Hermione's eyes, blocking out all other vision.

All the while as Hermione watched her last memory of Lucius Malfoy, Draco caressed her right breast, running his finger tips lightly in wide circles at first and then roughly pinching the nipple only to soothe it again with gentle caresses. Hermione could feel Draco's touch distantly, as the memory became more and more detailed, the sound of the Head Warlock of the Wizengamot pronouncing the judgment against Lucius Malfoy.

'First count, murder of defendant's wife, Narcissa Black Malfoy; guilty. Second count, murder of Apollo Lovegood, publisher of the Quibbler; guilty. Third count, murder of Luna Lovegood, daughter of Apollo Lovegood; guilty. Fourth count, murder of Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, father of seven; guilty. Fifth count, murder of Theodore Nott, schoolmate of defendant's son; guilty. Sixth count, conspiracy to murder of the following individuals: Harry James Potter, Hermione Jane Granger, Ronald Bilius Weasley, Ginevra Molly Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Severus Snape; guilty. Seventh count, destruction of Ministry property; guilty. Eight count, known associate and member of inner circle of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's Death Eaters; guilty. Ninth count, willing and unlawful obstruction of Ministry Aurors during the Battle of Little Hangleton; guilty. Tenth count, evasion and fleeing prosecution; guilty. That is the end of the counts and judgments of this court, Mr. Malfoy, but I should say, in addendum, that you are also guilty of the murder of countless Muggles and this court is shocked to know that our Aurors are still tallying the numbers of the dead. For this offense added to the previous ten counts against our lawful order of the Wizengamot, not to mention the pain and suffering you have caused our wizarding community you are hereby sentenced to death. Your remains will be lost forever behind the Veil, along with the many others of your sort before you. Your presence, alive or dead, will not exist upon this plane; for they are unfit for even the earth to hold...'

In Hermione's memory, her eyes lingered on the form of Lucius Malfoy. From her vantage point in the memory she had only a glimpse of the man's profile. Even in dirty, torn and filth-covered robes, Lucius Malfoy sat proudly in the judgment seat, his eyes flashing with defiance, the corners of his lips twisted upward in a sneer. When the Aurors came to lead the condemned man away, Lucius said nothing, but glanced up in the gallery to where Hermione sat beside Neville Longbottom and Millicent Bulstrode. Hermione remembered shivering violently as Lucius Malfoy's cold gaze met hers and she looked away. The courtroom was silent although it was packed to the brim, there were no shouts or cheers, but Hermione knew that everyone in the courtroom was staring at Lucius Malfoy with hatred, disdain and a sense of justice. He was the last Death Eater who had participated in the Battle of Little Hangleton to be tried, and Hermione felt that with Lucius Malfoy's death, the wizarding world could begin to recover from the War.

It was then Draco released Hermione from his spell and pulled out of her mind abruptly. The sensation returned to Hermione's body and she whimpered as Draco pinched her right nipple again. Dizzy from the forceful entrance into her mind, Hermione felt vomit rising up in her throat, the acid in her stomach burning her esophagus. But she swallowed and gasped as Draco ran his right hand down to her hip, very close to the apex of her thighs.

"Your mind is too taxed, I might permanently damage you if I force the execution out of your mind..." he whispered almost in gentleness, his fingers beginning to grab at the fabric of her gown, pulling the hem up and over her folded legs.

Hermione felt somewhat relieved that Draco was not going to invade her mind again, but was still tensed as the hem of the gown fell down her thighs to pool high on her hips. The only thing that separated her captor's questing fingers and her aching center was her underwear. She slowly shut her eyes; trying to resign herself to the fact Draco Malfoy most likely would violate her body as he had done with her mind. Rape...the idea frightened her and had frightened her even during the War. She remembered quarreling with Harry and Ron many times about what could happen to her if Death Eaters ever captured her. Hermione was a important target, and she did not think her friends overly cautious by thinking that if she were captured not only would she be tortured, but also raped...

The pain in her body overruled most other sensations besides Draco's touch. And as she felt the amputated stump of his left arm dig into her side, she felt vomit trying to rise up in her mouth again. She swallowed the vile mixture of digested food and bile down again as Draco began chuckling, his chest against her back, rumbling her chest.

"I disgust you? Then we are even; you have always disgusted me, Granger."

Hermione opened her eyes at this and just at that moment Draco's long fingers slipped under the waistband of her knickers. She inhaled sharply, trying not to cry or make any noise. The only movement was the flexing of her fingers, trying to grasp at Draco's arm to possibly stop him from touching the tawny curls that covered her pubic mound and outer labia. As cold fingers dipped down, Hermione choked out an involuntary sob and began to claw at Draco's arm. He was not quite touching her flesh, which had begun to dampen with juices, but ran his fingers lightly over the hair that covered her sex.

Just as her body was betraying her, Hermione cursed inwardly that she had not been strong enough to fend off any of Draco Malfoy's attacks on her person, her mind or her character. When had she gotten so weak, she wondered? Years before she knew she had been stronger, despite being younger. Hermione could fight to keep herself alive during the War, but had she let herself slip into complacency since then? She had to fight, have a chance to escape, begin to plan, and then hex Draco Malfoy, bring him back to Britain to whatever fate awaited him there and be done with the matter... All of those things seemed almost impossible as she was trying not to react to her captor's touch.

Hermione bit her lip and shut her eyes as his cold fingers finally made contact and her body tensed. She held her breath, but listened, as her captor's breathing seemed to come in fast pants, his fingers slipping downward to her core and the dull ache that pulsed there. Hermione let her lip slip from between her teeth as she felt Malfoy hesitate. His body was trembling slightly against her back, his breath hot against her neck. He did not move to penetrate her with his slim digits and with this hesitation, Hermione began the struggle to fight back.

"Did...did you do this is Pansy as well?" she said softly, mostly surprised that she was able to speak coherently even as her face ached and her jaw stung. But the words had effect and slowly Draco drew his hand from her flesh and out of the waistband of her knickers.

"I raped her. You should be thankful that you even know who I am, Granger, Pansy did not have the privilege of knowing her rapist..." Draco muttered, his chin pressed into Hermione's collarbone. "I was not gentle and I did not even allow her the pleasure of fighting back."

Hermione slowly opened her eyes. "You hurt her as you hurt me?"

"No..."

Draco shifted, his arm wrapping under Hermione's breasts in a strangely protective embrace, but Hermione continued. "Did you hate her?"

"Invariably so," Draco whispered, pressing his face into her skin.

"Why? She was your friend, your classmate..."

"A filthy slag, she never loved me, never really cared. A fixture placed in my life to assure that I would become whatever my father wanted me to be. Pansy was a filthy whore...bought by my father's money... I hated her like I hated no other person. She was the most spurious bitch I had ever known and I hated her..." Draco muttered, his voice slightly muffled by Hermione's flesh.

"Did you love anyone?" Hermione asked next, letting her mind calm itself and begin to rebuild the walls that Draco had torn down. She would be prepared the next time he forced his Legilimency upon her...but she had to keep him distracted and talking.

"My mother...even though she betrayed me."

Hermione's eyes narrowed as she stared at the tatami matting under her feet. "She protected you the best she could," Hermione whispered. "Like any mother would for her children."

"She was too late...she could have protected me long before then...she could have sent me away, never married my father, or perhaps never allowed me to be born."

His voice was pained now, but clear. The initial madness was seemingly forgotten and Hermione wondered if Draco remembered who he was talking to, but she continued on, speaking softly even as Draco's hand began caressing the hardened nipple of her left breast.

"She died to protect you, which was the ultimate form of her love for you... And Severus sacrificed much to protect you, did you never care for him?"

"I was his burden and his shame. He pitied me and he bound me here for almost twelve years..." Draco intoned bitterly, rubbing his pale forehead against Hermione's neck. Hermione tensed as Draco's hold on her breast tightened uncomfortably.

"Do you want to be free?"

The hand grasping her breast fell away and suddenly the warmth against Hermione's back slipped away. Staying very still, Hermione only moved her eyes to see Draco moving to stand behind her, his eyes shining oddly and his hand running through his long hair and over his face. His face was expressionless, but when he spoke Hermione prepared herself for a hex.

"That is why you are here, isn't it, Granger? To free the beast from its cage? But why should you, eh? You hate me, I hate you, and as far as I am concerned I would get much more satisfaction by ripping your body apart than being free..."

It was then his face twisted again and Hermione could not tell whether he were about to burst into tears or into maniacal laughter. With a twist of his wrist the ropes binding Hermione fell away and suddenly she felt the welts, cuts, and bruises on her body heal and fade. The various pains in her body faded as well, but the ache deep in her left leg remained as well as the dampness in her knickers.

"Yuki is outside the door, waiting for you, Granger. He has been trying to break in this little room for hours now, valiantly trying to protect your honor..." and then Draco began laughing, chuckling deep in his chest not as madly as before, but his lips twisted into a disconcerting sneer. "I will let you go for now. Just think of this as a formal greeting."

Even without the ropes binding her body, Hermione did not dare move.

"You will not leave this ryokan without me, will you, Granger?"

"I..." she began, but discontinued her words, not sure of what to say. She had thought only moments before of escaping and returning home to put any thought of Draco Malfoy behind her, but now...now, she knew she had to think...

"I will come to you, Granger. And it seems that you have not realized that you have been magically contracted to fulfill your promise to Sev. You think you're so smart, but you have not realized that even though you think your task is nearly done, you will not leave this ryokan alone... Once again a Gryffindor has been outwitted by a Slytherin, and I can only wish that I could take credit for this bit of magic put upon you," Draco howled in laughter, moving across the room to sit where he had been sitting when Hermione had regained consciousness.

But at his words, Hermione's eyes narrowed. He was bluffing...Severus would never have been so underhanded, not on his deathbed as a crippled, dying man. Unfortunately, Hermione could not ponder a moment longer as the rice paper door before her slid open with a sharp snap and light filtered into the room, hurting Hermione's eyes.

"She is unharmed, brother. I will commend you on your attempts to save her," Draco drawled, the tone of his voice changing slightly as his speech slipped from English to Japanese. Hermione had only just noticed that Draco had been speaking to her all along in English, and wondered shortly if Draco had learned Japanese during his stay at the Matsumoto inn.

"Miss Granger, are you alright?"

Hermione rubbed her eyes, her hands shaking from being bound for so long. She said nothing as she felt two strong arms encircle her body and lift her up, her bare feet dangling over Yukifumi Matsumoto's arm.

"We'll discuss this later, Ryu. If I know of Miss Granger coming to any harm by you, I will take your other arm as penance," Yuki growled, his deep voice rumbling under Hermione's cheek as she let herself be carried by Severus' son out of the room. With quick steps, Hermione realized that the room she had been kept in had been part of the enchanted garden, a shed of sorts and as Yuki carried her, Hermione began to feel the gravity of what her body and mind had experienced, sink in, rendering her drowsy and nauseous.

Hermione only distantly heard Lady Kaori's concerned voice as she was carried through the corridors of the inn and to her room. It seemed that Lady Fuumi was having trouble summoning Hanako back into the confines of the ryokan's wards and many of the other wards protecting the inn were damaged due to "Ryu's" violent magic the night before. When Hermione was finally laid upon the futon in her room, Lady Kaori shooed her nephew from the room, pulling out a long, slender wand from her sash and casting several spells upon Hermione's exhausted body. Lady Kaori was speaking, but Hermione could only gaze at the light wrinkles around the woman's mouth.

"...Slight concussion, a few bruised ribs, but no lasting damage..."

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes. It would not be for two more days that Hermione opened her eyes again to began to ponder what course of action she should take next. By the time she awoke, Hanako was hovering beside Lady Fuumi who had finally convinced her granddaughter to rest from her vigil next to Hermione's bed.

"He broke my wand," were the first words out of Hermione's mouth, gazing at the old woman who sat quietly knitting at her left side.

"That he did, and today you will send for a new one, yes?" the old woman coughed, setting her knitting in her lap.

Hermione said nothing and turned her eyes to the wood paneling of the ceiling. Malfoy had broken her wand...he had also brutalized her, nearly raped her, scorned her, ridiculed her, disrupted her mind, and then let her go... None of it made much sense, but perhaps that was the effect Draco Malfoy was going for...confusion. He was mad, to a certain extent. But irrational, not truly. He was powerful, that much could not be denied; but could he be taken back to Britain? And what was it he had said about a contract?

Hermione let her mind slip backward through time, to the day Severus died. Word by word, movement by movement, Hermione analyzed that moment when he mentioned Shiretoko. Narrowing her eyes, she remembered Severus grasping her wrist tightly, oddly disproportionate with the strength that he lacked in the rest of his dying body. And he had been adamant that she promise...on her life... Quirking her lips, Hermione wondered if Severus had cast some sort of bond...a strange vow. Hermione had never heard of any sort of vow where the conditions were not clear to the parties involved in the vow, but then again, Severus apparently knew more about vows, oaths, wards and protections than Hermione... If a vow had been made, it might explain some of Hermione's single-minded motivations for thinking that she would be able to ‘save' Draco Malfoy. And as she lay on her futon, Lady Fuumi watching her with a strange smile on her thin lips, Hermione realized that her willingness to suffer the tortures of the mad wizard could be due to some obscure and secreted spell-induced vow Severus cast with the last of his worldly strength...

Damnit... Hermione sighed again and turned her face to Lady Fuumi. "Can you sense that I have bound by a vow?" she asked pointedly.

Lady Fuumi cackled. "So many things in this house are bound by wards, vows and various spells, I could not say. ‘He' said something, didn't he?"

Hermione nodded. "I will not release him yet..."

"Good...for all of our sakes. Surely you realize how dangerous he is," Lady Fuumi rasped, taking up her knitting once again.

Yes, Draco Malfoy was dangerous, but this was something that Hermione had always believed even as a schoolgirl. The boy had always radiated a sense of danger, but now...as a man, he was akin to a wild, yet caged beast.

How to go about it all? Hermione doubted she could duel Malfoy into submission...and she nearly laughed at the thought. All Hermione could do was battle with her wits and intelligence. But there were many things to consider. Did Malfoy want to leave Japan? What would he do when he did make it to Britain? Would he be the incorrigible beast he was now or would he take up the task of redeeming his name?

There was much to think about, and as daunting as it seemed, Hermione was never one to back away from a challenge. She turned her thoughts to the initial confrontation with Malfoy that had resulted in her laying on the futon, spent and aching. Malfoy had terrified and hurt her, but what was even more disconcerting was the fact that her body had reacted to his intrusive touch. Hermione knew that in her fear and pain, she had had little control over her own body, but it was almost disgusting to think that she had been aroused by such base emotions. She could not deny that Draco Malfoy had grown into a handsome man, despite his amputated arm, and a face quick to twist into a mask of insanity... And as abhorrent as it seemed, Hermione wondered if Malfoy would react to her femininity as under appreciated as it was on her part. Why had he touched her, kissed her? Surely it was an issue of dominance, but over what exactly?

Malfoy said he would come for her...to kill her, perhaps? And Hermione opened her eyes, knowing that if he were to come for her again, he would not harm her, if she had anything to do with it.

"I need a bath," Hermione said bluntly, sitting up in her bed and turning to Lady Fuumi and glancing to Hanako who had been strangely quiet all the while. Hermione noted that even for a ghost, Hanako looked weak, not shimmering as brightly as she had before.

"To heal, yes. He will confront you again... He has been lurking about for the past few days, but he will dare not oppose Kaori or me as he did you. Heal, young miss, and show that boy what for."

Hermione laughed softly at Lady Fuumi's forceful words. Apparently Hermione was not the only one put out with Draco Malfoy. A new battle was brewing and Hermione could only hope that this time she would win again.