Embers

Lucius returned quickly to Malfoy Manor. He knew that being sent to the Ministry to retrieve a trinket or other meant nothing more than being discarded. Lucius had no intention of dying just then nor would he finish out his days wasting away in a cell at Azkaban. After his last escape, he’d vowed never to return there no matter what the costs. Besides, he still had things to do at home. He strode to the room where Hermione had been held prisoner for several months. He did not bother to change out of his Death Eater robes. She knew what he was. There was no need to keep up any pretense.

Hermione looked at him, but did not speak. The long imprisonment had weakened her a great deal. On the outside, she appeared bedraggled and haggard, but inside a fierce will to live still burned within her. She was not surprised when the Death Eater before her removed his mask and the face of Lucius Malfoy stared back at her. She met his gaze, but the chains and her own physical weakness prevented her from standing.

He stood over her, using his height as a means of intimidation. “Your presence in my home has begun to be a drain on my hospitality.” He looked around her. “Mudbloods do not keep a tidy living space.” He turned up his nose at the food she’d thrown in all directions. No pail had replaced the one she’d had earlier. Instead, she had been obliged to crawl as far as the restraints would allow and make do with a section of the floor. She’d apparently been ill, as well. There appeared to be vomit in several places. Her clothes, a rag fit only for a poor and despised House Elf, was stained with blood. Her legs and lower regions were dark with dried blood and excrement. Only her eyes continued to burn with a desire to survive this and seek justice.

“Does the food not agree with you? You’ve been served the same food I myself have eaten.” He did not mention that she received the food cold and days later. He raised his wand, pointed it at her and uttered, “Scourgify!” Immediately, her mouth filled with soap bubbles, which caused her to gag. She tried to spit the soap out, but more and more appeared. “I need your mouth to be clean before I allow it anywhere near my person.” Lucius explained as though talking to a difficult child. He cocked his head to the side and began pacing in front of her. “It may be a good idea to clean a bit more of you.” The rag she wore disappeared, baring her before him. He ignored her cuts and bruises. “Spread your legs for me, Hermione. It will make this so much easier.” She glared at him from where she sat, but did as he asked. The bubbles appeared between her legs causing her to wince in pain. Lucius watched appreciatively. “Now come to me,” he spoke softly.

She crawled to him and looked up. “You’re a clever girl. You know what to do.” She reached tentatively and grasped the hem of his Death Eater robe and lifted it. “That’s it, Hermione.” He breathed deeply in anticipation. “Pleasure me before I kill you.” She had done this countless times. She leaned forward and took him into her mouth as deeply as possible. She no longer gagged as she had the first several times, but she took no pleasure. After several minutes, he grasped his wand, spoke softly and smiled as Hermione’s body rose up off the ground. A gasp escaped her lips as she was slammed back into the unyielding stone wall. She hovered limp, her hands hanging at her side. “Spread your legs.”

“I can’t do it hanging like this.” Her voice was soft. Her lips were cracked and sore.

“Do it!” Lucius spoke in a barely audible tone. She reached her hands to her thighs and tried to hold them apart. The movement was awkward given the fact that her feet were not touching the floor. Somehow, she managed to pull and hold her legs apart. She saw his erection and watched as he approached her. She could feel his body press against her and felt his fingertips search for her opening. She felt him begin to slide into her and closed her eyes at the pain.

Draco had apparated back to Malfoy Manor and gone straight to the room where Hermione had been held. He knew he’d find his father there. He shuddered and grimaced at the scene he encountered. “Expelliarmus!” Lucius’ wand sailed across the room, landing at Draco’s feet. He knelt quickly to pick it up.

Lucius turned to face his attacker. Hermione fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Using her hands as braces, she pushed herself to a sitting position and watched in silent shock as Draco aimed his wand at his father. “Back for more, Draco? I would have allowed you the use of her after I’d finished myself.” He took a step towards his son. “Give me my wand, Draco.”

“He…he told me to kill you, Father.” His voice shook as did the hand that held his wand. He glanced nervously at Hermione.

“Then do it, Draco!” Lucius appeared calm, almost amused, He took another step towards his son. He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I have no wand. There is no one here to stop you. It should be easier than you could have dared hope.” Lucius took another step forward.

Draco backed up a step for each one Lucius moved forward. He tried to raise his wand and hold it higher. He tried to speak the necessary incantation, but the words refused to form fully on his lips. “Av…..” He struggled to force the words out as images of Dumbledore on the tower and the Grangers in their home flooded his mind. His wand hand began to shake violently and his vision clouded with tears. Neither Draco nor Lucius heard the soft pop just outside the door. Hermione looked over, but saw nothing.

In a flash, Draco was blasted back against the wall opposite Hermione. The force of the blast caused him to drop both wands he held. He rose slowly to a sitting position, clearly dazed, and then suddenly stopped moving as if frozen in place. No one had spoken aloud. Lucius looked around, but could see only Hermione. She lowered her eyes, but tried to continue looking even with her head lowered. Lucius scanned the room and seeing his wand, quickly grasped it in a fluid motion. As he did so, Hermione saw Severus Snape appear out of nowhere and Draco disappear into nothingness. For a moment, she tried to make sense of that. An invisibility cloak! ‘But why?’ She wondered.

Snape moved swiftly and silently across the room, always managing to stay just out of Lucius’ sight. Lucius appeared to be searching for Draco. Snape approached Granger and held a finger to his lips in a gesture of silence. Hermione nodded slightly. She had no idea of what to expect. All three men in the room with her wore Death Eater robes. Screaming would serve no purpose. If she were to die here, she wanted to die with dignity and bravery. She was prepared for the end. She remained silent as Snape reached her side, grasped her arm and apparated both of them away.

Lucius turned in a flash at the soft but unmistakable pop of apparation. His face twisted in fury when he realized Hermione was gone. He could not comprehend how that was possible. He did not have long to think. He heard a voice behind him.

“Looking for something, Lucius?”

Lucius turned around and faced the Dark Lord. He composed himself within in seconds and already had a story in mind. “My Lord, I can hardly be expected to visit the Ministry without the proper attire.”

Underneath the Invisibility Cloak, silent and immobile because of the freezing charm, Draco tried in vain to accio his wand. It lay tantalizingly and frustratingly close and yet it remained so stubbornly still despite his frantic but silent attempts to retrieve it. He watched in horror as the Dark Lord picked it up, pointed it at his father and easily spoke the words that Draco could not… “Avada Kedavra!”

In his mind, Draco screamed and screamed. Snape returned a while later to find Lucius lying dead on the floor, his long white-blond hair spread out around his head creating an almost halo-like effect and his ice blue eyes staring lifelessly upwards. Snape knelt to close the eyes of his one-time friend. He lowered his head for a moment, then stood and crossed the few steps to where he’d left Draco. He pulled the Invisibility Cloak off and released the freezing charm. Draco sat motionless and silent, his own blue eyes nearly as lifeless as those of his father. Snape worried for a second that perhaps Draco had been killed as well, but on closer examination he became aware of the gentle rise and fall of Draco’s chest. He crouched beside the boy and softly called his name.

Draco’s breathing became more laboured, his lips began to twitch and his eyes filled with tears. He screamed, “NO!” and pushed past Snape, throwing himself across his father’s body. He clung tightly to his father, his face buried in the black Death Eater robes, identical to the one he still wore. His screams echoed loudly off the stone walls of the cold room.

Snape swallowed the lump that rose in his throat and tried to gently pull Draco away from his father’s body. Draco resisted at first, but then grasped at Snape. He began to babble, “He’s not dead, he’s not dead, he’s not dead…not dead…not dead…” Snape took the sobbing hysterical boy in his arms and quietly apparated away. Draco’s wand lay forgotten where the Dark Lord had dropped it.

A short distance away, Hermione sat quietly where Snape had set her down. She looked around, but did not recognize where she was. The thought did little to raise her spirits. She felt as if she’d simply traded one Death Eater prison for another. She wondered what Snape would demand of her and whether he would be as cruel as Malfoy had been. She’d watched earlier as Snape had darted from one room to another and had been quite surprised when he returned with a blanket which he’d placed around her shivering nude form. The place he’d brought her was quite cold.

“This should help prevent hypothermia until I can transfigure something more suitable, Miss Granger.” He’d said nothing else and had again left her alone in the room. She dared to look around once more. There were many books and from the looks of them they were quite old. Snape returned a moment later and placed a basin of water, a wash cloth, a bar of soap and a small towel in front of her. “I will leave you alone to clean yourself, Miss Granger. I should not be gone long.” Her gaze had shifted from his face to the basin. When she looked back to where he’d been standing a second earlier, he had gone. She was alone, cold, and confused. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

A sudden noise jolted her awake. Her eyes flashed open to see Snape carrying a sobbing figure she quickly recognized as Draco Malfoy. She watched as Snape set him down and hurriedly left the room. She was aghast that he would bring him here. Draco sank to the floor, his knees pulled tightly to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. Hermione sat up to get a better look. Draco neither spoke nor looked around. He leaned heavily against the wall and rocked gently back and forth. He was still sobbing. Snape returned moments later and went straight to Draco. He pressed a small cup to Draco’s lips. Hermione could hear Snape softly urging Draco to drink the contents. Draco’s sobs quieted, but he continued to rock softly back and forth. Hermione watched it all open-mouthed. She did not know what to think.

In a flash, Snape was standing over her, the backs of his fingers on her forehead. “You’re running a fever, Miss Granger. I have a potion on hand that should help.” He reached to the table, poured a small amount of a purplish liquid into a small cup and handed it to her. She stared at him defiantly. “Miss Granger, I wish only to bring your temperature down. I am not trying to poison you.”

“Why is he here?” She wanted to know what was going on.

“He’s here because I brought him here. Drink the fever potion.”

Hermione frowned, but did not drink the potion. She held the cup back tightly with both hands. “He belongs with his father, preferably in Azkaban for the rest of their lives.”

“His father is no longer alive.”

Hermione looked up sharply as those words sank in. She looked at Snape for several seconds, glanced quickly at Draco, who remained stone-silent but continued to rock softly, his face still wet with tears. She returned her gaze to Snape. “Did he kill his father?”

“Miss Granger, you need your rest and I would like to have as quiet an evening as possible given the circumstances. Must you always have so many questions?”

“Tell me!” Her voice was resolute. “Please. I need to know.”

Snape considered and after a moment’s reflection, he relented. “No,” he began simply. “He did not kill his father although I’m sure he feels responsible.” Hermione started to ask another question, but Snape raised his hand to silence her. “We had hoped solely to set a series of events in motion that would remove Lucius from the house making it possible to safely remove you from the premises.”

A thousand questions flooded her mind. “But, Malfoy…the older one…came to me before either you or him.” She pointed to Draco, who gave no sign that he heard the conversation.

Snape sighed. “As so often happens with the Dark Lord, things did not go according to plan. The Dark Lord sent Lucius away before Draco could tell his lie to set the plan in motion. We were forced to improvise. There wasn’t much time.”

Hermione struggled to comprehend what Snape was telling her. She could not believe that Draco would do anything to help her. “Are you saying that he ‘helped’ me? He’s the one who tricked me into captivity in the first place. He helped his father do…things.” Hermione found it difficult to say out loud what all had happened. It would take time to come to terms with it. She looked at Snape, tears borne of anger filling her eyes and threatening to spill over. “Don’t say he helped me! Don’t!”

“You saw what happened. Tell me, what did Draco do when he arrived on the scene?”

Hermione hesitated slightly before answering. She felt as if Snape were interrogating her. Memories of his favoritism to Draco over the years flooded her thoughts. “He cast Expelliarmus to disarm his father. He made him stop…”

Snape’s mouth twitched upwards as she stopped mid-sentence. “He returned to Malfoy Manor because he knew you were still there and he knew once the Dark Lord had dismissed his father that he would return there, most likely to finish you off.” Hermione stared in silence, not wanting to believe anything Snape said, but somehow deep inside knowing he spoke the truth. Snape continued unabated. “He could have chosen to walk away then and there. Instead, he returned to try and help you. He drew his father’s attention away from you just long enough to give me the chance I needed.” A few moments passed in silence. “He knew he would lead the Dark Lord right to his father. He realized that. He watched his father die.” Snape still felt bound to protect Draco. It was a feeling not of forced obligation, but rather one of genuine affection for the boy.

“He’s really dead? You saw him?” Snape nodded an answer to her questions. “Good. He was a vile man. His death is no loss to anyone.”

Her words ate at him, though he showed no outward emotion. Snape spoke softly. “He was also at times a beloved father. Draco’s loss is no less painful for the fact that his father’s actions led to so much destruction and death, including his own.”

Hermione thought about what Snape had said. Though she did not forgive Draco for all the wrongs he’d done, she could feel a small but stubborn pang of sympathy taking hold, as if he’d been a victim, too. She looked over at him. He still sat with his knees drawn tightly to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. He still rocked back and forth. His face was blank and his eyes stared emptily ahead. For a brief flickering moment, she saw him as Snape did. The moment passed.

Snape looked at the obviously untouched water basin, then back at her. “You need to clean yourself. If you are unable, I shall be forced to cast a Scourgify to clean out…”

“No!” She screamed. She looked at the startled man. “Please, no Scourgify. He…Malfoy…”

An unwelcome image flitted into his thoughts and Snape understood immediately. He motioned once more to the cup with the purplish liquid in it to her. “Drink it. It will help you feel better.” Hesitantly, she did as he said. The liquid soothed her throat and warmth began to flow through her body. She no longer felt chilled, but was still weak and disoriented. She tried to sit up, but quickly became dizzy and toppled over back onto the sofa. Snape picked up the wash cloth, wetted and soaped it and then turned to her. With the soapy cloth in one hand, he reached to pull the blanket away from her.

She held the blanket tightly to her chin. “Miss Granger, allow me to do this for you.” She bit her upper lip as she stared into her former professor’s face. He lifted the warm cloth to her face and gently began to wipe away the months of dirt, dried semen, blood and tears. Using a soft towel, he patted her face dry. His eyes met hers as his fingers slowly reached for the blanket. “May I?” His voice was gentle, but it was his eyes that struck her. He seemed almost sad, as if her condition caused him great pain. She slowly slid one hand, then her whole arm out from underneath the blanket. Without a word, Snape placed the towel under her arm and washed one arm and then the other. He knelt quietly beside the sofa where she lay. She tried to interpret his expression. She detected neither lust nor deceit. She was startled to think it may be compassion she saw in his eyes. She allowed him to bathe her completely.

“I can give you a salve for the bruising. Of course, there are potions for pain.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” She asked him in a voice barely above a whisper. Snape did not act at all like Lucius. There was no pretense at all of being helpful; rather the help he offered was genuine.

Snape looked at her as if she’d asked something that should be the most obvious thing on the face of the Earth. “You were in need of a bath.” He stood, and then cast an Evanesco to vanish the used items. “You are also in need of nourishment.”

She pinched her eyes together and shook her head. “I’m not sure I could keep anything down.” She tried to smile self-deprecatingly. “The food I’ve had recently was not very good. It didn’t agree with me.”

He smiled inwardly when she tried to laugh at her own situation. “Perhaps then just a bowl of broth and some tea?”

She smiled weakly and nodded. Snape returned a short while later with a tray. No questions were asked, no words were spoken. Hermione allowed Snape to feed her a bit of warm broth. Once she’d nodded off, Snape remained throughout the night at her side just watching.