imprisonment

Chapter 20; D

A/N: From this point on there will be sexual content. I will no longer give warnings because I don't want to spoil anything.

It all became too much.

The silence was deadly to him, latching inside of him. He wanted to be able to talk to Hermione, even if it was just arguing. It had been days since they had last spoken.

It was obvious she hated him now more than ever. He had ruined the small thing they had going. Maybe it was artificial, but it was something. Being able to leave Azkaban ever for a moment meant everything to him, and he would never be able to go back to the library or the courtyard without her.

It was selfish, Draco knew that. That didn't stop him from wanting it with every fiber of his being.

His feelings towards Hermione were complicated. He felt like he couldn't trust his own mind. For years he had despised her, part of him still did, but ever since he entered Azkaban things changed. He needed to gain her trust and win her over in order to escape. He needed her for survival.

So, for weeks he played the game. He pretended to be nice to her when he could, he helped her when she was attacked by dementors, and he let her see her parents again. He didn't realize that along the way he would feel things he shouldn't have.

It just felt so good to be touched and listened to. She had treated him like a person who could be better. She didn't write him off as being completely gone. Everything had started to feel different for him.

It all was ruined when she found out. He didn't think she would have reacted the way she did. He thought she would be grateful. It was a miscalculation on his part.

He told himself to stop caring. He needed to occlude himself, but he was so tired. He spent years closing himself off to everyone, he shouldn't have to do it here too. It was just him and Granger, and despite their past, they were all the other one had at the moment.

He would find a way to fix it.

The door clanged open. What great fucking timing. It opened revealing a guard.

"Showers. Now," the guard said with the chains in his hand.

Draco got up from his spot in the cell and walked over willingly letting himself be cuffed. He swallowed hard. Anxiety fluttered through his body knowing he was going to see Hermione.

The guard moved towards her door, opening it, and informing her that she needed to get up and be taken to the showers. Draco could hear her groan in protest.

Hermione had cuffs put on her and she faced away from him. At the small glance he caught of her he noticed her hair was matted, her eyes were red and puffy, and she was deathly malnourished.

They started to ascend down the long hallway. Screams and cries filled the thick musty air. He could see Hermione's curls bouncing as she trudged in front of him. It was a dark contrast from the girl he saw laying in the flowers full of light. He had forgotten just how sinister this place was.

He walked in silence, trying to figure out what he would say to her. We wanted her forgiveness; he needed it. He would rot in here without her. When the order came back for her he needed to go with them. Hermione was his only chance.

He didn't know how to articulate his words. Yes, the goal was to plant seeds of desire in her mind, but he didn't realize the damage he would cause along the way. He didn't know that she only kissed him because she thought it was just a dream. It all confused him.

He had thought that a part of her actually wanted him. How foolish of him to think that she would ever want him. Sure, before Azkaban he had his looks that girls would fawn over, but without them, he was left with his personality.