All That You Are

She had clamped her mouth shut so tightly that she could taste blood from where she had bitten her cheek. Every day for the last week had been like this, a punishment in some sort of way when she hadn’t had any information to give up when he asked. Then, it started to escalate. After she had said that she had nothing to offer, there was the Cruciatus Curse that had her trying to bite back her screams as she writhed on the floor. The elf was some of her only solace. Occasionally, it would show up, giving her food and fresh robes as he apologized for her discipline. By the third week, she was sitting in the library, a book open against her trembling legs. The Curse had been strong yesterday and her mind was fraying, attempting to grasp onto straws while she Occluded under the fake impression of reading. 

She had started to glamorize and hide her bruises with some of the makeup that was in her trunk from Pansy when she was able to start leaving her room with the elf. She was terrified that if she ran into Theo that he would see everything and kill Tiberius, as much as the thought made her happy. When she hadn’t run into him at all, remembering to do it every time she was granted access to the Manor, became harder and harder to do. She didn’t have the energy today as she stared at the bruise forming around her wrist from where he had yanked her off of the floor. Today she had been granted with the reprieve that Tiberius was going to be gone for a few days and she would be returning to Malfoy Manor to see the Dark Lord when he returned. She was terrified to see Draco. Terrified that they would see what had become of her. 

There was a month and a half left before she was supposed to start Hogwarts, and she wondered briefly if she was even going to be able to pretend. The facades were getting harder at sliding into place and she wondered how Theo had even done it in the first place. If this life was anything like it had been, how had he survived? How had he even lived being here? Did Tiberius torture him the same way that he did her. He seemed content, sadistically happy whenever she came from the burning pain of the Cruciartus. Tiberius always had a twisted smile on his face whenever she was writhing on the floor screaming. 

Even without her wand, she was trying to do wandless magic any chance that she got. Glamor’s were easy, even with shaking hands. Occluding was even easier, because she had done it countless times without her wand in her hand. Her magic wasn’t taken, it was just limited. The sound of footsteps had her head snapping up and she scrambled through one of the doors in the library, pressing her back against the dark hallway. It was almost dark enough that she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face and her curious mind wondered where it went. The thought heightened when the door was opened and somebody slipped into the hallway beside her, breathing so lightly that she wouldn’t have known that they were there if she hadn’t heard them come in. The familiar smell drifted to her nose and she gasped his name in the quiet hallway. 

“Theo.” 

Theo spun, and she heard the quick footsteps as he approached where she was standing. “Hermione?” His voice was quiet and she closed her eyes letting the familiar vibrato wash over her. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere..” 

Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at the form she could barely make out in the darkness. “I’ve mostly been in my room. Haven’t been allowed to leave, he took my wand. I was told that he fought very hard to get me here.” She huffed a laugh. 

“What has he done to you?” For a moment Hermione wanted to be truthful…but the darkness gave her the courage to break the promise of honesty that they made with one another. The darkness wrapped itself around her, holding her tightly as she let the lie fall from her lips while her hands trembled from the lingering Cruciartus.

“Nothing.”

“You must mean something to him then.” Something twisted in his voice and she furrowed her brows. 

“No.” 

“You’re important to him. He fought to get you back here. Back to the Manor.”

Her eyes flashed and she went to reach for him, and in the darkness he jumped from her touch. Reluctantly, he let her grab his hand and she noted the faint tremble against her palm. Yet again, she was thankful for the dark so that he wouldn’t have to see the bruises forming on her skin. She could carry these, she could do this for him. He had suffered far worse for far too long without her. This could be her making up for all of the years that she wasn’t there to protect him. 

“Theo, listen to me. I am no more important to him than you are. We are both objects that he uses at his disposal, whatever means necessary that pleases him. I am playing a part to keep the people I love safe, and that includes you.” Theo let out a strangled gasp, and Hermione knew that he was trying not to cry. Nott’s couldn’t show weakness. “He didn’t fight to get me back, he fought to get something that would give him standing with the Dark Lord back. He fought to have something that was worth trading when the time came. I am merely an object waiting to be disposed of correctly when the time comes.”

She felt Theo’s hand grip hers tighter. When he spoke it was with conviction, wrapping her in warmth in the cold hallway. “No. I won’t let him. I will kill him before he lays a hand on you.”

A tear slipped down her cheek and she closed her eyes, trying to get her breathing under control. He didn’t know that Tiberius already had done everything that Theo was terrified of. She wasn’t going to let him find out. 

“I know, Theo. We’re in this together. Always, I promise.”

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The glamor was successfully in place and she smoothed her hand over the dress robes that she had on as she waited patiently. Tiberius was coming to collect her so that they could Floo to Malfoy Manor. The information was important, knowing which Floo was usable to get there if she needed an escape. He smirked when he stepped through the doorway, seeing the Glamor that she had in place before waving his hand at her, and she followed behind him. He led her towards the large drawing room and she memorized the pathway as she went from her room. Straight for twenty steps, right through a heavy brown door, through another small hallway for ten steps and left through a heavy gray door. Her hands stayed clasped in front of her, wringing her fingers together as the nerves started to build, and she slammed her Occlumency walls into place so heavily that she barely registered Tiberius yanking her through the Floo and stepping out into the familiar drawing room that she had tea with Narcissa. 

Her feet stumbled as he yanked her along, barely registering anything as they pushed through the doors and into the room that was drenched in Dark Magic. Somebody hissed when she entered and she lifted her eyes to see a blonde staring at her with almost black eyes. She pulled her Occlumency back a little, and everything started to register like a slap to the face. At some point, Tiberius had removed her glamor and the bruises that littered her skin were visible now, as Draco was being held back by Lucius in the far corner of the room while his eyes scanned over her. Theo, was standing next to them, his eyes wide and murderous on their father’s grip on her forearm. Remembering where she was, she quickly cast her eyes downward and fell to her knees beside Tiberius as they approached the skeleton-man sitting on the throne in front of them. 

“Tiberius.” The ‘s’ was hissed so close in resemblance to a snake that a shiver went up her spine. “Were my instructions not clear?”

“My Lord?”

“I said to ensure that she was whole and in one piece in order to continue to be of use to us, did I not?”

Tiberius inhaled quickly, his eyes still cast down to the floor as he kneeled, his grip like a vice on her arm. “Yes, My Lord. She was not offering information when asked, no matter the methods that I had to resort to.”

The feet were quiet as they padded across the marble towards her, the snake slithering along beside him. Hermione didn’t realize that she was trembling and wondered if it was from fear or the lingering effects as the snake circled around her. Tiberius was still, his arm clasped onto hers, until suddenly he was dropping onto the ground, screams echoing off the marble floor as he writhed in pain. 

“Finding loopholes does not bode well for you, Tiberius. You disobeyed me. If the Malfoy’s haven’t been so… useful then I would be casting aside your agreement as punishment. Do you understand?” Tiberius let out a whimper and Hermione closed her eyes as she tried to fight the disgust that rolled through her at the happiness of knowing that he was hurting as badly as he had hurt her. “Come here, child.” 

Hermione scrambled to her feet, attempting to fight off the wobbling as she made her way forward, before dropping to her knees in front of the robes again. “My Lord.”

“Have you worn out your use to me?”

“No, My Lord. I have not had any opportunities to get in touch with the Order, therefore at the moment I have no new information. I apologize for disappointing you, My Lord, I deserve whatever punishment that you give me.” 

Voldemort hummed in approval, his finger sliding under her chin as he tilted her face towards him. The familiar jagged pain of Legilimency slicing through her brain and she sat as a bystander. He was latching onto every moment where she had arrived at the Manor, shifting and sorting through them before pulling from her mind. She had somehow slumped forward, her palms against the marble flooring. “Leave the room, pet. I have business to discuss.” Hermione nodded, crawling down the dias before lifting herself on wobbly legs. She couldn’t show that she was weak. She couldn’t be weak. Her entire body was trembling so violently that her teeth were chattering. As soon as she was through the doors, her legs gave out from underneath her and she was caught by Narcissa. 

“Oh God, Hermione. It’s alright darling. Come now.” Hermione was crying, heaving against Narcissa’s shoulder as she dragged her away from the doors and into a study that she didn’t recognize as Lucius’s until she had calmed down enough to look around some time later. Just as she had downed a Pain Relieving Potion and a Calming Draught, the door to the office burst open and her eyes met Draco’s wild gray. He stood motionless for a moment before walking quickly towards her, dropping to a knee in front of her. If the circumstances were different, she would be surprised that he was kneeling in front of her. Draco Malfoy didn’t kneel for anybody, yet here he was on one knee, eye level with her as his hands hovered over her skin like she was made of glass. Hermione watched his eyes darken, gray turning to black as his eyes scanned every inch of her. 

“I am going to fucking kill him.” He was trembling, his fingertips hovering over her cheekbone. “I’m going to fucking kill him.” It was a whispered mantra laced with venom and she inhaled sharply.

“I’m fine, Draco. Really. I’m okay.” Draco’s eyes flashed, and his jaw clenched before he pinned her with his gaze. 

“No, Granger, you’re not.”

“Why didn’t you say goodbye to me? When I left, why didn’t you say goodbye?” He blinked at her, before closing his eyes and taking a steady inhale. 

“I wasn’t aware of it.”

“You would’ve been if you talked to me. If you said anything to me after the first time with Vol-The Dark Lord.”

Draco’s nostrils flared and his fingers fidgeted with a strand of her hair, twirling it. “I was furious with you, putting yourself at risk the way that you did. The fact that my father didn’t tell me about what you were doing and I had to find out to the sound of you screaming…” Draco closed his eyes, rolling his jaw before continuing. “I was outside with Theo, and I heard you screaming. When I realized where you were I knew that I couldn’t go in unless I wanted you dead. I wasn’t aware of the…arrangements that my father had made in order to make sure that you were safe. Tiberius violated the terms to that agreement. I didn’t know that you were leaving until I had gone through the passageway and found your note.” His eyes met hers, unyielding and furious. 

“What arrangement?” Draco rocked back onto his heels, inhaling. 

“My father made a deal with Tiberius that as long as you remained unharmed that you would marry into the Malfoy family, giving Tiberius social standing.” Draco wasn’t looking at her. 

“I was used as an object?”

“My father was using whatever means necessary to ensure your safety, the contract was binding and if the agreement was broken by either party then it considered their side void. Tiberius won’t gain anything but by signing he promised your hand to me.”

Hermione scoffed, glancing at her fingers. “Well. marrying anybody else would be torture. At least it’s you.”

Draco didn’t say anything, his lips pressed together tightly. “Yes, at least it’s me taking your freedom only to ensure your safety.”

“I wouldn’t want it to be anybody else, Draco.” Her eyes met his, and he looked away, his fingers gliding over the skin of her arm over the different bruises; fading, and new littering her skin. 

“I wouldn’t be able to live if you were promised to somebody else.” It was a whisper, and she glanced around the room before attempting to stand, wincing at the pain before she was being pushed back into the chair gently. “The Dark Lord is talking to Theo before giving Tiberius his punishment. You aren’t leaving until afterwards.” As soon as he was done talking, Theo burst into the room, his eyes landing on Hermione as he let out a curse beneath his breath. 

“What the fuck, Granger.” Hermione shrank back into the seat, flinching at the tone of his voice. This time as he spoke, it was softer with a restrained rage. “You told me…that he didn’t do anything to you. You told me..”

“If you knew you would’ve killed him, Theo. I wasn’t about to risk your life for mine.” 

“Hermione.” It was broken and deadly, a weapon aimed right at her heart. “That wasn’t your decision to make.”

“It was my decision, Theo. You…you went through this for what? Years?! Where was I? You don’t get to look me in the eyes and make the decision about what I get to sacrifice for you. Both of you are protecting me, so much that you are losing pieces of yourself in the process, and get mad when I do the same? I know that both of you would burn the world down for me without question, but I would start wars for the both of you.” Her voice was wavering, and she choked back tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Theo was staring at her, lips pressed together tightly and Draco was trembling beside her. “If this is the price that I have to pay to keep you both safe, I will gladly do so without hesitation.” 

There was a soft knock at the door and Narcissa peeked her head in. Hermione hadn’t even noticed that she had slipped from the room at some point. “It’s time, my dear.” 

“No. You’re not going back there. He’ll fucking kill you! I won’t–” Draco cut him off with a look, trembling hands at his side before reaching for her.

“We don’t have a choice. I can’t not go back, Theo. I’ll be okay.” Rage flickered across every feature of Theo’s face, his jaw set tightly before his eyes tore from hers and raised to meet Draco’s behind her with a small nod.

“Hermione..” Draco pulled her into his arms carefully, hesitant about what was touching her and where until she pressed herself completely against him, burying her face into his chest as she inhaled his scent. Draco sighed, wrapping his arms around her hips as he pressed her against him. His fingers come to tangle into her hair, cradling her head against his chest. “I promise I’ll get you out of there.”

When she stepped away from him, she wondered if he said it for himself, or for her.

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The spell zoomed past her head, hitting the table in front of her and shattering the vase, glass fell on the floor and she slid across the floor as it dug into the flesh of her feet. Blood made the floor slippery as she slammed into the wall, twisting to open the door that she needed to get through. Strong hands grabbed hold of her hips, pushing her gently through and slammed the door shut behind them. Hermione was scrambling, legs weakened from the Cruciartus. Everything in her body was protesting movement: lungs, mind, muscles, tendons, nerves. Theo grabbed her underneath the arms, yanking her behind the sofa just as the door burst open.

“Have to get you to the floo.” His words barely registered with the ringing in her ears. Spells were lighting up the entire floor, whizzing by her faster than she could comprehend. 

Green. Red. Green. 

Floorboards splintered, breaking apart around them as they cut her cheeks. She didn't register the pain. Then, suddenly Theo was pulling her up, covering her with his body, as he ran towards the floo. He was basically dragging her, her feet barely keeping up with his long strides. She couldn't register anything, the aching pain in her arm was a distant throb, and her head was spinning. Theo shoved her into the fireplace, and as he dropped the powder into the flames, it wasn't the only burst of green light in the room. 

“Malfoy Manor.” 

“Avada Kedavra!” 

His expression was startled, eyes wide as he stared at her. She knew the spell had hit him in the back and she watched as the light faded from his eyes. Fear gripped her as everything suddenly focused with an intense clarity. “Theo!” Her voice was strangled as the fireplace took her, sending her through as Theo's lifeless eyes stayed haunted in her mind. He always said that he was terrified of seeing life leaving hers. Yet here she was, with the imprint of his blue eyes dulling as she screamed. 

She fell into the Manor on her hands and knees, the floorboards in the room rough against her hands. Hermione knew that she should register the fact that she was in Draco’s room, but her mind couldn't process anything but the grief pulling her down. She couldn't breath, air felt like sandpaper against her throat and she was distantly aware of screaming echoing in her ears. There was a crack. Then it disappeared. Then the door flung open and she fell back into the fireplace trying to get away. She had to get back. She had to get back. She had to save him. It was the only thought registering in her mind. 

Draco appeared in front of her, gray eyes wild as Lucius kneeled behind him. “Where is he?” 

Draco cursed, reaching out for her and she whimpered, pressing her eyes together as she shook her head. “Theo. No. Theo. I have to get back. I have to get back.” Charcoal and ash caked underneath her fingernails as she clawed desperately trying to get back into the Floo.

Her words were small in the quiet room and she heard a sob tear from her lips. Draco reached under her arms, hauling her from the fireplace as he cradled her shaking form against his chest. “Shhh, darling. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.” A whispered spell registered in her consciousness and then everything went black. “Stupefy.”