need you to see how I am," he growled. His hands were no longer crushing her upper arms, they were doing squeezing, rubbing, chafing things, as if he were trying to keep her from catching a chill, or as if he couldn't decide if he wanted to hurt or caress her. They could have still fit a Goyle-sized individual between them, however.
Space really was the final frontier, currently anyway.
"Your problem, Malfoy, is that you have no idea what you want," she snapped at him. "You can't work out which side you want to be on. Make a choice. Dark or Light? We' re at war here. You don' t have the luxury of hovering in between, so stop hating the rest of us for knowing what we're about!"
His jaw dropped a little. Undaunted, Hermione pressed on. "You want my cooperation to solve this Fida Mia business and yet you don't want me anywhere near you at the same time? You get angry when you can't get me to listen, but when I'm compliant, you act like the biggest, whinging bitch ever to come out of Slytherin House."
They eyeballed each other in silence for a few, heated seconds.
"And that's really saying something!" she added, as an afterthought.
He looked like he wanted to strangle her. They'd probably find her body later in the day, lying amidst rainbow coloured candy wrappers and Hunt-Smith's essay on 'Muggles and Insurance: Paranoia or Necessity?'
"You stupid, little girl," he sneered, his breath was hot and sweet over her face. "I'll tell you exactly what I don't want. I didn't particularly want you on the night of the party, but hey, you offered and I'm not Saint Potter to turn down a passable shag that's tossed my way just because of my intense gay love for my best friend. I didn't want you to come near me after the Prefects' Bath after you made it quite plain that I repulse you. I don't need you to inquire after my wellbeing after I saved Dodders' incompetent arse out on the pitch. I don't want to wake up in the morning with a raging hard on and sheets that smell like you, only you're not there for me to tell you to get the hell lost!"
Hermione opened her mouth, and then closed it. She didn' t think she needed to tell him he was insane. That little monologue had proved it beyond all doubt.
"Speechless?" he asked, nodding. His voice caught a bit. "Good. I'll see you in Diagon Alley."
Merlin knew stranger things had happened in her lifetime, but this next realisation suddenly put all of those things into sharp perspective.
She watched him walk away, in the direction of the dungeons. Hermione was quite certain that he had just taken her heart with him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Someone was coming down the corridor, and it wasn't Bob the Dungeon Employee. Tonks knew this because Bob wore big boots and stomped around a lot when he walked. No, this new person was light footed and very, very quiet. Tonks only heard the stranger's approach because she had been expecting it since finding herself in her cell.
People who captured and imprisoned other people generally liked to inspect their booty. Sooner or later, even if there were henchmen and Bobs aplenty, the nature of evil kidnapping dictated that the Person in Charge ultimately came around to have a good old gawk.
The point was that you needed to pay attention and recognise a Person in Charge when you saw one.
Presently, the top slot of the cell door slid open. A face appeared, pale, curious and quietly smug. It was like a blow to the chest to see Harry Potter's youthful, wide-eyed visage staring back at her, but Tonks soon got her emotions under control.
If that was Harry, then Dumbledore was Madam Rosmerta in extremely clever disguise.
"Nobody likes a show off," Tonks said, in a conversational tone.
Harry's face split into a knowing smile. It was the same sort of smirk Tonks had seen on the fake Draco's face.
So, this person was calling the shots then. There had to be others assisting though, for the dungeon was not a small, fly by night, operation.
"You'd be little Malfoy's cousin, then? Andromeda's brat?" said the Metamorphmagus.
"And you' d be suffering from some sort of brain disease to think you can abduct two Aurors and get away with it," Tonks neatly replied.
"One Auror," her captor corrected, giving her a measuring look. "To be sure. I've abducted just the one."