a mouthful of blood. "The Dark Lord is enraged, Malfoy. We will take all that you hold dear." He spoke with a strong Russian accent. Hermione wondered if he was a successful Durmstrang recruit.
"So you're starting with Harry Potter? I hate to break it to you, Dominic, but I have socks I hold dearer than that speccy git."
The Death Eater said nothing to this.
Draco smirked. "You had no idea he would be here tonight did you? At my party. God, how amusing. Did you wet your pants when you spotted him in the ballroom?"
"You can kill me, but you are still outnumbered. You can't save all your friends, Malfoy."
Now this was dedication. Death Eaters in the past always left room to bargain when faced with the possibility of capture or death. This new lot was martyr-ish.
Draco detested zealots.
"Good, so I have your permission to kill you." He turned to Hermione for effect. "You heard him, Granger, he said I could kill him."
The man apparently wasn't going to go without a fight. He pulled a knife out of his cloak. The expression on Hermione's face was all the warning Draco needed. He kicked Dominic's wrist.
The knife clanged to the floor and the desperate Death Eater made a dive for it.
Draco took a step back, holding out his wand. His purpose was clear, no matter that the man's back was turned.
Hermione darted out in front of him, effectively putting herself between Draco and the Death Eater. He hadn't had time to check his expression before he looked at her. Thus was she confronted with a look of purposeful, murderous intent.
For a few seconds, Hermione couldn't find her voice. Draco was scaring her.
"Do not stand in front of me when I have my wand out," he whispered.
He might as well have roared at her. His tone was like being slapped in the face. He was very, very angry at having his actions questioned.
She tried to reason with him. "You can't kill this man in cold blood!"
Draco's eyes bore into her. "Look away or get out of the way," he said, very calmly.
Dominic was aware that his life was hanging in the balance. He looked like he might have made a wild grab for Hermione when Draco lowered his wand to take new aim at him.
"Die or die badly," he hissed and Dominic shrank away.
Hermione stood her ground. "Just Stun him!"
Draco was menacing when he next spoke. He didn't have to move an inch to make her feel like she was virtually being pinned to the wall with his gaze.
"You do realise he would have killed us without hesitation. And you can bet he' s done worse. Damn it, Hermione! We're lucky that first AK missed! We do not know how many others there are wandering these halls. To Stun him and leave him is to risk one of his friends finding him, at which point he will be able to tell them who we are and how many we are. Right now you are wasting my time and risking Potter's life all the more."
Wasting his time, she noted. Not their time. Not hers. She was the soft one who spared lives, he was reminding her. He was the one who got the job done. This was not the boy who had been shaking so much after inadvertently killing a Death Eater five years ago that he had trouble holding on to a wand.
They ended up binding Dominic and stuffing him in a broom closet. If the man was thankful at being spared, he didn't show it.
"Do not second guess me again," Draco said, when it was done.
She refused to be intimidated. "Precaution is not a good enough reason for murder, Draco."
He turned so quickly to face her that she ran into his chest.
"So you think I'm a cold-blooded killer now, do you? You must have read the Inquiry's report then?" he sneered.
Her bad opinion seriously bothered him, she discovered. There was that tiny little thrill of power again, but this thrill was overwhelmed by the need to reassure him. She had never been very good at being deliberately cruel.
"No, I haven't read the report," she said, unable to meet his eyes.
Her emotions were getting the better of her. A horrible and obviously incorrect assumption must have entered his head because he looked tremendously hurt all of a sudden. His voice started to waiver.
"You think it was a five-year holiday, don't you?" he said, narrowing his stunning eyes at her. "You think that'