Vacivitas

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Trigger Warnings: I'm not exactly SURE what triggers are in this chapter, because I don't know how to word them. but there's references to future dub-con, when they talk about the upcoming party. If you know the specific name for a trigger you see, just comment and I'll add/fix the warning.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hermione wakes early the next day, already shaking with nerves. Her dreams were just like they were the last time Malfoy filled her with horrific false memories: fraught with nightmares, terror, pleading, and pain. She lays in bed, staring upward and wondering what tonight's going to be like. Will it be as awful as Charon Palace? Is she going to have to put up with being tortured again? She's not sure she could survive it this time–not with how distant she was from Malfoy. She wouldn't have anything to hold onto.

She recalls the dinner weeks ago, where Malfoy told her these parties included "tests." How he'd alluded to there being events similar to the dinner at Charon Palace, where Voldemort and his Death Eaters watched what they thought was her being raped. Is that going to have to happen again? If it's a test, won't more attention to detail be paid?

What if there really isn't a way out this time?

She hauls herself out of bed, knowing she needs to go downstairs and practice. If having talents is a way to hopefully avoid the "tests," then she should make sure she sounds as perfect as possible.

After bathing, she dresses and heads downstairs to breakfast. To her surprise, Malfoy is at the table. He's slouching back in his chair with one of his elbows on the arm of the chair, his fingers rubbing his jaw. His other arm rests on the table, silver fork in hand. He's wearing a black tee shirt, and she can't see his trousers from her vantage point.

She hesitates at the doorway. She doesn't want to eat with him or be around him. Him holding her last night wasn't something she believed, let alone wanted him to do. She isn't sure if it made her feel better or worse.

Malfoy glances up and down toward the door. Then, he takes a second glance as though surprised to see her, too. They hold each other's gazes. For the moment, he's not Occluding. She sees a firestorm of emotions she can't place, swirling around in his grey irises, but as soon as she registers one of them–frustration–they're gone, locked behind a wall of iron and stone.

He drops his gaze to his plate.

Hermione takes a deep breath. She might as well sit down to eat. She doesn't have time to waste waiting for him to finish. Besides, if things at this Carrow estate party are anything like Charon Palace, it will be worse if she can't even look at him.

She takes her regular seat across from him, unfolding her napkin right as Pinky appears to fill her juice glass and snap a plate of steaming hot breakfast into existence in front of her. Without acknowledging him, Hermione tucks into her food.

"We'll be leaving at eight tonight," Malfoy says, still rubbing his jaw. She wonders if it's a self-soothing action. What would he need to feel soothed for? "Through the Floo."

"Okay," she says, taking a bite of her food. It tastes amazing, as always. She wishes she could enjoy it.

"Blaise and Tracey will be coming with us."

"All right." Then, after a pause, she says. "Does Tracey belong to Blaise?"

He nods.

"Then...Why was she at Charon Palace?"

"Blaise is helpful when I need him to be, but that doesn't make him a good person."

Hermione frowns. "But he gave her his wand."