After mentally reciting a list to ask once they were home again, Hermione finally reached the top of the stairs, turning once to look out over Edinburgh's skyline. It was a clear night, and they were hundreds of feet above sea level.

Dark windows and empty streets as far as the eye could see. Had Edinburgh been massacred? Or evacuated?

A faint sensation of fingers on her lower back, and she shivered as Draco brushed past her. After a moment, she followed, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

She could hear the growing noise of a party as they walked closer to the grey structures jutting into the night sky. He finally turned a corner and led her into a large courtyard, where about fifty men were socializing. She swallowed, trying to conceal her shock as she considered the numbers. It had to be a gathering of Voldemort's elite, but she'd never known him to have such a large inner circle. Were all of these men truly Death Eaters? Or were they simply revelers, delving into their darker impulses now that the Order was gone? She opened her mouth to ask, and realized again that she couldn't.

They moved toward the tall buildings to the left, away from the crowd outside, but his feet turned abruptly, as if he'd just remembered something. She stumbled to keep up with him as he took her elbow and dragged her to the solitary lamp still flickering in this part of the courtyard. Once he was illuminated with ambers and golds, she watched him breathe deep and stare at her with cold, dead eyes.

"I'm showing you how to behave," he murmured. His eyes dipped towards her chest. "Nod your head."

Her heart thundered, and she refrained from looking over to the crowd they were playing for. She nodded at his shoes. "How am I to behave?"

One hand reached up, and she held her breath when he tucked a curl behind her ear, tilting her face up with his hand on her jaw. A different mask had clicked into place. His eyes flickered with heat as he breathed over her, dancing along her clavicles and neck.

"Obedient, but not broken."

She blinked quickly at him, feeling the warmth of his fingers behind her ear, watching his eyes storm, and the Malfoy smirk slowly return over his features.

"Oi! Malfoy!"

The call from across the courtyard startled her. She tried to turn around but Draco's hand on her face held her firmly in place.

He lifted his head and called out, "Evening, Bole," before dropping his hand to her elbow and dragging her to the buildings they were headed for.

She heard a faint smattering of "Is that her?" and "Finally!" behind her shoulder as his pace quickened.

The gap in the buildings led to another large, dimly-lit courtyard. Four blocky buildings bordered the area, a clock tower climbing high from the one to their left. It was eerily quiet in the summer air, but she still felt like hundreds of eyes were on her.