"No, dear. There's… someone is—"

She watched Narcissa struggle for words. Hermione's eyes went wide with rising terror, her breath coming quick. Voldemort?

"We're having visitors first thing in the morning," Narcissa finally managed. "I don't know why. We were told they need to do a medical examination."

Hermione pulled the opened shirt off her shoulders with shaking fingers, fear overriding her modesty as Narcissa bunched up the white silk and tossed it over her neck.

"Alright," she rasped. Chills bursting along her skin as the silk slipped over her. Too long. Probably Narcissa's. "And what are we doing?"

"There's an old spell. Something that they used to use on their daughters… A ritual."

Hermione stood frozen in terror as she let Narcissa's hands pull the gown down her legs. Fingers push her hair to the side. A cool chain draped over her shoulders as Narcissa placed a crystal necklace over her.

"What kind of ritual?" She didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. The crystal hummed against her skin. Magical.

Narcissa's cool blue eyes met hers. They pierced her, studying her.

"They will be able to see that your virginity is intact," she said quietly. "So, we're going to take it."

Hermione's skin tingled, feeling the weight of the silk gown on her shoulders. Waiting for the words to make sense to her.

A rattling knock at the bathroom door. "1:59," Draco's clipped tone rang out. Her body jerked, and Narcissa gripped her arms to guide her out.

Draco stood aside to let them pass, his eyes firmly planted on the mantle clock above the fireplace. Narcissa guided her to the bed, pushing her to sit.

Her mind caught up to her circumstances as Narcissa knelt before her, produced a bowl of water, dipped her fingers, and brushed her fingertips over Hermione's eyes and lips.

There was a ritual.

A ritual to trick the virginity spell. The one they'd cast on her to decide her starting price at the Auction.

Narcissa whispered something into the water bowl — something in German — before bringing it to her lips and swallowing half. She looked to Draco. He stood rooted to the carpets, muscles moving in his jaw.

This is what he'd been researching. Finding this ritual. He hadn't let her help him.

The small chime from the mantle clock, and he turned to them. "It's time."

He faced her, his grey eyes dead in the moonlight. Narcissa pushed the bowl to her, bringing it to Hermione's lips. Hermione drank the rest of the water, watching Draco over the rim. He stared her down as she swallowed.

He knew last night that they were coming. He knew they'd find her untouched, and he'd ransacked the library for a solution to his problem.

Hermione's breath hitched at the realization that he'd skipped over the easiest one.

Narcissa placed the bowl on the nightstand and crawled onto the bed, her long limbs gracefully folding under herself. She guided Hermione to sit in front of her, both facing the fireplace. Draco paced to the end of the bed, hand against the bedpost, watching the clock.