She felt her skin tighten.

Mind Tricks for Beginners.

They were all in on it. Together.

But, of course they were. Hermione swallowed. They would be punished far more severely than her if the wrong people heard about her treatment. She wondered if Bellatrix could be trusted to keep her observations to herself.

She took a deep breath and said, "I've found several new things to read up on. But it seems as if I'm lacking the tools for a true education."

Surely they knew she couldn't accomplish much without magic. His brows pulled together. His gaze turned to the floor, thinking, like he always did in Arithmancy when the equations became tedious.

"I can look into that as well," he said. And she knew they were dancing awfully close to the edge. If he felt he could have come right out and said it, he would have already spoken to her about Occlumency.

She watched him, eyes sliding over her bookcase, hands clasped behind his back. The grey shirt pulled taut across his clavicles. And she wondered how much Occlumency Draco Malfoy knew. She knew he could be cold and closed; surely he must know some. But was he skilled enough to keep the Dark Lord from shredding his thoughts and memories?

He turned to face her, breaking her stream of consciousness. "Dinner is at six."

She lifted a brow. "I've already said I'm not coming."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "If you don't join Mother and me downstairs, she will have my head."

She snorted, turning back to her tea service. "I'm not sure how that's my problem."

A pause. "I can't get you your books if I don't have a head."

"I'm positive Mippy would be just as useful in that department. I wouldn't need you at all." She tilted her chin up, challenging him to continue as spots of pink speckled his cheeks.

He swaggered to the doorway, and said, "Well, seeing as Mippy is preparing dinner this evening, I'm sure she would be less inclined to obey you if you offend her."

"Mippy is a kitchen elf?" she asked, startled.

"No," he said, reaching for the door handle. "She just loves to cook."

She caught the beginnings of a grin on his lips as he left. Turning to her wardrobe, she wondered what one should wear to dinner with the Malfoys.

~*~

At 5:57PM, she descended the marble stairs and headed to where she assumed the dining room was. Narcissa had waved her hand towards it on her first day at the Manor, and she had tucked it away, like she did all the other details of the Manor's layout.

The candles were burning low in the long room. A deep black dining table spread down the narrow dining hall without any table settings or centerpieces. There was a hum of dark magic, like it had dissolved into the walls.

Had she been tricked? Was there no dinner after all?

She shivered as her eyes roved the ceiling. She didn't like this room. It felt like death.