My name is Hermione Granger

My name is Hermione Granger and I am dying.

A million explosions in her brain, tearing out all that is keeping her alive

- then it stops. It stops so suddenly. Wait, aren't I dead?

"Tell me, child."

Bellatrix bends down and gazes into Hermione's eyes. "Tell me where you got the sword from and I will let you go ... and if you don't ..."

She lets her voice trail off, and starts circling Hermione. The noise of her boots clicking and clacking reverberate. "That was just your very first dose of Crucio. Are you curious what it will be like the second time?" Her tone makes it sound like a simple, harmless question. She twirls her wand in the air. "My dear Mudblood." Hermione whimpers. "I don't know where you got that sword of yours from, and I know, it's very pretty, but I'm afraid it's not for you to play with." She speaks as if scolding a young child. "I'd like to you tell me where you got it. One. Simple. Questions." She says the last three words slowly and carefully.

Silence.

"WHERE DID YOU GET IT?"

"Hermione!" A familiar voice. It's faint, Hermione knows it. She smiles a small, inward smile.

"Shut up, blood traitor! I'm not letting your girlfriends go until she tells me!"

Bellatrix points her wand at Hermione. "Crucio!"

All she feels is pain.

My name is Hermione Granger.

Her gasps echo throughout the manor.

"That's your second taste of Crucio, dearie. It won't be your last, I'm afraid." Bellatrix Lestrange grins manically at her. She has her wand pointed towards Hermione's chest and is circling her slowly. "What good is all that studying and cleverness going to do for you now that you're going to die? So much wasted time. Tsk, tsk, tsk. But I know a way we can make some of those brains of yours useful - don't worry, it isn't mind-bendingly difficult. Just a little question. Where did you get the sword?"

"I'm not ... telling." Hermione can barely choke the words out. She braces herself; Bellatrix has raised her wand.

"CRUCIO!"

My name is Hermione Granger.

Now she's screaming; panic rips through her body and pain is all she can feel. She's being boiled in water - she's being thrown into a pot of melting wax - fire is tearing through her skin -

My name is Hermione Granger.

- and through all that, one clear thought.

My name is Hermione Granger.

The pain resides.

"How was that, Mudblood? And I'd turned the heat on low." Bellatrix smiles wickedly. "I wonder what it'll be like the next time ... wouldn't you like to find out, with that smart, probing little mind of yours?"

Hermione whimpers.

"... Was that a no?" She has a sad mask on her face. "Aw, poor little Mudblood, is it too painful for you to study?"

Another whimper escapes her lips, and she feels so pathetic.

My name is Hermione Granger.

She grits her teeth. She is clever, and she is going to use her brains to her advantage -

Page fifty-six, The Curses of the Dark: When attacked with the Crucio curse, repeat one, solid, unchanging fact in your mind. This will help you to keep a grip on your sanity.

She shivers, even though it isn't cold.

My name is Hermione Granger and I am going to die.

"IS IT?"

Bellatrix makes a slashing motion with her wand that rips the flesh of Hermione's arm. "NO TIME FOR STUDYING NOW, IS THERE, MUDBLOOD?" she screams. "AND I WON'T GIVE YOU TIME UNTIL YOU TELL ME - WHERE - YOU GOT - THE - SWORD - FROM!"

Her voice rings throughout the dungeon, shrill and high and cold.

"WHERE?" Bellatrix screams right into Hermione's ear. "WHERE? TELL ME! DID ANYONE GIVE IT TO YOU?"

"Hermione!" Ron's voice is audible, coming from the dungeon. Hermione winces; she can hear him sobbing. It breaks her heart. "Hermione!"

"Silence, blood traitor!" shouts Bellatrix. "Crucio!"

My name is Hermione ... Granger ... and I am dying -

A terrible, piercing scream escapes her mouth.

"Crucio! Crucio!"

She can't think, she can't breathe, all she knows is that there are a million guns shooting at her from all directions and she's being boiled in hot, sticky oil and it's closing in on her and she's kicking and screaming but her lungs are on fire and she

can't

think.

My name -

She's so shocked by the fact that she can get those two words through her mind that she stops kicking, but -

"CRUCIO! CRUCIO CRUCIO CRUCIO!"

Bellatrix says the curse through a smile and Hermione's world goes dark.

- is Hermione Granger -

- and I am going to stay alive.

She opens her eyes again and screams.

Bellatrix stops. Smiles. Tilts her head and regards the sobbing Hermione on the floor.

"HERMIONE!"

Hermione whimpers - and smiles a tiny smile.

My name is Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley will always be there for me.

"How was that, Mudblood?"

Bellatrix is smiling widely at her again. Her mouth looks too big for her face. Hermione's mind goes wild and she has a flashback of her father reading her Alice in Wonderland in bed. "The Cheshire cat had a smile as wide as the crescent moon."

Hermione's eyes flutter and she moans.

"Not feeling very good, does it?" Her expression morphs to one of pity. "Aw, my poor little Mudblood. Don't worry, it will be over - when you TELL ME -" she flicks her wand at Hermione "- WHERE AND WHOM YOU GOT THE SWORD FROM!"

A cut appears on her shoulder.

She smiles.

She's bruised and she's battered and she's on the very edge of death, but she smiles.

"Oh. So you want to play a game, now, do you, Mudblood?"

The silence is so deafening it hurts.

"I'll join in the fun. So we're going to be interesting, now, are we?"

There's a knife on the floor. Bellatrix picks it up and advances on Hermione with it in her hand. Hermione is crumpled on the ground, frozen. Move - run - walk - just MOVE!

But she can't. She's stuck.

"I'll be interesting, alright."

The knife slices through Hermione's flesh like fire.

A scream pierces the air.

My name is Hermione Granger.

"Hermione!"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Bellatrix growls. "Let me finish off your girlfriend, then I'll question you."

Fire rips through Hermione's arms. She can't cry; she's cried out all her tears.

"There," says Bellatrix, smiling that wicked Cheshire cat smile. "I'm sure this'll do as a reminder to always answer questions honestly, yes?"

Hermione opens her fearful eyes. Everything is so ... drowsy ...

She turns her head slightly.

Her limp left arm is gushing with blood. On it, a clear, cold word stands out.

Mudblood.

She squeezes her eyes shut.

My name is Hermione Granger.

"That will be your reminder. I told you I could be interesting," Bellatrix taunts haughtily. She pats Hermione on the head, wearing a mask of pity. "Poor little Mudblood's had enough of the questioning, I think. What a pity. This was such a good mystery, one of the most difficult ones in my life, and this clever little girl won't help me understand it." She stands up and turns.

"Bring out the blood traitor!"

Hermione's world goes black. No - not Ron -

My name is Hermione Granger and I am dying.

a/n - i'm so sorry, this was meant to be a short 600-word thingy but idk what happened it just suddenly became 1230 words long and i was like wth idek what is going on.