Full Summary: When Hermione is tortured close to insanity by Lord Voldemort in the final battle, she is also forced to relive memories she never thought she'd have to relive...things she had shoved to the back of her mind and sworn to never remember...who will help her back onto her feet in this tragic time?
Harry/Hermione ship...rated T for strong violence later, sensuality, thematic elements...blah blah blah.
"Stop! Stop it!"
"Harry! No! Harry!"
And then it was gone.
Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley, all arms grasped tightly behind their backs by Death Eaters, watched helplessly from the sidelines as Voldemort released the Cruciatus curse from Harry. Harry let out a groan as the pain was lifted, and he rolled over onto his side, where he tried to push himself up with shaking limbs, but Voldemort sent him tumbling backwards again with a flick of his wand.
"See how it hurts, Harry..." cooed Voldemort lazily, more as a suggestion of appreciation than a question. "See how with a mere flick of my wand, I can send you into such unbearable pain that you feel as though death itself would be better than what you are meant to endure...especially under the eyes of your friends..."
"No..." muttered Harry, seeming to have given up on trying to stand up after his few feeble attempts.
"Leave him alone!" screamed Hermione, her face wet with tears, struggling to rip her arms free. "You've done it enough!"
"Please," cried Ginny. "We'll do anything!"
Voldemort closed his eyes, more in annoyance than anything else at the melodramatic scene, and turned to face the group of young wizards.
"Do you really think that words will stop me now?" prompted Voldemort, stepping towards the group, and moving towards Ginny. "Do you really think your feeble attempts at bravery, self-sacrifice will do you any good?" He leaned forward and grabbed Ginny's chin, lifting her gaze up. She glared at him with such fury in her eyes, that Voldemort was mildly surprised to see no fear.
"Don't touch me," growled Ginny through clenched teeth, tears of fury streaming from her cinnamon-brown eyes. Voldemort released his grip on her face and stared at her deeply. Taking her chance, Ginny spat in his face venomously. Voldemort wiped the spittle of his face calmly and with disgust and made a motion for the Death Eater to release her.
"What makes you think you have a right to do that?" Voldemort asked quietly.
"We'd do anything now!" shouted Neville, who was standing at the sidelines. Voldemort did not shift his gaze from Hermione's, but she gave a firm nod in agreement with Neville's statement.
There was a second of silence before Voldemort grabbed Ginny's arm fiercely and held her against his side, having her face her line of friends. He held his wand jammed into Ginny's throat like a dagger. She gulped, gasping for breath against his harsh grip.
"NO! LET HER GO!" shouted Harry as he scrambled toward Ginny, but their was little he could do as a Death Eater pushed him away.
"Are you scared now?" breathed Voldemort into Ginny's ear.
"No!" she hissed, still struggling for air.
"Stop!" screeched Ron. "Let her go!"
Instead, Voldemort clutched Ginny's throat with his right arm, and with his left arm, poised his wand at the line of wizards. Ginny, her need for air strengthening, grasped Voldemort's cold, pale hand and wrenched hard, trying to loosen his grip. But he did not, and held fast. She began to gag and spasm.
"No!" screamed Hermione. "Ginny!"
"Who among you is most innocent? Who among you has done nothing wrong?" hissed Voldemort. His eyes flicked over the heads of Luna and Neville. With a touch of defiance, Voldemort hissed, "Avada Kedavra!"
Hermione and Luna screamed and Harry shouted, "NO!" as Neville crumpled in a heap at his Death Eater's feet. At that moment, Voldemort released Ginny, and she crumpled to the ground with a whimper, clutching her throat and filling her lungs with cold air in large gulps. She barely had time to register that Neville had been killed.
"No..." whispered Harry, pounding a fist on the stone floor in hopelessness. He had failed. Neville was dead.
"How could you!" screamed Hermione, but she already knew the answer.
"Who's next?" shouted Voldemort, kicking Ginny aside harshly. Her eyes filled with tears as she rolled away, her back aching from Voldemort's hard kick.
Voldemort bent down and grabbed Harry's hair, and lifted him up, Harry yelping with pain. Voldemort held Harry much like he had Ginny, only he didn't gag him. Harry struggled against his ruthless grip.
"I want you to watch," hissed Voldemort darkly. "I want you to watch me kill every single one of them."
"No..." gagged Harry, pulling at Voldemort's hands. With a heave, one of the Death Eaters tossed forward Hermione, who stumbled forward clumsily, but managed to keep her balance.
"You filthy coward!" screamed Hermione. "You only attack us if we're bound and tied to your filthy little cronies, feeding us forward like a vending machine!"
Voldemort slashed his wand down and Hermione felt a white-hot line of pain down her cheek, though there was not cut. She clutched her cheek and whimpered as she fell backwards, landing on the cold, hard ground.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Harry, who had managed to crawl over to comfort Ginny.
Far from Harry's plead, Voldemort pointed his wand at Hermione, a gleam in his eyes. Hermione knew from the moment he looked at her what he was going to do, and she braced herself.
"Crucio!"
Hermione let out a blood-curdling scream that none of them had ever heard her utter. She felt as though all of her bones had shattered, breaking into a million tiny pieces inside her...her blood was acid, eating her alive...her skin was being burnt with white-hot metals, and every nerve in her body was bursting in protest, screaming for release...
...and then it was gone. There was no lingering sting of pain like after you burn your finger on a hot pan...there was nothing. It was as though the pain had never been there.
Hermione curled into the fetal position and hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Her whimpering sobs echoed through the stone chamber, and she felt Harry's hand over hers, his skin a refreshing cool against what she thought was burning skin.
"I know..." whispered Harry so only she could hear. "I know it hurt..."
"Get away from her!" shouted Voldemort, kicking him away.
"No...!" cried Hermione weakly, flinging over on her side, stretching out her arm, her fingers grasping the air for Harry's fingers, yet knowing that she would not reach them.
This time, there was no warning.
"Crucio!"
And then the pain was back...everything inside of her screamed in protest, wanting release.
Anything is better than this...she thought quietly, even in her mind. I would take death over this...
Suddenly, she felt like two cold hands were wrenching around in her mind...pulling everything apart. She barely had time to respond, and suddenly, things were coming up into her mind that she hadn't thought about in years...
It was herself, receiving her first A+ paper...she had been so happy...
...then it was herself receiving what would be her first and only F...it was on a math quiz she hadn't studied for because the family dog had passed away the night before...
...then it was Harry appearing at the end of the maze with Cedric Diggory...lying there cold and dead...
Hermione let out a scream as the she realized that the Cruciatus curse was still being enforced...
The curse was lifted, and the pain left her, as did the recurring memories. She turned over and retched onto the floor. She rolled over onto her other side and looked into Harry's eyes, begging, pleading, imploring him to help her. Harry raised his wand.
"Expel--!"
There was a flash of white light as Voldemort deflected the jinx. Again, he raised his wand and yelled, "Crucio!"
The pain hit Hermione somewhat faster than before, knocking all the breath from her. Struggling for breath, still trying to block out the pain, and again screaming, Hermione writhed and twisted on the cold floor, her fists clenched and her nails digging into her palms. She clenched her teeth and tried to stop screaming, when a new flash of memories hit her...
...The class bully making fun of her abnormally large front teeth...
...Hermione sitting alone in the cafeteria when no one would sit with her...
...Ron constantly insulting her for going out with Krum...
"CRUCIO!!!!"
Hermione screamed as the pain, which she had thought was as bad as it could possibly be, worsened. Her eyes began to darken, and her breath became weak and thin. Even as the curse of pain was finally lifted, she began to fall into darkness...
Right before her eyes darkened she heard Harry scream, "FILTHY COWARD!" and Voldemort shout, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"