Darkness.
That's all there was, darkness. Every day, it was hard to know the difference between night and day. But oh, there was one way, a way that terrified everyone. Night was when they came, when muffled screams echoed through the eerie darkness. Footsteps knocking against the painful, hard, cold floor, drawing nearer until a metallic click would be heard. After the trauma of nights, everyone wished for day, if not death.
Every night began like this, ever since the end of the war, deathening silence penetrated by those footsteps. Tonight was no different, it never was so when the footsteps were heard, everyone held their breaths, silently pleading that they would be left alone. The footsteps continued down the long, dim hallway, only illuminated by a single touch of fire, hanging from the stone wall.
Finally, the metallic click was heard followed by a scraping of hinges. The room was small and damp, nowhere near suitable for living conditions. The room was filled with eight people, from 15 to 29, all filthy with a broken appearance, no hope, no dreams, nothing. They looked up at the noise, cowering at the thought of being chosen, all, except one.
In the far corner of this room was a girl, barely passed 19. Her flat, greasy brown hair covered most of her face, her eyes were dull and lifeless, full of pain. Her pale skin and skeleton- like body showed how week and feeble she was. She sat on her own, far away from the others, curled up. She didn't need to look up, she knew what he- no, it wanted and she wasn't going to give it the satisfaction of acting scared, to show her fears. She had not strength left to fight, so she saw no point, it only caused more pain. She thought about her third week... everything was so different.
Cheers were heard in the large room. Rows of tables of food were set up in celebration. Men and Woman in black robes talked as they waited for the entertainment.
"Attention, my fellow Death Eaters, the Dark Lord may have fallen but we shall continue to fight in his name, the order is running, Dumbledore is dead, victory will be ours soon!" a man called over the cheers, raising his firewhisky. The cheers grew louder but was silenced by the large, oak doors opening.
Four young girls and two young boys walked into the room, their hands cuffed. Laughter was heard as they were pushed towards the tables. One of the girls narrowed her eyes, outraged at having to serve on Death Eaters. Still, she knew it wasn't smart to speak just yet. She took one of the platters and walked around the tables, ignoring the comments that they had.
"Filthy Mudblood!"
"Where's your precious Dumbledore now!"
"The Order coming to your rescue?"
All the jokes, the snide remarks, she was use to them. The words did not hurt her, she was smarter then that, this Order that they always mentioned had to be stronger, she would get out, eventually.
"What did you say boy?" she heard a man growl before a smash. She looked up to see the youngest boy on the floor, the plates he was carrying were smashed around him. He did not look any older then 14 and by the look of it, he was head strong with a big mouth.
"I said that the Order will be here and all of you disgusting, inbred freaks will be killed" the boy growled. The girl sighed, it seemed like her observations of the boy were right. The man growled and pointed his wand at the boy.
"No!" the girl called, she had seen this before, something like that would have been dealt with the Crutiartus curse. She knew that she was foolish but she couldn't just watch something like that happen to a 14 year old boy.
"Out of the way mudblood!" the man roared, bearing his teeth to reveal fangs. The girl remained silent, glaring up at him, silently refusing to move. "Fine, you can be punished too!" he shouted, pointing his wand at her.
"Now, now, Greyback, we cant have you ruining the fun" came a silky voice before a man with long blond hair stood up. The blond haired girl clenched her fists upon seeing the man that she had started to think of as it, he wasn't human, he was heartless, cruel and vile. "You think you are brave now, you will be broken" it said, sneering at her as he pulled her up by her hair and dragged her out of the room.
The brown haired girl sighed, she refused to believe it at the time, she would never be broken, she would continue to fight. She would have been ashamed if she could have seen herself now. Not that it mattered, she didn't know much about herself anyway, she thought bitterely as she raised her left hand groggily, to the back of her head. She pressed against a spot, feeling her fingers, she brushed her hand a little towards the right... nothing. She couldn't feel her fingers, couldn't feel the pressure, couldn't even feel numb, it was nothing.
She tried to think to her third week in this hell but it always hurt too much. A dull throb shot through the back of her mind, making her wince as she rested her head on the cold wall, ignoring the horrid stench. The only thing she remembered were voices. Voices... shouting... screaming... smashing... and a thud. That was when she could remember waking up back in her 'room', blood on her hands and a sickening feeling. She didn't know what happened and part of her didn't want to know, it hurt too much.
The sting of tears at her eyes brought her back to the present. She finally looked up, shivering when she noticed that a shadow was over her, she was chosen. Looking up at the hooded figure, she accepted her fate, what was the point. She observed the figure and watched as they pulled down their hood but it wasn't it. She was met with unfamiliar green eyes, full of... concern?
She had not seen this emotion before, only once, when a young boy was taken from his mother. She had seen it mixed in the woman's eyes, mixed with fear and dread. But no, she was certain that it was concern but why would anyone be concerned for her. She was friendless, nameless, she had no one.
The figure kneeled down next to her and brushed her hair behind her ear, silently observing her facial features.
"Hermione?"
(I know this sounds REALLY dark but it is for just this chapter, it doesnt stay this dark, I am taking a break from fluffy, happy Harry/Ginny so please, tell me what you think, should I continue?)
