the malfoy manor

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Bellatrix Lestrange was a determined woman. When she joined the Death Eaters, she was determined to be loyal to her master until the very end; when she discovered that her cousin Sirius ran away from home to go live with that Potter boy, she was determined to make his life a living hell after that. When she heard about the Dark Lord's return, she was determined to do anything to join him again... And she managed to accomplish all those things. Now, as she stood in the middle of her sister's drawing room, wand pointed at the girl sprawled on the floor and almost hysterical screams of accusation escaping from her lips, Bellatrix Lestrange was determined to discover how that Mudblood had gotten her filthy hands on the sword of Gryffindor.

"We found it... We found it! PLEASE!" The girl sobbed, curling up into a ball as she tried to recover from the Cruciatus curse.

The woman took a deep breath, putting her wand back in its holster and bringing her hand up to the handle of a small knife hanging on her belt. Lestrange had never used it before, as it seemed to be useless when she could simply use her wand to torture someone, but now, as she watched the dirty Mudblood, she thought that maybe little Ms. Granger would enjoy its blade... After all, a Muggle weapon for a Muggle girl.

"You'll tell me," Bellatrix whispered, approaching the younger witch, the heels of her boots making loud noises that echoed in the room when they hit the wooden floor. "How you found it." Granger looked up, staring at the woman with her tear-filled eyes and red face. "How did the sword." She kneeled down next to Hermione's body, grabbing the girl's hand, lifting it from the floor. "End up in your filthy little hands?"

"Please." Hermione tried to pull her arm from Bellatrix, but the witch kept a strong grasp on it, yanking and pressing it to the floor once again. "I don't know!"

"Little Miss Granger." Lestrange chuckled, pulling the knife from her belt and bringing it to the other's arm. The younger witch's eyes widened and she tried to get away from it. "I've heard about you... The insufferable Know-It-All Mudblood... You always know the answers to all the questions, my dear." The tip of the blade was now lingering only a few millimeters from the skin of her forearm. "So, I bet you know the answer to this one. Come on, make Bella proud!"

"I have no... N-No idea!"

"Oh, wrong answer," whispered Bellatrix with a disappointed look on her face. "Ten points from Gryffindor." A wicked smile spread across her lips as she lowered the blade, dragging its tip across the girl's forearm. Hermione bit down on her lower lip, trying hard not to cry out; not to give that madwoman the joy of hearing her scream, but it only took a moment until her voice came out of her mouth, almost unwillingly. Lestrange's laugh was the now mixed with the sound of her own scream in her ears and the girl didn't know what terrified her more... The disturbing sound, the burning on her forearm or proximity of the woman. "Shall we try again?"

"P-Please..."

The Death Eater tutted and moved the knife again, making the burning pain shoot up through Granger's arm. More screams, more laughs. The younger witch was now was trying to free herself from her torturer by kicking her legs and trying to hit Bellatrix, but the other didn't seem to notice anything as she was concentrated on carving something into her skin.

"Tell me. Tell me, Mudblood." The woman stopped once again and Hermione turned her head to look at her own arm. There was an angry red mark where the other had hurt her but her blurry vision made it impossible for her to read what was written there. "How." The hand that was holding her wrist grasped her hair, yanking her head back so that she was staring straight into the Death Eater's face. "Did." Bellatrix's face was now very close to hers. Her dark eyes seemed to be burning into hers. "You." The woman's breath against her face was starting to make her feel sick. "Put." A long nail dug into her cheek, running down it slowly. "Your hands." She grabbed Hermione's chin, letting her nails dig into it. "On that sword?"

"I don't know," the girl whispered, trying to move her head.

Lestrange stared at her for a moment before letting go of her face. The younger witch took a deep breath when the other finally moved away from her, but it was a matter of time until Bellatrix's thin hand hit her hard across the face. Granger whimpered, feeling her cheek burn.

"Enough of this." Bella pushed herself up and put the dagger on her belt once again before getting her wand. "Tell me how you got it?"

"I already said we found it!" said the Gryffindor, her voice so weak it was almost impossible to be heard. "We didn't take it from anywhere!"

"LIAR! You got into my vault, that's the only way this sword could come into your possession!" Bellatrix yelled. Hermione could see a little movement from the corner of her eye and finally became aware that the Malfoys were still in the room, along with Greyback, watching as that madwoman tortured her. "What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"

"Bella..." the weak voice of Narcissa Malfoy sounded from the corner of the room, but the woman didn't say anything else after receiving a deadly look from her sister.

"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!" The woman stood still as she watched the girl contort on the floor, screaming as the curse went through her body. "How did you get into my vault?" She screamed, finally lifting the curse. "Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"

"We only met him tonight!" sobbed Hermione. "We've never been inside your vault... It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"

"A copy?" Lestrange laughed out loud. "What a likely story!"

"But we can find out easily!" Lucius Malfoy spoke, moving towards them. "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us if the sword is real or not!"

The girl heard the hurried footsteps of Draco and waited. During the few minutes while the boy was gone, both his parents, Greyback and Lestrange stayed in silence, the only sound that was heard in the room being the noisy breathing of the Gryffindor on the floor.

"Ah, goblin!" said Bellatrix as soon as the footsteps of the younger Malfoy and Griphook were heard again. "Tell me: is this the real sword of Gryffindor? The one that was supposed to be inside my vault in your bank?"

Hermione turned her head to follow the goblin as he crossed to room and stood in front of the Death Eater, taking the sword into his small hands. Griphook seemed to caress the blade while his eyes watched it carefully. His fingers traced the name of its original owner that was written on the polished metal and, then, the shiny rubies that adorned its handle. The creature's concentration was broken as a loud 'crack' sound was heard from somewhere below the room. Draco jumped as he heard it and his aunt's head quickly followed it.

"What was that?" shouted Lucius. "Did you hear that? What was that sound in the cellar? Draco...No, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!"

Once again, the younger and terrified Malfoy left the room. Bellatrix looked up to the goblin once again.

"Well?" said Lestrange. "Is it the true sword?"

Griphook hummed, caressing the blade once again, before speaking. "No, it's a fake."

"Are you sure?" The woman sounded relieved. "Quite sure?"

"Yes."

"Good." A small laugh escaped from her mouth as she waved her hand and a cut appeared across the creature's cheek, making him drop the sword. "And now... We call the Dark Lord."

Hermione watched as Bellatrix pushed back her sleeve, exposing the Dark Mark on her forearm before touching it with her long, pale finger. Everything was over now. If either Lestrange or Greyback killed her, then Voldemort would as soon as he arrived at the Malfoy Manor... And not only her, but Harry, Ron and Griphook. And she couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening.

"I think," the woman said, touching the girl's face with the tip of her boot. "We can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."

Before the werewolf could even express his satisfaction, a yell of "NO!" was heard and someone burst through the drawing room's door. Everything became a blurred scene with flashes of lights and screams for a while, before Hermione felt a hand grabbing her by the hair and yanking her up. It was Bellatrix, and now she was holding the Gryffindor against her body, pulling her head back and pressing her dagger to the girl's neck.

"STOP OR SHE DIES!" The younger witch wasn't paying attention to anything now. Her head was spinning and her ears were ringing. The only thing she could feel was Bellatrix's blade cutting through the skin of her neck. "Drop your wands! Drop them or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is! I said drop it!"

"All right!" It was Harry's voice, followed by the sound of something falling to the floor. Their wands.

"Good! Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!" Lestrange laughed. "Now, Cissy! I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you'd done tonight."

Before anyone could move, an odd noise was heard from above and, suddenly, Bellatrix threw Hermione aside, ducking away from the center of the room. The girl, even though she was only barely conscious, heard a loud noise from something heavy hitting the floor and the enraged scream that came from Lestrange, just as she felt various pieces of what seemed to be glass falling on top of her body. The commotion began once again. The voices of the Malfoys, Bellatrix, Greyback, her friends and even a little voice that sounded familiar to her were now mixed with the sound of spells and curses hitting the walls and the floor. Hermione opened her eyes and was only able to see the feet of everyone in the room running up and down the place... She was close to the windows now, away from the fight, but not so far away that she could escape from an errant spell if there was one.

A pair of polished black shoes stopped right next to her head and, looking up, she saw a very scared Draco Malfoy looking down at her. His grey eyes were wide open and his lips trembled as he ducked from a spell that went into his direction and which, instead, hit a moldered piece that was hanging right behind him. A small shriek escaped from his mouth as he ran from that spot and into his mother's direction while Hermione curled up to protect herself from the broken glass that was now falling onto her. Something a little heavier than the pieces of glass fell on the top of her head and bounced on the floor, making a loud, metallic noise as it hit the wood. She could still feel something that felt like a long, cold thread tangled in her hair and fingers and looked up to see what it was...

There was, indeed, a thread over her... All right, it was not really a thread, but more like a silver chain, and, hanging on it, there was a silver metallic piece that seemed familiar to her. The girl pulled on the chain and got a better look on the object. Its complicated design formed two circles and, inside the smaller circle, there was a tiny, delicate hourglass. Actually, the hourglass was broken, and its purplish sand was now dripping from its inside.

It took a few seconds for Hermione to notice what had just happened. She was on the floor, with the chain of a broken time-turned wrapped against her while a duel between her friends and the witches and wizards who wanted to kill her was going on inside the same room.

Unfortunately, it took less time for the broken object to react.

A/N: as I said, here is the new Tomione fic. Same old time-travel plot and all, but I hope I manage to make it work in a better way than my old one. The title means "lullaby" in russian. A friend of mine sent me a russian song with that name and I fell in love with it... And this song ended up inspiring me to write this fic, so it ended up as the title. Yey. The summary: "It was as if her mind was hallucinating while her body was immobilized. Just like she would feel had she been dreaming." is how the REM sleep {one of the dreams stages, where most of the dreams happen} is described in my neurophysiology book: an hallucinating mind trapped into a immobilized body, because... well, our mind really does hallucinate while we dream, it works a lot while we do it, but our body is completely immobilized... The only muscles that work are the ones that control our eyes {that's why that stage is called REM sleep. Rapid Eye Movement sleep}.

Hope you guys liked it and... Reviews are always welcome, you know that.