Before you guys start reading, I want to give a huge shoutout to MysteriousFlower and her story Masquerade (.net/s/6493745/1/bMasquerade_b). Her fic is awesome and it helped me remember a lot of the little details from the Manor scene. Go read hers after!
Hermione Granger had helped Harry get to the Sorcerer's stone, assisted in the escape of Sirius Black, survived several trips to the Forbidden Forest, and broken into the Department of Mysteries. She had faced down dementors, Death Eaters, and even Voldemort himself. But now, held captive in Malfoy Manor with her back against a wall and Bellatrix Lestrange approaching her with a wicked gleam in her eye, she had never been more scared in her life.
"Cissy, put the boys in the cellar," she instructed, gesturing to Harry and Ron with a lazy flip of her wrist. The witch came to a stop mere inches from Hermione, leaning in close, a dark smirk forming on Bellatrix's face. "I am going to have a conversation with this one…girl to girl!"
Hermione determinedly avoided her eyes and instead concentrated keeping her breathing steady. She flinched when a cold hand touched her cheek; it moved gently down her jaw and paused at her chin, then Bellatrix used three fingers to tilt her head up.
"Look at me," she whispered, but Hermione still averted her gaze. "I said, look at me!" she shrieked, now gripping the girl's face roughly.
Hermione had closed her eyes tight at the witch's sudden outburst but she willed herself to open them, and then finally looked directly into the woman's blazing pupils.
Bellatrix's grasp loosened just a little and she smiled sweetly, making Hermione shiver. "Now, my sweet, sweet girl…How did you get into my safe at Gringotts?"
She blinked a few times, the question taking her off-guard. "I—I didn't," she said. She barely finished her sentence before Bellatrix let go of her jaw and slapped her hard across the cheek. She gasped in pain at the sudden blow and it knocked her off-balance; she fell to her knees, holding a hand to her stinging face.
"Don't lie to me, Mudblood."
Hermione kept her eyes on the hardwood floor. "I'm not lying," she replied, trying to make her voice sound as strong as possible.
"I disagree."
Suddenly Bellatrix grabbed her by her upper arm and yanked, forcing Hermione onto her back with a grunt from the young witch. Before she had a chance to move from her spread-eagle position Bellatrix climbed on top of her, leaving her waist and torso completely immobile. She began to struggle against the witch's weight, knowing her efforts were useless, but sheer panic was setting in. Her eyes started to burn.
"That sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringotts." Bellatrix leaned in close enough so Hermione could smell her vile breath. "How did you get it?"
A sob escaped her throat involuntarily, and once it came out, several more followed.
"What else did you and your friends take from my vault?" Bellatrix spat, practically screaming by the end of her question.
"I didn't take anything," she sobbed, then took a ragged breath. "Please, I didn't take anything!"
Bellatrix once again dismissed her answers. "I don't believe it," she stated simply. She shifted to hover over Hermione's arm, and the instant Hermione began to wonder what Bellatrix was doing, she felt a razor sharp blade slice into her flesh.
A scream exploded from her throat and Bellatrix's free hand shot out. She turned Hermione's head to face the other direction and her frigid palm pressed the girl's cheek against the cold, hard floor.
The cuts continued. Hermione screamed again and blindly tried to grab the knife, Bellatrix's arm, anything to make the pain stop, but then a third unfamiliar hand gripped her wrist and held it down. She looked around and through her tears saw Narcissa Malfoy kneeling beside her, her eyes glowing with a reserved delight as she restrained her.
Bellatrix began carving harder and slower into her skin; Hermione didn't recognize the piercing cries that shot from her mouth as her entire body trembled, tears spilling rapidly from her eyes. A chill went down her spine when the witch cackled.
"There, all finished," she announced. She let go of Hermione's head and waited for her to move. When she didn't, the woman gently brushed her fingers along her cheek. "Aw, all these tears…" she observed and wiped a few of them away. "How are we doing, dear?"
Hermione simply whimpered at Bellatrix's manic tone.
The witch cocked her head. "The silent type, are we?" Both women rose and turned their backs to the girl. "That's a shame," she continued as her fellow Death Eater handed her something, "You have such a beautiful voice…"
Hermione sensed that something horrible was coming and tried to crawl away, turning onto her side and using her uninjured arm to pull herself slowly along the floor. Without warning a hex hit her and flipped her onto her back and left her rooted to the floor.
Bellatrix turned to face her and her expression made Hermione's eyes widen in fear.
"How did you get into my vault?" she asked once more, pausing between each word, her voice soft.
Hermione shook her head as tears streamed down her face. "I didn't…I swear, I didn't take anything…"
There was a single, terrifying beat of silence. She barely registered hearing "Crucio!" from across the room, but then every inch of her body was on fire and nothing mattered anymore.
She screamed louder than she ever had before. Her limbs trembled and thrashed, her fingernails raked against the floor until they bled, and she squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she was physically capable, but none of it made a difference. She had never felt such an impossible amount of agony; it seeped through her skin, her muscles, all the way to her bones. This wasn't pain. This was something else entirely.
Then, abruptly, it stopped.
Hermione lay on the floor, gasping and panting, her body completely still. There was a light layer of sweat covering her skin and her heart was nearly beating out of her chest.
And then she realized Bellatrix was laughing.
"I always knew this one would be fun to play with," she told her sister.
Hermione listened to their voices and more tears trickled to the floor. She wondered where Harry and Ron were right now: what they were doing, if they were alright, if they were planning a way to get out of here.
She heard a vague hiss from Bellatrix and her world burst into white hot flame again. Though her body remembered the curse, there was no getting used to its effects—it was as if each of her cells had been replaced with fire-hot oil, as if her very bones were splintering into little tiny pieces. She couldn't be sure if she was even screaming anymore; she couldn't hear, she couldn't see, she couldn't form a coherent thought. All was lost in the utter agony boiling under her flesh.
When Bellatrix finally lifted the curse, Hermione didn't move a single muscle. Her eyes remained open and unblinking, her breathing shallow and weak. She heard Bellatrix and Narcissa talking to the Goblin but couldn't understand what anyone was saying. Every sound seemed muffled—or maybe she just didn't have the strength to listen.
Perhaps to feel less vulnerable, or perhaps just to be certain she was still conscious, Hermione slowly tried to curl into a ball on the floor. She managed to get about halfway there before she found herself utterly drained of energy. In this new position, however, she was now staring directly at the marks that Bellatrix had left on her skin. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes scanned the eight-letter word, each character a bright, angry red, a few even still bleeding. For the briefest moment, a single tear and drop of blood fell in unison.
Then, from across the room, came a series of muffled explosions. Shouts filled the room and spells and hexes flew through the air; she recognized Harry and Ron's voices, though they sounded cloudy and far away.
Without warning she was hoisted up from behind, and strong pair of hands lifting her by her under-arms. She wondered briefly if it was Ron or Harry, but the actions were too rough and soon she could smell Bellatrix's vile, rotten breath. One of the witch's arms curled around Hermione's stomach while the other hand clutched at her scalp and tilted her head back.
Hermione stopped breathing when she felt a cold blade against her throat.
"Drop you wands!" Bellatrix shouted and the room fell completely silent. "I said, drop them!" Hermione heard her friends' wands clatter to the floor as they did what they were told. "Well, well, well, look what we have here," Bellatrix hissed, moving forward slowly, "Mr. Harry Potter is all bright and shiny and new again…just in time for the Dark Lord."
Hermione did her best to shuffle forward with the witch; her eyes were heavy and she could barely keep herself standing.
There's a knife at your throat.
There's a knife at your throat.
There's a knife at your throat.
She reminded herself over and over again in an effort to not move her head or neck, wincing as Bellatrix pressed the blade even harder against her throat and broke through the flesh.
"Call him," Bellatrix instructed to somebody. There was a pause. "Call him!"
Hermione heard a rustling of clothing as somebody pulled up their sleeves, but then she heard a second sound. It was a faint squeaking, barely noticeable, and it was coming from directly above her. Her eyes searched the ceiling. Though her vision was blurry from her tears, she could make out Dobby hanging from the chandelier, quickly unscrewing a bolt from the top of the elaborate light fixture.
For a moment nobody moved; everyone in the room stood transfixed as they watched the elf work. Then, with a loud clang, the chandelier broke free of the ceiling and came hurtling down toward Hermione and Bellatrix.
The witch dropped the girl and ran for cover with her fellow Death Eaters; Hermione managed to stumble forward until she found Ron's waiting arms, and she fell heavily against his chest.
The rest all happened in a blur. Words were exchanged and soon they were disapparating from the Manor with Bellatrix's knife flying toward them. The musty scent of the Manor was replaced with a cool, salty breeze and the gentle sound of waves lapping on a beach reached Hermione's ears.
She clung to Ron, whose arms were fastened securely around her waist, supporting most of her body weight. It was a struggle to keep her eyes open, even to keep her head up, but she forced herself to stay upright. She heard Harry cry out to Dobby, heard the elf's voice weaken. She heard Harry calling her name, begging her for something that would heal Dobby's wound, but Hermione just shook her head.
Tears slid down her cheeks; her arm burned where Bellatrix's knife had left its marks. She looked down and stared at the spot where her sleeves were covering the angry red gashes, almost mesmerized by the knowledge of what lay beneath the fabric.
Ron noticed her fixation and followed her eyes, then swallowed.
"Hermione, what did she do to you?" he asked softly, slowly, with a mixture of concern and dread.
Almost instantaneously, her arm began to tremble. Ron set her gently into a kneeling position in the sand and he crouched in front of her. He lightly grasped her wrist and peered into her eyes, searching for any sign that he should stop. With as much caution as he was capable of, he began to pull her sleeve back, and when the first jagged letter came into view, Hermione closed her eyes while Ron's widened.
"Her…Hermione…" Ron whispered, continuing to reveal the word carved into her skin. Without thinking he reached out to touch her scarred flesh; she immediately flinched away before his fingers could get within an inch of her arm.
Her eyebrows pulled together as she tried to keep herself from breaking, but Ron's eyes were blazing and she could still feel the Cruciatus Curse buzzing through her body and she could still hear Bellatrix's voice in her ear. And then Ron's arms were around her and he was pulling her tight against him, and she began to soak his jacket with her tears.
"I'll never let her touch you again," he breathed, and somehow, she believed him.
For the record, I had absolutely no clue how I wanted to end this. I understand if you think the ending is kind of lame, because I do too. I'm completely open to any suggestions or ideas anyone has for a better ending, so please feel free to PM me or write up a review if you come up with something cool.
Also, this is my first Harry Potter fic, if anyone was wondering. I've been obsessing over that Malfoy Manor scene ever since I saw the movie. Anyone else?