Hermione was running. How had such a nice day turned into such a nightmare? About twenty Death Eaters were chasing after her, but she deftly blocked and avoided their curses. Unfortunately, someone hit her leg with some jinx, and she fell over. But she would not be stopped. In front of her, was the clearing where someone said a group of Hogwarts students were hiding. It dawned upon Hermione too late that she was leading the Death Eaters straight to them. When she tried to turn back, it was too late.

From the clearing came people running out to her aid, but they were outnumbered twenty to seventeen. Hermione yelled at them to go into the Shrieking Shack for safety, and many of them did. They ran for their lives, leaving nine of them to fight off the Death Eaters. Fortunately, they were all six or seventh years. However, although they managed to stun or temporarily immobilise half of the Death Eaters, unsurprisingly, the Death Eaters won. Hermione wound up the only one left conscious as she battled ten Death Eaters. Suddenly, the Dark Mark rose into the air, and they all saw this and stopped.

"That is the signal! Kill the boys, take the girls, and leave the other Death Eaters. They will cope." A harsh voice yelled.

Hermione was grabbed from behind, and with her wrist twisted, the wand fell out of her hand, onto the ground. She fought against her captor, and was successfully thrown to the ground where she slipped her wand, unnoticed up her sleeve. She quickly dropped the clip she wore in her hair, hoping that someone would find it and realise that she had been taken. But that was all she could do before she felt a pain in her back and was forced unconscious.

When she woke, she found herself in a prison cell. The room was small. There was small cot, and then a little bit of walking space. One wall was exposed, where there were only metal bars. So Hermione was able to peep through and realise that there was a whole corridor of identical cells. Hermione made sure no one was around and took out her wand, and then the gold coin that was usually used for communicating to D.A. members. She tapped it, and made a message say:

Am captured. But safe.

Then, she hid the coin and wand in a secret pocket of her robes and settled herself down into the cot. To say it was uncomfortable was an understatement. It was almost the same as sleeping on the floor. Hermione looked around her, and noticed that the walls, although dark, were clean of any moss and slime. There was an eerie blue light that emanated into her cell from the corridor in between her one and the one across.

There were sounds of movement and sobbing, and Hermione looked out, before noticing that there was a handle. The door opened easily, making Hermione feel suspicious and apprehensive, and she took a step out of the cell. The feeling of joy and victory flew out the window when, suddenly, she was thrown with a large force and went crashing into the opposite wall. She groaned and rubbed her back.

Hermione noticed that the door had closed itself. She figured that it was there to taunt the prisoners; so close to freedom, yet so far. Suddenly, she heard someone speak. She approached the bars and grasped them with her fingers and looked about.

"So, you're a high security prisoner?"

Hermione looked directly across and saw a girl, younger than she, with long messy black hair and violet eyes. She was wearing a shredded robe, and she had a number of bruises and cuts on her face and body. The girl pushed open her door and stepped out. Hermione tried to warn her, but no sound came out. The girl was not thrown back. Instead, she walked over to Hermione's cell, opened the door, and entered her cell.

"But—Why—If—"

"I can go into anyone's cell should I choose to. Even high security prisoners'. Because I am a low security prisoner. I, once, foolishly tried to escape. But was rewarded with a lot of beatings and no permission to leave me cell at all for weeks, until I obeyed them."

They both knew who they were.

"High-security prisoners can receive visits, but are not allowed to leave at all. Not until they have become docile for a very, very long time, or will not pose any threat to them."

Hermione nodded, absorbing the knowledge. The girl looked like she was made of emotionless steel. Her eyes showed no emotion, and looked dead. Her skin was so pale that it glowed under the light.

"What is your name?" The girl asked.

"Hermione Granger."

"Oh yes. Muggle-born, Gryffindor, best friend of Harry Potter, seventh-year, Head Girl, best OWL results Hogwarts has ever seen since Snape, so I've heard. I can understand why they've put you here now."

"How do you know all this?" Hermione said, taken aback.

"I'm from Hogwarts. Taken after my third year there. I've been here for about two years."

"Oh Merlin…"

"Don't worry, they'll release you… in the end. Everyone's released in batches. Unfortunately, I was one of the small group that were not."

"Do they get to return to their families?" Hermione asked fearfully.

The girl laughed. Her laugh echoed down the corridor, and Hermione heard a few people whimper in fright. Her voice showed that her voice box was once very good for singing, now damaged from screaming, most likely. The girl's eyes remained dead although she was laughing. Hermione felt scared now. This girl… it was like she had no life…

"Hermione Granger, so smart, yet very naïve. You think they are releasing us to go home? Oh no. They leave you, on your own, in the middle of nowhere, without a wand, without clothes, without food or water. From what I've heard, people begged to come back. You have your freedom, but it will lead to your death. Most of those who choose to return are probably the ones faced with the prospect of tackling a desert. I, like many others, would prefer death than this place, and so I would willingly take on the desert. Should I be allowed to."

Hermione was shocked.

"That's why they make sure everyone they release either cannot Apparate, or are in no condition to do so."

"So… this is basically a slow introduction to Death?" Hermione gasped.

"Yes. Quite a few die in here anyway. Lucky things. Their bodies get returned to their families, mangled, of course, but still, they get to have a proper burial."

"How do you know all this?" Hermione said, frightened.

"I get told. By the way, I am Felicity. Felicity Furrows."

"N-nice to meet you." Hermione said, extending her hand.

The girl shook it. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening caused the girl to look up, and for the first time, there was something in her eyes. Fear.

"Back into your cells!" A voice shouted.

Felicity scrambled out and left Hermion's prison cell. The footsteps approached, and stopped outside Felicity's cell.

"Good morning, Felicity. Time to have some more fun." The man laughed as he entered the cell.

Hermione could not watch. She curled up in her cot as she heard the man beat her and cast the Cruciatus on her. She tried to block out the screams, but could not, and she gave out a heart-wrenching sob. This was followed by others, and soon, she was crying.

More footsteps clattered against the cold stone floor of the corridor, and she heard more cell doors being flung open. There were cries of fear and pleading voices. Then, Hermione had to face her worst nightmare. Her door was being opened as well. Hermione backed away from the cloaked figure. She could not see his face, but he exuded power and danger, and she was scared. When he pulled back his hood Hermione tried not to scream.

It was Lucius Malfoy.

"Well, I never expected to catch our dear Mudblood Head Girl, but what a find! I must congratulate Nott for his exquisite… hunting skills."

He approached her, slowly, and grasped hold of her chin, forcing her to look up at him. Her eyes screamed defiance, but her body was, oddly, not listening to her brain, but what Felicity had just said.

"I do not tolerate disobedience, Mudblood, but I do love the sound of a woman screaming."

Just then, a high pitched scream floated over from Felicity's cells. Unwillingly, Hermione's eyes focused on the scene behind Malfoy, and was horrified to see Felicity being brutally raped. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Open your eyes, Mudblood."

Hermione did not listen.

"You have one last chance, Miss Granger, open your eyes and look at me."

Hermione finally cracked open her eyes and looked fearfully at him.

"Good girl." He said, stroking the side of her face. "Any fighting back, any struggles, will be punished, I assure you. Now, let us begin."

He stood up and pointed his wand at her, forcing her to stand. Hermione knew that she could not use her wand. She had been planning to do so before, but having heard what Felicity said, she was determined to survive, and to do so, she would have to wait to be released. Until then, she would take everything they threw at her, and wait for her chance.

The next half an hour was excruciating. When he had first ripped off her robes, she had tried to struggle, which resulted in a bout of Cruciatus.

"I told you, Mudblood. Now, will you do that again?"

Hermione shook her head, and he continued. He had then taken away her virginity. He had been rough, on top of that, he was also very large, and Hermione had screamed. She had continued screaming even after he had come out of her. He had allowed her a moment's rest, before casting the Cruciatus on her. She could hear his laughter, even through her tireless screaming, and it became ingrained into her mind. His laughter. When he left, he stood outside for a while watching her crumpled body shake from the after effects of the Cruciatus.

"For a Mudblood… Well, I wonder what Harry Potter will think? He must be ever so distraught that his best friend has been captured."

Hermione sobbed. And he left. She continued crying, and she heard others do the same. She tensed when she heard the door open again, thinking that he would return. Instead, it was Felicity, wearing her even more ripped robes and sitting on the ground by her side.

"So, Hermione Granger is just going to lie there, in defeat, and allow the man who had come to her, break her?" Felicity challenged.

Hermione sat up, wiping her tears away.

"It hurts." She whispered, throat sore.

The girl laughed again.

"Of course it does! Especially for a virgin. Hermione, unless you want to die, like I do, I suggest that you just go along with his torture and don't let him break you. Force yourself to be submissive, it will be better in the long run… if you don't want to die, which I presume is the case?"

Hermione nodded.

"I don't envy you, having Lucius Malfoy. The last one he had cracked after two of his visits. She went insane, and so he released her, laughing. They took her to St. Mungo's, and she's never recovered."

Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, that's not as bad as what he did to the one before that. That girl was a fighter. She fought him, and all it amounted to was to have so many Cruciatuses and other Dark curses flung on her that she died of haemorrhaging. That's why, you must not fight Lucius Malfoy. He gets to have all the high security prisoners, so all I can guess is that he's very high-ranking. They brought in about twenty or thirty of you yesterday. Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Yes. Oh Merlin… I led them into… I should have remembered that there were people hiding there. I thought that I would lead some of them away from the battle and try to reach the Shrieking Shack and get back to school… Those boys… They killed them!" Hermione said.

"This is what they call a 'capture and kill' mission. They do it once every few months. When they bring a fresh lot in, they release another group within the next few days. Hopefully, I'll be able to get out of here."

The girl seemed so happy, but her smile faded and she looked at Hermione with what seemed to be sympathy.

"High security prisoners are usually released very soon, but… they leave in really, really bad conditions, especially Lucius Malfoy's."

Dread settled in the pit of her stomach.

"Do you h-have any examples?"

Felicity raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Theodora Millers. Aged seventeen. Daughter of a top notch Auror. Held in high security for three months. Left naked, bleeding, pregnant, and with no legs."

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Tears streamed out of Hermione's eyes.

"Fiona Hepling. Aged fourteen. Sister of Ministry worker. Highly intelligent. Good at Muggle martial arts. A fighter. Left the prison after four months, paralysed, and pregnant."

Hermione was shocked, but the girl continued speaking.

"Danielle Johnson. Aged eighteen. Muggle-born. She too was good at martial arts. Held in high security for two months and a half. Left pregnant, without a tongue." Felicity said in a low, voice with steady pitch, resembling Professor Binns' droning.

"Why? Why did they do these things to those poor girls?" Hermione stammered.

"Theodora Millers – managed to get hold of her master's wand and put him in a leg-locker before attempting kicking Malfoy to death. Therefore her legs were removed once others came to his aid. This happened in her last night in the prison. Fiona Hepling – she struggled against Lucius Malfoy every time using whatever means possible, therefore he damaged her spine, permanently, making her unable to move at all. Died before the sun set the day she was released; she had been released into the Himalayas. Danielle Johnson - failed to scream when Lucius was torturing her. Therefore, her tongue was removed, by Muggle means, without Anaesthesia."

"Oh Merlin! How am I going to survive this, Felicity?"

"By not fighting back. Doing everything they say. They'll get tired of you. Danielle Johnson lasted so little time on the day of her release because she had her tongue removed the day before her 'release'. She became extremely depressed and suicidal after a while and became increasingly submissive. Lucius decided to be merciful, after removing her tongue, and gave her a choice of where she wanted to be dropped off. Allegedly drowned in the Indian Ocean."

"Why isn't anyone doing anything to fight back? If we all got together—"

"Most of these prisoners no longer wish to live. Most of them only wish to leave. What is the point of fighting fifty fully-grown, trained men, when we are wandless, weak, and children? Oh, it is suicidal, but they would not grant us that wish, only giving us the same punishment as the high-security prisoners receive when they disobey their masters."

"Are there any high-security prisoners that left intact?"

The girl shrugged, making Hermione gape at her in horror.

"Apparently, there had been one girl, about eight or nine years of age. She did not struggle. She died the day before she was going to be released."

Hermione had nightmare-filled dreams that night.