"Finally got her, have you?" the vicious werewolf Fenrir Greyback questioned. He approached Scarlett, who had now managed to sit up, in long, dominant strides. "Pretty one you've got here," Greyback crooned. He leaned in to smell her neck. Scarlett shuddered visibly.
Scabior could feel every muscle in his body tense and his jaw clench. His blood curdled and boiled in his veins. He made a fist, and it was all he could do to keep from drawing his wand. He wanted nothing more than to throw Greyback off of Scarlett. He should have felt some sort of pleasure at her discomfort. He should have wanted to make her scream. She was responsible, after all, or putting him in Azkaban five years ago. And yet, he wanted nothing more than to save her. He wanted nothing more than to push Fenrir away, grab Scarlett, and Disapparate to somewhere far, far away.
"What's wrong? Is your wand in a knot?" Yaxley asked, for normally Scabior would have had something crude to say about the catch.
Remembering himself and who he was with, Scabior walked over to Scarlett and took her face in his wand-free hand. "Yes, she is," he said, forcing her to look him in the eye. "My best catch yet."
Scarlett felt disgusted and violated, and Scabior could tell. Her cheek burned red hot beneath his hand. He ran his fingers down her throat and touched her collarbone, for effect, before removing his hands from her. The other Snatchers snickered maliciously as he did so. Scarlett's smooth skin shuddered under his fingers. She stared at him with eyes widened by both fear and contempt. He hated that she was so revolted by his touch. He remembered when their hands used to brush as they walked across the grounds just before curfew while they were students still at Hogwarts.
The four other captives were then thrown in next to Scarlett as Scabior stood up from his catch. Scarlett did not recognize any of them – for which she was grateful. She still felt remorseful for their situations, but knew that they were not in as much trouble as she was, because they were not members of the Order of the Phoenix. She winced as she thought of what she would have to endure in the coming moments.
"Who have we here?" Scabior inquired, not unlocking his eyes from Scarlett's.
"Marcus Finchley," Yaxley spoke up. "Never reported for his blood-status hearing a month ago."
"Marjorie Griffiths," Fenrir Greyback said, "known Mudblood. She's on the list."
"Dirk Cresswell," said another Snatcher. "Mudblood."
"I've got a Mudblood too," said the last Snatcher. "Thomas Collins."
"Well then, quite a catch," Yaxley said. "And who do you have, Scabior?"
"Scarlett Mitchell," he said, his eyes still fixed on his victim. "Used to be an Auror. Known member of the Order of the Phoenix."
"Isn't she the one who put you in Azkaban?" someone asked.
"Yes," Scabior replied. "She is." Scarlett began to fear that he was growing angry.
Fenrir chuckled. "In that case, she's all yours!"
The captors dragged all of the victims to their feet. Scarlett gasped in protest. Scabior placed one hand firmly on her waist and clenched her arm with the other. She writhed in his grip.
"You get your filthy hands off me," she said through her teeth.
The Snatchers laughed. "Feisty, is she?" Yaxley mocked.
Scabior pulled her tighter to him and his breath was in her hair. At this she fought even harder. She wanted to get as far away from him as humanly possible. He leaned so closely to her ear that his lips were almost touching it and breathed inaudibly, "I'm sorry."
The apology was all it took for Scarlett to stop struggling so much, and the Snatchers and their victims Disapparated.
Sucked and twisted through darkness, Scarlett realized they had appeared just outside of an abandoned nuclear power plant. She knew that this is where the Death Eaters and the fallen Ministry of Magic were housing their conquests, as Azkaban had recently become overcrowded due to the larve number of blood-status hearings and subsequent convictions. The people who lived in the town near the abandoned plant thought the place was haunted and thus left it alone. The screams from the captives only helped egg on the rumors, and kept the prison a secret. The others appeared ahead of Scabior of Scarlett, and the group began walking toward the abandoned plant. Wands were drawn to break the protective spells around the fortress as the ten walked inside its boundaries.
"I'm going to have to torture you," Scabior leaned in and whispered in Scarlett's ear as they broke through the protective curses.
Scarlett turned and looked at him in shock. She tried to wriggle free from his grasp, but Scabior's grip was too tight on her. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.
"Just listen," Scabior interjected. "You're a known member of the Order of the Phoenix. You used to be an Auror. They're going to think you know things, even if you don't. If someone else is in the room with us, I'm going to have to try and hurt you. I promise I won't be harsh." Scabior paused. "I don't want to do it."
"Then don't," Scarlett hissed, defiantly looking ahead.
"Everything all right back there?" Yaxley yelled back to Scabior. "Giving you trouble, is she?"
"Nothing I can't handle," Scabior smirked.
He and Scarlett looked at each other, and the green locked with brown. Her eyes searched him in both fear and pleading. "Scabior, please," she mouthed. "You're a good man, I know you are. You don't have to do this."
Scabior looked away from Scarlett and dragged her along. He wished he didn't hear what she had said. He didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want harm to come her way at all. But what choice did he have? What could he have done? He couldn't Disapparate with her from inside the boundaries of the abandoned power plant; the protective spells wouldn't allow it. If he tried to protect her, he himself would be in trouble, and someone else would be forced to question Scarlett, and would treat her much more harshly than he planned to. The thought of Fenrir's hands on Scarlett's slender body repulsed Scabior. His grip on her waist tightened.
The ten entered a long hallway in the abandoned plant. It contained numerous dimly lit cells that were filled with prisoners and filth. Scarlett looked for faces she recognized. Everyone looked dirty, emaciated, and frightened. Scarlett thought she caught a glimpse of Ted Tonks. All of the captives from the forest raid were put into cells with the others, except for Scarlett. Scabior dragged her to the end of the hall, where there was a door with no window. He waved his wand and the door clanked loudly as it unlocked. He opened the door and threw Scarlett inside. She landed hard on the concrete floor and turned to look at Scabior. Her expression was both defiant and hurt. Her eyes looked beyond Scabior, causing him to turn around to see who was there.
"Mind if I watch?" Yaxley grinned.