XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione stood out on the balcony, watching the sun set. She had a heavy feeling on her heart. Her one true love was dead. And her daughter was also possibly dead. All her friends had been turned into slaves and ordered not to speak to her. She sighed, as a single tear fell down her cheek and onto the railing

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Hermione whirled around to see Ron stepped out onto the balcony, his black robes rippling in the slow breeze. She nodded and looked at the sun again, as Ron walked over, before leaning on the railing

"You seem upset"

"No shit," she said with venom

"I want to help you, Hermione. I want to help you let go of your pain"

"Forget it"

"Let me help you"

"It's not happening, Ronald. You found my daughter yet?"

"Don't know how to tell you this, but…"

Hermione let out a small gasp, as the tears began to fall. Her baby girl was dead. Along with Draco. She wasn't permitted to speak with her friends. All she had left in her life was nothing. Only the cold hand of loneliness was there for her. She was alone now, trapped in the castle of the Death Eaters, as the world was being raped by Lucius. Hermione gripped the balcony railing

It had been four days now and already, Hermione wanted out. Not just out of the castle and away from Ron, but out of this world. If Draco and Elizabeth were indeed dead, there was no hope left for her. And there was no hope for her. Two of the people she loved the most were gone, struck down by the cruel hand of fate

Hermione only had Draco back with her for a few months, until he fell at the hands of his father. And now that Elizabeth was gone…

"Hermione, no!"

Ron lunged over and grabbed Hermione around the waist, pulling her away from the railing, as she screamed and pounded at his arms

"You're not jumping. That's a fifty-story drop! Are you insane?!"

"Better than being alive!"

"Calm down!"

"No!"

Ron let go of Hermione and reached into his robes, before flicking his wand out

"Stupefy"

Hermione keeled over, landing at his feet, as he sighed and tucked his wand away. He bent down and picked her up, before carrying her inside

"I'm sorry, pet, I wish I didn't have to do that, but I didn't want you to commit suicide"

He laid her down on the bed

"You are very beautiful, Hermione. You've blossomed into a beautiful woman. I only wished you were mine"

He bent over and planted a kiss on her cheek, before leaving the room

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two days passed before Hermione woke up, only to see Ron standing at the end of the bed. She rubbed her eyes and sat up

"I hope that's not going to happen everyday, where you stun me, because if it does, then it's better off that I do jump off the balcony"

"Only if you give me no choice, such as attempting to jump off the balcony"

"Well, get used to it. God, I'm hating it here already"

"Do you want to move?"

"Not to another room, no. I want out of this castle"

"Well, you are allow to roam around the castle grounds, as long as someone is with you, such as a Death Eater of course"

"And let me guess, that is going to be you?"

"Well, do you want to go for a walk outside?"

Hermione didn't answer

"You've been in here for six days now, tormenting yourself"

"Gee, I wonder why"

"Go for a walk"

It was a while before Hermione answered

"Fine"

She got up from the bed and swiftly left the room, as Ron followed. He caught up with her and led the way out of the castle, before letting Hermione go in front. She wandered around in the gardens, admiring all the flowers, even the weirdly shaped ones she was used to seeing at Hogwarts. A butterfly flew over and landed on a flower in front of her. She marvelled at the colours of its wings, before it took off and flew away. Hermione watched it fly, sadness overcoming her again. She wished she could fly away like a butterfly, but there was never a chance. Never anymore now

"Come on, now, let's go," said Ron

Over the next week, Hermione went for frequent walks in the castle grounds, taking in every part of it, trying to find a way out, only to find nothing. Most of the time, Ron accompanied her and if not him, then usually another Death Eater would supervise her. Hermione didn't know what the fuss was about. It wasn't like she could escape. And if she did, she wouldn't get very far. She was only being treated right because she belonged to Ron and wouldn't be harmed. If she tried to escape and got caught, given her Muggle-born status, Lucius would execute her on the spot and that was something she wasn't looking forward to

After another walk in the gardens, Hermione headed back to her room, only to find Ron there. He smiled when she walked in

"What are you doing here?"

"I have good news"

Hermione's spirits lifted slightly. Maybe they found Elizabeth alive. One could only hope. But her spirits died when she spied the small box in his hand

"What is in that?"

"I have permission from the Lord of Death Eaters himself to have your hand in marriage"

A few minutes passed before realization dawned on Hermione

"What?"

"You and I are going to be married in a small ceremony in two days"

"No, this isn't right"

"I only want to make you happy. I was hoping something like this would"

"No, no, no, this can't be happening"

"I'm really looking forward to it. Aren't you?"

"NO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two days later, Hermione and Ron were married. After the initial news, Hermione screamed and attempted to kill Ron, but he subdued her, before visiting Lucius again. Hermione was given a choice: marriage or death. She'd rather death any day, but decided to go with marriage. It was safer, even though it made her even sadder

Ron tried everything he could to make her happy, but was failing miserably. She just took no notice in him, preferring to stand out on the balcony or go for walks in the gardens. And every night, Ron would be pouring over spell books, trying to find a way to make her happy again

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

WARWICK

Which brings us to here now. We're going ahead two years after the final battle. And during that time, I had been carrying out my own little raids on Death Eaters around the place, creating some chaos and stress for Lucius. Where we're picking up from is about three weeks before I stopped attacking. Why did I do that? I'm not telling

So, let's recap what has happened so far. I shall do this every now and again, just to keep you up to speed

Okay, Draco's dead. We all know that one. He perished in the fire. Hermione became Ron's slave, even though she hasn't done any slave work and is treated better than everyone else. She's merely there as a prize, something to show off to the world

Harry, Ginny and everyone else are slaves, with Harry as Lucius' personal slave. Now, remember when Harry was there to see Ginny get tortured. Well, he had to watch it. Lucius even forced him to torture her himself. But as soon as Harry had a wand in his hand, twelve other Death Eaters arrived and made sure he did the deed. But since he refused to torture Ginny, Harry was punished. I don't know what the punishment was, but I don't think it was very good

Now, you're wondering 'How does he know all this?'

I have my sources, don't you worry about that. Okay, I'll tell you. I travel around in the villages, visiting pubs and hearing all the gossip. Usually you find a couple of Death Eaters who are right in Lucius' circle. When they're drunk and when you have really good hearing like me, you can hear all sorts of things. That's how I found out about Hermione and Ron's wedding. That's how I found about Harry's ordeal with Ginny and Lucius

Pretty bad, don't you reckon?

Now, I can't sit here all night and tell you everything, so stop buying me drinks. Where were we? Oh yeah, two years after the wedding. I think that was pretty harsh, forcing Hermione into marriage two weeks after Draco died. Moving on

Who will narrate next?

Only you can find out. I already know. And now, I will go and leave you to wonder, but I will return with another recap. Right now, I'm leaving the pub and heading back home to tend to Elizabeth. That's right, she's alive still. Remember, I got to her before the Death Eaters did, so really, they're lying. I've had her all along

Okay, I'll go now. It's going to be a fun walk home

Until next time

XXXXXXXXXXXXX