WARNING - this chapter contains torture. As I said in the summary, this is AU to Deathly Hallows in that Ron was not with them and there was a lot more that happened that Harry couldn't hear from below.
Many thanks to all of you who have added this story to your favourites and alerts, and thank you again to xoglowergrinox123, Griggling and Avestia for your reviews. Hope you are not too disappointed by this chapter, but it's necessary for later on. In a good way, promise.
Enjoy, Kitty
Chapter Seven
**Here is the torture scene - DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ**
Mac made his decision and, removing his jacket, lay down on the bed next to the young woman but at the same level as Danny, watching the younger man's face as he got himself comfortable. As he moved his right arm to lay it over Danny's own, he fell fast asleep.
Mac could hear a voice in the darkness, a cackling laugh that set his teeth on edge and seemed far removed from sanity. As the darkness cleared Mac was able to put a face to the voice he heard, and realised the accuracy of his assessment. The woman's face was gaunt to the point of skeletal and the heavy-lidded, almost black, eyes held a glint of sadistic pleasure as she laughed at the sight before her, her head surrounded by a mass of black hair. Mac drew his eyes to where she looked and felt his heart stop. Hermione lay on the floor covered in blood - just as she had been in the real world - with parts of her clothes burnt away, while Danny knelt beside her trying to provide comfort which appeared to go unnoticed by either women.
"Filthy Mudblood, you're causing a mess - tergo."
The woman's voice held an almost child-like glee at the obvious pain of her captive, making Mac's stomach clench in disgust though he couldn't take his eyes off the woman on the floor, the disappearing blood barely registering in his mind.
"Crucio."
Hermione screamed.
Mac tried to tackle the woman to stop whatever she was doing, but found that he just went through her as if she were just a hologram, landing on the floor opposite the other two. As Hermione continued to scream he saw Danny look up, the anguish in his eyes matching that of the woman he was trying to hold, and he moved to where the other two were. Just as Hermione's voice was becoming hoarse the black-haired woman stopped pointing at her, and Hermione seemed to slump.
"My Lord commands that your mind be left intact, so I guess I will have to be more creative as we play. Now, little Mudblood, where did you get the sword?"
"What sword." Hermione's voice was little more than a whisper, but both Mac and Danny were taken aback by the amount of determination, and defiance, contained within the small declaration.
"Confringo!"
The two men watched in horror as several waves of heat passed them - and occasionally through them - exploding into flames as they made contact with the woman between them, igniting her hair, her stomach, her right shoulder, her left thigh. The two men instinctively tried covering Hermione with their own bodies enclosing her within the circle of their arms, though neither was sure whether this was doing any good, as they watched burns develop across the various areas of her skin. Hermione bit her lips in an effort to not make any more noise for the older woman's pleasure.
"Furnunculus."
A small whimper escaped from Hermione as large, painful looking boils then developed in the same places as the burns, causing tears to come to Danny's eyes, and hatred to fill Mac at the viciousness of the unknown woman, as well as at his own helplessness to prevent the younger woman's pain in this dreamscape, or wherever they were.
"Mac -" the plea came from Danny as if asking what to do, how to help, how to stop the pain, but both men passed through Hermione as if she wasn't there, and they were unable to interact with either woman. All they could do was watch events play out; maybe try to get between Hermione and whatever the other woman did to see if this could affect events somehow.
"How did you get the sword?" When Hermione didn't answer the unknown woman called out in a leisurely voice "Ascendio" causing Hermione to rise into the air until her head connected with the ceiling of the room with a resounding crack, before suddenly falling back to the floor with enough force that Mac could hear her ankle break as she landed and rolled onto her back.
"Deprimo."
Mac wasn't sure what this new spell was supposed to do, as no new wounds suddenly appeared on the younger woman, but he became worried when it seemed the breath was forced out of her lungs, and thought his eyes were tricking him when it looked as if her ribs were caving in, as Hermione continued to struggle to breathe. After several minutes a series of cracks caught both men's attention and they began searching for the latest injuries only to find that both her hands had flattened, the cracks being the sound of the bones shattering, causing both men to realise that she was being crushed by an unseen force controlled by her psychotic adversary. Danny gave a yell as he, unsuccessfully, tried to attack the black-haired woman, landing with a thud behind her and pounding the floor with his fists in his frustration.
As Mac realised with terror that his eyes had not deceived him - Hermione's chest was caving in under unseen pressure - he watched her mercifully lose the fight for consciousness against the pain. His rational mind told him that he had spoken to her that day (was it only that day, or longer?) so she must have survived whatever this was, but he couldn't stop the sudden thought that she was dead, nor the inexplicable dread that filled him at this idea. Danny was suddenly at her side in front of him trying once again to touch her, to find her pulse, the same dread Mac felt unmistakable in the younger man's watery blue eyes.
"Wha's happenin' Mac?" The younger man asked in desperation, his accent thickened as tears leaked down his cheek, hoping his lover had the answers. Unfortunately the older man was just as at a loss for explanations. Behind them they could hear the woman moving about and cursing under her breath about the inferiority of Mudbloods and their inability to withstand a little pain. Danny growled at hearing this, and Mac found himself wanting to seriously hurt the woman if she thought what she had done to Hermione was just 'a little pain'.
"I don't know, but I think we are sharing her dream, or perhaps a memory."
"Ya gotta stop 'er Mac." It was a ridiculous request as both had tried and failed, but Danny thought it would kill him if he had to watch Hermione go through any more suffering. Forced or not, he loved the woman in front of him and would gladly take her place if he could. A truth that Mac could see within his eyes, although this time the look of love for someone else did not hurt as much as it had previously, which confused Mac a little, before his own concern for the unconscious woman took over.
After a few more moments of pacing and muttering from the still unknown woman, during which time the two men anxiously kept an eye on Hermione as she fought to breathe even in her relaxed state, the door of the room opened as a man dressed in long black robes walked in.
"Have you finished with the Mudblood yet Bella?" The new-comer asked in a nasal voice, providing a name for female.
"The little whore is being stubborn. I'll get the information out of her, you needn't worry about that."
"Unlikely, if you're going to let her sleep. Just remember not to damage her beyond an ability to talk."
"I don't need you to tell me my Lord's orders, Rodolphus. Leave!!" She sneered at the man, who merely gave a contemptuous look at the unconscious Hermione, before leaving the room once again.
"Rennervate. Crucio." Hermione's eyes snapped open and her body arched and trembled as her mouth opened in a silent scream, though thankfully this time the spell was only held for a few seconds.
"How did you get the sword. I know you stole it, now tell me how." The woman, Bella, asked, but Hermione was still struggling to breathe let alone talk and therefore could not answer, making Mac fear what would be done to her next.
"Episkey." The word was said with reluctance, but Hermione seemed to breathe easier and her broken hands and ankle returned to almost their natural shapes, suggesting that the spell was meant to heal - and explaining the reluctance. "How did you steal the sword?"
"I didn't ... we made it." Hermione's voice was still raspy and the wheeze between her words implied damage to her lungs, her head was hanging down but the two men were able to see her eyes flash with the same defiance as before, as she managed to keep all but a trace of it from her tone as she spoke.
"Liar!" Bella pointed the stick she held at Hermione but said nothing, though Mac and Danny both felt the now familiar heat pass them by and automatically tried to stop the flames as they erupted. Hermione managed to roll away in an effort to protect her already injured front, unfortunately exposing her back as more of her clothes burnt away. But what happened next made both men's blood run cold, and for the first time in either man's life murder entered his heart. Hermione screamed as deep gouges criss-crossed her back, each one cutting through and removing flesh and muscle to reveal her spine or ribs. As blood once more soaked the ground around the young woman flames appeared along the wound tracks, cauterising them and stopping the blood flow but no doubt leaving scars in their place, and causing Hermione to scream anew at the burning touch. Both Mac and Danny lay beside her on the floor - just as they were on the bed in reality - each pulling close to her though they knew this would not protect her, and each whispering words of comfort or encouragement, though again they knew it was unlikely they were heard.
"I know you've been to my vault, what else did you steal? Tell me."
"No."
It was barely a whisper, an expulsion of breath that was felt rather than heard by the men trying to hold her in their arms, but must have been heard, or anticipated, by Bella as a scream emitted from her own thin lips before shouting "Crucio".
Hermione's mouth opened as her body wracked with pain, but there was no more voice left with which to scream, not even a hoarse whisper could be heard from her. Tears fell from Mac's eyes, joining Danny's own in Hermione's hair as each man tried in vain to provide some comfort to the tormented woman that had so recently entered their lives. Neither man could tell how much time had passed at this point, but they hoped that this would soon be over.
"Ascendio." This time Hermione was raised only a few feet into the air until she was upright once more and deposited onto legs that fought for balance and the strength to keep standing. "Deletrius." Both men moved to be beside the younger woman expecting her anguish to continue once again, but were surprised when Hermione seemed to recover - albeit subtly - as at least small traces of her torment were erased. Mac's revulsion of the older woman increased and bile rose in his throat as he realised that she was healing Hermione, although minimally, so that she could torture her victim more effectively once again.
"How did you get into my vault?"
"What vault." The answer was given through clenched teeth, and was accompanied by a muttered denial from Danny at Hermione's continued defiance, knowing by now what it would cost her.
"Diffindo." Cuts appeared throughout Hermione's body - her torso, her legs, her arms, her back - just as they had done when Danny had removed the sleeping Harry, though this time the cuts were to her throat as well, perilously close to the veins and scaring the two watchers once more as they wondered how much more the young woman could endure.
Sounds from whatever was below the room briefly distracted the four occupants - the two unseen desperately hoping that the commotion meant rescue was coming, while the bleeding woman knew within her heart that it did, a theory that was shared by her tormentor who renewed her attack with an angry shriek. Small explosions seemed to ignite in the air around Hermione, the force of the blasts pushing her off balance in all directions and causing further burns on her already abused body. When the explosions stopped, the slashes resumed, followed by more gouges along Hermione's arms and legs before once again being cauterised by fire.
The two men had been to violent and bloody crime scenes before, but that was always the aftermath of the crime - watching such brutality was another matter all together, as they fought back waves of nausea at the shear cruelty demonstrated by the hateful woman who was leaving no part of Hermione unmarred by her assault. They were therefore ecstatic when the door exploded inwards hitting the vile creature and knocking her to the ground. Before the smoke from the blast had begun to clear a figure raced into the room yelling Hermione's name.
"Harry." Certainty and relief mixed together in the whispered word, as if she had simply been waiting for him to arrive, and Mac saw the gratefulness for the rescue in Danny's eyes turn to jealousy and anger at who the rescuer was as affection shone out of Hermione's own eyes.
At the sight of his friends wounds anger flashed across Harry's face as he turned back to the woman now getting up from the ground and yelled out "Expelliarmus" sending her flying back out of the room to collide with the opposite wall. As Harry turned back to Hermione darkness descended on Danny and Mac as the dream/nightmare/memory ended.
** End Torture Scene**
xxxx
