Hey all! I've been working and reworking this chapter for a while now; hope the wait wasn't too long! I'm sick, so I figured I might as well just finish it up and post it, so here it is! I immensely enjoyed this one, and I can't wait for the Part 2. I'd never heard this song before, and it just fit so perfectly with the chapter! Hope you all like it!

It's got to give, it's gonna break

Dying to live, our freedom's at stake

Beating the odds with our hearts and blood

We won't give in till they've had enough

Hermione POV

Darkness. It was all I saw, all I felt. There was nothing around me but the black, the empty darkness that threatened to swallow me up.

I stood in the Room of Requirement, tugging at the wardrobe with all my strength. I was sweating and wearing only a bra and a pair of jeans. My hair, twisted up into a messy bun with twisted strands of my honey brown hair falling all over the place, was sticking to my face and neck because of the sweat dripping down my body. Why I didn't use magic was beyond me, but I kept tugging relentlessly, moving the huge cabinet a few centimeters at a time. I was making progress slowly but surely.

"Hermione!"

I turned to see Ron walking towards me, wearing only a pair of jeans, the easygoing smile I loved so much curling up his lips. He was sweating too, but it was more like glistening.

"Ron?" I said, and my voice sounded different. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't even seem to notice that I wasn't wearing a shirt. Apparently, I was now in some weird state of being were everyone walked around without a shirt on.

He took me into his arms and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "Oh, 'Mione, I've been so… blind."

I blushed delightedly. "What do you mean?"

"I finally told Lavender the truth I couldn't even acknowledge to myself," he whispered, bending down. "I've always loved you, Hermione." Pressing his lips to mine, he whirled me around and music began to play all around us.

By now it had occurred to me that I was only dreaming, because the situation was too beyond weird to count as reality. I watched, intrigued by my own bizarre fantasy and wondered exactly what my dream was supposed to mean. In my experience, dreams always meant something or another. I'd never had a dream that didn't give me some small amount of insight.

"I love you too," I replied, and then the man kissing me jerked back.

"Hermione?" he demanded, shocked.

"Ew!" I screamed.

Just a moment ago, I had been certain I was kissing Ron. But there stood Harry, looking absolutely disgusted. His expression mirrored the way I was feeling. I wiped my lips hastily with the back of my hand and shook my head in disbelief. There was no way I'd just been making out with Harry. There was just no way I'd even dream about kissing Harry! Even in my disgusted state, I couldn't help but notice that his abs were even better than Ron's had been, and I wondered idly how much he benched. I noticed him ogling my chest, and covering myself up with one lazy hand. Apparently dream Hermione wasn't much for modesty.

"This is just too weird for me," he said.

I nodded my agreement fervently and he began to walk away, but as he did, his body began to change. He grew taller and leaner, his arm muscles becoming slightly more defined, and when he turned back around, his abs were even more impressive than they had been. His hair was lightening; its normal jet black lightened into a chocolate brown, then more of a mocha color. It faded into dirty blonde before finally settling on the moonlight blonde I had only seen on three people before: Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy.

Draco looked at me with that famous arrogant smirk.

"Draco," I said, surprised to see him.

"Hermione," he replied, and with no more foreplay, he swept me up in his arms to kiss me, leaving me breathless when he pulled away. "I've been dying to do that since… well… yesterday."

"Wow," was all I said.

He opened his mouth, probably to confess his everlasting love for me, but I'd had enough talk. Three sentences uttered between the two of us was exceeding my limit. I crushed his mouth to mine and jumped up, reverse piggyback style, trying desperately to express my need for him.

After a few moments of the most wonderfully mind blowing kissing I'd ever experienced, he pulled away and I fell off of him, crumpled on the ground. I furrowed by brow in both confusion and hurt, and stretched out a hand, asking for him to help me up. Instead, his lip curled in disgust, and he turned and walked away.

And then—

Darkness. It was all I saw, all I felt. There was nothing around me but the black, the empty darkness that threatened to swallow me up. I got the feeling in my stomach like I was falling, like I was on a roller coaster. And I was screaming then, screaming so loudly I thought I would go deaf, that I would not ever be able to speak again—

"What the hell do you dream about?" a voice cut through the dreamy haze, and suddenly everything started going up in smoke.

I jerked upright to see Maddy standing there in jeans and a black tee shirt. She was holding a cigarette and cocked her head to the side with a knowing smirk that I had seen on her father countless times before. Needless to say, it didn't make me feel necessarily comfortable.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" I snapped back, yanking up my sheet to cover up the lingerie I was sleeping in. "Get out!"

"Nah, I don't think I will."

With unnerving confidence, she stepped right up to me and suddenly she was wearing lingerie too, and smoking a cigar. Her hips shook side to side as she approached me and then let out a bloodcurdling scream. I whipped around to see a black smoke thing rising up from the floor, and we were engulfed once again into darkness.

"Hermione… c'mon, Hermione, wake up."

Someone prodded me with a stick and I was suddenly awake.

It wasn't a stick. They were pointing a wand right at me, and I was bound by my wrists with a gag around my mouth. Next to me were Maddy, Ron, and Harry, and they were tied exactly the same. Except that Maddy's gag was undone and she was being held by three masked figures, struggling with no avail. Her eyes were full of pain and unbridled anger as she stared at me, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God you're awake," she said, and one of the figures clamped his hand over her mouth.

Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction as she bit down, hard. But she didn't stop there. She whirled on the spot and slammed her elbow into someone's face, and I heard the distinct sound of a nose being broken. The other two circled her, gauging her abilities, and it struck me that I had never had the need to defend myself. Sure, once of twice a man had come up to me and gotten out of hand, but I had simply used my wand to Stun and then Obliviate him. No sweat.

I was useless without my wand. Yes, I could perform magic without waving it, but not if another wizard had captured it from me.

I should learn to defend myself, I decided, a little too late.

She rushed one man, shoving her shoulder into him, and when he brought up a fist to punch her, she grabbed it, twisted his arm and used it to shove him back against the wall, still twisting it into an unnatural angle and shoving it back into his own face.

"Mmmm!" I tried to scream against my gag. "Mmmm!"

I wanted to warn her; the second man was approaching her with the stance of a man who wanted to kill, but I couldn't get the words out no matter for lack of trying.

She was already aware, though, it seemed. Maddy turned, spinning and kicking out her leg squarely into his chest. She grabbed his neck, twisted it to the neck, then to the right, and used her momentum to slam herself back on the guy she'd just been fighting with, effectively knocking them both out.

She paused for a moment, seemed to forget about the third, whose face was twisted with vicious intent. I tried to get a good look at him, wanting to remember all their features, but the other two were now turned away from me and his face was so distorted that I couldn't even be sure as the two of them blurred, parrying blows, ducking whirling, cutting, each trying their best to outdo the other. Maddy grunted with each punch, each blow, but she took the pain easily and did her best to inflict it back on him.

"Hermione," a voice whispered in my ear, and I turned to see Ron and Harry flew their wrists and cracking their knuckles.

Harry stood up, ducking to avoid the man's elbow coming back to hit him, and—bam. With one single punch, the man fell to the ground, clutching his cheekbone. He attempted to get back up, but Maddy slammed her foot down on top of his chest with all his might, and he winced. Victorious, she sneered, panting, "Who's a whiny, pathetic bitch now?"

I wondered vaguely how long I'd been out as they untied me. It made sense now that I thought about it, that Maddy had taken on three grown men. Yes, she'd taken on two, but I couldn't help thinking that the third would have taken her down after a while, and it looked as if she knew it. The whole thing was a distraction to let us untie ourselves. For once in my life, I'd simply been too slow to see it.

Ron finished untying me and I quickly un-gagged myself, standing up. But everything spun and I felt myself getting dizzier and dizzier. Staggering to the ground, I felt a strong pair of arm catch me and steady me.

"She's still under the drug they gave us," he announced to Maddy and Harry, who were busy erasing their memories.

Maddy strode over. "Damn. There's no way she can walk, and we don't have much time." She checked her watch, but realized it was gone, and let out a string of curse words that I would have cringed at, had I been in my right mind.

"What… happened?" I managed woozily, and she shook her head.

"Oh, she's a goner. I don't suppose… I mean, you couldn't…"

Ron finished, "Carry her?" He shifted it wait with a grunt and suddenly my feet were swept off the ground and I was completely in his arms. Literally swept off my feet.

"No, no," I protested feebly, but no one paid him any mind.

"You can take turns with Harry," Maddy told him, patting his arm as a thank you, but Ron shook his head stubbornly.

"I've got her."

Maddy raised her eyebrows and said nothing. She turned back to Harry and I heard them talking in low, urgent tones, but I couldn't hear them and what they were saying appeared to hold nothing of interest to Ron. He looked down at me and smiled, gently fingering what I supposed to be a bruise. It felt more tender than the rest of my face.

"Are you going to carry me across a threshold?" I asked goofily, reaching up to caress his cheek as well. I made a face and added, "I don't think Lavender would be particularly happy about that, you know. It's reserved for her."

He frowned, clearly unhappy with my words, and opened his mouth to correct me, but ended up saying nothing. He walked over to the other two, still holding me, and we began walking down the hallway in silence after Maddy had picked the lock. I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep myself from falling and watched Maddy try to find her way out. I craned my neck and saw Harry at our backs, watching our flank. He had no wand, either but I supposed years of battling it out with Dudley, his cousin, had given him some experience with fighting. As did Maddy, obviously. I wondered where she had learned to fight like that, and then I supposed the answer was obvious. She was Voldemort's daughter, for crying out loud. I was sure she knew a million different ways to kill someone with her own bare hands, and that made me just a little bit terrified. Not of her necessarily, but of the things Death Eater could have done to me, and sometimes had, when I was powerless.

"Where are we going?" I whispered to Ron, and he pressed a finger to my lips, hushing me effectively.

Maddy went left at a fork in the hallway, and waved us all to the right. Ron obeyed with no question, but Harry stepped up to her and demanded, "Where are you going? If you're fighting, I'm coming."

She raised her eyebrows and hissed back, "Harry, you need to protect them." She jerked a thumb back at Ron and I, and I knew I wasn't the only one who felt vaguely insulted when his grip on me tightened and his frown deepened. It wasn't like Ron and I were pathetic baggage, but I was obviously drugged, and he was trying to protect me.

"You know it's true," she said forcefully, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He frowned, looking between us, his best friends, and Maddy, his… well, whatever she was to him, and made a decision.

"Ron can take care of her," Harry replied, "and himself. They're not useless, you know—just wandless."

She snorted, rolling her eyes, and they flashed angrily. "I know they're not useless, Harry, Hermione and Ron are fucking famous for—" She took one calming breath and finally said, "I can take care of myself. Right now, Hermione can't. Protect her."

And with that, she slipped away, and Harry fell back with us, clenching and unclenching his fists tightly, anger plain on his face.

I let out a laugh, and Ron clamped his hand down on my mouth a little too tightly. I licked him a tiny bit and he released me automatically in disgust.

"Ew, 'Mione."

I giggled and turned to Harry. "Oh, you're crazy about her."

He rolled his eyes and responded, "Oh, please. You don't know what you're talking about, Hermione. We were friends, and now we're not. She annoys the hell out of me."

"Which is why you're so desperate to protect her?"

Silence. I smiled, victorious.

"I think you just can't stand the thought of losing her, so you try as much as possible to protect her. But she can't stand the thought of you getting hurt trying to help her, so she goes alone." I sighed. "It's all very romantic, really."

Harry opened his mouth. Heatedly, he replied, "You don't—"

"Would you lot just shut the hell up until Maddy gets back?" Ron interjected, his voice almost menacing in the dark, and we both fell silent.

We waited. And waited. And waited some more

But still, Maddy didn't return.

I watched Harry in the dark as he clenched his fists together tightly. I saw the undiluted fear in his eyes as she watched almost without blinking, waiting, praying for her to come back.

Maddy POV

I knew that what I was doing was wrong. I was jeopardizing my friends' safety—and possibly even their lives—for my own sake. But I had to know. I had to be sure. I couldn't possibly just walk away now, not now that I was so close. Maybe they were counting on my curiosity to kill the cat. Maybe at this very moment Hermione was being knocked unconscious while Ron tried desperately to protect her, the girl he so obviously loved. Maybe at this very moment Harry was being tied back up and thrown into a cell like an animal. Maybe Hermione's beautiful face was being dragged across the floor—

I forced the thoughts from my mind.

I had to focus. I had no choice in this matter.

I crept silently along the hallway, always jumping back and readying myself for a fight every time that I heard even the slightest noise. Being careless could very well end my life in a place like this.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, there were voices.

"…Locked up. Apparently the blonde put up quite a fight."

"Good. Those are always the most fun to break, the feisty ones."

I cringed away, but forced myself to listen. I had to hear this, no matter how sick it made me, no matter what they said about me—

"I wouldn't mind taking her out of the cell and up to the chamber she used to sleep in. Maybe this time I could sleep with her…"

Jeering laughter rang out, and I bit my tongue to keep from rushing in there and screaming at them all.

"Focus," someone commanded, and they all fell silent. "We have a job to do."

"We've got them all captured. The job is completed and now we'd all like to have some fun. With a hot blonde. Is that too much to ask, boss?"

"Crucio!"

Earsplitting shriek rang out and I cringed. There was nothing to interest me here. I wanted to keep moving, to get away front his place, because this screaming, this pain… it reminded me too much of another time when I was subject to this far too often, by my own father.

"Get up," Father hissed, his voice full of malice.

I lay on the ground, gasping for air, taking deep, wonderful breaths of oxygen and marveling at how glorious breathing was. I had never noticed before, how great it felt to inhale and exhale.

I stood shakily. I was many things, but a coward was not one of them.

I would not give him the satisfaction of calling me weak.

"Crucio!"

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. I would never—never—give him that satisfaction of knowing he broke me. I couldn't, wouldn't succumb to the agony that was ripping my apart, tearing me up from the inside out, clawing at me, pulling me down.

My vision swam, shifting from an inky black to a vivid blue to blood red. I threw back my head in anguish, clutching at my hair, my head, my face, desperate for it to stop, ready to do anything, absolutely anything, for it to stop, for it to be over.

I would scream.

I would cry.

I would beg and plead and implore and beseech.

I would wail, sob, weep, snivel, whimper, howl.

I didn't care what it took, what level I would stoop to… I would end this pain. I would kill myself and anyone else just to end it, just to let myself go. A scream fought its way to my throat, threatening to explode, and I reeled it back in, my body shaking with the effort it took. I didn't care. I didn't fucking care; oh God, how could pain like this exist? I threw back my head yet again, my mouth opening of its own accord, but I fought it, fought it hard, and my jaw slammed shut again with a force I didn't know I had.

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

But I wanted it to kill me. I didn't care about being strong. Not anymore.

I never would again.

I would die here, writhing in misery and torment, slowly losing my mind. If he kept this up, I would have no mind left to speak of.

And then it was over, done, gone, but only for a moment. I knew better than to expect for him to quiet. It would take a miracle for him to quiet. My body shook with all the effort it took for me to simply stand up, and I realized belatedly that I'd sunk to my knees in the process.

I stood and looked him in the eye, glaring with everything I had left. Unfortunately, it wasn't much, and my fury was no match for his. I summoned all my strength and did the one thing I could think of in that moment, a thing that was a unforgiveable as anything, and I took great pleasure in spitting right in my father's face.

Shock isn't strong enough of a word for what he felt, for what emotion appeared on his face. It was the single most menacing thing I'd ever seen to this day.

Indignation. Wrath. Rage. And then the most dangerous look came into his eyes and he screamed, "Imperio!"

I fought it.

I fought it with everything I had.

I fought it with everything I had, every fiber of my being, every piece of my soul; every beat of my heart and every piece of fragile strength I owned was put into defying him.

"Walk over to the balcony."

"No."

I didn't want to walk over to the balcony, I told myself reasonably. There was all the glass he'd shattered earlier over there. I would cut myself. The balcony from the view wasn't even all that great. And I didn't want to walk. I was too lazy.

I resisted that. I had beaten it.

Or so I thought.

"Walk over to the balcony, you vapid, useless bitch!"

I took one step. Two. Three, four, fi—

"No!" I halted where I was, and allowed myself one proud smile before I went charging back at him, wishing with all my might I was able to take him down with a single tackle.

"Listen to me, Madeleine Riddle—sorry excuse for a Riddle— you walk onto the balcony, and throw yourself the hell off it, understand?" he shrieked.

A tremor or terror ran threw me, and I was the vicious glint in his eyes. He knew he'd scared me. He knew his words had the intended effect. I was officially horrified beyond all comprehension. He was going to force me to kill myself.

"Your mother's waiting for you just under the balcony."

He'd softened his voice; it sounded welcoming, soft, tender, even loving. I couldn't help but believe him, couldn't help but trust him. He was, after all, my father. He had, after all, loved my mother, of course. He and I would jump together, and then three of us could be together again. A real family.

Wake up! Wake the fuck up, Maddy, he's tricking you!

But the words escaped before I could reel them back in—"My mother? My mom?"

"Yes, she's been waiting for you."

I swallowed the emotional lump in my throat. I had always wanted to meet my mother, always. I hated being without a mom my whole life, and I adored the idea of finally having one. Even if I did have to jump off a balcony to find her, at least we would finally be together again.

Something struck me.

"Why doesn't she just come up here?"

"She can't. You have to go down there."

But he had lost his patience, and I heard the undercurrent of hatred in his voice, and stopped in my tracks. No way in hell was I committing suicide because of him. If I was to die, I would die standing on my own two feet, fighting for my life, the way I'd been destined to go. I was my mother's daughter and I would fight to the death to defeat the man who had killed her, and who was trying to kill me.

"You wanna kill me?" I hissed. "Then kill me and be done with it, Father—sorry excuse for a father, really. But don't you take the cowardly way."

His eyes lit up with a sick kind of delight. "You want me to murder you? That's fine, I was planning on it." His red eyes, glowing eerily, disgusted me beyond words. The ire in them was not something to be unleashed, yet I couldn't just tiptoe around him. Not anymore. "But you're taking the slow way out, daughter."

Daughter. Daughter. Daughter.

"I. Am not. Your. Fucking. Daughter!"

I lunged at him, longing to tear his face out with my own bare hands, clawing at the horror in front of me, desperate to injure him in some physical, quantifiable way—whoosh!

I was pinned up against the wall, struggling against invisible bindings to break free—

Focus, Maddy. Come back to earth. Come back to the present.

I breathed in and out several times before I realized I was sweating and panting. The memory had been so vivid—so terrifying—so…

Enough. Enough is enough.

You've got to carry on.

And so I did. The man in there was still screaming, so I continued on my way, not sure what I was searching for. I went with whatever my first instinct told me, and I never second-guessed myself. That was a sure way to get lost. Finally, the hallway came to an end, and at the end of the hallway there was a cell, alone from the rest. I approached it carefully, wishing desperately for my wand.

"Oi. You."

I did my best to sound like the guards who'd spoken such heinous words to me earlier, and I suppose it worked, because the prisoner stood and drew closer to the door. And then—

"Maddy?"

I gasped, recoiling. No. No, it couldn't be.

But it was.

"Goyle?"

"And Crabbe," he added, pointing behind me to reveal Crabbe glaring at me through his bars. Suddenly, he began to chuckle darkly, shaking his head at some kind of irony the rest of us couldn't see. I turned to Goyle to ask, but she simply shrugged and shook his head.

I'd given up trying to understand these two a long time ago.

"Family reunion?" Crabbe chortled, and I glared.

"I am not your family," I told him firmly, taking out my hair pain and picking his lock carefully. "Any guards in there?"

He shook his head, no. "You sure used to be, about three years ago. Family, I mean."

I couldn't believe he was actually talking about that. Stopping picking his lock, I replied, "We all know I merely put up with your for Draco's sake. We weren't friends, much less family, Crabbe."

He shrugged, as if it made no difference to him, and I opened the door wide for him to get out and went to work on Goyle cell.

"What happened to you two?"

Goyle shrugged. "I don't know. One minute we were at the bar, about to get good and drunk—" insert dramatic eye roll here— "and then we were lying in these cells. Probably getting ready to die." He seemed to be sizing me up, and I must have passed inspection when I opened the door for him to get out, too, because he added, "Or reenlist."

Reenlist?

Reenlist.

Reenlist.

My eyebrows shot up. "He's dead." My voice was firm, but there was no denying that it had shaken a little bit. "He's been dead for two years."

Goyle smiled with no joy. "He's been known to come back, you know."

"All right, maybe he's back and maybe he's not, but I'd prefer not to die tonight," Crabbe cut in, his voice harsh, "so let's get a move on, shall we?"

He was right, so I went first and let the other two fell behind me. We'd walked back the way I came for about two minutes before I realized there was no way I could take this lot back to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. They'd despised each other since they were kids and probably still did. So where exactly was I going to go?

"Hey," I said, turning around. "Where are we going?"

Crabbe smiled, sending chills up my spine. "Oh, don't worry, Princess." He stepped closer, the smile turning sinister. "We'll take you somewhere nice and safe."

And then everything went black.

Earlier that day

"C'mon, Maddy, I'm trying to make things right. And I know you love Quidditch."

"That's not the point," I replied, avoiding his gaze. "The point is, us being friends, it doesn't work out. We're just not meant to be like that. I'm sorry."

"Bullshit," Harry said promptly. "You're just taking the easy way out."

I shot him a glare and sighed, trying to turn away from him and end the conversation. It was depressing me and if we talked any longer, I knew I was about to get angry.

"Look, just come, please? It's going to be really fun, and everyone will be there. Odds are you'll have a great time."

I pursed my lips. I did love Quidditch, and it would be really fun to hang out with everyone… England hadn't hosted the Quidditch World Cup since I was fourteen years old, and I hadn't even known what Quidditch was at the time. Plus I wasn't allowed out of my tower.

"Well…."

He smiled, knowing he'd won.

"Okay. I'll go," I conceded. "Thank you for inviting me. But just so you know, this doesn't mean I forgive you. The odds are way against that."

"Oh, you're coming?" Luna cut in dreamily, smiling at me. "It'll be so fun!"

I smiled back, while Ron started a conversation with Harry over who they thought would win, and Luna fell back into a conversation with Neville. I had never really noticed; they made a good couple. They were very alike—both kind of strange personalities, but unquestionably kind hearted, intelligent, and brave. Their loyalty set them apart, too, I noticed. I knew that they had fought alongside Harry, Hermione, and Ron against my—Lord Voldemort. I hoped they would be together for a long time. Their happiness as a couple was refreshing, to be honest, and it relaxed me to see that not everything was so fucked up that there was no one left to be with them. Luna and Neville were strange, yes, and they had been through a lot. But that didn't stop them from being happy with each other, which was something I longed for.

I didn't want to be the bitchy sixteen-year-old, whining that I wanted a boyfriend.

I was a grown woman and I didn't want a boyfriend per se; I wanted someone to be there for me when I needed them. I had Sarah, of course, and Johnny, and now Draco was back in my life. But it wasn't the same. Sarah and Johnny had each other and they had been a couple for the entire time I'd known Johnny. Draco had whatever girl he was screwing around with at the time, and he didn't need anyone to take care of him anyway. He took care of himself.

I wanted to take care of someone and to be taken care of.

Was that simply too much to ask?

I shrugged off the impending pity party, forcing myself to calm down. I was perfectly fine with being single. I'd been single for the first seventeen years of my life and this would not be any different.

. . . .

The Quidditch World Cup.

All I could say was, "Wow."

Harry grinned, elbowing him gently in the side. He chuckled at my expression. "It's pretty amazing, right?"

And it was. Wizards and witches mulled around the previously abandoned clearing, some wearing robes and their team's jerseys. Others were dressed more carefully as Muggles, like Ron, Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Neville, and I were. The one thing everybody seemed to have in common was the excitement clearly etched on their faces. I couldn't help but smile at the scene around me, all the people looking thrilled. They placed bets and danced around, drinking and laughing.

I couldn't believe I was really here.

"Ginny!"

I turned and saw Hermione running towards a beautiful girl with flaming red hair, and I knew instantly she must be Ron's younger sister. She was holding on to someone's hand, who I presumed was Dean, and he embraced Neville, Ron, and Harry with an easygoing manner.

After the two of them had hugged their old friends, Ginny turned to me with a smile.

"You must be Maddy," she said, shaking my hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

I smiled back and shook her head. "Yes, and you must be Ginny. I can tell from the hair!"

Everyone around us laughed and she introduced Dean to me. He shook my head politely, inquiring on my team and I told him I obviously wanted England to win, even against the odds, and he roared with laughter, telling me that he agreed.

We set up the tents, and began walking around together to scope out the place and find anyone they may know. They ran into a few people, and politely introduced me as Madeleine Johnson - not Riddle, thank God. Everyone was pretty nice about meeting me, and we hung around a few kids they must have known from Hogwarts. There was a man named Seamus, and two girls named Parvati and Padma, along with Cho Chang—which seemed an awkward kind of greeting to me, but then I didn't know much about their old friends—and a lot of other people whose names I had lost track of.

"I can't wait to see Wood," Harry said to Ron, who nodded back.

"I know!" He thumped Harry on the back in his enthusiasm. "Good mate, getting us tickets, eh? I guess I always knew he was a better Keeper than me."

Harry grinned. "Not when you have Felix Felics."

Ron roared with laughter, and I watched the exchange with amusement, wondering what they were referring to. Luna jumped in with a giggle, "And what about my commentary? Oh, look… there's the Quaffle... no, that's the Snitch!"

At this, everybody laughed, and Neville reeled Luna in, winding his arm around his waist and kissing her cheek. "My sports expert," he said fondly, and she smiled delightedly.

We ate dinner together, with Hermione, Ginny, and I all pitching in around the kitchen. Luna tried to help, but it was evident soon that whatever she made wasn't going to be edible, so we sent her back to Neville and promised she could make some of her famous soup for another meal. We ate, went to all the shops set up, bought a few trinkets before heading back for an early night. We had to wake up early for the Cup tomorrow.

The next morning, we wandered around for a little while longer until finally it was time to take our seats. We got amazing seats, courtesy of England's Keeper, Oliver Wood, and I was nearly bouncing up and down with excitement in my seat. My first real Quidditch game! The World Cup, at that—and we were sitting right up front with one of the best views in the place.

Excitement didn't even cover it.

"Oh, no!" I shouted suddenly, distraught.

"What?"

"I left my Omnioculars in the tent," I replied, furious with myself. Harry had bought one for everyone, except Ron and Hermione, who already had them, and I'd managed to lose it already! I checked my watch hurriedly. "I have enough time to go get them. I'll be right back."

Harry stood up, stopping me. "No, you won't. You don't even remember where the tent is," he pointed out.

"No, I—" I started to protest before realizing he was right. In my eagerness to get to the game, I hadn't paid much attention to my surroundings.

"I'll go with you. C'mon."

We took off, sprinting all the way to the tent, which was a pretty long way, it turned out, and when we got there we both needed a glass of water. I went to the kitchen and poured to cups full while Harry searched for the Omnioculars. I gulped mine down and began to pour another one when there was a loud crash.

"Harry?" I called.

"It's fine—they're not in here. I'll check outside the tent."

I heard him stop to the front and wondered why he'd gotten in such a bad mood. Following the sound of the noise, I realized that he'd dropped my suitcase and a photograph had fallen out. I picked it up, and saw my favorite picture in the world.

We were all laughing, Sarah and John, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and me. John's arm was slipped around Sarah's waist, and she was eyeing him adorably as he leaned in to kiss her. Crabbe and Goyle was goofing around, elbowing each other and making catcalls when John moved in to kiss her lips. Draco and I stood in the middle, and he reached for my hand, dropped to his knees, and pretended to proclaim his love for me. I remembered this exact moment so well, the way I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe, the warm, fuzzy feeling building up inside of me as I stood with my best friends (and Crabbe and Goyle). I pulled him up and Draco spun me around and dipped me, my hair blowing in the wind.

I tucked the frame back into my suitcase, zipped it up, and followed Harry outside. Yes, he hated Draco, but that didn't mean he had to get all moody about it. I rolled my eyes and reigned in my anger. He had invited me here, after all.

"Harry, you find them yet?"

There was no answer. I walked around the tent twice, but he wasn't there and I didn't believe that he would just leave me here if he didn't find the Omnioculars.

"Harry?" I shouted, hoping he couldn't here me.

"You looking for someone?" a voice asked, and I spun around.

I didn't even see his face; it all happened so fast.

A rag was pressed to my face, a finger pushed against my pressure point, and my wand was neatly extracted out of my pocket. I reached desperately for it, fighting to get them off of me, but I was growing weaker, and they fought me right back.

Blackness was closing in.

"No," I mumbled as they tipped some sort of liquid into my mouth and I fell into oblivion.

Goyle POV

"This way," I grunted, shifting Maddy's weight again. We turned right and Crabbe snickered at my struggle with her.

"Want me to hold her?" he offered, sniggering.

I cast him a look. "Bitch is heavy, all right?"

"Yeah, whatever."

We walked in silence for a few minutes before I turned to him and asked softly, "What do you think he wants her for?"

Crabbe simply looked at me, like he couldn't believe how idiotic I was being. He shook his head and picked up the pace, but I kept up with him easily.

"She's his daughter. She betrayed him. What do you think he wants with her?"

I swallowed and looked at Maddy's face. Mads had always been beautiful, even when we were kids. She was too pale, and always looked a little sick to me, but being outside looked good on her. She'd picked up a tan, a kind of glow that made her look even better. The innocence on her face was one I hadn't seen in years, and it felt good that she didn't have to know that fate she was about to face. But it didn't feel good that I was the one bringing her there.

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked suddenly, stopping.

"Did I mean what?" Crabbe snapped.

"What you said. To M—her. About being family."

Exasperated, he retorted, "Family. With the Dark Lord's disowned daughter? I—" He broke off, seeing my expression. "Oh, all right, yeah, Goyle, I saw her and got warm fuzzies inside my chest. I was like, oh yeah, there's my ex-nonbiological sister Maddy, and now I'm taking her to her father, my boss, to be tortured, possibly to death. So I was all like, Maddy, lil' sis, I've missed you ever so much!"

"Oh, shut up."

"What? You honestly think of her as family?"

"Not as family," I replied defensively. "Just… we're old friends, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't believe this. She meant what she said, you know. About her putting up with us for Draco's sake. I doubt she ever thought of you as a friend, Goyle. So put away your conscience for now, and we'll drink it away later. Deal?"

He didn't wait for my response, just kept walking ahead of me. I watched him go, the strangest numb feeling creeping over me and he finally turned back to look at me.

"I have to drug her now," I explained. "It's been ten minutes that she's been unconscious."

"Then do it." He peered down the hallway anxiously. "I don't wanna be late."

I grabbed the bottle out of my robes and uncorked it, staring at the liquid. Crabbe turned away again, waiting for me to be done, and I tipped it hesitantly to her mouth. It struck me so suddenly, so strongly, that I nearly dropped the bottle.

I didn't want to.

It wasn't that I had suddenly developed feelings for Maddy that wouldn't permit me to. It was that, looking at her face… I think it made me remember when I was just a kid. When I didn't have to do this type of shit. When I still thought my family was full of normal, good people who abided with the law and weren't… weren't what I had become.

I bent down quickly and poured it all down the drain and pocketed the empty bottle. I was so fucked for this.

Crabbe turned around and snapped, "What the hell are you doing now?"

"Shoe lace," I muttered. "Sorry."

"Yeah, whatever." He grabbed Maddy and pulled her up onto his shoulders. "Let's get a move on. You're a real pain in the ass today." He glared sideways at me and began walking quickly, bringing her to the Dark Lord. "Do me a favor, would you? Don't let him see you like this, all right? Just… toughen it up."

I nodded firmly and faced the door, shoving it open like I wasn't walking into a living hell.

We were here.

Crabbed set Maddy down on the floor with no preamble, and he head hit the stone floor just a little too hard. I winced. That was going to bruise.

Of course, that was only if she could live long enough to feel the bruises.

The odds weren't exactly in her favor.

Maddy POV

When I came around, I was sitting in a comfortable chair, and luckily they'd neglected to drug me. I could see clearly and think clearly, and I knew enough about captivity to stay still, like I was still unconscious. When I dared to open my eyes the tiniest bit, I almost fell out of my chair. It was all I could do not to jump up nad curse him right then and there.

Lord fucking Voldemort.

Of course.

Isn't that why I went on my own? To find him? But I didn't believe I actually would. I didn't think I actually could! Crabbe and Goyle had unknowingly giving me just what I wanted… at the wrong moment.

I had no wand. What could I do? Of course, I could fight physically, but Voldemort wasn't someone who would play fair. He could curse me into oblivion and then call me a coward for not fighting back when I had no wand.

Well, I would have to Disarm someone. Steal their wand when they weren't looking. I could tell it wasn't much fun to stare at an unconscious person for hours on end, because the Death Eaters surrounding me were all facing away and even Voldemort stood up and began pacing. All their attention was focused on him.

Footsteps. Nearing me.

I held my breath as someone walked right in front of me, their gaze glued to the man who'd called himself my father.

I had to act now. I reached out with no hesitation—it was now or never—and snatched their wand right out of their pocket. He simply kept walking, completely unaware.

I surveyed the room as I tucked the wand into my pocket discreetly, and found that someone had seen me. I gripped her wand like a lifeline, ready to draw it at any moment. My heart raced, pounded; my blood rushed. And then he—was it Goyle? I couldn't tell—smiled and relaxed, nodding his head slightly at me before turning to the Dark Lord.

Goyle. Thank God.

A rush of relief consumed me.

He was on my side. He didn't want me to be hurt. He might be a Death Eater, and he wouldn't fight with me, but he wouldn't fight against me either. Not directly, at least. And that meant something huge to me. I knew what loyalty meant to my father, and anyone who wasn't with him was against him in his mind. Goyle had risked his life simply by smiling at me.

And, it occurred to me; maybe it wasn't an accident that I hadn't been drugged.

I gripped the wand tightly, ready to spring into action at any moment.

Get good and ready, Dad, I thought, the bitter sarcasm seeping into even my thoughts. Get ready for have the fight of your life. There's a prisoner in the dungeons who's dying to live and ready to fight.

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