A/N: I still stand by the "T" rating, but this is just a friendly little heads up that there are a few more gory details in this chapter and the next (mostly the next) - nothing too bad though. Cheers!
The screams woke me. The first things I noticed were the hard, unforgiving floor below my right hip and something soft beneath my head. I craned my neck to look up and saw Ron sitting against the wall, his eyes closed. My head was positioned on his thigh, his left hand resting on my arm. I slowly sat up, fighting through a bit of dizziness and causing Ron to stir. He looked over at me in surprise.
"'Mione," he breathed, "You had me worried." He leaned over and brushed a strand of hair from my face.
"What happened?" I asked. I didn't remember anything after the forest.
"Well, I blacked out for a while so I can't tell you everything but… well, we've been caught." The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
"What?" I whispered. "Where are we?"
"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I only remember catching a glimpse of some woman who looked a bit like Ginny and then all the Death Eaters closing in and then they marched us for a few hours through the woods and into this old abandoned building." I bit my lip and nodded, trying to think where we could possibly be. I wasn't even sure where the cottage in the woods had been located. I looked around quickly and noticed we were alone.
"Where are Lupin and Severus?"
"I wish you'd stop calling him that," Ron said with his face all screwed up. "It's still really weird. Lupin is around here somewhere. It's a large building – probably a warehouse – and they don't seem too concerned about us leaving."
"And Sev- Snape?" I asked, correcting myself when I saw his expression. He looked at me sideways and sighed.
"I don't know. They took him straight away." Another guttural scream echoed through the vast space. Tears sprung to my eyes immediately, thinking the worst.
"Was anyone else here? Do they have other prisoners?" I asked hopefully. It felt terrible, wishing pain on another, but I couldn't bear the thought of those screams coming from Severus's lips.
"Yeah, they led us past three or four others. Two men, a woman and…a child. I don't know how old, maybe eight or nine."
We both became silent as the thought of a child being tortured by Death Eaters settled into our minds. Nausea hit me hard as my intense hatred for the dark side grew.
"Cowards." I spat. Ron looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"They are so afraid of muggle born witches and wizards they have to torture children?" I said incredulously.
"You've nailed them, Hermione." Lupin stepped out from behind a pillar not far from us and walked slowly in our direction. He had a few more cuts visible than the last time I saw him but otherwise seemed fine.
"Lupin." I sighed in some relief.
"You might call me Remus now, Hermione. I think you've quite earned the right to use my given name." I could feel myself flush a bit – I felt silly having been calling him by his last name, but it wasn't easy for me to call teachers by anything else.
"Remus." I tested it out. Remus nodded in approval and sank to the floor a few feet away from us.
"What else is this pure-blood obsession but fear of the unknown? There are so few pure blood lines left, they would be breeding with their cousins in no time at all. No, they know pure blood isn't any better. But these... supremacists are afraid that one day the muggleborns will surpass their skill. Just look at you and me. No offense, Ron." Ron gave him a half-smile and a bit of a snort. I smiled at Ron, happy to see a tiny portion of his old self. I adjusted so that I was sitting beside him, resting my head on his shoulder and taking his hand.
"How long have we been here?" I asked, suddenly realizing there were no visible windows – just dim fluorescent lights overhead.
"The better part of a day." Remus answered.
"What have you been up to?" Ron asked, a bit of joking in his voice. Remus didn't answer for a moment, then looked Ron levelly in the eye.
"I've been propositioned." This made me sit up straighter.
"What? By them?" I asked. He bobbed his head yes.
"Seems they want another werewolf on their side." He said wryly. Ron and I exchanged glances.
"They let you go when you turned them down?" Ron asked, reading my thoughts.
"I didn't tell them 'no'." My jaw dropped.
"Surely you didn't tell them 'yes'?" I said, trying to keep my voice quiet. He looked at me thoughtfully.
"It could be beneficial for us if I were a double agent as well."
"It's too dangerous!" I exclaimed. "And anyways, what about Teddy?" Remus's face darkened.
"I don't even know that he's alive, Hermione."
"But surely Molly has him, or Tonks's mum."
"How do I know either of them are alive?" Ron inhaled sharply beside me. I looked over at him to find him looking quite ill. This was all too much. There were too many questions, too many uncertainties… another long scream filled the air and broke my train of thought.
"Do you know where Severus is?" I asked Remus. He shook his head sadly. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my breathing level and fight off the nausea. "We need a plan." I announced.
"Remus, how many Death Eaters are here?" He rubbed his face tiredly before answering.
"I think there are four. Bellatrix, Mulciber and Greyback for sure. There was another but they were still masked and robed. At the other end of this building there is a door to the outside and a staircase to an office that they are in. Greyback and Mulciber are guarding the door."
"Where are the others we saw when we arrived?" Ron asked.
"I'm not sure," Remus admitted. "One man was being led out when I was being talked to. The woman was cowering in the corner of the office… looked like she might have been tortured a bit before I saw her." A heavy intensity settled over us.
"If we escape, we need to get the others out too." Ron said suddenly. I looked at him with admiration but deep down I knew it might not be that easy. One exchanged glance with Remus and I knew he felt the same. I vowed silently to do what we could.
"If we don't find Severus before we get out, he did mutter something about the Cornish Coast." Remus said. I nodded and chewed on my lip thoughtfully. He wouldn't have said it if there wasn't importance behind it. I hoped we'd find him here, but if not, we would be going to the coast.