A/N: Okay so the result was bad assery with a bit of gore. I hope I pulled it off to yall's liking. Enjoy.
Hermione walked through the portal and came out on the other side staring at a large house. She could think of nothing but Minerva, how they had taken her, what they might be doing to her, how long she had been forced to be without the woman. Her breathing increased as a calm anger overtook her and lightning struck the ground around the house, setting aflame the tall grass and trees around them. Growling she waited as two others worked on the warding. She was far too angry to do any controlled magic and they knew it. The plan was for Hermione to enter first, then the others. They would find Bellatrix and take her off to heal, as well as killing anyone she didn't, while she hunted for her queen…Minerva…
Oh the bastard's who took her will pay.
The moment they broke the wards down, Hermione clenched her jaw so tightly, she thought her teeth might break. Briskly, she walked into house and into a den where four men sat. It was dark in the room, the occasional lightning strike the only light visible in the house. Hermione growled as she spotted the men, and one of them stood, frowning. "Who the bloody hell are you?"
They all pulled out their wands, standing to fight the large figure in the room. Upon seeing no sign of Minerva, Hermione snarled. A bolt of lightning illuminated the room and the men all gasped and began backing away. "What the fuck is that?!" One of them screamed. "Kill it!" yelled another and a flash of green came at Hermione hitting her. It tickled. "Did you hit it?"
Hermione silently moved to the center of the men and growled.
"Oh fuck!"
Before they could speak, a wave of her magic burst outward. It sounded and looked as though a grenade exploded in the room, leaving only char marks on the floor and walls. She nodded at the sight of burnt, dismembered body parts scattered around, and chuckled at the feet on the floor, bone and blood exposed just above the ankles. Hermione simply walked back into the hallway.
At the sound of the explosion, the sound of several feet came thundering down the hall.
H-Her-mione?
She inhaled sharply and roared, racing down the hallway. There were several bodies running towards her, but Hermione had no time to deal with them. She quickly walked down the hall, trying to locate Minerva. Spells came flying at her, but she knew none of the men were capable of harming her so she did nothing to protect herself, merely slamming their heads through the walls and floor as she raced towards the sound of her queen.
I'm here, Minerva! I'm coming! She projected towards the woman as she kicked down the door where Minerva should've been. She frowned at the empty room. Where was she?
Hurry…..Please…pain…so much pain…...I-I'm afraid.
At that, a fury like no other overcame the woman. Suddenly, it was clear where her queen was and she balled her hands into a fist and brought them down on the floor until she broke them. She ripped at the floor boards and dived down to the floor beneath, landing on her hands and knees. There was one last floor to break through and instead of using two hands, Hermione put all of her anger, love, desperation and magic into one fist, and brought it down on the stone floor. She broke through it instantly, and fell through as the floor gave way.
Standing, she looked around the lit dungeon, when a whimper sounded behind her. She turned and found Minerva chained up to the wall by her wrists with her legs dangling just above the ground. She was bare, save for the welts, some old some new, all of them bleeding. They were all over her legs, abdomen, face…
Everywhere.
In front of the tortured woman was a man holding a whip, his eyes large at the sight of the creature before him. Upon seeing Hermione look at Minerva and snarl at him, he smirked and delivered one last lash to the half dead woman. Hermione, moving faster than even she knew she could, grabbed the man's throat and held him against the wall. He smirked, "Go ahead. Kill me."
Oh it was so, so very tempting, but she had plans for him. Instead of using her teeth to rip his throat out, she clawed a hole and tossed him through it. She would be visiting him later.
Turning to Minerva, Hermione freed the woman as gently as possible, each whimper breaking her heart, and clawed another hole in the air to a sacred spring, one of three used for healing. One of which, Bellatrix should be in. Quickly, she stepped through with Minerva in her arms, hoping the spring would heal Minerva even though she was not officially one of them.
The spring was located in the middle of Alaska. It was just a small hole, as though someone had carved it for fishing, but to get to the healing waters, one had to go deep down past the freezing water to a warm pocket of healing. The hole Hermione clawed placed them in mid-air above the hole, Hermione's wings flapping gently, keeping them in directly above the hole. She flew up higher, and looked down, satisfied with the distance.
Hold on, Minerva.
H-her…m..ne
Just hold on! Please!
She begged and quickly flew down towards the small hole, head first, wrapping her wings around them, creating an air pocket of sorts around Minerva.
Once in the water, Hermione's powerful legs began kicking and they went deeper into the water.
Just hold on.
It became their mantra. Hermione begging the woman to stay with her, and Minerva using it as an anchor to remain conscious. Her mind was foggy and her entire body ached.
For days on end she had been whipped, caned, beaten, crucio'd, and utterly humiliated, shamed. They said nearly nothing to her, gave her no break. Just constant pain. Only when she was near death did they heal her. The few sentences they did speak were only to tell her how ugly she was, how none of them had any desire to rape someone so hideous. Which, while she was glad she wouldn't be forced to suffer that particular trauma, it did nothing for her self-esteem.
Occasionally they brought others in to laugh at her, and gave them their chance to have a go at her. A few of them yelled at her for past transgressions, but she could hear nothing but the sound of fists hitting her body, the sound of a whip stripping flesh from bone. She had run out of tears long ago and could only hope Hermione would find her alive.
Ice cold water ran over her wounds and she whimpered, flinching away. She shivered as it began filling the cocoon she was in and she bunched up, "M'ne…" she tried calling.
I know. I'm sorry. Just a little while more Minerva.
She nodded and held tightly to the woman, praying to whatever deity existed that her pain would end soon.
Hermione cursed herself for letting water in. She imagined it couldn't have felt too good on Minerva's raw skin, she growled, rather, what was left of her skin. She used her anger as strength to propel her deeper into the water.
Before she knew it, the water was warm and she was being pulled to the ocean floor. She opened her wings and stood on the ground, changing into her human form. Holding Minerva tightly in her arms, she set the woman on her feet, supporting her with arms around her too small waist.
Breathe Minerva.
The woman was far too weak to disagree, even though she was quite unsure about breathing underwater. However, she figured she would either drown, or it would work. Both options were more desirable than any possible alternative. So, she exhaled, and took a breath. It was like breathing air. Before she could marvel at the phenomena, she was screaming. Everything hurt, everywhere. She could feel every single lash and strike on her body. She thought she had no more tears, but as the pain increased tenfold, she found she was wrong.
Why had Hermione brought her here? Why would she do this? She gripped the woman's arms as she sobbed underwater, bubbles rising out of her mouth as she thrashed about and her knees gave out. Hermione's arms kept her upright and she had not an ounce of strength to do anything more than rest on the woman while her body burned. The pain was worse than anything she had ever experienced, but then, suddenly, she felt at peace. For a second, she had to wonder if this was what Frank and Alice felt just before their minds snapped.
It is amazing the things one notices when on the edge of madness. Her eyes opened and she smiled at an octopus that was resting on a rock. It was a majestic creature and she nearly laughed as it raised one of its legs up almost as though it was waving at her through the beautiful blue waters. Everything around her seemed so much more beautiful and she marveled at the fact that she was at the bottom of the ocean.
Slowly, her legs came off the ground and she waved goodbye to the fish as she rose higher and higher away from the ocean floor. Once he was no longer in sight, she smiled at the light steadily coming towards her face. She was no longer in pain and for that, she would welcome death with a smile. She closed her eyes just as she was beginning to enter the light.
However, instead of feeling bliss and happiness as she expected, Minerva spluttered and coughed. "W-what-" She broke off into another coughing fit as she expelled the last of the water from her lungs.
Breathe Minerva. Nice and deep. You're okay.
Coughing, she took deep rattling breaths, attempting to clear her lungs. She shielded her eyes from the harsh light and looked at the woman before her, "Hermione?" she asked with a weak hoarse voice.
The woman nodded and Minerva quickly held to her as she cleared her lungs and her breath regulated. Hermione pulled back slightly and cupped her face. How do you feel?
Minerva took stock of herself and was surprised to fine she didn't ache, nor was she insane apparently…or dead. But she was,
"Cold. Extremely cold. Freezing actually." She said, her voice still weak, but stronger than before.
Hermione nodded, smiling and hugged Minerva tightly.
It worked! Oh thank Merlin!
Minerva nodded as her teeth began chattering, "H-H-Hermione…C-Celebrate later, warm up NOW."
The girl immediately nodded sheepishly and pulled them both out of the water. Though Minerva was healed, she was still weak and unable to do much more than breathe and blink. Once out of the ice cold water, Hermione lifted her into her arms and clawed a hole in front of them. Through it, Minerva could see her bedroom at the manor, a fire lit and her bed ready to receive her. The sight was accompanied by an extreme feeling of relief, happiness and exhaustion. "Dear Merlin Hermione, please get me home."
A/N: Lemme know what you guyses think. I think I'll squeeze out three more chapters or so and attempt an epilogue