Hello, my good people! I'm back from this super long hiatus to bring you another chapter to this wonderful story. Now please, by all means, enjoy!
Hermione bustled around the manor happily. She was happy about the changes she had made to the Dark Lord's forces, the differences showing clearly. Coming to the cellar, she grabbed the old brush Miss Narcissa had given her to begin brushing her hair. It had gotten a bit matted lately with all the work she had been doing. It was also extremely long and thick, going nearly to the back of her knees. Getting all of the knots from the top, she was nearly down to her shoulders before she heard her mistress call for her.
Apparating to her mistress, Hermione smiled up at the Dark Witch and knelt. "Pet, go to clean the guest rooms. We are to have more Death Eaters arriving and the Dark Lord wants them to be comfortable before their trip east to examine the magical situation there."
"Yes, Mistress." Hermione stood and hurried from the room, heading for the guest rooms to do her work.
In another part of the same area as the manor, Harry and Ron both appeared by apparation. Coming to land in front of the large hedge surrounding the Malfoy residence, the two boys nodded to each other and began walking until they found an entrance. It was a large wrought-iron gate that looked menacing.
"Be careful, mate." Ron stated. "I know what kinda gate this is. We can't go through it. Gotta go over it."
"Let's do it the Muggle way." Harry suggested. "That way, they won't be expecting anything."
"Good idea." Both boys latched onto the hedge on either side of the gate before an idea struck Harry. Grabbing his shrunken bag, he pulled out the invisibility cloak.
"Ron!" he called quietly. "Come on."
"I don't know, mate." Ron murmured. "Best be cautious." Casting a Disillusionment charm over the both of them, Ron climbed under the invisibility cloak with Harry and the pair began climbing the hedge together, making sure to stay away from any of the white peacocks as they dropped to the other side of the gate.
Harry and Ron slipped into the manor garden carefully, keeping the Disillusionment charm over themselves as well as the invisibility cloak. They dodged the magical plants that would have otherwise eaten them or done something else harmful as they arrived at the front of the manor. Glancing around, the pair stared up at the large mahogany door apprehensively and decided that a different way in would be more fortuitous. Walking around the perimeter of the manor, they spotted a figure dusting through an open window and nodded to each other.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Harry muttered, slowly floating them up to the window. Latching onto it, they let the invisbility cloak slip off Ron since he was taller and they climbed through the window, catching sight of bushy brown hair disappearing from the room just as they climbed all the way in.
"Do you think that was her?" Ron asked.
"Only one way to find out." Harry gripped his wand tightly in his hand and stole from the room, following after the brown-haired figure walking down the hall. Their hair was much longer than when they had last seen Hermione and it obscured the majority of the person's body, but there was only one person they had ever seen with hair like that and they were determined to make certain it wasn't her before ruling the person out.
Following the person to a room filled with Death Eaters, the pair paused before slowly entering as well. The person they had been trailing sank to the floor in front of Bellatrix and said, in a voice that both boys recognized instantly, "I have finished with the guest rooms, Mistress."
"Good girl, Mudblood." Bellatrix cooed, smirking. "Tend the drawing room and the garden and then you are free to do as you please until I call for you again."
"Yes, Mistress." The person stood and turned, revealing her to be the very person the boys were looking for. She moved to a room off to the side and most of the Death Eaters left right after her. The boys surveyed who all had stayed and Harry froze to see Fenrir Greyback also in the room.
The werewolf obviously hadn't smelled them yet and turned to Bellatrix. "Are you certain I can't play with her? I wouldn't mind adding her to my pack, either. She's a good little one."
"Fenrir, I've already told you-."
"Wait." Both the Death Eaters and the two intruders turned to a woman off to the side, finding her sniffing the air in confusion.
"What is it, Julia?" Fenrir inquired, worry filling his eyes.
"There are two new scents in the room, but I didn't see anyone else come in." The woman, Julia, turned her head in the direction of Harry and Ron and the two boys felt their hearts speed up as all of the wands in the room aimed at them.
"Show yourselves." Fenrir ordered, teeth bared angrily at being taken unawares.
Slowly, Harry reached up and tugged the Invisibility Cloak off, stuffing it under his shirt as the Death Eaters all gasped. Ron lifted the Disillusionment charm seconds later and the wands were at the ready once more.
"How many are there?" Bellatrix snarled, slowly walking forward.
"There's just us." Ron spat, eyes blazing at Bellatrix.
"Just two?" the Dark Witch snickered. "Has Dumbledore truly gone mad, only sending in two people?"
"And students at that." Dolohov grunted, eyeing the two boys cautiously.
"Why have you come then?" the Dark Witch inquired, wand still aimed for the boys' throats.
"We want Hermione's wand." Harry huffed.
"You mean that wand?" Bellatrix motioned to the wand on the bookshelf and the boys both glanced over to see the familiar wand. "By all means, take it. I dare say, she won't be needing it any longer. Don't think she's needed it for years."
Neither of the boys paid any mind to that last statement and focused their sights on the wand. "Get it!" Harry shouted to Ron, stunning one of the Death Eaters to create a distraction. The redhead raced for the bookshelf and leaped up, grabbing the wand. However, as he was descending, a body slammed into him, propelling the wand from his hand.
"Harry!" Ron called., throwing off the man that had tackled him.
Harry turned from where he was fighting off Fenrir and noticed Hermione's wand sailing through the air. Leaping up, his fingertips scraped it from the air and he landed in time to dodge the jump Fenrir had made at him.
"I got it!" Harry shouted, dodging around Fenrir's next attack and racing for Ron. McNair stepped in front of him and the wand went flying as Harry disentangled himself from the Death Eater. Ron ran for the wand at the same time as Mulciber and the pair slid to grab it, crashing into each other and nearly snapping the piece of wood in half.
Before that could happen, Harry slammed into them both and snagged the wand before it could be pulled apart. Pocketing the piece, he turned once more and caught sight of a familiar set of brown eyes watching him before they turned and a trail of bushy brown hair exited the adjoining room from a different doorway.
Harry was going to go after Hermione, but Fenrir stepped into his path once more, yellow teeth bared at the darker brunette. Harry backed himself into a wall so that he couldn't be taken by surprise and kept shifting his eyes from one person to another, wondering how they were going to do this. Glancing overhead, he caught sight of several candles floating overhead. Pointing his want up, he whispered, "Locomotor Candles." The floating wax sticks began floating into a line and made a beeline straight for the three Death Eaters surrounding him.
As they dodged, Harry took his chance and moved back to Ron's side, aiming his wand at the two Dark Witches, eyes burning at the memory of Sirius' death. Bellatrix smirked at the pair while Narcissa continued looking as if she were bored.
"Where's Hermione?" Ron snarled, shooting a quick jinx to the witches, which Bellatrix deflected easily.
"Who?" the brunette Black inquired in a bored tone.
"Don't play dumb with us!" Harry growled, glancing momentarily in the direction of the adjoined room. "You took her from the Department of Mysteries with you. Where is she now?"
"Ooh, you mean the pretty little Mudblood that I've been playing with?" the Dark Witch cackled happily at the thought of their stupidity. "You broke into the Dark Lord's main headquarters just to get back a Mudblood? How foolish!"
"Where's Hermione!" Ron demanded again, his wand pointing straight for Bellatrix's throat.
The Dark Witch cackled and deflected the next hex that came her way. "Hermione? Hermione? Where is she?" Bellatrix mocked him, mimicking a panicked expression as she cackled once more. "Your dearest Mudblood is now within my possession, boy. Watch. Mudblood!"
Hermione appeared with a small pop and knelt before her mistress. "Mistress Bellatrix, is there anything I may help you with?"
"Hermione!" Ron shouted, gaining the girl's surprised attention.
Suddenly, at the sight of both boys as well as the utterance of her real name, Hermione dropped to the ground, the memories assaulting her mind and reducing her to near catatonic shock as they continued coming. The troll in the bathroom, Fluffy, the Sorcerer's Stone, the basilisk, finding out what 'Mudblood' meant, Buckbeak, the Time-Turner, Sirius Black, the Yule Ball, Rita Skeeter, Umbridge's classes, Dumbledore's Army, studying, Finals, O.W.L.s, Finding out about Halfblood's connection to the Dark Lord, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Headmaster Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix, Kreacher… everything hit her at once and she was powerless to stop it.
Bellatrix waited for her Mudblood to get up, but when the girl continued lying on the floor with her eyes staring at nothing, the Dark Witch grew angry, thinking her to be dead. "You've killed her!" the Dark Witch shrieked, beginning to throw out curse after curse as she advanced on the two boys. "I don't know how, but you did! You traitorous wretch!"
Narcissa moved to the Mudblood and checked her pulse, determining that the girl was fine, simply unable to move or speak. It was almost as if she had been put under the Body Binding charm. "Bella!" the blonde sister called to her black-haired counterpart. "She's still alive, simply petrified."
Bellatrix snarled and sent out coils to catch the little welps, but they dodged the coils and landed near Narcissa and the Mudblood. "Get away from her!" Bellatrix hissed, nearly spitting fire as she moved closer, wary of sending a curse lest she hit Narcissa.
Halfblood grinned as he rolled to Narcissa and grabbed her around the chest, his wand aimed for her throat. "Give us Hermione." He ordered, holding Narcissa firmly despite her struggles to get free.
"And why would I do that?" Bellatrix growled, trying to keep him talking as she touched her mark to call her lord.
"You want your sister to remain unharmed, don't you?" Harry inquired, poking Narcissa's neck threateningly.
Bellatrix growled and lowered her wand as Ron stooped to grab Hermione. Just as he got her within his grips, a figure appeared outside the window and the Dark Lord stepped inside. Harry turned with a groan and snarled at the man. Dropping Narcissa to the ground, he led Ron out of the room with all of the Death Eaters casting curses at the duo as they went. Voldemort flew back out the window to find the two boys racing for the gates. As he fired off one last curse at the boy, Harry grabbed Ron and they jumped through the gates, apparating before even hitting the ground. Roaring in fury, Voldemort turned to those still in the room.
Bellatrix had wisely told Narcissa to flee before the Dark Lord could come back in because she knew that if Halfblood got away, her Lord would not be in a good mood.
As to be expected, Voldemort turned to the nearest person to him, Jugson, and cast the Killing Curse. As the dead man dropped to the ground, the Dark Lord turned to the rest of the room with cold eyes.
"How is it so hard to catch one boy!" he snarled, glaring at them all. Bellatrix quickly knelt before him, not wanting to seem as if she were defying him by looking into his gaze. The others quickly followed her lead as the Dark Lord began pacing among them. "And they've got our only lead on information with them as well. Bellatrix!"
The Dark Witch hurried to her feet at the utterance of her name. "Yes My Lord?"
"Call your Mudblood back."
"I cannot, My Lord." Bellatrix said sullenly. "They had her under a Body-Bind when they left. She will not be able to apparate to me until the charm either wears off or is lifted."
Voldemort roared in fury and blasted the wall in rage, blowing a large hole in it. "I need to get something." He told them slowly. "None of you are to leave this building under any circumstances. You have to prove yourselves worthy enough to join the hunt for him once more."
Bellatrix felt her head drop as he flew back out the hole he had created. She had failed him.
Sorry about the beginning. I was kinda at a loss of what to do there and I preferred to make most of this chapter from the point of view of Harry and Ron (mostly Harry) considering they were the ones rescuing Hermione. Now, review and give any suggestions of what you think is going to happen next. What do you think Dumbledore told the boys to do with Mione? Review!