Hermione sat on the small bed in an attic room in the Lestrange house, although it felt more like a prison cell than a bedroom. She desperately wracked her brains to try and remember if the snapping of a witch or wizard's wand, when registered at the Ministry archives, also recorded the place of destruction, not just the time and date. That would be likely to make all the difference, if it were noted that her wand was snapped in the Lestrange residence.

Harry and his Aurors; by virtue of their raid earlier, clearly either knew or suspected Beau Lestrange of having a hand in her disappearance. Whatever blocking spell Beau had used to conceal their presence from the Aurors had worked far too well, leading the investigators to conclude that she was not being held here, and her only hope now rested on the location of the wand snapping being recorded in the archives.

Beau and Samara had escorted her roughly up several flights of stairs to the small bedroom she now found herself imprisoned in. The furniture was sparse - a small bed and an armchair only, although there was an adjoining bathroom, and a small pile of books upon the chair. As loath as she was to be in any way grateful to her captors, being heavily pregnant she had to admit that having the bathroom was a godsend.

Hermione was sure she had not been placed here for her comfort, however, more to save them the trouble of having to clear up the mess that would surely ensue if they placed a pregnant witch without easy access to lavatory facilities.

She heard heavy footsteps on the floor below, and her heart filled with dread. They had left her an hour previously after casting several diagnostics spells on her stomach, trying to ascertain how many weeks pregnant she was, no doubt to discover the viability of the resulting infant should she be born now. Hermione knew she had about six weeks left of the pregnancy at best. Her daughter, should they force her to give birth now, would be small, but had a good chance of survival, if Hermione was able to keep her safe from the Lestranges and Samara.

She felt completely impotent without access to her magic. It was still inside her, but suppressed by the magical silver cuffs that were clamped around her wrists. The spell could only be released by the victim's own wand, and since hers was snapped, she had no idea how she could be freed from the bracelets, even if by some miracle she was able to escape. She remembered the words of old Rodolphus Lestrange - you will not be leaving this house alive.

No, she may not be, but there had to be something she could do for the tiny life kicking inside her.

How could a baby survive against four adults determined to torture and kill her in order to murder her father? Only by ... magic.

Hermione's magic was locked inside her, as was her daughter. Could there be some way to bestow her powers upon the baby? She had never heard of such a thing, but that did not mean it was not possible. She twisted around and lay down on the bed, relaxing as much as she was able, closing her eyes and ears to the sights and sounds around her. Focusing every bit of her conscious mind on her magical core, she was happy that she could still feel it pulsing deep inside her - it was still there and thriving, she was just unable to draw it out to use.

In a different part of her mind, one she had not accessed before, she drew a second focus on the tiny life in her belly, a small unborn child, sparkling with the pink magic she had seen earlier. She did not know what she was doing, but she used her mind to force the two extrapolates together, forcing her magical signature into the baby, and encouraging the child to accept it.

Hermione had no idea what the results would be, all she knew was that she was not going to lie here and accept her fate. She had to do something. With the entirety of her magic trapped inside her, she was able to connect with her inner magical core more than ever before.

She felt the most curious shudder spread through her body, and the two separate focuses of her magic and her baby now seemed to have merged together, not completely, but they were definitely more of a single organism, rather than two now. That was about as good a confirmation as she was going to get. She could not do any more harm than the Lestranges had promised to rent upon the child, and just maybe she had given her daughter some of her own magical protection.

The fluttering inside her had just settled down as the door was thrown open, Beau Lestrange and Samara Cordoba entered the room.

"Six weeks, witch. You have only six weeks left of your confinement. The infant will live if it is born now. We don't need it to be healthy, we just need it alive ... for a short time," Samara told her coldly, her scratchy voice dripping with gleeful malice. "None of us have any desire to be your nursemaid for the next six weeks."

Pariendi!

Before Hermione could protest or react; Beau had pointed his wand directly at her, and she was struck with a jet of glittering light. He had cast the spell to instantly induce her labour. The first pain wracked through her and she collapsed into herself.

Samara callously threw a pile of towels on the end of the bed, with a pair of scissors on top.

"Let us know when you are done, you filthy Mudblood. We want to be the very first to offer our ... congratulations."

They swept out of the room, locking the door behind them as another pain tore through Hermione's body.

- xxx –

In Snape's office, Harry explained as swiftly as he could about what he had discovered in the Lestrange house.

"Hermione was either there and being magically concealed, or was there at some point before being taken somewhere else. That was her snapped wand in the fire, I know it. It's so distinctive, and I've had that wand under my nose since I was eleven years old, I would know it anywhere."

He was addressing everyone but was most pointedly speaking to his former professor.

Ron dispatched the other two Aurors to the Ministry archives to find out whatever information they could regarding the snapping of Hermione Granger-Snape's wand. Severus opened his private Floo connection for their use, so they could return as soon as possible.

"Severus, do you need to see to Eleri?" Harry asked the pacing wizard.

"He was already pre-arranged to stay overnight at the Scamanders' cabin tonight. Thankfully, I need not disturb his rest at the present time. Tomorrow is another matter, however."

All the men turned towards the Floo as it reactivated, spitting out the two Aurors, who returned with the information that the wand had been snapped at precisely ten-thirty that evening, location unknown.

"That's all that is recorded?" Severus demanded, incredulously. "That is no help at all. Ten-thirty is a little over half an hour since I last saw Hermione in the atrium. Lestrange is clearly wasting no time, and we must not either. I am going to fetch my wife, and I would suggest you all accompany me."

"Severus," Lucius began, "we cannot go rushing into something that may cause greater harm."

"Greater harm!" Severus roared, "my wife has been taken and her wand snapped. She is entirely defenceless and heavily pregnant with my child. If none of you will come with me I shall go alone. I would rather die than say I did not do everything in my power to save the witch I love more than anything in this world."

A hush fell across the room, and Lucius walked across to Severus and laid a hand upon his shoulder.

"I am with you, old friend."

The rest of the wizards, and the two female Aurors, joined them. Severus Apparated them to the Hogwarts gates, and then they all Apparated to the large Lestrange estate. They inadvertently landed further away from the house than Harry and Ron had done earlier when they were investigating, the reason for which soon became clear.

A huge magical dome, mostly invisible to the naked eye save for the odd shimmer of magic here and there, encapsulated the entire estate, with the large house at the centre.

"That means they're at home then," Harry accurately surmised, "and clearly have something to hide. We searched the house from top to bottom earlier, so anyone who is hiding there was using a dark undetectable concealing charm."

"I feel the dark magic," Draco said quietly, knowing that his father; and Severus also, as former Death Eaters, were naturally attuned to the presence and use of dark spells.

"I know, Draco," Lucius replied, putting an arm around his son, his only son, who had paid so high a price for his own misguided decisions, bearing the same filthy mark of Voldemort upon his forearm.

Severus had been pacing the exterior of the dome, checking its reaches and power.

"It can be broken," he stated. "It can be broken, but it will take time, and it will take all of us to manage it. The darkness threaded within will recognise the dark magic that is imbued in the marks that Lucius, Draco and myself are branded with. We will begin. Once we have broken down the initial seal, Potter, you and your team can assist to break down the remainder."

Severus stepped up to the dome, appearing to be almost sparking with his immense power and raw anger, summoned to the fore. The two Malfoys moved to flank either side of him. They aimed their wands at the same point, looking for the chink in the armour.

"We go," Severus commanded.

- xxx –

Hours into her labour, as the grey light of dawn began to infiltrate the attic room through the small window, Hermione was covered in sweat and being driven slowly insane from the pain. Her womb, having been magically compelled to expel the baby within, was contracting regularly, and hard. She was torn with the desire to end her pain, or to keep her daughter inside her, where she was safe.

It was too early for her to be born. The baby would be too small, and she would need extra care. That was not something she was going to receive here in this dingy attic room, away from all who loved her, away from anyone who could help her to survive.

Hermione shook with the pain and fear of transition. This baby was about to be born, no matter how inexorable the situation. She knelt on the bed and had no choice but to push, again and again. There was a pain like burning fire as her daughter crowned. One last push, and the child slithered out into the world, onto a pile of towels. Hermione cleaned and swaddled her, doing the best she could as she cut the umbilical cord using the scissors Samara had left, and expelling the afterbirth which she pushed to the floor.

Let the bastards deal with that themselves, she thought, hating the evil captors who had forced her to give birth too early, and alone.

Once the baby had let forth with her first cries, Hermione settled herself back onto the bed, sitting on a pile of towels and drawing the child to her breast. Her daughter's eyes were firmly closed, but she had a shock of inky black hair, much like her father and brother.

Hermione was assaulted with a memory of herself and Severus atop the Astronomy Tower, the first time they had confessed their feelings for one another, the first time they had made love. She remembered looking at the myriad constellations above them, naming and admiring them. She had been particularly drawn to the constellation of Lyra, the harp, and the story of Orpheus told in Severus' rich baritone as they snuggled on the circular sofa.

There was a reason this memory had suddenly surfaced. She looked at her daughter.

"Lyra," she whispered. "My beautiful Lyra. Mummy and Daddy love you so much."

- xxx –

Hours later, Severus and the Malfoys had expended almost all their magical energy creating the tiniest hole in the protective dome around the Lestrange estate as the dark magic fought hard against the intrusion. Just as they thought they had no more to give, Harry was able to send a beam of light from his own wand through the hole, and there was no stopping them.

Ron and the two Aurors added their wands to the task and between the four of them they were able to blast away the debris as Draco collapsed in exhaustion. Lucius dropped to his son, both breathing heavily. Severus was equally as exhausted but running on nervous power, he would not rest until he had located his wife.

Leaving the Malfoys on the perimeter, Severus joined the others in expanding the hole to a big enough size for them to be able to cross through into the estate beyond. They stepped through, with Harry instructing the Aurors to keep the hole open and illuminated for when they returned.

Severus, Harry and Ron charged towards the door, easily opening it with a simple Alohomora. Clearly the dome was the only protection, Lestrange had obviously felt it was powerful enough to be impenetrable.

As Severus prepared to cast a Revelio, they heard an extremely loud crack of a multiple Apparition above them. Without a word they all headed for the stairs, a revealing spell finding another set behind a heavy tapestry. At the top of the small, twisting flight of stone stairs there was a single wooden door, surprisingly open and creaking on its hinges, as if someone had just run through it at a great pace.

They entered the room and found Hermione on all fours on the stone floor, blood dripping from her, covering her hands and clothing.

What has that bastard done to you? Severus thought, and clutching his wife, not caring that he was kneeling in her blood, he Apparated them straight to their chambers at Hogwarts.

Harry and Ron rushed back through the house, having watched Severus remove Hermione, back towards the hole in the protection shield, which strangely was no longer there.

"The shield just dropped, Potter," Draco told him, still lying prone on the ground. "About five minutes ago. It just disappeared."

"The shield most likely evaporated when Lestrange left the property, but Severus has Hermione. She was in a bad way and bleeding. Sal and Elizabeth, you two can go home. You've done a brilliant job." Harry said to the two Aurors, who were exhausted from holding open the protective dome.

"Mr Potter," Lucius called, "I am going to take Draco home. He has expended too much magical energy creating the hole in the dome. He does not have the tolerance for dark magic that Severus and I have, his resistance is lower."

Harry nodded in understanding.

"Thank you for your help, and Draco, please thank Astoria for her quick thinking."

"Don't mention it. Our best to Severus and Hermione."

Harry and Ron apparated to the gates of Hogwarts, and Ron sent his eager terrier Patronus to Hagrid to let them in, rightly presuming that Severus would be otherwise occupied.

- xxx –

As Hermione snuggled Lyra against her chest, the door to the attic room flew open, and Rodolphus Lestrange entered, wheezing and leaning heavily against his cane, followed by his brother, who looked in as equally bad shape and was being supported by his son Beau. Samara completed the ugly grouping. They must have been listening for the baby's first cry.

Rodolphus eyed the child with a malevolent smile.

"Very good, Hermione, very good indeed."

"Don't take her, I beg you. Have mercy, she is just a baby, barely a few minutes old."

"How very touching. Unfortunately, your husband and his accomplices have managed to break down our shield and we must go. We have no further use for you, but I do not even have time to kill you, although I am sure you will bleed out soon enough. Your death is not our priority. Accio Baby Snape!"

Lyra, swaddled in towels and still partly covered in her newborn vernix, was whipped magically from her mother's arms and landed in the diseased, gnarled hands of Rodolphus Lestrange.

Hermione leapt from the bed, making a desperate grab for her daughter, and was hit by a Crucio from Samara, knocking her to her hands and knees on the floor. There was the loudest crack of Apparition she had ever heard, and the four were gone, taking Lyra with them.

A split second later, her darling Severus ran into the room, kneeling next to her, uncaring of the pool of blood, and she felt the tell-tale pull of his superior Apparition as he brought them home to their chambers.

- xxx –

They landed in the same position on the soft rug in their bedroom chamber; Hermione on her hands and knees with Severus wrapped around her. Holding her, he cast his Patronus and sent it to Madam Zabini in the hospital wing requesting urgent assistance.

"Severus," Hermione choked out, "Severus, the baby."

"She will be fine," Severus reassured. "I have summoned Cora, no doubt she will be here soon as she gathers supplies. Our baby will be fine, we will both help you."

"You don't understand," she sobbed, turning her head and looking up into his black eyes, that were full of love and concern. "She has already been born, Severus. They forced me into labour using Pariendiand she was born just a short while ago."

Hermione straightened up the best she could, sitting back on her heels so that Severus could see her blood-stained dress soaked close to her empty belly. Gone was the large, healthy, taut bump. He looked at her in horror, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Samara Cordoba is alive, Severus. She is alive and has our daughter. The Lestranges have somehow escaped from Azkaban and are intending to torture and murder you, using Per Parvulus. They tried with Eleri, but with him being non-magical their spells did not work. Oh Severus, the scarring on his little body is from their torture. And now they have our baby."

Severus gripped her tightly as she sobbed, and then everything went black as she passed out in her husband's arms, exhausted from the ordeal of her horrendous solitary labour and birth, and severe blood loss.

Cora Zabini arrived and set to work right there on the carpet, and at that moment Severus noticed the magic-suppressing cuffs on his wife's wrists. Damn them.

Damn them all to hell.