'The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed "Off with her head!"' - Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Her eyes glitter with triumph. She's smiling – a horrible, wide smile of maniacal pleasure.

'Why so surprised, Mudblood?' she drawls as she steps into the room. 'Surely my visit is not entirely unexpected.'

I just gape at her stupidly, trying to keep my breathing calm. In, and out. Oh god, oh god.

I should have known. I'm so stupid. Why did I convince myself that she might have forgotten what she'd seen? Because how could she forget? How could she ever let this go?

'After all, you are supposedly intelligent,' she whispers as she steps closer towards me, 'and I would have thought that the last time we spoke I made it perfectly clear that I would return.'

She grins all the wider at me before she inclines her head towards the open doorway.

'Come in, Draco.'

And, just to make everything ten-thousand times worse, Draco follows his Aunt into the room. But he's not smiling like she is. He's staring at me as if I'm the most despicable, disgusting thing he's ever had the misfortune of setting eyes on.

It's nothing new coming from him, of course it isn't, but I've never seen such cold hard hatred on his face before.

I guess he's truly grown up now.

'I bet you didn't think we'd really come back, did you?' he asks, almost spitting his words at me.

'Oh, I doubt that she did.' Bellatrix smiles all the wider as I feel the colour leave my face. 'Her arrogance will have led her to underestimate us just as it led her to your father's bed.'

Draco blanches as Bellatrix's smile fades away.

'Perhaps she hoped that we would forget what we saw,' she murmurs. 'But we didn't forget, did we Draco?'

Draco shakes his head. 'No, we didn't, Auntie.'

Auntie?

Jesus Christ.

The pair of them step towards me. I turn and I run to the side, trying frantically to get away from them, but I only get about two steps forwards before a pair of arms clamp around my waist and a wand presses into my ribs, bruising them as it almost punctures the skin.

And so I take a deep breath to the depths of my lungs and I start to scream.

'Lucius! Lucius, please-'

Bellatrix's hand clamps hard over my mouth, clamping my nose between her thumb and finger, and no matter how hard I try I can't breathe, I just can't breathe-

'Oh no, I don't think so,' she whispers in my ear. 'He won't come running to protect you this time. It's over, Mudblood. He can't help you now.'

I heave and heave, and although I hear her words and I understand them all I can think about are my empty lungs.

'Sound-proof the room, Draco.'

And with those words she throws me to the ground. I choke on my own breath as I fall, banging into the floor, grazing my palms on the stone.

I look up, and from under my hair I can see Draco pointing his wand at the door, muttering the incantation for a sound-proofing charm. The spell ripples across the walls of the room as it takes effect, taking away any chance I have of Lucius hearing what's going on and coming to save me.

Bellatrix smiles before pointing her wand at the doorway.

'Colloportus!'

The door seals itself with a squelching sound.

I'm trapped. Sealed in with the pair of them.

I start to shake uncontrollably, my teeth chattering with the force of it.

They both turn to face me, and now I can see a true family resemblance between the pair of them. I always thought Draco looked like his father, but now I can see that he looks so much more like his mother's side of the family.

There's a long silence before Bellatrix flicks her wand at me.

'Crucio!'

And pain and fire and AGONY crush down on me, course through my veins like blood of acid and it stops my breath, stops my thought, stops time…

I curl up onto my side when the curse eventually leaves me, wrapping my arms around my head and whimpering to myself. But it doesn't help. Nothing can help me.

I'm going to die. They're going to kill me for what they saw. Draco thinks his father's sleeping with a Mudblood, and Bellatrix thinks that a Mudblood stole Lucius away from her. And god only knows what they're going to do to me before they kills me.

Perhaps she'll torture me into insanity like she did with Neville's parents. Perhaps I'll lose my mind and then Lucius will just be stuck with a vegetable to look after.

'Look at her, Draco,' Bellatrix drawls. 'Just look at her. Have you ever seen something so unbelievably pathetic?'

Draco's eyes narrow and he breathes out a horrible, nasty little laugh.

'No.' He spits out the word. 'She's always been a pathetic little cow.'

'Indeed.' Bellatrix whispers, her voice heavy with loathing. 'Indeed. But then, perhaps that's what he appreciates about her. Weak innocence can be so alluring for a man occasionally, wouldn't you agree?'

My eyes shift over to Draco. A flush of embarrassment is spreading across his face, and he lowers his eyes from me. I can't really blame him. This is his father we're talking about, after all.

Father. The word seems so wrong when applied to Lucius, somehow. I can't picture Lucius reading a book to a young Draco, or carrying him around in a piggy-back. I can't picture Lucius ever caring for anyone but himself, let alone being selfless enough to be a decent father.

But… Draco loves him, I think. He must do to want his approval so badly. And now he thinks that his beloved father is the worst kind of hypocrite. And it's all because of me.

But it's not true, none of it is.

'Please,' I say desperately. 'Please… you've got it all wrong! Nothing's going on, I swear-'

A huge crack of pain bursts down my spine. I sink my teeth into my lip, tasting blood. Bellatrix is staring down at me with feverish eyes.

'Don't you lie to us!' she screams. 'We saw you! Why else would you be lying on the floor outside his room? What possible reason could you give? Were you waiting for him, like a dog? Were you?'

I open my mouth before quickly closing it again, my defensive words clogging in my throat. If I give the real reason I was there that night, I might as well condemn myself anyway.

But what other reason could I give?

Bellatrix lets out a triumphant crow of laughter.

'You see, Draco! She doesn't even try to deny it!' She takes several steps forwards and wrenches my head up by my hair, holding the side of her wand against my throat. She leans close to me, her mouth right next to my ear. 'Though god knows why anyone would want her,' she whispers. 'Tell me, Draco, have you ever seen such a plain girl before? Tell me, as a man. What does she have going for her?'

I stare out of the corner of my eye at Draco. He's looking at me as if he's disgusted that he's even having to contemplate this, and irrationally I think how embarrassing this must be for him. Having to consider what his father… what his father…

God, it's making my skin crawl to be scrutinised like this. I just want to shrivel up and die.

'She's quite clever, Auntie. And she's not that bad looking-'

Bellatrix lets out a sudden shout of hysterical laughter before she throws me on the ground again.

'Not that bad looking? Are we even looking at the same girl, Draco?' Bellatrix's voice rings out, almost deafening me. 'Just look at her. Look at that hair and that face. She has nothing going for her, nothing!'

Draco laughs, a little nervously, but he still laughs.

'I suppose you're right,' he drawls. 'All through school people picked on her because she was ugly. You should have seen her at the Yule Ball. Pansy said she looked like a beaver in a dress.'

I feel the tears pulling themselves up out of my stomach to my eyes, but I won't let them fall. I let them build up behind my eyes like a dam and I press my lips tightly together to keep all the sobs of pain that threaten to burst out of me locked deep inside.

Bellatrix gives a delighted little giggle.

'Yes,' she says delightedly. 'And now just look at her. Ugly. Worthless. So weak. So alone. What has she got left in the world? The Weasley brat, and Potter's friendship, for what it's worth. And two parents that even now rot away in their graves.'

I burst into tears, every wall smashing down within myself. I curl up into a ball on my side, wrapping my arms up around my head. No, no, no, I won't think about it. I can't, can't, won't think about that.

She laughs again victoriously. 'Oh dear, just look at her. Have I upset you, little girl?'

And I feel anger then. Her words fill me with strength and I think of Ron and of Harry and of everything else I can grab hold of for hope and I lift up my head.

Bellatrix is staring down at me, her black eyes darting about manically. She's got a small line of spit running down her chin.

I look across to Draco, watching his reaction. He's trying to stare at me with hatred and contempt; trying desperately to emulate his aunty. But there's something in his eyes, something that reminds me of his father. It's not the hunger I often see in Lucius' eyes. No, it's pity. The same unwilling pity I've seen in Lucius' gaze.

'Draco, don't you wonder why your Aunt cares so much about what she thinks is going on between me and your father?' I ask furiously.

'SHUT UP!' Bellatrix screams, and a stream of fire escapes from the end of her wand. But I'm not going to just lie here and let her do this. If Draco's having any kind of doubts, then I can exploit them.

'She's sleeping with him, Draco!' I say clearly, and Draco's face blanches visibly. 'Or she was, anyway. That's why she's reacting like this; because she thinks that I've stolen him for her-'

'SILENCE!' A huge cut rips into my cheek as Bellatrix points her wand at me furiously. 'I will not put up with such filthy lies, Mudblood-'

'They're not lies, Draco, I swear it!' I say desperately. 'I've seen her kissing him. Even Voldemort knows about it, for god's sake!'

Draco just stares at me, all colour having left his face. Bellatrix looks over at him, her own cheeks white with fear. She approaches him and lays a hand softly on his shoulder. He flinches and shrugs her away.

'Draco,' she whispers softly. 'Draco, she's lying. I am angry simply for your mother's sake, nothing more. Why would I sleep with my brother-in-law? Why would I do such a thing to my own sister?'

'But I saw you!' I say desperately. 'And I've been in Lucius' penseive, and I've seen memories of you having a go at him about me. You're jealous of me, and that's why you're doing this!'

Her face twitches for a second, but she keeps her attention on Draco.

'Who are you going to believe?' she asks quietly. 'Are you going to believe me, your Aunt, who's spent her whole life devoted to her little sister? Or are you going to believe your father's Mudblood whore, who has spent the last few years making your life a misery?'

Draco flinches slightly at the word 'whore', but his face gets some colour back. Turning back to her, he smiles shakily.

'You,' he says quietly. 'Of course I believe you. I'm sorry, Auntie.'

She smiles and reaches up, brushing his cheek with her hand, lacing her fingers over his cheek and curling them in his white hair. He smiles, a small blush creeping over his cheek.

Jesus Christ, what a family.

The pair of them turn back to me, smiling horribly with identical rage in their eyes.

'You vicious little liar!' Draco hisses violently, throwing a stinging hex at my cheek. 'You're so stupid, Granger. Do you really think that I'm going to believe you over my own family?'

Bellatrix smiles triumphantly from behind him, and I know then that there's no point in telling the truth. Draco will never believe me above his beloved Auntie. Why would he? He just sees me as the Mudblood that's trying to steal his father away from his mother.

'I mean, why would he… why would he…'

He seems to struggle for a moment, his face contorting. It's as if he's trying to decide just what's easier for him to comprehend – the thought of his father sleeping with his Aunt, or the thought of his father sleeping with a Mudblood.

'And why, pray, have you been in Lucius' Penseive?' Bellatrix asks, smiling triumphantly. 'Why would he let you see something as intimate as his memories, if you were nothing more than a prisoner of his?'

I bite down on my tongue furiously. I'm such a bloody idiot.

She flicks her wand in the air, catching a small silver knife in her hands. Her face smoothes out into a malicious smile as she steps slowly towards me, holding the knife out in her shaking hand as if it's a present for me.

'You made a big mistake just then, Mudblood,' she murmurs, her words thick with venom. 'With that malicious little lie you just condemned yourself.'

She steps away from me and flicks her wand again.

'Nox!'

The light dissolves around me, leaving me in cold, endless darkness.

I can't see a bloody thing. I'm alone, and vulnerable, trapped in a room with two people who want nothing more than to see me suffer…

I hear a small crackling noise. It's only tiny but it makes me jump out of my skin.

'Don't think you can hide in the dark, Granger,' Draco's voice says out of the darkness. 'Don't think that we can't see you. It's my Hand of Glory after all, no matter how much my father likes to borrow it.'

Bellatrix's giggle bounces through the darkness as I feel tears of fear well up in my eyes and I turn around and around, trying desperately to see what's going on.

'Good god, just look at her!' Bellatrix whispers, her voice closer than it was before. 'Look at her! Why on earth does he want her? Who would ever want her?'

My eyes sting, but I press them into the darkness still. I don't know where she is, or what she's doing with that bloody knife of hers… oh god, what am I going to do?

I turn around again and I duck, crawling along the floor, feeling around desperately for my bed. If I could just hide under it, then maybe…

Bellatrix's derisive scream of laughter hits me like a slap in the face.

'Get her!'

I hear footsteps before I feel a boot whip into my ribs and I fall to the floor, gasping for breath. A hand closes round my hair and pulls me back up to my feet.

'You've spent your whole life running away, Granger,' Draco mutters fiercely in my ear. 'But then, Gryffindors always were a bunch of hypocrites, weren't they? They're never really able to practice what they preach, not like us Slytherins, who make sure to follow our ideals through-'

'I don't care about Gryffindor or Slytherin anymore, Draco,' I whisper back, tears coursing down my cheeks. 'There are so many more important things I have to concern myself with now. Hogwarts doesn't matter to me anymore. All that matters to me is survival. It's your father that's seen to that.'

His grip on my hair loosens, but I feel a hand fly across my face in a slap. But it didn't come from him. I know that it didn't.

'You insolent little slut!' Bellatrix hisses from close in front of me. I can almost feel her breathing on my face. 'You will pay for your arrogance and your pride, and for the actions they have caused you to take.'

Wiry fingers grip around my wrists and pull them out in front of me, face up.

'All actions have consequences, Mudblood,' she whispers. 'That's something you should have learned years ago.'

A sudden movement.

Then pain rips across my wrists, so suddenly that it doesn't even register with me at first, until it all crashes down on me. I cry out, and she lets go of my wrists.

'What did you do?' I ask desperately, holding my wrists out in front of me.

She giggles maliciously.

'I didn't do anything,' she whispers. 'Have you hurt yourself? Hmm?'

Instinctively I hold my wrists out in front of me, but I can't see anything, of course I can't.

But I can feel something warm trickling down my wrists…

It's a lie. It's all a lie. She hasn't really done it. She can't have done, she's forbidden from killing me, surely. It's just an illusion.

'It's not real,' I whisper into the darkness.

I hear the pair of them laugh.

'You stupid Mudblood,' Draco whispers.

'If it's not real then why are you bleeding?' Bellatrix screams the last word with pure sadistic joy.

I gasp with horror and I reach out to grip at my wrists, and yes, she's right, there's blood. Warm, hot blood running out of my wrists, over my skin and my fingers, unstoppable, it just keeps on running and running…

I bite my lip, tears of pain and horror coming to my eyes before a sob of horror escapes my lips.

I turn, and I stumble.

A delighted cackle rings out in the darkness.

'Well go on then!' Bellatrix screams. 'Run! Run, Mudblood. Run and hide like the little coward you are!'

And god help me, I do. I turn around and I stagger through the darkness, trying desperately to find a way out, but there isn't one, there's no escape, no escape from that evil cackle that chases me around the room.

'Run, Mudblood! Run! You're so pathetic!'

I trip up and my knees bang painfully on the ground. Tears pull themselves up to my eyes as I start to sob, curling up in a ball on the floor.

'Please!' I scream out as her mad laughter rings out in the darkness. 'Please, stop! Why are you doing this to me?'

I cling my wrists to my chest, feeling my blood soak into my robe as tears of agony squeeze out of my eyes.

'Shut up, Granger!' Draco mutters venomously. He doesn't sound overjoyed, like his aunt does. Just bitterly angry. 'You should have thought about what the consequences of your actions might have been before you fucked my father!'

'But I haven't,' I whisper desperately. I can barely think straight. 'I promise you, I haven't.'

'Don't you dare lie!' Bellatrix shouts. 'I've known about it for months! How dare you try to take him away from my sister?'

'From you, you mean!' I scream from the floor, feeling the agony of my mutilated wrists pound up through my arms. I can feel blood pool up around me, running out through my wrists like nothing else, like a huge, sticky river, and… god, I hope it drowns me. I'd rather die that way, at least there'd be no pain.

A long silence spreads out. A long painful silence. I feel dizzy.

'Don't lie to us!' Draco hisses. 'Don't you dare lie! My father would never-'

'But why wouldn't he, Draco?' I whisper, feeling the blood running around the floor around me, gliding up the tiles of the ground, running into my hair, drenching my robes. 'Surely the thought of your father sleeping with a Mudblood is far worse to you than the idea of him sleeping with your mother's sister.'

'Enough!' Bellatrix screams. 'Just shut up! Will nothing make you keep that ugly mouth of yours shut? Crucio!'

Pain and torture and agony tear through me, ripping me to shreds, violating me and pulling me apart. Flame and acid courses through my veins and it's pain beyond imagining or endurance or even human thought and oh god, please let me die now…

It leaves me almost as instantly as it begins.

I shudder on the ground, and I can still feel the blood pooling around me, cooling off in the darkness. I'm almost numb, now… I don't know, but things seem to be floating away, slightly. I feel drained.

'It's almost over,' Bellatrix murmurs. 'Say goodbye to the world, Mudblood. Pray to whatever useless god you believe in, because you don't have much time left, from the look of you. Lucius will think his darling little Mudblood killed herself. No-one is here to help you. So pray now, and delude yourself that there's something waiting for you on the other side.'

And I do it. I do as she says, and I start to pray.

Dear Lord. I know I must have done some terrible things to make You hate me so much. All I asked was for You to let me see Lucius suffer, but You wouldn't even let me have that. You let him take away everything. I hate You for doing this to me. Look after my parents for me in heaven, because I know that because of what I did to Dolohov I'll be going straight down to hell. That'll be some irony for Lucius; that when he dies, I'll be laughing as a wait for him in hell. Amen.

God doesn't answer, of course. He has forgotten about me.

I close my eyes.

A delighted giggle rings out in the darkness.

'Yes, that's right, lie down to die like a good girl-'

A huge bang rips through the room, interrupting her.

My eyes flicker open, but I can't see anything.

'What's going on?' Draco's voice shakes nervously in the darkness, but his question's answered just a second later.

'Lumos!'

Dimly I'm aware of the room filling with light, and I see a dark figure enter the room. I blink, and slowly, oh so slowly it comes into focus.

It's Lucius. The answer to my prayers.

His face is white with fury as his eyes roam around the room, taking in Bellatrix, whose face is flushed with triumph and rage, Draco, who's actually shaking with terror…

And finally his eyes rest on me. They widen.

I want to say something, but words can't come. There's nothing I could say that would make sense and I feel so brain dead that nothing makes sense to me anyway, and so I mouth the only words that come to me.

'Help me.'

A muscle twitches in his alabaster white cheek, and he strides over to me, crouching down next to me and holding up my limp wrists, looking at them in absolute horror.

He turns his head to Bellatrix for a moment with a look of pure and utter hatred.

'Good god, what have you done?' he whispers.

She stares him down defiantly, her face white.

'You brought us to this, Lucius,' she says shakily. 'If you wanted to protect your precious little muggle bitch then perhaps you should have stayed away from her from the very beginning. Perhaps you should have thought about what danger you might have put her in if you chose to take her to your bed.'

He shakes his head at her, looking as if he just can't even comprehend her.

'You stupid… unhinged…' He seems to struggle for words for a moment, before he looks down at my wrists again, looks down at the blood pouring out over his chalk-white hand, and then he suddenly snaps. 'DO YOU NOT REALISE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?'

Draco jumps visibly and backs away slightly, but Bellatrix stands her ground.

Lucius turns to me quickly, picking my hand up and pointing his wand at my wrist, magically sealing the cut on one wrist and then the other, but it doesn't help me. My vision's dimming. I grip at the sleeve of his robe, trying to tell him what's happening to me, but I can't make any sound leave my lips.

He turns to Draco with a face like flint.

'Draco, get out. Go to your room, and don't let me see you again this evening. I'll deal with you in the morning.'

Draco's lips thin out as his cheeks flush unpleasantly. 'All you've ever taught me is that Mudbloods are scum, Father!' he bursts out. 'If that's true then why are you sleeping with one behind my mother's back?'

Lucius points his wand furiously at his son, who stumbles backwards slightly, his face completely white, and I can't see Lucius' face but I can tell from the sound of his voice just how angry he must look.

'I would like to believe that I have brought you up to be more intelligent than to believe your Aunt's deranged lies. Now leave, or so help me I'll show you first hand just how effective the cruciatus curse is. Now get out of my sight!'

Draco turns and stumbles from the room, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste to get away from his father's rage. The door slams behind him as he leaves.

My entire body feels numb and my sight goes so dark that I can barely see anymore, only hear.

'Help me,' I whisper, but I can't be heard.

'You stupid bitch!' I hear Lucius mutter. 'What the hell do you think you're trying to achieve?'

'What else was I meant to do, Lucius?' I hear her footsteps move over to stand next to him. If I concentrate hard enough I can see two dim figures standing over me, one of them reaching out to try and hold on to the other. 'She took you from me, but I don't blame you for it. You are obsessed by her, but it's only because she's something forbidden to you, not for any other reason. I know, I just know that if she is out of our way then things will go back to how they used to be.'

'How they used to be?' Lucius whispers disbelievingly. 'You pathetic bitch, what exactly do you think there ever was between us?'

A long silence spreads out between them. I try desperately to see what's happening, but I can only see the two dim figures above me, one of them dropping their arms from the other.

'What is it about her?' I hear Bellatrix's voice, but it sounds further away than before. 'She's just a girl. A filthy little Mudblood girl. What can she offer you that I can't?'

There's another long silence before Lucius answers her.

'Get out, Bellatrix. Just go away. You've done enough harm this evening.'

And then she screams suddenly. I try so hard to open my eyes, to see what's going on, but everything's dark, everything.

'OH YES, BECAUSE I CAN'T HARM YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE MUDBLOOD WHORE, CAN I?' she screams. 'You're pathetic! Fucking a Mudblood just because she's so weak and pathetic and needy. If she were a pure blood or even a half blood I might understand, but you won't leave me for a sub-human being, you just won't!'

I can dimly see her wrench his arm and point it at me.

'Just stun her, Lucius,' she whispers. 'Stun her, and leave her here to die. All your troubles will be over. The Dark Lord will think she killed herself and you will be rid of this sickness that poisons you. Do it. It's the only way.'

She lets go of his arm, and I can vaguely make out that he's still pointing his wand at me, making his decision, no doubt. Deciding whether or not to be finally rid of his Mudblood burden.

I dimly look up at him, but I can't see his face. But then, do I want to see his face if he casts the spell that's going to kill me?

His arm rises as he turns to the side.

'You ask for too much,' he mutters viciously. 'Crucio!'

Screams tear through the room; high pitched, terrifying screams of absolute agony. Bellatrix is finally learning first hand just what her favourite curse can do. And Lucius is showing her. All for me.

The screams stop and I hear a huge thud as something hits the ground.

I try so desperately to see what's happened, but I can't see. My vision has finally given up as darkness envelopes me, and nothing makes sense, nothing makes sense, and I'm floating…

There's a muffled dragging noise across the floor, before I hear the door swing open and something heavy being thrown unceremoniously outside of the room before the door slams shut again.

'Colloportus!'

There's a long silence before footsteps cross the room, coming towards me, and I sense someone crouching down next to me.

A hand brushes onto my face.

'Mudblood?'

It's his voice. Lucius' voice. I try to cling to it, but it just slips away from me like water and I can't keep hold of it…

'Mudblood, can you hear me?'

I feel a hand slip into mine and I grip at the fingers instinctively, wrapping my fingers tightly around his.

'Speak to me, Mudblood. You need to hold on. Just hold on, don't let go.'

He wants me to live. Despite everything that's happened, he wants me to live…

But do I want to live? Do I want to carry on in this world ruled by hatred, prejudice and fear?

I open my mouth and I push whispers out of me desperately.

'But why?' I ask. 'Why would you want me to?'

There's a long pause, and I feel his fingers tighten around mine.

'You know why, Mudblood.'

Oh yes, I know why. In this moment of bizarre clarity I know exactly what is going on. I knew long ago – before he did.

But is it enough? Is it enough to keep me alive?

'My parents,' I whisper. 'I'll see… my parents…'

I feel myself being dragged up and held vertically against his chest as he shakes me, holding on to me oh-so-tightly.

'Hold on,' he mutters passionately. 'I can conjure up a potion to cure you, I just need you to hold on so you can take it.'

'I don't want to,' I whisper. 'I don't…'

He holds me even closer to him. I can feel him pressing into me. I can feel him, smell him. I try to hold him back, but I can't, everything's so dark.

'I can't see!' I cry out. 'Hold me, please!'

He holds on to me tightly, my head pressing into his neck. His arms are shaking around me as they cling to me.

'Hold on, Hermione. I need you to hold on.'

Hermione…

Hermione.

My name. He said my name, once more. I could cling on forever to that name, that validation of being. If only him seeing me as a human being would be enough to save me. It's not too little, too late, because that title coming from him means everything to me. Not just Mudblood, but Hermione…

The world falls away around me and I slip into merciful darkness.