"Crucio!" Lycian shouted again.
Hermione writhed in pain and screamed in agony. It was the same pain of her experience at Malfoy Manor. It was the pain that plagued her nightmares with frightening tenacity. Her skin felt as if it was being ripped from her body, her bloid boiling, her bones melting, a thousand dull and rust knives stabbing over and over again into her skull. The only thought she could get through her tortured mind was; Keep your head, keep your head, don't go mad, keep your head, keep your head, keep your… head… keep your… keep… keep…
She lost all sense of time, she wasn't sure if the curse went on for moments or hours. All that existed was the pain. All she was aware of when Lycian dropped the curse was that she had to scramble desperately in her mind to gather crucial information: like who she was and where she came from.
As her mind rushed desperately to fit her sanity back into place, Hermione barely noticed when Lycian took off his tattered cloak and threw it into the corner, and it took her a few moments to piece together what that could mean, and when she finally came enough out of herself to understand, fear swept through her. She knew what was going to happen if she didn't get out soon.
Solution, not the problem. Wand, get his wand. Do anything you must to get his wand. Wand. Where is the wand. In his hand. Solution, solution, think of the solution. Get him to drop it. Keep your head, just-
"Crucio," Lycian flicked his wand almost lazily.
Keep your head. Keep your head. Keep your…parchment… lawn… Ron… Ron… Ron and Harry will find me… Keep your… what… hurts… so bad… death… death would be better… than this… keep…
"How does that feel, girl?" Lycian sneered, his voice barely audible over her piercing cries.
"Please," she managed to choke out; the curse only intensified, "Please!" she screamed.
Hermione felt even more helpless than she had under Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, because at least then she was being interrogated- whereas this was just pain for the sake of pain. She had had some power, she could lie, and maybe get the pain to stop… last time… last time… she fought under the agony to remember what exactly had happened last time… what had made the pain stop? And where was that voice that kept calling her name, reminding her of who she was?
"We found it! We found it- PLEASE!" she screamed.
Lycian dropped the curse, "What are you screaming about, girl?" he asked, a slight frown on his face.
"It's a copy," Hermione sobbed and clutched at her sides, "It's only a copy… a copy…"
His frown morphed into a deep scowl, "Fenrir said that you could last ages under the Cruciatus… you're going mad, girl, snap out of it, we can't have you mad… not yet anyway," he bent down and slapped her soundly across the face, "Snap out of it."
The strike pulled Hermione forcefuly back into her sanity, and terrified her in that she had lost it at all, and how quickly she had. It made her wonder how long she would last until she permanently lost her mind.
Wand, wand, wand, she repeated to herself, Keep your head and get his wand.
"Lycian?" three knocks came from the door, "Lycian?"
"What?" he growled, "I told you, you can have her after I'm done."
"It's not that. It's the Death Eater brats, they want to talk to you."
"Tell them to go play in their sandbox and leave things to the real wizards."
"I did, they said they won't leave until they speak to you, and they also said that if you don't come talk to them now, that they'll bring the other Death Eaters down on us."
Lycian sighed, "Fine," he snatched up his cloak and wrenched the door open, "I'll talk to the children…" he looked over his shoulder at Hermione, then back to the other werewolf, "Do what you want with her, but do it quickly, I'll be back in a minute. And make sure she doesn't lose her fight, or you'll pay for it. I can replace you as second in command in a moment's notice."
When Lycian's angry footsteps faded away, the werewolf he had been speaking to stepped into the room. His eyes shone like golden Galleons as he closed the door.
X
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"Hermione is brilliant," Neville said as he stared with his arms crossed at the blood on the wall, "We'll get her back… we will… if she doesn't get herself out first."
Neville Longbottom had changed dramatically from his first year; he had gone from a timid, apprehensive little boy, to a confident, brave, Gryffindor man. When Kingsley had come to him after the Battle of Hogwarts and offered a job as an Auror, his response had simply been, "When do I start?" he hadn't wanted to take a break from fighting, as Harry and Ron did, but had insisted that he wanted to start "chasing those bastards back into the hole they crawled out of" as soon as possible. He seemed quite different to Ron and Harry, now that all of the bruises and cuts were gone from his face. His boyish round face had transformed over the years, producing a strong, square jaw. His shorter build only served to accentuate his broad shoulders. His blond hair was shaggy and slightly unkempt, making his blue eyes seem almost wild. At his hip, he had the sword of Gryffindor; has Harry had hoped, he had been allowed to keep it until it was called upon by another Gryffindor in an act of dire need and courage. The sword had not left his side since the day he had pulled it out of the Sorting Hat, and occasionally, in times of stress, he could be seen lifting it slightly to make sure it was clear in its scabbard; though he rarely pulled in completely free- wands were often more convenient to use than swords in the wizarding world- it added to his increasingly imposing presence.
Ron found that, even though he practically towered over Neville, that he found himself slightly intimidated by him, under normal circumstances… but these were not normal circumstances, and Ron knew that even a giant couldn't intimidate him now.
"I don't care what your bloody opinion is Neville, tell me where I can find her," Ron growled through gritted teeth. He was itching to get his hands on Lycian, and all of the other werewolves that had taken her; Ron could tell from one glance at Harry that he wanted the same.
Neville's bright blue eyes swept to Ron's and he replied sincerely, "I know, Ron. You've got to believe that I want to find her as badly as you do. She was my first friend; don't think I forgot that she helped my find Trevor on our first trip on the Hogwarts express. We'll find her if we have to turn over every stone."
Instead of replying, Ron took to pacing around the living room. His fists shook violently, and the ridges of his wand bit into his palm with how tightly he was gripping it. He tried to stay out of the way of the numerous investigators that picked across the house, but it was difficult when half of the time all he could see was red, and all he could hear were Hermione's screams.
"Bloody hell!" he shouted, making one of the wizards near him jump, he spun to Neville again, who was in a deep and hushed conversation with Kingsley- all the better, Kingsley was another person he wanted to yell at, "Do any of you even realize what could be happening to Hermione right now, what they- could be-… oh GOD!" he ran his hands through his hair and turned his back to them, trying to conceal his tears, "She could be… they're going to…" he buried his face in his hands, "We have to find her, we can't let them…" he suddenly wished Bill was still there, and hadn't left to go get Fleur and update the family.
Even Kingsley's usually reassuring voice sounded unsure when he said, "We'll find her, Ron. We are blazing through our files as fast as we can, picking through every piece of evidence, following every lead on these werewolves. I got a report from an Auror this morning that his squad was attacked by Lycian's pack about a mile outside of Hogsmead, we are having every available Auror and Magical Law Enforcement member scanning the area as we speak.. We will find her."
Without another word, Ron turned and began to stride towards the door. Harry followed without question, their silent communication saying all that needed to be said.
"Ron, Harry," Ginny hissed, "Where are you guys going?"
"Going to help with the search, I can't just stand here doing nothing,"
"I'll go too," Ginny replied, and when Harry opened his mouth to argue, she snapped, "Don't even think about arguing Harry Potter or I'll hex your bollocks off, and don't think I'm above that either."
Harry snapped his mouth closed, but didn't look exactly pleased with it.
Neville lifted the sword of Gryffindor a couple inches out of its sheath, then let it drop down again with a snap, "I'll go, too, if you don't need me, Minister?"
Kingsley nodded, "Go ahead, send me a patronus if you find anything, I'll do the same."
Neville nodded and the four of them rushed outside of the range of the Anti-Disapperation Jinx.
"We'll apperate to the broom shed at the Burrow," Ron said, "Neville, there's a Fidelus Charm on the Burrow, so you'll have to apperate to the outside of it, we'll come out with the brooms."
The three nodded their assent, and Ron saw Neville grip onto the sword's hilt tightly before he disapperated.
X
X
Hermione laid on the cold brick floor quietly with her eyes closed as the wizard threw his robe and pants off and fell to his knees beside her. He lowered his face slowly until she could feel his stinking breath on her ear, "Lycian said to make it fast, so that's what we'll do, eh, mudblood?"
His yellowed fingernails started moving at an alarming pace. They fell down to her jeans and tore at them furiously until the button ripped away. Hermione kicked at him desperately, but her struggle just spurred him on. He quickly pulled the ruined pants down and off her legs and tossed them away.
"You a virgin, mudblood? Oh, I bet you are. Saving yourself just for me?" He smiled crookedly and brushed a chunk of matted hair out of his face.
"Please, don't." Hermione pleaded weakly, "Please."
The man's smile grew, "Yeah, keep begging, I like that."
His filth caked hands snaked up her body to her upper thighs, then when he reached the band of her knickers he dug his nails into her skin and dragged back down her legs as she tried to get away, leaving her exposed, with deep, bleeding scratches down her legs. Hermione cried out and punched at him, but missed, "PLEASE!" she cried as he moved back up her body, she thrashed with all her might, but the curse had taken so much out of her that every small movement was like trying to swim through mud.
The man laughed deeply and pinned her thrashing hands to the ground with his, "Sometimes, when the others fuck, they like to use magic to keep them pinned, but I think it takes the fun out of it," he released one of her hands, but she kept it where he left it as he let his own hand travel down her body.
Just one moment more, just a little more… Hermione thought as his hand passed her naval. It showed clearly in his eyes that he relished in the fear he saw in hers.
"Stupefy!" Hermione screamed as she pointed the man's own wand directly between his eyes.
The wizard's eyes widened in shock for just a moment before the spell hit him and sent him slamming into the wall. He fell to the floor, and was still.
While he had been preoccupied with undressing her, Hermione had strategically inched her way toward his discarded robes, where he had left his wand, masking her movements as frantic struggles. The man had been none the wiser until the stunning spell had hit him.
Hermione got to her feet and quickly pulled her knickers on. Her pants were ruined, but she didn't care, she was going to get out of there.
She picked up the wizard's tattered black robe from the corner, threw it on, drew the hood up, and pulled it tightly around her, hoping that she would look at least a little bit more inconspicuous, although she was well aware that she would probably have to fight her way out, if she got out at all.
After taking a deep breath, and saying, "Keep your head," quietly to herself, Hermione silently pushed open the door.
X
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Author's note: I wrote Neville with blond hair because I keep to the books, and the books never say what eye color he has, so I chose blue. I like badass Neville.