Hermione woke, lips dry and cracked, cold in a cell. She shivered and felt a hand touch her arm. She jumped with a shriek, shaking in fear.
"It's me." Severus croaked, "It's me." She burst into tears and fell into his arms. Grateful he was alive, that they both were. Reg wasn't though, she had failed him, failed Sirius, failed them all. She'd tried to make a difference, to make it better but she'd failed.
Carefully Severus held her to him and let her cry. When she finished he pulled back a little, she didn't seem to want to let him go, "Water." He explained, she nodded and pried her fingers slowly from him. Severus hesitated and took her hand walking her the few feet to the bottle and picked it up handing it to her to drink, he took a sip and set it down before sitting and tugging her down. He settled her into his lap and let her cling to him.
"I'm not sure where we are." Severus whispered.
"Malfoy Manor, in the dungeons." Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark she recognized the place.
"How do you…"
She cut him off as her nails dug into his skin, "Good, this is good."
"How is this good?"
"He has it." She whispered.
"Who has what?"
"Lucius Malfoy, he has the diary."
"What diary?"
"Voldemort's diary." She grinned and stood up to pace, shaking off the fear, pushing back the pain and darkness to focus, she'd failed Reg but she could still make Voldemort pay, she could still save Ron and Ginny, Fred and by extention poor broken George. Draco and Blaise, NArcissa, Lavender, Molly and Arthur, Sirius. If she got out of here and ended this war, she'd go after that rat, go after him and make him pay for Reg and for the other Sirius who'd spent thirteen years in Azkaban and for Harry who'd grown up without parents. She'd focus and get out of here, end this war and then, then she'd end Peter Pettigrew. "We have to get out of here and up to the library, we have to get it and get out of here. They'll know, of course they will so we'll have to do it fast. I'll go to the bank and you'll have to get to Harry, quickly, you'll have to find him and tell him it's time."
"Mya." Severus stilled her, "What are you talking about?"
"The horcrux." She whispered, "It's here, upstairs." She could see him trying to process, "I'm going to try to bring down my occlumency walls, they're part of a spell so I don't know if I can but try to have look." She urged him.
He nodded looking deep into her eyes and focused on using Legilmency. Her walls were strong and not much came through he pulled back shaking his head, "I can't see." He tells her at her frown he pulled her tight, "I don't need to."
"Severus." She protests, he needed to understand, to believe her.
"I don't need to Mya, I trust you." She hugged him tighter as tears came again and he hugged her back until they heard someone coming.
Hermione started to shake at the memory of Greyback, "Do you know where it is?"
"The book?"
"The book, the library, the exit."
"No, yes and maybe."
"Ok." He nods and pulls away taking her hand in his, "Good enough for me." At her skeptical look he smirked, "Need me to say it then?"
"What?"
"I'd die for you, you stupid witch, I'd rather not though so let's hope this stupid Gryffindor moment passes quickly and we both get out alive."
She chuckled through the tears and squeezed his hand, "Me too, for you."
"I know." He nodded as Lucius appeared.
"Hello." He grinned at them and focused on Hermione, "Greyback was very disappointed the Dark Lord wouldn't let him keep you but he thought it would better motivate our friend here to have you with us."
"Motivate me?" Severus growled.
"Our Lord wanted the traitor dead, she's just a bonus but you, you Severus are a man whose reputation precedes him and a good potions master is so hard to find." Lucius smirked, "He'd like to recruit you so to show you his greatness, he's decided to let you keep her. Do well and she's safe, don't and we hurt her." Lucius grinned lasciviously at her, "What fun that would be."
Hermione shrunk back against Severus who tightened his grip on her hand. "Look at me, not her you inbred ponce."
Lucius glared at him and Severus smirked, slipping easily into the older man's head and reading what he needed. Backing out of his mind he shoved Hermione hard to the side, Lucius frowned caught off guard as the girl caught her balance and spun on Severus in shock, automatically reaching for her missing wand. It was the distraction Severus needed to do something stupidly Gryffindor and he tackled the blond wizard in true muggle fashion. Getting up he punched the wizard, having grabbed his wand he forced it to work for him and he and Hermione locked him in.
"Library?" Severus growled.
"Um…" Hermione panted as they ran, "This way!" She shouted and they ran up and through the room she was tortured in, around the corner to the stairs and into a very shocked Narcissa, a tiny baby in a sling around her. "NO!" Hermione stopped Severus as he raised the wand, moving in front of the witch only a few years older than her. She spun to Narcissa, and in the beautiful young witches eyes she saw the poised and strong woman she would become, the woman who would defy light and dark to protect her son and bring him into this world "He lied. The Dark Lord didn't help you keep Draco, he stopped having his follower slip you another potion to miscarry. He wanted Lucius, he wanted Malfoy money and he manipulated you both for it." She gestured to the boy, "His name is Draco, right? Born on the fifth of June, it was to early for him but he survived and he's strong now and he's beautiful. He'll grow up beautiful with silver bond hair and pale eyes. A spoiled, elitist brat but beautiful and he has goodness in him, buried deep… very deep but he's good, will be good and you don't want this life for him. Voldemort will only get worse, he's a deranged half-blood who's brain-washed your husband and will end up killing you and your son, please. Draco is so good, he can be so good and have such a long beautiful life. Please. That maniac, he's not like you, he doesn't care about anyof you, he'd kill your infant son to get what he wants and one day when Draco's a little older he will use him, torure him and then kill him. Voldemort doesn't care that he's beautiful, he hates that Draco is good, will try to destroy that in him and for what? Blood purity? Your leader is a half blood named Tom Riddle, he's not after protecting the pure-blood lines. He doesn't care if you all die and in the end, he'll kill your son like he killed Regulus and Orion Black." Narcissa was staring at her in shock, her son was only a few months old, she hadn't made the announcements yet, no one but the family knew his name. Slowly she nodded, hands covering the small form of her sleeping son, "The library?"
"We keep dark artifacts in the basement." She whispered.
"No one could tell it's dark unless they knew what to look for and no one would. It's just a book, a journal he gave your husband, it looks blank but older with a black leather cover."
"The desk in his office." Narcissa pointed and Hermione grabbed Severus by the arm again and began running. In the office she grabbed up the journal and spun as they heard the noise coming towards them.
"Exit!" Severus shouted at her, stolen wand pointing at the door.
"DOBBY!" She shouted. "DOBBY!"
"I is Dobby." A house elf appeared and she could have cried she was so happy to see him. To see him now, to see him alive.
"Please get us out of here."
"Master be very angry. Dobby is a good elf. Dobby no make master angry."
"Dobby is a great elf." Hermione sobbed sinking down to her knees, "Dobby is the best elf. One day, Dobby will be free, he'll go to work at Hogwarts and he'll have so many friends and be treated so nice. Dobby is great elf." She sobbed looking at him, "The best best elf and he's my friend." She met his eyes, "Please Dobby. Please." Dobby blinked wide eyes at her and nodded, taking Severus by the wrist and holding her hand he popped them out of the office as the door blew open.
"DOBBY!" Harry yelled running to the elf.
"Missy James says find Harry Potter James's and says safe safe. Masters angry angry I is helping hers but when I says Missy says I'm best elf going to be free one day and work in school for kind masters, I beat my head and pulls my ears for it and he's very angries but Mistress says I needs finds Missy James rights aways and takes offs ones of her tops and says I must be a goods elf and gives me it and I's finds Missy James because I's free and she says finds Harry Potter James's!" The elf is vibrating in happiness. "Missy James says is time, yous needs to know she's with the book and is time and I'd rather be with Missy James than some school, can she be my nice mistresses now maybes?"
"Maybe Dobby." Harry sobbed pulling the elf in for a hug. "Just never ever punish yourself." He kissed the elf on his head. "She's really safe? She's ok?"
"Missy James's ok." Dobby beamed at him. "I's tell that's to Harry James and then I's have to tell Potter James, the rats a rat!"
"We know." Harry nodded, "You can go tell him again though and tell him he's a bastard, no remind that good for nothing dog Sirius it's his damn fault!"
"I's is saying." Dobby grinned and winked away.
Harry sat on him bum in the woods and cried. Hermione was ok. She was ok.
He gave himself only a moment for relief and then got up. The vault, she'd be going to the vault to get to the last one before he could move it. She'd destroy them all there. They had to kill him, now, it had to end now.
Harry stood up and gripped his wand tightly in his hand ready to charge in, the chess knight on his cuff catching his eye stopped him.
"You're right Ron." He muttered to himself, "We need a strategy first and fast. I'll need to tell the truth, to be the Master of Death again and I'll have to find a way to get to him, alone. No, we have to get the Death Eaters too, as many as possible, they can't be given another chance to take innocent lives." Harry sighed, "A battle, it would end in another battle, they'd lose some but he swore this would be the last, he'd stop Voldemort once and for all and then, then he'd find that rat.