Chapter 25: A Storms A Brewin...
Hermione had always wondered whether, that on the day that was to be her last, she would know. Wondered that if something inside her would tell her everything was about to finish. Now, shackled to the wall of a dirty, blood stained dungeon, Hermione searched herself thoroughly, wondering if something was telling her she wasn't going to make it out of this. Her bones ached from being hit with the cruciatis curse, her check stung from a slap across the face she had received from Sasha, for the fun of it, and her right leg was broken and sending sickening shoots of pain through her body. But Hermione still held her head high, and she was refusing to give in if she still had that choice. But for now, she could do nothing but sit there, immobile, hoping against hope that Blaise would find her, or she was given an opportunity of her own to get the hell out of there.
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Tracking spells did exist in the wizarding world, but they were of such a completed nature and required such immensely powerful magic that most people saved themselves the trouble when asked about tracking spells, and simply said they didn't exist. For Briseis Zabini, talent and hordes of magic was something she possessed, and creating a tracking spell had been her major project in her First Year at the prestigious school for magic she had attended in Germany. So with the (unknown) help of Lucius Malfoy, Bree had, quite easily, tracked the group to castle she knew the Malfoy's owned in a mountainous and snowy area in England. Its was so rocky and its terrain so treacherous that it was quite impossible to reach by foot, and the castle had been built right into a rocky outcrop so it was practically invisible.
When Malfoy had joined the Death Eater ranks, he had, in a bid to place him in a favorable light with the dark lord, offered his castle as a hid out for Voldermort, knowing full well that it would never be found by the ministry, not even if, Merlin forbid, the dark lord fell. So it had been the perfect place for Malfoy to begin his bid for the newly vacated position of Dark Lord. Now all he needed was a large source of unchallenged power behind him, and for that he needed Bree Zabini. His original plan had been to have Draco marry the girl for then she would be a Malfoy and would have no choice but to serve him. But his son had failed and the moment Lucius had discovered Draco's ineptness, had pulled him off the blasted island his mother had sent him to for "protection" and killed him. It did not pay to have incompetence in the ranks, a chain was only as strong as its weakest link, and Draco Malfoy was one very weak link that needed to be eradicated as quickly as possible. He had kept Sasha around in order to seduce and capture Blaise Zabini, in order to lead them to Bree, but that plan had become unneccsecary now and Sasha was unknowingly facing her final hours. No, now, the most important third of the Golden Trio had fallen in their midst and she was to prove useful yet.
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Lucius strolled into the dungeon with a confident swagger. He approached Hermione, and dropped so that he was balancing on the balls of his feet. A smirk adorned his sharp features, and he ran a long finger along her jaw. This earned him a snarl from his captive, that ordinarily would have caused him to strike out in anger, but today simply made him grin much wider.
"My my Miss Granger, such manners. I suppose I should have expected nothing less from a filthy mudblood. Are you comfortable? I can assure you, you will not be leaving anytime soon" Lucius gave Hermione a look that sent shivers down her spine, with a smirk that gave off such radiance of power and superiority, his pointed chin tipped upwards. But if he was expecting some kind of outwards sign of terror from the girl he was sorely disappointed. Instead, her lip rose in a snarl and she glared at him.
"There will be people here to save me, you know. They will be finding a way to find me." Her words did not sober the smirking Malfoy. In fact they had quite the opposite effect. He broke out into an evil malicious laugh.
"My dear miss granger that is exactly what I'm counting on. I do hope that Briseis Zabini is as smart as she makes out, for if she is, I have given her all the tools she will need to find us. You my dear are simply bait."
And with a swish of his heavy black cloak, he had turned and left the dungeon, slamming the heavy wooden door, marred with the scratches of nails, with a dull thud and leaving a very numb and sob racked Hermione.
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Miles away in the stormy grounds of Hogwarts, 5 figures made their way down slopping lawns and muddy paths, heads bowed against the furious wind and rain, that would take then to the large wrought iron gates that separated Hogwarts from the world. From outside the gates they would be able to apperate to the location Bree had procured. Alexis was to stay behind with the Headmistress and Teddy Markham had apperated to the Ministry already to alert a team of Auror's, supplying them with the location details. Blaise and Bree, along with Harry Ron and Lupin would go on ahead, to asses the situation. Before leaving the castle, Bree and Blaise had given the others a detailed description of the manor and surrounding grounds so that they would be able to apperate easily. Now, 5 figures shrouded by darkness stood in a ring in the heavy wind and rain, and one by one, they were gone, shadows from the swaying trees in their place.
AN: omg its been soo long since i wrote anything for this story! I happened to stumble upon this chapter while looking through old documents in Word. So I hope this will keep you interested while i reaquaint myself with all the characters and their lives before i contine to write for this story!
Stay Tuned. A James.