Chapter 1
Tarr Cottage, Doone Valley, Exmoor
Death Eater and captive landed in a heap on the floor of an oldfashioned bathroom. Antonin took a moment to catch his breath before checking the girl over. She was staring at him in utter panic, nearly hyperventilating. He turned towards his cabinet for a Calming Draught when he noticed her crawling towards the open door.
"Stop! No one is going to harm you here, but if you try to flee I am going to Stupefy you!"
"I have to get back, my friends are there!" She clawed uselessly on the tiles. He robbed over, vial in hand.
"Drink this!"
The witch didn't seem to hear a thing, sobbing and trying to move forward. Antonin turned her over which led to her hitting his chest with her fists. The girl did not do any damage but his day had already been a very long one and not at all a good one. Pinching her nose he tipped the potion into her mouth. After a few moments the girl stopped moving so frantically. The wizard started to run a bath and while usually he did not mind the extra work living without a house-elf meant right now he really would have liked to have one.
Still splayed across his legs the witch finally seemed to be rational enough for a few questions.
"What is your name?"
Her eyes widened comically. Antonin had a good guess with whom he had been saddled, but he wanted to hear it from herself.
"Hermione Granger."
"Antonin Maksimovitch Dolohov."
"Can't say I'm pleased to meet you." Her speech was slightly slurred, he must have slightly overdosed her with the Calming Draught. Flicking his wand to stop the bathwater running he addressed her once more, "I am asking you to follow my directions. For now you are safe here, you have nothing to fear from me. I am a wards master, if you try to leave the cottage, you will have a nasty shock, if you manage to get to the outer wards you will die. I have a potion for the Cruciatus, the warm water will help, too."
Granger nodded and Antonin rummaged through his cabinet once more.
"Chort vas mi! The bottle's nearly empty. We will have to use the bath together. Are you all right bathing in your underwear or shall I Transfigure you a swimming suit?"
The last question seemed to stop the girl's outrage.
"Swimming suit, please," she mumbled.
"You have get rid of your jumper and trousers, otherwise the swimwear will be too thick for the potion to work."
The witch complied without protest and even cracked a small smile at the rather old-fashioned one-piece he managed. Antonin enlarged the bathtub, stripped down to his briefs and poured the potion in.
"Come in, but take care. I fear I have given you too much Calming Draught. – What's this?"
Only now did he notice the purple scar starting at her sternum.
"You should know. It was your curse in the Department of Mysteries."
"I knew I had seen you somewhere before! What was Dumbledore thinking, sending children there!"
"He did not know. Umbridge had driven him from the school."
"Still, you should not have been able to leave Hogwarts. The girl with the red dress in the café, that was you as well?"
"Yes."
"You Obliviated Rowle and me."
By now they were stretched out in the enlarged bath, both carefully not to touch each other.
"I did."
"Quite impressive for a school-girl. Memory charms are not taught until Year 7 at Hogwarts."
"I needed them."
"Why?"
"I feared that my parents would be targets, but they would not have left England without me. They would have stopped me from attending Hogwarts and helping Harry. I erased their memories of me and sent them away."
"They were definitely targets. The Dark Lord sent Selwyn and MacNair. He was not amused when they reported back without finding them."
"Why was he so angry with you today? Why would you follow someone who curses his followers at the drop of a hat?"
"Safe those questions for later, I am not feeling well."
At this Hermione looked closer at her captor. It was difficult to see as his eyes were a dark brown but it seemed to her that one pupil was bigger than the other.
"Dolohov! You've been bleeding from the ears. Is it possible to haemmoraghe in the brain due to the Cruciatus? In Muggle first aid after a knock to the head the doctors shine into your eyes to see if the pupils get smaller with the same speed on both sides. If they do not it might be a sign of haemmoraghing in the brain. Close your eyes and then look at a Lumos."
"My brain might be affected but I will not close my eyes while you are close to my wand."
"It might be enough if you don't close them fully."
"Ah, well. Let's do your Muggle magic."
They did and Dolohovs left pupil stayed wide while the other closed to the size of a pinhead.
"And, Nurse Granger? What's your diagnosis?"
"Not good. Your left pupil did not move at all. Do you have a potion for that?"
"No. But I know a Potions master who might have."
Flicking his wand he conjured a Patronus in the form of a bear and told it something in Russian.
"You can do a Patronus! A corporeal one!"
"Why would I not? I can do a sock-mending charm as well."
"Professor Lupin said that dark wizards cannot produce a Patronus."
"Well then, either your professor is wrong or I am beacon of the Light." He flicked his wand to warm the water up again.
"Try to submerge more, the potion won't work otherwise. Now let me sleep."
"No! If there is really something wrong with your brain it is important to stay awake!" The water was sloshing over the rim as Hermione scooted over, shaking the Russian.
"Stop that, I've survived much worse. Help will come soon." He pressed her shoulders under the water-level and closed his eyes. Keeping under water Hermione squirmed a little to the side, trying to keep an eye on the Death Eater. Why she would do so? If he went unconscious she could try to unravel his wards. Being honest with herself the witch thought it unlikely that she could undo the personal wards of a wards master anytime soon. Better try to keep him alive and work on escaping later.
"Fuck, Antonin! What've you done to that bathtube, the door won't open!"
"Your're a wizard or not?"
The door vanished.
"Miss Granger!"
"Professor Snape!" Too late her mind supplied the fact that Snape had murdered Dumbledore at the end of the last year. Hermione froze. The Potions master did not acknowledge her further, though and turned towards his comrade.
"Cruciatus? How long?"
"Mhm. Three times `Ochi chernye´."
"All three stanzas?"
"Mhm."
"Fuck! This is serious, Antonin!" Snape started to to cast diagnostic charms rather frantically. The results seemed to bother him greatly.
"Miss Granger, I ask you to trust me right now and do as I say, no questions asked. Can you do that?"
Having privately entertained doubts of whether she and her friends knew everything that was to know about the events on Astronomy tower last year – Harry and Ron of course were convinced that they had been right all along about Snape being pure evil – she gave her former teacher the benefit of doubt and nodded.
"He has intercranial haemmoraghing, I have to fetch a healer. Try your best to keep him awake."
"I will. Godspeed, professor." The dour man turned on his heel and could be heard running down the steps to the ground floor. The bathwater was getting chilly but Hermione thought it best not to warm it up again, as patients with swelling on the brain were kept with a lower than natural body temperature. Dolohov's wand was lying on the rim of the bathtube, forgotten. It would be easy to take it and at least try if it were possible to leave the cottage while holding on to the wand that had cast the wards. But then she would break her word to Snape, Dolohov would likely die and she would never know if her gut-feeling concerning the Potions master was right. She straddled the Death Eater and shook his shoulders.
"Mr Dolohov, stay awake, please. Help is on it's way!"
He winced and opened his eyes.
"Stasja? What are you doing?"
"My name is Hermione Granger. Professor Snape said that you have to stay awake. He's gone for help."
"Why are we wet? You look different."
"We took a bath. You-know-who cursed you."
"Your dad is a Muggle, he cannot curse me. My head hurts."
"Snape is bringing someone to help."
"Who's Snape? Can't you just kiss it better?"
"Maybe later, for now talk to me. I bet you cannot name all twelve uses of dragon's blood."
"Always with the trick questions! There are only five known uses of dragon's blood. I feel strange."
"Just stay calm."
"Kiss it better? Your dad can't oppose his daughter to be like Florence Nightingale."
"To my knowledge Florence Nightingale never kissed a patient. And I have read all available biographies of her."
"You must not read with such poor light, it hurts your eyes."
"What are you talking about? It's light enough here."
"There are shadows in the corners." Dolohov´s arms raised in a rather uncoordinated way, splashing water on the floor, pointing towards the corners. The young witch was thoroughly frightened for him by now but thankfully steps could be heard on the stairs. A black-haired woman entered after Snape. And Hermione screamed.