Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the deviation from JK's plot. I make no money from my imagination.
Author Note: originally this chapter and the last were written all together. I split it up to avoid the beastly length. So lucky you, 2 chapter updates in one day! Also- this chapter has TRIGGER WARNINGS. Torture. War. Not so pleasant things. So you have been warned!
The Valkyrie
Chapter 18: Protection and Planning
Whatever this was, it was big. Clint wasn't sure if he wanted to see this or not. Noticing the way they had surrounded Hermione clued him in. This was it. This was the incident that caused her to have triggers later. He shared a look at Nat, and knew she understood it too.
The three were dragged into a large room that in other circumstances may have been beautiful. There were four others in the room. The blond boy from the previous year and two adult who could only be his parents. Perhaps this was their home? The other occupant caused a shiver to go down his spine. She radiated manic glee at the sight of the trio. She demanded the blonde boy identify them. Clint could tell he knew who they were. In a redeeming moment the boy denied knowing. Why he didn't tell, he wasn't sure.
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This woman was crazy. Natasha knew crazy.
She had seen others in the Red Room go insane. Her heart beat faster when the woman ordered the boys to be locked in the dungeon. Nat was torn between watching Harry go or staying with Hermione. She and Clint instinctively took a step closer to the young witch, as if they could protect her. The crazy witch's attention was caught on the sword one of the snatchers had taken from the trio. The sight of it seemed to bother the witch. The curly-haired crazy grabbed Hermione by her hair, and pulled her into the center of the room.
The woman turned her wand on Hermione. She demanded answers to several questions.
Where did she get the sword? How did they get into her vault? Did they steal anything else? Each time Hermione refused to answer more than We didn't steal anything, or the sword was fake. The woman cast several curses on Hermione. Each progressively getting worse. She attempted to Imperius her, but Hermione fought it off too quickly for her to tell the crazy witch anything. Finally she screamed to bring a goblin to check the sword.
The Goblin denied it being real. Nat knew it wasn't. It didn't look like the crazed witch believed it either. The next spell Nat recognized as the one that tortures the victim. Hermione collapsed on the ground. Her whole body convulsed as her screams rang out in the room. When the witch let up the spell, Hermione lay a panting, shaking mess on the floor. Again the woman questioned about the sword. Hermione refused to speak at all. Again the torture curse was used. Hermione writhed on the floor, body first arching, then curling up before snapping back so far it seemed her spine would crack. She screamed, then began to gag as she vomited. The spell was released again. Again the witch questioned her, and again Hermione stayed silent. Natasha admired the girl so much more now. Even independent torture she wasn't breaking.
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After two rounds of the curse that made her scream, Clint could see the war in Hermione's eyes. She accepted that she would probably die, but she was not giving up anything. Again the spell hit Hermione. She no longer screamed as loudly. Her throat was giving out under the strain. The two boys could be heard calling Hermione's name. He couldn't imagine how they must have felt hearing those screams and not knowing what was going on.
This time the spell was held the longest. When it was lifted, Hermione lay shuddering on the floor unconscious. Blood had begun to trickle from Hermione's mouth, nose and ears. At some point, she had lost control of her bladder.
Clint hoped this was the end of it. The fight to not throw up was one he was quickly losing. He stared at the girl he was beginning to see as a sister, barely able to see her quivering form. He blinked the tears away. If this witch wasn't dead he would find her and make sure justice was served. Natasha was shaking at his side and he reached out to her. This had to be even worse for her.
The witch used some spell to revive Hermione. No longer happy with using her wand, the witch pulled a wicked looking dagger from her boot. Hermione flailed out, unable to control her body. The witch then pinned Hermione down. She called for someone to come help. Someone she called Bast knelt down. He held Hermione's arm out. First she sliced Hermione's sleeve out of her way. Then she started carving. The metallic smell of blood grew stronger. Almost as if being lured by the pied piper, the werewolf who had been with the snatchers earlier appeared. He begged the woman, Bellatrix, to let him play with the girl.
When she finished carving into Hermione's arm. She sat back to admire her handiwork. Blood poured from the letters M-U-D-B-L-O-O-D. Bellatrix stood and motioned to the werewolf, an invitation he quickly accepted. He greedily licked the blood from her arm, relishing the taste. At this point. Natasha lost the fight and was on her knees, vomiting. He shakily took a gulp of air, forcing the sick that crawled up his throat back down.
The wolf continued to lave at the blood flowing from the wound. He raised his head and blood stained his mouth and chin. Hermione lay unmoving, her eyes unfocused. She was giving up. Clint lost the fight then. The absolute look of bliss of the wolf's bloodsoaked face was his undoing. He folded himself in half as he spilled the contents of his stomach.
He watched in horror as the wolf's hands reached for the snap of Hermione's pants. A sobbed "Please God No," was heard from Natasha. Clint didn't think he could watch this happen. He looked around the room trying to ignore what the wolf was doing. All three of the blondes looked ill. The boy's eyes squeezed shut. His mother held one of his hands. The other was shaking as it held his wand.
A flurry of activity drew Clint's attention to the door. Somehow Ron and Harry had escaped. They rushed into the room, wands drawn. Harry rushed across the room dodging spells as he threw himself at the wolf. Shoving him off Hermione. Harry rolled to his feet, wand blazing. Bellatrix took the chance to snatch Hermione off the floor. Clint was relieved to see the wolf had not managed to get her pants down, just opened. Bellatrix held the wicked dagger to Hermione's throat, nicking it. When the fight had stopped. Harry and Ron were holding several wands. The older blonde man and the wolf were both unconscious. Though Clint was certain that the wolf was dead.
A jingling sound drew his attention to the large chandelier. The elf, Dobby was unscrewing the fixture. Bellatrix looked at the elf confused. The massive chandelier came crashing down. The other man directly under it. Bellatrix dove for cover, shoving Hermione away- directly towards the crashing chandelier. Her legs were pinned beneath it, her body covered in shards of glass and fresh cuts. Harry and Ron quickly pulled her out of the wreckage. Dobby grabbed onto them. As they disappeared, Bellatrix threw her dagger at them.
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They appeared on a beach. The boys were on their knees. Ron held Hermione. Harry was sobbing, pulling the unconscious Hermione from Ron's arms. Dobby picked up the knife Bellatrix had thrown. Clicking his fingers. It vanished from sight. Natasha realised they were at the home of Bill and Fleur. Who once confirming their identities quickly ushered them in the house. A flurry of Fleur's wand and Bill quickly pouring potions down her throat were frantic. Harry was inconsolable. Dobby had tried to apologize for not getting to them sooner. Harry had held him and was looking like he couldn't let him go. After a long while Bill came out of the room and informed them they had done all the could. Hermione was in a spelled sleep so her body could recover.
The days passed slowly as Harry and Fleur spent the majority of his time at Hermione's side. On the third day, Hermione woke up. Once assured that she was recovering as she should, Fleur left the room to send Ron in. The three talked in whispers. Hermione was adamant about moving on. Bellatrix had revealed that her vault held something else important. They were sure it was the cup they had been looking for.
They snuck out early the next morning. Natasha could not believe that Hermione had polyjuiced herself into the woman who had tortured her. She watched as the managed to retrieve the cup despite the curses. When the Goblins realized they weren't who they claimed to be, hell broke out. It was Hermione's quick thinking that saw them freeing the nearly blind dragon and escaping on his back.
A quick regroup had them planning the next place, and one of the most dangerous. They were headed for Hogwarts. Another disorienting blur and the trio were in a town they called Hogsmeade. The castle could be seen in the distance. The shrill siren blaring had them holding their ears. The trio were pulled into a building by a man who looked alot like the old headmaster.
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Clint and Nat followed as the trio followed one of their friends through a secret tunnel. It opened into the room they had once used for their defense meetings, but the room looked totally different. It was a bit like chaos as they followed along. The triio split ways. Harry left with a blonde named Luna. Hermione and Ron dashed to the Chamber of Secrets. The memory followed their route. Harry filled them in on what had happened with Luna. And figuring out where the diadem was.
In the Chamber of Secrets they watched as Hermione stabbed the cup. The large wave of water receded and Hermione and Ron shared a kiss. Ron looked victorious. But Hermione looked confused. The moment was over and the two took off to find Harry. The trio raced through the castle, headed to the place Harry thought the diadem was.
Clint wrinkled his nose when the blonde- Malfoy boy reappeared. Clint just wasn't sure what to make him. He didn't seem like he really wanted to be there. He watched as Hermione was drawn to an interesting circlet. It was as if she couldn't stop herself from picking it up. The moment her fingers made contact he saw a glow encase her. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but the next thing he saw was a large flaming dragon's head headed towards them. They scrambled to escape.
After they were assured the horcrux had been destroyed, they raced off to join the battle. It was total confusion trying to keep up with them. He didn't know who to watch. Harry or Hermione. He found himself reacting to the spells and ducking even though it wasn't possible for them to hit him. They followed the trio as they fought their way to the fallen potion masters side, a man who turned out to be a hero once Harry viewed the memories he left him.
A break in the fighting saw Harry putting the circlet that Hermione had managed to retain in their flight from the fiery dragon of death. It seemed symbolic in many ways. When Harry disappeared a short while later, Clint knew he had gone to sacrifice himself.
With his triumphant return from the dead, and the slaying of the last horcrux, a change seemed to overcome Hermione. She returned to the battle and suddenly a flash of light had her wings aloft, sword in hand as she fought with new purpose. It was awe inspiring. and a bit terrifying if Clint was honest. He watched as she dispatched one enemy after the other, like an avenging angel. She fought her way towards Harry, who was facing off with the snake faced bastard, a furious look on her face. Harry and Hermione struck a split second apart. Voldy never saw her coming, as she drove her sword into him. A blinding flash of light signaled the end of the evil man. Harry and Hermione were blasted apart and darkness fell as the memory ended.
They exited the pensieve and collapsed onto the couch processing what they had seen.
Hermione. Bill and Fleur filled them in up to the time they had met Hermione who was going by Helen in New York. It was insane the way it seemed the whole wizarding world had turned on Hermione for something that wasn't her fault. It had been the power of the circlet that had started it for her. She had been found worthy and transformed into the Valkyrie. It was truly incredible. Bill had told them about the obliviation that had been done and he promised he could most likely return those memories. It took a few minutes apiece, but he wasn't able to restore the lost memories. He apologized but the two weren't too upset. Really, they didn't feel like they were missing much, especially now that they knew who and what Hermione was.
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It was decided that the best way to protect everyone involved was a spell. Bill and Hermiine worked to modify an existing spell that originally stuck the person's tongue to the roof of their mouth. With the new modifications the spell enabled them to keep the secret. If they tried to talk to anyone other than those in the room. they would find their mouths stuck shut. They would be unable to spill any of the secrets. To be safe from any mind attacks, Bill placed blocks in their minds. If a witch or wizard attempted to read their minds, all they would get would be static. The blocks could only be removed by the caster, so there was no fear that a witch or wizard could break them.
As they were eating dinner, it was planned that they would find a way to help Hermione develop the skills the Valkyrie had told her she needed. Since meeting in the open wasn't a safe option, as they were sure MACUSA would keep an eye on Hermione for a while, they had to be a bit sneaky. Bill had left to see his brother George, and returned with the knowledge he needed to create portkeys. He made two portkey, one for each of them that would bring them here to Shell Cottage, and then return them to Natasha's apartment. This way if Hermione suddenly got the urge to visit Britain, MACUSA couldn't track her. And who would suspect two muggles of having password triggered portkeys?
