Part One
Fascinated
By:
TheHuntress53 and Arendora
~Author's Note: This has been yet another huge collaboration and I would love to thank all who have helped. Arendora for stepping in when I really needed help and helping to really bring this story to where it is today. Savedprincess85 for always and forever being my beta. and last but never least Silver Lioness for the fantastic cover she created for us. I am eternally grateful to all of you.
So without further ado, as always J.K. Rowling own the Harry Potter world, it characters, original plot and ending. I simply borrowed them for no financial gain. I only wanted to have fun. Please enjoy!~
Tangled
The world did not end in a bang or a whisper, but rather one scream at a time. The war was over. Harry Potter boldly died as he fought valiantly against Lord Voldemort. The world was dark as Death Eaters spent their days rounding up Muggle-born witches and wizards and burning down half of the Wizarding world in retaliation for the Order's defiance. Hermione's parents had been killed by Death Eaters in an attempt to lure her out, almost immediately after the Battle of Hogwarts. It almost worked, too. Hermione had become melancholy and withdrawn after that.
Ron distanced himself from her after receiving death threats to himself and his family. He even went so far as to threaten to turn her over to Snatchers if she dared to contact them again. Molly had been even more protective of her family once Fred died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Her other friends were all afraid to even communicate with her, in fear they would have Death Eaters attack their homes and families. She had been, and still remained, the most wanted Muggle-born in all of Wizarding Britain. She was well and truly alone.
Lucius thought back to the day he lost his wife. Narcissa was sent to check Harry Potter for signs of life after the Dark Lord hit him with the Avada Kedavra. They left Potter in the forest to fade into history; death had been easy for Potter, at least according to the Dark Lord. On the walk from the forest to the castle, Bellatrix used legilimency on her exhausted sister and saw something that caused her to kill her sister, in cold blood. Draco, having seen everything, killed his aunt. The dead sisters were hidden by Draco until he could find his father.
Voldemort's fury had been palpable, but he did not know it had been one of his own Death Eaters that had caused the demise of his favorite lieutenant. With a single spell, he demolished most of Hogwarts and nearly everyone that had been within her walls. The war was far from over, but the battle that changed the world had already been won.
Lucius, even in his grief, continued to rally with the Dark Lord's crusade against the Muggle-borns and Muggle-born sympathizers. He spent his days tracking blood traitors and mudblood's across Europe, yet his life seemed empty and void. He kept up appearances, having no choice, but his loyalty had long since abated with the death of his wife and a bond he felt blooming, even if he didn't want to admit it's existence. Nothing seemed to make sense any longer; his life had truly turned on its axis, and he didn't know how to correct it. He drank too much, his haggard appearance decreasing as each tedious day passed.
Lucius watched as Draco was put in charge of the many Muggleborn camps spread throughout Europe. He could even see a child-like enjoyment on his son's face as Draco worked relentlessly to capture the most famous Muggleborn, Hermione Granger, who had escaped during the Battle of Hogwarts. Draco's work towards finding Hermione caused much turmoil within Lucius' mind. He wanted nothing more than for her to be captured; however, he did not want to see her caught at the hands of his unhinged heir.
Lucius and Draco had been assigned to keep track of Hermione; with their personal experience with Granger, they had insight other Death Eaters lacked. Lucius was equally fascinated and frustrated by the impertinent chit, she had already evaded capture for more than two years, if he included the year prior to the Battle of Hogwarts. He assigned every available Snatcher in search of her. And yet he felt an unexplainable need to work damn hard to consistently misdirect them from getting too close to her trail. He wanted to be the one to bring her in, to keep her safe. Something in him wanted to keep her safe.
But sometimes, even the best laid plans can fail.
Hermione was running again. The air in her lungs felt like frozen shards of glass, but she knew she had to keep running. She had been careless trying to steal food from a bakery and caught the attention of Scabior and his merry band if Snatchers.
The incarcerous spell hit her as she crested the hill into the village of Ottery St. Catchpole. She rolled down the hill, bruising her nose and collarbone.
"Hello again, beautiful," Scabior's grimy, diseased teeth and putrid breath invaded her already ravaged lungs, making her gag. She was on the verge of vomiting even before he walked in front of her and smiled.
"I could have gotten you a fantastic deal on dental work, Scabior, but now I am afraid it's a moot point since you murdered the people who could fix them." She grimaced, hating to even think about her parents.
"I wouldn't let no muggles touch me mouth, Mudblood!" he yelled in her face, spit landed on her bruised nose.
"Pity, it would have at least improved the smell," Hermione retorted as she struggled against the ropes that bound her.
"I could smell you all day, beautiful, even though you are a filthy Mudblood whore. Maybe the Dark Lord will let me keep you, aye? You could be my pet. I will even put a nice collar on you and let you sleep at the foot of my bed." Scabior chuckled darkly as he checked the ropes to make sure that they were tight.
"I would rather sleep in a pig pen. It would probably be cleaner!" She shouted. She wriggled around to try to break the spell and failed spectacularly. Her magic was weakened due to malnourishment. She had been on the run for two years, and she was simply exhausted.
"Let me go!" she yelled at him again as he stepped in front of her.
"Not this time, girly. This time you go directly to the Dark Lord himself." A cold shiver ran down Hermione's spine. She was terrified, but she used every ounce of self control she had left not to cry in front of this lecherous bastard.
"Good, anything to get away from you," she spat.
Scabior hauled her petite frame off of the ground and threw her over his shoulder. He smacked her backside with a loud thwack when she thrashed about attempting to get away. He and the others began walking to the nearest apparition point.
"Be still or I'll let Greyback hold you," Scabior growled. Hermione recognized the danger in that statement and immediately fell limp.
"Why do you do this, Scabior? You are a fairly decent looking guy. I am sure you could get a job doing almost anything," she asked, hoping to make him think about his actions.
"It's none of your business now is it, beautiful," he taunted.
"Will you please stop calling me beautiful, it's quite unnerving," she asked scathingly.
Scabior chuckled and squeezed her left buttcheek. "You don't know you are beautiful, do you?"
"Because I am not beautiful. I am intelligent, and I am useful. There is a huge difference, and stop touching my behind," Hermione muttered.
"Yeah, you are those too. I happen to like your arse, its taut," Scabior laughed.
"Ugh! How revolting!" she groaned.
"You need me to carry the girly, Scabior?" Greyback howled with laughter as he turned to eye Hermione's backside as well. "If she gets to heavy, I can hold her; I want to bite that nice round arse of hers!"
"I have absolutely no interest in being mauled by a rabid wolf, thank you very much," Hermione mocked.
"No, Greyback! The Dark Lord wants this one alive and unharmed, and that is what she will be," Scabior said through tight lips. "You know where to apparate, now go!"
Greyback apparated away only seconds before Scabior and Hermione did. After the squeeze of apparition, they landed outside an enormous manor on the Clogher Nagore Bog in Ireland. The air was thick with fog, so thick, almost, that it could suffocate. The grounds were overgrown and eerie looking. 'Very fitting.' Hermione thought as a chill ran down her spine. She noticed that the house was on an island with the bog surrounding it. It chilled her to the core to know that without her wand, she'd have to cross the bog in order to escape. Scabior carried her, walking alongside Greyback, down a broken path to the large mansion. They were stopped about three hundred feet from the manor by wards and a great iron gate. Severus Snape was on the other side of the gate, waiting rather impatiently.
"We have Hermione Granger for the Dark Lord." Scabior hissed out to Snape.
Hermione was shocked to see her erstwhile Potion's professor at the gates of Voldemort's hideout. She hadn't seen him since the Battle of Hogwarts. She'd thought he had died. Obviously, she had been wrong.
Snape nodded and with a wave of his wand the wards were lifted, and the gate opened. They walked through and the gate which immediately closed once more. Snape waved his wand to raise the wards once more. They continued on the path to the mansion, reaching the door quickly. Greyback knocked on the door. Moments later, the door was answered by Rowle.
"We have the Granger girl." Greyback growled.
Rowle nodded and stepped aside to allow them to enter the manor. The two men walked in, Scabior was still carrying Hermione, who's heart had now begun to pound in terror. She was too close to meeting Lord Voldemort in person, and she wasn't even remotely ready. She was fucking terrified.
Greyback and Scabior made an immediate left and walked down a corridor that seemed to go on forever. Her view of the floor and lower walls allowed her to see that everything was done in black and grey stone. There were not many identifying features on the walls. They finally made another left and entered the grand dining room. Hermione could feel the heavy oppression of dark magic as they walked in the room; she knew Voldemort was there. In fear and against her better judgment, she began to struggle again.
Suddenly, Scabior deposited her hard on her back at Voldemort's feet. Hermione froze, rooted in dread. She simply stared up at him. Scabior didn't release the ropes binding her.
Voldemort sneered at Hermione, "Well, well, well. Not so strong now are you? I knew we'd catch you eventually. Now the question is, what do we do with you?" he taunted her cruelly.
Hermione remained silent. She laid there and trembled at his feet, terrified of what his plans for her would be. As the war continued, Voldemort's cruelty had grown; he became more and more unhinged in his thinking and actions.
Voldemort waved his wand at her, "Crucio," he hissed. Hermione burst out in to an agonized scream. The pain coursing through her was worse than anything she had ever felt before.
"Bones breaking - muscles on fire - can't breathe. Oh Gods, I am going to die. Help! Help! Help!" She screamed inwardly.
She wanted desperately to claw at whatever she could, preferably Voldemort's flesh, but she was still tied up, forced to stay in one spot and endure his torture. The ropes felt like fire against her skin. The monster released her from the pain of the Cruciatus.
"Imperio," Voldemort said calmly as he released Hermione's bonds.
"No! No! Please! Not this!" She screamed inwardly as the Imperius curse took hold of her, "I need to fight this! I can't let him do this to me. Harry taught us how to fight this in Fifth year. I can do this."
Voldemort used the curse to force her to stand, then he had her walk to the table and sit in a chair. "Now I could award you to one of my Death Eaters, or," he mused as he paused momentarily to take his seat opposite her, "I could send you to one of the Muggle-born camps. Hmm, this choice is intriguing. And I haven't been intrigued in a long time," he said with an eager grin upon his face.
"Oh Gods! Neither sounds appealing. But please not the camp, I might be able to survive if I go to one of the Death Eaters, depending on whom it is." she thought to herself.
Hermione's voice broke through weakly as she fought the Imperius still placed upon her, "Please, sir, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to make a request."
"Is that so?" Voldemort responded to her with a cynical look on his face. Shock was evident on his scaley pale face. She knew his shock was because she was fighting him off. It must have been a long time since anyone had fought him like this.
She nodded but did not speak, she waited as patiently as her panicked mind would allow for him to give her permission to speak.
"You may make your request, though I make no guarantees," he conceded, intrigue lacing his voice.
Voldemort watched her. If ever there was a time to be strong, it was now. She was worth something to him if she was strong enough to fight his magic.
"If it so pleases you, I would like to go to one of your followers, please sir," she requested quietly.
"Hmmm. I may be able to accommodate that request, Ms Granger, but for now, we eat," he commented.
Hermione's Imperiused body nodded, and as she did, the food appeared on the table. She was not allowed to eat the food though, as Voldemort placed a cloth napkin in his lap he sneered at her as if to challenge her to fight to eat. She was revolted to be sitting at the table with the vile snake of a man.
Voldemort motioned for Greyback to come forward, and whispered to him. Greyback turned and left the room. The Dark Lord began eating the mounds of food piled on top of the solid oak table. Dolohov, Rowle, the Lestrange brothers, and Rookwood were all present at the table, Hermione noted in her muddled mind. Moments later, Greyback returned and walked quickly to Voldemort's side; he whispered to him, and Voldemort nodded his approval.
Voldemort trained his wand on her again. Hermione had no chance to prepare herself when he said, ."Stupify," effectively knocking the already pliant girl unconscious.
Voldemort watched as the unconscious girl hit the floor with a sickening thud, a poisonous grin splitting his face, at the exact moment Lucius Malfoy walked through the door of the dining hall.
"Ah, Lucius, thank you for coming on such short notice," he rasped out.
"Of course, my Lord," Lucius groveled with a low, humble bow, careful to hide his thoughts about seeing Granger at the Dark Lord's feet. "What can I do to serve you, my Lord?" he asked, straightening to his normal ramrod posture.
"We have captured the Granger girl, as you can see. I am giving you the choice: send her to a camp or take her as your slave. She will be yours to do with as you see fit," he explained.
"Thank you, for the consideration, my Lord, I am quite humbled by your generosity," Lucius said with a slight bow of his head. "I shall take her. I never know when I may need the assistance of a Mudblood to do some dirty work."
"Lord Voldemort rewards those who serve him," Voldemort hissed coldly. "I will require to see the Mudblood occasionally. I need to test her; she intrigues me."
"Of course, my Lord, " Lucius bowed deeply.
"Mipsy," Lucius called out for his house elf, as he looked at the girl lying on the floor at their feet.
"Master calls Mipsy?" The small elf squeaked and bowed so low her nose touched the floor.
"Mipsy, take this girl and chain her to the chair in the dungeon. Ward her, put a body bind on her, do not allow her an inch to squirm. Understood?"
"Yes Master Lucius, Mipsy will chains the girl like you says," Mipsy squeaked out, not daring to disobey her master.
"Do not fail me elf, or I will put 20 lashes across your back side with a leather strap!" Mipsy squealed, grabbed Hermione and with a snap of her wrinkled hand they vanished.
"Thank you, again, my Lord," he spoke with another low and humble bow.
He walked out of the dining hall and couldn't help but seethe with anger, 'Now what am I to do with her,' he thought to himself. "I need a fucking drink," he growled under his breath as he stepped into the grate and threw a handful of floo powder. He went whirling away in the blink of an eye and a flurry of green back to Malfoy Manor.