With Darkness There'll Be Light

Eight - Absolute Torture

"Hermione," Ginny whimpered, her eyes fixed on where the sound of footsteps was coming from.

Hermione's very quick and swift mind came to the conclusion that they were basically out in the middle of nowhere, unarmed, being held captive and they had no hope of an escape.

It seemed death was upon their door.

However, Hermione refused to let it in.

She jumped from her fetal position and went into a Kung-Fu stance that would have made Ginny giggle under normal circumstances.

The footsteps halted when they were nearly on top of the prisoners. A cough sounded, echoing around the small space; hoarse, evil, male and possibly deadly. Those were the only thoughts that registered in Hermione's mind when that cough was heard.

The sour stench of sweat entered Hermione's nostrils and she stepped back from where she supposed there was a door, and their captor outside it.

There was the rustling of starched cloth, probably crisp pants or a robe, and then a weird slithering sound.

"Get back against the wall, Ginny," Hermione ordered quietly and Ginny did as she was told, tears streaming down her dirty face.

The sound of rock being moved was next, and then a slopping sound as a tray of some sort was passed beneath a small doggie-door. Hermione saw light stream through the opening for a split second; saw the black combat boots of the man, saw the dark ebony color of the robes that brushed across his shoe-laces.

The door closed abruptly and the footsteps retreated. Hermione breathed a deep sigh of relief as more tears escaped Ginny's tired eyes.

"It's just food," Hermione assured her friend, going slowly in the direction of the tray. She had seen, while the light still existed, two moldy pieces of French bread and two bowls of what could have been pea soup…but it didn't matter. It was food. Nourishment would be needed.

Hermione feebly picked the tray up and brought it to Ginny. She sat beside her and handed her a piece of bread. "You have to eat, Ginny. Come on."

"We're never getting out of here," Ginny wailed, rubbing her eyes with her free hand before staring at the bread as if it were a foreign object.

"Ginny," Hermione said, her voice very strong and demanding. It surprised her that she could muster that much conviction. "Optimism is not dead. Repeat that in your head. Now, you HAVE to eat. And you have got to buck up, Gin. I need you…we need to be here for each other. You're not alone, okay? I'm here. Just hang in there. We will get out of here. I'm sure there's a search party already out there looking for us."

As the reassuring words left her mouth, she highly doubted there was any truth behind them. Hermione would be brave for her friend, but she didn't think she could be brave for herself.

*

Darkness settled upon the sky and upon the hearts of the fellowship as Harry stoked the tiny fire they'd managed to create.

"Are you SURE we won't be detected?" Seamus asked nervously, biting into a piece of bread. He glanced around him as if they were surrounded and would undergo attack at a moment's notice.


"Seamus, we're dealing with wizards and as such…they won't try to detect Muggle things," Draco stated convincingly. "I'm positive they won't. They're smart, and they're stupid."

"That's contradictory," commented Gemma, daintily sipping her water.

"It's just like…okay." Draco set his bowl down and looked at his fellows. Harry raised an eyebrow, looking forward to a long explanation; Ron rolled his eyes, dreading the aforementioned long explanation. "People who commit crimes…they plan, the commit the crime, they have everything set…everything's perfect. But they ALWAYS slip up. There's always one thing that they forget to do. Normally something simple. This is what we're dealing with. Smart criminals who will overlook a trivial thing such as Muggle 'magic.'" He put finger quotes over 'magic' to give them the full effect.

Harry nearly clapped just to be annoying, but decided against it. George and Fred were holding back on jokes and pranks, so he would too.

"They won't think to look for something so minuscule as a fire if it's not conjured by magic." Draco picked his bowl up again, signaling end of discussion.

Everyone around the fire seemed satisfied with this. There was silence for a while, allowing everyone to his or her own thoughts about what lie ahead.

"Do you think---" Ron swallowed, "---Do you think there's any way Hermione and Ginny are alive?"

The Fellowship all exchanged unknowing glances.

Harry cleared his throat so that everyone would look at it him, "I think it's possible."

"Jesus, Harry. Come up with something better than that! This is a blind mission, mate! I need SOMETHING to hold onto. Otherwise, Christ, I think I'm just walking into battle for no good reason." Ron threw his fork to the ground, and then set his plate down beside it before crossing his arms across his chest and blowing a stray piece of red hair out of his face.

Draco's eyes were downcast; Fred and George (on either side of Ron) had their hands on his back for comfort, Gemma was shivering from the cold; Seamus and Justin talked between themselves so quietly that no one heard over the rhythmic crackling of the fire. Harry watched Ron, his eyes conveying no emotion other than sympathy.

"They're alive," Draco said suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper, "They have to be. Otherwise…I don't know what we'll do." He shrugged, looking up at everybody. "They have to be alive. I can feel it. Can't you?"

Harry swallowed hard, "I can feel it. I…I had a dream last night. Hermione and Ginny, they were in this awful rat-invested cell all alone. They were both sleeping…I don't know if it's reality right now, but it gave me hope. At least even a little bit."

No one spoke for the remainder of the night. They all turned in shortly after the tense discussion, vowing to wake by sunrise to get a head start. They'd need it, if they hoped to get to Hermione and Ginny in time.

As Draco lay stirring in his sleeping bag, his consciousness changed and he began a fitful dream.

Flashes: bright light at the end of a tunnel; a cavern with water dripping throughout its makeshift halls; a small enclosed room that held a sobbing girl and a determined girl. Hermione looked up, right at him, and mouthed 'I love you.'

Draco woke up in a cold sweat. He wiped his face with his shirtsleeve and lay back down, the hard rock below him jutting into his back.

They were alive, he knew it. And he knew they would save Ginny and Hermione without a doubt.

Even if he had to die trying, he would save them.