Hermione's P.O.V
I knew I was late being taken down to the Assembly Hall, but of course, I'm a slave, it was hardly my fault. Grant, a deaf man, (and I sometimes suspected he wasn't quite allthere in the head if you know what I mean) was the one taking me down there, but even then, it wasn't his fault either. I knew he was tormented by the others loyal to Voldemort because of his disability, and that ridicule sometimes lead to physical violence, and in fact, most of the time he was treated no better then I was. I pitied him, he was nice to me, and sometimes brought me extra food or a blanket when Draco was away on a mission for the Dark Lord.
He hurried me down the last stair case, then across the Entrance Hall into another small passage which finally led into the room where Lord Voldmort had commanded that everyone assemble.
The Assembly Hall always managed to take my breath away, no matter how many times I had been taken there to wait for Draco as he came back from his missions. I knew it had been built by muggles several hundred years ago, with only some magical modifications made to it since Voldemort took up residence. It was easily the size of two Quidditch pitches, and the roof was equally as high as the stands that surround them. The sculpting on the walls and pillars holding up the roof, was gothic, I think, though I never really made it a habit to study architecture. The iron brackets on the walls held torches, and they gave of quite a bit of heat, yet the eerie blue color that they glowed always managed to send shivers down my spine and make me feel cold.
Grant motioned for me to follow him towards the High Table, which was on a platform just below Lord Voldemort's chair at the other end of the hall, and he bound my wrists to the table just to the side of Draco's chair. I sat on a pillow there, resting my head on my arms for I was exhausted; the hourglass in Draco's room had said it was about two a.m. when Grant had come and woken me up. But, though tired, my auror training, however long ago that was, kept me alert and my mind clear; I was curious to see what could drag anyone down here at this time of morning, especially the Lord himself.
I didn't have to wait long, the Assembly room doors opened with a loud bang, and Draco and two other men came striding down the thick blue carpet that lay on the floor. Behind them three more people followed, two Death Eaters, one male and one female, pulling with them a prisoner.
I didn't see how one newly captured prisoner could catch Lord Voldemort's attention, but that was until the struggling man's head twisted towards me, his hair flicking off of his face, and I gasped. Three other slaves that were bound to the same table as me looked at me curiously, but I paid them no heed.
But, he's dead. . . for years. . .oh god, Harry!
"My Lord," Draco knelt, paying his respect to Lord Voldemort, "I have brought you a present."
Harry. . .does he know!
"I should have known you wouldn't disappoint me Draco," Voldmort replied, smiling coldly at him, "though I did have my doubts." He turned to focus his gaze on the prisoner. "And what have we here. . .I thought you were disposed of years ago. . ."
No. . .it's impossible, they can't come back. . .impossible!
"But that is beside the point," Voldemort continued, "I will not have you ruining our plans anymore. You will die a slow death, I can promise you that, and this time, I'll make sure you stay dead."
But the resemblance. . .it can't possibly him. . . !
"Wilson," He commanded the man who had hold of the prisoner's arm, "you and Ber-"
"My Lord!" Someone interrupted loudly, and I turned to see Snape quickly walking though the doors and down the length of the hall, "I'm sorry m'lord, but I beg you, give him to me! I have devised my own ways of torturing him. . ." He trailed off, and Voldmort looked at him with a mix of approving and annoyance. Finally he spoke.
"You have been a loyal servant to me Severus, and so for that, I grant you this favor as a reward for your ever lasting loyalty. But after this, I owe you nothing."
"You are most gracious my Lord," Snape replied smoothly, "you will not regret this!"
I looked at his eyes and was disgusted with what I saw in them. It wasn't until later I realized that it was not delight I saw in them, but relief.
With that, Snape took Wilson's place, and he and the women dragged the prisoner back down the hall, and through the doors.
I heard a lot of crashing and banging a couple of moments later, but in my daze I paid it no attention. All I could think of was
But he's dead. . . !
Harry's P.O.V
Judging by how quiet it was down here in one of the basements where my cell was, and upstairs, I estimated it to be about three a.m. Even then though, I had not yet managed to get to sleep due to a cold draft. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't manage to completely cover myself with my blanket, and I was constantly trying to regain the feeling in my ears or toes. I had just found a position that kept most of me warm and was starting to drift off, until I jerked back to full consciousness when I heard an enormous crash from somewhere upstairs followed by what sounded like utter chaos.
The noise got louder, heading towards me and I tried to stand up and look between the bars of the cell to see if I could spot anything. I wrestled briefly with the blanket, which during my struggle to cover myself, had managed completely tie me up.
Two shadowed and blurry figures (for I had no glasses) were slowly making their way down the stairs, dragging between them, a third figure. The two figures stepped into the ring of light that the torches on the walls provided, and I recognized them as both Death Eaters; one was Snape and the other was a woman I only knew as Bernice. I couldn't see the other figure, the one they were supporting; the head was down with hair so grimy and clumped with mud I couldn't even begin to guess the color, covering it. I could see now that Lucius was following meekly behind, I knew he was now quite afraid of Snape, now that Snape was looked highly upon by You-Know-Who's, being his favorite Death Eater and most important spy.
The procession paused at the cell beside mine. There were only three cells in this row and Lucius's quarters, then you had to go down to another door at the end to get to the next row. The cell beside mine was the only one empty, the last cell on this row was occupied by a nameless man who hadn't said one coherent word in my four years here.
Lucius produced his set of magical keys, something he always prided himself on since I was put in his care, and the door swung open. Snape and Bernice flung the person in and Bernice sighed in relief.
"He may look skinny, but he's a heavy little bugger." She groaned, rubbing her shoulders. "Anyway, I've got to get back on duty, I trust you can manage from here."
Snape gave her a glare, and she smirked. "Hey, I didn't doubt you. Have fun!" She said, giving a knowing wink before heading back the way she came.
Snape glanced at the man in the cell, before turning to Lucius. "Leave me," he commanded, "I want to have a bit of fun with my new toy. Hey," Snape stopped Lucius just as he was about to leave, "give me the key to his cell first." He demanded.
"But these keys are mine, you can call me when you are done." Lucius replied smoothly.
"I'm not having you listen Malfoy." Snape sneered, "What do you take me for, a fool? Leave the key with me."
"N-" Lucius began to reply, but Snape cut him off angrily.
"Don't you dare forget where your place is here, Lucius. You are no longer important to our Master. You have not the right, nor rank to disagree with me in such trivial matters." He threatened in a low voice. "Don't think I won't tell the Master that you are over stepping your boundaries."
I watched with interested, and, I must admit, slight pleasure as I watched Lucius gaping like a fish, at a loss for words, before taking the key off the ring and handing it over to Snape. He then whirled around and stalked down the hallway, I assumed to go drown out his troubles at the bar they had up in the dinning hall, which he often did.
Snape glanced at the man, and I suddenly realized what he meant by 'having fun'. Not wanted to witness it, the same as I had done with Hermione, I went back and huddled under my blanket, waiting to block out the sounds.
"You don't have to hide Potter." Snape put on an amused, but cold smile. "I don't intend to use him for that purpose. Unlike some of the people around here."
"What do you mean?" I replied loudly, confused, and forgetting the respect I had to show that comes with the burden of being a slave.
Snape glanced around, checking to make sure no one was listening. "You should be thanking me Potter, for I saved his sorry hide. You-Know-Who wanted him executed. Well, not right away of course," he added as an afterthought, "he wanted to torture him first, but when I asked if I could have him, he gave him to me for all my loyal years of service."
"You're a traitor!" I spat, "Professor Dumbledore trusted you!"
"And you're forgetting your role here, slave! Ah. . . Harry Potter, the boy who lived. . . if only to be the Dark Lord's sex slave. And keep your voice down," He commanded me quietly," You don't know who could be listening."
"What are you playing at? Why do you care all of a sudden?" I asked surprised at his last comment.
"Oh, that's not for you to know yet Potter. I-" He was cut off by a loud groan, and we both looked over to the man still lying on the floor from where Bernice and Snape had dropped him.
He looked over at me, his eye's stared uncomprehendingly into mine. I stared back, frozen in shock.
The resemblance, but, no. . . Dumbledore said. . . that it was impossible. . . —
"But you're dead!" I finally managed to choke out in horror.
Thank you to everyone who is reading, I really appreciate it. Please review!
Dalamar