Disclaimer – Everything you recognise, belongs not to me, but the talented JK.  Anything else is more than likely mine.

Authors Note – Another Pansy Draco story, our favourite couple.  This is going to get quite dark and our three favourite main characters are going to be shown in quite a different light.

Warning – Very dark chapter ahead, which contains non-consensual groping/sex.

Crudelis Ferreus

Chapter Six – Burning Emeralds

"Does it hurt?" he asked, hands hovering just above the stump that was once my arm.

"Surprisingly no," I answered, "Its numb, extremely numb.  And rather ugly I m-m-might ad-d"

I couldn't contain the sob that escaped.  I averted my gaze, stared at the cave floor, trying to steady the flow of tears.  I found arms snaking around my shoulders, pulling me into a gentle embrace.  I let them-I needed to be held.

"I want my arm back," I whispered into his chest.

"Hermione's in the library, looking for something we could use," he whispered into my hair.

"And you think I'm going to trust either of you two?"

He gave a choked laugh, "I don't suppose you are, are you?"

I shook my head, pulling away to look up at him.

"I don't know whether we should bandage it or not," he said, pulling away completely, "I mean its not bleeding, its not infected-"

I look down at my shoulder.  There was just a stump sticking out, skin already enclosed over where my arm should have started.

"I don't think it needs one," I reply.

"Is it tender though?  Does it hurt to touch?"

"I don't know," I replied.  I reached a trembling hand out towards it but yanked it away.  The thought of feeling that pink, putty-looking stump made me feel sick.

"You do it?" I asked.

Harry reached his own hand out and gently rested it on the stump.  His hand betrayed no emotion but his face was set, and wary at the same time.

"Hurt?"

I shook my head.

"I think you're alright then."

"Alright?  Potter I have one arm.  I am not alright."

He dropped his gaze, "It's our fault.  If we had listened to you we could have averted this.  But we were stupid, we got too carried away…"

I made an indignant snort, "You can say that again."

"I'll keep saying it for the rest of my life until you forgive me," he said sincerely.

"I'll forgive you when I get my arm back," I answered.

"Thought as much.  We will get it back you know.  We will find a way."

"You better bloody had because when Draco sees this your dead."

"If Draco sees it," Grangers voice spat from the shadows.

"How long have you been there?" I spat back.

"Long enough," was the harsh reply, "There was nothing," she said shortly.

I gave Harry a look but he didn't return it.  He just gazed at Granger.

"Did you even look?" I asked.

"Of course I did," she replied in a tone that suggested the complete opposite.

"Yeah, I'm sure," I replied sarcastically.

"Of course she did Pansy.  We'll just have to try something else." Harry butted in.

"Yes Pansy.  There are hundreds of books in the library, it could take years to find the right counter-curse," she said, her tone gleeful.

"It could," Harry chipped in.

I threw him a murderous look.

"This came for you.  I found it on your bed," Granger said, holding out a golden parchment envelope to Harry.  He stared at it like it was on fire and snatched it from her, tearing it open and ripping out the letter.

"Its tonight," he said blandly.

"What's tonight?" I inquired.

"Tonight?  But we're not ready." Granger squeaked.

"Not ready for what?" I said, a hint of annoyance in my tone.

"We need to get everyone in the common rooms now." Harry said, a commanding tone to his voice.

"Why?" I said, exasperated.

"Won't Dumbledore take care of that?" Granger said, ignoring me.  Not that that was a bad thing.

"Yes but we need to do a sweep, check everyone is inside.  If anyone tries any heroics-"

"Like you usually do Potter?  What the hell is going on?"

He sighed and turned to me, "Your beloved Master has decided he wants to attack Hogwarts.  It's happening tonight."

"He's attacking…here?" I whispered.

"Yes," said Grangers hard tone, "Attacking a defenceless and innocent school."

"Why?" I asked.

They both looked uncomfortable then, staring at the ground, each other, unsure.

"He's come for me hasn't he?" I said slowly, understanding dawning.

Harry nodded.

"Well if you let me go now, I can stop him attacking.  I can stop him killing innocent students." I cried.

Harry dared a look at Granger; her face was curled into a snarl.

"Thought you try and turn the misfortune of others to your own advantage did you?  Thought we'd let you out so you can go running back to him and then turn on us.  You must think we're stupid."

I jumped to my feet, shooting arrows from my eyes at her.

"Do you really think I want him to tear this school apart just to find me?  Do you really think I want all those students to die?  I mightn't care one bloody inch about the lot of them but I don't want them dead, who am I going to insult and treat like dogs if they aren't around?  And Slytherins, they will die to tonight.  Draco might die.  Do you really think I want that?  If you let me go you will save everyone's lives.  He won't attack.  If its me he wants then once he's got me he'll be gone.  He only wants what he comes for."

"Are you trying to tell me that once he's got you he'll leave us alone?" Granger said in disbelief.  I nodded.

"As if I'm going to believe that.  You'll probably storm in on his right hand side, shooting curses at us all, giving him our secrets.  We are not going to free you Parkinson, ever."

I dived toward her, the stupid, stuck-up bitch.  But she floated out of my reach.  I stood at her feet, jumping and snatching at her like a madwomen.  She just laughed and floated further out of my reach.

"Harry!" she shouted impatiently down to him.

I turned to look at him and his eyes gave me all the apology I needed.

"I can stop this you know," I whispered, "All of it."

"I know," he whispered back, "But Hermione."

I threw myself against the wall as he left, pounding it with my fists.  Finally I slid down it, crumpling into a heap at the bottom, tears clouding my sight.

It was the worst night of my life.  Well second to when I lost my arm.  I could hear the bangs, the shouts and screams.  I could hear the Gryffindor idiots whimpering above, apparently a group of Hufflepuffs had been caught outside and no one had heard anything of them since.

I had heard no mention of Harry, and no mention of Draco.  Not that they would have been able to distinguish Draco from the masses of black-clad Death Eaters.  They talked in hushed whispers when ever they mentioned My Lord, not daring to utter his name, as it should be.

I wanted to be out there, I wanted to fight.  Not against those students who had been trapped into fighting but against those Ministry wizards who just didn't understand.  They wouldn't let their narrow-minds believe what was befalling the wizarding world.  And they called us narrow-minded!  They wouldn't let the truth spoil their perfectly fair world, where everyone could be happy and true.

The perfectly fair world they were destroying by allowing wizards to marry and bred with Muggles.

The only reason My Lord wanted all the Muggles dead was so there would be no chance of them polluting our blood, dirtying it, weakening it.

"Is that Harry?" one of them suddenly exclaimed.  My ears pricked up.

"Oh God that isn't…?"

"Who's that Death Eater standing over her?"

"My God no…"

"What?" I demanded, knowing full well I would receive no answer.

"What's he…?"

"He's duelling him!"

"Go on Harry!"

"Ow,"

"No the other way."

"Oh God."

"He's hit the floor."

"Harry get up."

"Get up!"

I was on my knees by now, nails digging into the flesh of my thigh.

"Yes!"

"Good shot Harry!"

"And again, and again."

Suddenly they fell silent.  There was a crash and a whimper.

"Oh God no.  Oh God no," one of them moaned weakly.

"It's…" trailed off another.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," someone said in a deadly whisper.

"Harry…no…" another whispered.

My thigh began to bleed, my nails leaving deep ruts in the soft skin.

"Is he?"

"No he's moving.  He's on his knees, he's…bloody hell Harry never knew you had that in you."

"What, what the hell is happening?" I screamed at the ceiling.  It was no good, it never was.  I could scream blue bloody murder at that ceiling, colour it with my words and I wouldn't get an answer.

"Christ," someone exclaimed.  I couldn't take it.

"What the fuck is going on up there?" I screamed, "I want to know you stupid bastards.  I need to know; I can't bloody take this anymore.  I need to know what the fuck is happening.  Where's Draco?  And what's happening to Harry?" I screamed shrilly.  I finished up with a blood-curdling noise, somewhere between a howl and a scream, before throwing myself into a shivering heap in the middle of the floor, banging my fist against it.

"Have you ever heard anything like that?" one of them commented.  I didn't care.

Rough hands waked me, pulling at my body.  I was dragged onto my back, and I vaguely registered a sharp stone sticking into the curve of my spine.

"Who's that?" I asked hoarsely.

"Me," Harry said shortly.

"What's wrong?  What happened?" I said, sitting up sharply.  I let out a surprised shriek as he roughly threw me back to the ground.  I hit the floor hard, the previous stone cutting into my flesh.

"What the-?"

But he threw himself on to of me, pressing me into the floor.  The stone cut deeper, drawing blood.

"Harry what the hell-"

"Shut the fuck up Pansy"

I gasped and began to struggle wildly.  I had no idea what had happened to make him like this but it was not a position I wanted to be in with Potter.

"If you don't stop it I'll-" but his harsh words were cut short as I freed my hand and slapped him across the face.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I screamed at him.  He reeled away for a moment, a look of the Harry I knew crossing his features, before he suddenly advanced upon me again.

"Whatever I want to," was his reply.

I began to scream but each came out a horse squeak.  I struggled, kicking and biting, trying to slap him again.  He grabbed my wrist and slammed it into the floor above my head, holding it with a force I'd never thought the frail boy would have had.  All the while that stone cut deeper and deeper, a sticky pool of blood forming underneath me.

"Harry stop it," I pleaded, "What are you-"

But his lips silenced me, crashing down on my own with such a force it hurt.  His kisses were rough, desperate.  I struggled away from them.

"Stop it," I gasped, "Harry stop it."

His free hand found its way to the buttons on my shirt, ripping them open to reveal the tender flesh.  His hands raked across my skin, rough, harsh caresses I'd have never thought possible from him.

I moaned and whimpered in fear.  Yes fear.  I wasn't trained to fight off this, to fight off rape.

"Harry…" I whimpered.  His hand travelled down my stomach, travelled down into my pants…

I found the voice for another scream as his hands touched those intimate places I had reserved for Draco.

"Stop it!" I screamed, kicking at him, "Stop it now."

His mouth crashed onto mine again, rough, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth.  I tried to wind my wrist out of his grip, twisting it violently but he slammed it into the floor again, all the while still pushing his other hand further…

I began to cry, hot tears crashing down onto my cheeks, crashing onto my chest.

"Stop it…Stop it" I whispered.

His lips travelled down my neck, biting at my tender skin.  I began to tremble at his touch, my whole body shaking.  His arm suddenly smacked me in the face; it was inches away from my mouth.  I took my chance and sunk my teeth deep into it.  He roared in pain, sitting up and letting go of my wrist.  Quickly I kicked at him while he was cradling his arm and pulled myself away.  He followed me on his knees, crawling along the floor.  I screamed, watching those burning emerald eyes as they crawled closer to me.  My back hit the wall and I froze, my wide, terror filled eyes watching his fury filled ones.  Reaching out he grabbed a clump of my hair and threw my head against the wall.

Moaning and whimpering I slid to the ground.  My vision was blaring and my body shook.  Pitiful is what I was.  A shaking, moaning wreck, covered in sticky, hot blood mixed with tears.  I looked up through the blurriness, looking for him, awaiting his next invasion.

He was stepping away, horror written on his features.  I tried to lift my head to stare at him but it was heavy and lolled uselessly on my shoulders.  Blackness was descending.  My eyelids flickered and my eyes rolled, whiteness blaring.  But I could have sworn I saw tears falling from those emeralds as the darkness claimed me.