Warning: see first chapter –this isn't a pretty story.  It turns very dark from here on, and we all know Voldemort isn't going to be nice to Severus and Hermione. But in case you'd forgotten, this story is rated R and contains torture and rape. If you're underage or that isn't your cup of tea, please don't flame or complain. There are over 72,000 Harry Potter stories on this site –just go and read something else. Now, for anyone still with us, on with the story! : )

6. Breaking.

Hermione ended up staying at Hogwarts. Even though Voldemort had what he wanted, Dumbledore considered it too dangerous for her to attend University. The Wizard University in Leeds was under strict control of the Ministry, which meant there was little barring Voldemort from accessing it, and the students, any time he wished. She studied advanced Transfiguration, Charms and Defense against the Dark Arts, and when school started in September, she taught several of the lower classes in Transfiguration and DADA. She had planned to study Potions at the University, but Severus' replacement, a witch by the name of Reena Lennarts, was not much more knowledgeable than she was, although the woman was competent in the classrooms up to seventh year. Besides, doing Potions now would be too painful. She stuck to the other subjects. Professor Christy Sinistra took over as Head of Slytherin.

She tried hard to keep busy, working even harder than she did before her O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts, and she tried to move on, but she couldn't. She knew it would've been hard to forget Severus, even if none of this had happened, if she'd gone to University and she had known he was teaching here at Hogwarts. But now, it was impossible. She didn't eat well, she slept very badly, and she avoided the other staff members who showed their concern.

Sure, the Hogwarts staff were her friends. She had always liked most of her teachers, and she did get along with Minerva, Filius, Remus and the rest. But she felt terribly lonely, knowing her parents and Severus were dead. Even Crookshanks was gone. The Ministry had located her parents' car, completely burned out, more than two weeks after the start of the summer, and there had been no trace of the cat. He'd likely been inside but the magical fire had been so hot there was no way to be sure.

In the meantime, Lucius Malfoy was getting worried. For the sixth week in a row, ever since he'd taken over from Walden, who'd almost killed Severus in a fit of rage, he had to report to Voldemort that the damned traitor wasn't any closer to giving in than he had been back in July. So far, the Dark Lord had been patient, but Lucius did not want to find out how long, exactly, that would last. Not to mention the chance of failure, that was most definitely not something the Dark Lord took kindly. Lucius was afraid the traitor would, no matter how careful they were in the use of Cruciatus and other forms of torture, lose his mind before he submitted.

Voldemort heard Lucius' report in silence. "Do you have any suggestions?" he asked finally.

Another thing Lucius had worried about. Saying, or even remotely implying, the Dark Lord had been wrong about something was never a good idea. Of course, sending the Mudblood witch away had been the only way to get their hands on Snape, but…

"We could try using her again," Lucius said carefully. "Seeing he cared enough about her to come here, he might give in once we get our hands on her."

Voldemort looked thoughtful and Lucius flinched inwardly.

"It was necessary to let her go. I can not cheat a Truth Charm, and without that assurance he would not have come at all. I must admit I had not expected him to be this stubborn. Fortunately, I did not promise I would never cause harm to her –how could I? with the war it was almost a given I would face her again, sooner or later. All I promised was that I would let her go and not go after her immediately. Those requirements have, by now, been met."

Lucius relaxed a little when he realised the Dark Lord did not take the suggestion as criticism. "So we take her."

"It is unfortunate she is at Hogwarts, the one place it is difficult to get at anyone," Voldemort frowned. "But yes, find a way and take her."

"Yes, Lord," Lucius said and bowed as he left the room. He had a plan that might work, difficult but not impossible. Several of the seventh-year Slytherins were loyal and eager to serve.

Hermione rarely left the castle. She read, studied, taught and read some more. She never took a walk, and she certainly didn't go to Hogsmeade. Only on the days of the Quidditch matches she went outside, more because the rest of the staff insisted than because she wanted to see the game. Today was the second match, between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and she'd almost refused to go no matter what anyone said. She had too many memories watching these two particular houses playing Quidditch. But Ginny was a Chaser on the Gryffindor team, ever since her older brothers and Angelina had left, and Hermione finally gave in and came to see her play.

The game was off to a good start as Ginny immediately took possession of the Quaffle, although the Slytherin Keeper managed to stop her from scoring. The Slytherin Chasers took over, but were quickly stopped by the Bludgers sent their way by the excellent Gryffindor Beaters. Ginny grabbed the Quaffle again and this time she managed to score the first goal of the match.

Cheering for her friend, Hermione felt herself getting caught up in the game and the crowd. Dennis Creevey was commenting, quickly calling out the names of the players, but he was less biased than Lee Jordan had been and called out fouls on both teams.

Gryffindor scored again, but then the Slytherins got two goals in a row, and the students got wild. Of course, the Seekers would likely decide the game in the end. Hermione felt a stab of pain as she remembered how Harry had usually caught the Snitch, in much happier times. Like the game in her first year, when Severus had refereed, long before she fell in love with him. She sighed and tried, in vain, to turn her attention back to the match being played in front of her.

Suddenly, amidst all the racket of the game, an owl appeared. Startled, Hermione noticed it heading straight for her. Who would write her and have a letter delivered at this time of the day? She would be careful and check anything it had for her, as she did each time she received a message. Even with that plan, when the owl didn't land but instead dropped a small package, her reflexes took over and she caught it in her hand. The moment it touched her skin, she knew her mistake. She could hear the startled cries from Remus and Minerva, who sat next to her, as the Portkey carried her away.

She landed on the floor in a room she'd only seen twice before, but which was way too familiar to her. She didn't have time to go for her wand before it was summoned by the Death Eaters, who had the advantage in that they had obviously expected her. Voldemort stood among them, still as pale as ever, red eyes gleaming as if a fire roared inside his skull.

"What do you want this time?" she asked angrily as she pushed herself up.

As an answer, one of the Death Eaters gave her a hard kick in the side. She gasped.

"This time, you will be more respectful," someone hissed. Malfoy again. Damn.

"Or what, you're going to kill me?" she spat. "Since you already killed everyone I loved, I don't care!"

Voldemort smiled at her, and she even heard a laugh from Malfoy behind her. The bastards.

"This time, there is no need to keep you from being injured," Voldemort said calmly. "Crucio."

She fell to the ground, screaming. She couldn't believe the pain, it was as if all her bones were made of liquid, burning lead. She was thrashing on the ground, hitting her arms and legs against the furniture, but the pain from that did not even register through the agony from the Cruciatus curse. Finally, Voldemort stopped the curse and a painful throb was all that remained. She lay on the floor, breathing heavily.

"Take her to the cells," Voldemort ordered, and Malfoy reached out to pull her up.

Hermione gasped, everything hurt and she stumbled as she was pulled to her feet, but she still was angry. Struggling, she cursed, earning her a hard slap in the face. She shut up, for now.

Malfoy dragged rather than led her to the cells. Avery followed, but at least Voldemort remained here. Not that she thought Malfoy and Avery would treat her any better.

Unlike last time, the cells smelled bad. A strong odour hit her as she was pulled down the stone steps. She noticed a figure laying on one of the wooden benches. Then the figure looked up and she felt like her heart would stop.

"Severus!" she gasped, when she found her breath. "Oh my God, you're alive."

"Hermione, no," Severus said, his voice cracking.

Hermione felt tears come to her eyes as she saw him. He was naked, and his reed-thin body was covered in fresh wounds and older scars. His hair was matted, wisps plastered to his face, he was unshaven and his eyes were… desperate. She couldn't hide her dismay as she cried out.

"Severus, what did they do to you? They kept you here, all this time?" Merlin, how long had it been, this was unimaginable. She didn't even consciously notice Malfoy unlocked the cell next to his.

Severus' expression was one of utter horror. "Hermione," he said again, softly, then, with obvious effort, pulled himself up from the bench and turned to Malfoy. "You bastard."

Malfoy laughed out loud now. "Such language," he drawled.

"What did they do to you, why?" Hermione repeated, no longer paying attention to Malfoy. She couldn't believe Severus was still alive. She struggled, trying to reach for him through the bars, and Malfoy let her go. Forgetting her own pain, she clung to the bars and reached out through them.

He took her hand, and with his other hand reached for her face, gently wiping the tears and tracing the place where Malfoy had hit her. His expression softened. She cried as she was almost afraid to touch him, he had so many sores and bruises everywhere.

"Well, answer her, traitor, or should I explain?" Malfoy sneered from behind her.

Severus snarled at him angrily, then looked at Hermione again, the anger replaced immediately by the same horror and desperation she had seen when she had come in. He closed his eyes for a moment before he started.

"He wants me to work for him again. He needs someone to make a new Philosopher's Stone. I have refused, and Malfoy here has been trying to convince me." His voice was flat.

Hermione looked at him in shock. Realisation dawned and she realised why she was brought here. She whirled around, enough adrenaline raging through her to ignore the pounding headache the quick movement, so soon after the Cruciatus curse, brought. She turned on Malfoy.

"Bastard! Utter, utter bastard! Well it's not going to work, you'll have to kill me first!"

Malfoy smiled, then pulled his wand out. "Crucio."

Through her own screams of pain, she could hear Severus call her name, then the Petrificus Totalus spell Avery cast on him.

Malfoy held the curse on her longer than Voldemort had, or perhaps it only seemed that way. When he finally released it, she was twitching and shaking and she felt like her head was going to explode. She felt like she wanted to die, right here and then. Severus had withstood more than three months of this? Gritting her teeth, she spat at Malfoy's feet.

Malfoy pulled her up by the hair, then slammed her down on the floor, hard. She groaned as he kicked her, rolling away to lessen the impact, but the cell was small and she could not avoid his kicks for long. She gagged as he kicked her in the stomach several times in a row, throwing up when he gave her a moment of rest. Then, with a flick of his wand, Malfoy ripped off her clothes. She hissed in disgust, then dismay as she realised Severus would be forced to watch. She steeled herself, determined to stay strong.

Pulling her up again, Malfoy threw her on the wooden bench, then opened his pants and took out his throbbing penis.

"Bastard, dirty bastard," she growled, earning herself another hard slap in the face, but she refused to stop cursing as he pushed himself up against her, then entered her roughly.

It hurt, but nothing, nothing compared to Cruciatus. She was too angry to feel humiliated, Malfoy was the filthy bastard and she would not plead, not cry. He hit her again, now with his fists, as she kept yelling obscenities at him, but she still did not stop. If he hit her hard enough that she passed out, it would be a temporary relief.

But Malfoy made sure that didn't happen. She tried to scratch him as he thrust into her faster and faster, but he pinned her arms down easily. At least this meant he didn't have his hands free to punch her, and she called him a bastard again and again. Finally she could feel him tense as he came, then pulled out of her. He wiped his penis on her discarded clothes and Avery took his place.

She started to curse him too, and he cast a silencing spell on her. She glared at him instead as he took her, at least it didn't hurt as much now that she was moist from Malfoy's cum. The man didn't take long to come, groaning and breathing hard.

If she had hoped they were done with her, she soon learned she was mistaken. Just as Avery was done, two more Death Eaters came down the stairs. She spat as she recognised them, Macnair and… Draco. Figures, since he was the one who overheard them. No doubt this was his reward.

Avery released the silencing spell, and Macnair came forward. A minor flash of satisfaction flitted through her as she realised that Draco didn't exactly get first picks, even if he had been the one to find out about them. Even so, she was a little afraid of the big man who approached her now. She had heard enough about him to know he made Malfoy and Avery look like angels when it came to cruelty. Well, if he'd kill her then Draco would miss out on his turn with her. That thought almost made her smile even now.

Macnair noticed as he straddled her. "Enjoying yourself, bitch?" he inquired.

"More than you know, filthy motherfucker," she hissed.

Macnair sneered. "Such language from a pretty girl like you. Although you're not quite so pretty now." He fingered one of the bruises Malfoy had left, then pinched her, making her wince. Then he entered her, easily slipping into her.

"Asshole," she spat.

He took out his wand and she braced herself, expecting more than just a silencing spell from him, but nothing could have prepared her for what he did.

"Crucio."

Again, agony overtook her and she bucked and twisted under the large man. Macnair easily kept her pinned down as she screamed and cried. Through her tears, she saw his grin as he rode her.

When he came and released the Cruciatus curse, she was exhausted. She was breathing hard, covered in sweat, and hurting like hell. She could feel her muscles spasm, and couldn't do a thing to stop it. That had been the third Cruciatus, and he hadn't killed her. Draco took his place.

"Just as big a bastard as your father," she said softly. She barely had the strength to speak but she was not going to let Draco, of all people, go without at least one insult.

"I've been wanting to do this since I first saw you, Mudblood whore," Draco said. He, too, entered her and cast Cruciatus.

She almost passed out. She could hear her voice go hoarse and when he finally released her, she laid there, unable to move. She closed her eyes and hoped to pass out completely.

Through the haze, she heard Malfoy's voice again. "Finite Incantatem."

She opened her eyes and turned her head. Malfoy had dispelled the Petrificus Totalus Avery had cast, and Severus was looking at the pale-haired Death Eater.

"You win," he said, his voice void of all emotion.

Dismay flooded through Hermione. "No," she croaked, but almost no sound came out.

Severus looked at her, then back at Malfoy. "Take me to Voldemort."

Hermione tried to shake her head. She summoned all her strength and pushed herself up, falling to her knees on the floor. "No, Severus, don't, please don't."

"Hermione, I can't take this, I'm sorry."

She watched helplessly as Malfoy and Avery took him out of the cell and up the stairs. Draco and Macnair sneered at her, then she was left alone.

Severus let Malfoy and Avery drag him up the stairs, knowing full well he was too weak to make it unassisted. He no longer felt angry, or even sad, he just felt numb.

He dropped to his knees in front of Voldemort, bowing deep. "Leave her alone and I will do as you request, my Lord," he said quietly.

"With your history, you will excuse me if I verify you are speaking the truth," the Dark Lord said, and handed him a small vial.

Veritaserum. Not fail-safe, because circumstances changed and truths like these weren't absolute –just the previous day he could just as easily have sworn under Veritaserum he would die rather than give in. But it was a sensible precaution. He took a dose without protest.

"Leave Hermione alone and I will serve you, and attempt to recreate the Philosopher's Stone," he repeated.

Avery snorted. "Attempt?"

"It is a difficult enough project I can not promise to succeed, not under Veritaserum," he replied.

Avery snorted again, but the Dark Lord nodded. Thank Merlin the Dark Lord knew quite a bit about Potions and Alchemy. Voldemort was demanding and unforgiving on those who failed, but did not expect the impossible. If Avery were in charge, the man would probably demand results in a few months or even weeks, which was ridiculous for a project like this.

"Acceptable. Now you will understand that after you betrayed me once, I can not really trust you, Veritaserum or not. You won't have your wand, if you need any magic done you can ask someone. You will not leave the manor and you have access only to your laboratory, the library, and the common areas. As for Miss Granger, you understand I can not let her go free. If you can convince her to submit to these same restrictions, and make sure she doesn't try to escape or sabotage anything, I will allow her to join you. If not, she will have to remain locked in the cells."

"I understand, my Lord" Severus replied. It would be difficult to convince her, she could be almost as stubborn as he was. But he would.

"Good. Malfoy will see you healed enough to function, you can see about Miss Granger tomorrow. Dismissed."

"Thank you, my Lord," Severus answered.

Malfoy and Avery helped him up again –still rather rougher than necessary- then led him to a set of rooms on the second floor. Malfoy produced a series of vials, healing potions and salves. That seemed to be the extend of his assistance, as the two men left the room.

Severus slowly helped himself to the various potions, then found the bathroom and cleaned himself up just a little before collapsing onto the bed. He wished he could do something for Hermione tonight, but knew it would be futile to ask. After the fight she'd put up, Malfoy would not allow her any relief this quickly. Of course they'd been much harder on her for her resistance, but he was proud of her. He would do what he could for her in the morning.