::A/N:: Okay I'm really sorry for the delay in updating. I had this chapter typed up a few days ago, but the internet connection on my laptop broke so I couldn't post it! So I just retyped it on the main computer. I'm sorry for the wait! Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to my dear friend Katelet the Great, who left me two great encouraging reviews. I put some Lupin-ness in here for her, even though she's not a big RL/NT fan. But it's still dedicated to her! So without further ado, here's SotP 8. Enjoy!
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On the coast of Scandinavia, on a small island far out to sea, a battle was raging. In the midst of all the chaos, Hermione sat alone in an isolated cell in the prison of Azkaban, drinking in the surreal noises and sights. She had been captured. By a Death Eater. And now she was in Azkaban. These same thoughts kept running through her head, yet Hermione could not process them. The Dementors no longer stationed themselves at Azkaban, having joined the ranks of Lord Voldemort, but their presence was still felt on the tiny island. The effect on Hermione was overwhelming: she felt cold, hungry, and desperate, and she had given up any hope that she would be rescued. Hardest of all, she felt painfully alone.
The current situation wasn't that surprising, she had to admit. She had encountered Death Eaters before, always managing to escape, but she had been with her friends on all these dangerous escapades. Now she sat alone, having little hope of liberation, and the silence devastated her. Hermione was terrified; her body shook violently as she realized the amount of harm Voldemort and his minions could inflict upon her. If only her friends had been here to ease some of her pain. She reflected for a moment about how they would feel if she was killed. With a pang, she realized that her relationship with Ron had never been resolved. Despite the hopeless circumstances, she prayed for the chance to see her loved ones again.
Outside the cold prison walls, the members of the Order of the Phoenix fought an intense battle to answer that prayer.
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Ron couldn't remember the last time he had cried. It was probably sometime before he had started at Hogwarts, and no doubt as a result of one of the twins' pranks (he still hadn't recovered from Mr. Teddy turning into a spider). This was a dozen times worse than that, however; Ron had never been through an ordeal unbearable as this. The only time that came close was when Ginny had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets, but at least Ron had been able to do something about that. This time, he had to endure the painful waiting just to know if Hermione was alright. And a lingering doubt persisted that she might not be alright.
Ron allowed these thoughts to wash over him while he sat alone in his room at Grimmauld Place, hunched on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest. The lights were all off in the hopes that no one would disturb him. Once or twice, his mother opened the door quietly but didn't see him lurking in the corner and quickly left the room. He didn't want to see anyone anyway; he knew his eyes must be red and could feel the salty taste on his lips from where the tears had landed.
About half an hour after Ron had stopped all his hard sobs, the door opened again and he could see Ginny squinting through the darkness for him. She was holding the hand of a very despondent Harry, who didn't seem to register anything that was happening. They both stepped into the room and Ginny spotted Ron. She hesitantly wandered over to him and sat down on his right side, pulling Harry down on the floor next to her. For a few moments, the three friends sat side-by-side, enveloping the emptiness around them. Ron reached for Ginny's hand and she turned towards him, tears sledding down her nose. She pulled her big brother into a hug and tried to stifle her tears. Ron looked at Harry over her shoulder, who was watching him with a pained expression.
"Ron," came Harry's croaky voice, "I'm really, really sorry."
"It's not your fault, mate," Ron returned in a hollow voice.
Harry nodded and lowered his gaze to the dark carpet, holding his head in his hands. The three of them continued to sit there in a miserable existence, just waiting for the slightest bit of news.
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"Tonks!" came Arthur Weasley's voice the moment she had apparated onto the island fortress. "We need you to go and find Hermione! We're holding off the Death Eaters, just go and find her before anything worse happens!" He frowned as he said this last part, concentrating on defending himself from one of the advancing Death Eaters, who was firing a series of curses.
Without hesitation, Tonks set off across the tiny island. She ran through craters that had formed after being hit with awry spells, concentrating on reaching the massive prison in the center of the island. Out of the corner of her eye she saw more duels taking place. It appeared that the Order was faring quite well. Bill Weasley had two Death Eaters laying in a heap at his feet; Mad Eye Moody had roped three of them together; Kingsley Shacklebolt carried on a fierce battle with MacNair. To her right Tonks saw the tall thin form of Dumbledore, who was effortlessly brandishing his wand at several Death Eaters at once, all of whom were cowering at his feet. The usual twinkle in his eyes had been replaced with a fierce hatred, and Tonks could almost feel the fury radiating from him.
All of a sudden, Bellatrix Lestrange appeared in front of Tonks, blocking her way. A nasty grin played across her wasted face as she stared down at her sister Andromeda's daughter. "Going somewhere, Nymphadora?" she asked in a dangerous tone.
"Don't—call me—Nymphadora," Tonks wheezed through clenched teeth. She glared at her aunt and hatred coursed through her as she thought of Sirius and the pain everyone had suffered through because of his death, especially Remus and Harry. However, the hatred was rapidly replaced with fear when Tonks saw Bellatrix open her mouth to utter a curse. She aimed her wand at Tonks' heart but was all of a sudden blasted fifteen feet backwards, landing sprawled out on her back, clearly unconscious.
Tonks was startled and turned to find Remus standing to her left with his wand raised, a fierce look etched into his worn face. He lowered his wand and turned to look at her, a smile lighting up features. "Sorry about that, Dora," he said with a grin.
"You know I hate it when you call me 'Dora'," she replied, grinning as well.
"I know," he said with a shrug. Then his playful demeanor changed as he gave her a serious look. "Come on, we need to find Hermione."
The two of them hurried across the battle-swept grounds, wands raised and hearts pumping furiously. Lupin reached the prison first and thrust his way inside the door, Tonks following close behind him. They set off along the narrow hallway that was placed between cells, running quietly and very aware of the eerie feeling.
"Hermione!" Tonks called as she swept past dozens of cells. "HERMIONE!"
Hermione sat up quickly in her cell. She could have sworn she heard someone calling her name. She wrapped her hands around the bars and craned her neck to see if anyone was coming. In the distance she could see two lone figures running towards her. Someone called her name again, and this time Hermione recognized the voice.
"Tonks?" she called hopefully. "TONKS! I'm down here!" Hermione began banging on the bars and soon enough she recognized Tonks and Lupin running down the narrow hall of the prison. A wave of relief engulfed her and Hermione gave a shaky laugh; she couldn't believe she was actually going to make it out of here alive.
"Oh Hermione, thank goodness you're alright," Lupin sighed, jabbing his wand toward the door of the cell. "Alohomora," he cried, and the door of Hermione's cell sprang open. Tonks hurried forward into the cell and wrapped her arms around the young girl, who was taking shaky breaths but was also clearly very happy to see them there.
"How did you find me?" Hermione inquired, looking from Tonks to Lupin.
"There's no time to explain, Hermione," Lupin answered. "The Order is outside fighting the Death Eaters, but we need to get you out of here right away. Where's your wand?"
"Lucius Malfoy has it," she replied desolately.
"I was afraid of that," Lupin said. "Well, let's hope one of the Order retrieves it. You may have to buy a new wand, though."
Hermione nodded. Lupin fumbled in his pockets for a moment before removing an old cigar. "This will have to do," he said, frowning at it. He tapped it and muttered, "Portus." The cigar lit up with a faint blue light for a second, then returned to normal. "I'm going to go help round things up," he said to Tonks. "Make sure Madame Pomfrey tends to her."
Tonks nodded. "Be careful, Remus," she said, staring at him.
"I will be. You just make sure Hermione gets out of here okay." He handed Tonks the cigar and disapparated.
"Come on," said Tonks with a slight smile to Hermione. "Let's get you home."
They both grasped the portkey and were instantly whisked away to the kitchen of number twelve, Grimmauld Place.
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::A/N:: If anyone would like to read a very cute H/G fic, my friend Vinny just published one! Look it up under the penname PadfootLuvr21. And I also want to give a shoutout to Melindaleo because her latest chapter was amazing! If anyone here hasn't read her fic, you need to! Finally, I noticed that a lot of people are reading this story but not reviewing. Please review, guys! It seriously makes my day. Even if it's just two words. I typed up several pages for you…can't you just give me two sentences?