Hermione was trembling in Harry's arms. He held her tighter to him. A faint whimper escaped from her mouth as Voldemort raised his wand again.
"I said put your wands down. Imperio!"
Again Harry felt the wonderful sensation of an empty mind. His head seemed to be hollow. He felt Hermione's tense body relax next to him.
"Okay, now put down your wands." Immediately Hermione's wand clattered to the ground, but Harry retained his grip.
"I said, put down your wand!"
"NO!" The spell was broken. Hermione fell to the ground to retrieve her wand, but Voldemort was too quick.
"Crucio!" A blood-curtling scream echoed through the hospital, followed by barks and cries from animals in the kennel.
"Leave her alone!" Harry spat. He threw himself towards Voldemort, who jumped out of the way.
"Temper temper Mr. Potter. You should be quite grateful that this is neither the time, nor place that I will kill you. Trust me, it is quite tempting, but I still have my uses for you." Before Harry could react, he was thrown into a nearby chair, and bound tightly to it. Hermione still lay twitching on the ground.
Voldemort drew the tiniest knife out of his robes, and sliced the skin on Harry's left arm in exactly the spot Wormtail had, more than two years earlier.
"I never realized how wonderful your blood was, until I found it running through my own veins." Harry's scar began to sear with pain, as Voldemort placed a long thin finger to the open wound on Harry's arm. Voldemort rubbed the fresh blood around his fingers, then pulled a vile out from his robes, and let Harry's blood drip into it. The thought of his blood running through Voldemort's veins made Harry's stomach churn.
Harry glanced over at the heap that was Hermione curled up on the floor. Underneath her bushy hair, Harry could see how pale her face had become. Voldemort saw Harry glancing. "Don't worry, I won't hurt your mudblood friend...yet. It's nice to have a bit of a challenge, and I know I won't get one from someone as stupid as you. Only a true idiot would reveal the whereabouts of Dumbledore's secret hideout. Never fear Potter, I'll be back for you again."
"And I'll be waiting."
And with one last laugh, Voldemort disapparated.
The bonds holding Harry disappeared, and he ran over to Hermione. She was sitting up now, staring at something a few feet in front of her.
"Harry," She gasped, "My mum." He caught her as she fell into his arms. He looked over at the face that was unmistakably Mrs. Granger. She had the same bushy hair, and large teeth...though Hermione's were significantly smaller now since fourth year. The woman's eyes were wide with shock, and her lips were just barely parted. Harry pulled Hermione into a very tight hug, and kissed her lightly on the top of the head.
"It's okay Hermione." She was sobbing silently on his shoulder. He helped her to her feet, and walked her over to the chair he had been bound to. "Sit down, I'll go find Hedwig and Crookshanks." He walked off past three more bodies: The receptionist, Dr. Berkley, and the man who had the snake, though the snake was nowhere to be seen. In the other room Harry found Crookshanks hiding under an examination table. Hedwig's empty cage was sitting on the table, and Hedwig came hobbling into the room, with her wings wrapped tightly.
"C'mon, let's get out of here." He picked up Hedwig carefully and placed her in her cage. Crookshanks was limping next to him, and they walked out to meet Hermione.
"Do you want to come to the Dursleys' with me? You could call your dad and have him pick you up in the morning. Or do you want me to just fly you home? Where do you live, by the way?"
"About thirty minutes away by car. Little Whinging is closer, I'll just go with you." She had stopped crying, but was very weak. Her whole body seemed to droop, as if she had no desire to be alive.
Harry helped her out the door to where his broom and cloak were hidden. He placed Hedwig's cage on the ground beside him, and pulled his Firebolt and the invisibility cloak out from the bushes.
"Wait, what about Crookshanks? Where can we put him?"
"My mum and I brought him in his basket. It's inside. I'll go get it."
"No, let me." Harry ran inside and fetched the basket, emerging seconds later. He hooked the basket and cage onto his broom, like before, and climbed on. Hermione climbed on behind him. "Forget about the cloak. Being seen is the last thing on my mind. You ready?"
Hermione grabbed around his waist, and Harry kicked off hard from the ground. It had gotten cooler since he had left. Several minutes later, Harry began to descend. The rooftops of Privet Drive came into view. Harry landed in the Dursley's backyard. The two of them climbed off the broom and removed the cage and basket.
"Well, welcome to my hell I guess." Hermione couldn't help but smile.