"What's going on?" Lucretia asked anxiously.

"I don't know..." he said honestly.

"I'm sorry!..." she moaned, disgusted with her carelessness.

"Shhhh..."

They had landed in a dark, cold room. They could have been miles away from Hogsmeade by now.

Laughter could be heard faintly in the distance. Another noise whispered through the halls that Lucretia couldn't quite make out. All she knew was that she didn't like it much.

He stood up then helped Lucretia up from the hard, musty carpeted floor. He gestured for her to stay close, but she did anyway out of fear.

As they carefully crept down the halls, another sound joined the mysterious chorus of maniacal amusement. She could hear a strangled groaning, barely forced out of the speaker's throat.

The laughter intensified, growing colder and more vicious with each breath.

Ever so quietly, she could hear what sounded like soft, wet things falling to a tiled floor.

"These muggle devices sure are silly-looking, but at least they're good for something!" a man's voice said.

They turned the corner slowly, and what Lucretia saw nearly made her insides turn themselves inside-out.

A dismembered man sat tied to a chair in the kitchen. Two figures in long, black cloaks stood beside him, one of them holding a metal vegetable peeler. Most of the man's face was stripped of his skin, and his clothing was stained with his own blood. Worse than the limbs and pieces of flesh littering the floor, she could see parts of his skull peeking through the bloody mess that was his mutilated visage. She clasped her hand to her mouth in attempt to stifle a scream.

The figures turned to see what had made the muffled shriek. Their faces were disguised by plain white masks with narrow slits for eyes.

"Ahh, Severus! Come to join the party, eh?" One of them said, sounding rather delightfully surprised. "And I see you've brought a little mudblood with you." The figure approached her, looking her up and down. "Very nice...so young and delicious. You sure know how to pick them, old chap! Shall we have ourselves a bit of fun right now or--?"

"What sick thing are you trying to do now?" Severus asked, his voice slightly trembling.

"You would know all about what sick is, now wouldn't you?" The other man said chuckling. "Don't think that we all have forgotten—"

"SHUT UP!!" Severus shouted, completely enraged. She had never seen him blush before now.

What was left of the poor muggle's eyelid twitched spasmodically.

"What's wrong with you?!" the masked man demanded, "You've been acting odd lately... more than usual. Our lord is starting to become suspicious."

Severus pulled his wand out of his robes, and pushed Lucretia behind him.

They laughed. "Going to curse us?" one of them asked, "Bring it on, then! Let's see what tricks you've got."

"Go! Now! Whatever you hear, keep away!" he whispered to her quickly. She ran.

"Oh no you don't!" the cloaked man laughed as serpent-like ropes shot out of his wand, wrapping around her tightly.

Severus bared his teeth in rage, and pointed his wand at the man. She was shocked to hear what he intended to do next.

"Avada Ke—"

"Expelliarmus!!" the other man shouted, making Severus' wand fly out of his grasp. "You lousy, sneaking coward...Crucio!"

He collapsed the floor, groaning and writhing in agony. She shut her eyes; she couldn't bear to watch.

The men, who she inferred were death eaters, cackled madly at his torment.

If she could only reach her wand... it was just inches away, tucked into her cloak. Thankfully, she had been tied up a few times before, and had some vague ideas about how to regain use of some limbs. She twisted desperately, while trying hard not to be noticed. She could just feel the tip of it... she squeezed and pulled at the pocket until it began to slip out. Nearly dislocating her other arm, she just managed to unsheathe it.

Blood trickled from Severus' mouth as the men continued to be entertained.

Great. She dropped it. If she pinched her fingers together she could make it... but carefully, or it would roll out of reach... almost... yes! She got it. She shrugged her cloak out of the way, aimed the best she could, and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

Severus lay still, panting, blood weeping silently from his fresh wounds.

"YOU LITTLE CUNT!" the death eater yelled, tearing off his mask and dashing toward her. His icy fingers crushed around her throat, choking her. "This was it. Over," She realized, "I'm going to end up like that carcass in the chair... he's going to join me in death..." Hot tears ran down her cheeks as her surroundings began to turn black.

Through her dying fog, she could see the other man yelling insults and kicking Severus' ribs. She could see her killer's face. He grimaced and hissed, and surprisingly, let go of her.

"Damnit! Right when we were starting to have some fun..." the man who was beating him swore. The death eaters glanced at each other, then disappeared with loud cracks.