Disclaimer: Yeah, I own Harry Potter. And while I'm at it, I also own Big Bird, the letters Q R and J, and for some odd reason, Canada. Right.
Big thanks to Alison for beta-ing this.
Alright, so 's horizontal lines don't want to work. Fine. I can deal with that. ::glares at the dashes she has to use instead::
Read on!
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"So, here we have the infamous Hermione Granger." the Dark Lord murmured with a disconcerting smirk.
Hermione had been half-dragged, half-thrust, before the Dark Lord's feet. She was on her knees, relying on her arms to keep her upright. Her body shook with short breaths. She lifted her chin as far as she could, barely able to look into the eyes of the Dark Lord.
"Of course I know who you are, you mudblood. Or did you think I was ignorant?" the Dark Lord answered Hermione's unspoken question. She lowered her eyes barely, just for a second, though the gesture did not go unnoticed.
The Dark Lord gave a short noise, almost like a snort, which sounded oddly triumphant. Triumph over what though, had yet to be seen.
Suddenly there was a rustle of robes, and there was a wand situated between Hermione's brown eyes. She whimpered slightly, though didn't move otherwise.
A rattling breath was heard, and it was obvious what the Dark Lord was about to do.
Oh, how his self-control had failed him now. Severus stepped forward, breaking the circle. "My Lord!" he called.
Slowly, the Dark Lord turned, keeping his wand in place. He let out the breath and frowned. "This had better be good, Snape!" he snarled crossly.
"Excuse my interruption, My Lord." Severus said reverently. His eyes flickered quickly to where Hermione was; but as he had his mask on, no one could see. "But have you considered all options for her?"
"I have about as much patience for your schemes as I did for Krum's, Snape." the Dark Lord growled, his crimson eyes narrowed to slits.
"My apologies, My Lord. Of course, you are right. She'd be better off dead." Snape said flatly, and took a step back.
The frown on the Dark Lord's face deepened. He knew Snape had lied to him and that he didn't truly believe that killing the girl would be the right course of action. "You have 2 minutes to convince me to do otherwise." he glared at Severus.
Snape took a quick step forward, his long legs glided over the grass. "Thank you. My Lord." said Snape.
"To start with, she's pregnant. Forgive me for saying the obvious here, but isn't there a way to turn that to our, nay, your advantage? The child would be a half blood, which is enough. Krum might have been a complete idiot," Snape sneered at this point, "but he was as pureblooded as any of us here. And it would be powerful, with her as a mother. You've heard the reports about her, she's practically a prodigy." Oh, how he wished he didn't have to give such compliments in this context.
The Dark Lord inspected his words with interest. He was intrigued, Severus could tell, but not convinced.
Another cloaked figure stepped forward. "If I may, m'lord?" a male voice carried across, with an aristocratic sound to it. The Dark Lord gave a sharp nod in his direction.
"The girl is one of Potter's closest friends. Do you not think he'll come after her? And when he does, m'lord, it would only be too easy for you to dispose of him."
Now that caught the Dark Lord's attention. He stood silent for a moment, turning the ideas over in his head. Finally, he spoke. "Your idea is acceptable, Hutton." the Dark Lord said to the other man.
Hutton. Why did that sound so familiar?
The Dark Lord moved his wand away from its point between Hermione's eyes. He scowled at her, then brandished a hand in her direction, and magical ropes tied themselves firmly around her hands and feet. Hermione opened her mouth, which was cracked and covered with spots of dried blood, but no sound came out. Snape's eyes narrowed.
"Mulciber!" the Dark Lord barked.
A man broke the ranks, his robes failing to hide the fact that he walked with a slight limp. It was a remnant from the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries, from what Severus was told. What was not so clear was exactly how he had gotten it, as he refused to say. He suspected that it was gotten through either his own stupidity, or one of the children.
"Remove it from here, I can't stand the sight of it much longer. Keep a good eye on it." the Dark Lord instructed.
"Yes, your lordship." Mulciber slurred as he took the rope between Hermione's hands and began to drag her out of the circle.
Snape's legs were just itching to get up and follow him, but his common sense told him that was nothing less of suicide. Instead, he forced himself to wait. He couldn't save everyone, all the time.
His anxiety must have shown because the Dark Lord turned to him. "One would think that you wanted to leave, Snape." he hissed slowly.
Snape chose his next words carefully. "It is not a matter of want, sire. It's just that Dumbledore has become more suspicious of me, and being late to my classes would surely cause him to make unwelcome inquiries." It was a bit early for classes to start, though the sun was already rising. If the Dark Lord pried, he would simply say there was some sort of staff meeting he had to make.
The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed, but he nodded his dismissal. "Then leave. I want a detailed report from you next time, Snape."
"Of course, my Lord." Severus said, giving a slight bow and taking a step back before turning and walking away from the circle. His eyes scoped the area around him. Where had they gone?
Surely they hadn't left, the Dark Lord hadn't said to take her away, just to move her for the time being. But then again, Mulciber wasn't exactly the sharpest tack in the box.
He stood completely still. Was that a muffled snicker he just heard? He moved his head in the direction that he believed the sound had come from. Yes, there they were. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or worried.
Severus strode over, planning the best way to go about this. Mulciber wasn't exactly strong, even less so with his physical incapacity, but he was fast with a wand. He was an Imperius curse specialist, and even now he taught new recruits the Unforgivables.
Finally, he found what he was looking for. Muciber was practically on top of Hermione, his head against her neck, no doubt whispering lurid things into her ear. He had one hand on her thigh, which was now removed of the pants she had been wearing earlier.
Hermione was looking away, her eyes unfocused and her breathing uneven. While she was there physically, her eyes told that she was somewhere completely different.
It wasn't so much what Mulciber was doing that surprised Snape, it was Hermione's reaction that did. She was a Gryffindor, and he himself on several occasions experienced her temper. She didn't seem like Hermione, all the fight had gone out of her.
"Mulciber!" Snape said sharply, causing the man to jump in surprise.
Mulciber turned around, one arm still draped on Hermione. "Oh, it's just you Severus." he said, with a degree of relief.
Snape raised a solitary eyebrow at his acquaintance. "And what would you being doing?" Severus asked.
"Nothin', just having a bit of fun." Mulciber smirked. "Want to join Snape? Plenty to go around."
Severus sneered at him. "Do you really think that the Dark Lord would appreciate this behavior?"
"I don't think he gives two galleons what I do with her." Mulciber said, the smirk fading quickly. "What're you doing here anyway?"
Severus pulled his wand out of his sleeve and intoned "Stupefy!" in one fluid movement. Mulciber fell, sprawled on top of Hermione who tried to shift away.
He pushed Mulciber off of Hermione, with obvious distaste at having to touch him. He aimed his wand at Mulciber once again and muttered "Obliviate." He didn't need any mistakes.
"Miss Granger?" Severus turned his attention to the girl. He cut her bonds with a hand knife he took out of his boot. His frowned deepened when she did not move. "Miss Granger?" he asked again.
She looked at him with unseeing eyes. They were still unfocused and dilated. Something was wrong. "Hermione, can you hear me?" he shook her lightly, trying to gain her attention but not hurt her. She blinked.
Well that confirmed it; there was definitely something wrong with her. He didn't know if it was shock or something more intentional, but he intended to find out. He scooped Hermione into his arms, after discerning that it wouldn't do too much harm to any of her injuries. She didn't wince at all. Holding her close, he apparated away to the one place he knew where she could get help.
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A/N: Any guesses on where he's taking Hermione?
Thanks to everyone who review! I honestly didn't expect such a large turnout..
Angela Dawne: Y'know, I never thought of it that way. Maybe I've got some kind of subconscious grudge against men. Hrm. Anyway, you can scratch Severus off that list now, I hope.
teh munchkin: The next Hug it Out chapter is...65 done! I swear! I'm so sorry...I seriously meant to do it earlier but all of my plot bunnies labelled 'Hug it Out' ran away and got tattoos saying 'On a Silver Platter'.
MelissaAdams: I know. How could you have doubted me? You know I'm great ::grin::
Lover not a fighter: Wow, you're quick. Heh, Tom was a semi-random name, though nice connection there. I didn't even think of it!
JeanMarie: Well, that would be nice. But then you wouldn't get all the funny mushy parts.
Madelynn Rae: I wanna wabbit. ::sniffle:: or a marmoset. I like marmosets.
Grey Grim: Wands, eh? Well, I did have a cute thing planned for that. But I can't say. Cause I'm just mean like that.
Anarane Anwamane: I just had like...a flashback to the Wizard of Oz. Except she was a witch.
I-LUV-ILC: Heh, yeah, and it only gets worse, sadly.
