A/N- Thanks for the reviews! I hope you like this chapter!
Chapter 10- Plan of Action
The group was settled down in front of the headmaster. All three of the boys' faces were tear-streaked.
"Now, what happened?" Dumbledore asked.
Ron, Harry, and Draco seemed to survey one another, trying to decided who could best tell the story. Finally, it was Draco who spoke.
"We, that is Harry, Ron, Hermione, and myself, were sneaking out. We were going to go see another Bloody Wands concert. Hermione really seemed to like them. Well, we were all the way into Hogsmeade, when Hermione and myself fell a bit behind," Draco said. At this, he turned tearfully to Le-Annette. "It's my fault, I know it. I was going to tell her, though. I was going to finally tell her how much I cared for her. I was going to ask her out."
Le-Annette rested a gentle hand on Draco's cheek. Ron looked shocked at this little revelation but said nothing. Snape's eyes fell to the floor.
"It's okay, Draco. It's not your fault. Please, continue," Le-Annette said in dulcet tones, as to sooth him.
"Well, I had nearly said it. I had nearly told her how much I cared. I nearly told her that I loved her, when…the Death Eaters ambushed us. But they weren't alone. Voldemort…" Draco's voice shook a bit at this, but he forced out the name all the same, "was with them. They grabbed Hermione. He told me…he told me that you had met with him, Aunt Le-Annette. He told me that you had turned in Professor Snape, that that was the reason he couldn't spy for us anymore. But he said that he knew as soon as the other vampire had shown up that you had never meant for Snape to go to the meeting…that the willful giving of information was to gain a false confidence. Voldemort was angry. He said that you would have to pay, and that if we every wanted to see…Hermione again, that you should come alone to meet him. I didn't believe him, Aunt Le-Annette!"
Le-Annette turned her head away from the boys. Snape was now facing her eye-to-eye.
"You should have, Draco. I did turn Snape in deliberately. To gain a false confidence…and neither Snape nor Dumbledore knew that I had done it until it was too late," she said, shamefully. Draco's eyes widened, along with Harry's and Ron's.
"How…?" Harry began angrily.
"I was trying to protect Severus, but I never thought…I never thought that it would come back to hurt any of you," the vampire said.
"How could you've known?" Dumbledore said quietly.
"Continue, Draco," Severus said.
"He stunned me, but I could still hear Hermione called out for help. I couldn't help her…then, Harry and Ron came and unstunned me. After that, we ran to find you, Aunt Le-Annette," Draco finished.
There was a momentary relief when Le-Annette heard Draco say "aunt." This meant that he didn't hold a grudge. Or, at least, this is what she hope it meant.
"So, what do we do? How are we going to get Hermione back?" Ron asked.
Le-Annette stood. "I'll tell you what we do. I'm go to get her," she said, turning from the group and leaving.
…………………
Hermione had never felt such pain before in her life. She screamed and screamed uncontrollably as she writhed on the ground under the Cruciatus Curse. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Voldemort stopped.
She was in the middle of the sitting room floor of a manor house that had long since been abandoned. As to where the manor house itself was at, Hermione had no clue.
"Did that hurt, Miss Granger?" Voldemort breathed as he bent over the poor, broken girl.
Hermione couldn't have answered, even if she had wanted to. The pain had taken her voice.
"Oh, I guess it did, didn't it?" he said, laughing sinisterly as he stepped over her.
He clasped his hands behind his back and began to walk up and down the floor in front of her.
"I did quite a job on you with that last one, didn't I? Well, how about we stop with the petty little tortures and get on with the real stuff, shall we?" he said.
The real stuff? This particular thing stood out in Hermione's mind. What was "the real stuff"? Voldemort called to one of his Death Eaters, who answered him promptly.
"Take the girl up to my room, rest her comfortably on the bed," he ordered. As the Death Eater picked Hermione up, the Dark Lord added, "I'll be up shortly."
Hermione didn't even want to think about what he might do next. After all, what was worse than Cruciatus?
End Notes: I think I'm coming up on the end of this story. However, it's a few chapters off still. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I'm rather good at those. Please R &R! Thanks!
