"Enervate." A soft voice whispered the spell, and Kate was snapped into reality. She recognised the effects of the spell at once. The first thing that she noticed was the painfully tight ropes, cutting into her. She also felt a pain in her head- she supposed she had hit it at some point. A snap of fingers, and the ropes fell away. "Get up," hissed the voice.
Kate struggled to her feet, her head spinning suddenly. She stumbled, and found the wall for support. "Oh, don't be so pathetic." Rough hands grabbed her and pulled her along.
"Wh- what do you w- want?" Kate cursed herself for sounding scared. She flushed as the man holding her cruelly mimicked her voice. Her vision was blurry, her head was hurting even more now, and she didn't register what was going on. "Pl-please don't hurt me."
"We won't hurt you as long as you do everything we say." The rough hands let go of her for a moment, and Kate sagged against the wall, her mind reeling. She heard the jangle of keys, a creaky door... The rough hands suddenly grabbed her, and threw her into the corner of a small cell. Kate's head crashed against the wall, and her world went black.
Kate spent most of the next few days unconscious. She had a few hazy recollections of being moved about by at least one pair of rough hands, but other than that she remembered nothing.
Kate groaned. She slowly opened her eyes, and with a jolt realised her head was clear. From the state of her hair she guessed that she had been... wherever she was for five days. After a few more moments, she recalled the alleyway and the hooded figure. "Oh no..." she murmured. "No, not this..." Tears began to trickle down her face as what was happening sunk in. She couldn't stop, and just wanted to sink into the floor.
There was a crash as the metal door was thrown open. A hooded wizard dragged her up from the floor and slammed her against the wall, knocking the breath out of her. "Tell us what the Ministry is planning!" A harsh male voice, right in her ear.
"I don't know anything! My father doesn't tell us what's going on..." Kate felt herself shaking. "Please, just let me go..."
"You're lying! Tell the truth before you get yourself hurt!"
"That is the truth!" sobbed Kate. And I'm hurt already...
The hooded figure pulled her away from the wall, and dragged her out of the cell. Kate kept stumbling as she was pulled along the maze of corridors, but the hooded figure just kept pulling her roughly. They reached a dark room. The wizard holding Kate let go of her for a second- and she made a run for it, stupid though she knew the idea was. She stumbled blindly along the corridor, her legs screaming with the effort.
A blinding flash of pink light seared through her vision, and Kate fell to the floor. Pain was pulsing through her veins. "Mobilicorpus." She was floating in the air, and was moved into the dark room. Out of the shadows, hooded witches and wizards appeared, all of them with their wands out. Someone conjured a type of spotlight in the middle of the room, and Kate felt herself fly into it. Then she felt herself fall to the ground. She groaned as she felt a rib crack.
Her captors began to circle her, taunting her. Kate could sense the smiles behind their hoods. Then, the onslaught of magic began. They first tried to get the information out of her with the Imperius Curse, but Kate was well-trained in throwing it off.
Then came the Cruciatus Curse. It was activated, and then lifted. "Had enough pain yet?" hissed a witch by her head.
"You wish," hissed back Kate, even though she knew it would bring more pain. She screamed as it hit her again. The torture went on for hours. Kate screamed herself hoarse, and blacked out several times, but still it went on.
They finally gave up. Kate could sense that they were getting worried- she suspected that they had hoped her to crack easily, but the Gryffindor in her was flaring strong. She was, however, very aware that she was slowly growing weaker. Someone levitated her above the heads of the hooded figures, and she was hit with a barrage of spells. Her clothes became tattered, and several times she fell hard onto the floor. The golden feather from Fawkes stayed tucked in her waistband, safe and secure.
Finally, they gave up. Kate knew it wouldn't last, but she was grateful for the break. Her cuts and bruises were giving her so much pain, that it was all she could do to crawl into the corner, tears falling easily from her eyes. They left her there, crying, while they left the room, laughing. Finally, she drifted off into a haunted sleep.
She was cold and wet. She didn't remember water in her dream. A spell hit her, and it vaguely occurred to her that they had woken her up on purpose as she recognised the effects of the Enervate spell. Kate somehow found the energy to scream out deafeningly as another wound was inflicted on her, but she couldn't find the energy to try and dodge the spells. She was tossed about by many more spells, inflicting more new wounds and knocking open old ones. She cried and screamed as the blood seeped into her clothes, as more and more cuts appeared on her already battered body, as her ankle was smashed hard with a spell. There was a sudden respite. She was hovering in the twilight of consciousness, barely aware of what was going on around her.
The door was blasted open, and Dumbledore appeared in a towering rage, accompanied by both Order and Ministry members. The area was engulfed in a storm of powerful magics from both sides as the battle began. Fear and relief flooded through her, leaving her feeling even more disorientated. A black-clad figure emerged from its midst and came to her side. It knelt over her, and after a few moments the face finally focused.
"Professor Snape..." murmured Kate vaguely. "What...""Shh..." Through all the pain, Kate was amazed at Snape's sensitivity and caring attitude. He pointed his wand at her. "Finite Incantatum." Snape wanted to make sure that any spells that had been placed on her were lifted. He then cast the powerful healing spells and charms that he had learnt some time ago- Kate was surprised at the wealth of his knowledge. Snape studied Kate for a moment, then very gently lifted her into his arms, and slipped from the room. Kate was surprised at the true gentleness of the usually sarcastic and prickly Potions teacher.
As soon as he
had lifted the heavily injured girl into his arms, she had passed out.
Severus Snape moved as quickly as he dared through the maze of
corridors towards the exit, kicking bits of debris out of the way. He
found he was ragingly angry at how Kate had been treated- she was in a
complete mess. He had never directly seen a student look so weak and
helpless.
A light breeze ruffled his cloak, and a few moments
later he stepped out into the cool night air through the gaping hole
that Dumbledore had blasted in the wall. Snape noticed Kate shiver- and
it struck him just how much she must be suffering. "Katharine, can you
hear me?" His usually harsh voice had become soft- he was beginning to
unnerve himself. After a few seconds, Kate nodded feebly, her head
lolling unsupported over his arm. "Katharine, I'm going to put you down
for a moment."
Carefully, Snape lay Kate down on the ground. A
few waves of his wand, and Kate was dry and most of the blood was gone.
He conjured a splint for her ankle and repaired her clothes as best he
could. His eyes fell briefly on the shimmering Phoenix feather. Snape
unfastened his long black cloak and took it off, and then with some
degree of difficulty wrapped it around Kate securely.
He gently
picked her up again, making sure that Kate's head rested against his
chest, and began to walk through the dark and deserted London streets
to St. Mungo's. He didn't dare apparate there with her- he realised
that his mind wasn't concentrated enough and he didn't want to risk
injuring her further.
He was relieved when he arrived at the
emergency entrance to St. Mungo's sometime later. He had encountered no
Muggles along the way- and just as well. How would he have explained
why he was carrying a heavily injured girl in a black cloak? How would
he have explained his wand? Moreover, how would he have explained the
Phoenix feather that was shimmering with magic?
