A/N: Sorry it's so sad, but I felt like I had to be realistic. Azkaban is supposed to be the most horrible place on earth.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Things Get Worse

Mrs. Granger sat on her daughter's bed, crying. It had been two months since her daughter had been kidnapped. She was more than likely dead by now. That Remus fellow sounded quite horrible. Mrs. Granger hated to contemplate what Hermione had gone through before she died, but it was all she had been able to think about since they were notified.

Mr. Granger softly entered the room and sat next to his wife, putting an arm around her and drawing her into a comfortable hug. He tried to be strong for her, but it was difficult when he himself was quite grieved. He had been so proud of his daughter. He could not believe she was gone.

The phone rang, startling them both. Mr. Granger picked up the phone, and winced when the person on the line began to shout.

"WE — HAVE — YOUR — DAUGHTER. SHE IS AT THE MINISTRY. YOU CAN COME AND SEE HER."

"Really? How is she?" he demanded eagerly. "I can hear you quite well, by the way, so please don't shout."

"Oh, good. These telly things, I can't believe they work... She's had a bad experience, obviously, but she doesn't seem to be able to talk, so we don't really know how she is. She seems fine at the moment."

"We'll be right over," declared Mr. Granger, hanging up the phone, feeling elated. Hermione was alive! He turned to his wife. "Get in the car! Hermione's alive, and she's at the Ministry!"

Mrs. Granger eyes widened in disbelief, then her mood began to lighten. It seemed a bit unreal. How had Hermione managed to survive two months with that fellow? 'It hardly matters. All that matters is that she is alive!' She wiped her eyes and hurried outside to the car, where Mr. Granger was already in the driver's seat.

It seemed like ages until they arrived at the secret Ministry entrance. They climbed inside the telephone booth and soon arrived on the Ministry floor, where the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge, waited for them.

"Greetings, lovely to see you! We have Hermione upstairs, resting. Remus has been sent to Azkaban, so no need to worry about him any longer. I have doctors coming to check on her. We have a little hospital unit here, for when we have high security patients," Fudge said. "I will take you there now, follow me." He grinned eagerly.

The Grangers thanked him and rode the elevator with him. Before long, they found themselves by Hermione's bedside. Mrs. Granger's eyes filled with tears of joy. "Hermione," she sobbed. "I've missed you so much! I've been so worried!"

"I'm glad you're safe," said Mr. Granger, voice thick with emotion. "And I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear that monster is in Azkaban."

Mr. Granger was stunned to see Hermione close her eyes tightly and tears roll down her cheeks. His first impression was that she actually felt remorseful about what happened to Remus, but that certainly could not be true. Perhaps she was just remembering the trauma he put her through. "Hermione, it's going to be all right. He's gone now," Mr. Granger added softly.

This statement did not seem to relieve Hermione. If anything, it seemed to make her even more upset. Before they could do anything else, however, a doctor entered the room.

"Ah, Dr. Clint," said Fudge, who had been watching the scene. Mr. Granger noticed that Fudge's wand was out; he wondered why, but did not comment.

"The most acclaimed Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge," said Dr. Clint, bowing slightly with a dazed look on his face. "I am here to make the most accurate, expert, truthful examination possible in wizard-kind." He walked over to Hermione, making odd flicks with his wand, muttering, and seemingly made the examination. His seemed almost robotic. Hermione lay there, quite still and unresponsive.

"How is she?" asked Mrs. Granger after a few minutes, twisting her hands anxiously.

"Well, we have her on a respirator," he said. The lack of emotion in his voice was chilling. "She is not conscious." He blinked a bit, and didn't seem to be fully awake.

"But – she was interacting with us. She seemed to know we were here," objected Mr. Granger.

"Reflexes," said Dr. Clint in a strained voice. "Just reflexes." He scratched his forehead and seemed to be quite puzzled about something.

Mrs. Granger turned away, tears filling her eyes. Mr. Granger put an arm around her. They were going to lose their daughter, just as she had been brought back into their lives. This could not be true.

"Is there another doctor here? We'd like a second opinion," Mr. Granger demanded.

"Of course," said Fudge easily. "I understand. Dr. Clint, you may return to St. Mungo's now."

"Of course, your most reknowned Ministership," he said hazily. "Always a pleasure." He Apparated instantly.

A couple more doctors came in, and behaved and said the same things that Dr. Clint had said. The Grangers were devasted.

Fudge looked grave as well. "I hate to bring this up," he said slowly. "But when do you wish that we take her off of the respirator?"

"You can do it any time," said Mr. Granger, choked up. "If you don't mind, I think I'm going to take my wife home."

"Of course, I understand. I'll have Percy take her body to a safer place. Quite overenthusiastic, that Weasley." A strange, almost plotting look flicked across his eyes, before it was quickly supressed.

The Grangers left. Fudge sent for Percy, who took Hermione to a different room. Fudge followed later and locked Hermione in the room. He smiled cheerfully. Everything was going well. Nobody would suspect a thing.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes, blinking as her eyes adjusted. She faintly remembered Dr. Clint knocking her out with a small "Stupefy!" She could not understand what was going on. Where were her parents? Why was she alone in this room?

She heard the door open, and twisted a bit over onto her side to see who it was. "The coast is clear. The Ministry is closed. Nobody will be able to rescue you," he chimed, his voice quite unlike Fudge's, hard and cruel. "I'm going to take you to a more secret place."

Hermione felt a surge of panic as Fudge picked her up roughly and carried her to the elevator. They stopped at the Department of Mysteries floor and entered it. He walked down the hall, opened a door, and then passed through several more doors before arriving at his destination. He dropped her roughly on the floor. "You're lucky I didn't give Fudge the Lust potion," he said, giggling, as if it were a very funny joke.

Hermione wriggled over to her side, to come face to face with – Fudge. She frowned in confusion.

"Oh no, I'm not the real Minister," said the supposed Minister of Magic. "I'm Michael Judge. That's the real Fudge you see there. He's been locked up here for quite some time. Goodbye," he waved cheerfully, slamming the door closed. They heard the clicks of many locks.

Silence filled the room. Hermione blinked back tears, thinking about Remus, the love she had lost forever. 'I'm in love with him,' she realized. After thinking it over, she decided she really should not be surprised. Who wouldn't fall in love with some like him, especially after all he had done for her. 'He wasn't too bad looking, either,' Hermione thought wistfully. A painful ache filled her chest; she wondered if she would ever recover from this.

"You're Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's friend, aren't you?" said the real Minister, breaking the silence.

Hermione managed a nod.

"I heard about what happened to you. Quite horrible," he said sympathetically. "I'm really sorry he managed to lock you up in here. Although, I must admit, it is nice to have company. All I've seen is Michael lately, for the past couple months, it seems. Don't know how long it's been. He only comes in here to force information out of me and give me enough food to keep me alive." He shifted Hermione to a more comfortable position, and prepared himself for some very long, mostly one-sided, conversations.

Remus awoke slowly to find himself in a dark room. He wearily stared around the room, wondering why he felt so horrible, and where he was. By the panicked feeling in his chest, he had a feeling he didn't want to know the answers.

But his memory wasn't merciful. It was a bit foggy, but he could remember kissing Hermione… and being caught, imprisoned. He put his head in his hands, feeling anguished. "I can't believe I did that to her. I must be in Azkaban," he whispered hoarsely in the still air.

Not a sound was to be heard. He could feel the deep gloom that choked the place, wringing all happiness from it. Remus made to pull his coat tighter around him, only to find it was missing. It was cold here. He wondered how Sirius was able to survive in Azkaban so long. Even these few minutes were horrible to endure. He found himself thinking of the events that happened when he was bitten... when people sneered at him because of his lycanthropy... how he felt when Sirius died... how he lost control when he was with Hermione. Remus couldn't remember feeling so embarrassed and mortified. If the Aurors hadn't come when they did... who knew what would have happened. Remus didn't like to contemplate the possibilities, but found himself unable to stray from the topic. The atmosphere of the prison was enough to chill him to the bone.

Remus's eyes grew blank as the happiness and hope was sucked out of him. Dementors. He slumped wearily against the wall. He didn't know how long he had slept – it didn't matter. He was going to be stuck here until he died. Dumbledore wouldn't be able to do anything. And Hermione would hate him forever. Who wouldn't, now?

He traced his name idly in the dirt. He wondered how long it would take until he died. It was probably going to be a long while, and be quite painful too. Speaking of pain, he hurt a bit from the full moon. He hadn't been able to tend to his injuries, being busy with Hermione and all. He still didn't know why he had lost control with her. He faintly remembered Hermione saying something about a potion, but it didn't make any sense. There hadn't been anyone, especially not a wizard, who would have had a chance to give it to him.

It had been him. He had done it. He had forced himself on Hermione. 'What a sickening thing to do, especially when she's disabled. And she trusted me. How could have I taken advantage of her like that?' Maybe those werewolf haters were right. He was just an animal after all.

Remus felt tears blur his eyes. He stared, his mind numb and blank, at the opposite wall for what seemed like an eternity. 'It will be an eternity,' he thought, sinking into a deep depression. 'I'm stuck here forever.'

Harry hurried along the hallway at Hogwarts, feeling an insane desire to laugh. He knew that somewhere, Voldemort was very happy about something. He would have to tell Dumbledore. He was on his way to the Headmaster's office anyway, for he had been summoned to come there. Harry spoke the password and soon arrived in front of Dumbledore's desk.

Dumbledore's face was lined and drawn. He appeared to be quite distressed about something. "Harry, please sit down," he said tiredly.

Harry sat down and waited expectantly, his heart sinking. He had a feeling that he was about to receive some very bad news. The other part of him continued to want to laugh. However, thanks to his Occlumency lessons, he was able to ward that feeling off.

"Harry, Remus has been captured, and he's now in Azkaban. Mr. Weasley's just told me. I'm not sure what happened to Hermione. The Minister claims she's dead, but I don't believe she is. We're going tomorrow to sort things out. Mr. Weasley has told them it is part of a school project to tour the Ministry, so that's what we will be doing. We will need to keep our heads and watch for anything suspicious. Come to my office after your classes, and bring Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville. We'll go to the Ministry by portkey."

Harry felt like a bomb had been dropped. Remus was in Azkaban? Hermione was claimed to be dead? How in the world would they be able to fix that? It seemed impossible. Harry nodded, his throat too tight to speak, and he left the office.

Replies to Reviewers:

DogDemonLover1590: I might have thanked you before...but anyhow, thanks again!

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MoonyNZ: Yay! Bouncing is fun. I do that too when my favorite stories have been updated. And thanks for the bit about j0, I know I shouldn't get upset but I do, and you made me feel better. :) Great to hear from you, as always.

Sparkle714: I'm so sorry about the sad Remus in this chapter. Hopefully things will change in the next chapter, though. ;) I don't want you to cry! Thanks for the review.

Oddballout: I love your enthusiasm, thanks for sharing it. :)

Radingsouls4u: Hope you still have sanity left. :) We should be getting more answers in the next chapter. Glad to hear from you!

Morena-Forever: We shall see. :) Great to hear that you like it.

Paranoid Sarcasm: Thank you for reviewing four times! Hehe, yeah, I'm rather obssessed with Parelli, have been for three years. I guess it would be pretty obvious to anyone who knows Parelli who certain characters in this story was inspired from, LOL. :) Glad you like it as well, of course. We'll be seeing Pat and Linda one more time before the story is over. Yeah, I like Neville too. I know I shouldn't get upset at flamers (emotional fitness, LOL) and I can't help but feel upset initially, but I quickly get over it. I was excited to hear from you, a fellow Potter AND Parelli lover!

AmberHermione: You were right. :) Thanks for reviewing.

JTBJAB: Don't worry, I hate stories where favorite characters die (glares pointedly at JKR) and I won't write one like that. They're safe. :)

SpikesDreamer: Yes, they ARE annoying! Yeah, poor Remus, he's not having a very good time...although that seems to happen a lot in my stories...that will be remedied soon! Thank you so much for reviewing.

LupinLover99: I totally understand about the dial-up thing. I have that too, and it's the biggest pain. Triple thanks. ;)

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BlackPaintedWhite: Thank you for reviewing this story twice, and for reviewing MCOSGYTTM. My friend is allergic to cats too, but she is able to keep horses on her property, fortunately. She can't spend much time in a barn because of her allergies, so she just has a run in shed. I would hate to be allergic to animals! And with the music thing, I do the same thing! I like to listen for songs that would match up with my stories or ones that I have in mind. Glad you like my names to my stories, I put a lot of thought into them and try to make them odd so they stand out, LOL. Yes, ditto on the SW thing, I'm a huge fan, I have been all my life! Right now, I'm totally obssessed with the Force Bond series by KittandChips, she's a really good writer. You can find that and other good ones in my Favorites section. If you decide to read it be sure to read her series of stories on her website in between 2 and 3. I love Episode 3 and I do plan on buying all six too! And as far as Episode 7 goes, I've been trying to ressurect it for years. I've come up with some more ideas but I'm not sure if I'll go through with them. Yeah, that's pretty much the image I got too when I first heard the phrase from my friend, LOL. So great to hear from you, I loved your reviews!

Solsanches: Thanks for reviewing twice! Don't worry, this story is not going to be abandoned. It's already finished, it just needs to be beta read. Only three more chapters to go, unfortunately. Thank you again!

Preview of next chapter: Harry was a bit surprised. The Minister was a busy man, and he had not been so considerate to him. At least recently. However, it would be a great opportunity to find out information about Hermione. "Yeah, that'd be great," said Harry enthusiastically.