Sixteen days, fifteen hours, forty-seven minutes. I've been here for at least two lifetimes. And it hurts like a bugger.
Dayrin Lestrange had a…well, strange look in his eyes. He approached Hermione slowly, giving her ample time to register the strange look on his face. He'd be handsome if he weren't a sadistic bastard. Tall, with sandy blond hair and hazel eyes, Dayrin Lestrange was quite likely the cream of the sadistic bastard crop. He approached Hermione with what could only be called a flirtatious expression. A bit late to appeal to my feminine sensibilities.
"Tonight, princess, you become mine completely. But I must know: has Cousin Draco already had you? He's been in here several times and I never told him he couldn't, but I assumed he knew better than to touch you that way. After all, you're my pet." He closed in and rested a hand on her hip. His other hand caressed her face. Dayrin leaned forward and nuzzled her neck.
"I can taste your fear and loathing." He pressed up against her. "I like it."
This is going to be one of the most painful experiences of my life. Do NOT cry, Mya. I refuse to allow you to blubber like an idiot. Just talk to yourself. But she couldn't stop herself from cringing as his hand slid down to the front of her jeans and unfastened them.
"Yes. Be afraid for me, Princess. It will make it so much better." Dayrin pulled off Hermione's jeans and admired her. Her shirt was already off from her time earlier in the day with Bellatrix and Bellatrix's whip. Hermione's body was bruised, battered, scarred, and burnt. Dayrin seemed to love it. He unchained her, and when she fell, caught her and dragged her over to a wall.
"It's easier for me if there's a wall behind you, Princess," he murmured as he rechained her. He unhooked her bra and removed her panties. Just pretend you're not here Hermione, just like you did with the nails, just pretend that you're not here. He won't break you, he can't break you, you're stronger than he is, just pretend that you're not here…oh god, oh god, it hurts, don't cry, but it hurts, dear God, please, someone, please, just stop him! She choked back a scream as he pounded into her, tearing delicate flesh, bruising her internally. He grinned as her blood streamed down his engorged penis. Deep breaths, Mya. Severus will be here later, and he'll help you. It can't last forever, Hermione. He's probably a two minute man, right? The pain always stops eventually, even if it's just for a minute so he can switch torture instruments. He got off and picked up a piece of what resembled metal piping.
He finished, after what felt like an eternity. Hermione's internal clock put it at two and a half hours. An eternity. You survived, Mya. I told you so. Now, tell him what you've always known.
Hermione looked up and stared Dayrin in the eyes.
"You're never going to break me," she said calmly.
He punched her so hard her jaw dislocated and stormed out of the room.
Hermione passed out.
She awoke to someone releasing her chains. Snape. Thank you, Lord, for him. She collapsed in his arms, trembling. Ignoring the blood smearing on his robes, he pulled her against him, into his lap, and held her tightly. Snape murmured comfortingly into her hair as she clutched at him, trying to disappear into him.
She eventually relaxed against him, and opened her eyes. You're starkers, Mya. Bloody hell, who cares? He looked into her eyes and caressed her face gently, then popped her jaw back into place with lightning speed. Hermione let out a deep grunt of pain.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. It won't hurt for long. I'm also sorry to make this worse, but you're bleeding internally, and I have to heal it. Please, just keep looking at me, it will make it easier. I am here to heal you, to help you; I am here because I care. Never forget that. I care about you. Draco cares about you." As he spoke, he began applying a potion by touch to her inner thighs, working his way up slowly, soothingly, with clinical precision and professional gentleness. "Harry cares about you. Ron cares about you. Ginny cares about you." He'd reached the delicate tissue of her labia and vagina, and was applying the creamy potion liberally, never breaking his gaze into her eyes. "Molly cares about you. Albus cares about you. Tonks cares about you. Remus cares about you." He finished and murmured a cleaning charm to deal with the blood in her nether regions. Snape lifted her carefully and set her on her stomach on the padded bench he'd transfigured, then went to work on her back and bum, hesitating and grabbing the potion when he saw her bum.
I'm going to be alright. Snape will help me. I'll be okay. I'm stronger than them.
As soon as he'd broken eye contact with her, Snape had acknowledged the horror and anger he felt. For one of the few times in his life, he felt like crying.
Severus finished his terse briefing in the kitchen of the Order of the Phoenix and watched as everyone trickled out. He'd kept it edited, saying only that the situation was unchanged. As soon as everyone save himself and Lupin had left, he pulled out a large bottle of firewhiskey and poured a liberal amount into two glasses.
"She's strong. The strongest person I've ever met, quite possibly. Any lesser being would have broken, but she endures. And all I can give her is the cold reassurance that I'm trying to get her out."
"It's probably more comforting to her than you know, Severus. She draws strength from the fact that she knows you're coming every night to help her. Your cold reassurance keeps her going. You underestimate yourself." Remus was supportive.
Snape looked at him, and Remus saw the haunted soul possessed within. "You didn't pick up her bloody, broken body, Remus. He raped her and sodomized her and ripped her apart from the inside out. He used a pipe. It made me sick to my stomach. And then to compound the indignity, I had to apply the potion--" He stopped short, and turned his gaze resolutely to the firewhiskey.
Remus closed his eyes. "I know," he said softly. "There's not a moment that goes by that I don't worry about her, imagining the horrors they've inflicted on her. To have to clean her up every night, only to see her violated each morning must be…but you have to realize that for Hermione, you're the only proof she has that there's still a world out there waiting for her. There's still a God out there, and he's still fighting for her. You're all she has, and from the fact that she hasn't broken yet, I'd say you're all she needs."
"I bloody well wish it was you instead of me. At least you'd know what to say." For once, Snape acknowledged that Lupin was superior to him in some way.
"No, I wouldn't. Your silent strength and gentle touch is probably a lot more bolstering than my shocked babblings. I don't know if I could handle seeing her that way," he said quietly.
Snape looked at Remus, who was staring into the fire, and he understood.
"I'll get her out, Lupin. This much I swear to you."
"I know you will, Severus, and so does she."