Hermione awakened immediately with an aching head and dry mouth. Memory returned immediately, so she forced her breathing to remain still and take stock; she was face down on something swaying and wooden. The tiniest of movements revealed that both her feet and hands were bound. Cracking an eye open revealed that an obscuring charm had been placed over her eyes, and that it was only just beginning to wear off. Her wand was missing.
In a word, she was fucked.
Drawing on her occlumency skills, Hermione quelled the rising panic so that she could think. She quickly realized that quiet voices were filtering through the fading obscuring charm.
"...when she'll wake up?" asked a worried voice. It sounded familiar.
"Dunno. Cormac said the charm should wear off in another two hours, but that stunner took her down pretty hard. Could be a little longer." The answering voice was female, a little slow. And Cormac! What was Maclagan doing, involved with this? She hadn't spoken to the wretch in years.
A snort sounded from the first voice. "That asshole always held a grudge against her. He does not take rejection well." A pause. "Do you think we should loosen the ropes a little? Look, she's all red on her wrists."
The female voice gentled a bit. "You know we can't do that."
"Just a little. We can tighten them in an hour or so when she starts to wake up."
There was a grunt and some shuffling. "Yeah, ok. Do it fast before he comes topside always did have a soft spot for her."
Hermione mentally furrowed her brow as she felt the ropes around her wrists and ankles loosen just enough for quasi comfort. Obviously I've been abducted by someone I know. And Cormac Maclagan which…makes no sense. And I'm on a boat? What in Merlin's name –
The sound of boots interrupted her thoughts. "How much further, Creevy?"
CREEVY?
"A half hour or so if we're going to continue to avoid the wards."
"You know that's the entire point," Maclagan snapped.
Creevy sounded annoyed. "Well, right. Just thought I'd remind you why it was taking so long."
"Just…get on with it, 'kay? I don't want to be this close to Hogwarts for any longer than we need to be." A boot nudged at her shoulder turning Hermione face up on the boat deck. "Seems like such a waste, really." She felt Cormac straddle her prone body and lean over her, a finger trailing down the side of her face and toward her bodice. She blessed the months of occlumency lessons and held her face impassive, even as she felt hands move over her breast for a rough squeeze. Fucker. He's going to pay for that. A throat cleared in the background.
"Boss, you know he said he didn't want her molested in any way," the female voice muttered.
The hands withdrew and she felt the man stand. "Shut up Bulstrode. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Not like she's going to say anything."
Millicent Bulstrode?! What did I ever do to her?
A heel clipped her in the ribs as Maclagan stomped away again, then downward into what Hermione assumed was the hold of whatever vessel they were on. Body of water and near Hogwarts' wards would have to mean the far side of the Black Lake. The question then was whether they were headed to the far cliffs or to the adjacent Forbidden Forest.
She didn't really fancy her chances in either location, truthfully. A quick assessment of her situation led her to the following conclusions:
She knew the Giant Squid to be largely harmless. She was a strong swimmer. She didn't want to go anywhere with Maclagan, Creevy, and Bulstrode. She had less than a half hour to make a move and few good choices before her.
"Don't know how you put up with him," Bulstrode muttered once the bootsteps had faded.
A humorless laugh sounded from Creevy. "He's got the information I need. As soon as I get that, I'm gone. I dislike him as much as you Millie."
She sighed. "Deals with the devil never pay, Dennis. How do you even know he's telling the truth about that?"
"It's the only lead I've got. You could come with me, you know. When I leave." It was said gently, with a kind of naïve hope.
"And I would too if you weren't hell-bent on your suicide mission." She paused and walked across the deck to what Hermione assumed was the railing. "Look me up after, if you survive satisfying your fool vendetta."
"And you? You'll still be here?"
A bitter huff of laughter. "Where else would I be? No one else is going to hire me."
"Oh, Mills." Hermione heard Dennis rise and cross the deck to join Millie at the railing. "I'd hire you in a heartbeat if I had the galleons."
Realizing that both her above-deck captors were facing away from her, Hemione took a chance and opened her eyes. Sure enough, Dennis and Millie were facing the water, Dennis' arm around Millie's waist and his head on her shoulder. That was curious, but Hermione had bigger fish to fry. She wriggled her hands to further loosen the ties that bound her and wrestled a hand free. A silent accio had her wand winging to her followed by a startled shout from below followed by the clattering of boots. Wand in hand, she scrambled to her feet and, taking a deep breath, jumped overboard.
Just as a shouted " Expelliarmus " wrested her wand away again.
She hit hard and gasped as the cold and impact stole her breath, inhaling water and sputtering as she attempted to keep her head above the waterline.
"Hermione!" came a shout from Dennis. "Are you insane?"
Hermone coughed and gasped, but managed to spit out "Dennis, you traitor!"
Dennis pouted. "Aw, don't be like that."
Hermione started to swim to what she hoped was the shore, using her arms to pull herself along and flipping her bound legs like a mermaid in an attempt to make some progress, but the churn from the little lugger and her sodden robes were making it increasingly difficult to stay afloat. A sudden shriek drew her attention, as did the brush of something against her bound ankles.
"You hear that, Princess?" Maclagan sneered at her. "That's the musical sound of a Grindylow. You probably don't remember, do you?"
More shrieks sounded from behind her, a quick tug pulling her head beneath the water before she thrashed to the surface again.
"Stay in the water much longer and they'll pull you all the way under, Hermione. Best come back on board now, yeah?" A quick swish of her wand and Hemione found herself levitated back onto the boat and dropped on deck with an unceremoniously wet plop.
Cormac tossed her wand to Bulstrode. "Secure that, will you? Don't want it getting loose again." He leaned into Hermione and grabbed her by the back of her sodden hair. "Now listen to me, Princess. You're going to stay put like a good little captive until we finish our job, you hear?"
She spat in his face. "Fuck you Cormac. You always had delusions of grandeur, and now you're exactly what I always thought you'd be – a bully and a petty thug."
"You wound me, Hermione. After all that we shared?" he responded with a leer. "Godric only knows why he even bothered with you."
Unsure as to the he Cormac was referencing, Hermione made a last ditch attempt to secure her freedom. She summoned her magic to her and pointed, casting the strongest wandless spell at her disposal. " Expelliar–"
The last thing Hermione heard was Millie's shout of " Dormio donexcitetur! " as she slumped to the ground, unconscious once more.
*Dormio donexcitetur is my bastardized Latin for dormies donec excitetur, or "sleep until awakened."*