Author's Note
Please forgive any spelling and/or grammar errors. I hope you enjoy it, please let me know what you think!
Any dialogue you recognize comes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Most is changed at least a bit though to fit right.
I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I don't own anything.
Ch 28: The Brutality of War
This couldn't be happening. She wasn't back in Malfoy Manor, once again a captive of depraved monsters.
They'd tried so hard to talk themselves out being captured. It had almost worked too. Key word being almost. But of course she'd been recognized.
And now she was standing before Bellatrix, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, Scabior and Greyback. They were outnumbered, and once again she was defenseless, her wand confiscated within moments because she'd been too busy trying to disguise and protect Harry to defend herself.
The only positive they had going for them was that Lucius Malfoy wasn't with them. Lucius with his sanity gone and nothing to lose was the most dangerous of them all – particularly for her.
Ron had been the last one unarmed, the last few months of practice having come in handy. He'd demonstrated a whole new level of skill and competence as he single handedly took out three of the Snatchers, but when Greyback had threatened Hermione, his teeth poised threateningly against her throat, his foul breath like rotting meat in the dead of summer, Ron had surrendered without a moment of hesitation or single word of protest.
Hermione had taken Harry's glasses, and between the lack of sight and swelling, he hadn't been able to fight at all. So it had basically been Ron against seven others.
They, along with Dean Thomas and the goblin Griphook had then been brought to Malfoy Manor by Scabior and Greyback since none of the Snatchers were capable of summoning Voldemort themselves. Now they were bound and defenseless. It was only a matter of minutes before they'd have to face the monster and admit defeat.
Panic was making it difficult to breathe, and black dots floated around the edges of her vision like drunken bumblebees.
She never wanted to be back in this place. Yet here she was. Why here of all places?
"They say they've got Potter. Draco, come here," Bellatrix ordered, an air of madness shrouding the woman.
Their classmate stepped slowly, reluctantly, forward, seeming to need to force himself to obey his aunt's command. He didn't look at any of them as he crept forward, staring fixedly at the floor until Bellatrix caught hold of his arm and yanked him closer, presenting him to Harry. Malfoy's eyes darted to her. Once. Twice. Uncertainty marked the terrified grey depths even as Bellatrix pushed him further, less than a foot from Harry's face to make it easier to identify the wizard in question.
"Well, Draco? Is it? Is it Harry Potter?" Bellatrix asked, shivering in anticipation of presenting her master with such a coveted prize. She'd finally be his most trusted and prized Death Eater, the very thing she longed for.
Again his gaze flicked to Hermione as he avoided answering. He'd done it enough times that both Ron and Harry had taken notice, Ron looking her way now as well, though Harry continued to stare Malfoy down, daring him to inform the others who they were.
They weren't certain. Hermione's spells on Harry had done their job, at least enough to make them hesitate. Which was a gift – one she was beyond grateful for.
"I don't think so," he said slowly, trying to make it sound natural, but a quiver shook the words, betraying him. He knew, particularly who she was.
"Be certain," Bellatrix commanded, gripping Malfoy's neck and hauling him even closer to Harry, their breaths minging and noses nearly touching. "This family can not afford another mistake."
Did that mean what she thought it meant? Had their uncertainty made them pause before summoning their master? If so, they still had a chance. It was even better than she imagined.
Being in this place made it difficult for Hermione to think. Nightmarish demons hovered all around her, clawing and biting with teeth and fangs similar to those Greyback had sported. But she had to do something, take advantage of the situation in some way.
The fact that Malfoy had tried, that he didn't out them immediately, gave her hope.
It was a desperate gamble, particularly in light of what she'd recently learned, but she had to try. If he cared for her at all…just one more time…she just needed his help this one last time. It was their only chance.
She waited until the next time he tried to discreetly look at her. Then, without so much as moving her lips, Hermione near-silently begged, "Get him, please, Draco."
She knew he'd understand. He'd gotten Severus for her the last time she'd been a prisoner in this house. Hopefully the earnestness and use of his given name would grant the words the gravity she meant to infuse them with.
Malfoy glanced sharply at Bellatrix, and Hermione slumped, recognizing that he was too afraid himself to go against her to save Hermione again. He was too much of a coward.
"What was that? Did she say something?" Bellatrix demanded, perking up like a dog catching the scent of its prey.
"I-I don't think so?" Malfoy stuttered unconvincingly.
Bellatrix's eyes narrowed, and she turned her attention fully to Hermione, surveying her with a critical coolness that turned the blood in her veins to ice. "What about her then? Is she the Mudblood? Draco, isn't she the Granger girl?"
"That will be all…gentlemen. We can take it from here," Narcissa Malfoy said suddenly, her regal barring stiffening perceptibly. Hermione met her eyes and was started by the calculating gleam they conveyed.
"Cissy?" Bellatrix asked suspiciously, having noted it as well.
"You don't wish to share credit for their capture if you're right, do you?" she said haughtily, sneering down her upturned nose at Scabior and Greyback, the two still hovering in the doorway.
The two immediately broke out in protests, refusing to go, and Harry and Ron both took advantage of the distraction to start fidgeting with their bindings, attempting to get loose, but Hermione didn't waste the energy. They were spelled, and trying to work free of them would only make them tighten to an uncomfortable degree.
Hermione, rather, while the others were sufficiently occupied, dared to again beg, "Please, get him."
Malfoy glanced again at his aunt. He looked gaunt and young, far younger than Hermione and her companions, and she wondered if it was even possible for him to find the courage to do as she'd asked. He'd never shown much of a backbone before, nor could you ever accuse him of having a penchant towards a hero complex.
"He'll come for me, just tell him," Hermione tried one final time.
Malfoy watched his mother and aunt argue with the two Snatchers when they continued to refuse to leave, the two witches bullying them out, and he squared his shoulders before turning to her directly and giving her a single sharp nod of agreement.
Hermione sagged in relief, leaning heavily against Harry, who'd frozen at the exchange between her and Malfoy. Quietly, he hissed, "Who? Who is he getting?"
Of course he'd realized something significant was just agreed to.
"Later."
Now Hermione just needed to wait, and ensure they didn't summon Voldemort before Severus arrived. They needed a distraction to delay that moment from happening.
"Well, Draco?" Bellatrix demanded, having returned to insisting her nephew identify the captives.
"I can't be sure," he said, shaking his head and shooting his mother a beseeching glance.
"Well I can. I'd recognize the little slut anywhere," Lucius Malfoy announced, striding proudly into the room.
"No," she moaned, the sound escaping unbidden.
Dread seized Hermione in an iron fist. Subconsciously, she'd understood that by asking for Severus, she'd have to confess everything to the boys, but she'd wanted them to learn on her terms, not like this. And from his words, Lucius intended to tell the group everything.
Well, she'd wanted a distraction. Guess that's why they said be careful what you wished for.
"Lucius!" Narcissa scolded, face scrunching at his vulgarity.
"Come now, Draco. I know she looks a bit different now that she's not screaming her head off, but it's undeniably her," Lucius continued.
He looked awful, even worse than the Christmas before. He had even more scuff on his face than Harry did, and both of his eyes were sunken into dark pits maring his features. The smooth, low ponytail he usually sported was nowhere in sight. Rather, the limp, unkempt blond locks were matted into several clumps the way Greyback's was. Even his clothes looked unwashed, as though he couldn't be bothered given his current status of being under house arrest.
"All Mudbloods look alike to me," Malfoy said dismissively, projecting a bored air that he'd not worn prior to the arrival of his father.
"True, but we both know which one she is," Lucius insisted, making his way to Hermione, and seeming to ignore everyone else.
"I guess," Malfoy said tightly, looking all about the room as though searching for an escape. He clearly didn't wish to be involved in this. Hopefully, he was thinking up a good excuse to get Severus.
"Though I must say I'm surprised you're not screaming now," Lucius said, finally reaching her. He grabbed her chin and tilted it up to study her face. An animal stared back at her, vicious and feral, ready to strike without warning. "You've been absent from the school for months. Surely the spell would have driven you mad by now."
The words conveyed a sense of curiosity, but his tone held nothing but anticipation. He was excited by the fallout he expected to happen when he finally revealed his hand to the room at large.
"You know all about madness, don't you, Lucius?" she dared to say, knowing she was doomed, but refusing to go without a fight.
He smacked her hard across the face for her impertinence. The blow stung, leaving the area hot as a glowing coal, but she bit her tongue to keep from showing just how badly it hurt while Harry and Ron both struggled in vain. They strained and cursed, grunting as the bindings cut into their wrists. Even Dean tried to get loose at that, but it was to no avail.
"What did you do, Lucius?" Bellatrix asked eagerly, delighting in whatever secret torment he'd inflicted on the Mudblood that had dared to challenge her master.
"Repetita Cupiditatem," he said smugly, savoring the reactions his announcement produced in Ron and Bellatrix, the only two who gave some indication of recognizing the spell.
Ron's audible inhale was the only sign he gave, but Harry's head whipped towards him, and she figured he'd tensed and strained against their bindings. Harry, luckily, was obvious to the full scope of the spell, much like she'd been when it first happened. Hermione also noted that Narcissa didn't look at all surprised by the news.
Bellatrix, on the other hand, sounded horrified as she demanded, "You had your son –"
"No!" Draco denied, blanching at the idea.
"That had been my original intention, but then I thought to use our dear Severus instead," Lucius said, laughing as he did. "The headmaster's 'loyal' servant using his golden girl right under his nose."
The deranged cackle did nothing to hide the vicious hunger emanating from him as he scanned her from head to foot, gripping her chin again between his disgusting, steel fingers. It was a look she unfortunately recognized from when Crabbe had held her the last time she'd been in this house.
Damn it, Malfoy, hurry up! she willed, unsure if she could stomach experiencing anything like that again.
"Tell me, how have you been keeping up with it? Your kind are being rounded up for Azkaban so you couldn't have simply strolled into the school whenever you needed to see him," Lucius inquired casually, though he must have known Bellatrix would leap on the implication because he smirked and released her chin, stepping aside so his sister-in-law had a clear view of Hermione.
Hermione said nothing, refusing to answer or say anything else that would result in being struck again. Though Harry was gaping, open-mouthed, at her. Ron and Dean probably were too.
"I'd be curious to know what Severus has been up to as well," Bellatirx growled, prowling closer. When Hermione continued her silence, staring them down defiantly, Bellatrix suggested, "I never trusted him – even after he came through last spring. He's been helping you all along! Tell us how."
Hermione said nothing.
Bellatrix let loose a demented shriek, then announced, "Maybe this will loosen her tongue. Crucio!"
Pain, unlike any she'd ever known shredded her, slicing her into so many ribbons of meat. A scream tore from her throat and her whole body seized as it crumpled, collapsing forward. Only the bindings held her the remotest bit upright.
Distantly, Hermione heard the boys yelling for Bellatrix to stop, bargaining with her perhaps, but she couldn't make out any actual words being said.
Minutes, hours, days later, Bellatrix relented, lifting the spell. Hermione panted, her limbs continuing to shake violently.
"Well? Shall we try that again?" Bellatrix said, grabbing Hermione by her hair and yanking her head back at an unnatural angle. A snarl twisted Bellatrix's lips back, a feral dog that spat as she growled, "How are you doing it? Has he been hiding you? Has he been helping you?"
"N-no. He – he developed a counter spell months ago. After…after he tired of me," Hermione insisted, knowing she needed to protect Severus's cover if nothing else. Malfoy hadn't left the room yet. Who knew when he'd have a chance, and Hermione needed to ensure they didn't suspect Severus when he eventually came.
"Were you that awful? Didn't look that way when we watched him fuck you the first time, but sometimes these things are hard to gauge," Lucius said, looking supremely disappointed.
Hermione wanted to spit in Lucius's face, particularly when Harry gasped, "No."
"Lucius," Narcissa hissed. "No more talk like that. Not in my house. And not in front of Draco." As though she'd done a thing to stop Malfoy from being there and watching when it originally happened. But Lucius, thankfully, considering all his thoughtless bravado, heeded her words.
Malfoy was by the door, apparently having attempted to exit unnoticed, except he knocked into the sword of Gryffindor that Scabior had left propped beside the frame. The blade clattered to the floor, gaining everyone's attention, particularly Bellatrix's.
"What's that? Where did you get that?" she cried, pulling Hermione's head further back until the tendons in her neck strained and she feared the witch was trying to behead her with brute force alone.
"They had it on them," Draco volunteered, likely trying to distract her from asking about what he'd been up to, and not realizing the consequences of Bellatrix discovering they had the sword she believed safely locked in her vault.
"Did they now?" Lucius mused, leaning close to Bellatrix as he purred the taunt. "Wasn't the sword entrusted to you? Imagine how far out of favor you will fall…it might even surpass my own loss of prestige."
"They can't have gotten it. It was in my vault. How did you get in my vault? What else did you take?" Bellatrix raged, shaking Hermione viciously as she ranted. Her teeth rattled and she bit her tongue to keep from crying out, blood welling in her mouth, thick and salty.
What else? Why would she ask that…unless…
"Nothing," Hermione said quickly, trying to mask her thoughts. "It's a fake! We didn't take anything," she cried, speaking over the boys who'd begun yelling at Bellatrix to stop again.
"Tut, tut, Mudblood. Not sure I believe your story anymore," Lucius said, a clarity that frightened her almost more than his madness coming over him.
"They were in my vault, Lucius," Bellatrix snapped, face turning a mottled red at the implications.
"Or our dear Severus gave it to her and tricked you. It was he who entrusted it to you on our Lord's orders, was it not?" Lucius suggested, coming dangerously close to the truth.
"No. He didn't! He'd never help us – I swear," Hermione cried, trying to shake her head, but only managing to tear several hairs from her scalp since Bellatrix still had a firm grasp on her. "Ah!" she yelped, the stinging bite startling her like tiny needle pricks that made tears form in her eyes, blurring her vision.
Beside her, Hermione saw a familiar look come over Harry's face. He was piecing everything together, taking what little he'd gleaned and managing to see everything in its entirety. It was a skill he was far too good at, particularly when she wasn't in a position to soothe things over or talk him down if he didn't like the final picture he concocted.
"Is that so? Are you sure you didn't use your filthy cunt to convince him to betray us?" Lucius asked, looking far too interested in the possibility.
"Let me question her. I'll get answers even if I have to carve them from her flesh," Bellatrix announced, a demented light setting her aglow at the idea. "Narcissa, have Wormtail put the others in the cellar."
The silver-handed man appeared without a summons, likely having been listening at the door all along. Immediately, he waved his wand, using magic to herd the others away, despite their loud protests, and leaving her standing alone with Bellatrix's wand aimed at her.
Fear made her blood pound loudly in her ears, blocking the fading pleas of her friends as they were dragged away.
"I'll get your favorite knife, Aunt Bella, shall I?" Malfoy offered, and Hermione fought to keep the relief she felt from showing. Though hearing the word knife helped tremendously.
He was finally going to get Severus. She just had to hold on until he arrived. Surely he'd already detected her pain and fear. She wouldn't have to wait long once he knew where to go.
"Yes, Draco. I see my sister has taught you manners. Perhaps there is still some small hope for you yet," she purred, nearly bouncing at the prospect of cutting Hermione up. Then she ordered Lucius, "Hold her down."
Immediately, Lucius's hands raked over her. She squirmed, trying to break free, but the manacle-like grip caught up her wrists before twisting her to the ground.
Instinct demanded she fight. Visions of Crabbe clouded her vision, making her wild and feral. "No!" she screamed.
Hermione bucked, jerking and tugging on her hands, desperate to get away. She thrashed and turned, but the hold on her only tightened. Then knees were suddenly on her arms, the weight two spots of increasing pain where her muscles were compressed and the tendons scraped against bone. His weight distributed on just those two spots made him three times as heavy as he truly was.
"Lucius, so help me if you put your hands on her in an inappropriate manner in front of me," Narcissa warned, the coldness emanating from her making it clear she meant business.
"Ah, Cissy, you're no fun. You heard what he already did to her, surely this –"
"He's my husband and will respect me. As my sister, you will see that he does," Narcissa said icily. Hermione could have kissed her. At least she didn't have to worry about Lucius subjecting her to what Crabbe had. Not that helping torture her in other ways was much better.
"Hmph," Bellatrix sighed, clearly disappointed, but she had more pressing matters to concern herself with, and returned to those. "Where did you get the sword?" Bellatrix hissed, her wild curls haloing her head like Medusa's snakes. Hermione turned away, fearing she too had the power to turn people to stone, only to find her face less than an inch from Lucius's grotesque visage.
A wash of rancid air fanned over her face when he chuckled, appreciating her terror. Hermione gagged on the stench, which only served to make him laugh harder. Apparently house arrest also meant one didn't need to continue with personal hygiene regimes, such as brushing one's teeth regularly.
He leaned in even closer, his fat tongue making an appearance, but Narcissa's sharp reprimand stopped him. "Lucius."
"No, no, no," she muttered, willing the whole situation away. It didn't work.
"The sword, Mudblood! Where is it?" Bellatrix demanded again, impatient for a response.
"I don't know!" Hermione screamed, shaking her head. The refrain of lie, lie, lie, ran constantly through her head. She had to protect both Harry and Severus. She had to. "I don't - NO!" she shrieked, trying to repeat it, but Lucius shifted his weight, and the pain of his knees nearly broke her arm where they dug in.
He recognized the source of her pain and grinned maliciously. The tender flesh of her upper arms ground together, feeling like a balloon ready burst where the points of his knees pressed.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix called with a manic grin.
The pain was sudden, fierce, excruciating. Every muscle in her body seized and twitched, nearly ripping her arms out of the sockets as she flailed against Lucius's hold. She hardly noticed. Everywhere else hurt worse. It lasted for hours, years even, though it was actually only a few seconds.
When it finally stopped Hermione thought of her friends, needing the reminder of them to distract her from the pain.
Harry and Ron had been taken away. Harry looked determined, as he so often did in these life-and-death situations. She chose not to think about the rest she'd seen in his expression – the knowledge that something was happening between her and Severus. Hermione assumed Harry was rapidly coming up with a plan. That whatever it was wouldn't be in opposition to what Severus would do once he arrived. That was what they both did - what they always did - save the day.
Ron, though, she'd never seen him look so terrified - not even when he'd faced gigantic spiders. He understood exactly what was about to happen, and he was desperate to spare her from it. She loved him all the more for it. Ron –
"Do not lie to me. Where?" Bellatrix asked again, this time calmly, as though discussing the weather, or something equally mundane - as though she hadn't just used an Unforgivable Curse to torture Hermione.
"We found it!" Hermione insisted, choking and sputtering.
Blood coated the inside of her mouth from where she'd bitten her tongue again to keep from screaming, and it spilt over the side of her face and into her hair. She considered spitting some of it on one of her tormentors, but knew their retaliation wouldn't be worth the momentary satisfaction she'd get from the act. She'd learned as much when she'd tried it with Crabbe. Because like him, she feared they'd enjoy having the excuse to punish her worse.
"Disgusting Mudblood! You're leaking and soiling this noble house! Lucius, hold her still – if she won't talk, I'll make her pay for tainting the carpets," Bellatrix cackled, merrily calling, "Crucio!"
This time was longer and Hermione flopped about like a landed fish, legs twisting like a turtle on its back. The scream she'd managed to contain the second time now burst forth, expressing her pain for all to hear. When it finally stopped, she fought to gasp in even a tiny mouthful of air. Every breath was a struggle, her lungs unwilling to expand without igniting twinges of pain in her ribcage. Hermione's hands were completely numb from squeezing them into such tight fists. Or had her limbs lost blood flow from where Lucius was squishing them?
Memories assailed Hermione. Phantom pain exploded in her chest. Specifically her left breast where Crabbe had bitten and molested her. She'd been as helpless and restrained then as she was now. She could clearly recall how he'd groped her, his stubby, fat fingers clenching about the tender mound of her breast as he wrenched an utterly horrified scream from her.
"The sword," Bellatrix hissed, trying to reclaim Hermione's attention, but she was too focused on yanking her arms away. Lucius had morphed into Crabbe in her mind, and she'd do anything to dislodge him from her person.
Anything except admit the truth and betray Severus.
"It's a fake!" she screamed, twisting and bucking, fighting harder to free herself.
"Where has that incompetent child of yours disappeared to? How long does it take to find a knife? I want to carve her up like a Holiday turkey," Bellatrix announced, perking up gleefully.
"I'm sure he'll be along shortly," Narcissa said tartly, distaste clear as she added, "Try not to permanently destroy the rugs, dear. They're antiques."
Hermione's head lolled to the side, her eyes searching about the room. Narcissa was assessing her coldly, that calculating glint back in her crystal blue eyes. How could she stand by and do nothing? Was she truly so heartless?
Moving as slowly as he could get away with, Malfoy finally entered the room. "Here, Aunt Bella," he said, extending a dagger hilt first.
"Finally!" Bellatrix leapt up, lightly hopping over Hermione's supine legs to receive it with gleeful anticipation. The mad woman looked like a child on Christmas morning who'd woken to a significantly larger pile of presents than she'd dared hope for.
"Is it really necessary?" Malfoy tried, hesitating before releasing his hold on the blade, as though reluctant to give it over. "I mean…isn't there another way?"
"The filthy Mudblood needs to be punished for lying to me."
"I'm not! We found it - I swear we found it," Hermione tried, terror filling her at the resigned expression Malfoy wore.
She didn't need to ask to know he'd had no luck reaching Severus. Hermione was on her own, unless Harry managed to pull off the impossible. But she couldn't rely on that, because really, how many times could one person's luck hold?
"Lies! Now tell me where you got it," Bellatrix accused, sounding more deranged now, hands tugging at her own hair as she stared down at Hermione, then raised her wand to point at her once more, the newly received knife momentarily forgotten.
"Aunt Bella, perhaps she is telling the truth," Malfoy tried, fear scrunching his face as he spoke.
"She isn't," Bellatrix insisted, sneering down at Hermione. "No. The filth continues to disobey me. Don't you see? This is why we must do this, Draco. Speak out in her defense again, and I will begin to doubt your loyalty, boy. Our Master would not be very happy with you - not that he is at the moment anyway."
"Draco," Narcissa warned, and Hermione saw his already pasty complexion visibly pale further just before he dropped his head, turning his eyes deliberately to the floor so he didn't have to see the disappointment on Hermione's face.
Hermione wilted, feeling the hope he'd sparked dying a swift death. A moth dancing precariously closer to a wavering golden flame suddenly catching fire. She'd hadn't even realized she'd been miserably clinging to any until the hope vanished entirely. She could expect no further aid from Malfoy.
Harry was the only shot she had of surviving this. She just had to endure a bit more. A bit more was all she'd be able to stomach, she was sure.
"No, no, please," Hermione begged when Lucius shifted, grinding her bones to dust beneath his weight.
"Do you hear how she begs so prettily?" Lucius taunted, chuckling nastily. "Did you do the same for Severus? Probably not, or he wouldn't have tired of you so quickly…then again, he was always going on about your mouth. He must prefer you stuffed full and forced to be silent."
The unspoken statement hovered in the air, Lucius preferred begging and pleading. And he intended to have her at his mercy the second Narcissa left the room and no longer controlled his leash.
"Well I prefer her screaming," Bellatrix sneered, disdain dripping from her as she stood straighter, adopting the visage of a noblewoman above such things. Hermione trembled, recognizing the true extent of insanity in the woman - the woman preparing to torture Hermione with a knife herself. "I wonder… will she still be able to scream and beg when I'm done with her?"
At first Hermione thought she was strong enough to handle what was being done to her, but as she glanced back and forth from Bellatrix to Lucius, with no hope of Severus coming, doubt swept over her. Which tormentor would be worse?
It was too much. She was breaking. Surely they could see the cracks webbing across her body like a broken mirror, shards falling to the floor only to shatter on impact. Surely they could? S he was going to die there. Or at least end up like the Longbottoms.
"Let's hope so," Lucius leaned in to croon softly so the others wouldn't hear. He probably thought it was his version of a seductive promise. His foul breath made her gag as his words caused vomit to rise in the back of her throat, choking her. "You were wasted on Severus. I should have known. The least he could have done was break you. Don't worry, I won't make the same mistake."
"No, no, no," Hermione chanted, tears pricking her eyes like little needles repeatedly stabbing her as Bellatrix kicked her side hard. The heel of her boot making contact with the bottom of her rib cage and blinding white stars exploded across her vision. When they faded, Hermione was left with a red haze of agony throbbing through her.
Hermione sucked in a breath, trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever was going to happen next just as Bellatrix screamed, "I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"
"We found it - we found it - PLEASE!" Hermione shrieked, desperation taking hold as Bellatrix's wand came up again.
"CRUCIO!" she screamed, and the power and rage behind the word seemed to amplify the pain.
Agony worse than before consumed Hermione. She was burning from the inside out, volts of electricity coursing through her veins unwelcome and unending.
Hermione screamed, and screamed, and screamed. Fresh blood coated her chin where she'd bitten her lip in addition to her tongue. Lucius, rather than looking revolted by the sight, seemed mildly intrigued – evidence of the number Azkaban had done on him.
The pain was so intense, she didn't even notice when Bellatrix stopped. Hermione's head rolled helplessly to the side, her neck muscles too weak to support it.
Malfoy was there. She could see him again. His mother's white knuckled hands were gripping his shoulders tightly. His face wore a look like he was the one being tortured. The idea that he cared and his mother was stopping him from intervening cleared the fog of pain from her head a bit.
Hermione whimpered and renewed her struggle to get away. Her kicking legs did no more damage than to turn up the corner of the plush rug covering the marble floors of the drawing room. Her feet found no purchase on the smooth floor, just slipped and slid over the polished surface. Tiny shuttering spasms rocked Hermione's body, making her limbs uncooperative and useless until she finally stopped trying to push off the floor.
She was too weak to dislodge Lucius and he seemed to find her efforts to escape a game. The predatory look in his eyes deepened, becoming hungrier. Naricssa wasn't going to be able to control him for much longer, he was too far gone. She whimpered at the sight, and tried harder. Her efforts were in vain and rewarded by an amused chuckle. How could anyone be so evil? How could anyone enjoy hurting someone defenseless?
"Do you know what happens to the mind when it undergoes the Cruciatus Curse for too long? Would you like to experience it for yourself?" Bellatrix merrily asked, momentarily excited by the idea. The Longbottoms again. Hermione truly was going to end up just like them. "Or would you prefer the knife?"
"Use the knife," Lucius all but begged. "I'm still not convinced Severus didn't give her the sword outright."
"He didn't," she insisted pitifully, wishing for the end.
If Severus wasn't coming, she just wanted it to end.
She longed for death rather than what they had in store for her.
Hermione hadn't even noticed Bellatrix's approach, but the feel of her rancid moist breath mingling with Lucius's on her face made her stomach roll unpleasantly. Then Bellatrix suddenly reared back, striding away. The madwoman's jerky movements were giving Hermione whiplash. She couldn't keep up, and the unexpected nature of it all made the anticipation that much worse.
Spinning back just as abruptly, Bellatrix screamed, "You are a lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth! Crucio!"
Hermione screamed. On and on it went. She feared she'd never stop hearing the sounds of her own pain. Bellatrix hadn't even given her a chance to answer that time, though maybe that was a blessing. It was easier to conceal the truth when nothing was said at all.
She must not let Harry down. She'd not let Severus down, even if it was Lily and not her that he loved. She had to lie. Too much was at stake not to. No one else would ever have to suffer as she was.
"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!" Bellatrix threatened, waving the dagger with a wicked blade in the air. Light sparked off the tip, reflecting onto the nearby wall where it wavered erratically as she shook the blade.
"Use it, Bella," Lucius urged. "Dig the truth from her. Make her bleed it out."
"The truth, so she can never lie to anyone again," Bellatrix said curiously, pausing to consider the knife in her hand, a savage grin twisting her features.
Hermione dreaded what was going to happen next. She'd almost hoped that Bellatrix had forgotten the knife when she'd continued using the Cruciatus Curse even after Malfoy brought it to her.
"Lucius, give me her arm," she commanded, nodding to Hermione's right arm.
Between one breath and the next, Lucius had turned to kneel on Hermione's chest, one of her arms trapped beneath his heavy body while he stretched the other out, laying it flat upon the cool stone floor. It was clear he'd done this sort of thing before and knew how to keep his victims immoble while keeping his hands free to inflict pain. His weight made breathing even harder than it already was.
"Expose it. Yes, like that," Bellatrix praised breathily, giddiness at what she was about to do filling her so fully it spilled into the air around them.
The sound of Hermione's sleeve tearing rent the air, the fabric pulling and shredding between his paradoxically elegant hands.
Immediately, Bellatrix began carving. It was a different sort of pain. Hotter, more localized to a single point, rather than Hermione's whole body. With each slice, she felt the actual beats of her heart more. Each contraction propelled a rush of fiery pain radiating outward from the site of Bellatrix's artwork.
"M. What else did you take?" Bellatrix asked, perched beside them.
Hermione bit her lip to keep from screaming again, a renewed surge of copper filled her mouth as she did. But she said nothing.
"U. Tell me!" Bellatrix insisted.
"You're a stubborn one, aren't you. It'll be that much more fun to break you. The way you've been squirming about, I bet you like it rough. Could Severus not handle you? Was that the problem? Might have to chain you down and whip you bloody," Lucius said pondering, clearly disinterested in Bellatrix's game and eager to begin his own. "Yes, I like the way you're reacting to that."
"Lucius," Narcissa hissed, fury straightening her spine, but she did no more than issue the pointless rebuke.
"D. There, mud. The filth in your veins," Bellatrix said, sitting back to admire her effort. Her face hardened as she did. "What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"
She laughed as Hermione screamed, body seizing and contorting uncontrollably beneath Lucius, a wrong pantomime of what Lucius wished he was doing to Hermione.
"No. No. Nothing," Hermione whimpered, finding it difficult to focus on any one thing. The threats and burning mingled in her mind, overwhelming her. Her denial only seemed to enrage Bellatrix impossibly further though.
"Disgusting. You dirty liar," Bellatrix announced disdainfully. The point of her dagger drove in again, cutting deeper than before as she started the next letter. "B. How? L. Tell me," she coaxed, carving faster, seeming more excited as she hastily wiped the weeping wound so she could see her canvas. The pressure of that almost hurt worse than the actual slicing.
"Stop, please. D-don't! I can't! Please, please. We fo-found it. Let go of me! I-I swear!" she cried, sobbing freely as her jumbled protests spilled out.
Her head whipped back and forth, denying the stark reality of her situation. Desperation wrapped her in its unyielding embrace, bands of unbreakable steel or chains ready to drag her to the unknown deep of the ocean. She met Draco's eyes briefly, then he was vomiting onto the floor.
Why hadn't he gotten Severus? He'd agreed, however reluctantly. If only he'd come for her.
But she wasn't Lily, so why would he?
"O. Lies. O. One more chance then I'll get one of the others. You're useless – worthless," Bellatrix said while making the final cuts. It was the truth. The locket had told her the same for months. "D. There. All done," she said, patting it roughly.
Bellatrix's head cocked as she studied her work. Hermione wanted to pull her arm in, to prevent Bellatrix from seeing what she'd done, but the pain was too great and Lucius was in the way. Her arm was as rubbery as Harry's when Lockhart had vanished all of his bones.
Where was death? She was ready to welcome it with open arms. She wasn't afraid like the three brothers had been. It was her salvation – if only it would greet her.
"How did you get into my vault? Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?" Her words were enough to clear Hermione's head again somewhat. She couldn't let the goblin suffer for what they were doing. No one should endure what was happening to her. No one.
"We only met him tonight! We've never been inside your vault…. It isn't the real sword! It's only a copy, just a copy!"
"Shame. That was your last chance. Draco, get the goblin and the Weasley whelp," she ordered, not checking to see if he complied. A thought seemed to capture her, and her lips twisted into a grotesque grimace. "Lucius, dispose of her however you see fit."
From the grin he wore, she knew there'd be no escape. Hermione would not survive what he had planned for her – nor did she want to.
"Please just kill me. Kill me and be done with it," Hermione begged, unable to handle another moment more.
"I'm not done with you yet, slut. The fun has only just begun," Lucius taunted.
