Chapter 20: When fear has gone, there will be nothing

It was cold and dank. There was a certain scent that permeated the room but she had no idea whatsoever what it could be. It possibly could have been a dead body for all she knew. It was strong and crawled up her nostrils like a boiled egg that had been left in the sun for a few weeks. She cringed at the thought that there could be bigger problems other than that horrible smell.

She pulled her pajamas closer to her form as a chill ran down her spine and reached into her very spirit. It was hard not to cry. She felt the tears welling behind her eyelids but she refused to show weakness when she knew that she had so much strength left in her body. She had only to find it.

In a place like this, so cold and lonely like a prison, she expected to hear the squeaking of mice, or the dripping of water. But there was nothing. Dead silence surrounded her except for the quaking breath that she took every few seconds. Every inhale bounced off the stone walls and every exhale boomed into her eardrums as though the room was magnified in sound.

More than all of this, she realized how utterly alone she was. She began to fight the tears once again. Sitting down wrapped into a ball on the stone floor, she had never before felt so monumentally lonely. She thought of all those who she might never see again.

"No!" She cried. The sound echoing again and again… no…no…no. She would not let this dungeon get the best of her because she knew that Dumbledore and Harry, and her family would not just sit idly by and let her die. She knew that in her heart they were coming for her.

That was when the fear struck her deep down. She wanted to vomit. She knew that this was the plan all along and she couldn't dare believe that Harry would fall into it. She hoped against hope that this time he would not listen to his heart and that he would let her simply die here. She feared that the moment he left campus grounds, with or without Dumbledore that he would be vulnerable.

How could he have done this? She had seen his face as he pointed his wand at her and quieted her possible screams. Snape had put the binding curse on her and let Draco float her down the once peaceful halls. Snape was just as everyone had always thought him to be. Snape was the one; Ginny hoped that he would pay for what was just unraveling.

IIII

Hermione huddled with Harry as he cried. His tears fell and his voice was thick with mucus. She couldn't believe that it had really begun. Everything that they had fought to put a stop to had begun. Only hours before she had been dreaming of a place deep in the recesses of her mind and soul that had led her to the very person that was now her greatest enemy. She couldn't let herself believe that the man, who had let her see his vulnerability, if only for seconds at a time, was really this evil. Hermione decided that she had been weak in her thoughts of him and not thinking of the whole picture. He was the greatest actor she had ever known.

Inside her heart was breaking at the thought of what was happening. Ginny was gone, possibly already dead, and at the hands of Severus Snape. Right now she knew she must stop thinking of what had been before and concentrate all of her strength on the people she was now with. Ron stood stonily at the window waiting. Dumbledore had locked the three in his office. There was no way to get in and even worse, there was no way to get out.

The minute Dumbledore had realized the ultimate plan, he had taken the trio and placed them in the safest place he could think of and took off with the order on the heals of the midnight kidnappers.

Time seemed to be frozen within the dreary walls as the three waited for an answer to all of their questions. Harry had dried his eyes and had begun to march around the room. His temper was rising and Hermione could see it ultimately behind his fiery green eyes.

She feared what would happen if he could not leave the room. Everyone knew that this was Harry's battle that Dumbledore was determined to fight for him. Everyone also knew that Dumbledore probably wouldn't succeed. They knew that Harry must fight. Fight the man that had haunted him. And now he must also fight the man that had haunted Hermione.

IIII

He stood alone. He tried to fight the curse that was held over him. He tried to break himself of who he was becoming. He couldn't though. That was the thing about magic. It could do amazing things, but now he knew that it could also make so many suffer.

"Stop fighting it Severus." The snaky whisper curled around his ears as he let his mind go blank once again. He turned and faced the man, or rather the monster that had made him do all of this. His eyes were red and slotted. His nose no longer seemed to exist. He was possibly every child's worst nightmare. He was also every nightmare of every person who lived in the wizarding world. "You know that even you cannot fight my imperious curse. I have complete control over you."

Severus wanted to hurl curse after curse at the man who stood before him. Yet, he had lost all control of his own body. His mind was partially his own, but even that the evil Voldemort had access to. He merely looked at him, and Voldemort gazed back. It was a battle of the minds, that would have no ultimate winner.