A/N: Hello! Thank you for reading and please please review. This chapter has some torture in it, but it's not very graphic.

Hermione landed with a hard thud in a dingy room reminiscent of Grimmauld Place. The pale boy, still firmly gripping her hand, pulled her up to her feet. Once on her feet, she instinctively pulled her hand from his and brushed it on her pants, trying to wipe off the feel of his hand. She looked at his face. He was sneering at her for her action.

"You are coming with me to see the Dark Lord," He surly man who had rescued them muttered, pointing at Malfoy, "And you, Ms. Granger, you will stay seated there," He pointed to a musty looking chair, "until our return. You will explain yourself then."

She could do nothing than sit her bottom in the aforementioned chair, her mouth in a permanent 'o' and her hand clenched firmly around her wand. She watched her professor pace back and forth a few paces before settling his eyes on her again.

"There is a restroom behind that door if you need it. Do. Not. Move. Otherwise."

And then, grasping Malfoy harshly by the upper arm, he disappeared from view.

HGDMHGDM

"Severussss. I see you have brought the prodigal sssson."

Fitting that a half blood raised by muggles would use a muggle colloquialism. The old man thought. He wondered why no one else had guessed at his heritage, preferring to think of him as a pureblood.

Severus chose not to answer the Dark Lord's unasked question. The snake-like man's eyes moved over the boy's form unwaveringly, and he himself was secretly holding his breath. He had almost come to care for the sadly neglected, spoiled brat during his time teaching him.

"You have atoned for your father'ssss sssinsss," the Dark Lord hissed, "Come forward to receive your reward."

He watched the silver-haired boy step forward. The Dark Lord grasped his left arm and pulled his sleeve up. He raised his forearm to his mouth and licked along the Dark Mark with some amount of sadistic glee. To his credit, Draco did not show any emotion on his face, nor did he flinch away. The Dark Lord threw his arm down and motioned to someone behind him.

They threw a woman at the feet of Draco. Her hair was cut short and there were bruises on her face, but her ice-cold blue eyes and her regal mannerisms remined the same. Draco's eyes widened only slightly as he saw his mother in such a state, shaken from being underfed and crucioed countless times.

Severus saw this as an opportunity to speak up, to cover the boy's momentary weakness. He made a note to himself to reinforce his occlumency teachings.

"We have also captured Mudblood Granger," He said, respectfully inclining his head in the Dark Lord's direction, "She is at my residence now, bound and stupefied."

He knew his only living master was surprised by the raise of his eyebrow.

"Without the Mudblood, Potter will be useless," the Dark Lord pondered, "Yes, bring her to me."

The hideous man dismissed everyone in the room with a wave of his hand. Draco picked up his mother, who was unable to stand on her own, and grabbed on to Severus who apparated him to Spinner's End.

Granger was still on the couch where he had left her, her eyes closed and breathing softly. Draco let go of his mother, who he thought could stand on her own after she was out of the presence of the evilest man they had ever known. He was mistaken, which was articulated by her ungraceful slump to the floor, waking Granger.

"Ms. Granger, do you know occlumency?"

She nodded sleepily, not quite knowing what was going on. He took her moment of weakness and slipped into her mind. As soon as he was in, he felt something in her mind shift, but he found no obvious barriers or cracks. Her mind was a fog of devotion to Potter and Weasley, mixed with a strong hatred for Death Eaters. He must have looked for minutes but could not find anything concerning her escape with Malfoy, only Potter's obsession with the boy.

He withdrew and nodded his approval at the girl, who beamed. He winced, knowing what was going to happen in just a few short minutes.

"I m going to take you to the Dark Lord now. This is not going to be a pleasant experience for you. Whatever happens, do not answer any questions if you wish for your dearest Potter to live. I will try to get you out alive, but you might just die tonight. And I am sorry."

He readied himself, knowing what he must do. He raised his hand and backhanded the girl hard, his middle finger scratching a deep wound along her cheek, causing her to fall out of the dilapidated armchair and onto the floor. He then kicked her, though not as hard as he could, in the stomach thrice. Pulling her up by her hair, he examined her face. She was sporting a large red mark in the shape of his hand and the cut was bleeding down her cheek.

She was quiet through the ordeal, though he noted that she was silently crying. She was trying and failing to hold the tears in. She nodded in understanding to Severus.

"Tell Harry and Ron I love them, If I, you know," she said through her tears.

Severus nodded and turned towards Draco and his mother, picking up Granger by her hair. Draco looked appalled, and his mother was half passed out against him.

"Get your mother to a bedroom, boy. You know where they are. There are labeled potions in the kitchen. You know what to do."

And without a warning, they apparated.

HGDMHGDM

Hermione's hair hurt. She had never been dragged by it before, and after this was over, she was going to give Severus Snape a firm talking to.

If you don't die tonight, the traitorous voice whispered in her head.

Suddenly, they were in the presence of Voldemort. The ballroom was empty except for her, Snape—No longer her professor—and her best friend's arch nemesis. Her whole entire body went cold as Snape forced her to approach the make-shift throne, using her unruly hair as a sort of leash, pulling on it harshly when she lagged behind. He stopped, pulled his hand back, and forcefully threw her at the feet of Voldemort.

She swallowed loudly and absentmindedly wondered if the evil wizard heard it.

"At long lassst, the upper hand."

His voice was like ice, it sent shivers up her spine and made her long to be in the safety of the Gryffindor common room. She suddenly wished she had not helped Malfoy escape. He would be in the custody of aurors and she would be safe in between Harry and Ron.

"Mudblood, look at me."

She turned, red eyes meeting brown, and she heard the dreaded word.

"Crucio."

Her teeth clenched so hard that she thought she might crack a few. She tried to retreat into her safe space, the space in her mind she had created for such events. She managed to not make a sound for thirty seconds.

Then a scream ripped from her throat and the pain seemed to last for an eternity. She tried to count the seconds, but not passing out from the sheer amount of pain she was in was difficult enough already. Suddenly, the feeling was gone and her entire body sagged with relief.

"Was that enough, you mudblood bitch? Are you going to tell me Potter's plans?"

She looked straight into his eyes, knowing that her own were full of steel. She summoned what little gumption and hatred she had.

"Never," was her firm response, raising her chin in defiance for good measure.

The pain came back in full force. This time was longer than the last. She writhed around, but refused to scream, going as far as to bite her tongue. Voldemort lifted the curse and asked her the same question. Her response remained the same and the torture continued.

Over and over he asked her if she would give up Harry, her best and first friend, and over and over she answered in the negative, rewarding her with torture beyond her darkest nightmares. He sent a slicing hex her way, her blood pooling on the ground around her, but her answer remained the same. He reverted back to the torture curse. Her answer was still no.

She felt as if she was on the edge of madness. The pain was unbearable, unimaginable. She couldn't focus, time had lost all meaning. She didn't know if it had been minutes or hours or even days, but to her it felt like eons. Her tears had long since dried out, her voice was hoarse from screaming. He let the curse off to ask the question again.

"Tell me Potter's plan!" He yelled.

Hermione didn't know where she was anymore, she didn't know who she was talking to, she only knew that she shouldn't answer the question.

"No, no, no, no, NOOO!" She yelled at the man before her eyes rolled back into her head and she succumbed to the darkness.

HGDMHGDM

Draco had given his mother a pain potion, a healing potion and a dreamless sleep. She had looked so peacefull, like death, with her eyes closed. He wanted to shake her awake, to make sure she wouldn't leave him, but the steady rise and fall of her chest comforted him.

He looked over his mother once more. She looked wrong with short hair, and that fact had bothered him more than how run down, tortured, and tired she looked. He had never used beauty charms before, but he had been around Pansy enough to pick up some of them, much to his chagrin.

He waved his wand, uttering the spell and watched as his mother's perfectly straight black hair grew to the appropriate length. It wasn't styled, but he supposed he could ask Granger to do that.

His thoughts turning to the girl now in the presence of his master, he shuddered. He could not imagine the torture she was going through. The torture sessions of his fellow Death Eaters, even for failures, were never as harsh as their mudblood or muggle captives.

He hoped that the Dark Lord was not going to kill her or torture her into insanity. No matter how much he hated her, her friends, and her kind, he could not shake the feeling of her warm hand in his s he dragged him out of the castle to safety.

After a half hour, he started pacing through the house, checking all of the rooms to distract himself from worrying about the fate of Granger.

"She's just a Mudblood, more common than dirt," He tried to convince himself.

He could not loosen the knot of worry in the pit of his stomach if he tried. Another hour marched by in painstaking slowness. His mother did not make so much as a peep, but the house on the other hand, was as loud as a dragon. The home was a muggle one with magical wards. He had never been in a muggle home before, nor had he been in a house as small as this one before. The wind outside shook the house and ever so often there was a clanking in the walls.

At two hours, Draco could no longer pace. He had tire himself out after an already tiring night. It was almost three in the morning he resigned himself to the armchair that Granger had been ordered into. He sat there trying to convince himself that he did not care.

Snape's old grandfather clock starting ringing and he counted the strokes out loud.

"One….Two….Three….Fou—"

On the fourth stroke, his godfather appeared in front of him, causing Draco to startle and almost fall out of the decrepit, rickety armchair. He was holding on to the bushy-haired girl who was writhing wildly in his arms. Draco saw her take a breath before letting out an ear-piercing shriek.

The hollowness of her scream shocked him. She turned her head and made eye contact with her. Her eyes were wild, those of an animal. There were no calculating thoughts behind those clever eyes. The lights were on, but no one was home. That shook him more than anything. She had always been the top of the class, able to keep her cool and think no matter what was going on, rarely letting emotion get a hold of her. She had been so transparent too, he could see the thoughts flicker through her mind like candlelight. But now, there was nothing there but fear and pain.

"What happened?" He asked, climbing to his feet, but Snape was already barreling through his house.

He set the girl on the bed in the room next to his own and closed the door. Draco tried opening it so he could see what was going on but was greeted with a stinging hex as he grasped the door handle. He slid his back down the opposing wall and stared at the solid wood separating him and the still-screaming girl.

HGDMHGDM

Severus Snape was a tired man. Years of looking over his shoulder and carefully occluding his mind so that nothing would slip had left him weary and worn. Now, it was four in the morning and he was trying to patch up Granger. Her screams for the last half hour of the Dark Lord's torture had nearly driven him to insanity. He idly wondered if there was anything left in her mind that was worth patching her up for. Very few people had withstood three hours of the Dark Lord's torture and came out intact. Even he had been subjected to only an hour at a time.

He shook his head and set to work, muttering the counter curse to the slashes on her body. He wished with all his heart he had not made that particular curse. Seeing it inflicted on Draco was one thing, to see it almost bleed Granger to death was terrifying.

He took out various pastes, gels, and potions from the top drawer of the musty dresser. He tipped several of the potions down her throat, holding her nose and mouth closed, forcing her to swallow. She passed out soon after the potions took effect. He was grateful for the sudden silence.

Severus started undressing her, trying hard not to look anywhere inappropriate. He had seen a lot of things in his life, but he did not want to see a naked Granger. He sucked in his breath at the amount of bruising along her stomach and ribs. The Dark Lord had been furious when she passed out and kicked her immobile body before ordering her back to his house to be healed and interrogated, slowly broken if necessary. He thanked the heavens that she had been sent with him and not another Death Eater. His own kicks had been a fraction as hard as the Dark Lord's.

He rubbed the bruise salve onto her body, being careful not to stray anywhere inappropriate. She could do those when she awoke. There were other marks on her, some were clearly burn scars and the others were long strips crisscrossed on top of each other. He wondered where they came from before moving on. He felt along her ribs, finding one of her lower ones were broken. After he fixed it, he put his supplies away, leaving a pain potion on the dresser, knowing she would be sore and shaky in the morning, if she wasn't incoherent and without a working brain.

He left the room, making sure to be silent as he closed the door, knowing no one in the house would be able to sleep through her screams. He was met by a concerned-looking Draco in the hallway.

"What happened?" He reiterated his question from before.

"The Dark Lord happened."

The boy looked at him questioningly as he moved to the kitchen, where he poured himself a stiff drink, downing it in one go, then pouring another.

"He tortured her for three hours straight."

He heard Draco take in a breath and he shook his head. The boy, though he had killed, was still too innocent to be a Death Eater. He knew not what the group was, outside of the glorified stories his father told him.

"She didn't break or say anything incriminating though. She said she would rather die."

"Why didn't he kill her, why torture her for so long?"

"Because she is still useful. We were ordered to heal her and then break her, so she might betray her friends."

"She would never do that!" The boy half-shouted.

"Draco, when you took that mark, you pledged your loyalty to the Dark Lord. Where do your loyalties lie?"

"Wherever my mother is safe."

The man nodded, "Then you will report all of your activities to me, and in turn I promise to keep your mother safe upon the pain of death."

The blond nodded, keeping eye contact, looking terrified. Severus sighed, looking at his own Dark Mark.

"You will need to steel yourself, boy. You took the mark, you signed up for this. The torture, the rape, the death, remember that it was your own doing."