Disclamer: As always, JK Rowling owns everything.

Notes: Working on chapter 5. Yey! I don't know how I'll go on about updating but it definitely won't be one chapter per week since I just recently started drafting chapter 5 and 6. Don't worry, I have the whole story outlined. Expect slow updates in the near future though since school is coming up. Sigh.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Two

I let my eyes adjust to the dark. While the circular room in the Department of Mysteries was dimly lit, the type of darkness in this room was artificially made - it wasn't dark because there was a lack of light; it was dark because it was made to be. I narrowed my eyes and brandished my wand out of my pocket, getting myself ready.

I frowned. The anti-portkey wards in the Department should've been working properly. My eyes narrowed in suspicion. Someone was either Imperio-ed to alter the wards or a Death Eater was working in the Department of Mysteries. Or someone in Voldemort's ranks is a curse designer – someone talented enough to have created a modified portkey that could act against the effects of an anti-portkey ward.

"Hello?" I say into the dark, not daring to move an inch in case the floor has been loaded with traps, my first year coming into mind and the ghost of the Devil's Snare slithering on my feet. I muttered a lumos but it didn't work. I frowned. I tried other spells but the effect was the same - nothing. What has Voldemort - or this curse designer - been teaching his Death Eaters in their months of silence?

"I know I'm not in a welcomed place," I continue. My heart rate speeds as I become claustrophobic by the second. Seeing as no one would probably respond in the next few seconds, I inspected myself for anything that I accidentally brought with me. No good. I only have my wand and my charm bracelet with me, not that it would do me any good seeing as the only charm it has as of the moment is St. Mungo's Healer charm.

"Okay look—"

A sliver of light suddenly peeked through a door I didn't notice far left. I hear a cackle that brought goose pimples across my skin. Bellatrix.

"Little mudblood bitch is that idiotic to touch anything not double checked," She laughed manically. My insides suddenly feel cold just from hearing her laugh. I must find a way to get out of this mess as soon as possible. "Cat got your tongue, mudblood?"

"Where am I?" Good. My voice is steady. I must look steady even though I'm shivering inside. There's this sudden gust of cold wind coming from that door. Or maybe the cold came from Bellatrix herself?

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She cackled as she left, leaving the door open. "Nott! Get your arse in here!"

While I am not familiar with the workings of all of the Death Eaters, only knowing a few from Auror reports, and some chance encounters, I know Theodore Nott Jr. enough to have made a profile of him back in Hogwarts. While Draco Malfoy was, for all intents and purposes, the antagonist in Harry's life (and Ron's and mine as well), Theodore Nott was always hiding in the shadows - he was the encyclopedic definition of an introvert.

But why would someone who displayed intense antisocial behavior back in Hogwarts join a band of Death Eaters?

I started racking my head for any curses I could throw and plan my escape. But first, I breathed in and felt the air for any wards placed in the room. Hopefully, Nott isn't the curse designer or whoever was constantly creating new curses for the Death Eaters. Anti-portkey wards, anti-apparition wards, and a-

My eyes widened, my heart rate doubled in speed as I slowly panic. What the bloody hell? That's why the spells don't work. This place has an anti-magic ward!

I slowly pocket my wand. So that's why they were complacent enough to let me keep my wand. If this place has an anti-magic ward then that means that this room is the torture-slash-interrogation room. But why would they place an anti-magic ward in the torture room? Didn't Death Eaters prefer to torture using dark curses? Unless—

"Little Miss Granger," Nott mockingly bowed in front of me. "Nice to meet you."

"What do you want?" I tense, looking back and forth between Nott that was currently in front of me and Bellatrix who was acting as the sentry. I started formulating plans to escape. I bit my lip. I hope Harry doesn't notice, not until after several hours, at least.

"Information, of course." Nott shrugged nonchalantly. He's smug enough to know that I won't be able leave this place unmarred, smug enough to think that I won't be able to leave this place at all.

I rolled my eyes, as if I would give information that easy. I'm a trained—

"Although, I guess being an Unspeakable has trained you to keep your mouth shut."

My heart beats rapidly in my chest. I'm rattled but I show no signs of it. Years of being an Unspeakable have trained me to become stoic in times of distress, especially during times of interrogation. We were trained to lie. We were trained to deny questions such as these. We were never to admit that we are, in fact, an Unspeakable.

I hear him mutter a spell and the darkness in the room considerably lessened, giving way to natural darkness.

"You created the wards?" I spoke as if I was talking about the weather. Distract, but at the same time let him slowly feed you information. Keep yourself on your feet, Hermione. You can do this.

"No," I feel my face slowly fall. "But a friend of mine taught me how to counter that one specific ward that I'm sure you've felt, Miss Granger." He haughtily smirked.

I tensely nod at him despite the darkness. He then lifted his lighted wand and smiled.

"Now let's get started, shall we?"

While Bellatrix was distinguishingly the crazy one, with a head full of loose screws, no one would have thought that Nott was the psychopath in the group of Death Eaters.

I gasp for air as I lay on the floor, clutching at nothing and everything at the same time. I need air. I need water. I need something to hold on to. What on earth is Nott doing to me?

"This is getting repetitively boring, Miss Granger, and I do not want to miss afternoon tea with my lovely wife so please answer the question." He brings the silver dagger down my arm again and I wince, the pain doubling after being subjected to it several times. "The poison in this dagger is light, compared to the others I have with me. Now please, if you don't want to feel it again, answer the question."

While Bellatrix is the crazy bint everyone has been avoiding all this time, Nott has been in the background, silently torturing you with his sharp words, sharp daggers, and meticulously brewed potions while acting like the gentleman that he thinks he is. Bellatrix is a fire ant compared to this monster.

He drags his dagger through my arm and I will myself not to scream. I do whimper though and that was enough to encourage him.

"Please, Miss Granger. I do not want to do this to you."

"Bullshit," I hiss. He smiled and whacked me hard on the head with a conjured stick. Merlin, he's the typical psychopath, feeding off the pain of others. Muggle criminal psychologists would have a fieldtrip studying his brain. I fall further to the floor. I spat out the blood in my mouth. I close my eyes and breathed through my mouth, my sinuses clogging. Can I break through the wards? I'm not sure I can. Not in this state anyway.

Nott slowly skewered me through the ribs using a hot iron rod. This time I screamed. Even though it's dark I see patches of light in front of me. I swear to Merlin, I can hear Nott sighing in content every time he does something terrible to me.

How many hours have passed since I've been here? Or has it already been days?

I'm sure Harry has noticed my absence. I'm sure most of the Order members are panicking right now, going through the standard procedures every time a member goes missing. But I'm sure Harry has settled everything so that the Order doesn't move unless he says so. I made him promise that in case something like this happens, he would only give the green light if and only if I haven't made myself present to him or any of the members within three days.

I felt tears prickle my eyes as Nott whacked me in the legs with the hot iron rod. Some of the skin came along every time he lifts it. Slowly, I feel myself losing consciousness.

"You're kind of an idiot aren't you, Granger?" The voice sounded familiar.

I found myself opening my eyes to see someone crouching in front of me.

When I blearily looked up from where I was currently lying down on my back, I saw platinum blond hair. I tensed further. I opened my mouth to speak but I felt my throat constrict. My eyes widened a fraction as no sound came out. My throat felt like it was inflamed enough to even block off air. I can taste the copper at the back of my throat. I tried not to panic as this would only worsen the pain.

"And no, I'm not here to torture you like Nott," He rolled his eyes. "I'm here to fix you." I saw him sit on the floor and roll his sleeves up, his Dark Mark on his left arm eerily shining despite the lack of light in the room.

I tried to scoot away from him but my body felt like it was on fire. Every movement I made felt like a thousand crucio. I silently screamed.

"Stop moving. You'll only hurt yourself more."

Despite the pain I'm currently feeling, I had enough energy to glare at Malfoy with enough feeling of hate.

I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, causing Malfoy to frown.

"What are you doing?" His voice sounded panicked for a second. Good. Let him think that I'm going to do something to him.

I slowly concentrated all my magic to my throat, knowing that this piece of wandless magic would take a toll on my body. Slowly, I feel the tissues in my lungs and esophagus fix itself, making breathing and speaking possible even through minimal pain. Thank Merlin I decided to become a Healer as well.

"Get away from me," I hoarsely told him off. My breathing becomes deep. Now that I did that piece of magic, my escape has been postponed for a day or two considering my injuries and the energy I spent on healing myself wandlessly. I dare not heal my injuries for fear of weakening my body further.

My eyes snapped open wide. I just did wandless magic. When did the anti-magic ward came down?

"Since I came in this room," Malfoy said, his hands now resting on his knees. How? "I can hear you think, you know. Your brain patterns are so… Granger. You know what I mean? Your facial features give it away too."

If I could flip him off, I would.

"Why are you here?" I spat.

"I told you, I came to fix you," He then slowly slid himself next to me, his wand hovering over my body doing a diagnosis of all my injuries, external or otherwise. Moving still looked impossible as even the little movement of my finger sent jolts of electricity in my body. Fortunately, talking seemed like an easy enough job. Whoever put this curse on me wanted me to talk.

"So you guys can torture me again?" I glared at him.

He only hummed in response.

I sighed as I felt healing spells being performed on some of the injuries that would pose a threat to their interrogation. I'm sure they want to keep me alive long enough for them to extract the information.

"You're an idiot, do you know that?"

"Why are even talking to the prisoner, Malfoy?" I wearily reminded him. He glared at me to shut up. "So are you the resident Healer for all Death Eaters? Do you heal all their injuries whenever they come home from all the battles they've lost?"

Merlin, speaking feels like a chore.

"No," He healed another one of the deeper cuts. "The Dark Lord doesn't want any of them healed. It's to teach them pain or something. Who knows." I hear his clothes rustle.

"But really," I should really stop talking. I tried moving my fingers and winced. I guess Malfoy isn't going to fix that. "Why are you talking to me?" I glared at him, reminding him of all the times he caused Harry, Ron, and I trouble.

I frowned remembering our seventh and last year in Hogwarts.

Despite Harry badgering me about how Malfoy was a Death Eater the previous year, and despite Malfoy's attempt at letting the Death Eaters enter the castle causing numerous deaths including that of Professor Dumbledore, Harry didn't jump at the chance to maul him out of the Hogwarts train and maim him dead the moment they saw him board; though Ron and the general populace of Hogwarts didn't particularly feel the same way as Harry, throwing jibes and insults every time they encounter Malfoy. While I admit that I used to be part of the general populace who would spit out words of disdain behind his back, I admit that being hated by the rest of the school must've taken a toll on Malfoy's studies. It was getting tiring as well, seeing as Malfoy was definitely being silent. So I remained indifferent like Harry, only respecting Malfoy's silence throughout our last year in Hogwarts.

The lower years (that is the First, Second, and Third years) were scared enough of him to know not to do or say anything to him. Except the occasional Third year Gryffindor that would throw a stinging hex at him once in a while.

Although it was curious to see how Malfoy didn't act on any of it. He stayed stoic through the rest of the year, even managing to get third in academic placement during graduation.

My frown deepened. Now that I think about it, even Ginny, the fireball that she is, only ever openly sneered at him, only going as far as pretending that he didn't exist. Ron stopped going after him after being talked to by Harry and Ginny days after he tried to create a scene in the halls of our Charms classroom.

"No one told you?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

"No one told me what?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

But that bastard left me even before I had my answer.

I felt the skin in my left ankle slowly leave itself, and I jumped awake, gasping for breath.

"So you're awake," Rosier sneered at me. He had in his hands the same rod that Nott had earlier and I felt myself getting tired of all this.

"I'm still not telling you anything," I spat in his direction. I see his face contort in anger as he kicked me in my stomach, the air leaving me. I felt him kick me several times more, in the stomach, in the face.

"We're not here to interrogate you, sissy," Just when I thought he couldn't get any more unappealing than he is, his sneered deepened.

"Then why did Nott started torturing me for answers, then?" I grinded my teeth. Merlin, that hurt.

"Because he's Nott and he does things his own way," Rosier kicked me, this time in the shin.

Figures. I bet that psychopath didn't even join Voldemort for the sake of purging the rest of the Wizarding World. Nott just joined for the sake of satisfying his thirst for blood.

I tried sitting up but Rosier hit me in the head with the iron rod hard enough for my head to bounce off the floor. I saw stars behind my eyes.

"We're waiting for Potter, you see. We know we won't get anything out of you. We're not that foolish, sissy." Rosier laughed as he repeatedly beat me.

If only the pain of his beating didn't hurt as much as it did then I would've snorted in disdain. I curled into a ball moments later in the middle of his beating, to direct his beating at my back if I don't want any further injuries in my front.

"Come on, sissy! Fight back! Where's that Gryffindor courage of yours!" Rosier laughed harder as he intensified his whacks, even accompanying it with kicks. Merlin, who thought these Death Eaters were muggles at heart?

I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of screaming every time he hit me, only wincing as I feel every hit.

"Rosier," I tensed as I heard Bellatrix through the door. "It's my turn." I heard rather than saw her smirk.

Several crucios and well thought curses later, I felt myself gasping for air. My legs are numb and bleeding. I feel like none of my ribs are intact as breathing become harder by the second, the feeling of something puncturing my lungs intensified with every gasp of breath I take. My clothes are torn in some places, showing off the burns and injuries that I've gotten these past few hours. My mind feels like mush.

I glared at Bellatrix through lidded eyes. I'm not going to lie, I'd rather take Bellatrix on than Nott and his set of poison daggers. I frowned. If they were poison daggers just as he said, then why didn't I feel the after effects?

"Get up! Get up! Get up!" I hear her cackle as she kicked me in the side with her pointy heels.

"How can I when you're constantly kicking me?" I spat at her shoes. I watched in glee for a few seconds as her face twisted itself in rage.

"Crucio!"

I couldn't hold it any longer.

I screamed .

"You're supposed to be smart enough to know not to rile Bellatrix," I hear Malfoy's voice in the distance. My ears feel like they're about to burst.

I opened my eyes and panic, as I see nothing but his blurred figure across from me. "Malfoy, what—"

"Get up, Granger." I see him reach out to me. I swatted his hands away from me, the movement sending pain throughout the rest of my body. I winced.

I hear him mutter several spells and felt the air lighten a fraction. My eyes widen.

"You're the curse designer?" I tried to hasten away from him but the pain in my leg rendered the me incapable. With Malfoy being another curse designer like me, who knows what spells he could be doing right now.

"Not really. I only learned through books," He muttered several other spells that made the room brighter, countering the artificial blackness made by the anti-magic ward. I mentally snorted at the irony. "Our resident curse designer is someone else and you'd do best to stay clear of him."

"Why are you helping me?" I looked him straight in the eyes, noticing for the first time how metallic his eye color is. Silver with flecks of blue.

"I'm under orders," His waved his wand and it left trails of purples, oranges, and yellows in the air. As the room brightened considerably, I saw Rosier face down on the floor, his blood pooled around him.

"Did you kill him?" I turned my head sharply at him, which was a mistake as another wave of pain shot through me. I almost fell on the floor in nausea. Why is he helping me?

"No, you did."

"What? I did not—"

"Shut up for moment will you?" He rolled his eyes as he removed another wand from his cloak pocket. "This is my wand. I'm using yours. Now," He pointed his wand at himself and muttered spells that created deep gashes throughout his body, enough for his blood to coat parts of his cloak with his own blood.

"What are you—"

He pointed his wand straight at my heart. My eyes widened in panic and I slapped his wand away. I tried to thrash even though the pain felt like a thousand daggers going through me. This must be the after effect of Nott's poison. I felt him steady me and I squirmed under his hands.

"I'm not going to kill you. Trust me." He commanded. If I had enough strength left in me I would've snatched my wand from his grasps right there and then. Unfortunately, my leg was still feeling funny, my arms were stinging more than it should, and the rest of my body still felt it was still under the crucio. I only have enough strength to sit and talk.

He pointed his wand at my chest again and I winced, waiting for the curse to come. But as he muttered an incantation, I saw the wand glow blue. He swished the wand again and I felt the air slowly leave my lungs.

"A cross between an Apparition and a portkey. I'm sure you'll figure out the technicalities of the spell later," He pushed my wand to my hands. He seriously is helping me. "Now I'm off to do some amateur acting."

Sure enough, he bounded towards the door, limping, and even breathing deeply as he shouted hoarsely, "Granger escaped!"

Seconds later, I felt the familiar tug of Apparating.

Author's Notes: Yup. That happened. Malfoy coming to help Hermione wasn't really a surprise now was it? Hehe. I wanted to prolong Hermione's stay in the dungeon cellar but then that would just be mean. Either way, we're all glad that she's safe!

See you guys next chapter and I hope you enjoyed! :)