Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
This story got more hits in one night than half of my other stories, so apparently, I have struck gold. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their favorites and/or alerts; it made me feel happy inside :)
Here's a recap:
Narcissa hesitated for a moment, then addressed the werewolf.
"Take them down to the cellar, Greyback."
"Wait," said Bellatrix sharply, "All except…except for the Mudblood."
Ron's heart jumped into his throat. Not Hermione, he thought. Reacting instantly, he shouted, "No! You can have me, keep me!"
For a second, he thought that Bellatrix was going to murder him, but instead she hit him hard across the face. His cheek stung.
"If she dies under questioning" ─ Ron's stomach gave an unpleasant lurch ─ "I'll take you next. Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them ─ yet."
Bellatrix gave Greyback his wand back, took out a short silver knife, and cut Hermione loose from the others. She dragged Hermione by her hair to the middle of the room. As Greyback forced the prisoners through the door, it was all Ron could do to not cry out for Hermione, to tell her that he loved her, that he would get her out if it was the last thing he ever did.
"Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her?" Greyback crooned at Ron. "I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, ginger?"
Ron was shaking with anger at Greyback, and fear for Hermione. He tried to free his hands from the ropes that bound him so he could run and get Hermione. He hardly realized that they had traveled down a steep staircase and stopped in front of a large black door. Greyback unlocked it with a tap of his wand, shoved them inside, and slammed and locked the door again. They were in total darkness, and then Ron heard a sound that ripped at his heart: Hermione screaming in pain.
"HERMIONE!" he bellowed. He tried again to free himself from the ropes. She screamed again. "HERMIONE!"
He thought that Harry said something, but was unable to hear him clearly due to the pounding in his own ears. All Ron wanted was to let Hermione know that he was going to come and get her.
Her screams echoed off of the walls in the cellar, and Ron yelled, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
Just when Ron was going to shout again, he heard a whisper from behind him.
"Harry? Ron?"
"Luna?" said Ron incredulously, forgetting for a second about Hermione.
"Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"
"Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?" asked Harry.
"Oh yes, I expect so," said Luna. Ron was relieved. He was going to be able to save Hermione after all. "Just a moment…"
Hermione screamed again, and Ron yelled out her name once more, half-hoping that just saying it would bring her to him, or that yelling her name loud enough would block out the horrible sound of her screams. His brain became clouded with desperation to escape from this cellar.
"You'll need to stay still," he heard Luna say.
Luna set to work unknotting the rope, and Bellatrix's voice carried down to where they were trapped.
"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"
"We found it ─ we found it ─ PLEASE!" Hermione screamed yet again. Ron felt tears spilling from his eyes. He knew that Bellatrix was not a forgiving witch, and if Hermione did not tell her what she wanted to hear, she would kill her. She can't die, thought Ron, and he struggled even harder against the ropes.
"Ron, please stay still!" Luna whispered. "I can't see what I'm doing ─"
"My pocket!" Ron said, remembering the device Dumbledore left him. "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!"
He felt Luna reach into his pocket, and a second later, the cellar was full of the light sucked from the lamps in their tent.
"Oh, that's much easier, thanks, Ron," Luna said, returning to the tedious task of hacking through the ropes.
Ron heard Bellatrix again, sounding slightly demented.
"You are lying, you filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"
Hermione screamed again, and Ron bellowed, "HERMIONE!" as Bellatrix spoke once more.
"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth, or I swear, I will run you through with this knife!"
Ron forgot to breathe for a moment, and then he felt the ropes around his wrists fall to the floor. With only the thought of getting to Hermione, of saving her, comforting her, Ron dashed around the room, running his fingers along the wall and low ceiling. There's got to be a way out.
A sudden idea gripped him. Ron closed his eyes, focused with all his might on the Malfoy's drawing room and spun on the spot. When he opened his eyes, he was still staring at the black walls of the cellar. He tried again and again, but it was useless: he did not have his wand.
He heard Luna say, "There's no way out," but he ignored her. There has to be a way out. Even though he knew it wouldn't work, he tried to Disapparate again.
Ron had just stopped spinning when Bellatrix's cry of "CRUCIO!" and Hermione's terrible screams rent the air and his heart. His tears came again. He was angry at himself for not being able to save the girl, ─ no, woman ─ he loved. Ron punched the walls of the cellar. Maybe they'll fall down if I hit them hard enough, he thought.
He turned to glance at Harry, who was yelling words he could not hear at the shard of a mirror. Ron resumed his fruitless efforts of breaking down the wall when Hermione screamed worse than ever. His head was surely going to explode if he heard her scream one more time, so he yelled out again "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" just to drown out the cruel sound.
"How did you get into my vault?" he heard Bellatrix scream. "Did that dirty goblin in the cellar help you?"
"We only met him tonight!" Hermione sobbed, and Ron's heart ached at the sound. "We've never been inside your vault….It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"
"A likely story!" screeched Bellatrix.
"But we can find out easily!" called Lucius. "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"
Ron was hardly aware of anything that was going on, other than Harry whispering urgently to the goblin. He wiped his streaming eyes on his sleeve and fell to the floor, running his hands through his hair. All the things I should have said to her, he thought miserably, all the things I should have done…
But he couldn't think for too long, for there were footsteps echoing down the stairs leading to the cellar.
"Stand back," said Draco Malfoy's cold voice from right outside the cellar door. Ron regained some of his composure and stood up. "Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything or I'll kill you!"
Ron fished the Deluminator back out of his pocket and clicked it once, plunging the cellar back into darkness. Draco unlocked the door and grabbed Griphook the goblin. He was gone as quickly as he had come. Once they could no longer hear Draco's footsteps, Ron clicked the Deluminator. The restored light and a loud crack announced the arrival of Dobby the house-elf.
"DOB ─" Ron began to yell, but Harry hit him on the arm to stop him. Ron realized that he had almost given away their only means for escape, and resolved to stop yelling.
Harry and Dobby conversed for a few moments, but were interrupted by another of Hermione's screams. Keeping his tacit promise to be quiet, Ron instead focused his energies on what Dobby was saying, trying to block out Hermione's screams.
"You can Disapparate out of this cellar?" Harry was asking Dobby, who nodded.
"And you can take humans with you?"
The elf nodded again.
"Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander, and take them ─ take them to ─"
"Bill and Fleur's," Ron said, stunned with his stroke of brilliance. "Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth!"
Dobby nodded a third time.
"And then come back," said Harry. "Can you do that, Dobby?"
"Of course, Harry Potter," whispered Dobby. Dean, Luna, and Mr. Ollivander caught hold of the elf's fingers. With another crack, they had vanished.
"What was that?" Ron heard Lucius Malfoy's voice shout from above them. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?"
He and Harry stared at each other. Ron gulped.
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