this is a pretty dark chapter that sets up a lot of plots to come, so buckle your seatbelts.
Picking Up the Pieces Chapter Seventeen These Days are Dark --
Ginny clutched her hands to her head, sobbing and rocking back and forth.
"Sweetheart, it's really not that bad." Bellatrix cooed, putting up the bloody knife.
"Please stop!" Ginny cried, sitting among clumps of her own hair.
"I think this made a substantial point. Let's go"
Bellarix kicked her in the back, making her fall
face-front on the floor.
Ginny held her hand up to her bleeding cheek, trying to swallow another sob.
Wanting to go with at least some dignity, Ginny got to her feet shakily.
Without another sound, she left the room and walked back down the hallway, Bellatrix behind her, laughing softly as she kept a vice-like grip on her shoulder.
--
Snape held out his hand to Narcissa as he stood upon Azkaban's rocky shores.
She looked up at him, still dumbfounded by his confession.
"Come. We need to hurry." He said, his voice nearly overtaken by the wind lapping the water up onto the shore.
"Severus-"
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so rash. If you want
to discuss anything, now is not the time." He said,
not meeting her eyes.
She finally took his hand, stepping onto the sand, her black boots sinking in slightly.
"Since the dementors have left, the guardianship of Azkaban has been left to underqualified Ministry officials. This shouldn't be all that difficult. It's actually rather pathetic he hasn't broken out of his own accord." Snape said, leading the way toward the prison walls.
"So we'll ask to have an audience with him, and then break him out?'
"You forget I'm a fugitive, Narcissa. You tell the prison guard your husband is long overdue for a conjugal visit--get him alone in the one of the visiting rooms, which I believe are on the first floor. I'll be right outside, and we'll escape from there."
"Good idea." Narcissa said, her cheeks a little flushed.
"I'll be right outside." Snape said, his hand brushing her forearm in what could be called an affectionate gesture.
Narcissa watched him walk away, her arm tingling slightly. How she wanted to thank him for his confession.
Squaring her shoulders, she approached the gated entrance, confidently requesting a visitor's pass to the approaching guard as the gate slid up.
--
The lake behind the Burrow glistened in the moonlight,
soft music from the wedding band drifting across the
trees.
Hermione shivered slightly, wrapping her arms around herself as Ron leaned against a nearby tree.
"How are you going to do it?" Ron asked her, idly picking up a stone and skipping it across the lake.
"Do what?"
"Go a year without school. No homework. No tests.
Isn't that like your worst nightmare?" He grinned.
She rolled her eyes.
"That's not all that matters to me, Ron."
He looked at her, the whites of his eyes unnaturally bright as darkness fell around them more densely.
"I know. I was just kidding."
She ran a hand through her once glossy and delicately arranged curls. They were now hopelessly disarrayed.
"I'm scared." She said quietly, not looking at him anymore.
"Of what?"
"Losing this war. Losing Harry."
There was a long pause, and then-
"Losing you."
Ron shifted his weight off the tree, looking vastly uncomfortable at her recent declaration.
But really- enough was enough. It was as if for one moment, Ron Weasley wasn't as terrified of Hermione as he usually was.
"You're not going to lose me." He finally said, his voice deeper, more mature.
Hermione sniffled softly, still not looking at him.
"You don't know that."
Some of Ron's nerve started to crumble at the sound of her about to cry.
"Please don't start crying- you know I'm rubbish at things like this..." He laughed, squeaking slightly.
Hermione turned to him at last, tears streaking her cheeks.
"Sorry."
"Hermione-"
She threw both arms around his neck, hugging him fiercely.
Her scent flooded his nostrils, her body crushed against his. Ron tried to stifle some very unplatonic thoughts.
Neither of them knew exactly how the kiss began. She had pulled out of the hug slightly, he had turned his head to look at her, and suddenly, their lips met.
Ron's hands tightened on her back, drawing him closer to her. Her lips parted under his, and suddenly the bridge of tentative flirtation between them burned to the ground.
His back was against the tree, the rough bark scratching her hands as they tangled in his hair. In that one embrace, everything between them was irrevocably changed.
After what seemed like one, long feverish moment, they broke apart. Ron staggered a few steps away, his hands on his knees as he bent over in shock. His heart was thudding so loudly in his ears that he thought he was going to pass out.
Hermione fell against the tree, looking up at the stars as she caught her breath.
"Bloody hell." Ron finally choked out.
"Yeah." She smiled, looking appealingly disheveled as she looked over at him.
"Hermione...I don't really know what to say."
"I don't really either."
"We're leaving soon."
"I know. And this can't be...distracting us from the ultimate goal. We have to help Harry, above everything. Above whatever this is."
"I know." Ron stood up again reluctantly, and Hermione couldn't help but watch his lanky form with a new appreciation. Now that she'd felt it underneath her hands...
She shook herself.
"Maybe this shouldn't have happened at all." Hermione ran a hand through her hair.
Ron looked at her, clearly angry.
"We're back to that? Really?"
"No...I mean, things are different, Ron, but we have to make sure we're ready and that the time is right before we..."
Ron turned away, disgusted.
"I can't believe this."
"What's wrong? I'm just trying to be reasonable."
"Of course. Of course you are."
"Ron, wait! We need to talk about this!"
Ron stalked back up to the house without another word.
--
"I'm so sorry...I'm sorry, Hermione." Ron mumbled sleepily, rolling over on the cold ground.
Suddenly, a cold, shaking hand on his woke him up.
He sat up with a start, and tried to suppress a horrified gasp at the sight of his sister.
Her shiny red hair had been shorn at haphazard angles,
some parts left long, some parts cut right down to her
bloody scalp. Her cheeks and forehead were slashed
with deep scarring cuts, and her teeth were red with
blood.
"Ron..." Ginny choked out, her voice raspy.
"Oh, Gin, come here, I got you...I'm right here." Ron pulled her against him, her warm blood soaking through the shoulder of his shirt.
--
Harry sat on the cold bathroom tile, miserably staring at his reflection.
He hated his scar. That scar was a fcking death sentence to everyone and anything he loved.
He felt his throat constrict again.
He had cried for a good hour when he had first come in here after receiving Bellatrix's "package." Hermione had sat outside the door (he had seen her shoes underneath the crack leading to the room) but hadn't dared to intrude.
He had heard Sirius and Lupin talking softly in the main room for some time, but neither of them had come in either.
And he was glad. Harry rarely, if ever, let himself
cry, and now that he had, it had taken everything out
of him. He felt too exhausted to even lift a hand,
move a finger...he would just sit here until he
starved...
On that unpleasant note, a horrible, hard sleep overtook him.
--
Lupin had dozed off on the sheets of notes he had taken on everything Harry had told them about the Horcruxes. He and Sirius had sat awake until the early hours of the morning, theorizing on the possible locations and objects that contained the final Horcruxes.
Lupin had been dreaming...a very strange dream, where in the beginning, he was his younger self, running through a dark forest. He was the wolf, but he thought with his mind. He needed something, very badly, and he wouldn't stop until he reached it.
Sirius, as a dog, was running alongside him, barking happily at the birds that scattered at their approach.
They stopped at a clearing, where a sword with rubies in the hilt was stuck in a stone.
Lupin wanted to tell Sirius to transform back to his
human form, and pull the sword out. They needed it,
and they needed it very badly.
But he couldn't make Sirius understand. Sirius'
enormous paws left prints in the muddy ground as he
approached the sword in the stone.
As Lupin got closer, he felt his feral instincts take notice of something. He smelled blood. The sword was soaked in blood.
Sirius sniffed the blood tentatively, and let out a low, mournful howl.
He began to paw at the sword uselessly, whining like a puppy.
"Get the sword!" Lupin thought with every fiber of his being.
But he couldn't make him understand.
Furious, Lupin raced towards him, biting his skin.
Sirius' whines delved into horrible growls, and his claws began to tear at Lupin's fur...
"Moony...wake up!"
Lupin opened his eyes, startled, Sirius' face inches from his own, looking concerned.
"You were having a nightmare." Sirius said quietly.
"It was awful...you wouldn't listen to me..." Lupin said drowsily, rubbing his eyes.
"What are you talking about?"
"Never mind. It was...it was just a dream."
They sat there in silence for a moment.
Sirius suddenly looked bemused at the large ink stain on Lupin's cheek. He had fallen asleep on their notes.
He wiped the ink off with his thumb.
Sirius didn't move his hand away, looking at Lupin with that same odd expression.
Lupin felt his heart speed up.
Sirius raised his hand, pushing Lupin's hair off his forehead.
"Don't." Lupin said suddenly, getting to his feet.
Sirius stared determinedly into the fire, his face burning red.
"I'm going to sleep. You can take the couch, and we'll switch tomorrow." Lupin said, walking into the opposite bedroom.and closing the door behind him.
--
Narcissa sat in the visiting room, waiting. She could practically feel Snape's presence right outside the window.
She tried to calm down. So many emotions were competing in her right now she couldn't hardly single one out.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, revealing the tired,
beaten form of her husband. His long blond hair hung
ragged and limp, his once muscular form was thin and
gaunt, and when he smiled at her, his face crinkled
unpleasantly.
Without a word, he claimed her lips hungrily, his
mouth dry and chapped. His breath mingled with hers,
hot and unpleasant. His hand slid to her chest
eagerly, but she stopped him.
"Lucius, darling, we've come to get you out."
Lucius drew back, looking confused.
"We?"
"Severus and I. The Dark Lord sent us to get you out of prison."
Lucius tried to let this sink in for a moment, but her soft skin and long-unexplored body were proving too distracting.
"The Dark Lord can wait." He murmured in her ear.
She stepped away from him.
"Lucius, you shouldn't say such things. We must leave now."
"How do you plan on us getting out of here?" He said,
looking defeated.
Suddenly, the wall behind them blasted into bits.
Severus stood there, looking put out.
"Rather simply." He said with a disdainful look at Lucius.
They heard shouts from outside, and footsteps pounding down the hall.
"Come on!" Narcissa grabbed her husband's hand, and they followed after Snape to the boat as quickly as they could.
The guardianship of what was once the greatest wizard prison in history really was a disgrace.
--
Draco stepped confidently down the dark antechamber,
feigning arrogance that had oddly deserted him at a
most inopportune time.
He saw Lord Voldemort's white hands and hooded face,
shrouded in a dark robe.
"Master." Draco bowed low before him.
"You dare to enter without an invitation, young Draco?" Voldemort looked up, his red eyes glinting.
"Yes. I'm tired of you under utilizing me. I could be doing so much more than what you allow." Draco said the words quickly, trying not to shake.
Shockingly, Voldemort laughed- a horrible laugh that sounded like ribs cracking.
"Do you think so?"
"I do."
"You wish for more responsibility?" Voldemort said,
still sounding incredulous but a little impressed.
"I do."
"Fine. You want a bigger task, I have one for you.
Your need to get ahead impresses me, Draco."
"I'll do anything." Draco bowed once more.
"Of course you will. But Draco?"
"Yes, Master?"
"One more act of insubordination, and I peel the flesh from your bones. I know the spell to do it. I invented it. And it's a slow process." Voldemort said, his voice still eerily congenial.
"Yes, Master."
"I have quite an interesting task for you...at the sight where you failed me last..."
--
Later that night, Snape, Narcissa, and Lucius entered Voldemort's chamber when beckoned.
They all bowed low before him, Lucius conscious of a pulsating hatred coming from the Dark Lord.
"You have let me down most exquisitely, Lucius. Once my most cunning and loyal follower...it's very tragic."
"I will do anything to make up for my mistakes."
"You forget, Lucius. I do not forgive. And your position was usurped many timesover by the man standing beside you."
Snape fought the urge to smile triumphantly.
"What do you ask of me, My Lord?" Lucius said with much effort.
Groveling had always been rather difficult for him.
Voldemort looked between the three of them, his face contorting in a horrible imitation of a smile.
"All I ask of you is to observe your wife. I shall be asking her some questions."
"That is why we broke him out of prison, My Lord"
Snape said skeptically.
"No, Severus. You broke him out of prison for a much simpler reason. So that I can watch while you kill him in front of his wife."
Narcissa and Lucius shared a terrfied, confused look.
"But, all good things to those who wait. Leave us for a moment, Severus. I believe this questions are of a very personal nature. Family business, you know. Take care of your other project, and return at midnight."
Severus bowed, and left the room.
"Rise, Narcissa. And bind your husband to that chair
so he can watch your inquisition." Voldemort said,
folding his hands in his lap.
--
Snape looked down at the shaking form of Nymphadora Tonks with disgust.
"No new information?"
She said nothing, burying her head in her hands.
"I asked you a question." He grabbed her roughly by the chin, nearly picking her up off the ground as she scrambled to her feet.
"There's nothing new. Not yet." She choked out, his grip pressing against his throat.
He looked at her searchingly.
"You're not lying. Good. I had hoped you'd decide that that would be a most inadvisable plan of action."
"Why are you doing this?" She said miserably.
"Because I want to destroy him, from the inside out"
Snape said simply.
"Don't make me do this." She sobbed.
"Stop embarrassing yourself. You leave tonight."
--
A/N- I know, I know. Not exactly a sunshine and roses
chapter. But when the going get tough, the tough get
going. Don't give up on our heroes just yet. Next
chapter- Harry, Hermione, Lupin, and Sirius actually
DO something and set out for the next probable
Horcrux, Draco revisits his old stomping grounds and
rallies the old gang back into action, Narcissa has a
very revealing twenty questions session with a very
nosy Voldemort, Snape gets mad at Tonks some more, and
I promise, something good will happen to someone.
Please review!