Disclaimer: See last chapters.
A/N: A few of you have asked about how Ron has just sat back and not looked for Hermione – he has been looking for her, I just haven't included it in the story yet because I focused more on his feeling of loss and his sadness, rather than him looking for her. But don't worry, he is looking and I will write about it soon.
Hermione looked at the older man in front of her and shook her head, tears ran down her cheeks as she bowed – doing as she was told – she could see the evil in his face, she had known all along just how evil this family were, but this just confirmed it even more. She knew this was never going to be easy. "Take her to her room," She heard the man say, his long blonde hair moving when the wind caught it.
He walked over to her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. She didn't dare move as she shuddered as his minty breath hit her skin, his fingers trailing down her cheekbone as he smiled, "I knew from the first time I set eyes on you, Hermione – you're perfect." He whispered in her ear, she could almost hear the smirk as he spoke.
She watched him turn around, walking away from her before she closed her eyes, as two men she had been standing next to grabbed her roughly by her arms, forcing her to cry out in pain – she knew it could only just be heard through the gag by the looks on their faces – but yet, it wasn't enough to make them stop.
Her whole body shook when she was dragged down into a cold, dark cellar, looking around as her eyes widened in shock at the five cells she saw. She shook her head, cursing herself for not realizing she wasn't the first, and she probably wouldn't be the last. She wondered where the other four girls were – did he only keep one at a time?
"This will be your room until Master Malfroy gets bored of you," One of the men smirked as he chucked her into a tiny cell, slamming the grates shut to leave her in complete darkness. She crawled slowly over to a mattress in the corner of the cell, biting down on her lip as she took the gag off. "Until Master Malfroy gets bored of you." She kept repeating the words over and over again in her head, what was he going to do with her when she no longer kept him entertained? Would he kill her? Or would he send her back home? Back to Ron?
She sobbed gently as she thought about him never sending her home, she was intelligent enough to know that these kind of people had no intention of sending the people home when they were done with them. She had watched enough crime programmes back home with her mother and father to know this much.
Hot tears carved their way down her face as she tried to make her way to the corner of the room, she knew for a fact that she was going to die in this room just as many other girls must have before her.
You're strong, Hermione. Don't let them break you. They're trying to destroy you.
Ron slowly walked through the house, ignoring his family as they stared at him – Harry whispered something to Ginny, but Ron didn't care. He knew he looked terrible, he knew his hair was a mess, he knew his eyes were bright red from crying and he knew he looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks.
He knew all of those things, and he knew Hermione would insist on patting down his hair, telling him he was a mess. But he didn't care. Hermione wasn't with him anymore, and she was the only thing that mattered to him right now.
"She's going to be okay," Harry muttered, biting his lip when Ron turned around to frown at him; Ron noticed Harry looked almost as bad as he did, obviously blaming himself for this whole mess and if Ron was honest, he kind of blamed his best friend too. But at the same time, it was nice to know that he wasn't the only one breaking down over this.
"I really hope so." He whispered, looking down and shaking his head, "I want her here with me so bad, I don't think I can do this whole thing without her." He sighed and sat down, looking to his best friend for help.
"She's strong.. she's intelligent... she'll find her way back home, she'll find her way back to you." Harry forced a small smile onto his face as he spoke, standing up. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm here, Ron.. I'm here for you and anytime you want to go out and look again, I'll come with you – no matter what time in the morning it is, no matter where you think to look. Anytime. Anywhere." Ron smiled gratefully and nodded, muttering a thank you before watching Harry walk out with Ginny.
"When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back."