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Chapter 3: Captive

Hermione's head was spinning. She could not yet grasp what had happened or why. One minute she was coming down the stairs to give Ron a message, and the next moment she had left the Ministry against her will with a madman who now had her wand. She found herself on the dusty floor of what appeared to be an abandoned cabin, and quickly she moved against the far wall, away from her captor. She watched, her eyes wide with fear, as the man with the dark hair moved about the cabin quickly, using her wand to cast spells on the door, windows, and ceiling. Hermione knew that they were protective enchantments, as she had used many of these herself during the war when she, Harry, and Ron were hiding out. As if reading her thoughts, the man spoke to her.

"I've made this place Unplottable and all entrances are sealed. So don't waste your time trying to escape, love. We're going to be roommates for a little while." Hermione gulped, and tried to call on her Gryffindor courage.

"You've made your escape and you have my wand. You don't need me here. Please send me back, I won't tell anyone where you are, I don't even have any idea where we are anyway." She knew she was babbling, and forced her breathing to slow. The man shook his head and laughed without any humor in his voice.

"No can do, love. I saw the way your boyfriend was looking at me back there. He won't stop until he finds me, and I'm never going back to that place. You're my security right now."

"He's not my boyfriend." Hermione muttered, but the man wasn't paying attention. She thought about Ron and their short lived relationship following the war. Their arguments back and forth had been mildly amusing while they were friends, but she had quickly found that they were an obstacle to a healthy relationship. Ron had a competitive, jealous nature and Hermione had discovered that it was slowly getting worse. The last straw had been when her friend Viktor had sent her an owl and Ron went ballistic. He had given Hermione an ultimatum-send Viktor a Howler instructing him never to write again or they were through. Hermione had taken that opportunity to gently explain to Ron that maybe they were better off as friends, and had ended things while there was still something of a friendship to be salvaged. As expected, Ron had not taken that very well and still tended to be sulky and cranky when she was around.

Hermione watched with growing dread as the man finished setting up the protective wards around the cabin. She tried to shrink into the wall and not think about what would happen when he finally turned his full attention to her. While she was confident that Ron, along with Harry, would do everything in their power to find her, she had to accept the fact that for the moment, she was completely on her own.

OoooOO

Scabior completed the final enchantment and lowered the girl's wand. He had been surprised to discover how well the wand worked for him. It was almost as if he had his own wand back. He looked at her, huddled against the cabin wall watching him with scared eyes. He felt slightly ashamed, but he knew that he had done the only thing he could do at the time. He felt a wave of dizziness mixed with exhaustion wash over him, and he knew that he had to rest. There would be time later to deal with the situation at hand. He sauntered toward Hermione.

"Well love, I need to get some sleep. You're certainly welcome to join me, seeing how there's only one bed." He raised an eyebrow suggestively at her, enjoying the look of anger and defiance that came over her beautiful face.

"You could just use the Geminio charm to make me a bed out here." she said with contempt in her voice. Scabior was momentarily stunned with surprise-the little witch certainly knew her enchantments. He recovered quickly and grinned at her.

"I could." He ambled past her and into the small bedroom.

"You could at least make a fire out here for me!" Hermione called after him. He pretended to consider it for a moment.

"Yes, I could...but I won't. Nighty-night." He lay down on the bed, wand tucked safely at his side, and was asleep almost instantly.

OoooOO

Hermione fumed. She could not believe any of this was happening. She listened from the entrance to the bedroom and waited for the man's breathing to become deep and even. She crept to the front door of the cabin, but found her way blocked. She next tried each window, but the man had cast his enchantments well. Think, Hermione, think. She told herself urgently. She needed a plan.

She looked toward the bedroom again and noticed her wand laying next to the man. The moon shining in through the dusty window provided just enough light for her to move stealthily across the floor and into the room. I must be crazy. She thought as she looked down on the sleeping man. But this is my only chance. Taking a deep breath, Hermione reached her hand toward her wand.

The next thing she knew, she was on her back, hands pinned above her head. She looked at the man above her, his eyes dark and hair wild.

OoooOO

Even though he was asleep, years of hard living had made his reflexes sharp and quick. He sensed someone moving toward him, and then he became fully awake. Scabior reacted without thinking, his only goal to disarm and incapacitate the attacker. When he looked down and saw Hermione trapped beneath him, her eyes filled with fear, he forced himself to calm down. He relaxed his strong grip on her wrists slightly. In that instant, Hermione pulled her hands free. Her left fist attempted to make contact with his face while she screamed "Accio wand!" Scabior felt around for it, but the wand made no attempt to leave his side. Hermione looked at her empty right hand and her eyes filled with tears.

"My wand." she whispered. "My wand..." Scabior felt a rush of sympathy, remembering how it had felt to see his own wand in Ron Weasley's hands. It had been like a part of him was missing, an important aspect of his very self that he would never get back or replace. He still felt its absence, although the loyalty that Hermione's wand was showing him made that feeling of loss subside a little. Scabior let her go and ran the fingers of his left hand through his hair. He moved off of her and sat down beside her.

"Listen love, I don't know what you thought you were doing. Don't you know its not safe to sneak up on someone like that? I could've...well never mind. Look, I really need to get some sleep and so do you." He wasn't even sure she could hear him, she was staring straight ahead with tears running freely down her cheeks. "I'm sorry about this, but I don't need any more trouble tonight." Hermione turned toward him as he cast the spell that immobilized her arms and legs. He moved her next to him, and then lay down as well. "I'm not going to hurt you, love. Just want to get some rest. I need to recover..." Scabior closed his eyes and even though he felt his exhausted and pained body spiraling downward toward peaceful oblivion, he could not completely block out the soft sounds of Hermione's sobs.