Chapter 7: The Snatcher's Tale

Hermione felt as though she was falling. Falling and spinning at the same time. She knew a moment of panic, and wondered if this was some trick, if she had made a mistake in giving Colin her trust. Just then, she felt her feet touch solid ground lightly, and she gathered her wits and looked around.

She was in a small house. It looked cozy, but slightly impoverished. Hermione was startled as a pretty young woman entered the room she was in.

"I'm sorry..." Hermione started to say, but the woman did not look at her or acknowledge her presence in any way. Hermione waved a hand in front of the woman's face, but her gaze went right through her. Knowing that she was only an observer in Colin's memory, Hermione backed up against the far wall and waited with trepidation for the scene to unfold. Colin looked up from where he was sitting, a weary smile on his face. Hermione had not seen him until just that moment, he had been so still. She noticed that he looked much younger, his face unlined and without the familiar hardness.

"Anabel." He spoke her name with such reverence, such adoration, that Hermione felt a twinge of jealousy and embarrassment.

"Colin...oh Colin...there is someone at the door who wishes to speak to you. I think it is a Ministry official!" The woman's eyes betrayed her anxiety and she wrung her hands. Colin stood up quickly and went to her, wrapping her in a tender embrace.

"Don't worry about it, love. I told you that I took care of it, I told them that I wanted no part of their plan." His voice was reassuring, but when he turned away from Anabel and looked toward the direction she had come from, there was a hint of worry on his face. He squeezed her shoulders and kissed the tip of her nose. He next took her hand, and led her out of the room. Hermione waited for a moment, and then followed. She arrived in time to see Colin opening the door. The person waiting behind it did not wait for an invitation, but stepped quickly into the room.

"Have you reconsidered our generous offer, Scabior?" The man spoke, and Hermione recognized his voice. She crept closer, and saw with a start that it was a younger, much more confident Bartemous Crouch Sr that stood there.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Hermione wondered out loud. Crouch looked very much out of place in the shabby room, dressed in an expensive suit and fine Ministry robes. Anabel moaned and shook her head frantically. Colin put a reassuring hand on her arm, and faced Crouch. There was ice in his voice as he answered.

"I gave you my answer, Mr. Crouch. Please leave my home, you have no further business here."

Crouch smiled nastily. "As I explained to you, Scabior, I need someone with your...ah...talents. You will blend in perfectly with Greyback and his gang of followers. I need you to become one of them, to be accepted into the fold. You will gather as much information as you can, and report back to me regularly. We must do all that we can to stop the rise of He Who Must Not Be Named, I need people on the inside!" Colin shook his head angrily.

"And I suppose all I would have to do is be a casual observer? What of the innocent people that become Greyback's victims? Am I to stand by and do nothing? Would you have me assist him?"

Crouch waved his hand dismissively. "Collateral damage. It cannot be helped, and I have every confidence that you will play your part well, Scabior." Anabel stepped forward, fire in her eyes, hand on her wand.

"He will not be used in that manner! Colin is a good man, a man with morals! This is not something he can do! It would require an evil soul that he does not possess! We want no part of this plan! Please...leave us be." For the first time, Crouch looked fully at Anabel, and his clever eyes summed her up appraisingly.

"I do not believe I have had the pleasure. Madame Scabior, I presume?"

"Who I am is of no importance. We have nothing the Ministry wants. I am sorry, Mr. Crouch, that we cannot be of assistance to you." Anabel's words rang with finality. Hermione realized that her hands were clenched into fists, nails digging into her palms. She had known that Crouch was not a good man, after all he had sent an innocent man to prison, broken his son out of the same prison, and unintentionally helped the Dark Side immensely. But this, this horrific plan she had just heard, was beyond anything that she would have thought even Crouch capable of. Hermione suddenly felt very afraid for Colin and Anabel, a fear that intensified as she saw the tight smile cross Crouch's face. He looked at Anabel for one more lingering moment, and then addressed Colin again.

"Very well, Scabior. I can see that you have made up your mind. It is unfortunate that you will not be accompanying me tonight, but I daresay we shall meet again very soon." He bowed in Anabel's direction, his eyes never leaving Colin. Hermione watched as he turned and swept from the room. Colin raised his wand, and the door slammed shut behind Crouch with a satisfying bang. Anabel put her head in her hands and began weeping. Colin went to her, gathered her in his arms and held her, whispering "Shhh...shhhh...he's gone now..." against her hair.

The scene suddenly shifted without warning, and Hermione was unsettled by the change. She found herself back in the house, in a bedroom. The night was dark, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust. Anabel was sleeping on the bed. Colin was laying beside her, but his eyes were open. Hermione crept closer, and noticed that they were fearful. She felt his fear, and even though she knew that she was safe within his memory, she reached for her wand. She waited with him for what seemed like hours. He jumped at every noise, wand frantically pointing in various corners of the room. Hermione took on his anxiety as her own, and knew that something was coming, something terrible was going to happen...

She screamed as the window shattered, showering Anabel with broken glass. She awoke instantly, and rolled off of the bed, reaching for her wand. Colin leaped to the other side of the bed, wand pointed. The shape of a man crashed through the window, shouting curses as he came. Colin attempted to block the Full Body Bind, but his counter curse was uttered seconds too late. He crashed to the floor, paralyzed. Anabel tried to react, but another figure burst out of the darkness and shouted "Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew out of her hand, toward the waiting man, who deftly caught it. Hermione moved in front of the man, pointed her wand in his face, and screamed "Perfectus Totalus!" The spell had no effect, and Hermione sobbed in frustration. She did not want to be here, did not want to see what was going to happen. She wanted to help, wanted to save them both.

"Well, well." The first man sneered. "That was almost too easy. I thought they said you was smart, Scabior. Don't you know protective wards don't do no bit o' good without making a place Unplottable?"

The second man laughed nervously. "Let's make it quick, huh?" He started to raise his wand in Anabel's direction. Hermione, terrified, glanced at Colin. He was unable to move, but his eyes betrayed his horror. Anabel cowered against the wall, but faced her adversary defiantly.

"Why?" The first man said. "I'd say we've gotta while here, might as well give the lady a proper send off, dontcha think?" He moved forward quickly and took a lock of Anabel's hair in his hands. Hermione covered her face as the screams began. She could not bear to watch, did not want to hear or know what was happening. She thought of Colin, helpless on the floor, forced to listen, unable to stop this...

Not knowing what else to do, Hermione went to him, and laid herself across his chest. She held him close to her, knowing that he could not feel her or take comfort in her presence inside of this monstrous memory.

Finally, the first man spoke, and Hermione knew that he was above them. "If you liked that Scabior, you'll love this. Do it now!" Not able to look, Hermione heard the second man utter the Unforgivable Spell that she knew would end Anabel's life. She saw the flash of green light through her closed eyes, and then the cold, unforgettable sound of Anabel's lifeless body hitting the floor.

Unable to bear not knowing what was going to happen next, Hermione opened her eyes a crack. The first man Disapparated, taking Anabel's body with him. She was surprised to hear the second man speak the counter curse for the Full Body Bind. Colin leaped to his feet, and if Hermione had actually been in the scene, she would have fallen violently to the floor. As it was, she glided downward and then brought herself to a standing position again. Colin faced the man, tears running freely down his face. He gave a howl of pure anguish and rage, and Hermione felt herself crying as well.

"You're supposed to kill me now." The man said nervously. He lowered his wand and closed his eyes. "That's the way its supposed to play out...they said that all of my gambling debts with the Goblins would be taken care of. My family won't have to pay for my mistakes anymore..." Hermione doubted that Colin was even listening. She raised her hands to her mouth as he screamed the Blasting Curse, and the wall behind the man came apart. The man collapsed under the weight of the boards, and Hermione knew that there was no way he could have survived. Still, Colin howled curse after curse at the body, many of them not understandable through his wrenching sobs. Then a new voice said quietly

"Expelliarmus." Colin's wand flew into the air, and into Crouch's waiting hand. "That will be all, Scabior." Colin dove for Crouch, who quickly put a Shield Charm between them. "I did tell you we would meet again soon. Always the hard way, eh Scabior? Some time in Azkaban for this man's murder (Crouch gestured toward the mostly buried body under the pile of rubble) will do you some good. You will join us." He flicked his wand, and Aurors immediately Apparated into what was left of the room. They approached Colin and subdued him quickly with their wands...

The scene changed again...Hermione knew at once that she was inside of Azkaban. Although she knew that the Dementors could not hurt her inside of a memory, she shivered uncontrollably as they glided uncomfortably close. Colin was alone in a cell, kneeling on the floor, clutching his head and screaming...and the scene changed...now Crouch was standing before Colin, whose eyes had developed that sunken, empty look that Hermione had always associated with Sirius.

"How could you? Was she collateral damage to you? How could you arrange her murder and then think I would help you?" Crouch shrugged.

"Crude, yes. But effective nonetheless. I can see that you need some more time here. Don't worry, the Dementors have special orders not to let you slip completely into blessed madness or death. I will be back in a couple of months."

The scene changed...Crouch was standing with Colin again, his back to him. "Can the Ministry count on your support, Scabior?"

When Colin spoke, his voice was cracked and weak. "Never..."

Crouch shrugged. "As you wish. Enjoy the remainder of your long life here." He started to leave.

"No!" Colin howled. "No...I cannot take it...I can't relive her death anymore...I will do what you ask...my life has no meaning anymore..." Hermione, who could see Crouch's face, bristled as the triumphant smile crossed his face. He clasped his hands together in victory, and then turned to face the broken man behind him.

The memory shifted...and Hermione was following Colin through the woods. She felt a rush of fear as Greyback appeared in front of her. They circled a man, who raised his wand to protect himself, but was no match for the werewolf. Colin's eyes were devoid of emotion as he went through the motions of helping Greyback subdue the victim...

Hermione gasped as she realized that she was laying on the couch in the cabin. The memories were over, but the haunted look on Colin's face remained. After what she had just witnessed, Hermione would not have been surprised to find an echo of the anguish in her own tear filled eyes.