Ch. 3

The incident with the snake haunted her; it gave her the strangest feeling that it wasn't just the snake watching her. She lay down on the bed, closed her eyes and then instantly remembered where she had seen that snake. She couldn't believe that she didn't recognize her to begin with. It had been Nagini; Voldemort's pet that did his biddings.

She clutched at her stomach that pained with emptiness and rolled over. So were they going to starve her to death? She sighed and turned over, and on the small table in the corner of the room sat a good-sized portion of roast beef, along with peas and potatoes with gravy. She couldn't believe it and began to think herself mad, but the smell was wonderful. Just as she was beginning to think that she shouldn't touch it, a silver goblet of red wine appeared out of nowhere.

Standing up and walking over to the food she examined it. There was no way for her to check if it was poisoned, but she figured that if they wanted to kill her just yet, they'd savor it and not stoop so low as to poison her. Bellatrix did seem to enjoy torture…

She grabbed the fork that lay beside the plate and began to eat, savoring the flavor. She hadn't realized she had been this hungry.

As she finished, her belly full, she turned around and nearly screamed. Voldemort was standing in the corner of the room, examining her, the shadows hiding most of his face. She backed up into the wall and he smiled at this, feeding off of her fear. He walked over to her slowly, walking with such prestige and grace. He stopped right before her, towering over her body. She felt weak and helpless next to this monster of a man.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" Hermione asked, looking up at him, her heart racing as she stood transfixed by his eyes once more.

"Did I speak to you?" He growled. He wanted to kill her for the filthy blood that she had, but he needed her for now. He'd lure Harry out with her. "I have not killed you, because you are a pawn that I need." He gave a twisted smile and stepped back. With a loud pop and a burst of filmy black mist, he was gone.

That night, her dreams were filled with visions of snakes and Death Eaters: Visions of Harry and Ronald dead before her, and visions of Voldemort's wicked grin.

Harry's body was covered in blood, his face swollen and his glasses cracked. Ronald lay beside him, not looking much better.

Images of torture and death haunted every corner of her dreams as Bellatrix danced around her suffering body…

That morning (or at least what she thought was morning) she awoke with a start, drenched in cold sweat. She shivered and sat up, clutched her head and looked around. She was still in that damned room. That hadn't been just a dream.

Curling her knees up to her chest, she looked up at the ceiling, hoping that Harry and Ron were safe. Maybe they had even found another Horcrux.

Ronald paced up and down the room of the small cottage of Bill and Fluer's. He groaned and looked over at Harry, who sat on the hard floral couch, looking rather in a daze.

"What are we going to do, Harry? Without her… Without her… We're practically lost. We don't know how to do all the little cleaver things she does." Ron paced back and forth and groaned again, his knuckles turning white as he held his hands into tight fists.

Harry shrugged. "I- I don't know, but we have to try— Don't look at me like that. You know we do." Harry said as Ron gave him a horrified stare. "I want to go save her just as much as you do, but if we can get to the other Horcrux first, then we can defeat him. Maybe she escaped already… She's very smart."

Fluer walked in and they stopped talking, an awkward silence stretching through the air. "How are we 'eeling?" She asked softly while she glanced over at Griphook, who was snoozing on the couch.

"We're fine, Fluer… We'll probably be gone soon. We have to finish doing our… our job." Harry said, and felt instantly guilty about it. His mind raced back to Hermione. They hadn't been fast enough to get to her. Voldemort had shown up and grabbed her right as the Death Eaters tried to get to him and Ron. It made him feel like a cowered that they had to run, but if they hadn't, this war would never end. Voldemort would become all-powerful.

He hated the feeling of having the whole Wizarding World on his shoulders. He wanted to save his best friend, but he couldn't. Not yet. Not without possibly getting himself killed and captured in the process and all hope would be lost. He fought the urge to punch a wall.

Fluer watched as many emotions of anger and depression flashed over Harry's face and looked at Ron, who was near on the verge of tears, though he'd never admit it.

"You two 'ould stay eer. Eet's zafer…" She sighed, knowing that they wouldn't listen, and exactly as she thought, Harry shook his head.

"We can't do that. We need to finish our task. It's the only way." He looked over at Ron who was still pacing.

"Vell… Okay." She placed a plate of sandwiches that she had had in her hands on the table, and then backed out of the room. She worried about the two of them, and wondered what had happened to the girl that was usually with them.

Ron turned to Harry and gave him a look of desperation and whispered, "Harry… We have to save her. I couldn't… Nothing can happen to her. She's always been there for us. We have to…" He turned and looked out the window.

Harry knew. They'd get the rest of the Horcruxes before it was to late. Harry barely heard it, and wondered if he actually did, but swore he heard Ron's detached voice whisper, "We're comin' for you, Hermione. Just hold on… Don't leave me."