The first thing Hermione felt was the soreness of her muscles and the aches in her bones. She groaned and sat up, feeling herself for any serious injuries. There were none, and she was grateful. Her eyes were clearing up now, and she looked around. She must be in the same cellar Harry and Ron had been in when they had been in the manor before. Only, there was no Dobby to save her this time.
She saw George, Lavender, and Neville lying down, unconscious still, and she got up on a pair of shaky legs. She had no wand; of course. She should have expected that. She closed her eyes and prayed that Harry and the others were safe. At least Harry had gotten out. That was what mattered.
But where was Ginny? She looked around and suddenly heard horrible screams from above that made her skin crawl. She was reminded of her own torture here, and she shivered. Oh, Ginny! What could she do?
Hermione continued her little check for injuries on George, Neville, and Lavender, and was relieved to find only bruises and little cuts. Neville, however, had a bit of a longer gash on his forehead, but it wasn't anything that could kill him, so Hermione hoped. Taking a deep breath of relief, she closed her eyes and leant back on one of the pillars in the large prison. Oh, where was Draco? A soft groan made her eyes open, and she saw George slowly stir and sit up.
"Where the hell are we?" he asked, stretching. Neville and Lavender had both begun to stir as well, and Hermione was immensely relieved, though it was short-lived when Ginny screamed again.
George snapped to alert at the sound of his sister's cries, and Hermione face contorted into one of helplessness. She was supposed to be smart; how would she get out now? It was inevitable that they were going to either be tortured for information or be used as bait. Or just be tortured and killed without mercy. Hermione swallowed nervously. She felt beads of sweat dot her forehead as her anxiety grew with the piercing screams. Then the screams stopped and she heard mumbling going on above. Quickly she motioned to the others to feign unconsciousness and as they lied back down, they heard someone walk down the stairs. Hermione peeked through her eyelashes and saw a little man levitating Ginny down the steps before he opened the prison and dropped her in, heaving her towards Hermione. Hermione couldn't help but flinch when Ginny's arm made a sharp contact with hers.
The little man locked the door again and disappeared back up. More mumbling went on and then it was quiet. Quiet made Hermione nervous. There were footsteps and the sounds of doors opening and closing, and after a long moment, Hermione knew they were alone. She sat up and checked Ginny's body for any physical damage. There wasn't any, and she knew the torturer had used unforgivable curses. She felt sick.
"Gin, wake up," she said softly, and the others joined her.
"Gin. Ginny. Ginny!" George cried, shaking his sister. Her eyes remained closed.
"If only we had our wands," Lavender exclaimed, and began to cry.
Hermione felt her lungs contract and her breaths turned to heaves. She felt sick. She closed her eyes and her mantra began playing in her head again. Be strong, be strong, be strong…
There was nothing to do but wait. Wait for Ginny to wake up, wait to find out their fate, wait for help. Wait for anything. So after a thorough search for an exit in the Malfoy Manor cellar, the lot of them sat around, not talking, lost in their own heads. Hermione had at first tried to think up a plan, but it was of no use. Her logical mind told her that it really was no use. There was no way out without anyone outside to help them.
So Hermione retreated back into her memories. She thought of her parents, back when she was a child and before she'd known she was a witch. She thought of her first couple years at Hogwarts, getting straight O's and making friends with Harry and Ron. Then she thought of Ron and all the memories she'd had with him, good and bad. Hermione closed her eyes and let the memories wash over her, allowed them to engulf her thoughts and to shelter her from the cruel and cold and horrible world outside of herself.
"Ron!" Hermione shouted, and he turned. A tender smile grew on his face, and he opened his arms to her. She ran into them, feeling the soft flannel of his shirt rub against her face as she squeezed herself to him.
"I was looking for you," came his masculine voice. "I was worried when you didn't come back into the house."
"I was lost in my thoughts, sorry to make you worry." She looked up at him and he gazed at her, his large, ginger head blocking the disappearing sunset.
"You were gone an awful long time."
"I didn't even notice it was getting dark," Hermione laughed.
"As long as you're here and you're safe.
He leant down and kissed her head and kept an arm around her as they walked back to the Burrow.
Hermione opened her eyes, feeling her face tremble as she attempted to keep herself from crying. Tears were in her brown eyes, and she quickly blinked them away. God how she missed him. She drew her knees to her chest and hugged them to her. The tears came again and clouded her vision. She wanted Ron and Harry with her, telling her it was going to be all right. At least with them she didn't feel so alone and so helpless. She wanted her parents here with her telling her that they loved her. But Ron was dead and Harry was safe and her parents were in danger. How horrible the world was to her now.
There was the sound of footsteps entering the room above them and loud voices. "Who?" someone asked.
"Potter's friends and some Weasleys. Oh yes, and Hermione Granger."
"Should we call the Dark Lord?" It was beginning to sound like Lucius Malfoy.
There was a pause and the silence made Hermione shiver.
"No. Not yet. Let's interrogate her first," the unknown person said in a cold and commanding voice.
Hermione lost her breath for a moment and glanced at the others. Neville stared back at her as if wondering what to do, and Lavender had fear written all over her. Hermione stood, not wanting to be seen as helpless even in her wandless state. She was stiff and scared and worried.
"Here, Yaxley. Sit," Lucius said, with a tinge of sarcasm. "Make yourself comfortable. Draco, go bring the mudblood out."
Hermione's heart nearly stopped.
The footsteps pounded in Hermione's head, and she set her jaw. She would stay strong no matter what. The Death eaters didn't know about their relationship, or whatever it was, and she wasn't going to betray him just like she wasn't going to betray Harry.
Draco opened the door and stared at her, looking like a harried puppy. He too looked helpless and he gestured with his head for her. "Come on Granger," he said, and she gave him an indignant look and glanced at the others. They looked worried for her.
Hermione walked out the door passed Draco, and after he'd locked the door, he turned and, as he faced her, pressed something stiff into her hand. His grey eyes met her brown eyes for a moment, and her mouth opened in surprise. A wand. Not only one, but…five.
"Come on, Malfoy, we don't have all day!" someone shouted from above. Draco gave her a look, and she hurriedly hid the wands before he turned her and pushed her ahead of him, poking her back with his wand. As Hermione surfaced, she recognised Lucius and his wife, a little man, and Yaxley, seated in a comfortable chair by the unlit fireplace.
"Well, if it isn't Hermione Granger," Yaxley said with a sneer. "Potter's Mudblood. How nice of you to join us." He stood and Hermione stiffened, not knowing where to look. "And I assume that it was your plan to infiltrate the home of the Malfoy's? With only your handful of friends?" He chuckled at her, and Hermione took a deep breath. "How brilliant you are."
Hermione was busy thinking now. She could take four Death eaters if they were dim-witted, not including Draco, but she couldn't take them all alone. She highly doubted that they weren't brilliant duelists, however, and she felt helpless again. Even with a wand she was no match for them all.
"Granger," Yaxley said, and she glared at him. "So tell us: how does it feel to betray Potter?"
"What?"
He grinned unpleasantly. "You'll be betraying him in no time." He raised his wand and Hermione knew what she had to do. She whipped out a wand and shouted, "Stupefy!" The curse sent the wizard flying backwards with a shout. "Finite Incantatem!"
"What? She has a wand?" Lucius roared. He, unfortunately, did not have a wand, so he coward as his wife pulled out her own.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Nearly everyone yelled out, but Hermione was quick in protecting herself. "Finite Incantatem! Finite Incantatem!" She gasped in fear. She ran back to the cellar and unlocked the door in a hurry, her breath coming in gasps as she tried to speak.
"Here, grab a wand. Help me!" she gasped, and the others joined in. Ginny was awake then, but too disoriented to be useful. The Death eaters came in moments, and they were all stunned, including Draco. That couldn't be helped.
"Come on!" Hermione cried, and she ran up the stairs and towards the windows of the living room. "Diffindo!" The windows broke and she leapt through the falling glass onto the grass on the other side. She looked behind to see if the others were following before running for her life to the large iron gates. "Alohomora!" The gates opened and she rushed out and waited on the other side for her friends. They grabbed hands and she Apparated them to the Burrow.
They landed ungracefully on the dirt, and Hermione coughed, wiping her wet eyes. The panic that had set the adrenaline running through her was now calming, though it had ignited her tears. "Is everyone all right?" she asked, looking around. They all seemed to be perfectly fine, and Hermione took several deep breaths before finally getting up. "That was perfectly lucky, us getting out the way we did. Come on. I'm sure the others are worried sick."
She was right. When she entered the Burrow, she and the others were bombarded with hugs and kisses. "Thank God you're all right!" they were saying. George set Ginny down on the sofa, and Molly and Harry had nearly smothered her in kisses when she finally came back to her own self, though still rather disoriented. Everyone asked for the story of their escape, and Hermione and the others told it over and over again. Each time, their audience was awed and pat them on the back, calling them lucky. Hermione had to agree. It wasn't till much, much later in the evening after a quick meal and several hours of telling the same story over again, omitting the fact that Draco had given her the wands, that she was finally alone with Harry outside on the porch.
"How's Percy and Parvati?" she asked softly.
"They're both still bedridden, but definitely getting better. Molly's healing potions are working great," her best friend replied, and they sat in silence for a moment longer. "Where'd you get the wands?" Harry finally asked for the third time, and Hermione looked up at the stars and sighed.
"Harry, I want you to promise you won't tell anyone else this," she said, and he nodded.
"I promise."
She looked at him. "Draco Malfoy gave me those wands. He helped us escape. I know it sounds mental, and it is, but that's really how it happened."
"Blimey Hermione," was all Harry could say.
"I know, I couldn't believe it either."
They were silent, and Hermione suddenly felt her pocket warm. She reached in and pulled out the Sickle. A week from then at 2 p.m.
"At least we were successful," she said with a smile at Harry. "Now that we've got Nagini, have we got them all? We've destroyed Tom Riddle's diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and Nagini."
"Hermione," Harry said sullenly. "Voldemort split his soul into seven parts. We've got another to look for."
Hermione frowned, thinking hard, and after a long moment, she suddenly froze and her face went white.
"Hermione?" Harry said. "Hermione? You all right?"
Hermione felt her eyes well up. "Harry I've just had the most awful revelation," she whispered.
"What? What is it?"
Hermione looked at him, her face contorted in immense sorrow. "Harry. You're the last Horcrux."
Harry frowned. "What? How?"
Hermione bit her bottom lip before continuing. "Harry, it all makes sense. You could see Nagini's actions first-hand because Nagini had a part of the Dark Lord's soul. You can see into the Dark Lord's mind and he into yours because you have a fragment of his soul in you."
Harry's eyes went wide. "Then that means…"
Hermione sobbed. "Oh Harry!" She threw herself into his arms and wept. "Harry. I don't want you to leave me too."
"But how…how will you get rid of it?" he asked fearfully. Harry had gone white.
"You know how." Hermione pulled back and wiped her eyes. She stared at him as he soaked it in.
"You mean I've got to die?"
Hermione began to sob quietly again.
"Hermione," Harry said desperately. "Answer me, please."
"Yes, Harry," Hermione choked out. "Yes."
A/N: Thank you for reading. It just gets worse and worse for Hermione, doesn't it? Anyhow, just press that little button now and please review! Any criticisms and corrections needed to be made, please let me know. I try my best to edit it myself, you know, but sometimes I overlook things. Thank you again! Please review!