Hey everyone!

First of all, I am so sorry that this is so so late! I never realized just how difficult it is to update regularly! My respect for writers who can do that has increased like 800%.

Anyway! A month, a few breakdowns, and an ER visit later, here we are! I finally got this chapter done and I'm actually mostly happy with how it turned out!

Enjoy the chapter! :D

Warnings: This fic is dark. It contains torture, murder, kidnapping, implied/referenced domestic violence, the use of mind-altering influences and mind magic, abuse, and other mature themes. This fic will also contain character bashing, namely Dumbledore-bashing and some Weasley-bashing (this will come later in the fic).

Warnings will be updated as I go along. If I missed something that should be in the warnings, please let me know and I'll add it immediately.

Disclaimer: I do not pretend to own Harry Potter.

"Speech"

"Spells"

Chapter Five: Blood Stains and Soul Bonds

"Ms. Granger, do you know why I summoned you?"

Mentally, Hermione rolled her eyes. She doubted he knew how cliche, muggle villain-like he sounded. However, she did know that if she was ever to say that to him out loud, she'd have the killing curse fired at her faster than she could blink.

So, she stayed silent.

She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

That, or screaming.

The Death Eaters around her shifted as her silence angered their master. They could all read the fury in his eyes at being ignored.

"I asked you a question," Voldemort snarled, leaning forward in his throne.

The room was silent.

"I summoned you here because none of my followers have been able to get an answer out of you. But if you want to live, you'll answer me," he growled, confusing his Death Eaters. Voldemort never gave explanations.

This whole situation was odd. Why was one prisoner being given so much attention? And how had this girl survived torture from multiple Death Eaters, Rockwood, and Bellatrix without cracking?

"Where are the headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix?" Voldemort tried, hoping that the different question would prompt an answer.

But she stayed silent.

"Where is Potter being hidden?" Voldemort hissed, a note of pleading in his voice that confused those who heard it.

Never before had they seen their master get so worked up over one person, let alone someone who wasn't even out of Hogwarts.

Yet, here they were.

Their Lord desperately hurling questions at the girl in hope that she would break her silence, which was unnerving to all.

Hermione continued to look down, refusing to speak. She could feel that the Death Eaters were tense but she couldn't see just how nervous they were the longer she was quiet.

"Maybe you need some pain to loosen your tongue."

Hermione didn't have a chance to understand what that meant because a second later she was hit with a blinding, white hot pain.

It was like nothing Hermione had ever felt.

All of the previous torture combined couldn't compare to this.

It felt as though thousands of white hot knives were piercing every single inch of her skin.

The blood-curling scream that tore from her throat sent shivers down every Death Eater's spine. It suddenly occurred to them, collectively, that this was a child. She wasn't even out of Hogwarts yet and here she was, kneeling before the Dark Lord being tortured with, quite literally, the most painful spell to ever exist. Not only that, but she was still standing, well, kneeling, after being tortured by multiple Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange.

Grown adults didn't make it out alive after being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange.

Is this what the Dark Side had come to?

Torturing children?

Not to mention that she was being tortured for information that most didn't believe she actually had. After all, why would she? She was a vulnerable target, being as young and untrained as she was. If they hadn't been able to get this information from a fully-trained adult, then why would they expect this child to know?

Suddenly, this all seemed like a horrible, horrible idea.

A collective feeling of dread and unease washed over the gathered Death Eaters, even the more radical ones. It was as if something deep inside themselves told them not to mess with this girl.

But, that was silly….wasn't it? They were adult Death Eaters with a wealth of Dark Arts knowledge and magical training under their belts. Was it logical to think a 15-year-old could stand against them?

As logic, and a healthy dose of denial, kicked in, the Death Eaters ignored their instincts that told them not to mess with Hermione Granger and went back to watching their master torture the girl.

Hermione spat out blood, chest heaving as her limbs twitched with pain. This was not a pain she would ever, for as long as she lived, forget.

"Ready to answer my questions now, mudblood?" Voldemort purred, looking at her with triumph. There was no way she wouldn't give up the information he wanted now, having had a glimpse into the pain he could make her feel.

"I-I don't know," Hermione croaked, her voice rough from screaming.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed and he seethed.

"YOU HAVE TO KNOW!" He roared, pointing his wand at her again and screamed out the cruciatous curse.

Hermione screamed again, falling over on the floor as Voldemort's anger made the curse all the more powerful. She curled up on her side as it ended, trembling and trying to muffle her sobs. Tear tracks stained her cheeks and blood dribbled out of her mouth.

Voldemort looked upon her with disgust and frustration.

"Well, I must say, I am impressed that you still don't want to talk even after all the torture you've endured," He mused, sitting back on his throne and looking at her inquisitively.

Everyone was quiet while he thought, no one dared interrupt him. They had no idea what he could be thinking. Voldemort was unpredictable on a good day but ever since the Granger girl had arrived in the manor, he had become ten times as unpredictable.

Finally, Voldemort sat forward and looked straight at Hermione, who had struggled into a sitting position and had her, still trembling, arms wrapped around her body, shivering at the painful aftershocks of the curse.

"I'm going to offer you something I've never offered one of your…kind...before," Voldemort whispered, though the whole room was so silent that he might as well have been shouting.

"I want you to join me."

As soon as the words left his lips, there was an uproar among his Death Eaters.

"SILENCE!" He bellowed, silencing them immediately. "She's incredibly powerful and resilient. I'm willing to ignore your blood status, Granger, because I know you will make a great Death Eater."

He stared into her eyes and raised his eyebrows in question, awaiting her response.

"No."

There was a moment of shocked silence before the room was once again in an uproar.

This girl had just said no to the Dark Lord.

Fury washed over Voldemort's face and his lips twisted into an ugly snarl.

"You'll regret that, mudblood. I gave you the chance to have a say in the matter and you didn't take it," He hissed, standing up from his throne. He walked towards Hermione and knelt down so they were eye level.

Hermione refused to flinch.

His presence was cold and harsh, and gave Hermione the sick feeling of something crawling all over her skin. But she refused to let that show, and kept her head held high.

"One last chance to say yes," Voldemort whispered, coming uncomfortably close to Hermione's face.

Hermione thought about what she was about to do and decided that, consequences be damned, she was going to actually do it.

She spit in his face.

He flinched back with his eyes closed and everyone froze. No one even dared to breathe. Ever so slowly a hand came up to wipe away the spit and his eyes opened. Hermione swallowed roughly as his eyes burned into her, fury and disbelief swirling in those cold, red orbs.

"You shouldn't have done that," He growled menacingly.

In a smooth, quick movement Voldemort grabbed hold of Hermione's left arm. He pressed his wand into her skin with a bruising force and whispered an incantation in Parseltongue.

Hermione whimpered as her arm burned. Her throat was too sore to scream but it felt like flames were licking up her arm.

Voldemort smirked at her noises of pain, cruelty glinting in his eyes.

"You didn't want to be one of my followers and that's okay. But if you get back to your precious Light Side, they're going to see my mark on you and you'll never be trusted again," Voldemort purred with malicious pleasure.

Hermione couldn't stop the tears that welled up as the meaning of his words sunk in.

He was right. They would never truly understand. For all the light preached about acceptance, they weren't actually very good at practicing what they preached. Hermione could just picture the disgust and hatred in Ron's eyes, and the disappointment and confusion in Harry's.

Something inside her snapped, and she felt it rise as if to protect.

Protect her from wearing his mark.

Immediately, the blistering feeling of heat on her arm cooled. Hermione's body relaxed slightly and she let out a silent sigh of relief as the pain stopped.

"They'll never understand, at least not fully. All they'll see is my mark, my brand, on your body," He cooed, continuing his speech, not noticing how her mind had wandered or what had happened to her arm. He reached up to wipe away one of her drying tears, laughing as she flinched away from his cold touch.

Voldemort looked down, fully expecting to see his trademark skull and serpent marring the girl's skin, and blinked in shock when he saw only unblemished skin. There was a slightly transparent, shimmery purple aura surrounding her left arm, acting as a barrier between his magic and her skin.

"What…what is this?!" He hissed, looking from Hermione's face to her arm with frustration and rage.

"I don't…I don't know," Hermione mumbled, looking at her arm in awe.

Voldemort reached out to touch her arm and pulled back with a hiss, cradling his now-burnt hand to his chest.

He looked at Hermione with wide, searching eyes.

How was it that a simple child could prevent his magic from working?

Voldemort ignored all of the Death Eaters around him as he continued to look at Hermione curiously.

The Death Eaters stood around them in shock. They had really never seen their lord act like this, ever.

Seriously, what was so special about this little witch that made her able to do things that thousands before her had failed to do, and had been killed for even trying?

"Dolohov, Gibbon," Voldemort barked, not taking his eyes off Hermione, "Take her back to her cell. I'm done with her for now."

The two men in question stood at attention as soon as he called their names and rushed over to follow orders. Dolohov picked Hermione up and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her grunt of pain caused by having her sore body handled so roughly.

Voldemort dismissed his Death Eaters, who scattered as soon as he said the word, and watched Hermione go.

He just couldn't figure her out.

He had his suspicions, especially after seeing the colour of her shield, but knew that the probability of his theory being right was incredibly unlikely.

Still, it looked like he had some research to do.

With that, he headed off to the library, stopping by his chambers to collect Nagini, who happily made herself comfortable around his body while he did his research.

oOoOoOoOoOo

When Hermione woke up to Bellatrix once again standing outside her cell door, she felt nervous. It had been a few days since the ordeal in the throne room and Hermione honestly hadn't expected to see Bellatrix so soon after they put her under.

Hermione yanked her body into a sitting position on the thin cot she had been sleeping on and gazed at Bellatrix evenly.

The woman didn't look so good.

Her eyes were sunken in, her cheeks were hollow and paler than before, and her eyes were the lightest purple Hermione had ever seen.

Hermione rose from her seated position with wariness. She slowly walked over to the cell door, stopping just far enough that if Bellatrix suddenly reached in, she couldn't touch Hermione.

"Bellatrix?" Hermione whispered, watching for a sense of recognition, or even just some emotion in those bottomless, dull eyes.

Bellatrix swayed in her place slightly but kept silent. She just stared at Hermione with an unnerving intensity yet, somehow, no emotion sparked in her eyes.

"Do you know where you are?" Hermione asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Hermione waited patiently but received no response. She bit her lip as she considered her options, not noticing how Bellatrix's eyes briefly flicked to her lips for a second before returning to their emotionless stare.

Cautiously, Hermione moved forward. Soon enough she was standing right in front of Bellatrix, the only thing standing between them were the steel bars of her prison cell.

"Bella," Hermione whispered again, reaching out with a gentle hand to cup the older woman's cheek.

As soon as her hand made contact, Bellatrix jerked back. Her breath came out in harsh pants; uncertainty and desperation marring her features. The moment Hermione's hand had made contact with her skin, she had felt a surge of magic inside herself.

Suddenly, her head felt fuzzy.

She felt as though she was fighting against herself, two sides warring for the upper hand.

Concern shone on Hermione's face as she watched Bella seemingly battle herself. She reached out again and grasped Bellatrix's hand, interlocking their fingers. She kept hold of the older woman, lending Bella her somewhat steady presence as a source of support. She refused to let go, even as a surge of magic flowed through her arm to Bella's.

Bellatrix's eyes started to darken and Hermione felt hope spark through her chest.

The touch seemed to be working and ever so slowly, Bellatrix's eyes lost the light purple hue that Hermione was coming to despise.

"What's going on here?!"

The two woman startled at the angry roar that came from down the hall.

Rodolphus was walking quickly towards them, a look of fury on his face.

"You are supposed to be interrogating her, Bellatrix! Not stopping for a chat," He snarled, grasping her arm harshly.

His eyes narrowed when he noticed their interlocked fingers and he looked between the two with disgust.

"A mudblood, Bella? Of fucking course," He growled, not making any sense to Hermione but Bellatrix seemed to get his message as her back straightened and she glared at the man they called her husband.

"What of it, Rodolphus?!" Bellatrix snarled back, angling her body in front of Hermione, even though Hermione was still semi-protected by the steel bars that acted as a barrier between her and the two in front of her.

"You are becoming more effort than you are worth, Black," Rodolphus whispered menacingly.

Bellatrix startled slightly at hearing her maiden name; she hadn't had anyone refer to her with it in years. It felt good. She had always despised when someone used her married name.

"Why can't you just stay under control?!" Rodolphus continued, squeezing her arm tighter. He smiled when she couldn't help the small grimace from the pain.

Bellatrix didn't respond and ripped her arm away from Rodolphus.

"Fine, be like that," Rodolphus huffed, "I don't care how you feel about the girl, you are going to break her, do you understand me?"

"I won't do anything of the sort." Bella retorted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that sound like I was giving you a choice?" Rodolphus mocked, "Let me correct myself. You will break the girl, regardless of whatever feelings you have towards her or any other personal reservations you may have."

"You are here to follow orders. Do I make myself clear?" Rodolphus finished, staring intensely at Bellatrix.

The silence that followed his little speech was heavy and resounding. Hermione held her breath as she stared between the two, wondering who would break the silence first.

"Tsk tsk, well if you won't do it on your own, I'll have to make you do it," Rodolphus purred, an evil look in his eyes. Before Bellatrix or Hermione could react, Rodolphus had his wand pointed at Bellatrix and was uttering the words that took away her freewill.

Hermione silenced a whimper as the dark purple fled from the older woman's eyes and was replaced with a sickly light purple.

"Good. Now, take her to the red room and…well, break her," Rodolphus cooed, chuckling to himself as Bellatrix nodded hazily.

He watched as Bellatrix opened Hermione's cell and she grasped the girl's arm. Hermione thought about putting up a fight but didn't want to make things worse, so she went quietly.

And Hermione stayed quiet the whole way to the red room, a room she had yet to be in.

Bellatrix led her towards a small door at the end of one of the many twisting hallways and pulled her through the doorway.

As soon as Hermione was inside, she understood why they called it the red room.

There was blood everywhere. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling.

It was mostly dried blood, however, from the smell Hermione knew that there was fresh blood somewhere. Since witches and wizards could clean things up with a flick of their wand and an uttered word, it was clear that the state of this room was meant to intimidate. To make you feel fear before you felt pain.

The scent of blood and other bodily fluids was overwhelming and Hermione choked, which made her inhale more of the scent as she tried to get air into her lungs.

Her heart started to beat faster in her chest as she continued to take stock of the room.

There was a long table next to a lone chair in the middle of the room and upon a closer glance, Hermione realized it was covered in muggle devices and instruments that looked like their only purpose was to cause extreme pain. There were chains hanging from the ceiling and Hermione felt sick as she realized the cuffs were dripping in blood.

Ah, so that's where the scent of fresh blood was coming from.

The blood dripped ominously, creating a little puddle on the floor.

Hermione gulped.

Well, this wasn't going to be fun.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Spinner's End - Home of Severus Snape:

"Severus, I need to speak with you. Come immediately."

Severus looked up from the potions book he had his nose in and sighed. He had been expecting a summons since a few days ago when Lucius had filled him in on what had happened in the throne room when the Dark Lord had tried to brand the Granger girl.

He tidied his things into a neat pile on his desk and rose from his chair. He put on his cloak and disapparited in a flurry of motion.

Arriving in a swirl of black, Severus appeared outside the Dark Lord's study.

He straightened out his cloak and knocked.

"Enter," The Dark Lord's voice hissed, and Severus pushed open the door, entering the dark study.

"You wanted to speak with me, my Lord," Severus drawled, closing the door behind him and taking a seat in front of the grand desk when Voldemort beckoned him to do so.

"Yes, it seems we have a problem," Voldemort sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration.

Severus tilted his head to the side in concern. He almost never saw his lord in this state and was one of the very few who ever saw him like this.

"Is this about the Granger girl?" Severus asked, his mind working a mile a minute to figure out what could be the problem that had gotten his master so worked up.

"Yes. I take it Lucius filled you in?"

"Yes, my lord. He briefed me the night it happened," Severus explained, "What seems to be the problem?"

"She's too powerful," Voldemort replied, seemingly talking to himself as he looked out the window in thought. "She's only in her 5th year at Hogwarts and she's muggleborn. I need to do some tests but I doubt she'd cooperate and her magic seems to be protecting her."

Severus snorted, "Yes, I highly doubt she'll cooperate. Wait, did you say her magic was protecting her?"

"Yes, I don't understand it either. I've never seen this before," Voldemort mused.

"Hmm, well I've never heard of it happening if its the person's own magic that's protecting them but there have been documented cases of protective magic when a soul bond is involved."

"Is that a realistic possibility, though?" Voldemort questioned, raising his eyebrows, "After all, she's very young and most soul bonds don't develop to the point of protective magic until both parties are past their magical maturity."

"Well, my lord, I've learned never to underestimate Hermione Granger. If there was anyone who would defy the norms it would be her or that Potter brat," Severus said, "If a soul bond is the case, who do you think she's soul bonded to?"

Voldemort looked at Severus thoughtfully, "That's a good question. I think you'd know more than I since you're her teacher. You'd have a better idea of who she's involved with than I would."

Severus looked at Voldemort with amusement, "Oh, yes, it's not as if I have things to do, no I'm always just listening for gossip on Ms. Granger's love life."

Voldemort raised his eyebrows and for a second Severus thought he may have gone too far until Voldemort's lips quirked in amusement and he chuckled.

"You do realize that if anyone else talked to me the way you do they'd be dead faster than they could blink?"

"I guess there are perks to being your lefthand man," Severus purred, smirking.

Voldemort rolled his eyes and hid the little grin that had surfaced at their banter.

"Have you heard anything or observed anything that could tell us who the soulmate is?" Voldemort asked seriously.

"No. It could be the Potter brat, they are very close; however, they're more like siblings," Severus mused, "I also highly doubt it's the youngest Weasley boy. I haven't seen her interact very much with anyone else, at least as far as I know."

"Maybe it's someone outside of Hogwarts?" Voldemort pondered, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration as he ran through all the possibilities he knew of.

"It's certainly possible. Maybe one of the other Weasley's?"

Voldemort sat silently for a few moments before a vague idea started to take shape in his mind.

"Severus, what are some of the signs of a soul bond?"

"Well, from what I remember there's an instant connection. It doesn't mean love at first sight or whatever shit people come up with these days. But from the second you meet the person you can tell there is something different about them, it's like their magic is calling to you or something just feels off and different about them," Severus explained, getting into teacher mode, "In time and to a certain degree, you'll be able to share magic with your bonded. This is usually done when one party is under duress or has drained their magic fighting physical or mental magicks. If your bonded is in danger then your magic may lash out without you even being aware or when you're not in the same vicinity as your bonded."

Severus trailed off when he noticed the thoughtful and somewhat uneasy look in his master's eyes.

"What would happen is both parties had high or even exceptional levels of magic?" Voldemort asked slowly, the pieces starting to flow together in his mind.

"The higher levels of magic the soul bonded's have, the faster and more easily they'll be able to share magic. Because they have extra magic to spare, they might not even realize when some magic leaves them to go protect their bonded. So don't rely on being able to see someone lend Ms. Granger some magic, because that might not work." Severus finished.

Voldemort nodded to show he understood as he contemplated the the meaning of what Severus was saying.

He had a pretty strong idea of who the girl's soul bonded was, something that he wouldn't have believed before but the last few days had made him start to reconsider what he knew.

If what he thought was true, well, then they had a much bigger fight on their hands than they had imagined.

Interfering with soul bonds went against the Old Ways and many of the more traditional wizarding families would not be pleased if they found out he tried to manipulate the bond or intentionally cause harm in hopes of a reaction from the other party.

Well, he certainly had a lot to think about. He had a strong feeling that how the next few events unfolded would impact how the rest of the war itself unfolded. Now, if he played his cards right, then the tides could turn to his side, gaining him an upper hand in the war. Play it wrong and he could say goodbye to his dreams of dominance and ruling.

"What are you thinking?" Severus questioned quietly, trying not to disturb his master but unable to sit there in silence any longer.

"I'm thinking that we have to be very careful how we handle things from here on out," Voldemort replied pensively, causing Severus to raise his eyebrows in shock and concern. It was not often at all that concern could be detected from the dark wizard. In fact, Severus could count the times he had observed genuine concern from his master in the last 20 years, on one hand.

"Is there anything you need done, my Lord?" Severus asked, swallowing the other questions he wanted to ask and preparing to be dismissed.

"No, Severus, you're dismissed. Thank you for your help," Voldemort said, rising from his throne-like chair and waving his hand towards the door.

Severus nodded, hiding his surprise at having been thanked, yet another thing Voldemort did rarely, and took his leave.

Before he could reach the door, however, it flung open and a man Severus recognized as a low ranking Death Eater burst in, chest heaving.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Voldemort roared, "YOU DARE ENTER MY STUDY WITHOUT PERMISSION?"

The Death Eater, a relatively young man, sucked in a deep breath and trembled slightly in fear, "I-I'm so sorry, m-my Lord! But Rodolphus sent me to get you right away! S-Something's going on w-with Bellatrix and he needs your help!"

Severus hid a wince as he saw the disgust in Voldemort's eyes at the young man's stuttering and wheezing.

"Fine. I'll deal with you later. While Rodolphus may have sent you, you are not to enter my personal wing without explicit permission, is that clear?" Voldemort hissed angrily, barely waiting for the man's shaky nod before he walked briskly out the door and down the hall, towards the red room.

The young Death Eater let out a breath as Voldemort left the room but gulped in fear as he considered his future punishment.

Snape let himself feel momentary pity for the boy before he brought his mask up and smirked cruelly at the boy as he passed, disappariting as soon as he left the study.

He'd have to get Lucius to tell him what happened with Bellatrix but for now a large glass of firewhiskey was just what he needed.

I have a general idea of how I want the next chapter to play out but since I'm still struggling with writer's block and low motivation, updates have been changed to once a month. I'll update more regularly if possible but at least once a month there will be some kind of update!

I really hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Shoutout to all the people who reviewed, favourited, and followed this fic! You guys give me the inspiration to keep this fic going and I appreciate that!

03/02/2017: Nvm lmao I have writer's block again and inspiration for this fic in particular just isn't flowing. I have no idea when I'm going to be able to write the next chapter but please be patience with me /)w(\