A/N: Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews!
BTW, I love all of the theories!
7
Previously:
The stone from the hallway crunched under Voldemort's feet as he raised his wand and blasted the door out of his way. Snape was on his feet in seconds, casting a shield that would make anyone cocky. Potter and Hermione scrambled behind him, raising their own. Voldemort smiled wickedly. This was perfect. Everyone he wanted was all together in this one room. Even the Malfoys were out of his way. He decided it must be providence, the universe conspiring in his favor. He released a deep, dark chuckle.
**HGHG**
Voldemort's dark gaze slid past Potter and Snape to pin Hermione from where she stood to Severus' right. He studied her. Her face was fierce and proud, her wand was held confidently and he knew she could and would wield it with accuracy and skill. The anticipation of finally having her in his grasp was nearly overwhelming. He had grand plans for her.
"Severus," Voldemort hissed.
"Yes?"
"shouldn't you be kneeling in front of me begging for my forgiveness?" Voldemort's velvet voice echoed around the room. He pierced his former spy with a stare that made Hermione's skin crawl. Gazing at the still form of Narcissa laying on the cot and noticing the way Snape stood almost in front of her as a protector, Voldemort's snort filled the air with amusement. "It was always a girl with you. First Lily Potter, and now Narcissa, my leftovers. I really pity you Severus, always falling in love with unattainable women."
Snape clenched his teeth, it was the only indication of his anger.
"Hand over Hermione and all will be forgiven." Voldemort purred.
"Over my dead body!" Harry yelled.
"That," he whispered. "would be my pleasure. You have no one else to stand in your stead now. Not even your blood-traitor best friend, what was his name? Roland?"
"Ronald." Hermione spat. Voldemort waved the information off as inconsequential. It made Hermione see red.
"This is your last chance. Send Hermione with me and I will leave all of you in peace. I will even leave Narcissa in your care, permanently."
"And if we refuse?" Harry demanded. Hermione glanced at Snape from the corner of her eyes and could have sworn the man rolled his eyes.
"Then I will kill you and take her anyway."
"Then I suppose we have no choice but to fight you."
Harry cast first. His stupefy landed squarely in the center of the chest of one of Voldemort's goons. He collapsed to the ground at Voldemort's feet. The only reaction Voldemort had was to laugh as he stepped further into the room. He nonverbally cast a very strong bombarda at Snape, Hermione, and Harry. Knowing that Snape's shield would protect them enough that they would all survive but hopefully knock them out.
Hermione gasped as the spell hit their shields. It pushed them backwards towards Narcissa's cot. The room around them absorbed the explosion, rocking the remaining tower of rooms, namely the one they were in and those below it. The only person still standing when the dust settled was Voldemort. Snape had collapsed on top of Harry, unconscious as he took the brunt of the spell. Hermione scrambled to get to her feet but collapsed back onto her bum as she realized that her ankle was broken. She lifted her wand and once again raised a shield to protect not only her but everyone else too. She couldn't take her eyes off of him for even one moment.
Voldemort chuckled, slowly moving forward through the splintered room. Harry was gasping, trying to shove Snape off of him so that he could help Hermione but his wand arm was pinned and unless Snape woke up on his own, it seemed as if Hermione's only hope was if the Malfoys came back.
"I have knowledge that you could only dream of. I could teach you things. Be my apprentice and I can open up a whole world to you." He cajoled.
Hermione shook her head. The room was spinning around her and she feared that she had hit her head during her fall. Answering him was extremely low on her list of priorities but she knew that she could not hold him off forever. She hoped that Snape would come around soon.
"You would throw away the chance to learn from an uncontested master like me? It is extremely foolish to bite the friendly hand extended to you."
"Friendly," Hermione chuckled, her stomach rising up into her throat. "don't make me laugh. You have been hunting me, trying to kill me for years. Why change things now?"
"I've been trying to kill Potter for years but not you, not for a long time."
"Why?"
"When I took over the ministry, the Muggle-born Registration Committee took it upon themselves to research the familial lines of the muggle-borns. When I was presented with your file, I was shocked to learn that you hail from not one but two powerful and nearly extinct lines. Funny that you are the first witch on both sides since the original divergence. You are Merlin's only heir and surprisingly enough, you belong to the Gaunts. And that makes you mine."
"No!" Hermione protested. "I belong to myself."
Hermione heard a commotion from outside of the room but Voldemort ignored it and Hermione surmised that if she took her attention off of him for even one moment, she would be lost.
"Don't be naive, Hermione. Everyone belongs to their family names even if they are in denial. You are a Gaunt, Merlin's heir, and since I am the only other Gaunt not to mention your elder, I am your paterfamilias. The moment I knew who you were, I enacted the ancient laws. You belong to me until you marry and you can't even do that without my consent. The things we could accomplish together…"
Hermione humorlessly laughed. It was a raw, angry sound that filled the air.
"That is why you killed my parents. While they were still alive, you had no power over me. But the joke is on you. Abraxas Malfoy contracted my betrothal to Draco with my father the day after I received my Hogwarts letter."
"And then the Malfoys died, breaking every contract they had made."
"Maybe… but then I resurrected them."
"It was you?" He muttered murderously. Taking a step forward, he began to crowd her space, forcing her to strengthen her shield. She felt the faster drain on her magic as she kept him at bay.
"They are mine and I am theirs." She said as sweat rolled down her face.
Both, Voldemort and Hermione whipped their heads to the doorway as Abraxas Malfoy sauntered in followed by Lucius and Draco. All three of them looked proud, powerful, and pissed as hell. The room lit up the moment Abraxas stepped in, the wards started to reengage. If they could keep him there for just a few more minutes, they would successfully trap Voldemort inside with them.
"Tom Riddle, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Abraxas smoothly inquired as if they were friends.
"I've come to visit my cousin and offer her the chance to learn from a real master. You need not concern yourself, Malfoy."
"She is as close a cousin to you, as she is to us. You have no legitimate claim to her." Abraxas paused, strolling closer to Voldemort. He leaned in as if imparting a great secret. "But we do. She will be our wife and we protect our own."
"I see."
"Do you? Because I am not sure you do." Abraxas smirked. "Do you want to know which spell she used to bring us back? Are you curious?"
Voldemort took another step closer to Hermione. She kept her shield raised despite the strain to her magic. With each step back, she weakened, hoping that when it failed her, Voldemort would no longer be a threat. Another step back put him right next to her, so close that she could feel the raw magic miasma that encased his mortal body. The only thing separating her knees from his booted feet was the thin layer of her flagging magic that she was willing into being by sheer stubbornness alone.
"Enlighten me." Voldemort muttered. He slid one of his feet back until he was touching her, her shield flickered and failed. Her breath caught in fear. There was nothing between them now.
"She used Constituendum dynastia." Abraxas moved forward, keeping Hermione in his line of sight despite Voldemort's proximity. "When I was pulled, I can't tell you how excited I was. To have the chance to marry and bed such a woman…" He trailed off. "Not that you care about that if you are trying to claim her as her paterfamilias."
"When I send you back to Hell where you came from, she will be free of the lot of you."
"I think you will find it much more difficult these days, to go against me and win, Riddle."
"You have been dead for so long that I think you forget exactly who you are dealing with." Voldemort said with a smirk.
Understanding flared in Hermione as she struggled to move back even an inch from the deadly wizard. She couldn't allow him to touch her. She internally groaned when she felt the beam hit her back as she scooted. There was not enough space between them. She tried to catch Abraxas' eye but he was wholly focused on the threat that was Voldemort.
Voldemort whirled around, grabbing Hermione's robes in a tight grip. She could feel the summoning of power as he apparated them out of the last standing part of the Manor. The last thing she saw was Draco's horrified face as Hermione's wand was knocked from her hand as it slid across the floor. Not only was she in enemy hands, she was also defenseless. Bile rose in her throat as they landed at the gates of Hogwarts.
"The universe has spoken, Hermione. The laws of magic and nature have combined to give me exactly what I want." He laughed. He moved forward dragging her along in his wake. She took only two steps before she was back on the ground. He stopped and looked down at her, a smile still on his face.
"I think my leg is broken." Hermione murmured, looking away from his glowing eyes.
"Beg me."
"Never!" She replied viciously. His smile widened and turned nasty. He leaned down in her face.
"Beg for my help."
"No!"
"Very well." He calmly replied. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and began dragging her across the ground. She screamed as her scalp burned, a clump pulled away, bloody at the roots. Once they crossed the threshold of the gates, he released her. "I have erected wards that will enable you a certain amount of freedom within the grounds. Now wasn't that kind of me?"
"Meaning I can't leave, even if I wanted too?"
"Always looking on the negative side of things. Look at it this way, no one will bother you here. You are under my protection. Study, form connections, eat well, campaign for the rights of the underprivileged, I don't care. Just know that if you try to leave, I will take away all of the freedoms I have bestowed on you."
"You have been after me too long to think that you just want me near. What are your plans for me?"
"Well, Hermione, if you do as you're told, maybe I will tell you someday. Until then, you will do as I say."
They both stared at each other.
"How am I supposed to get to the castle?" She asked through clenched teeth.
"I am glad you asked. You have two options, you could beg me to heal your leg," He smirked. "or he can carry you." Voldemort said as he gestured to Dolohov, who had obviously come the moment Voldemort stepped across the wards.
"Or I could just stay here." She announced stubbornly.
"No, I think not, my Darling cousin. If you do not beg me to heal you, you will not be healed at all and then Dolohov will have to carry you everywhere, even to the loo."
"I will crawl."
Voldemort squatted in front of her. He reached out and fingered one of her curly tresses, watching the curl unfurl before springing back after its release. He met her eyes as he let go of her hair and grabbed her broken ankle. She hissed with pain and rage as he began nonverbally casting something nasty over her body. Moments later he pulled back, a satisfied smile set on his face.
"Dolohov, it is." He stood back up, nodding at his henchman.
"What did you do to me?" Hermione growled. He walked away as Dolohov drew nearer. "What did you do to me?" She screamed at his retreating back. He stopped and turned around after moving several yards away.
"I only ensured that your leg would never mend without me healing you. If I were you, Hermione, I would work on your begging skills. Because when you finally see things my way, you are going to regret that you did not beg me when it was just you and me. You will be forced to beg me in front of everyone." He rubbed his hands together. "I can hardly wait." He started walking to the castle once more, leaving Hermione at Dolohov's mercy.
Dolohov leaned down, intending to pick her up but she slapped him away. He released a stream of curses in Russian before roughly jolting her hurt leg.
"Behave." His voice rumbled around her as he lifted her body into his arms. Hermione crossed her arms and stared at the ground as he carried her into Hogwarts. Once they reached the Great Hall, Hermione was glad to note that Voldemort was nowhere in sight. Dolohov only stopped long enough to awkwardly close the massive doors behind them.
When he began to move towards the dungeons, Hermione's head snapped up, she met his dark brown eyes defiantly.
"I was a Gryffindor. The tower is that way." She said as she gestured to the stairs.
"You are the Dark Lord's ward and you are no longer a student. You are to live in the castle because that is where he lives. He has commanded that the suite of rooms next to his be made available to you."
"That sounds like a terrible idea." Hermione muttered unhappily. He snickered as he effortlessly carried her deep within the bowels of the castle.
"She is also going to attend and finish out her final year." Voldemort said from the shadows, scaring Hermione. She flinched so hard that if Dolohov hadn't been holding her so tightly, she would have ended up on the floor.
"In that case, shouldn't I stay in Gryffindor tower?" Hermione's face lit with hope.
"You are much too old to be staying in those dorms. No, Darling, I am going to keep you close to me."
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Hermione mumbled under her breath. Voldemort's red eyes gleamed in the darkness.
"Well, doesn't that just explain how amazingly patient I have been with you?"
Hermione crossed her arms and glared at him, refusing to participate any longer in whatever this was.
"Once Hermione gets settled in her room, Dolohov, come find me." Voldemort said.
"Yes, My Lord." He murmured with a small bow as Voldemort walked away. How he could still bow after carrying her sorry arse up to the castle and down to the dungeons, while still holding her was beyond Hermione's imagination. It wasn't that she was heavy but to him it seemed effortless. How strong was he that he could carry her around all day like it was nothing? Her stomach sank. She already dreaded being carried and the thought of begging rose her hackles. Being carried was the better option. Right? She still wasn't sure. Hermione looked up into Dolohov's curious gaze. They hadn't moved at all since Voldemort left.
"How am I supposed to learn and study if I don't have a wand?" Hermione croaked, panic stricken.
"Well, Pchelka, I suppose you are going to have to be really, really nice to me."
"Why?" Hermione went stiff and her gaze narrowed.
"Because you will have to ask the Dark Lord and you can't get an audience without me." He buried his face in her curls as her heart began to beat furiously with fear. He was smelling her. She shuddered in revulsion. Dolohov chuckled, obviously misinterpreting her reaction.
"I think I like your punishment. To be the man to carry you, sleep with you…" He said as his heated gaze roved the side of her face.
"What?!" She screeched. "You are not sleeping with me."
"Did you not hear my Lord's command? I am to carry you everywhere. Even the loo. How else will I know when you need the loo if I don't sleep with you?"
"You can sleep on the fucking floor then."
Dolohov's face hardened as if he had been slapped and a tic in his jaw fluttered.
"I will sleep wherever I want to and if you were smart you would not spurn me. I am your sole means of leaving your rooms. It would behoove you to be good to me."
"Like I said…" Hermione began, her upper lip curling with disgust. "I would rather crawl!"
Dolohov glared at the passageway as he began moving again. The muscles in his face set. He kicked open her door and moved through the small sitting room to the bedroom beyond, flinging her on to the bed.
"Don't move." He said fiercely, as he walked back out. She heard the door slam behind him.
"Fuck you too!" She yelled, throwing the first thing she came into contact with at the semi open doorway to her new room. She screamed her frustration until her voice went hoarse from the abuse.
**HGHG**
Abraxas ran the tip if his wand down Bellatrix's restrained arm. Her filthy robes had been split all over as if they had been cut. Red welts were raised on her skin everywhere the wand caressed. Bellatrix was sweating profusely, her hair and clothes damp. It was hot in the room. The heat made the smell even worse, and the pain harder to bear. Had the Malfoys not had the advantage of cooling charms, they too would have succumbed long ago to the sweltering stink.
"What does he want with Hermione, Bellatrix?" Abraxas purred softly. His fingers followed the trails his wand left behind forcing his prisoner to flinch and groan in agony. It was blistering heat followed by the deepest cold. She shuddered, grinding her teeth together.
"I can make this stop. With just one word I could heal your wounds. What do you say Bella? Voldemort is never coming for you. I bet he doesn't even know you are missing." Abraxas murmured. "Rodolphus didn't want you and now Voldemort has abandoned you too."
"No…" She moaned over and over, her head thrashing back and forth.
"He doesn't want you but he wants Hermione. Why?"
"No…"
"Does he want her to give him an heir?"
"No…"
"Legillimens." Abraxas muttered as he held her face in his hands so that she couldn't avoid his mental probing. He slipped right in, her defenses were in tatters from Abraxas who had burned and then frostbit her tender skin.
Voldemort sat at the teachers table at Hogwarts facing the few students that were forced to attend Hogwarts. Snape sat beside him and Bellatrix sat on his other side. It was so quiet in the Great Hall that a pin could drop and it would echo through the whole castle. The students sat rigidly in their seats, silverware moved mechanically from plates to mouths and back. Fear bled off the students, it was a tangible stench in the air that even the most talented house-elf couldn't clear away.
Snape leaned in close to his master, Bellatrix doing the same from the opposite side. She refused to be left out of whatever Snape relayed to their Lord.
"They are in the castle, My Lord."
"And the girl?"
"She is with them."
"Gather your brothers, Severus, and meet me at the passageway." Voldemort stood up, his good mood making the students cower. He looked at them in disgust. Weak, all of them. Bellatrix moved to follow her master and only received a nod of acknowledgment. "Which one did they use?" He asked Snape.
"The one-eyed witch to Honeydukes." Snape replied. Voldemort let his smile stretch across his face. It was a gross caricature of humor, it was more likely that he bared his teeth as would a predator eagerly awaiting the chance to devour his prey.
He stopped midstride, Bellatrix right on his heels, as he saw the trio take the stairs back to the corridor where their escape route was. He followed them leisurely, watching them as they interacted together. The boys kept Hermione between them, to protect her, as if they could protect her from him. He snorted. Bellatrix looked at him in question but he ignored her completely.
"Today is the day Bella," He whispered quietly. "that all my plans come to fruition. After using Narcissa as practice run, I have finally, after much trial and error, perfected the spell. Just having Narcissa's magic at my beck and call has been exhilarating, imagine if my host was Merlin's own heir. I have waited so long for this, ever since that day, almost three years ago, when Hermione Granger's folder made it into my hands."
Abraxas pulled out of Bellatrix's mind, a promise of pain in his eyes.
"Is that right?" he purred.
"No." She whispered brokenly. Abraxas let go of her jaw and brought the tip of his wand to her face. "NO!" She screamed. Her screams reverberated around the room as Abraxas burned the same swirls into her skin that she had carved into Narcissa.
"Where did he take her?" He asked during a small pause. Tears were running down her face but she didn't make a sound. Her lips were ravaged and bloody from biting through them. The angry welts raised on her skin. Her face no longer beautiful, but hideously puckered. There would be no removal of the cursed burns as Abraxas sealed them in with hoarfrost. The pain was nearly unbearable and pulled back, giving her time to rest. The uncertainty of the wait was just as damaging as the actual torture. Had his prisoner been anyone else bar Voldemort, he wouldn't have been so cruel. But this was Bellatrix Lestrange and he knew exactly what she did to her captives. Harry and Narcissa were prime examples. He would get the information by any means necessary.
"Where did he take her?" He asked again.
"No…" He could barely hear her protestations from her ruined throat. He murmured a healing spell over her neck and brought his face back in front of hers. He was her entire world now.
"Were did your master take Hermione?"
"Hogwarts." She whispered before she passed out.
**HGHG**
Draco and Lucius had healed Snape and Harry but they were still waiting for the former to wake up. Narcissa hadn't moved so much as a finger during the whole altercation, still deep in her coma.
"We shouldn't have left her here. We knew the wards were cripplingly weak if one of us didn't stay."
"Bellatrix had to go to the dungeons. We couldn't risk having her in the same place as Hermione in case she carried a portkey."
"We should have just killed her."
Lucius nodded not completely in disagreement with his son.
"We will get her back!" Harry said stubbornly.
"Of course, we will." Abraxas said as he walked back in. "How are they?" He indicated Snape and Narcissa.
"The same. They are fine and Snape should wake up any moment."
"Good, good." Abraxas muttered. Snape let out a low groan, his hands reaching up to cradle his head. His eyes fluttered open and his focus landed on Lucius.
"I'm sorry," Snape began.
"Don't apologize. We knew how weak the wards were when we left. We also didn't know that he could draw from Narcissa's magic. It's how he apparated despite the wards that were being erected after we came back. Too bad he didn't wait another second for the anti-apparition wards to kick back in."
"The black nodule is the Dark Lord?" Snape asked horrified.
"Yes." Lucius confirmed. "All hope is not lost, there is a healer- Helena Macmillan, who specialized in spell damage caused by the Dark Arts."
"She was with Neville Longbottom and the remaining members of the Order, when I was captured." Harry added.
"If I went to them," Snape said slowly. "they wouldn't just refuse me, they would attack. They would never help Cissy."
"Harry will go with you. That will get you through."
"But Hermione!" Harry insisted.
"Will be saved by Draco, Abraxas and me." Lucius said, his no-arguments look was settled over his stony face.
"What happened to Hermione?" Snape asked.
"Captured by Tom Riddle and he intends to use her as a host. Just like Narcissa." Abraxas accused.
"Father, it was our job to protect our witch, now, it is our job to get her back. No matter the cost." Lucius admonished. Abraxas and Draco nodded, grimly preparing to lay down their lives if needed.
"Where is she? Do you even know?" Harry asked.
"Hogwarts." Abraxas muttered. Snape laughed humorlessly.
"He has that locked down harder than the Manor. It would take a miracle to get her out of there if that is where he took her."
"Make no mistake," Abraxas declared. "we will get her back."
"Too bad I no longer had the map." Harry lamented.
Snape smirked and pulled the marauders map from an inner pocket of his robes.
"Where did you get that?" Harry asked.
"I pulled it from your belongings from Grimmauld Place after you brought Yaxley through the Fidelius charm after breaking in and out of the ministry. In fact, I have all of your personal belongings in my vault at Gringotts. I kept the map with me just in case. Damn good thing I did."
Harry took the map and moved closer to the Malfoys.
"It just looks like a blank piece of parchment but if you tap it and say, I solemnly swear I am up to no good, it becomes a map of Hogwarts. It shows all the secret passages and rooms bar the unplottable ones. It also shows you exactly where everyone is." As Harry was teaching the Malfoys how to use the map he was also searching for Hermione. Silence fell as the search proved fruitless of Hermione's familiar haunts.
"There she is." Draco muttered, pointing to a spot in the lower dungeons. Snape moved closer, his nose nearly to the parchment. He threw back his head and laughed. It took him a moment before he was able to control himself enough to answer the questioning and impatient looks he was receiving.
"She is in my old suite of rooms. If he had known that, I know he wouldn't have put her there. As it is you are very lucky. While spying for both Voldemort and Dumbledore, Dumbledore convinced the castle to add a new passageway from my rooms to Rosmerta's. It was so that I could leave the castle in my Death Eater robes and not scare the children more than I already do. After his death, I never closed it. It was my back door to flee or keep the three of you in the relative safety of the higher levels of the castle, if you needed it."
"That might be fantastic news," Muttered Draco. "but he is going to be a problem." He pointed to the dot that indicated Antonin Dolohov. He was right next to Hermione and he hadn't moved in several long minutes.
**HGHG**
Hermione folded her arms stubbornly and presented Dolohov her back. He chuckled as he sat on the bed, pulling off one boot at a time.
"Need to use the loo, Pchelka?" He asked without looking at her. He was smirking though, she could tell by his voice and it only served to make her angrier. She hated to admit that she did and had for the last two hours.
The moment she had stopped screaming when he deposited her unceremoniously onto the bed earlier in the day, she realized she had to go to the bathroom. Refusing to wait or call out to her appointed babysitter, she decided to do exactly what she said she would do. She tried to crawl. It soon became obvious that she could move anywhere on the bed that she liked, but the moment she left the bed, her whole body felt like it was being consumed by Fiendfyre. The moment she was back on the bed, it had disappeared as if it never happened.
"I won't even stay and watch." He added, as if that was a kindness instead of a given. Squaring her shoulders, she knew that she couldn't afford to hold it for much longer or they would both have to sleep on the floor and Hermione suspected that unless Dolohov set her on the floor, it would be agony for her.
"The loo would be great, and I will take you up on the offer to not stay and watch."
Dolohov released a breathy chuckle as he walked around the bed to the side Hermione was precariously perched on. He slid one of his arms around her back and the other behind her knees. He was gentle with her, moving her smoothly so not to jar her broken ankle. She figured he would have orders to be rough with her to force her into a humiliating round of public begging. It surprised her. Hermione didn't like surprises, unless they were the sexy Malfoy version.
Just thinking about the Malfoys, Harry, and Snape set her stomach into knots, not including Narcissa and her unknown disease. She couldn't even imagine what they were feeling at the moment. She hoped they were smart enough to stay away from Hogwarts. She fully intended on escaping. She frowned. She couldn't escape unless she was healed and free to walk around. To get that, she had to beg. She didn't know if she had it in her to do that. She decided to sleep on it. Maybe inspiration would come with the dawn.
"What's wrong?" Dolohov inquired as he watched her face. He sat her on the edge of the tub and kneeled in front of her, reaching for her feet.
"What are you doing?" She demanded. She wasn't about to answer any questions and thought it safer to attack him and his motives.
"Taking off your shoes and socks. Then I am going to help you out of your robes and knickers. You can go to the bathroom in privacy and then I will come back in and shower with you."
"Oh. Hell. No! I can get to the tub from the toilet. Thank you very much." She yelled.
"Listen, I know this spell. Hell, I invented it. You will not be able to go from there," He pointed to the toilet. "All the way across the room to the bath. Call me when you are finished on the toilet."
"You still could just put me in the shower. You are not coming in with me."
"I thought we already discussed this. It would only be to your benefit to please me."
"I have no intention of 'pleasing' you." She said nastily.
He looked down at the floor and clenched his teeth.
"I know you have had a difficult time of it and I will allow you my forgiveness for today, because tomorrow I will expect your cooperation."
"Over my dead body!"
He moved to unbutton her robes but she smacked him away, his face clouding with anger. He gave her a look of warning. Once she got to the end of the row of buttons, she held the sides together so they wouldn't gape.
"I don't need your help getting out of my clothes. Just take me to the toilet."
He stared at her brows raised.
"Please?" She asked through gritted teeth. His lips twitched as he carried her over and left silently, giving her the privacy that she requested. Glowering at the door, she finally released her bladder from its torturous hold. She shook her head. There was only one thing she could do. It was imperative that she learn wandless magic and slaughter the lot of them as soon as possible.
**HGHG**
Lucius, Abraxas, and Draco stood around the observation globe. Snape and Harry had already departed with Narcissa in tow to find the remaining members of the Order. The three Malfoys made up the entire war council that was destined for operation, free Hermione.
They had fought for hours over a suitable plan, Draco proved to be a decent strategist when he wanted something bad enough. If Draco was their best tactician, Abraxas was their skilled General, and Lucius was Black Ops. Although if truth were told both Abraxas and Lucius could be coined Black Ops. Scary, the both of them. The extreme heat and cold torture of Bellatrix Lestrange was the testament to their ruthlessness to their enemies. Mercy was to be given to only those that were salvageable. Everyone else was expendable and the severity of killing methods depended on their crimes.
"Then we are agreed." Abraxas concluded. "Our first move is to make contact with Rosmerta."
With a small pop, a tiny house-elf appeared in front of them. Her head was bowed and her tiny shoulders were thrown back with pride.
"What is you wanting to do with the house, Master?" the squeaky little voice rose with emotion.
"We will have to rebuild. Are all of the elves safe?"
"Of course. We felt the magic gather and hid. We is not needing to rebuild the whole house. As long as the root remains, we can use magic to restore. Do you want the elves to restore?"
"The root of what?"
"The core of the house was magically anchored in all times by Master Sigurd."
"This room and all of those below it?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Do as you must."
"Yes, Master." She bowed low popping out quickly.
Lucius turned back to Draco and Abraxas.
"Hogsmeade it is then. We can't just apparate in front of her door. We are going to have to be stealthy. No one can know who we are meeting with or why."
"I think flying by broomstick is our best bet."
"I still think we could apparate part of the way." Abraxas disagreed. "He is going to have people watching for us. If we apparate from this room, they wouldn't know we were gone until it was too late to tail us."
"He could have easily laid a ward that wouldn't activate unless we apparated. He had plenty of time."
"Then how are you suggesting we leave?"
"Gilkey." Abraxas recalled the tiny house-elf.
"Yes, Master?" She asked with a bow.
"Is there any way to leave from this room without being seen from observers?"
"Yes, Master!" She squeaked excitedly. "Just through here." She walked to the darkest corner of the room and pressed her tiny finger into an indentation. It was a button that could only be triggered by a house-elf or a tiny pin. Even a wand wouldn't do the trick.
The stone flowed like water, creating a huge spiral staircase through the floor.
"Where does it end?"
"In the root." She said as if it were obvious and they should have already known. The wizards started down the tight stairs, leaving Gilkey behind.
"Oh, Master Sigurd, what did that horrible witch do to you?" Her soprano voice echoed in the barely lit stairway from the room they just left.
Their continued descent was long and slightly torturous. The Malfoy men were large, testaments to their Viking ancestry and the stairs were tightly formed. It was cramped and the steps themselves were much too small. Still they kept going down. They didn't know what the elf meant by the root but they knew that it had to end somewhere and they were already too committed to turn back now.
When they finally reached the bottom, there was a large wooden door. It had been painstakingly sanded and varnished by a true master. The black iron hinges and handle were twisted into complicated and beautiful patterns. It was a true masterpiece. It shone with an incredible luminescence. Abraxas stepped up to the door and pushed it open, noticing the buttery feel of the wood beneath his fingers. Of all of the things he was expecting to find beyond that door, a diamond coffin holding the perfectly preserved body of Sigurd Malfoy, was not one of them.
