Chapter 9


The red eyes took over her nightmares. His hissed grunts of pleasure, his haunting threats . . . They were all coming from a faceless pair of hungry red eyes. She screamed, she ran, she kicked, she fought, but nothing was enough to free her.

Then, she woke up.

She felt coated in her own sweat. She was shaking. There was a thick coating of semen between her legs, and a pain there to remind her of why. She wanted to open her eyes and check for blood, but that would mean she'd need to open her eyes and see if the man who'd done this was still next to her. The fear of seeing him, of acknowledging what happened, kept her face pressed into the pillow.

There was something else though. The magic she had only just unlocked the day before was now changed. Before she'd felt fiery, like it was a crash of fire against the inside of her skin. Surging forward with power. Now, however, it felt more holistic. It was like the feeling of awe that had encompassed her throughout her first year at Hogwarts, now enveloping her and comforting her. Like her magic knew she needed help.

Hermione knew Voldemort was evil before. It was intellectually reasoned out, it was given with extra-personal example and proof, but it had never before applied to her personally. Now, she was bound to him through a rape he had committed against her.

The pain between her legs was only growing the more awake she was. What had started off as a mild burning upon her waking was now a conscious awareness of every single tear. She felt a sharp stab of pain with every breath, every jostle of movement. She needed medical attention. She needed someone like Madame Pomphrey.

The magic seemed to realize this. Within seconds, she felt an unfamiliar lifting sensation, the blankets disappearing from around her. She opened her eyes, and instead of the bed where she had been violated she was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts, lying in one of the beds.

"Miss Granger?" Madame Pomphrey flitted into her field of vision, and the sight of the grandmotherly matron had Hermione's throat clawing at her for tears. Her vision swam as the figure bustled closer. "Miss Granger, are you alright?"

"Help me," Hermione whimpered. "Please."

As the matron approached with her arms outstretched, however, Hermione couldn't bear it.

"Don't. Don't touch me."

Immediately, Madame Pomphrey had her wand out, running diagnostics on her. She was naked, she noted, except for a jeweled studded collar-like necklace around her neck, but she didn't care. Maybe the necklace was a symbol of the bond, like a ring. Or like a collar to remind her of him and her place now. Even when she ran her hand over it, she couldn't find a seam.

Madame Pomphrey, at least, had her trust. Hermione watched in a constant state of anxiety, her magic trying so hard to calm her, while Madame Pomphrey looked at the results of her charm. The way the woman looked at her, the unbearable pity and horror in her face, made Hermione want to scream. Instead, she just let the tears run past her chin, wetting her body without a thought of wiping them away.

Madame Pomphrey provided her with a hospital gown. Then several potions. Then some chocolate. Hermione briefly smiled at the allusion to Lupin, and she did feel better after eating it, so she didn't protest the slab that the matron placed at her bedside. She started to feel a little better when the matron had her washed off.

A cleansing charm and some healing spells later and all Hermione could feel from her encounter with Voldemort was her new magic. It helped some to have the reminders taken from her. She was left to rest and eat her chocolate, but Hermione wouldn't sleep. Not with the nightmares from last night. She focused on the ceilings, the walls, anything to keep her from stretching out her magic and finding out whether Voldemort was still in that bed, back on what she now knew to be Sayre Mansion. She could feel the Slytherin in that place, diluted but there, and she could feel the blood wards and enchantments surrounding the place.

No! She resumed focusing on the walls and windows, on the chocolate and how it melted slightly wherever her fingers touched. Anything but the Sayre Mansion.

She wasn't surprised when Dumbledore and McGonagall came to see her. They both seemed to rush into the hospital wing, as if Hermione was set to disappear. She could, she knew, at any moment if any of the total of 81 homes under her protection needed aid. The number came unbidden to her mind, and she squashed the impulse to check them. That was the magic, not her.

"Miss Granger, are you alright?" McGonagall asked, coming forward to sit by her bed. A hand went to touch Hermione's shoulder, but she jolted and retreated back against the bars at the head of her bed. MccGonagall looked shocked, but Dumbledore just nodded sagely at her.

"Miss Granger, we need to ask you a few things," Dumbledore told her gravely. She nodded. "You were kidnapped by Voldemort?"

His name made Hermione flinch. She nodded, intent on focusing, on not finding the owner of the name.

"And you are now a part of the old magics?" Dumbledore asked again, prodding. She just nodded again, finding the criss-cross pattern of the bedding intriguing. "And did Tom," flinch, "take advantage of you?"

Hermione nodded again, looking down into her gown covered lap. The tears resumed, spilling freely and with no restrictions from her.

"How horrible!" McGonagall cried. "Oh, Hermione, we can't imagine what that must have been like for you."

"He wanted it to be public," Hermione whispered, daringly. "I was lucky. No one else saw it."

Both adults were silent. Madame Pomphrey bustled over, handing Hermione a Calming Drought. Hermione downed it with no question, preparing herself. She needed to tell them what happened. She needed to be strong.

"I was a virgin, Headmaster," Hermione whispered to her lap. "He bound me to him. To his house. That's how I ended up here. He's a descendent from Slytherin, and his blood is throughout the school. I can feel it."

Hermione's tears ran freely. "I guess it was the price of my freedom," she murmured. "He took advantage of me, and now our magic is melded together. He gets more power, I get to look after all the houses he's bound to, all the Death Eater estates and the people bound to them. Including him."

"Can you tell us where he is?" Dumbledore asked now, moving closer.

"I don't want to feel his magic again," Hermione whimpered. "If I look for him, I'll feel him."

"We need to know."

McGonagall glared at the old headmaster. "She'd just been through an ordeal, Albus! She's in clear distress!"

"And her ordeal is far from over," Dumbledore told them both. He motioned with his hand towards Hermione's necklace, the one that appeared today. "Did he collar you, Miss Granger?"

"I don't know, sir. It was there when I, er, woke this morning," Hermione explained. The calming draught seemed to be working now. The tears stilled and Hermione was able to look up at them. The same horror she saw from Madame Pomphrey she saw in both of her respected authourities faces. "What does it mean?"

"It appears to be a family relic," Dumbledore told her. "Those appear to be blood stones, Miss Granger. There are multiple uses for virginal blood, Miss GRanger, beyond the ritual you were forced into. Many magical ancestors took the blood-stained sheets from their marriage beds to burn, and then turned the ash into blood stones such as those around your neck. They are quite powerful, Miss Granger, if even one stone is used. You have around a dozen from what I see. I imagine he had a purpose for giving them to you. Perhaps to aid in the protection duties, or because, as the blood of those stones are likely from his own family, he might be able to use them to summon you. Perhaps a kind of binding in its own right. It is possible that the Gaunt family gave the collar to their firstborn sons as a way for them to control their wives. They were a dark family, Miss Granger. Dark magic such as that necklace was a regular part of their lives."

Hermione bit her lip. "Do you think I can take it off? Ever?"

Dumbledore took his wand out, muttered something at it. Hermione felt a new magic come and lightly touch at her. It felt a warm to her, like a summer's sun. She welcomed it and had her magic let it through. It touched at her collar, but whenever he did the collar let out a small shock. Dumbledore started chanting, surrounding the collar with magic. It almost felt like he was going to choke her! Despite his chanting, nothing happened.

"It requires a blood-keyed release," Dumbledore apologized. "Only your, er, - only Tom can release it."

"Can I ask you something?" Hermione whispered her plea.

"Of course dear, anything," McGonagall replied.

"Am I technically married to him?"

Silence. That was all the answer Hermione needed. She pressed her hands to her face, trying to hide from the pain she felt building in her person. "I deserve this. I should never have done the ritual. I'm a horrible person."

"No!" McGonagall tried again to touch Hermione's shoulder, and Hermione fought the flinch she felt – as her professors old hands were cold, much like her rapists – and let herself be hugged by the woman she'd loved like a mother. "We all make mistakes, Miss Granger. But we can never excuse the horrors others commit as something we caused. You-Know-Who is a terrible man, and you cannot take any blame for what he did to you. I wish he were here so I could castrate him, Miss Granger. For what he did to you, there's a line out the door for that privilege."

"Can I see Harry?" Hermione asked, almost knowing the answer.

"That may not be best," Dumbledore replied. "I know you two care for each other, but your mind is an open book to Tom. We cannot allow him information that can lead to Harry. Do you understand?"

"I do."

And she did. She was vulnerable to any type of intrusion from the man, including what had happened last night. All her power against him was gone.

Dumbledore nodded. "Do you know what you are bound to protect, Miss Granger? Is it just Tom?"

"It's everywhere he's bound to," Hermione answered, still enjoying the warmth of being held my the mother-figure of McGonagall. "Including all the Death Eater homes. It probably has to do with the Dark Mark, but I can feel every person and every home owned by the family blood of the Inner Circle. I can feel all the Malfoy properties, even the ones in France and America. I can feel everyone buzzing around this castle."

"Why Hogwarts?" McGonagall demanded.

Dumbledore sighed. "Tom is the heir of Slytherin's bloodline," he explained to them. "I assume Slytherin had a part in creating the wards for Hogwarts?"

"His blood is everywhere," Hermione affirmed quietly. "I'm glad. I don't think he knew."

"And where is Tom now, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked.

"When he, er, did this," Hermione stuttered over it, averting her eyes, "we were in the Sayre Mansion, just north of Suffolk County. He's set up a throne room there, in the ballroom, where he meets his followers. Megan Jones is in the dungeons, as well as a few others that they're holding for political reasons, so it may very well be his base right now."

"Miss Jones is alive?" Dumbledore demanded. "Are you sure?"

"He tortured her in my place four days ago," Hermione answered. She stretched out her magic, looking for Megan. Her magic was faint, but there. "Yes, she's definitely alive still. I can feel her, but she's weak. Probably from her stay there. He'll keep her alive, both for her aunt's sake and because he knows I'll do anything to keep her from harm."

"We must tell Hestia!" McGonagall cried.

"Wait!" Dumbledore told her sternly. He turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, you can feel her now, her location?"

"Yes sir."

"Would you be able to go there, take Miss Jones, and bring her back here through the wards?" Dumbledore asked.

Hermione considered this. She focused on the wards around Sayre Mansion. She was a part of them. If she commanded it, they would let her through. She tested it with her magic, and a hole appeared. She sealed it quickly before he noticed and nodded. "I'll grab as many prisoners as I can before he notices," Hermione promised. "The wards know me now, and I can bring them through."

For the first time since she was captured, Hermione felt power. Voldemort had made a mistake; instead of binding her to protect him, he had keyed her to his blood and bonds. He had given her tools to help her friends. She could save people.

"Be careful not to draw attention," Dumbledore warned. "If that necklace starts to burn, Tom is doing the enchantment to bring you to him. He will try to keep you by his side, but trust your magic. It is the same as his, and it can break through anything he does. You are strong, Miss Granger, and you can turn this misfortune into a great advantage for the light."

"Are there any other prisoners, specifically, that we need?" Hermione demanded.

"Ollivander," Dumbledore answered easily. "We know he's being held somewhere by Voldemort, and we need to know exactly what he was told."

Hermione listened to the murmurs within her magic. Find Ollivander . . . sweet, helpful man. Find him. There. Malfoy Manor, in the cell right next to Draco.

"He's in Malfoy Manor," Hermione told him. "I'll be back, with both of them at least."

Not waiting for them, she let her magic suck her directly to her recent mental connection, Ollivander. Instead of the apparating pop she was so used to, she just seemed to materialize into existence next to the man who'd sold her her wand. She lent over and grabbed his shoulder. He barely moved, too injured and weak to raise his head.

"Granger?"

She turned to see Draco Malfoy, split lip, bruised face, weak and chained, looking at her like some sort of angel. She felt for his magic. She felt the Dark Mark from his arm, making her flinch at the magic she knew belonged to Voldemort, but his magic was enough to tell her she needed to help him.

"Why did they chain you up?" Hermione asked, pulling Ollivander to his feet.

"I can't tell you," Draco replied automatically, but at least he looked bashful. "How are you here?"

"Say hello to V-Voldemort's new plaything," she tried to say off-handedly, but her voice wavered at his name. "But I'm not going to let him use me. Do you want to go to Hogwarts right now?"

"Granger? Are you serious?" Draco asked, his eyes wide. "You're going to rescue me?"

"If you want out of those manacles, I can do it," she told him. "If you want to escape permanently, I have very little time and I need an answer right now."

She sent her magic over to unshackle Malfoy and he slumped to the ground, gratefully rubbing his arms. She tried one of the healing spells Voldemort had told her before, and watched as Ollivander regained some movement. It would have to do.

"This is the chance you get," Hermione told him. "I'm taking Ollivander to Hogwarts. Coming?"

"Circe, yes."

She apparated to his cell, and extended her hand while her other arm supported the weary Ollivander. He grabbed it without hesitation.

She dropped them both off in the Hospital Wing, but didn't stay. She apparated to the Sayre Mansion and immediately freed Megan and another prisoner. She worked steadily to empty the dungeons. Round after round of people were transported to the Hospital Wing. The dungeon was nearly empty when she felt a twang at her magic.

She focused, and found herself looking at a man with black hair and blue eyes cold as winter. Probably late twenties, early thirties. He was calling to her, from the room she'd left this morning. Perhaps he was a guard? She ignored him, bring her focus back to the last few captives.

Her collar began to burn. Quickly, she rushed the last load of prisoners over to the Hospital Wing before she felt a tug at her collar, dragging her back to the room she had left that morning. The black-haired man awaited her.

"Where were you gone to?" he demanded. "Which estate?"

"Who are you?" Hermione replied with the same demanding tone.

He smirked. Hermione felt unsettled by the familiar look on his face as if . . .

"Don't you recognize your new husband, little witch?"


I loved your positive response to the last chapter, so I thought I'd write the next one today! Here's the reward for people being so nice about my Hermione abuse. Thank you for your kind reviews!