Author's Note
God I KNOW it's been eons since I posted. I profusely apologize for my tardiness. I really am sorry, but I've been so busy balancing school, work and stress! I will not leave this story unfinished so please don't give up on it, because I haven't. I started this and I intend to finish it. I'm going to finish this as quickly as I can, If time presents itself, I will get another chapter ready and perhaps a new story….
Previously on Hideaway
"We are fully aware of the cause we joined, support and fight for. We believe in it. When we say we're gathering our memories, we go out and do whatever backstory it is we feed to you dolt heads at the ministry. We are all very much aware of what we're working for and what happened. Feeding the ministry authentic memories to make them think we were kidnapped just sets them on the wrong trail."
"When I was Ara's healer I placed a tracking charm on her so that we could easily find you when you went on the run."
"It's risky and we lose it all but we have to give Ara her best chance."
"More money than any normal witch/wizards withdraws to sustain themselves. Bellatrix's ashes were removed from the vault too."
"There's a mole at Gringotts."
"I am the one to do the final deed is that understood?" she asked
"We were under the impression you were in charge of this terror, but who is she dear uncle? Who are you taking orders from?" Draco said.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Draco asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. He was pacing around the room his hands clasped behind his back as he furrowed his brow in concentration.
"Yes Draco, it's the only way to get the message to Harry. Remember, the plan is painful but it'll be worth it. Sacrifice is all we'll be doing lately." Hermione replied staring at her hands in deep thought. She glanced up and saw the muscles in Draco's back tighten with tension as he thought through the latest part of their plan.
They had both recently begun to exercise in their small cell to regain some energy and strength. They would need it to carry out the next few steps of their plan, but they had to be extremely careful in order to not tip off their captors of their plan.
"I don't like this Mya, I absolutely disapprove of this idea of yours." Draco said pausing to face her. "There has to be another way."
Hermione sighed standing and walking over to her husband. "Draco, you know there isn't. Nothing that will guarantee the results of this. And we need this. There will be sacrifices and for Ara, we can make them. Besides when have I ever considered your approval? "
Draco chuckled reaching between the bars to press the back of his hand to her face. "I just don't like this. This could end very badly." he said staring hard at her, as if memorizing her face. "This has severe punishment written all over it."
"Sounds like school detentions." Hermione laughed feeling tears burn in the back of her eyelids.
"You're not allowed to die on me." he whispered hoarsely.
She gripped his hand tightly in hers closing her eyes as she heard the final bell ring signalling the end of the day at Durmstrang. She kissed him softly before backing away slowly, never breaking eye contact. His eyes pleaded for a change of heart, but they both already knew there would be none.
They sat in silence waiting to hear for the cell door to creak open. And then it did.
Krum came whistling in after a long hard day as professor, and his eyes shone with excitement when they landed on his pair of prisoners.
"I'm just saying!" Draco said loudly his voice filled with laughter. "Taking you against the shower wall was the best sex I've ever had." he said his outstanding acting skills fooling even Hermione. If she didn't know what he was really doing, she would have believed him.
She smiled awkwardly. "I wish we could go back to that moment." she said her weariness pure truth.
"I'm getting hard just reminiscing how good it felt to take you hard and fast like no other man has in the shower." Draco said exaggerating his pride.
"Well I grant your wish. I'll gladly take you back to that moment." Krum interceded already unlocking Hermione's cell door. He strode in expectedly and yanked her upwards. "I'll take you so hard, you'll never remember doing it with Malfoy."
"Go to hell you fucking bastard." Draco scowled leaping to his feet, gripping the cell bars tightly,
Krum dragged her out of the cell, turning to smirk back at Draco while Hermione dug her feet into the ground, in protest. He picked her up by the legs so she was hanging over his shoulder while she fisted him in the back repeatedly. She raised her head to watch Draco, mouthing 'I love you' as she disappeared.
Krum blindfolded her as he reached the top of the stairs and brought them to what must have been his private quarters. Hermione felt a thrill of action spring through her veins. It felt incredible to be doing something beneficial to getting them out instead of withering away in their cells. Not to mention being outside their damn cages in Merlin knows how long, felt wonderful.
He began aggressively stripping her as she dramatically protested, aiming and landing a few good punches. He pulled them into the steaming shower, her blindfold still tight around her eyes as he pressed her into the wall, running his hands up and down. She braced herself, knowing she had one shot at this. She had to get it right or she might not ever get another golden opportunity. As his ministrations began to travel south she sucked in a steadying breath and turned around wrapping her arms around his neck. "Ah what the hell." she shouted.
He went still for a moment before relaxing and groaning as her hands carefully felt for his face. Krum shouted in victory as he pressed her against the wall, his hands moving to cup her butt. She clenched her fist, feeling around his face before firmly planting her feet into the ground. It would take a good shot and a powerful one to set this plan into motion.
He moaned rather extremely when she rotated her hips sharply, swinging sharply to strike the side of his head, so hard her knuckles cracked open and begun to bleed. She heard him cuss then crumple to the ground, silent and motionless. Hermione had no time to celebrate as she tripped out of the shower, bruising her knees as she groped on the floor for his pants. She retrieved his wand and waved away the blindfolds before yanking on her dirty clothes.
Hermione quickly levitated Krum onto the toilet binding him tightly, blindfolding and silencing him. She ran into his room wrinkling her nose in disgust when she took in the disgusting state it was in.
She scanned the room, her eyes finally landing on the grey owl perched alertly by his bed. She dug around his drawers finding a scrap piece of parchment and quill.
Harry,
Ferret, Otter and mini Fetter are at 1 of 3 Triwizard schools.
He is not the one calling the shots, there is an unknown SHE.
TRUST NONE OF THE 'KIDNAPPED' WOMEN
As she scrawled out the note quickly, she heard approaching footsteps, causing her heart to beat out of her chest. She didn't have time to finish so she roughly attached the note to the owl's feet.
"Bring this to Harry Potter and Harry Potter only." she said opening the window and sending the bird off. The doorknob began to fiddle and Hermione just had time to dive beneath the bed, pulling her legs, arms and hair close to her. She covered her mouth, afraid her breath would give her away.
"Professor Krum?" a nasal female voice called. "It's Maid Elyssia, your favorite maid here to serve you." she purred walking in her bright red heels further in the room. Hermione prayed Krum hadn't come to yet, and that the stupid maid wouldn't wander into the bathroom. She came frighteningly close to the edge of the bed that Hermione got a good look at her attire. She was wearing the most degrading fishnets ending in thin thongs that hooked onto straps leading to small circles that covered her breasts. A short white apron was wrapped around her waist as she dropped her actual uniform onto the bed. Hermione had to repress the urge to gag.
The maid made the strangest "Pumph" sound in disappointment as she dressed herself and left the room, her heels clicking into the distance. Hermione exhaled slowly as she climbed out from beneath the bed. She placed a disillusionment charm around herself and creeped to the door. She waited by the door, listening hard for sounds of movement. When she was convinced it was safe, she cracked open the door and darted outside closing it firmly behind her.
The next part of the plan, she hated. Draco made her swear, that given the chance, she would find Ara and escape even if it meant leaving him behind.
She wanted nothing more than to break them all out, but realistically she only had time to save one. And Draco had self sacrificed himself.
Hermione forced herself to remain focused as she wandered towards the heart of the castle. Where would they keep Ara? It had to be separate from the students, secure to keep a child and far enough to drown out her cries. A tower would be the most logical place to keep a kidnapped baby. Hermione did not want to guess and check every single tower in the damn castle, so she had to get creative. She used Krum's wand to change her hair blonde and straight, adding freckles to her face and changing her outfit to something more appealing than dirt, sweat, tear and blood stained attire. She spotted a lone boy wandering down the corridor and advanced on him. Hermione shoved them both into the nearest broom closet making herself reappear.
"Who the hell are you?" the boy said drinking in every inch of her. She pasted a charming smile onto her face resting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm interested. And who are you?" she asked breathing heavily. His eyes widened but he drew her in slowly.
"Kurt." he replied clearly liking the way this was playing out. In a second she had him bound and blindfolded to a chair. "What the hell! Unless this is some kinky bondage thing…"
"Shut up Kurt." Hermione sighed. "Tell me where the forbidden parts of the castle are." she said placing silencing charms around the closet.
"Why do you need to know?" he asked suspiciously. "Are you a murderer or something?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." she replied shortly. "Now answer me." she said firmly. The boy gulped and cowered in his seat.
"Just keep going down this hall and you'll reach a set of stairs you need administrative passwords to access." he said his voice suddenly less confident. Hermione felt pity for the boy but proceeded to wipe his memory and sent him on his way. She followed his directions and indeed reached the staircase. She tapped her wand against the barrier and a small screen popped up at her eye level. The words on the screen read 'The day it begun'.
The day what began? The war? The attacks? When was the day her life spiraled out of control? She couldn't pinpoint an exact day her life became hell but she did know the best day of her life was when Ara was born.
But, the day Ara was born was also the day that Lestrange and his partner's plans were set into motion. Hermione inhaled sharply, knowing she didn't stand a chance if she got the password wrong. She typed out very carefully the date of Ara's birth and in relief the faint barrier dropped.
Hermione darted across and began to ascend the staircase in search of her baby.
Time was precious and she didn't have much of it left to waste. It was a miracle she'd made it as far as she did without being caught or searched for. She'd taken several wrong turns, up 2 different staircases that lead to an empty bedroom and study. She had went down a staircase which led to a potion lab where she nearly walked in to Adelia concocting some deadly looking potion. Hermione felt herself panic when she heard the dinner bell ring when something caught her eye. Out of the corner of her eye from where she stood, she could faintly see a wooden door peeking out from the side. It was tucked in the corner behind large cabinets but it was there. She crept towards it and unlocked it, prying it open, her eyes darting around all the while. The rickety door made an unceremonious sound as it swung wide open, to reveal a dank and a steep staircase. Hermione shut the door behind her and sprung up the steps casting a homenum revelio as she neared the top. Krum's wand revealed a single person in the final room at the top of the stairs. This could very well be the she in charge or by some miracle, it could be Ara.
Hermione braced herself as she cracked the door open peeking in as little as possible. There, across the room was a small crib and inside rested her precious girl gazing up curiously at her. Hermione poorly stifled a sob as she ran into the room picking up Ara and crushing her to her chest. The baby flailed slightly at the abrupt movement but seemed to recognize her mother and began gripping on to Hermione's hair in it's tiny yet surprisingly strong fists. Hermione's broken and tired heart seemed to mend just a little as she held her child for the first time since they'd been unrightly separated. Ara's hair had grown out significantly to below her ears, the lovely darkened version and texture of Draco's hair but the slight curl of her own. She kissed Ara on the cheeks, forehead, anywhere she could find a bit of skin and her arms refused to loosen it's hold on her.
"Mama and daddy love you Ara. We're going to get you out of here, we promise. You be strong in case something goes wrong-" Hermione said a sob fighting it's way out. "You grow and you fight my girl, make us proud." she said pressing their foreheads together.
Hermione righted herself and cast a silencing and disillusionment charm around the pair of them again and began to find her way down the stairs. How could she possibly make it to a door and out of Durmstrang property before being caught? The feat alone seemed ludicrous but as soon as alarms went off, it would become an impossible task. Perhaps she could kidnap and seduce another horny teenager and find the nearest exit, but things were so much more complicated now with a baby.
Hermione and Ara found their way past the forbidden boundary of the school and managed to reach the hall where she'd originally kidnapped the boy, when they heard loud voices ringing near them.
Hermione pressed them against the wall praying they wouldn't be detected. To her disgust it was Lestrange who was walking down the hall talking very animatedly to Yaxley.
"Krum is such a suck up. Of course she let him handle their punishments! He won't stop bragging about how great it was to take the mudblood." Lestrange raved in annoyance, sending chills down Hermione's back. "Just you wait, I will relish in sexually harassing the baby before I execute her." It took all Hermione's willpower not to launch herself at Lestrange and pummel his face.
Luckily it was Hermione doing this part of the mission and not Draco who would have surely exposed himself by now from attacking Lestrange. As the men disappeared down the corridor, Hermione continued down the opposite way more intent than ever to get Ara out of this hellhole.
Harry was exhausted after frantically searching and prodding everywhere at Gringotts. Indeed an abnormal amount of money had been withdrawn from the Lestrange vault and Harry wanted to punch himself for not seeing it sooner. Even before Valentina had gone missing, he had been investigating Gringotts because of a breach in the wards. His carelessness and what he had thought was prioritizing has returned to kick him in the ass.
He had just finished a late dinner with Terry and seen him out, at his own home after the pair of them had madly searched Gringotts and interrogated workers. Someone had altered the wards to allow a high security vault to be opened without the owner present. Of course, all workers had appeared innocent and were equally shocked to discover the news.
"I bet you an employee from Gringotts will be next. I would bet my life that someone from Gringotts will disappear next." Harry said helping Ginny clear up the table after putting the kids to rest.
"Set eyes on them around the clock to make sure no one gets taken. And if someone was being kidnapped, you could identify the culprit and intercept the attempted kidnap." Ginny suggested waving her practiced wand to set the dishes to wash.
Before Harry had a chance to respond, an owl came pecking loudly at the kitchen window. Ginny let it in, muttering about who the hell was sending mail this late. Harry reached for the note attached to its feet and began to read it. As his eyes moved across the short note, he felt his stomach drop but his adrenaline pump with the meaning of this letter. He hurriedly read it aloud for Ginny who's face instantly brightened up as she gripped his arm tightly.
"It says Otter and Ferret, this must be Hermione and Draco. This is Hermione's handwriting, I am sure of it, I've copied off of it enough times. Fetter? I'm assuming that's Ara?" Harry said very quickly as his heart began to pump with excitement.
"It's a mix of Otter and Ferret." Ginny said with a laugh, tears shining in her eyes. "In 1 of 3 Triwizard schools. The obvious answer would be Durmstrang wouldn't it?"
"I think so. But I just went there a few weeks ago to question Krum and Karkaroff." Harry said gripping the letter tightly, using his wand to duplicate it several times.
"You went to talk, not with a search warrant." Ginny said absolutely beaming with hope. It was a shame that hope would likely extinguish if this was wrong.
"Why is kidnapped in parentheses? It looks like she didn't finish writing the letter." Harry said his finger tracing over every printed word. "She can't possibly mean the women aren't actually kidnapped could she?"
"What makes you say she didn't finish the letter?" Ginny asked nervously reading the letter again with her sharp eyes. "She could have been in a hurry."
"The last line doesn't have a period. Hermione has perfect punctuation and she didn't sign 'from Otter' either. Even if she was in a hurry, she would leave that last period. She wanted to say more, I know it. And why would she tell us not to trust the 'kidnapped'?" Harry asked feeling his brain churning desperately for the right answer.
"Maybe she found out Lestrange still had some control over them and was listening in as the moles in the ministry." Ginny offered sounding uncertain of herself.
"But why the parentheses?" Harry asked feeling that single question irritate him severely. "Why would she specifically put the word kidnapped in parentheses. Everything Hermione does, she has a very good reason for it. There has to be some explanation for the word kidnapped in particular."
"Like what? The kidnapped women are not actually kidnapped?" Ginny sarcastically remarked her face darkening with realization. Harry felt himself drop the letter in surprise watching as it fluttered down to the floor.
"Harry!" a voice shouted from the floo. Harry and Ginny raced over to the fire where Blaise's face appeared rather flushed. "Adelia George was just found! Terry was seeing her remember? He said he went by her flat to do one more desperate search and found her sleeping on the bed! One of the goblins also just reported Rogana Havelore missing. Terry will meet us at the ministry in 20!"
Harry turned to face Ginny. She gripped his face and reached up so they were eye level. "Do not get yourself killed. And don't trust her. If Hermione is right, they aren't actually kidnapped."
"So what are they?"
Draco wasn't sure whether he should feel relief or worry that it had been hours since Hermione had last been taken off by Krum. If he had taught her properly how to hit at the temple so he would go down, then hopefully the time meant she was out saving their child. Or they could both very well be dead by now and Draco was left here to rot unknowing.
Speaking from experience, Draco knew Hermione had a great arm that could surely leave a lasting mark on her opponent's face. He wryly rubbed his face as he turned to check on the mound of blankets that they'd poorly shaped to appear like a sleeping Hermione.
It hadn't been difficult to tell Hermione to find Ara and leave. He knew there wasn't enough time for her to save both of them and if she had the chance, he wanted her to pick Ara. Draco knew that Hermione's time was running out and eventually, someone would come and discover Hermione missing then alarms, lock downs, searches, tortures would be held. They would torture him relentlessly to find Hermione's plans but he wouldn't give. He had to give his wife and daughter their best shot. During the war, his mother used to always tell him pain was a mental thing. If you told yourself it didn't hurt, it didn't hurt. Those few words pulled him through the battles and deaths of war.
If the escape failed, hopefully Hermione managed to at least get word to Harry and he would be able to save them before there was nothing left to save. After another hour of worrisome pacing, the door of the cellar swung open and high heeled feet could be heard descending the staircase.
"Krum was supposed to be feeding the prisoners today not me." Valentina scowled eyeing Draco with disgust. She roughly slid a tray of nasty looking soup into his cell and turned to Hermione's. Draco's heart was like a racehorse and he leaped to his feet, his mind racing for a distraction.
"Don't bother her, she's sleeping." he said softly watching her practically kick the tray into his wife's empty cell.
Valentina's face then spread into an alarming grin as she sauntered back into his cell. "You know, Krum has had his fun with Hermione, maybe I should return the favor on you. Shall we wake the mudblood up?"
Draco felt his stomach drop as he stood so he was towering over her. "I said she's sleeping. Let her rest."
Valentina smiled sweetly then shouted loudly, "Mudblood bitch wake up! I'm going to shag your husband right in front of you! Wake up mudblood!" she frowned when the lump was unresponsive. She then moved to enter Hermione's cell but Draco launched himself on her and tackled her to the floor. He used his weight to hold her down as he wrestled to grip her wrists but she aimed a sharp heeled kick to his groin sending him tumbling back. She aimed a hex at him which he just rolled and missed, feeling it singe his back. He tried to tackle her again but her wand was faster and in a second he was a fly on the wall while her face seethed with rage.
"You can't get out of here!" she shrieked. "You can fight, you can try to run but you can't escape! There's no escape! And now I think I'll torture your wife so you can lay there helpless and watch." she sneered before entering Hermione's cell. Draco's heart sank as she aimed a kick to 'Hermione' and knelt down to yank the blankets apart.
The room was silent and the very slowly, Valentina turned to face Draco, her hand fisting the blanket. She calmly moved to face Draco and raised the fisted blanket to eye level. "Where. Is. The. Mudblood?" Valentina whispered her eyes boring into Draco's. Then like a truck, she slammed into his mind trying to use legilimency to savagely search his mind for answers. He tilted his head back, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration to fight her off. When she was mad, her legilimency was fierce and he was already so physically drained from her hexes and kicks. He was heaving for air as he forced his mind shut, slamming back harder so she was thrown out of his mind. She stumbled back slightly from the impact but righted herself almost immediately. She threateningly advanced on him and in an instant her wand was digging painfully into the underside of his jaw.
"I'm done playing nice!" she screamed shrilly. "You bloody idiots, are you just asking for a severe, unnecessary punishment?" she demanded.
"I don't know where she is." Draco huffed out hoping she was as dumb as she looked.
"YES YOU DO!" she said her eyes bulging to an unhuman size as she shook him roughly. "Now tell me where she is or I swear I'll go up right now and grab your daughter and chop off her fingers right in front of you." she challenged. Draco had no doubt she would do exactly as she said. He racked his brain for a solution or at least something to save Ara's fingers. Plus, if she went up to get Ara, there was a high probability that she would discover them both missing. The inevitable could only be prolonged so he forced himself to shed a tear and gazed up at Valentina.
"The last time I saw my wife was when Krum was dragging her off for another rape session." he snarled which wasn't a total lie.
Valentina stared hard at him and he didn't break eye contact willing her to believe his half lie. She cocked her head to the side and stepped back allowing him down from the wall. "Well I guess I'll just have to interrupt their torture so I can get a taste of my own." she said and with a spin of her heel, she had scampered up the stairs.
Draco wanted to cuss and punch the cement wall which probably wasn't the best idea. Undoubtedly, Hermione had lasted pretty long without being detected, so all he could do was hope they had escaped and brace himself for Valentina's return.
"Can you give us a number or contact for the private practice in uh...Italy?" Harry asked watching Adelia skeptically. She seemed perfectly calm compared to the other women, perfectly compliant to answer questions. Harry watched her carefully as she gave each answer and felt a burning frustration as he thought back to Hermione's letter. She had written 'kidnapped' like she was implying they weren't actually kidnapped.
But that countered this entire investigation. They had already established that because of the eye-witnesses and the victims' lack of recollection of kidnap, Lestrange had to have done something memory altering to them. But what if they weren't really the victims the ministry was painting them to be? What if they were really the villains on the inside?
"Would you mind signing this, stating you give the ministry permission to access and observe your memories?" Harry asked sliding a piece of paper towards her.
She picked up a pen and gracefully signed the paper, sliding it back. She leaned forwards as if inviting him to read through her memories at his leisure.
He dove into her mind and was immediately greeted by Adelia operating on a patient, her wand moving gracefully. The scenes changed showing her definitely at a hospital talking to and treating patients. Then he wished he could claw out his eyes as he witnessed her on call room romp with an Italian healer. He quickly moved on feeling her amusement as he continued onwards.
If he understood what Hermione was implying correctly, these ladies weren't really kidnapped. So if they weren't really kidnapped, they were still fully capable of being eyes and ears for Lestrange. But why? Harry decided to indulge deeper into who Adelia George was and scenes were flashing by rapidly now, as if he'd unlocked a door in her mind.
He felt her panic as scenes became more and more recent then he felt a small shove prodding him out of her mind. Harry forced on, gritting his teeth and the opposing wall kept coming on trying to deflect his advances. Then a hand yanked his physical body back and he gasped as he righted himself in the interrogation room.
"Sorry Potter, you were passing the 15 minutes an investigating auror has in a suspect's mind." Terry said looking abashed as he scrawled something on his notepad.
"You were panicking. Then you were resisting." Harry said and it was more of a statement than a question. Adelia seemed cooler as she crossed her legs and regarded him with annoyance.
"I'm a good occlumens Potter, and I'm not particularly used to having my mind prodded and poked at by strangers, so pardon me if my first instinct was to defend my privacy." Adelia said looking defensive.
"But you were perfectly fine when I was observing your private practice abroad, even your little one night stand with that healer. But when I started searching through other memories, your walls shot up. Why?" Harry asked feeling suspicion arise in a way it hadn't before with the 'kidnapped' women.
"They're private memories!" Adelia said looking outraged. "I'm still entitled to privacy aren't I? Or is the ministry depriving me of that too?"
"Okay, maybe we should take a break and cool down." Terry said looking pointedly at Harry. Harry felt annoyance with Terry for the first time since school and without a word, slammed the door of the interrogation room on his way out.
"Schedule another round of interrogations with the women who disappeared. I have a new lead I'd like to observe." Harry said to his secretary Olga as he rounded the corner into his office.
He was fairly certain that there was something Adelia felt panicked about him discovering and Harry was positive it would be a common thread amongst the other women. And the only way to confirm his theory was to dive deeper into their minds. Thanks Hermione he thought. Several times this week he had decided to head over to Hermione's office and ask if she wanted to go out to lunch, but each time he reached her door, he realized she was no longer in there.
A knock came on the door and Olga peered in. "Auror Potter, Minister Kingsley has approved your search warrant of Durmstrang." she said handing him an envelope before disappearing again.
He felt his confidence slide back into place because for the first time in nearly a year, they were getting somewhere. And in a few short hours, hopefully he would be reunited with his best friend.
"All students report to the dining hall immediately. No loitering or tardiness will be tolerated. Students caught wandering the school will be sent to the Discipline Room." Karkaroff's voice boomed, echoing around the school.
Discipline Room? Thank God Draco hadn't been sent here. Hermione felt despair crawl within her as she held Ara tightly in her grasp. It had been hours since she'd rescued Ara and she still hadn't found her way out. The castle may have been smaller than Hogwarts but it was distorted and so inconveniently built, each corner looked the same. She could not believe it had been hours and she still hadn't found an exit.
Hermione knew why they were shepherding the children into the dining hall. They had finally detected she was missing and would come searching for her. They wanted everyone else out of the way so they could aim to kill without maiming a student by accident. The way she saw it, she had two options; she could join the students in the dining hall and not get caught in the halls. But so many people in one room would likely stumble into her invisible form and raise questions. Or she could make a break for it while people were distracted, hoping she made it out in time. Neither option was very appealing. She spotted some students scurrying off and she made a split second decision to follow them. A door would likely be somewhere near the dining hall.
When they took various turns in the oddest locations, they lead her down a set of stairs she'd completely skipped over and when they veered towards the dining hall like most others, Hermione did various body contortions to avoid bumping into people as she headed towards the grand door on the opposite end.
She accidently bumped her shoulder into several students causing some fights to ensue when they thought it was the kid on the other side who had rudely shoved into them. Hermione finally reached the door but to her dismay a professor was already bolting them shut in a very complex charm.
Fuck.
Hermione felt her legs take over as she began to run at random around the school searching for another exit. Ara looked absolutely ready to vomit with all the jerking up and down as they darted around the school. She had winded so many corners she was completely and utterly lost. Hermione wanted to cry and curl up in her own bed with Draco, oh Draco. How had they come to this? She had screwed up the plan because she couldn't find her damn way out of this maze. And on top of that she had to abandon her husband? Hermione stifled a sob as a student ran by clearly late for the gathering.
"I'm going to get you out baby," she whispered stroking Ara soothingly. "We're going to survive this, I swear this to you."
Hermione forced herself to roughly wipe her eyes before continuing on her way down the dark corridor. She rounded the next corner and stopped short, sucking in her breath when her eyes landed on the greenhouse doors. They were sure to lead outside.
She nearly sprinted to them and were relieved to find them unlocked. The greenhouse was massive, with clear glass windows and ceilings all around. She ran inside already charging towards the doors on the other end of the room when she heard the entrance doors swing open. She skidded to a halt silencing her breathing as she turned around.
Lestrange entered the dark greenhouse, his wand raised and ready. His eyes scanned right over Hermione's disillusioned form as he entered cautiously. He lit his wand as he inched closer and closer to where Hermione was standing.
Hermione was afraid to breathe, afraid to move, afraid to blink as he was nearly within arms' length away. Then he raised his wand and flicked it sharply.
"Homenum revelio." he whispered and before he could raise his wand a second time, Hermione had levitated a heavy potted plant and smashed it on top of his head. He screeched as he fell onto the floor shooting a reversal spell on her, making her visible once more.
She didn't stop to apply it again as she managed to reach the doors, yanking them open and sprinting into the cool night. Hexes were flying behind her and she heard the faint sound of a signalling alarm that must have attracted backup because soon after she heard several pairs of footsteps chasing after her in hot pursuit.
She shot several stunning curses over her shoulder as her feet slammed into the dank, cold night. The footsteps were closing in and she felt a slicing hex cut neatly across her back. She shrieked shielding Ara tightly, hoping she didn't drop her while she was tearing her way across the fields of Durmstrang.
Hermione just had to make it to the apparition point near the trees and she would be out and they would be safe. Except for Draco, the thought alone tearing at her heart.
A powerful stinging charm struck her hard on the shoulder sending her veering off course slightly, slowing her down dramatically. Hermione chanced a glance back and saw Lestrange leading the chase alarmingly close to where she was.
Just a little further, and she would reach the trees. Hermione urged her legs on faster, just a bit further.
"Kill the mother if you have to! But not the child!" Lestrange bellowed as her pursuers came closer and closer. She fired some more hexes over her shoulder and heard one body drop but there were still at least 5 more chasing.
She could clearly see the trees now, but just as she readied herself to apparate a stunning curse slammed right into her. She felt her heart shatter as she toppled onto the ground doing her best to protect Ara from the brunt of the impact. As her head hit the hard ground, her eyes landed on the tree a metre away.
Hands roughly yanked Ara from her grip, flipping her onto her back and binding her wrists tightly. She was shamelessly crying as they lead her away from the apparition point and away from escape.
Lestrange violently struck her across the face relishing when her lip split and blood poured down onto her chin. He sneered nastily at her as he moved to carry Ara. He dragged his wand up and down her face, removing their silencing charms so that both their cries could be heard.
"You really think you could escape you stupid mudblood? I think I'll personally change your daughter's execution date to within the next three days and trust me mudblood, there will be blood spilt." Lestrange crowed.
Her captors aggressively dragged her back to the castle and she was loudly sobbing when she watched helplessly as they carried Ara away. She was lead directly back to her cellar where she was practically kicked down the stairs.
Hermione met Draco's agonized eyes across the room as they moved to chain her to the ceiling, none too gently kicking her in the ribs. Krum moved towards her looking her square in the eye before gripping one of her wrists that hung from the ceiling and twisting it roughly back. Hermione screamed in pain as she heard the bone snap and Krum step back to aim a good kick to her abdomen, sending blood spurting out of her mouth.
"That's for the punch you stupid bitch." Krum snarled sending a cruciatus curse her way.
The next hour was total, indescribable hell. The pain was excruciating and tore at every bone, ligament, joint and organ in her body. Hermione felt her head lean back in surrender as she felt her eyes droop from exhaustion. She felt so done, so done with everything and her body was so tired. A nap would be lovely.
"Don't you dare shut your eyes Hermione!" Draco roared and then there was a loud shout and more hitting could be heard, but she was too tired to open her eyes.
"Enough!" a woman's voice shouted silencing everyone at once. Her voice held influence, power and seemed to radiate fear. The torture stopped and the room went silent.
High heeled footsteps could be heard nearing her cell but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes and watch this new arrival. The pair of feet stopped in front of her and she could hear a reviving spell be cast on her and suddenly she was more alert, still in agony but awake.
Her eyes widened in horror when they landed on the women before her. It had been years since she'd seen her and it still wasn't long enough. Her face was disgusting, so animal like and well suited to her expression. She wore a long billowing red cloak and tall frightening heels.
"You!" Hermione breathed feel sick to her stomach as the women smiled and circled her like a prey before predator. "You're the one behind all this?"
"You sound surprised my dear." she said stopping to face her. She gripped her chin tightly and jerked it to face her. "Never underestimate me."
"You sick bitch." Draco cursed earning him a slap across the face, gladly delivered by Krum. Oh Draco, please for once shut up, she thought.
"I wasn't going to reveal myself to you both, but in light of recent events," she said eyeing Hermione with reproval. "As some of our guests have been rather naughty, I decided to be here to ensure some discipline was carried out. Trying to kidnap my daughter and take her from me? I'm not the sick bitch here." the women laughed humorlessly.
"Your daughter?" Hermione scoffed. "She's mine. And you are the crazy bitch that took my girl from me, chased us across the world, had us brutally tortured and separated from our daughter."
"My daughter." the women corrected as if she were a school teacher reprimanding a student, this act angered Hermione even further. "As a reader Hermione, you usually hate spoilers right? Well I'm going to gift you the spoiler for the end of this story."
"Spoiler, it's going to end with your head on a stick." Draco yelled and Hermione glared at him as she watched Valentina slash him across the chest with her wand.
"Ara Malfoy is apart of Lestrange's plan not mine." the women began eyeing Lestrange with an almost disgusted pity. "Her kidnap and imminent death is his plan not mine. My plan is the bigger picture. To revolutionize the wizarding world by rebuilding it from the ashes, with me as the leader. You see, the ministry is corrupt and the people are brainwashed into following them. They allow mudbloods into society, they welcome beasts and magical creatures in their votes and protect muggles. Hearing it aloud makes it doubly worse." the women chuckled.
"Are you sure the ministry is the corrupt ones or you?" Hermione asked receiving a sharp blow to the chest. "Your mental if you believe in this rubbish."
"OPEN YOUR EYES MUDBLOOD. Everyone, all the 'kidnapped victims', everyone here believes in this cause. This should be an indication that something the ministry is doing is wrong. All the 'kidnapped victims' are involved some way with core parts of the wizarding world. With a mole in each part, we can bring down the wizarding world to ashes and rebuild it as the leaders." the women said faintly, as if she were dreaming of the end of this. She then turned to face the pair of them her eyes sharp and critical. "Lestrange, prepare the rest of your ingredients and have your affairs in order, Ara Malfoy's execution will be held in two days."
"They're getting suspicious. Potter scanned even more thoroughly in my mind during interrogation and he's recalling all the others for another round. He's catching on to us." Adelia said nervously. "I managed to fend him off but he's suspicious now."
"We knew this was coming." the women said from the head of the table. "Lay low and present no threat, we have an article ready to be released by the Daily Prophet about the Failures and Frauds of the Ministry tomorrow morning. The editor was easily bribed to have the articles switched. Lestrange have you killed Molly Weasley yet?"
"No." Lestrange scowled. "She's made out of iron steel, that one. It's impossible to kill that tough skinned buffalo. But I have just the thing to do it. Polyjuice is an excellent weapon when wielded correctly."
"Have it done quickly Lestrange, I'm tired of your slacking behaviour." the women quirked. "Krum I am most disappointed by you. Explain how you let the mudblood bind you and escape almost with my baby, which I am donating to Lestrange's cause."
Krum had the decency to look away from the women's gaze and shamefully into his lap. "I thought I was torturing her by reenacting a shag with her husband but it was a trap. I did not see it coming. I apologize my lady."
"I don't like apologies or mistakes." the women said raising her wand. Then Krum roared with pain as one of his fingers were sliced off. "I did warn you all last time that punishments are severe. Now, please take the appropriate measures to prepare for Ara Malfoy's execution. I want it to be...beautifully emotional."
Author's Note
I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for more, maybe a new story. Please review your thoughts on this action packed story.