Chapter Two: Hostages
"Dysfunctional" -TechN9ne
Harry was the first to realise something was terribly amiss. He had rejoined the fray in the Great Hall, intending to help. He needed to busy himself, to forget about the last 24 hours. He didn't want to sit idle, while so many emotions swirled within him. He would mourn for those he had lost. He would. But later.
Ron was sitting beside Ginny. They spoke quietly, ignoring the noise around them. He sat down on Ginny's other side and she turned to give him a weak smile, the tear tracks on her face making streaks through the grime of battle.
"Where's Hermione?" he asked, noting her absence at once.
Ron looked around, his brow furrowing. "Haven't seen her in a while. Maybe she's off with Luna."
Harry nodded, but an uneasy feeling started to culminate in his gut. His eyes searched the Hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of her wild brown curls moving through the fray. When he was unsuccessful, he turned back to Ron. "Your mum...?"
Ron grimaced and his eyes swam. "They... took him home. Ginny and I are going soon. We were just waiting to ask you if you wanted to come."
Harry swallowed back the lump that clogged his throat. "Of course I'm coming. Let's find Hermione and we can go."
He stood, offering Ginny his hand. She took it, lacing her fingers through his without question. Ron glanced at their joined hands, opened his mouth, then quickly snapped it back shut.
"I don't see her or Luna. Maybe they're out in the grounds." Ron said, as they made their way across the Hall.
"I don't see Neville, either," said Ginny.
"He might have gone home." Harry murmured, his thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand.
"Maybe. But I got the feeling he was going to stick around for a while."
Harry tried to ignore the nagging feeling in his stomach. Something isn't right, his inner voice chided.
He saw a beaten looking Lavender Brown trudging up the path to the castle as they descended the steps. "Lavender," he called, getting her attention easily. "You haven't seen Hermione have you?"
She shook her head. "Sorry, Harry."
He frowned. "What about Luna? Or Neville? Or Dean?" He tacked on as an after thought, realising he hadn't seen him on the way out either.
She pursed her lips. "I saw Luna a little bit ago. She was sitting near the lake," she gestured to a large tree, "over there. But I haven't seen her since. Is everything okay?" she asked, her eyes flickering to Ron and back to him quickly.
Harry gave a tight smile. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure everything is fine. They've probably gone home. Thanks, Lavender."
She smiled. "No, thank you! We're all safe because of you."
Harry could feel the heat flooding his cheeks and he nodded in awknowledgement and quickly continued on.
"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.
"I guess we could try Hagrid's..." Harry said, running his free hand though his wild black hair. They were passing the tree Lavender had seen Luna under when something glinted on the ground and caught his eye. His stomach clenched and he released Ginny's hand, hurrying over to the spot, ignoring her and Ron calling after him. He stopped under the tree and bent to pick them up. Luna's Spectrespecs.
"Something's wrong," he said immediately, as Ron and Ginny caught up to him. "I need to speak to McGonagall."
Ginny and Ron exchanged looks of alarm. "Harry," Ginny gently grabbed his arm, "they're just glasses. Luna may have dropped them by accident."
Harry shook his head. "I can feel it. Some thing isn't right!"
"Look, mate, you're stressed. I mean, you've been through the ringer. Maybe you just need to lie down for a while-"
But Harry was no longer listening. He'd spun around and started running, back up the path, brushing past people offering thanks and wanting to congratulate him, up the steps to the castle and through the doors to the Great Hall. He saw McGonagall standing near the end of the room, talking to Hagrid. He pushed through the crowd, ignoring the words people spoke as he passed.
"Pr-professor," he panted, out of breath from his mad dash from the lake.
"Potter!" She exclaimed in alarm.
"Professor," he started again, "something... is wrong."
McGonagall was immediately on alert, gazing about the room intensely. "What is it, Potter?"
He hesitated. "I... I don't know for sure. We can't find Hermione, and Luna is missing as well. I found these by the lake." He held out the Spectrespecs shakily. "I haven't seen Neville or Dean any where, either."
She pursed her brows together, considering. "They may have gone home, Potter..."
Harry grimaced. "I know. But Hermione wouldn't have gone any where without us, and I don't think the others would have left, either. Not before everything was settled."
She nodded swiftly, bringing her wand to her throat and murmuring a Sonorus charm. Her voice boomed out around them, "Have any of you seen Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom or Dean Thomas?"
The room erupted into hushed murmurs. All around people began shaking their heads, glancing all about the room for any sign of them.
McGonagall's face clouded over. "I want those who are uninjured and willing to search the castle and grounds." She turned back to Harry, pointed her wand at her throat to remove the Sonurus charm and said, "We'll find them, Potter."
He frowned and nodded curtly. He had just defeated Voldemort. He had just begun to look forward to rebuilding and moving on. And now his world was crashing in around his ears. Again. He reached up absentmidedly to rub the scar on his forehead as he trudged off to help search for his missing friends.
Hermione awoke to blackness. She forced herself not to scream as she clawed at her eyes, to remove the blindfold stretched across her face. Her bound wrists protested as the cords they were fastened with bit into her skin. She rolled and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Her body ached from the stunning spell she'd been hit with, in culmination with the general soreness from the battle. She was sitting on a cold, stone floor in the middle of a large room. The windows were bare, so there were no curtains to block the midnight sky dotted with stars from her view. Her lip trembled and she bit back a sob. What the hell was going on?
She scooted herself on her bum across the floor until she reached the bed. She hooked her bound wrists around the bed post and pulled herself to her feet, gritting her teeth together to stop herself from crying out in pain as the cables carved deeper into her wrists. Blood dribbled down to her elbows as she finally pulled herself to her feet, wobbling and trying not to lose her balance on her bound feet. She hopped twice and sat down on the bed. She chewed her lip, contemplating her next move but she was quickly distracted by the opening of the door.
She sat in silence, glaring at her visitor. Draco Malfoy, quickly shut the door behind him and crossed over to where she sat on the bed. "Granger," he smirked.
She ignored him, lifting her chin and staring past him at the grimy wall.
"Are you ignoring me, Granger?"
She almost rolled her eyes, but she resisted with effort and continued glaring daggers into the wall.
"I've never seen you so quiet. It's creeping me out. Start bossing me around or tell me about how great your marks are." He smirked, stepping closer to her.
She kept her silence.
"Are you seriously ignoring me right now?" He demanded.
"Oh, good Godrick. Yes! I am ignoring you!"
He chuckled. "Well, you're terrible at it."
She glowered at him. "I try not to make a habit of coversing with my captors. Blurs the lines a bit, don't you think?"
He scowled. "Look, I don't want to be here any more than you do-"
Hermione scoffed and held up her tethered wrists. "I find that hard to believe, seeing as one of us is clearly free to move about and the other, tied up like an animal."
He frowned and reached for her bloodied wrists. She jerked her hands back away from him, scowling. He glowered at her. "Let me see your wrists so I can heal the cuts."
"No."
"Don't be daft, woman."
She rolled her eyes and pulled her knees up the her chest, looping her arms over them and pointedly turned away from him.
He heaved a sigh. "Suit yourself."
He turned to leave and Hermione's stomach constricted. "What am I doing here, Malfoy?"
He stopped, his hand on the door handle and looked back over her shoulder. "We're all just pawns in my father's grand plan. Dont worry, he'll fuck it up soon and you'll be home with the gruesome two-some and I'll be in my comfy cell at Azkaban."
He disappeared through the door way then, leaving her alone once more.
Harry paced the floor of the Auror office. The place was chaos and he wasn't sure why they were even here. There was no Minister, the Aurors were few and far between and everything was still in shambles. The war had only just ended this morning for Godrick's sake. But his friends were missing, and McGonagall and Kingsley had asked him to accompany them. Ginny and Ron had gone on to the Burrow, needing to be with their family. He understood, but had denied their pleas for him to join them. He needed to do something. He needed to find Hermione. He needed to find them all.
"Potter," Kingsley came striding up to him, two Aurors trailing him, one on each side.
"Kingsley," Harry nodded, praying for news.
Kingsley shook his head, answering his silent question. "I just have a few questions for you, if you don't mind."
"Yes, of course."
Kingsley gave a sharp nod and sighed. "Did your friends mention any where they might have gone?"
"If they had I would have checked already, Kingsley, you know me better than that."
Kingsley grunted. "Had they been acting odd? Had their behavior changed at all, that you'd noticed?"
"No more than you'd expect from people who just came through a war. Kingsley, do you have any questions worth answering?" Harry snapped, reaching his limit on patience for the day. He wanted to go to sleep. He wanted to wake up tomorrow and realise that the last few hours had just been a bad dream.
"Go home, Potter. Get some rest and I'll contact you if we make any progress."
Harry started to refuse, but Kingsley had already turned on his heel, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the Auror office. He sighed and made his way to the lifts, descending to the ground floor and out into the street. He ducked into an empty alleyway and with a small pop, he disappeared, reappearing just over the hill from the Burrow. He made the rest of the journey on foot, trudging slowly, distinctly aware that the family he was about to see were changed. Permanently altered in a way that was enough to take his breath away. He paused, considering briefly returning to number 12 Grimmauld Place, but he quickly shook the thought from his mind. He would be there to support the Weasley's. He would be there to honor Fred's memory.
Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen when he entered the house. Silent tears tracked down her cheeks as she bustled about, throwing together a huge meal. She glanced up when he walked in and immediately ran for him, enveloping him in a smothering hug as her body shook with quiet sobs. "Oh, Harry," she sniffled, "I'm so glad you're here, dear. Is there any news?"
He shook his head as she pulled away. She tsk'd and wiped at her eyes, though it made no difference, the tears never stopped. "Sh-she's gonna be just fine. They all are. I-I'm sure they're all just fine." She tried for a watery smile, but she couldn't force more than a tiny curve of her lips. Harry wondered if she was trying to convince him or herself.
Ron came barreling into the kitchen. "Harry! Anything?"
Harry shook his head, reaching up to rake his hands through his messy black hair.
Ron's eyes darkened and grew moist. "Right, yeah."
Harry glanced at Mrs. Weasley and took a page from her book. "I'm sure she's fine, Ron. Hermione, she's strong. And she's bloody smart. She'll probably find herself before the Auror's have the chance."
Ron gave a small chuckle and his lips turned up slightly. "Yeah, that sounds like our 'Mione, doesn't it?"
Draco frowned down at the plate of food in front of him. How bloody ridiculous was it that his parents were trying to act like there was nothing going on. Let's have a fucking dinner party as if there weren't four hostages up-fucking-stairs. He tossed his fork down with a loud clang as it bounced off of his plate and skittered across the table.
His mother shot him a warning look and Theo gave his shin a firm kick under the table. "Fuck," he hissed, reaching down to rub his smarting leg and glare at his friend.
"Something bothering you, Draco?" Lucius drawled, his frosty stare piercing him from his seat at the head of the table.
"What the hell are we doing?" Draco demanded.
Lucius reached slowly for his wine goblet, bringing to his lips and taking a sip. "We're having dinner, Draco."
He clenched his fists at his side. "What are we doing with your prisoners?"
"My prisoners? I wasn't aware that they belonged to me." Lucius feigned suprise.
"You're the only one who actually believes that this plan will work. So, yeah, I'd say that they're yours. How exactly are you going to put your ridiculous idea into motion? Are you gonna ring up Potter on his bloody muggle phone device and demand immunity in exchange for his friends?"
Lucius banged his hands down on the table. "Enough! I will take care of what needs to be taken care of and you will do well to bite your tongue, son," he sneered. "Do not disappoint me, again."
Draco scowled and stood, kicking his chair back away from the table.
"Where do you think you're going?" Lucius demanded.
"To check on the bloody prisoners," Draco called over his shoulder. "Granger probably already has a plan of escape. You underestimate them, Lucius. Hope your plan gets moving soon."
Hermione's bladder had never been so full. She squeezed her eyes shut, bouncing slightly on the bed, letting the bite of the cables on her wrists and ankles distract her. She wondered if her friends had realised that she was gone or if they were still distracted by the events of the day, cleaning up and moving the people they had lost...
They would have noticed, she decided. They would find her, she just had to stay focused and calm until they did.
The door creaked open and Draco stepped though the doorway and she prepared to demand the loo. But the scowl on his face was enough to make her words lodge in her throat.
"What's wrong?" she found herself asking instead.
He glared at her. "Nothings wrong, Granger, I just came to make sure you hadn't escaped. And you haven't, so," he turned to grab the door handle.
"Wait!" she cried, attempting to stand, but the quick movement sent her sprawling to the floor, her shoulder and face taking the brunt of the hard stone.
"Granger, what the fuck," Draco huffed, crossing over and grabbing her roughly by the arm, dragging her to her feet. She could feel a small trickle of something wet and sticky running down from her temple.
Draco pulled out his wand, pressing it to her head and she felt a warm tingle as the cut knit itself back together. He was too close to her. She could feel his breath blowing hot on her face, tickling her eye lashes.
She cleared her throat, "Um, can I- I need the lavatory."
He frowned and moved back a few steps. "Fine," he muttered, pointing his wand at her face once more, "Obsuro."
She scowled, "Is this really necessary?"
Draco chuckled. "I'm not taking the chance."
"What would me being able to see possibly hurt?" she scoffed. His hand closed around her arm and yanked her forward. She hopped quickly, trying not to lose her footing. "Oh, honestly, this is ridicul-," she grumbled, only to be stopped short by a Silencing spell.
"Ah, that's better." She could practically hear him smirking. "Wingardium Leviosa."
She shrieked silently as she was suddenly lifted into the air. "Come along, Granger." His laughter carried in what she assumed was the hallway. Spacious, she noted as his laughs echoed back to her. She was set gently back on her feet before being roughly shoved through an open door way. She heard the door slam shut behind her and reached up the tear at the blindfold. She was standing just inside a small bathroom. There was no window, or a bath, only a toilet and a small sink. She frowned around, her eyes coming to land on Malfoy who was leaning against the opposite wall.
She opened her mouth to tell him to get out, but her words were inaudible thanks to the Silencing spell. He smirked as her lips moved, futiley attempting to speak. She glared at him and held her bound hands up, pointing and nodding at the door.
He shook his head, his smirk growing. She scowled and pointed to her mouth. He flicked his wand at her absently, rolling his steely eyes.
"Get out," she snapped.
"Now, Granger. What kind of captor would I be if I left you to your own devices?"
"I've been left alone in my room. How is this any different?"
"Okay. Two minutes." He said, pulling the door open.
"Wait!"
He turned raising a blonde eyebrow.
She held up her hands. "Can you take these off?"
He gave a humorless chuckle. "I'm not daft, Granger. You may have been the best in school, but I was a close second. Don't insult my intelligence."
"I wasn't!" she exclaimed. "How am I supposed to... I can't use the... I need my hands unbound, Malfoy!"
"No," he smirked, reaching for the door again.
"I can't even unbutton my pants!" she snapped, exasperated.
He was closing the space between them and before she realised what was happening, he'd reached down and popped the button of her pants open and yanked the zipper down.
"Two minutes," he snapped, his chest nearly flush against hers, before turning and striding from the room, the door swinging shut with a loud creak behind him.
Her face flushed crimson and she stood in stunned silence for a few moments before slowly starting to wriggle out of her jeans.
Pulling them up when she was finshed proved to be exremely difficult. She'd barely managed to get them back over her hips when the door banged open again.
His eyes flickered down to her undone pants and he took a step forward.
"No," she held up her hands to stop him. "It's fine."
He smirked. "Immobulus."
She tried her best to put as much malice as possible in her eyes as he strode forward and reached for the button of her jeans. Her cheeks immediately flamed as his hands brushed against her skin. When he'd stepped back and lifted the spell, she swung at him, her bound wrists protesting as her clenched fists made contact with his chest.
He laughed and aimed his wand at her as she started to swing again. "Ah, ah, ah. One of us still has a wand, Granger."
She lowered her fists, and huffed reaching over to nudge the water on for the tap. She let the water wash over the cuts on her wrists, removing most of the dried blood.
"I can heal those," Draco said quietly behind her.
"No point, unless you're going to remove these cables?"
He scowled.
"That's what I thought."
He hit her with an Obscuro and a levitating charm and her stomach lurched as she was carried down the hallway to her room. The door snapped shut before she'd hit the ground and she snatched the blindfold off to find herself alone once more.