I'm back! Sorry that it's taken so long to get this chapter out, my family and I were out of the country for about a week, visiting other family, and I was unable to do any posting from where we were. Luckily, I had this chapter largely finished before we left, so I wanted to get a new chapter out to all of you who have been waiting so patiently!
And for everyone who has left reviews - THANK YOU! I can't tell you all how excited it was to come back and see all of the new follows, favorites, and comments.
In response to a request made in one of the reviews, I have also decided to start putting my Song Inspirations at the beginning of each chapter instead of at the end. If you don't care to listen to them anyway, you can skim right over, but for those that do like to listen to what songs inspired me while I wrote, you can find that at the beginning of each chapter now, so you don't have to scroll to the bottom and risk spoiling anything for yourself!
Hope you all enjoy this one!
Song Inspiration: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Emily Browning
Cherry Wine - Hozier
Chapter 21
Hermione stared up at the massively tall, imposing wrought iron gates in front of her and felt a frisson of dread race up her spine. It only took one glance at the large crest in the center of the gates to figure out where exactly it was that Scabior, Greyback, and the other Snatchers had brought them. After all, that same crest was featured on the ring that had resided on her boyfriend's right hand since the previous Christmas. They were at Malfoy Manor.
This was not good. This was not good at all…
She looked at Harry and knew that the alarm she currently felt was clearly visible on her face for him and Ron to see. She wasn't sure if Harry had yet been able to work out where they were, although she figured he probably had. She did know, however, that Ron knew exactly whose home they stood before. After all, it didn't matter that his parents didn't move in the same social circles as the Malfoys.
As a Pureblood and a member of the Sacred 28, he certainly would have recognized the distinctive crest that featured a large, highly-stylized M in the center and the Latin script beneath it that proudly announced to the world that "Purity Always Prevails."
Hermione was yanked into motion by Greyback, who all but dragged her to the massive front doors of the Manor. She could hear from the grunts and shuffling sounds coming from behind her that Harry and Ron were receiving the same rough treatment. When they arrived at the top of the grand staircase that led to the entrance, Scabior moved to the front of the group, Harry in tow, and banged on the thick wooden door.
Hermione's breath caught when the doors opened to reveal none other than Bellatrix Lestrange staring out at the group with a manic look in her heavy lidded eyes.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded haughtily.
Ignoring the disdain that dripped from the witch's words, Scabior spoke.
"We found something…interesting out in the forests, when someone in this group here broke the taboo, and… Well, I'm certainly that you will want to check this one out for yourself, Madam Lestrange," he said as he pushed Harry forward and into Bellatrix's line of vision.
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Harry, and she moved closer for a better look before cackling with glee and motioning them to follow her inside.
The trio was hauled into a grand parlor. Hermione watched as Draco's mother and father rose to their feet at the sudden appearance of so many people. Hermione noticed the dark smudges under Narcissa Malfoy's eyes and her normally impeccable appearance seemed a bit rumpled. The most shocking sight, though, was her husband.
Lucius Malfoy looked – unwell would be too mild a word. He looked as if he were just one step away from death. His eyes, so like his son's, were hollow and dull as he looked disinterestedly at the group of people that had invaded his home, and Hermione saw that he was leaning heavily on his silver-tipped cane, almost as if the effort to rise to his feet had sapped every bit of strength from his body.
She listened as Bellatrix began to chatter animatedly to her sister and brother-in-law, completely ignoring the other people in the room.
"I'm almost positive it's him, Cissy," she said to her sister as she yanked Harry from Scabior's grasp and hauled him closer to Draco's parents. "Clearly something happened to his face, I'm willing to bet his little Mudblood had something to do with that," she spat as she looked at Hermione with a vicious grin on her face, "but I'm certain this is Potter!"
They debated back and forth for several moments, Lucius animating slightly and joining in the discussion as they weighed the pros and cons of calling the Dark Lord.
"Draco! Let us ask Draco if it's Potter!" Bellatrix finally suggested.
Hermione felt a moment of sheer panic at the danger that Draco would be in if they required him to try to identify them.
"Draco is currently completing a task for our Lord," Narcissa said softly to her sister, "but we he should be back shortly. We can throw them in the cellar until he returns."
Hermione felt a wave of relief rush over her at the words. The delay would give them some time to try to figure a way out of their current predicament. That brought about its own set of concerns, though: the stinging jinx would wear off soon, so if they weren't able to escape before Draco returned, there would be no denying the fact that Harry was, in fact, who they suspected him to be.
Suddenly, something caught Bellatrix's eye.
"What is that?" she snapped at the small, wiry Snatcher that had brought the Sword of Gryffindor with him and was clutching his prize tightly in his hands.
"It's mine," he said defensively, gripping the hilt even tighter. "I found it on 'em," he added with a head tilt towards herself, Harry, and Ron, "so that makes it mine."
With a shriek, Bellatrix lashed out at the wizard, brandishing her wand like a whip and taking out all of the Snatchers apart from Scabior, the burly man that held Ron, and Greyback, who still held Hermione in a possessive grip. She flicked her wand once more and the Sword flew into her grasp.
"Where did you get this?" she asked, panic in her voice.
When no one answered her question, Bellatrix shrieked once more, enraged. Her eyes flashed dangerously and, before Hermione could blink, Greyback was thrown back across the room and the witch was right in front of her. Her long, ragged nails bit into Hermione's scalp painfully as she dragged Hermione across the room.
"Take the boys to the cellar to wait for Draco's arrival, Cissy," she commanded her sister. "I'm going to have a chat with this one here: girl to girl."
Pure fear spread through Hermione's limbs, paralyzing her. She could hear Harry and Ron struggling against the men that hauled them away, could even hear Ron offering himself up to Bellatrix in her place, but all she could do was look into the crazed eyes of the woman that held her tightly.
"Where did you find this?" Bellatrix asked Hermione, her voice high pitched and panic clear in every word.
"It found us," Hermione said simply.
"Liar!" Bellatrix screamed and brought her wand down in a slashing motion, and Hermione felt like she had been struck with a whip. She gasped in pain.
"You stole this from me! How? How did you get into my vault?! Tell the truth!"
"We didn't steal it!" Hermione said, fear raising the tone of her own voice.
"You FILTHY little…"
Bellatrix lunged at Hermione and she found herself on the floor, cheek burning where the older witch's hand had struck her.
"I'll teach you to lie to your betters, you filth!" Bellatrix screamed, her once-beautiful face contorted in rage and…fear?
"CRUCIO!"
Hermione writhed in agony, feeling like hundreds of white-hot knives were piercing her skin over and over, across her entire body. Her limbs twitched uncontrollably as the spell bore down on her, and her blood-curdling screams echoed in the massive room.
When Bellatrix lifted the curse after several moments, Hermione fell back limply onto the floor, head falling to the side. She stared vacantly at the two people watching her from the other side of the room. Lucius Malfoy watched her, a vague look of distaste on his face. Narcissa, though, looked on in uncertainty and trepidation, and Hermione got the impression that the woman did not condone her sister's actions, although she made no move to stop them.
Hermione looked back at Bellatrix when the witch again demanded to know how the three of them had managed to get the Sword from her vault at Gringotts. When Hermione denied the accusation again, Bellatrix whipped a wicked-looking dagger from the sheath at her hip.
She knelt on the floor beside Hermione's body, leaning over her arm, and Hermione felt a searing pain in the limb as Bellatrix carved into the skin of her forearm. She had thought that enduring the woman's Crucio had been painful – it was nothing compared to the burning agony that accompanied each stroke of the dagger across her tender flesh.
After what felt like ages, Bellatrix finally stopped.
"Bring me the goblin!" she snapped at her sister, who quickly nodded and fled from the room, relief coloring her features.
Hermione's gaze was locked on the arm that had been mauled by Bellatrix's dagger. The witch had made her message, and Hermione's status in their world, as clear as day for anyone and everyone to see:
MUDBLOOD
Hermione gazed unseeingly at her arm, only distantly recognizing the hum of voices as Bellatrix argued with Griphook, the surly goblin that she had dimly recognized from her trips into the Wizarding Bank over the years. She could not bring herself to focus on their words, though: every fiber of her being was focused on the liquid fire that still scorched the nerves in her forearm.
Suddenly, a noise at the doorway was able to pull her from her pain-induced stupor, and she shifted her head a mere inch or two until she saw what had caused the commotion.
Draco.
He stood in the doorway, and she saw the look of horror flit across his chiseled features before he locked his emotionless mask into place with his Occlumency shields. She knew him better than anyone else in the room, though, and could still see the terror and pain in his beautiful blue-grey eyes as he looked at her, laying on the floor of his ancestral home in a puddle of her own blood. She noticed idly the pale hue of his skin and wondered disjointedly what would happen if he passed out right there in front of her, his aunt, and his parents.
His aunt began to speak and although Hermione was able to make out the words, they sounded muffled in her ears, as though they had been stuffed full of cotton.
"Good, you're here Draco!" Bellatrix crowed happily. "Wormtail went to retrieve a very special guest. We need you to identify him for us. Can't call him before we are one-hundred percent certain that it's who we think it is…"
After several minutes that were filled with silence from all of the occupants of the room apart from Bellatrix, who continued to ramble, Wormtail had still not returned.
"Worthless half-blood rat…" Bellatrix grumbled, noticing the man's extended absence. "Draco, be a good boy and go see what is keeping that useless excuse of a wizard?"
Draco's eyes flicked, nearly-imperceptible, to Hermione's before he nodded and turned on his heel, leaving the room.
Hermione fervently hoped he would come up with a plan to get them out of the mess in which they had found themselves. Voldemort could not be made aware of Harry's presence, under any circumstances. Even more than that, though, was the fear in Hermione's very bones that she herself would not survive much more of Bellatrix Lestrange's 'attention.'
I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to get new chapters out this week, as I have a ton to catch up on after being out of the country for 8 days, but I will try to keep working and posting whenever I can.
Thank you all!
sbz