Disclaimer: This chapter contains scenes and dialogue from HPatDH, Ch. 23 (Malfoy Manor). As always, JKR gets all the credit for creating it first.
Eeek… I am so nervous. Hopefully, I will do the next couple of chapters justice!
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There were seconds left before the Snatchers entered the tent and Hermione knew she had to do something… Anything… She pivoted in place and pointed her wand at the face of the featureless body to her right. A loud bang echoed in the enclosed space and as the accompanying bright white light faded an arm roughly wrapped around her middle. The wizard reached forward and a calloused hand wrapped around her wrist, pointing her weapon to the ground so she couldn't turn it on their attackers.
Not that she had been planning to… That wasn't the smartest endeavor when they were surrounded by an unknown amount of adversaries….
Once disarmed, all three of them were pulled from the shelter they had called home for months. Hermione let her trapped breath out when she saw that the strength of her stinging jinx distorted Harry's features into an unrecognizable mass of swollen flesh. His identifiable green eyes were slits of white under all of the shiny red and his glasses had been knocked off as he was jostled into the sharp cold air. Good… They might stand a chance.
She tripped as she was pushed forward and Ron, who was giving the four wizards wrestling with him a run for their money, bellowed loudly. "GET… OFF… HER!"
Before Hermione could reason with him, one of the larger hulking shapes rushed forward and brought a clenched fist down onto his face. She screamed and twisted wildly against the grip of the wizard who held her, "No! Leave him alone!"
Black ill-fitting robes billowed as the figure turned to her, his face hidden by the shadows of his hood. "Your boyfriend's going to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list, Delicious Girl. What a treat…. I do enjoy the softness of the skin…."
Hermione lifted her head high at the threat and clenched her jaw when a yellowed nail trailed from her chin down to the collar of her shirt.
"Search the tent!" Another voice broke the heavy exploratory silence.
She heard the grunts as Harry and Ron were thrown to the ground but didn't look away from the darkness under the hood. The vicious wizard reached up and pulled the protection away to expose his identity. The sharp pointed teeth of Fenrir Greyback glistened as he smiled down at her. "Now let's see who we've got."
A subordinate flipped Harry over onto his back and cast a beam of wandlight to illuminate the destruction of his face as the werewolf stalked forward, "I'll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?"
Harry stayed quiet and glared up at the hypocrite.
"I said…" Greyback repeated and then kicked the downed wizard directly in the stomach. "What happened to you?"
"Stung." Harry managed to get out around his wheezed breaths and swollen lips. "Been stung."
"Yeah, looks like it." A random wizard interjected with a smirk.
"What's your name?" Greyback snarled.
"Dudley."
"And your first name?"
"I… Vernon. Vernon Dudley."
"Check the list, Scabior," Greyback ordered as he moved to inspect Ron. "And what about you, ginger?"
"Stan Shunpike," Ron answered immediately.
"Like 'ell you are," The man called Scabior said. "We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way…"
Hermione closed her eyes as another fist made contact, this time with his face. Through a mouthful of blood, he tried again, "I'b Bardy. Bardy Weadley."
"A Weasley?" Greyback's raspy voice sounded amused. "So you're related to blood traitors even if you're not a mudblood. And lastly, your pretty little friend…"
The relish in his voice made his assistant speak up, "Easy, Greyback."
"Oh, I'm not going to bite just yet, Scabior. We'll see if she is a bit quicker at remembering her name than Barny." The werewolf teased maliciously as he made his way back over. It was only once he stood in front of her that Hermione finally opened her eyes and looked up at the grizzly face. "Who are you, girly?"
"Penelope Clearwater." She said, her tone higher than she meant for it to be, betraying her fear over the threat of infection… Or worse.
"What's your blood status?"
"Half-blood."
"Easy enough to check," Scabior said, clearly uncomfortable as Greyback leaned down to sniff her curls. "But the 'ole lot of 'em look like they could still be 'ogwarts age…"
"We'b left!" Ron's voice came from the crumbled heap on the ground.
"Left, 'ave you, ginger?" The wizard asked, turning away from the disturbing scene as Greyback licked his lips and winked at her. "And you decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a laugh, you'd use the Dark Lord's name?"
"Nod a laugh… Aggiden."
"Accident?" All of the Snatchers started to laugh at the explanation.
Greyback broke eye contact with her and pivoted to speak, "You know who used to like using the Dark Lord's name, Weasley… The Order of the Phoenix. Mean anything to you?"
"Doh."
"Well, they don't show the Dark Lord proper respect, so the name's been Tabooed. A few Order members have been tracked that way." The werewolf's blue eyes were bright with excitement as he nodded toward a shadowed pile of limbs. "We'll see. Bind them up with the other two prisoners!"
Hermione was roughly pushed forward to join the collection of hostages. Once the three new additions were secured, the wizard who was tasked with tying them up walked away to help search the campsite. After a few seconds Harry whispered, "Anyone still got a wand?"
"No." Both she and Ron answered at the same time.
"This is all my fault. I said the name, I'm sorry…"
"Harry?" A familiar voice cut into the useless apology.
"Dean?" Harry gasped.
"It is you! If they find out who they've got… They're Snatchers, they're only looking for truants to sell for gold." Dean rambled quietly from Hermione's left side.
"Not a bad little haul for one night," Greyback said, as he and Scabior walked past. "A mudblood, a runway goblin, and three truants. You checked their names on the list yet?"
"Yeah. There's no Vernon Dudley on 'ere."
"Interesting… That's interesting..." Amusement colored the werewolf's tone before he crouched down in front of Harry. "So you aren't wanted, then, Vernon? Or are you on that list under a different name? What house are you in at Hogwarts?"
"Slytherin," Harry said automatically.
After a round of laughter, Greyback and his crony began to cross-examine the disfigured wizard. Harry divulged how to enter the Slytherin common room and the stereotypical motif found within. He easily expounded on his earlier lies and explained that his "father" worked in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.
"Well, well…" Greyback said, a note of trepidation at the mistreatment of a Ministry official's child in his callous voice. "If you're telling the truth, ugly, you've got nothing to fear from a trip to the Ministry. I expect your father'll reward us just for picking you up."
"But…" Harry tried to rationalize with the werewolf. "If you just let us…"
"Hey!" A shout came from inside the tent. "Look at this, Greyback!"
Hermione bit down on her bottom lip to keep her groan of dismay inside as a dark figure rushed over with the sword of Gryffindor in his hand.
"Very nice…" Appreciation was evident, as Greyback took the sword from his companion. "Oh, very nice indeed. Looks goblin-made. Where did you get something like this?"
"It's my father's." Harry lied. "We borrowed it to cut firewood."
"'ang on a minute…" Scabior grumbled as he took another offering from a different wizard. "Look at this, in the Prophet!"
"What?" Snapped Greyback as he inspected the shining jewels that decorated the hilt of the sword.
Scabior glanced over at her, causing her heart to hammer inside of her chest, and began to read from the newspaper. "'ermione Granger, the Mudblood who is known to be traveling with 'arry Potter…"
Greyback grabbed the printed evidence of her true identity and walked over to her. He scrutinized her face for a couple of seconds before leaning down and licking his lips, "You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you…"
"It isn't!" Her voice betrayed her and squeaked the pointless denial. "It isn't me!"
"... known to be traveling with Harry Potter." He repeated quietly.
A stillness settled over the campsite as the occupants realized what they had stumbled onto.
"Well, this changes things, doesn't it?" Greyback whispered to himself. Nobody spoke.
She couldn't help it. The fear that ran through her veins made her tremble. They were going to die… The Boy Who Lived was a dead man, because of her presence…
The werewolf stood up and took a couple of steps to where Harry sat and crouched back down to stare closely at his misshapen features. "What's that on your forehead, Vernon?"
"Don't touch it!" Harry screamed in pain as a dirty finger was pressed to the taunt scar that peeked out from under his too-long bangs.
"I thought you wore glasses, Potter?" Greyback breathed.
"I found glasses!" One of the Snatchers yelped from the background. "There was glasses in the tent!"
Seconds later Harry's glasses had been rammed back onto his face and the Snatchers closed in to peer down at him.
"It is!" Greyback said, astonished at their luck. "We've caught Potter!"
"We should… We should 'ead to the Ministry?"
"To hell with the Ministry!" Greyback growled. "They'll take the credit, and we won't get a look in. I say we take him straight to You-Known-Who."
"Will you summon 'im 'ere?" Scabior asked, sounding awed and terrified.
"No." The refusal was snarled and the other wizard took a step back. "I haven't got… They say he's using the Malfoy's place as a base. We will take the boy there."
Hermione's breathing hitched at the mention of the place that was worse than the Ministry. Would he be there? Would he help his parents kill her, given the chance? Fate couldn't possibly think she deserved that level of torture…
"Are you completely sure it's him? 'Cause if it ain't, Greyback, we're dead."
"Who's in charge here?" Greyback roared. "I say that's Potter, and him plus his wand, that's two hundred thousand Galleons right there! But if you're too gutless to come along, any of you, it's all for me. And with any luck, I'll get the girl thrown in!"
After a quick glance around at the surrounding wizards, Scabior conceded, "Alright, alright… We are in! And what about the rest of 'em. What'll we do with 'em?"
"Might as well take the lot. We've got two mudbloods, that's another ten Galleons. Give me the sword as well. If they're rubies, that's another small fortune right there."
Random Snatchers began to follow the barked orders. They were drug to their feet and shuffled towards the middle of the campsite. Hermione fought against the tears that wanted to fall and quietly whimpered. They were quite literally fucked… Wands gone... Arms bound tightly to their sides... There was no way for them to fight…
"Grab hold and make it tight. I'll do, Potter!" Greyback demanded as he grabbed a fistful of Harry's dark hair. Scabior took hold of her shoulder, a look of disgust on his face. Other Snatchers paired up with the rest of the prisoners. Once he was sure the group was ready, the werewolf nodded. "On three! One… Two… Three…"
With a loud pop, they all disappeared into the vice-like darkness…
Headed towards their unceremonious deaths.