Hermione was not sure how long it was that she remained alone in her cell after Ron was taken away by Astoria. It was probably only half an hour but it felt like eternity to her as she was constantly plagued by images of her friends being tortured by the Greengrass sisters. She has already seen what Astoria is like and she could only imagine what horrible thing Daphne was doing to Harry right now. She was confused when they both left her alone and focused exclusively on the boys instead. But she supposed it was only a matter of time. After all, Daphne Greengrass loathed muggleborns and she was one so Hermione fully expected that her treatment would ultimately be the harshest.

She always knew it could come to this.

When she decided to join her friends on their quest, she knew that she would be in terrible danger if they were ever captured. Where Ron was somewhat protected by his pureblood status and Harry was the boy-who-lived, there was nothing whatsoever protecting her. She was a second-class citizen under the new regime and Daphne could literally do anything she wanted to her with little repercussions. 'She's probably busy thinking up all the ways how she can torture me... and all because I am a muggleborn,' Hermione thought bitterly. It was a horrible feeling to be so hated by so many people over something she could not change.

The lock clicked and Hermione looked up to see the female guard who performed her medical exam earlier walk into the cell. With a wave of her wand, she untied Hermione's chains and ordered simply. "Come with me, girl. Now."

Her expression screamed she would tolerate no arguments and so Hermione meekly obeyed even as she rubbed her aching wrists where the shackles used to bite into them. The witch escorted her through the endless corridors of the dungeons until ushering her into another room. It was bigger than the cell in which she woke up in and looked cleaner and warmer but it was still a dungeon. There were two beds at the opposite sides of the room. Metallic toilet bowls and sinks were placed against the wall at the foot of both beds.

'Another prison cell...' Hermione thought bitterly.

"Sit down on the bed," the witch gestured to the bed on the right side and Hermione realized that this would be her new sleeping quarters. She wondered who was supposed to occupy the second bed.

"My friends... where are they?" she finally dared to ask while sitting down on the bed.

"Be silent!" her captor hissed angrily at her in response. "You will learn all you need to know soon enough," she said and then detached something from her belt and threw it at Hermione's sitting form. A simple pair of metal handcuffs. She said, "Put them on... now!" and emphasized the command by pointing her wand between Hermione's eyes.

Swallowing the humiliation of having to put on her own restraints, Hermione did as she was told and placed the handcuffs around her wrists. When she was done, she lifted her hands to let the evil witch inspect them while looking at her defiantly. It did not have any effect. They both knew her defiance was pointless at that point.

"Good," she said and then raised her wand, ready to strike with a spell. Helpless, Hermione cringed in fear when she saw that but the witch then said, "Do not move now... I am going to heal your nose."

"Oh..." Hermione managed to say before she felt the cooling sensation of a healing spell being applied to her nose. She whimpered a little as the broken cartilage instantly straightened itself. It was a huge relief from the constant pain she felt since Astoria broke it. "You have also chafed your wrists and ankles..." the woman said as she scanned her for more injuries. She tsked and chided her for it, "You should not struggle against your restraints. It is pointless and you only end up hurting yourself."

Hermione looked down on her shackled wrists and saw that they were indeed red and scraped in few placed. Over the agony of her broken nose, Hermione failed to even notice that before. A moment later, it was gone too as the witch casted more healing spells on her. "Thank you," Hermione told her after she was done.

The woman shook her head and said, "Thank lady Astoria... she's the one who ordered me to heal you," she informed her and Hermione looked at her in shock. Seeing her confusion, the woman sighed and added, "To quote her words – you suffered enough and hopefully learned your lesson by now."

That explanation only added to Hermione's confusion. She could not figure out Astoria Greengrass. One moment the younger girl seemed like the meanest ball of hate you could meet. The things she did to Ron were unspeakable. And yet another moment she would show some small random mercy. Either she was really completely insane as Ron told her earlier or there was more going than Hermione could see right now.

Her thoughts on Astoria were interrupted when the woman waved her wand again and a new chain connected one of the cuffs on Hermione's wrist to a hook in the wall beside the bed. It made Hermione yelp in surprise. Her movements were now restricted so that she could get to the toilet and the sink or take few steps around her own bed but nothing more!

"Why are you doing this?" Hermione cried out in frustration as she tested the chain for slack.

"I have my orders..." the woman simply said before continuing with what sounded like a well practiced speech, "Now listen carefully, mudblood," she said, "From now on, you will remain in this cell. You will be provided three meals a day. Once a day, you will be taken to a shower room. You are to obey all orders given to you by the guards. If you try to escape or deliberately injure yourself, you will be punished. You will immediately report all health issues to the guards but if you try to simulate, we will punish you. Do you understand these rules?" she finally asked.

Hermione realized that for all intents and purposes, she was a prisoner now. Her fate was entirely in the hands of these people. They treated her like she was a criminal, all for the crime of being born. It made her boil with anger at the indignity. Daphne Greengrass had no right to do this to her... to any of them. It was all so very wrong. Her inner turmoil made her ignore the woman's question who frowned when she did not answer. "I said do you understand these rules?!" she repeated the question loudly.

This time, Hermione answered. "Yes," she spoke through gritted teeth.

The stern woman studied her for a while before she nodded and then quickly scanned the rest of the room with her eyes before meeting Hermione's brown ones. "Now... do you have any questions?" she asked.

At her direct invitation, Hermione finally exploded with all the questions she had on her mind the entire time. "Where are my friends? Why are you doing this to us? How long will I have to stay here? You have no right to do this to us!" she yelled out that and many more accusations and complaints without taking a single breath. When she was finally done, more for a lack of air in her lungs than anything else, the woman was laughing, much to Hermione's chagrin.

"I was told you can yell whole speeches without taking a breath... I see it is true," she told her and Hermione looked up at her quizzically, wondering what else the woman was told about her.

"But to answer your questions in order: I do not know where your friends are at the moment, nor do I care. I was ordered to deal with you and only you. As for why am I doing this, it suffices to say that Lady Greengrass wants you to stay here so here you will stay… for however long she pleases," the woman leaned over Hermione and said mockingly. "I believe this answers all your questions."

Hermione stood up angrily from the bed and moved towards her as far as the chain allowed. "You have no right to do this! I want to see my friends now."

More chuckling from the woman and Hermione was now red in face.

"You will find that wishes of a mudblood carry very little weight here... or rather none to be exact," the witch told her before she turned more serious. "Frankly, you should feel lucky you are here and not in a ministry cell waiting for a dementor. For a moment, I thought lady Greengrass would order us to turn you over to them. She does not care for mudbloods in general and I could tell she really hates you in particular for some reason."

Hermione laughed bitterly at that and said, "Yes, just because I would not agree to serve her like some slave," she blurted out before she could stop herself.

The woman looked at her with surprise and asked, "Lady Greengrass offered you to serve her family?" she spoke and Hermione nodded. Seeing as she could not get anywhere because of the chain, she sat back down on the bed with an angry huff.

"And you refused... you poor wretch," the witch told her with what sounded like genuine pity. "That explains a lot. It also makes you a fool... you should have accepted the lady's offer. It is a great honor for someone of your blood status."

Hermione rolled her eyes at that and said, "Right... I can do magic better than her but I should settle for being a servant just because my parents are muggles. I should give up on my future and my dreams and be Daphne's slave girl... cater to her whims just because she's a pureblood. What a fantastic honor for someone like me! How could I have been so foolish and refuse such wonderful offer?" she mocked the woman's earlier words, her every sentence bleeding with sarcasm. Then she finally said, "I bet you would not think it such a great honor if you were muggleborn yourself!"

The woman remained silent for a moment after Hermione's speech. Finally, she almost whispered, "Is that how you spoke to the Lady after she gave you the offer?" she asked while shaking her head with sad expression. She did not wait for Hermione's answer though. "You are right," she spoke instead. "I am not a muggleborn. I am a halfblood…"

Hermione barely blinked at that as it was no surprise to her. She expected as much. Earlier, she wondered about the Greengrass household guards and concluded that they were most likely all halfbloods with maybe few odd purebloods of low social standing mixed in.

But what the woman said next her left with dropped jaw.

"… but both of my parents are muggleborns. They loyally served House Greengrass for many years... they accepted their place and were rewarded with good life, home and family. Just as you would have been had you not arrogantly refused your offer."

Hermione gaped at her with open mouth. "You- you aren't serious. Your parents are muggleborns?" she asked suspiciously and when the woman nodded, she started to scream. "Then how can you even do this to me?!" she asked, rattling her chains a little to make the point. "You know the only reason I am here like this is because I am a muggleborn and Harry's friend!"

The woman shook her head. "The reason you are here is because you are a fool and you chose to be the enemy of lady Greengrass. You think she would put you here simply because of your blood? You refused her generous offer because you think yourself an equal… do you have any idea how insulting that is? You could have simply apologized by saying you felt unworthy to serve her. But I bet you instead started to rant about your equal rights or something, didn't you?" she asked but Hermione avoided her eyes and said nothing. After a while, the guard added, "That's what I thought. I am just glad that unlike you, my parents made the right choice."

Hermione looked up at her sharply at that and said. "Your parents did not make a choice at all. It's very sad you believe that. Obviously, they were brainwashed... or imperiused" Hermione concluded. "It only further proves how evil and twisted the pureblood supremacy is. For all I know, they control you as well seeing as you don't mind serving the family who made your parents into slaves!" she finished.

Hermione was certain she was right. She could remember her third year when Daphne gave her the lecture on why purebloods were superior to people like her and then asked her in a very serious tone if she wished to be her servant. Back then, she thought she was surely joking and mocking her. Is it possible she was actually serious?

Hermione categorically denied the offer. She was magically gifted just as any pureblood, perhaps even more, and should have the same rights and opportunities they did. The idea that she was somehow inferior to Daphne and should have her fate directed by her was vile and repulsive. In the end, she gave that arrogant pureblood girl a lecture of her own, letting her know exactly what she thought of her ridiculous offer. Daphne then pretended to act all insulted and they never spoke to each other again.

"Don't be absurd," the guard continued and then said something that made Hermione's blood run cold. "Nearly a half of the lady's servants are muggleborns... are you saying they are all under Imperius?" she said and then sighed. "You know, I am not sure why I even bother telling you this," the woman spoke. "Maybe it's because I am a mother and it pains me to see young girl throw away her entire future, perhaps even her life, over her own foolish pride and ignorance."

There were so many thoughts running through Hermione's mind at that moment. 'She must be lying…' she thought desperately. If it was true, then the implications were mind-boggling. Could there have been other muggleborns who willingly said 'yes' to the same offer that Hermione refused? It was impossible, it had to be! She did not even know how to react at something like this, so she focused on the less shocking part of the guard's words.

"You- you have children?" Hermione asked, trying to control her shaking voice. For the first time, she really focused on the woman in front of her like she would on a fellow human being and not just a nameless enemy. She looked to be in her early thirties and appeared very fit. She was dressed in simple robes and her hair was done for practicality of her job but she still looked pretty. Her hazel eyes were seemingly looking deep into Hermione's soul as she nodded at her question and said, "I have two children. The older one is five now," she said and then frowned. "And I'd be very careful about insulting purebloods around me... seeing as my children are purebloods," she told her proudly.

"What? How?!"

"Simple," she answered. "My parents are muggleborns and so were my husband's. With all our parents being wizards and witches, that makes our children purebloods by the commonly accepted definition. It was lord Greengrass who arranged our marriage, actually."

Hermione felt outraged on her behalf. "They arranged your marriage so your children would be purebloods?! So you do not care that your family is just a breeding experiment to them?" she asked her. Hermione was utterly repulsed and disgusted by the idea. It immediately reminded her of the breeding programs done in Nazi Germany, aimed at creating the superior race. It was vile!

"Stupid girl... mudblood in all the sense of the word," the woman hissed at her angrily. "You do not know the first thing about my family or about House Greengrass... and yet you immediately pass judgments on us all... I am done talking with you. Remember the instructions I gave you. If you break the rules, you will suffer," she said and turned on her heel to walk away.

"Wait, please!" Hermione cried as she stood up. "I want to talk with Daphne."

The woman paused and looked back at her like she was crazy. "Didn't I just explain that your wishes mean absolutely nothing here? Besides, I can assure you that you don't... you really don't want to be talking with lady Greengrass... certainly not with this attitude of yours. She would not take disrespect kindly from someone like you. Remember – you only live at her mercy."

"But-" she protested but was ignored as the woman walked out of the cell and locked the door behind her. As soon as that happened, the chain connecting her wrists to each other disappeared but the one chaining her left arm to the wall remained.

Hermione was alone once more. With no other thing to do, she lay down on the bed, her heart heavy and her mind in turmoil. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how screwed they were. Why did the snatchers had to bring them here of all places? Anywhere else would be better. She would take hot-headed Draco Malfoy over the cold and calculating Daphne Greengrass any day.

The more she learned about her Hogwarts classmate and greatest academic rival, the more worried she was. Especially after what the female guard just told her. Assuming everything she was told was the truth, then Daphne's crimes were even more serious and horrifying than she originally thought. It was one thing to discriminate against muggleborns by not allowing them good jobs or positions of power.

But it seemed the Greengrasses and probably other pureblood families went one step ahead and actually made muggleborns into their servants! Hermione seriously doubted it was a willing decision on the part of the muggleborns but even if it was, it was still wrong! They even arranged marriages for people like her in some ridiculous effort to breed their muggle heritage out of them and obtain more purebloods. Hermione saw all of it for what it truly was – an elaborate system that kept muggleborns stigmatized and downtrodden in the magic world. If purebloods were allowed to maintain control, then their twisted philosophy would be mandated by law. It already started with the Muggleborn registration commission and Hermione doubted it would end there.

It's why she vowed to dedicate her life after the war to making muggleborns a truly equal part of British magical society. The laws favoring purebloods and the old magical families like the Greengrasses had to be eliminated and their disgusting philosophy outlawed.

Hermione knew it was not going to be easy to purge the shadow of pureblood supremacy from their society, even after Voldemort would be defeated. It was too deeply entrenched in minds of some people. But she always assumed the worst she would have to face would be the standard xenophobic attitude that Malfoy family displayed. After what she experienced, Hermione now realized that the main ideological opposition would instead be from Daphne Greengrass and other purebloods like her.

Hermione shuddered as she thought about the girl who now held the figurative knife against her throat. She loathed admitting that she was terrified of Daphne. Falling into her hands was probably the worst thing that could have happened to someone like her except maybe getting captured by you-know-who himself. As she looked at her chained hand, part of her feared that this was it for her…

'No!' she thought angrily. She refused to let this be the end of her. Her friends depended on her! Hermione knew that they needed to escape as soon as possible or risk Daphne implementing whatever evil plan she had. For Hermione, it would be too late then as she would be dead... or worse, brainwashed into another one of Daphne's servants.

But sadly, she did not see any way out at the moment.

The guards brought her lunch and dinner. Neither of them spoke to her. The chain between her handcuffs would appear when they walked in and disappear again after they left but she was still chained to the wall at all times. She was not going anywhere.

Shortly after finishing the dinner, several guards entered her cell.

"Ron!" she cried out when she saw her friend in their midst. He had a downcast expression but thankfully did not appear to be injured. He did not resist as the guards sat him down on the other bed and put the cuffs and chains on him as the female guard did with her earlier.

Then they left.

"Ron, what happened? Are you alright?" Hermione asked as soon as they were gone. She tried to go over to him but the chain kept her on her side of the cell.

Ron slowly looked up at her and smiled weakly. "I am fine now that I know you are ok... you are ok, right? They did not hurt you?" he asked her in concern.

"Forget about me, I am fine. What about you? What did Astoria want with you?" she asked.

Ron just shrugged and said, "Not much really. She mostly showed me around the house… I cannot believe how rich they are!" Ron said wistfully and with a hint of anger at his own family's financial situation. "She kept saying how better her family is than mine… calling me a blood traitor and my family murderers all the time."

Hermione sighed in relieve. It was still horrible but she feared it would be much worse… she was confident that Ron could handle few mean words. Sticks and stones. "What about that bracelet? Did she hurt you with it?" she then asked with worry.

Ron lifted his hand to show her his wrist. There was nothing on. "She took it off... for now she said," he said and shrugged. "She did not use it again but I was careful not do anything to provoke her. The pain... it's horrible, Hermione. I never felt anything like it. I felt like my insides were on fire. And then it... never mind," he said and went silent, no doubt trying to repress the traumatic memory.

Hermione tried to cheer him up. "Don't loose hope, Ron. We'll get out of here… and then we'll make them pay for what they did to you," she promised.

Ron looked at her sadly. "It won't be easy... they have their guards everywhere."

"We'll figure something out... we have to," Hermione insisted and then asked another pressing question. "What about Harry, have you seen him?" Ron shook his head no and said, "I haven't but something spooked the guards earlier today... I really hope nothing bad happened to him. It's driving me crazy," he said and looked around the room. "Only two beds, so I guess he won't be sharing room with us, huh?"

They stayed in silence for a while, thinking about their friend and what could possibly be happening to him at that moment.

Eventually, Ron spoke. "Enough about me. What did they do to you? I am afraid to ask," he said.

"Nothing..." Hermione admitted. "I was alone. They just brought me meals and one of them healed my nose when they took me here," she told him.

"And... that's it?" he asked in voice tinged with relieve but there was also another emotion that Hermione could not identify. It almost sounded like... envy? It quickly disappeared as he continued. "They probably pretend to go easy on you before unleashing the harshest punishment... please be careful."

Hermione nodded solemnly. She has been thinking the same thing. "I'll try my best."

They talked some more after that before Ron suddenly announced he should get some sleep since Astoria promised she would be back for him tomorrow. "Something tells me it will be a hard day for me," he said and laughed bitterly. Hermione wanted to talk more but she agreed reluctantly and watched as Ron lay down on his side facing the wall and dropped off.

She had a very bad feeling about all this. Ron said Astoria did nothing but mock him with words all day. But the fact was that he left their cell this morning defiant and angry beyond words but came back downcast and depressed.

'Harry... wherever you are, I hope you are safe and doing better than we are,' she prayed fervently in her mind before falling into a restless sleep herself.