Sighs
Chapter 3
A/N: This will be a long story, longer than any I've written. At least I think so. Thank you for all the reviews, they mean a lot to me. "You like me! You really…" sorry. ^_^
Some H/Hr in this chapter. But don't forget. We still have to resolve the Lavender situation. I'm evil. Yes. But that's ok. I hope.
Warning: More heavy stuff. Hermione reveals exactly what she went through during her torture with Voldemort. I'm not going to rate this and NC-17, but it's an R. definitely.
I also forgot my disclaimer. I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters from the Harry Potter Books. Those belong to J.K.R. I'm not making any money from this so please don't sue me. Please? I have very little money.
Now. On to the story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the tears had subsided, the three broke apart, wiping at their eyes. Things would never be the same. Not now. Not ever.
"I wonder if Madame Pomfrey would let you come outside, Hermione. We have a lot to talk about and I don't really think that the Hospital Wing is the best place for what has to be said." Ron looked around for Madame Pomfrey, but there was no one in the Wing.
"Huh. Well, I'm going to go look for her. Maybe I'll ask Professor Dumbledore, he should be…" Ron walked off, still mumbling to himself.
Which left Harry and Hermione together. Alone.
"Hermione. I'm so sorry. I didn't, I COULDN'T know. If I had, I would have come for you immediately. I…"
Hermione shook her head and hugged him again.
"I know you would have. But you did the right thing. There are other people, other things out there that are more important than me. I know that. It was just, you know, not having my friends around to help me through this."
"Not to me there's not. You're the most important person to me. You and Ron. You're my family. I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me? I mean, I'll understand if you don't, and that's ok, because you have every right to hate me, at least after what I said, and what I did and, and…and…Hermione? Don't cry! Oh Hermione. That's all I ever seem to make you do. Maybe it'd be better if I…"
Harry made to pull away from her, but she grasped him tighter, buried her head in his chest and whimpered.
Muffled, but still clear, Harry could hear her words,
"If you leave now, I'll never forgive you. I need you Harry. I need someone to help me through this. Please? Don't leave me. Not again. Please…"
Mumbling his agreement, he hugged Hermione. 'Oh Hermione…What did they do to you. This isn't like you.'
"I'll never leave you. I'll always be there for you. I swear."
"Hey guys! I got permission from Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey! We can…oh…uh…sorry guys I'll just…"
Ron. The Master of Timing. He blushed and turned around, about to leave when two voices called out to him.
"No, Ron. Just…give us a few seconds to get ready."
"Don't leave Ron. You're a part of this group whether you like it or not. And besides, you're the one who started this. You've got to be there when it's finished."
Ron grinned and turned back around. He walked over to Hermione's bed and gathered her things up.
"Alright, Alright, I got it. Don't leave. I won't. Don't worry. C'mon. Let's go out to the lake. We'll talk there."
Harry helped Hermione off the bed, and gathering his cloak the three of them left the Hospital Wing heading for the lake.
The three ran into Draco on their way out. Surprisingly, Draco fell into step with them, and none of them had any complaints. They all knew that Draco was involved, and that he had his own side to the story. Reaching the lake, the moved to sit on the grass, under the stars.
"When I was captured, they didn't do anything to me initially. They stunned me and when I came to, I was in Voldemort's Throne Room, such that it was."
**Flashback**
"Well, well, well…what do we have here? A filthy little mudblood." Voldemort sneered and turned to her captors.
"Why did you bring trash such as this into my presence. Kill her and be done with it!"
"My lord, this is no ordinary mudblood. Her name is Hermione Granger. She's one of Potter's friends. Perhaps more than a friend. If he has a weakness, it's her."
Voldemort rose and approached Hermione. With one cold, pale hand, he grasped her hair and yanked her to her feet.
"Ahhh…So it is. Well, this IS a surprise. Potter doesn't know how to protect his own hmm? Well, we'll make sure he never forgets to do so. Throw her in the dungeons. I shall ask her questions tomorrow."
Hermione was thrown in a dark, cold and moldy chamber. Three sets of chains were attached to the wall but only one set was free. The other two had bodies hanging from them. Her captors chained her to the wall and left. She remained there for what seemed like days, with nothing but the darkness around her. A feeling of coldness swept through her body and the warmth was sucked out of her as something walked by.
'Dementors?' She thought, 'Why are there dementors here? They're supposed to be guarding Azkaban! NO! That means…' She never got to finish her thought as Voldemort swept into the room, followed by three Death Eaters. One was holding something coiled in his hand.
"Good morning mudblood. We're going to start now. I'm going to ask you a question, and every time you refuse to answer…" He gestured to the man with the coil behind him and without warning she screamed. When she looked down, her robes, and the shirt underneath, were torn. And long slash had creased its way across her belly.
"You'll be tortured. And we're going to do this the old fashioned way. Magic is too good for an impure, filthy, no good mudblood like you. And I intend for Potter to find your corpse, with all its scars, as a reminder of how he failed. Now. First question. Where is the Order of the Phoenix based?"
Hermione raised her head and glared.
"What Order of the Phoenix? I don't…" Her retort was cut short as another lash burned its way across her skin.
Voldemort sneered.
"Again. Where is the Order of the Phoenix based? I know they have a base and I want to know where it is!"
Hermione raised her head again and spat.
"I'm not going to tell you anything, so you might as well kill me now. And Harry's going to defeat you. He's going to kill you. I KNOW he will. You'll be defeated by him, and your reign of terror will be cut sho…" She screamed again as the whip lashed her twice.
"Shut your mouth mudblood. This is Lord Voldemort! He cannot be defeated, especially by that mockery of a wizard, Potter!"
For 2 more days Hermione was tortured and pumped for information. She remained strong though, using her belief that Harry would arrive any minute with Dumbledore and the Aurors to rescue her.
He never came.
Voldemort gave instructions that when Hermione lost consciousnessthe body was to be thrown out in the swamp to rot.
Eventually, all that could be heard was laughter and the sound of a whip.
Her body was tossed out, battered, broken and bleeding.
She lay there for what seemed an eternity. She was dying. She knew this and cried. Eventually she passed out.
A form approached, wearing a black cloak, the cloak of a death eater.
"Granger? Are you alive? GRANGER!"
'Malfoy…what?' Hermione awoke to the yell, and opened her eyes.
"oh thank god. Professor! I found her! She's alive! PROFESSOR!"
Another form approached and Hermione looked up into the face of Severus Snape.
"Miss Granger. I believe you are need of a doctor. Mr. Malfoy, if you would be so kind as to carry her…"
Draco nodded, and picked her up. Hermione tried to struggle but gave up almost immediately when Draco spoke.
"Easy, there Hermione. I'm not going to hurt you anymore. Don't worry. We'll get you to St. Mungo's as soon as possible."
"Har..ry…?" she croaked.
"He's not here. I'm sure he'll visit you though. Hang on."
With a crack Severus Snape apparated all three of them to St. Mungo's.
**End Flashback**
"That's what happened. I woke up two days later in a hospital bed. The doctors came in and told me what had happened and who had rescued me. That's when Dumbledore came in." she trailed off at the look in Harry's eye.
"Dumbledore knew? Dumbledore KNEW! AND HE DIDN'T TELL ME!? I'LL KILL HIM!" Harry screamed in frustration. 'How could he keep something like this from me?! HOW COULD HE NOT TELL ME!'
"Weasley? You ok? You look a little…green."
Ron looked like he was about to throw up. He opened his mouth to speak but immediately threw a hand over his mouth and ran over to the lake.
"Well. Weasley's out of it for a while. I found her in a swamp in a right state. I took her to St. Mungo's and you know what happened from there. You're going to be ok though, right Hermione?" Draco looked concerned but that was replaced by a look of relief when she nodded.
"Thank you."
The words startled Draco. Potter, THANKING him? Where was he?
"Uh…you're welcome."
Ron had walked back over, still slightly green.
"Hey, Weasley. You alright?"
"Yeah Ron, you're looking a bit peaked."
Ron did a double take. Harry and MALFOY joining forces to tease HIM?! WHERE WAS HE!?
"uh…yeah…I'll be alright. WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT!? HERMIONE! AHHH!! You're all against me."
The three…FOUR of them sat under the stars for a while after that, talking, reminiscing, and laughing.
Albus Dumbledore looked out the window in his office and smiled.
Things were returning to normal. But he knew that this was the calm before the storm.
Somewhere in his fortress, Voldemort laughed.
A/N: The flashback scene was the hardest thing I've ever had to write. I got sick while I was writing it. God, what the hell is wrong with me. Hope you enjoyed this one, a new one will be coming soon. I hope.