In Azalea's Manor
Hermione woke up slowly and opened her eyes. She closed them again quickly as the pain in her head doubled. She groaned softly then instantly regretted it as the vibration sent waves of pain through her head. She wondered why she was so cold and why it was so painful to move. She decided not to attempt sitting up right now.
Slowly it all came back to her, the note from Harry, the empty quidditch pitch, the shadowy figures in the locker room, the struggle, the sudden pain as a heavy object came down on her head.
Without opening her eyes she analysed her immediate surroundings. She was laying on a hard mattress with a thin sheet covering her to her shoulders. Her arm was resting against a cold stone wall and the air was icy cold. A cold draught was washing over her that her thin sheet and jumper could not keep from chilling her to the bone. She decided not to risk opening her eyes yet, she was still trying to ward off the pain in her head.
"You're not fooling anyone you know" a voice said conversationally beside her, cutting right into the centre of her headache. "I know you're awake, so there's no point pretending to be asleep."
Hermione mumbled "Where am I?", still not opening her eyes, preferring not to see the owner of the voice, although she thought she knew who it was, and really hoped she was wrong.
"Where are you?" the voice said, sounding cheery. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it? What matters is you're here, where 'here' is isn't any of your concern really is it? It won't make a difference if you know or not. It isn't like you're going to be going anywhere, or telling anyone where you are, so what does it matter?"
Hermione frowned. "All the same, I'd still like to know."
The owner of the voice let out an exasperated sigh. "Lucky for you I'm in a charitable mood." the voice said darkly "Or you wouldn't be feeling quite so curious right now, more hurting I'd say."
Hermione frowned, sensing rather than seeing her captor smiling. She opened her eyes slightly and her suspicions were confirmed. Looking back at her, grinning a perfectly evil grin, was Azalea Rookwood.
"Welcome back Hermione. Glad to have you with us again. I've been so looking forward to finally meeting with you." She told her, voice like icy steel. Hermione shivered. "Oh, are you cold? Sorry, I forget that people feel these things" she said, waving her wand at the fireplace in the opposite wall, causing a fire to spring to life. Hermione sat up slowly and leaned against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest., letting the new heat wash over her. "What do you mean? you can't feel the cold?" she asked the older witch curiously.
Azalea gave Hermione her wolfish smile again and laughed. "Nope. My nerve endings do not reach the outer layers of skin. I can't feel anything. Cold, heat, pain." she grinned again. "Quite an advantage don't you think?"
Hermione shivered again and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Yes, I suppose it is." she said dully. She stared at the flames for a long time, a thought worming its way into her consciousness. "How did you kidnap me?" she asked.
Azalea raised an eyebrow at her. "They sent a fake note from Potter asking to meet you, then knocked you out. don't tell me you forgot?" she said slowly, as if Hermione was being very dim.
Hermione shook her head. "That's not what I mean… I mean how did you do it?" she asked, and seeing Azalea still looking at her as though she was daft, she continued "There are so many protection spells around Hogwarts. How did you get in? and who are 'they'?" she added, frowning.
Azalea's blue eyes lit up with glee. She laughed cruelly. "Oh that was the best thing! You'd be impressed my dear. I certainly was!" she said, cruel mirth evident in her voice. "As you are aware, witches or wizards who try to enter Hogwarts grounds with the intention of harming anyone inside, will not get past the gates. Numerous spells will be activated and I'd find myself in a lot of trouble very quickly. Of course, I couldn't use muggles, because they can't even see Hogwarts, you know they just see a pile of old bricks… so I thought to myself; who could get inside Hogwarts and not attract the protective spells?" she grinned "Then it came to me. So simple! Squibs! Magical people, but with little or no magical ability at all, so they're not detected! All they had to do was get that note sent to you and grab your wand before you had chance to use it. Simple!"
Hermione was amazed. She had never felt in danger while around people without magic, as she viewed them as easy to deal with and quite harmless really. She realised how stupid that belief was now. How stupid she was. Azalea watched it all cross Hermione's face, saw the hopeless look in her eyes. "Aw don't beat yourself up about it girl. Wasn't your fault, everyone is caught by surprise sometimes!" she laughed and walked out the door behind her, leaving Hermione alone in the empty room. She sighed and tried to be positive about her situation. At least she left the fire burning.
She scowled. Is that the best you can do?
Azalea left Hermione's room and walked along the passageway to the main hall. She smiled to herself. She had done it, she had finally got her here. Now she could fully activate the Staff of Amaror and then do whatever she pleased. She walked into her brother's old study and looked out of the window at the surrounding countryside of his manor.
She knew what she would do first when she got the Staff to work properly. Kill Voldemort's supporters one by one. Starting with Lucius Malfoy. Or maybe her father. She hadn't decided yet. She had enough sense to not go after Voldemort himself, no matter how much she hated his arrogant ways. She knew about the prophecy with Harry Potter. She knew that he would kill Voldemort, or Voldemort would kill him. She wasn't fussed as to the outcome. She'd just deal with whoever came out alive.
A knock at the door distracted her from her musings "What?!" she demanded. The door creaked open slowly and one of her men peered round the door hesitantly before deciding it was safe to come in. "M…M…Miss Roo…Rookwood…I…er…"
She glared at the man and picked up the Staff from where it was propped against her desk. She swung it at him and it hit him across the jaw with enough force to knock out a few teeth. She hoped it had. He winced in pain. "Well if you want to say something, say it! don't just stand around wasting my time!" she shrieked at the terrified man cowering in front of her.
His hand flew to his face and he glared at her. He suddenly threw himself at her, finally snapping after weeks of intimidation and pain. He screamed at her "I'm so damn tired of the way you treat us! You crazy bitch! What's your problem?" he yelled as he knocked her to the ground, snatching the wand out of her hand and tossing it away.
Azalea wasn't expecting the sudden outburst. It took her completely by surprise. She thought it was very amusing though, someone actually had enough backbone to stand up to her. Looks like they weren't all spineless idiots. Her amusement evaporated fast when he knocked her wand away and hit her hard. Although she didn't feel the pain it still annoyed her that he dared. She hit him back, causing him to fly across the room and hit the opposite wall. She laughed as she got up and moved towards him, saw the fear in his eyes as her wand rose to her hand. Wandless magic was meant to be very difficult. Not for her though. She walked slowly over to him, taking her time. "Oh dear" she said softly "Looks like I'm stronger than you thought. That's one advantage of being so very magical you know." A cruel smile slowly spread across her face. She crouched down next to him and looked straight into his terrified eyes. She spoke quietly, slowly, making sure he digested every single word. "You will die for what you did. But don't get your hopes up, I'm going to have some fun first." she laughed softly. "You are going to feel every moment of this, I'll make sure of it."
She dragged him by his hair down the stairs, past her men. "An example to you all" she called to them as she strode by. She took him to the main hall and with a wave of her wand tied him by his thumbs to the same chandelier that she had hung her brother from, laughing at his cries of pain and pleas for help. She called up to him "I may be crazy, but I'm a damn sight better than you right now, wouldn't you say?" she asked sweetly. "Don't worry, I'll bring you down after a day or two, then the fun will really begin. Oh, and don't scream too loud will you? Even I get bored of the sound after a couple of hours."