Chapter 6

AN: This was originally written and posted at the 2011 Lucius Big Bang fest on LJ.  Many thanks to my betas: Softobsidian, who beta'd it for the fest, and Clairvoyant, who is polishing up the rough edges.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money here.

"Hermione!"

"Tidbit, no!"

Her shield absorbed Severus' curse, but Mordy's ricocheted back at her. The only thing that saved her from catching the full brunt of it was the fact that, realizing what she'd done, he'd jerked his wand up at the very last millisecond. It had saved her from a direct hit. Still, the backlash knocked her out. Mordy managed to catch her before she hit the ground, sinking to the floor with her cradled in his lap.

Ignoring the wizard with his wand still pointed at him, Mordy brushed Hermione's hair back. "Tidbit? Are ya all right? Sweet peach? Say somethin'.... Talk to old Mordy, won't ya?"

Severus lowered his wand and knelt next to the two. He cast a diagnostic over Hermione. Then he placed his fingers at her throat, checking her pulse, as if to reassure himself that the readings were right. "She's merely stunned; she will be fine."

"No thanks to you, Snape," growled Mordecai.

"It was your spell that stunned her, Jones, not mine," Severus defended himself.

"Yea, well if ya hadn't come bustin' through the Floo, without so much as a 'by yer leave,' I wouldn'ta drawn my wand on ya."

"I was invited here by Lucius. He sent his Patronus, telling me to come here to make sure that Hermione was safe. Now that I am here, you may go."

"I don't care that 'is lordship sent fer ya, Snape. I'm here at her request. Tidbit called me fer help, not you. She'll be the one what tells me to go."

"Lucius is my friend, and I care for Hermione, as well. I will look out for her."

"At the risk of repeating myself, mate, she didn't call ya, did she? She called me, and until she tells me different, I stay..."

Hermione groaned, "Will you two stop arguing? You sound like dogs fighting over a bone. I am not a bone!" Sitting upright, she batted away both their helping hands, and using the couch, she levered herself up to a stand. However, once up, she swayed dangerously on her feet and quickly sat down hard. "We need to figure out what happened here tonight and where Lucius is before he does something extremely foolish."

Hermione quickly reviewed what had happened and asked both the men for suggestions as to the next move. She refused to call the Aurors about the break-in until she knew that Lucius had not done something illegal.

Severus went to investigate the wards to see where and how the intruders had got in and to see if they had left any clues as to their identity. Mordy left to gather his minions in Knockturn Alley and check for rumors of any unusual activity. While the men were busy, Hermione went back upstairs to get dressed in something more substantial than her robe.

Hermione found Sukie there still guarding the stairway to the kitchen, and she sent her downstairs. Hermione told her she might need to prepare food, tea, or coffee for the men who were helping to search for her master. "Sukie, put the knife away, as well. It wouldn't do for you to stab Mr. Snape or Mr. Jones by accident."

Just as Hermione finished dressing, a tapping came at the bedroom window, and she discovered a small tawny owl she didn't recognize. She removed the note from the little bird's foot and offered him an owl treat.

Ripping open the missive, Hermione read it quickly. She collapsed into a chair, nearly weeping for joy. Lucius was alive! But perhaps not out of the woods yet. According to the note, she needed to come at once. Gathering her wand, cloak, and of course, her beaded bag with all of her emergency supplies, she headed back down the stairs, careful to avoid any interference.

~*~

Severus had searched the entire building for clues as to who was responsible for the break-in. He'd discovered how they'd got in, but still had no idea as to the who or why. The house the library was in had originally been of Muggle origin; back in one corner of the cellar, there was an old coal chute, which had been blocked off, but not warded. How the perpetrators had known about it, he had no idea, but they had discovered that one weakness and used it to their advantage.

Mordy showed up shortly after Severus had returned to Hermione's office, and the two men grudgingly exchanged information. Unfortunately, none of his contacts had anything of significance to report as yet.

Just as they started to wonder about Hermione, Sukie appeared in the office with a tray of food and drinks.

"Sukie, where is your Mistress?" asked Severus.

"Missy Hermione be's telling me to gets food for you gentlemens. She be's getting dressed." The little House-elf looked up worriedly. "Missy should have come down by now. Sukie will take a tray up and check on Missy right now."

"You do that, Sukie. And tell her Mr. Jones is back, and we have to make plans."

Just seconds after Sukie popped out of sight, Lucius came striding through the door. "Severus! Good, you're here. And Mordy too? What brings you here in the middle of the night, old friend?"

"Tidbit does. She called me; worried about you, she was, Lucius. Seems she didn't want to call her friend Potter fer fear he'd have to make an official report. An' she was worried ya might do somethin' stupid to get yerself tossed in the clinker."

"She worries too much," replied Lucius. "I merely picked up a trace of their Apparition trail and followed the culprits, but they made multiple jumps and then separated, and I lost their trail."

Helping himself to a cup of tea, he looked around. "Where is Hermione?"

At that instant, Sukie popped back in with a note in her hands, looking excited. Upon seeing Lucius, she looked at first thrilled, then instantly horrified. "OH, NOES!" she wailed, tugging at her ears. "Missy is gone! Sukie should have checked on Missy Hermione earlier!" Dashing to Hermione's desk, the elf began banging her head against it in self-punishment.

"Sukie, Sukie, stop this instant!" ordered Lucius. "I forbid you to punish yourself. Now tell me what you mean. Where is Hermione?"

With big tears rolling down her face, the little elf handed Lucius the note. "Sukie was happy to finds the note that is saying that Master safe. But Master is here, and Mistress is gone to find him. Something is not right. Sukie is thinkings Missy Hermione was tricked!"

Lucius snatched the note from Sukie's fingers. He read it quickly, and his face fell. Lucius collapsed into Hermione's chair, and he clenched his fingers in his hair, trying to think.

"What? What's it say?" Severus and Mordy demanded, both at the same time, as they lunged forward to grab the note.

Hermione,

AET

"Fuck!" swore Mordy. "As ya clearly didn't send this, then yer elf was right. Tidbit was tricked."

"Who is this 'AET,' Lucius? It must be someone Hermione knows well. There's no mention of an address or a name, yet she left in the dead of night without telling anyone. She obviously knows where they live, and it's someone she trusts."

"Yes, you're right, Severus. But I have no idea who it could be.... Still, it does seem familiar, as if I should know. Damn it all to nine levels of hell!"

"Floo-call Potter," ordered Severus.

"Potter?" asked Lucius dumbly.

"If it's someone Hermione knows personally, there's a good chance Potter will know who it is."

"You're right. Of course, that's true," said Lucius as he went quickly to the Floo and threw in a pinch of powder. "Harry Potter's home," he called clearly. Then bending, he shouted, "Harry! Draco! It's Lucius. There's been a break-in here at the library. Hermione is missing, and I need you to come at once."

Within seconds, Harry's tousled head appeared in the flames. "What the hell do you mean missing?" he demanded.

"Just get over here, and I'll explain everything," snapped Lucius.

~*~

Hermione departed from the library without a hitch. No one had seen her leaving or knew where she'd gone.

Hermione felt a bit guilty approaching the house. She'd spent quite a lot of time here following the war. Since then, though, she'd fallen out of touch with the woman who lived here. They'd been fairly good friends for a while, but that friendship had faded considerably once she'd started seeing Severus.

Hermione knew that her friend had very strong feelings concerning people she considered questionable. And she was one who thought anyone even remotely connected with Riddle deserved a Dementor's Kiss. The witch had become rather obsessive in her beliefs, which is what had driven Hermione away from her in the first place.

Coming up the front steps, Hermione was just about to knock on the door when she realized that it was slightly ajar. Worried that the thugs Lucius had been following had found him there, she pulled her wand and proceeded cautiously.

She pushed the door open partway and looked inside. It was dark, and she didn't want to call attention to herself by casting a Lumos, or by calling out to Lucius. She moved carefully inside and down the hall. She'd only taken a few steps when the door behind her slammed shut loudly. Hermione spun around with a muffled shriek.

Seeing the witch who had sent her the note, Hermione lowered her wand as she clutched her chest. "Shit, Annie, you nearly scared the life out of me! I thought that you and Lucius might be in danger when I found the door open. Where is he? You said he was injured."

"So, it's true then. You are with Malfoy now. I had hoped the rumors I heard were a lie. How could you, Hermione?"

"How could I what, Annie?" asked Hermione. She studied her old friend closely. Taking in Annie's disheveled hair and dark, wild eyes, she noticed for the first time how much Annie resembled her sister.

"How could you betray the Order and all they stood for, to take up with Death Eater scum? First, it was Snape..."

Hermione interrupted, "We've had this conversation before. Severus was Dumbledore's man to the bitter end. He may have joined the Death Eaters when he was hardly more than a lad, but he quickly realized his mistake and spent the rest of his life trying to make up for it."

"So he says," Annie sneered. "How do you know he wouldn't have used the same story, in reverse, if Riddle had won? He could have claimed that he was a spy for the Dark Lord all along. Perhaps he was just playing both sides, so no matter who won, he'd come out on top."

"Harry saw his memories. They weren't faked; Ron and I both saw Severus give them directly to Harry," said Hermione patiently.

"And now you're sniffing after Lucius like a bitch in heat, like a Death Eater whore. Are you going to defend him too? Try to convince me he just made a little mistake? He was there in the thick of it all, one of Voldemort's henchmen, and now you've gone over to his side. I never would have thought it of you, Hermione." She sounded disappointed.

"Annie, please... Lucius has paid his dues; he spent the last six years of his life in jail. He lost his wife, his home, his family fortunes. It was proven that he never killed anyone in Voldemort's service. In the end, he was just trying to protect his wife and son."

"Awww... poor little Malfoy," she mocked. "Lost his wifey, did he? Only because she got smart and left him in the end, but she's still alive at least. My husband's dead, and my child as well... both lost to the likes of that filth."

"A lot of people lost friends and family in the war, Annie..."

Before Hermione could say anymore, the older witch made her move. "Expelliarmus!"

Hermione's wand flew from her hand. "What are you doing?" she gasped in outrage. "No!" she cried out seconds later upon seeing the woman snap her wand in two and drop the pieces to the floor.

"I'm dealing out justice, you traitor," Annie answered calmly as she pointed her wand at her former friend. "CRUCIO!"

~*~

Harry arrived at the library within minutes.

"Where is Draco?" asked Lucius before Harry had a chance to speak.

"He's still at home. My godson, Teddy Lupin, has been visiting for a few days. Draco will be along as soon as he can arrange for someone to come sit with Teddy." Looking around, he saw Snape and Mordecai Jones both present. Harry clenched his jaw and rounded on Lucius. "What the bloody hell has been going on here? And where the fuck is Hermione?"

Lucius quickly reviewed the events of the night. Snape and Jones explained their involvement. After hearing it all, Harry rubbed his hands over his face and through his messy hair, making it even messier, if that were even possible. "So, you are telling me that even though you gave Hermione and Draco your promise that you would not go off without letting someone know of your whereabouts, you took off in the middle of the night on a wild goose chase? You left Hermione here alone, unprotected, and then..."

"Hermione is not exactly helpless, Potter. And Lucius did send his Patronus, asking me to come here at once," said Severus in his friend's defense.

"And 'tisn't like Tidbit was kidnapped; she left this house on her own," added Mordy. "The girl needs a keeper, is what she needs."

"Don't you dare try to make this Hermione's fault!" shouted Harry. "She went down to Knockturn Alley that night for you," he said, stabbing his finger at Lucius. "Because she cares. She didn't call the Aurors when you went haring off tonight because she was trying to protect you. Because she cares. She went off on her own without telling anyone because she thought you were hurt and in danger. Because she cares. That's Hermione. When she cares about someone, she'll do anything for them, even at the of risk her own life."

"She'd even go so far as to follow her best friend on a crazy Horcrux hunt and go up against the darkest wizard of our time," said Draco, clasping his hand on Harry's shoulder and giving his father a little wink. He'd come in unnoticed during the midst of Harry's tirade. "Hang in there, Harry. We all care about Hermione. We'll get her back."

Harry returned Draco's handclasp and sat. Swallowing hard, he looked at the other three men. "I shouldn't have lost my temper. It's just... she's very important to me... She's my family."

"Draco's right that we all care about her," offered Severus. "We will find her."

Mordy cleared his throat. "I meant no disrespect, Potter. I di'n't. Tidbit's a peach. Been good to me, she has; more than I d'serve, to be sure."

"All right, gentlemen. Down to business, then. We have work to do." Harry Potter transformed before their eyes from the worried best friend of Hermione Granger to the top Auror in the department. Within minutes, he had delegated jobs and set up a plan of attack.

They agreed the Aurory proper would not be notified. The whole thing had something to do with Lucius, and it was quite clear that someone with influence within the Ministry had been manipulating things for years. Harry put together a very specific team of people he trusted implicitly: Zabini, Bones, Davies, and Ron Weasley. Each had areas of special expertise, and each he would trust with his life or Hermione's.

Other than his initial recounting of the facts upon Harry's arrival, Lucius had sat silently throughout. As everyone set off to carry out the tasks assigned, Harry approached him.

"You were right," said Lucius, his voice flat. "I gave her my word, and I went off anyway. She told me not to go, but I ignored her. I left her here alone, unprotected but for a house-elf."

"No. Snape was right. Hermione's not helpless; she's a very powerful witch. And Jones was right too...she went of her own free will; no one carried her off. I overreacted, and I shouldn't have blamed you."

"You said that she's important to you, that she's your family," said Lucius. Harry nodded in response. "She's important to me as well, very important... but I... I never told her..."

Harry clasped his hand on Lucius shoulder, offering support, just as Draco had offered to him earlier. "Then when we get her back...you make damn sure you do." Lucius nodded. "Now come on, you're partnered with me. I want to interview the house-elf first and check your room for clues."

~*~

Harry glanced at the note. The handwriting, disguised by a charm or possibly a Quick-Quotes Quill, was no one's that he recognized, and the signature meant nothing to him. He could not place any of Hermione's friends with the initials AET. He and Lucius had interviewed a distraught Sukie and didn't get much there, other than being able to estimate the approximate time that Hermione had left.

They did find an owl feather in the bedroom, and Lucius confirmed that neither he nor Hermione had received any owls there recently, so odds were it was from the owl who'd delivered the note. Once analyzed, that might lead them to the source. Roger Davies arrived, and Harry gave him the feather and the note for analysis. Harry kept a copy of the note for Lucius to study, as he kept insisting that there was something familiar about it.

Minutes turned to hours, and no solid leads turned up. The teams began returning, one by one. Both Lucius and Harry were hard pressed not to show their discouragement. It was now mid-afternoon, and nearly twelve hours had passed since Hermione had gone missing. Harry knew that the more time that passed without any leads, the slimmer their chances of finding her became. He didn't tell Lucius this.

Severus and Blaise were the first ones back. They had been tracking the coordinates from the read-outs on Lucius' wand, following the Apparition trail of the two thugs who had broken into the library.

Next came Mordy and Ron, who had been checking Mordy's connections in Knockturn Alley. Earlier, Mordy had sent forth his network of eyes and ears to turn up any signs of Lucius, and now he'd given them Hermione's description. They had one report of a witch who could have been Hermione Apparating into an area near a Muggle neighborhood. It was a slim chance, but they were cross-referencing it with the coordinates that Snape and Zabini had come up with to see if there was a connection.

Davies came back with his reports. The owl was a small tawny owl, very common, and thus it was hard to identify a specific owl. He did provide them with a sketch of the owl with approximate size and accurate coloring noted. Harry studied the sketch closely, his brow furrowed.

Roger went on to the analysis of the note. Luckily, the author had handwritten the note, then charmed the writing to disguise it. A Quick-Quotes Quill would have been a dead end. But Roger had been able to reverse the charm, revealing the original handwriting. Lucius studied the note with a sinking feeling. The handwriting seemed so familiar but he still couldn't quite place it. AET... Who the hell was AET?

Harry took the note from him and immediately paled. "Oh. Fuck me!" he gasped.

Ron looked up from the desk where they'd still been working on the map coordinates. "Harry?" he asked worriedly.

Before Harry had a chance to respond, Susan and Draco came through the Floo in rapid succession. Susan Bones was an Unspeakable and had a top-level clearance, able to go just about anywhere in the entire Ministry. She explained that she and Draco had overheard a report of Unforgiveables being used in a Muggle neighborhood, and when Draco thought the address sounded familiar, they decided to follow up. Draco looked shaken and a little grey around the edges. Stepping into the center of the room, he withdrew his hand from the folds of his cloak and held out two thin pieces of wood.

"Nooo!" cried Lucius in anguish upon seeing the remains of Hermione's wand in his son's hand.

~*~

"It was Andromeda's house, wasn't it?" asked Harry dully. "Just now, I recognized the handwriting and the sketch of her owl."

Draco nodded in reply.

Clutching the remnants of Hermione's wand in his hand, Lucius choked out, "The Unforgivables... What curses were detected?"

"It was the Cruciatus," said Susan.

Lucius sucked in a deep breath and let it out, all in a long sigh, his eyes closed in relief. "No Killing Curse, then?"

Susan gasped, "Oh... Oh, my gods, no! Mr. Malfoy, I'm so sorry. I should have explained that at once."

"But why?" asked Harry. "Why would Andromeda do this? Maybe she was forced to write the note. Maybe she's been abducted and is being held too."

"No, it's her. I'm sure," said Lucius. "It all makes sense now. AET, Andromeda Elladora Tonks. I should have known, but I didn't recognize the T. I still think of her as Black. Before I was betrothed to Cissy, Annie and I used to correspond for a time. She used to sign her letters AEB, and that's why it seemed familiar, but I just couldn't place it. I learned later that she had hoped for a match between the two of us. She was furious when my father arranged my engagement to Narcissa. I thought she and I were just friends; I didn't think of her that way."

"And you think she would go to these extremes over some petty jealousy from years ago?" asked Ron doubtfully.

Lucius shook his head. "No, it's more than just that. Andromeda has hated me for a very long time. She blamed me for her alienation from her sister, her family. She felt that if we had not been so closely tied to the Dark Lord, her marriage to a Muggle-born would not have been so harshly judged, and perhaps her family would not have disowned her."

"But, Annie wouldn't hurt Hermione," objected Harry. "They were good friends. Hermione lived with her for nearly a year and a half after the war and helped her care for Teddy. Even after Hermione moved out, they were still close. It doesn't make sense."

Severus spoke up, "Andromeda has become increasingly unstable over the years, dwelling on the deaths of Ted, Nymphadora, and Lupin. When Hermione started seeing me, Andromeda cut her off completely. In spite of everything, she considered me tainted by my time spent as a Death Eater. She tried to convince Hermione that I had never really changed sides, that I was working for Riddle all along."

"Was this woman the Mrs. Tonks who was Nymphadora Lupin's mother?" asked Roger Davies. At Harry's nod, Roger continued. "She's a real odd duck down at the Ministry. She's always saying things like the Death Eaters are going to come back and we all need to be ready, vigilant she says. She's really very strange. I've heard tell..." Suddenly, he stopped. "I'm sorry, but I shouldn't say any more. It's probably just gossip, after all."

"No, Roger. She's our number one suspect," said Harry. "We need to know as much as we can about her. She's obviously not the woman some of us remember her to be."

"Well, rumor has it that she's been reprimanded several times for messing around in departments and areas that have nothing at all to do with her job: switching files, bribing underlings, that sort of thing. Recently, I heard she changed the records on some guy's terms of parole. They say she never gets fired because the higher-ups feel sorry for her because of her having lost her family in the war. Plus, they say she has very influential connections."

"I believe that would be you, Harry," said Draco.

"Shit!" swore Harry.

~*~

Hermione awoke shivering in a strange place, lying on a cold stone floor. She'd been in the basement in Annie's house before, and this wasn't it. She must have been moved somewhere else while she was unconscious.

Hermione dragged herself to her feet; her body ached all over from the torture she'd endured. She wasn't sure how long it had lasted. She didn't think it was as long as when she'd been tortured during the war, but obviously, it was long enough to make her black out. Merlin! She'd thought that she would never have to go through anything like that again.

The witch had gone insane. The grief of losing her husband and daughter in the war must have festered for years, finally driving her over the edge. Hermione began carefully exploring her cell, hoping against hope to find a way out before the woman came back.

After circling the room several times, she came to the conclusion there was no way out, except the way she was brought in...through the door. The cell was fairly large, as cells went, about nine by five meters or so, with solid stone walls and floor, ceilings over three meters tall, iron bars for a door. There was only one tiny slit of a window on one side of the room, high up at the top of the wall. It was about a meter long but only about twenty centimeters tall, and there was no way she could fit through that, even if she could reach it, which she couldn't.

She'd discovered a toilet in the corner, although it was little more than a raised seat over a pit in the floor. Primitive, but better than going on the floor. Next to it was an ancient sink that spewed greyish-colored water that smelled a bit sulfurous. She was afraid to drink it, but at least she had the option if she got truly desperate. In the opposite corner, she found an old canvas army cot that was musty and mildewy. At least it seemed solid enough to hold her and was up off the cold stone floor.

By the rumbling in her stomach, Hermione figured it must be late afternoon. She stared up at the tiny window, trying to determine the time by the amount of light it shed. Concentrating so hard on the window, she didn't hear her captor approach. Annie cackled behind her and shoved a tray under the door of the cell with what looked like a bowl of watery soup, some bread, and a small pot of tea.

"You'd never fit through there, and it doesn't open anyway."

Hermione flew to the door and clutched the bars. "Annie, you have to let me go."

"Let you go? Oh, no. I don't think so. You're one of them now, so I have to punish you."

"Annie, no. Please. I'm Hermione; I'm your friend."

The witch pointed her wand at Hermione with a wild look in her eye. "You're no friend to me, Hermione Granger. You're nothing but a filthy Death Eater's whore now, you little slut. Sniffing after them, rutting with them. You'll get what's coming to you. I'll make sure of that."

"Annie, listen to me; I'm Hermione. I'm still your friend. I was your daughter's friend. She wouldn't want you to do this...please listen to me."

"You filth! Don't you dare mention my daughter! I don't ever want to hear you speak of her; you aren't even worthy to say her name, you whore! CRUCIO!"

Hermione fell to the floor, writhing in pain, and she tried not to let herself scream, but in the end she had no choice. This was much worse than the day before. Either Annie was getting better at casting the curse or was just angrier today than she had been before. She held it for what felt like several minutes. Just when it was easing and Hermione thought the worst was over, she cast again. "CRUCIO!"

Hermione screamed so long and so loudly that her throat became raw and hoarse. She could understand now how Neville's parents had been driven insane. How long could this go on before the same happened to her? She started to lose consciousness, and she welcomed the oblivion.

"Rennervate!" Annie revived her. "Oh, no, you don't, you little bitch. You're not getting off that easy. I'm nowhere near done with you yet. CRUCIO!"

Oh, dear gods, yesterday's session was a little slap and tickle compared to this. She was going to die here with this crazy woman. No one would ever know what had happened to her. She would just disappear, and no one would ever know. Lucius, Severus, Harry...none of them would ever know.

Finally, it was quiet. Was she dead, she wondered? No, not that lucky, apparently. Everything hurt. She couldn't move, but her body was still shaking. Aftershocks, she guessed. She'd vomited all over and was lying in her own sick, but she couldn't gather enough energy to roll out of it. Hermione assumed she was alone until she heard the voice of her tormentor behind her. Ohgodohgodohgod, not again, not again. She whimpered in fear and felt a hot gush as she pissed herself. She couldn't take any more; she truly couldn't.

But the curse didn't come again. The voice just muttered, "Now look what you've done, you naughty girl; you've spilled your tray. Well, you won't get another until tonight...if I'm feeling generous. Maybe tomorrow, if I'm not." Annie chuckled evilly as she watched Hermione shivering on the floor. "Hmmm..." The door creaked open on rusty hinges. "Here, I wouldn't want you to catch a chill," Annie said as she tossed something over Hermione. Then the door clanged shut, and the lock clicked as the sound of her footsteps echoed up the stairs.

Hermione was alone now. Still alive, it seemed, but unsure as to that whether that was a good thing anymore. She dragged herself to her hands and knees; she had to get off the cold floor before she developed hypothermia. Clutching the blanket to her, Hermione crawled to the cot, inch by inch, and heaved herself onto it. Just before she blacked out, she pulled the blanket over her and realized it was no blanket at all, but her own cloak. A surge of excitement engulfed her, but not enough to stave off unconsciousness. Still, if luck was with her and she managed not to die before she woke up, there was a chance that her beaded bag was still shrunk and hidden in the secret pocket of her cloak.

TBC