Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not my characters. Just borrowing for a bit.

Thanks go to Charmed_Nay for the beta (has been my main beta for three years now)! You're so good to me.

"My Lord, if I might speak..."

"You may not, Rabastan," came the soft reply. His slitty eyes met Snape's. "Severusss?"

With a nod, Severus said, "Potter and Weasley showed up, my Lord. She'd informed them of the meeting."

"I thought she might," he said thoughtfully, bringing a bony finger up to rest on his chin for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and his gaze swung back to Rabastan. "What is it?"

"My Lord, Snape, he wouldn't let me handle Potter." He looked over at Snape apologetically before turning back to his Lord. "It would have saved you the trouble and the time."

"And you are upset about this because..."

Blinking, Rabastan repeated, "Well, it would have made things easier."

"I will be the last face that boy sees before he dies," the Dark Lord said forcefully, rising from his chair, wand raised. "You wanted recognition. You wanted glory."

"N-no, my Lord," Rabastan said, shuffling side to side nervously, not daring a glance at Severus.

"You wish to have the girl as well."

"I... Well, I wouldn't mind, Master." Chancing a glance at Severus, he quickly added, "I believe I could intimidate her more... make her talk. She doesn't seem too leery of Severus, my Lord."

"Liar!" said his Master. A jet of purple light hit Rabastan in the arm he'd received his hex on, causing him to scream and fall to his knees clutching it. "You want her for your own pleasure more than what you could do for the cause." Releasing the spell on his follower, he turned to Severus. "What shall you do now that our initial plan has been thwarted?"

"Master, I intend to gain her trust by playing honorable, letting her think that I am helping her friends.... I feel the task will be quite easy." He arched an eyebrow and looked towards his kneeling friend. "However, outside interference would set things back. She must feel safe with me right now if nothing else."

"Agreed. See that it's done and keep me apprised of any progress." Voice softening to a mocking sweet tone, he said, "Dear Rabastan, where are my manners? You may rise now, my friend."

"Thank you, Master."

"Remember always the kindness Lord Voldemort has shown you. Mistakes disappoint me so very much. Before you go..." He paused and called out, "Wormtail, come here."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"You will go with Severusss and Rabastan. I've things to do and do not need you underfoot."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Severusss, have Rabastan redeem himself by sending him on that last assignment we talked about in your stead."

"I will see it done."

"Off, the lot of you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Awww, is the ickle wittle Mudbwood sweeping alweady?" Bellatrix taunted.

Hermione nervously opened her eyes and scooted up to a sitting position. "I wasn't sleeping."

Curling her lips in disgust, the dark-haired woman looked Hermione up and down. "Whatever does Severus want with you?" she asked finally. "Plain brown hair...unruly at that. Plain brown eyes. Not even beautiful." When there was no reply, she grinned slyly. "Now that Narcissa is out of here, she won't have to put up with his filthy hands on her." She reached out and placed a hand on Hermione's bound wrist and slid it slowly down her forearm, smirking as her prey flinched and tried to move away. "Looks like you're a little tied up." Lowering her voice to a whisper, she confided, "Snape likes it rough. I'll bet he'll keep you bound and beat you until you're nearly unconscious before he finally fucks you. Why, I remember..."

"What are you doing?"

Bellatrix straightened up, momentarily startled, and then flashed her sister an affectionate smile. "Playing with my new toy."

"Severus doesn't want us to bother her."

"Come now, Cissy. Not up for a spot of fun then? Snape and Rab's going to be gone for a while yet."

Ignoring her sister, Narcissa walked into the room and tossed what looked to be old sheets onto the bed. "Here. You'll be wearing these until Severus gives you something else."

"Would you let me go?" Hermione asked suddenly, trying to make a plea to what appeared to be Narcissa's sympathetic side.

Unfortunately, both women started laughing. "Come, Bella. Let's leave before Severus returns."

With a resigned sigh, Bellatrix said, "You're just no fun these days, Cissy." She watched as her sister left and then faced Hermione again. "You won't get out of here alive, little Mudblood."

The glint in her eye left no doubt for Hermione that the woman would personally enjoy ending her stay with them. What have I got myself into? Why did I trust Snape? Why did I tell Harry and Ron?

A shuffling sound brought her attention to the curtain's entrance once again, and she was surprised to see Draco standing there, peeking in at her, eyes filled with something akin to horror.

"Malfoy?" she said uncertainly. "C-can you help me?"

He shook his head and quickly glanced back over his shoulder before stepping in. "You've gone and done it now, Granger!" he whispered.

Losing a little of the hope that had flared within, she turned her face away from him and said, "You think I don't know that?"

"There're wards. You can't leave. No Apparition. No Floo."

"Yes, I tried already," she said dryly, then realized he was still talking, seemingly not noticing she'd commented. Her gaze went back to his emotional face.

"Everyone expecting things of you that you don't want to do. Never getting a chance to be alone to think!"

"Ar-are you a prisoner here, Draco?"

His eyes met hers, but he said nothing.

"Can you help me?"

He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he was pushed aside by Rabastan Lestrange. "Ah, there's a good lad. Keeping her company, eh?"

"Where's Snape?" Draco asked, nervously gazing between Hermione and his aunt's brother-in-law.

"Oh, he's taking care of a little rat problem." He leered at Hermione and moved towards her.

"What do you want?" she asked defiantly, readying her leg to kick him if he got too close.

"Just making sure Snape's little treasure is comfortable. Wouldn't want you to be lonely... or cold." He smirked and motioned for Draco to enter. "Come see this, boy. I'm going to keep the lass warm, I am."

"But Snape said..."

"Bugger Snape and his orders. He's not my da, you know."

Hermione was horrified, but then she saw Draco straighten up and puff out his chest, fists clenching at his side. He was going to take up for her...she could sense it. Lestrange gave him a sideways glance, expression asking if there was a problem.

Then Hermione's hope shattered once again.

"How dare you think that I would want to watch you do anything with that Mudblood scum?" He looked at her coldly. "I've always hated her...bloody swot, always trying to impress everyone with things she'd read, lucking out and besting me on tests." He sneered. "Likely sucking up to the professors." Stepping closer, he asked, "Never thought I'd see the day when Snape'd pick someone like you. Bet he's had you propped under his desk a few times doing your dirty deed down low while he graded papers. You seemed to get right to it earlier!"

Rabastan snickered. "Be a good lad and stand just round there then. If you see Snape coming, let me know."

"No way," he said flatly. "I'm not going to let Snape see me around here."

"Oi, come on! It won't take long. 'S been a while for me."

"You're not going to touch me!" Hermione bit out, readying herself for a fight.

Ignoring her outburst, Rabastan said, "You should take orders from your elders, boy."

"I am," Draco replied arrogantly. "Snape runs this place and told us to leave off." He nodded towards Hermione. "I won't jeopardize my new standing for the likes of that. You're on your own, mate."

"Then bugger off, you ingrate. You're wasting my time. Won't be long before the bloke's done now and on his way back," he replied testily.

Giving her one last glance, Draco left. Hermione swallowed some of her fear and told the man, "If you come near me, I promise you'll regret it." She balled her fists up and drew herself up to a crouching position, ready to pounce, heart hammering in her chest.

The man simply grinned in amusement and lifted his wand. Instantly, three other ropes appeared, all rough and scratchy...nothing like the soft one Snape had conjured. Before she realized what was happening, the magical bindings had her sprawled on the bed, legs spread widely. She realized then that he was serious and that, being bound, there was little she could do to stop him.

"Stay back!" she loudly yelled, hoping someone would come and put an end to it. However, she doubted if anyone else would dare approach them, especially not after what Draco...her last hope...had said.

Another flick of his wand saw a jet of light connecting with her chest, and no matter how much she screamed or swore at the bastard, no sound came out. Writhing desperately against her binds, she tried to free herself, all the while watching him lift his robes and toss down his trousers to reveal a thick, already hardened member.

"Ah, see that? 'E likes a good struggle." He made a humming noise of appreciation. "Yeah, keep bucking like that, lass. It's what I want, you see."

Suddenly going still, eyes wide with horror, she watched as he approached the bed after kicking his trousers away. One hand gripped and slid over his erection while the other held his robes out of the way and gripped his wand. The bed sagged and shook as he climbed in and moved between her legs.

"Looks like you'll need to be rid of these clothes, eh?"

At that, her mouth opened and would have screamed the word 'no' had she not been silenced as she tried to scoot away from his advance.

"I believe I told you to stay away from what's mine," said a silky, dangerously quiet voice.

Hermione had never been so happy to see Snape in all her life. And to think, he'd showed up before the arsehole could remove her clothes, but the humiliation and total feeling of helplessness had already left its mark. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched Snape flick his wand a few times.

Rabastan jumped away from her and off the bed as if he'd been burned, and his trousers lifted from the floor, hovered in place for a moment, and then lurched towards the half naked man, who still had a grip on his robes.

"Bloody fuck, Snape!" he yelled. "Call it off, you wanker!"

The trousers had shrunk and wrapped tightly around his erection, obviously squeezing it from the frantic way he was hopping about.

"If I ever find you in these rooms again, I'll make certain there's nothing down there needing tending to. Do I make myself clear?" Snape stepped closer, wand leveled at the man's chest.

"Yes! Finite! What the fuck? Call it off!"

With a vicious smirk, Snape flicked his wrist, calling the attacking trousers off. "Get out."

Rabastan fled without donning his trousers or saying another word. It was only then that Hermione realized she was completely unbound and could speak again. Wiping at her wet cheeks, she noticed that the wrist that had been bound by Rabastan's rough rope was bloodied and burning. A glance down at her ankles showed the same results.

"Are you all right?" Snape asked, coming closer.

"Stay back," she said, throat tight, chest heavy.

"I need to heal you," he said, disregarding her plea and sitting next to her. When he reached out to take her hand, she snatched it back. "Miss Granger, I've just rid you of your aggressor. Surely you can trust me."

"I wish you hadn't brought me here. You could have left me there."

"You left me no choice," he said accusingly as he spelled away the abrasions on her flesh.

She wanted to cry, but she knew that by doing so, she was showing him weakness. Before he'd gone off to see Voldemort, he'd made her feel at ease. However, she'd been harassed by the others, let down by Malfoy...though why she'd hoped he'd help her was beyond her...and nearly raped. She supposed she should be grateful that he'd helped her, but at the moment, she blamed him for everything she felt and would have liked nothing more than to slap the nonchalant expression from his face.

"I'll bet you'd like to hit me," he said suddenly.

Hermione looked up to see that he was staring at her thoughtfully. "Yes."

"And rage at me?"

"Yes."

"You're putting all of the blame on me and none on yourself."

"It's your doing that has me here! You know you could have left me there and made some excuse about someone else showing up," she said with an angry hiss.

He rose and ignored her statements...instead moving towards his wardrobe where he took off his cloak and hung it. Next, he worked on the fastenings of his robes and hung them up as well.

"What are you doing?" she asked nervously.

He turned, made his way back to her, and roughly pulled her up from the bed, keeping his grip on her arms tight.

"Snape! Stop!"

When he began lowering his head, she began to frantically struggle to free herself from him, kicking and scratching and pushing...anything.

"No!"

Shaking her slightly, he flashed a sinister smile. "Do you think your feeble attempts to dislodge me could truly work if I seriously wanted to harm you?"

"Get your hands off of me."

"Scream at me. Rage all you want. Tell me how you really feel." His lips were curled in disgust as he gazed at her with disdain...much like the Snape she was used to at Hogwarts.

"I hate you! I wish you'd never brought me here! I thought we could trust you...you betrayed us. Harry was right!" she yelled as loudly as she could. Hermione began pummeling his chest with her fists, trying to hurt him as much as she was hurting. "Why didn't you just leave me alone? Wh-why couldn't it ha-have been som-someone else?" All of her emotions were peaking, and her words were littered with sobs. Spent, she finally collapsed against him, taking comfort in the strong embrace he offered her.

Continuing to cry softly, she listened to the words he whispered in her ear. "I did not wish for this. I hope you believe that, but if you are to survive, you must play the part. Same for me."

"I... I can't do this. I thought I could, but they..." Her words trailed away, unable to voice the fear and vulnerability she'd felt at the hands of his friends.

"You will be able to do this," he murmured, moving them towards the bed. If she'd had the energy, she would have fought him again, but she couldn't muster even an ounce and simply allowed him to lower her to the soft mattress and climb in beside her. "Nox."

"What are you doing?" she asked softly once the lamps were extinguished.

"We need the privacy," he replied in a whisper. "They are likely watching us."

"Is that why you taunted me? You wanted me to make a scene for them?"

"You're a very bright girl. I am glad that you're catching on. They will think you've rebelled against me after what he did to you, and now that things are quiet, they'll think that you are submitting to my will."

"Lestrange... he was going to..."

"I won't let him touch you," he vowed firmly.

"But how can you stop it if you aren't here?"

"I'll not leave you unprotected again. If I must go, you will be safely warded within."

This made Hermione feel better immediately. At least she wouldn't have to put up with their snide comments or anything worse. "So, I can just stay in here then and not bother with them?"

"I'm afraid that I will ask you to venture out with me at times. You'll find that their company can be quite pleasant upon occasion," he said, reaching down to pull the kicked away duvet over them.

Hermione realized that he was still holding her and that her back was pressed against his front firmly. Yes, she knew that she should be horrified, but for some odd reason, it felt comforting to know that at least Snape wouldn't try to harm her.

Not try to harm you? He's already Polyjuiced himself as your lover and tried to have a go at you! Don't trust him! a voice screamed.

Another countered, saying, Just go along with things for now. If he thinks you're playing along with his scheme, he'll start trusting you and slip up. You'll find a way out of here.

But Malfoy said he's tried and can't!

You're much smarter than that blighter.

"When do I start to act as if I'm in love with you?" she asked bluntly.

His deep chuckle startled her. "I think that will come in time, don't you?"

She didn't reply and wondered if he realized that he sounded serious. Was he playing her? Was this truly a game to win her over? Hermione vowed to not fall into his trap, whatever it might truly be. She'd find her own way out of this...without him if need be.

"The Dark Lord... what did he say about me?"

"Why don't you just rest now? We've all the time we need to talk later. Once you awake, I'll get something for you to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Hermione," he began slowly, "you won't do yourself any favors by being defiant or by starving yourself. Trust me. The only way to get out of this alive and mostly unscathed is to follow through with this ruse."

"And do you still promise not to overstep the line again, Professor?"

"I've already said that I wouldn't," he said, clearly irritated. "And you might as well stop calling me that."

"All right, Snape."

"Or Severus."

"Snape it is."

"Whatever you like, Hermione."

She remained silent and rejoiced inwardly as he moved away from her, releasing his hold on her. So long as he was nearby, it was enough to make her feel safe...mostly. For now, she wished Ron would be there to hold her and kiss away her worries. Biting her lip, she thought of her friends and the worry this was likely causing them. She hoped that they had faith enough in her to know that she would survive... hoped they would use Snape's message to their advantage... hoped this would be over soon. She'd never missed Grimmauld Place or her two friends as much as she did in that moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus slipped from the bed, toed on his discarded boots, and left in search of Rabastan. He didn't have to go very far, as he was sitting near the fire smoking a pipe. Gesturing for him to follow him, he led the way outside and to a spot far away from the building.

"Well?" Rabastan asked once a spell was cast to keep their conversation from being overheard.

"It worked. She feels she can only trust me," Severus replied, crossing his arms. "However, I believe you were suppose to go in and give her a scare...verbally, not physically."

"You were taking too long! Didn't want her to think I was all talk," he replied, adding, "and I sure as hell don't appreciate that bloody hex you put on my trousers. Bout tore my dick off, that!"

"Serves you right," he replied evenly. "Did you think I was jesting when I said to stay away from what's mine?"

After a small silence, Rabastan said, "I'll not touch her again...without permission."

"Agreed."

"Now, what is it that our Lord wants me to do? And why'd he send the pesky rat here with us? Just what we need! Nosy little tosser snooping about, spying on us!"

"There is an item of great importance that the Master wants retrieved. Fetching it, however, will be risky. Wormtail will be used for this, and if something happens to him, then it's no big loss to us. He planned to send me to oversee it, but I will be sending you in my stead. Do this successfully, and you will have gained favor."

"Yeah, that'll do. Seems like no matter what lately, he casts that damn Cruciatus at me. Getting right tired of it, I am."

"Don't say that too loudly around the others, my friend, else you'll have him finding out you're feelings."

Nodding, Rabastan said, "When and where?"

"I'll disclose that information to you in the morning. There's a potion that will be completed shortly. You'll both have to take a vial of it with you... just in case something goes awry."

"Sounds dodgy, this plan."

"It is, but it's our Lord's bidding."

"Then it shall be done. Come. Let's have a game of chess and a whisky."

"Fair enough."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Narcissa had heard the girl's crying and rants at Severus and cringed inwardly. She didn't like the girl, of course, but one could feel sympathy to those in unfortunate situations. She never did like violence and would rather not have a part in it. She could tell that her son disagreed with whatever Rabastan had done and then whatever Severus had done to her after. However, it hadn't taken long for the girl's cries to quiet and for the lights to turn off completely. She couldn't see anything through the filmy curtain since it was darker within, but she imagined Severus was all over the girl...if the way he'd been looking at her earlier was anything to go by.

She felt a small pang of jealousy. All this time, she'd needed someone to comfort her, and it had been hard enough to get him to hold her now and then while she slept...and that was after he'd taken her so roughly the night he and Draco had fled Hogwarts.

Soon enough, Lucius would be free from Azkaban. She was uncertain what he'd say about how things had gone down, but hopefully, he would understand that she was simply trying to preserve their family and that Severus was just a means to an end... and her body a small price to pay to keep Draco safe.

Her gaze landed on Draco again, and she saw that he also darted glances towards Snape's room, obviously wondering about the girl's state. When he noticed his mother watching him, he flushed guiltily and started reading the book in his hands...or pretending to read it anyway. She hoped he wasn't lusting after her and planning to try to sneak in to see her for his own pleasure. Narcissa's eyes narrowed. She'd have no rapist for a son. There were too many of those about as it stood already. Yes, it would do him well to have Lucius back in the fold. Only his father could truly guide him appropriately. With a sigh, she thought, At least he has Severus' protection until then. Hopefully.

Southern's Excuses: I'm so sorry that this took so long in coming. There's been a great deal of things going on for me lately. Finally, everything's coming together again. LOL I just wasn't very inspired to write this story, as this transition chapter was hard to shape up. I have most of the next three chapters written out already, as I'd planned them ages ago, so the wait will certainly not be as long. Thanks for those who are reading and also to those reviewing. I truly appreciate it and the encouragement.