Heartbeat

Chapter 7- Torture

Hermione

"My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know."

Harry, Ron, and I trudge through Malfoy Manor, very closely flanked by our escorts. Blood drips from the corner of my mouth, and my heart pounds in fear against my chest. 

"Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?" Lucius Malfoy asks, jerking Harry forward, and leaving me and Ron kneeling behind him. 

"I don't know," Malfoy says. 

I can barely see Malfoy; I tilt my head up to get a clearer view, and something wrenches inside me. There's something way too familiar about this face . . .

I look at Ron to see if he feels this way too, but all his expression carries is a hateful resentment.

Malfoy's hair is flattened against his head, and his eyes don't have the same smugness they had at Hogwarts. His face is pale, too pale, and when he looks at me, he jerks his head in pain, as if someone had slapped him.

Malfoy's face holds a reluctance as he looks as his father, and once his gaze lands on Harry, it turns fearful. He goes to stand by his mother, near the fireplace.

"Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?" Narcissca Malfoy asks, her voice urgent.

"I- maybe, yeah," Draco says, but he's not even looking at me; his back is to Harry, Ron, and I. 

He seems to be staring into a cup of drained black tea on a small table, as if wishing for nothing more than to drown himself in the dregs. Narcissca and Lucius Malfoy exchange an exasperated look at their son's vague behavior.

And suddenly, everything's a blur. Bellatrix is dragging me by my hair to the center of the hall, Harry and Ron are being escorted to down to the cellar, and Draco is dragging the unconscious bodies of the Snatchers outside the room. 

Bellatrix waits until they've left the room before turning her attention on me. Her eyes hold a livid fire. Fear is crackling through me; I can feel myself trembling. 

"Where," she growls, tightening her grip on my scalp. "Did you get this sword?"

My mind reels, and I try to think up of a reasonable lie. But her eyes bore into mine, and I can't get my mind blank, because it's drowning in fear. I decide that the truth is my only option.

"We found it in the woods," I say, my voice coming out as a frightened squeak. 

"My patience is wearing thin, mudblood," Bellatrix sneers. 

She flips the short silver knife open, and holds it to my throat. 

"Tell me, filth. Where did you get this sword?"

"In the woods! No, please . . . We found it in the Forest of Dean, underneath a frozen pond!"

She hits me full around the face, and I fall to the floor with the force of the blow. I feel fresh blood trickle down my face.

"I will ask once more. This is from my vault in Gringotts bank. Where did you get this sword?" 

"In the woods, under a frozen pond-"

"CRUCIO!"

I let out a bloodcurdling scream that does nothing to help the excruciating pain. I faintly hear Ron yelling my name, but I can't focus; all I can feel is the pain. 

"Please!" I beg, trying to muster the strength to get to my knees. "PLEASE!"

She relaxes her wand, and I slump down, the pain gone, but the horrible ache still present.