If You Were Mine

Ransom

Lily told her everything that had happened over the past twelve hours since she had been abducted by snatchers. She was a half blood witch from Hogsmeade who had been taken from her home with many other young witches and wizards, by orders of the dark lord who wanted to make an example of them to the Wizarding world. They were to be rounded up and taken to the town square after the battle. The dark lord would then require each household to swear allegiances to him, refusal would result in a public execution or torture of their stolen family member.

'You don't have to worry about him anymore... Voldemort is dead, I saw it happen,' Hermione announced and the cages fell silent.

A snatcher overheard and quickly told the rest of his group. The dark wizards all exchanged worried glances, and the Death Eater was outraged. He stormed to the cage to dispute her claims.

'Lies and conjecture!' he said loudly, for everyone to hear. He held his wand out, flicked his wrist and Hermione was flung forward towards the bars; she smashed into them, her feet off the ground. 'You expect us to believe that the dark Lord was defeated by a scrawny teenage boy?!' he said cackling and all the other men sniggered in agreement.

'No!' Hermione said and he dropped her. She landed on her feet, wobbled but managed to steady herself. 'But... Voldemort is still dead!' she added calmly. The Death Eater sighed heavily.

'Wishful thinking wont save you child,' he told her, his voice laced with venom.

'Harry Potter is dead too,' she announced and this time the people in the cages gasped looking worried. Saying the words out loud tugged at her heart and she almost felt her defensive walls crumble. 'Voldemort died when he killed Harry... I saw it with my own eyes,' she explained. 'You will find out soon enough,' she said shrugging. He rushed at the cage, then slammed her forward towards the bars again.

'I should cut out your tongue for such insolence!' he hissed.

'Check your dark mark!' Hermione said, struggling to breathe. He dropped her again, this time she thumped to the floor onto her backside. Hermione straightened her jacket before getting back up onto her feet.

The Death Eater inspected his dark mark. Just as she expected, it had started to fade like a distant memory. His face fell. He turned to Hermione his wand pointed at her face.

'Legilimens!' he cried. Hermione felt a searing pain in her head and she crumpled to the floor in agony as if she was experiencing the worst migraine of her life. She could feel the Death Eater in her head, scrolling through her memories, gathering all the information he needed. It didn't last long, but it felt like a lifetime. Hermione fell back onto the ground, her head pounding. She watched the horror flash before the Death Eaters eyes as he realised she was telling the truth, his master was dead; his orders and purpose obsolete.

The snatchers gathered around him, eagerly awaiting confirmation. Hermione worried she might have made a mistake... what would happen to all the captives if they were no longer needed by Voldemort?

'The Dark lord... is dead,' he announced. The Snatchers looked at each other in disbelief.

'It cant be true... she is lying!' said one of the snatchers.

'I've seen it in her mind... she speaks the truth,'

'What do we do now?' another asked, sounding nervous.

'What should we do with the prisoners?' the Snatcher with the missing teeth asked. The Death eater studied Hermione for a few moments then gave her a winning smile.

'Kill...'

'Trade us!' Hermione interrupted him before he could condemn them all. 'Trade us for your fellow dark wizards! Many have been captured... you can trade us for their freedoms and rebuild your army's!' she blurted.