Hermione stared at the empty air, stupidly. She tore her eyes away from where her best friends had been standing seconds before and gazed at the chandelier, shattered on the floor of the ballroom, in shock. Suddenly Voldemort materialized in the middle of the ballroom, and she jumped, startled.

"Well, well, well. What is this mess? Was I summoned for my decorating expertise, Lucius?"

"My Lord, we had Harry Pott—"

"Had? Crucio."

Simultaneously, Hermione heard all 5 occupants of the room cry out, all but Fenrir falling to the ground. Despite herself, Hermione was impressed with the precision of the magic wielded by the evil wizard before her. The wandless magic alone was quite impressive, but adding in such a targeted spell was something else entirely.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Mudblood. I am impatient to see how impressed this makes you."

Suddenly Hermione's whole body was on fire. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't scream. She simply fell to the floor, limbs stiff. Bellatrix's curses felt like a mild sunburn compared to the inferno that engulfed her now. Just before she blacked out again, it ended.

"Harry Potter's Mudblood. Whatever shall we do with you?"

"She's mine, Voldemort."

Voldemort drew back his arm, murderous rage in his eyes. Watching him prepare to kill Greyback, something in Hermione twinged.

"No! Don't!" Gasping, she clapped a hand over her mouth. Where did that come from?

"Excuse me?" Voldemort asked, turning to her.

Hermione kept her lips clamped shut and her eyes pointedly on the floor, the nausea returning full force. While she knew he didn't necessarily need eye contact to read her thoughts, she wasn't going to make it easy for him. She began to replay the events since their arrival in the Manor over again, trying to determine what compelled her to speak up for Greyback's life.

Swallowing against the sudden flow of bile in her throat, she closed her eyes to avoid reality a moment. The images that flashed behind her eyes caused her to shake. She had been in so much pain, it was like nothing she had ever imagined. Finally, blissfully, she had slipped into unconsciousness. She came to with a knife to her throat, the same cursed knife that had carved up her arms and legs with hundreds of tiny, painful cuts. Griphook was at her feet, clutching the Sword. Everyone was yelling, Ron and Harry were there, having escaped from the dungeon somehow. Bellatrix was taunting Harry with the imminent arrival of Voldemort, and shouting orders to Narcissa. She swallowed again, the bile rising more forcefully as she recalled Bellatrix casually gifting her to Greyback as though she were chattel. Then, more chaos. Dobby arrived, scolding Narcissa for her attempts to harm Harry Potter. He dropped the chandelier on Hermione and Bellatrix, and although Bellatrix rolled out of the way, Hermione was still too dazed to move. It was then that Greyback shouted "Accio Mudblood!" and Hermione felt herself propelled across the room, the chandelier crashing down to where she had been sprawled just moments before. Taking advantage of the chaos, Harry snatched the wands away from Draco as Ron charged Fenrir. He was hit with a curse before he took 2 steps, falling next to Griphook amidst the wreckage.

Harry turned to Greyback, eyes flashing. Raising the 3 wands he had wrested from Draco, he yelled "Stupefy!" Greyback threw up a quick shield, growling when the force of the triple spell slamming into his shield forced him back several inches. He retaliated with a dark curse Hermione didn't recognize. Harry attempted to dodge the curse, but cried out as it hit him in his upper right arm.

"Don't let him get away! The Dark Lord is coming!' Bellatrix cried, impotent without her wand.

Dobby snapped his fingers and Narcissa's wand flew into the darkness on the other side of the room. Bellatrix screamed in rage and shouted at Fenrir to do something. He cast another curse in Harry's direction, chuckling darkly as he hit his target.

"Harry Potter, we must go. The Dark Lord is being here," Dobby said, grabbing Ron by the arm.

"No, Hermione! We can't leave her!"

"Mr. Harry Potter must not die. Harry Potter be winning the war." Dobby looked at Hermione with sadness and a resolve in his eyes that shook her to her core. "Dobby is very sorry," the elf whispered, as he grabbed Harry and Ron and Disapparated with a soft pop. Before they disappeared fully, Bellatrix let out a cry of rage and threw the tiny dagger hard, a dark smile lighting her face at confirmation it made contact.

Hermione seized her Gryffindor courage and opened her eyes. Her breath began to race as she saw the unbelievably large arm still clamped around her mid-section. She recoiled from his acrid breath as the werewolf licked her cheek. As he began to chuckle, she couldn't help herself. She leaned forward and threw up, the horrible reality of her current situation, as well as the after effects of Bellatrix's curses catching up with her. Greyback snarled, waving his wand to vanish the mess.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes speculatively, watching Hermione. Suddenly, he chuckled, a dark, sinister sound.

"Well done, Greyback. Very well, you may keep your prize. I may have need of her on occasion, so do try not to break her."

"I will try my best," Greyback replied, licking his lips, "I would love to see her swollen with my pups."

Hermione shuddered, a sob breaking through. Bellatrix cackled, clapping her hands in glee. Hermione whimpered, lost in her confusion, unable to process what his words meant.

"Your new pet requires clarification, Fenrir."

A ghastly smile lit up his face, and he reached out, grabbing her chin. He turned her face to the wreckage of the chandelier on the floor.

"See there? How do you think you would've fared if I would've left you there, in a heap on the floor? That compulsion you feel? The need to protect me from harm? That is a life debt. It won't go away until you satisfy the debt. I would imagine that will prove quite difficult once we are among the wolves, as the only thing keeping you from death will be my protection. That will only strengthen the debt until one day it grows so large you won't ever be able to repay it. But don't worry, Pet. We are going to have such fun together."