'She's going to kill me.' Hermione was breathing rapidly as Bellatrix Lestrange, in all her mad glory, stalked towards her. Ron was calling her name as he and Harry were dragged to the Malfoy's dungeon. The dark witch was all predator, with a fiery glint in her eye as she backed Hermione against the wall.

"We're going to have a little chat, girl to girl." The woman was beautiful and dangerous, forbidden yet alluring, the same as Hermione remembered from the department of mysteries, she dismissed these thoughts immediately, they would definitely not help her right now. She couldn't help the fear that caused her body to tremble under the witch's gaze. She was roughly grabbed, and thrown to the ground as the room emptied, leaving her alone at the mercy of the deranged witch.

"Listen to me carefully little mudblood, it's very important you answer all of my questions truthfully. The more you lie, the worse it's going to get for you." The woman hissed down at her before crucioing her for good measure. The pain was unbelievable, excruciating, and Hermione screamed at the mercy of the death eater. This continued for a few minutes, until the pain stopped suddenly and Hermione was barely aware of Bellatrix straddling her, looking up into those dark eyes, she knew she was really in trouble. "How did you get into my vault?"

"I didn't, I swear." Hermione whimpered under the ferocious woman. Something wicked flashed in the death eater's eyes that scared the shit out of Hermione, and she knew, it didn't matter what she said to this woman, she wouldn't believe her and would hurt her regardless of her answer.

"Liar!" Bellatrix hissed in her ear, while pulling out a nasty looking dagger. "Don't worry dear, this will only hurt a little, maybe." Grabbing Hermione's arm, she began carving into her flesh, tearing more pained screams from Hermione.

"Please, it's a fake! It's not the real sword!" Bellatrix paused staring intently into Hermione's tear-filled eyes.

"For your sake, dearie, it better be." Her lips twitched into a sinister smirk that told Hermione all she needed to know about the punishment that awaited her if she was lying. She grabbed Hermione's arm running her tongue along the fresh wound, to the girl's shock and horror.

"Bring me the goblin!"

Hermione wasn't paying too much attention to the Goblin's interrogation, she was glad for the respite from the torture, and her body still ached from the after affects of the cruciatus curse. She saw Harry and Ron burst into the room, obviously attempting to rescue her, but she was too weak to run to them. Bellatrix pulled her to her feet, and held her fast against her body, one arm wound tightly round the brunette's waist, holding her upright, the other pressing a blade to her throat. The death eater demanded they drop their wands, and began to taunt them, even going so far as to run her tongue along Hermione's neck, which infuriated and distracted Ron quite effectively. Hermione was pulled back against Bellatrix's body as Dobby just missed them both with the chandelier, and in a rage, threw her dagger at the elf's back as he ran to Harry and Ron. The elf apparated them away with the knife sticking between his shoulder blades. Hermione couldn't blame him for leaving her, he knew he was fatally injured and used the last of his strength to save Harry Potter, she couldn't feel anger, only fear and hopelessness. She would probably die horribly here, after a few more rounds of torture, her boys would have to carry on without her.

"Well well dearie, looks like they left you behind. I suppose that means your mine now, they don't seem to want you anymore." Bellatrix purred in her ear. Her stomach dropped, she was expecting a lot more anger from the psychotic witch, not a response like that.

"What are you planning to do now sister?" Hermione didn't notice Narcissa Malfoy's presence so near, luckily, Bellatrix and Narcissa seemed to be the only two conscious. Draco, Lucius and a couple of snatchers were out cold on the ground.

"Hmmm well Cissy no one has seen muddy here except you and I, they would assume she escaped with Potter and Weasel if that's what we decide to tell them… no matter what we tell the Dark Lord, Potter still got away, so we would be punished. But I think I'd like to keep this little one to myself for a while. What do you think?" Hermione's heart was pounding in apprehension and fear, she had no idea if Bellatrix's change of heart would turn out better for her… or much worse. But perhaps she should be grateful, that the woman doesn't seem to want to turn her over to Voldemort.

Narcissa moved closer, in front of the bushy haired witch, looking her up and down, before smirking and gently trailing a finger down the side of her face. "Well I can see why you've taken a shine to her Bella, just make sure to include me in your… plans." Bellatrix cackled and let her hand travel down Hermione's front.

"I'll put her in my room for now, no one would ever dare enter my domain, and we'll figure out the details later. Once everything has calmed down a bit." Hermione was then dragged down the hall and up some stairs before being thrown into a large, extravagant room.

"Be a good girl now, I'll be back for you later muddy. Don't worry you can't escape this room, and only myself and Cissy can enter it so no one else will bother you. I'll see you soon, urgent business to attend to." And she was gone, closing the doors behind her. Hermione knew the dark witch wouldn't have been lying about her not being able to escape, so she didn't even bother to check the room. Still sore and exhausted from the cruciatus, she was glad to fall down onto the large double bed and curl up on the soft sheets, letting herself slip into darkness.