His hand rose up, and he caught her chin lightly with his fingertips. “I should hate to see him punished by having to damage you.”
Hermione's throat closed, and she flinched as he leaned closer.
His hold tightened. “You wouldn't want that, would you? You are fond of him, I believe. He takes you for walks on our estate and you wait for him like an obedient little pet. He may enjoy you less if I'm required to cut the information out of you. You were a healer; do know how many nerve endings are in each of your fingertips? Tell me who the last remaining member of the Order is now, and I will not harm you.”
“I don't know.” Hermione tried to pull her face free, but Lucius dug his fingers under her jaw, gripping the bone painfully. “I don't know. I — don't remember yet.”
He pulled her closer until their faces were nearly touching. His eyes were glittering, and he sneered viciously as though he were baring his teeth at her. “I don't believe you.”
Hermione started shaking uncontrollably.
“I'm no fool. There was a spy among the Death Eaters in the year leading up to the Resistance's defeat. Even the Dark Lord suspected that one of his most trusted servants had betrayed him. They are the piece that remains unaccounted for. The fingerprints are scattered across the war. The unusually accurate attacks on our prisons. The massacres and acts of sabotage that were so uncharacteristic of the Order of the Phoenix. That person destroyed Sussex and disappeared after the Final Battle only to re-emerge a few months after you did.” He'd tilted her head so sharply back it was difficult to breathe. “Your compliance may have lulled my son into a false sense of assurance, but you have not fooled me. You're not broken — you're lying in wait.”
He shoved her backwards, and her head cracked against the stone floor as he pinned her to the ground under him.
“This is your last opportunity, Mudblood. If you wish to leave this room intact, tell me who the spy is.” Lucius' face was centimeters from her own, and she could feel the heat of his breath across her face and smell the tannic scent of tea.
“I don't know. I don't remember.” Her voice was trembling as she tried to avert her eyes. Her heart rate was spiking with steady terror. Don't panic. Don't panic. Breathe. “Malfoy tried to get the memories out. So did the Dark Lord. I don't know who it is.”
She bit her lip and tried not to have a panic attack as Lucius knelt over her.
His hand trailed down her body, and she couldn't suppress the shudder of revulsion when it came to a stop over of the growing swell in her lower abdomen. His fingers moved across it as though he were caressing her. “Isn't this pregnancy of yours supposed to change that? That is why you're here as my son's plaything. I heard about your coma. Surely you remember something by now.”
“I don't — I don't.”
He gripped her by her throat. “I don't believe you, Mudblood. Why don't we see.” He wrenched her jaw straight and stared into her eyes.
She squeezed her eyes shut. “Don't! Please don't — please don't. Invasive magic — miscarriage—” she tripped over the words.
Lucius laughed as his hold on her throat tightened. “Do you expect me to care about a Mudblood whore's illegitimate daughter? Did you think my son intended to keep it?”
Hermione shook her head violently, trying to pull his hand away. “The Dark Lord — invasive magic could damage the memories — kill you. Draco killed Montague for it — Only—”
Lucius smirked down at her. “You seem suspiciously concerned for my longevity.”
He gripped her jaw and forced her face up towards his.
“Open your eyes, Mudblood, or I will cut your eyelids off.”
Hermione's heart was beating so rapidly it had become a painful stabbing sensation in her chest.
You will be obedient.
She felt herself going slack as her eyes fluttered open.
You will not hurt anyone.
Her fingernails digging into Lucius' wrist slipped loose. Lucius smirked as his grey eyes met hers.
You will do everything to produce healthy children.
She froze.
Everything.
Everything to produce healthy children.
She would do everything. She could do everything.
She focused on the thought and slammed her forehead into Lucius' face. She felt his nose break as she wrenched herself away, kicking him savagely as she tore herself free and flung herself towards the door.
Bony fingers clamped around her ankle and jerked her back, knocking her to the ground and dragging her back across the floor. She tried to kick herself free as Lucius dragged her under his body. She rammed her elbow into his solar plexus as she attempted to twist out of his hold.
She clawed at his face, aiming for his eyes. His grip loosened as he jerked back to avoid her fingernails. She scrambled away and rammed her heel into his throat before she flung herself towards the door again. Get to the door. Get to the door.
She slammed into the heavy wood and gripped the handle. She tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge. A searing pain spread through her hand and up her arm as she kept trying to make it turn. Finally she gave an agonized scream and jerked her hand away. She stared down at her fingers and found the flesh burned and scorched to the bones. The knob was white hot.
Lucius laughed. The same unnerving, unending laugh he'd had as he watched Ron die.
The vibrations of it moved through her veins like ice. She turned slowly to find him standing across the room, grinning as blood trickled down his face, filling his mouth and filtering around his teeth.
He lifted a pale hand up to his throat and coughed. “I enjoyed that. Did you think you were going to escape, little mouse?” He gave a low chuckle. “You will die in this house. Like many Order members before you. There is no one left to save you.”
Hermione stood staring at him. The burns on her hand were throbbing painfully with every beat of her racing heart.
As she stood by the door, a slow sinking sensation swept over her.
Draco wouldn't come in time.
He wouldn't. They'd used up all their luck surviving as long as they had.
Lucius wasn't Astoria. Kidnapping Hermione from her room had been premeditated and planned specifically to thwart Draco.
She stood studying Lucius until he flicked wand towards her. Hermione felt his magic seize hold of her and drag her forward. When she reached him, he sidestepped and she slammed into the bars of the cage in the centre of the room.
A bar caught her in the forehead, and her vision wavered from the impact. She slumped and shook her head, trying to clear it as she struggled to think.
She felt a flutter in her abdomen, and her throat thickened as her shoulders shook. She pressed her injured hand protectively over her stomach. “Please, Lucius — you don't want to do this.”
His fingers dug into her shoulder as he turned her to face him. His face was covered in blood, and there were gouges down his forehead where she'd nearly clawed his eyes out.
Could she run again? Was there any point in trying?
Her legs abruptly gave out, and she slid down the bars to the floor.
“Don't do this, Lucius,” she said. “You don't want to know.”
Lucius knelt and tilted her head back. She stared into his cold silver eyes.
They were just like Draco's. She'd never noticed that before.
Lucius raised an eyebrow. “I have been commanded to find the last Order member, and I will. This is not a task I am permitted to fail.”
Hermione stared at Lucius dazedly, there were spots riddling her vision and a detail that felt just out of reach. A key. She studied his face, looking for Draco in it. Their eyes were so similar; they had the same desperation in them.