Hermione’s journey towards consciousness began with the soft yet insistent sensation of pressure. Pressure in the general vicinity of her ankle “ something clutching her, grabbing at her, shaking her gently but unceasingly “ but everything was dark, so dark. Her thoughts were hazy “ it felt as if several hippogriffs had been marching through her skull, flapping their enormous wings, stirring her thoughts into a confused whirling “
“Hermione!” Soft. A woman’s voice, barely above a whisper. “Hermione! Can you hear me?”
It’s holiday, Mum, I want to have a bit of a lie-in, Hermione’s confused mind thought she’d spoken aloud. But if it was school holidays, that meant it was summer “ so why was the air so cold and dank? And why did her bed smell of mildew and rot?
“Hermione!” Louder this time, more urgent, more desperate. “Hermione! It’s Fiora! Can you hear me?” Then, more to herself, mumbled, “Dammit. He really walloped her with that stunning spell. Severus Snape! Of all people! Surprised he didn’t kill us both…” The pressure returned to Hermione’s ankle, and she swam closer to awareness. The pressure was a small, chilly hand “ and the voice wasn’t her mum’s, but someone else’s, someone she could almost remember “
“Fiora?” Hermione hardly recognized her own voice. It was thick and froggy with disuse. What time is it? What DAY is it? She fought the panic building up inside her and attempted to open her resisting eyes. They felt so heavy. Her vision slowly resolved itself as she propped herself up on arms that felt like overcooked pasta. The first thing that came into focus was the small blond woman sitting next to her, clutching her ankle.
Hermione’s first fuzzy thought was that Fiora looked terrible. Her wild blond curls were matted to the left side of her face with a dark maroon substance that Hermione’s rolling stomach figured was blood. Her clothes were covered in dirt and some sort of dark-green slime, as if some large version of a flobberworm had tried to eat her for breakfast, but then thought better of it and spit her out. And yet, she was smiling at Hermione.
“You’re back in the land of consciousness! Thank goodness! I’ve been trying to wake you for ages “ and without my wand “ and there’s nothing in here that could help me either…” Fiora’s voice trailed off.
Hermione’s brain was still trying to catch up with her body, which was even now becoming aware of her surroundings. She ripped her gaze from Fiora (the sight of all that blood on the older woman’s cheek wasn’t doing much for her queasy stomach anyway, truth be told), sat up straighter, and fought another wave of dizziness. She propped herself up against the wall let out a yelp, her hands flying to the nape of her neck. The back of her head was swollen and raw; her fingers came away bloody. No wonder I can’t see straight, she stared at her reddened hand in mingled horror and fascination.
“Fiora what happened? Where are we?” She got shakily to her feet with the help of Fiora’s steadying grip, unconsciously rubbing her hand clean on her jeans leg. Hermione’s eyes darted from the hard, dirty feather mattress she had been lying on, saw its twin where Fiora had been sitting. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a mean-looking wooden chair. The room was small and round and made of odd, shiny-looking grey stones that gave off a faint, eerily yellow light. In fact, the walls appeared to be the room’s only source of illumination.
“What is this place?” She whispered fearfully, moving closer to Fiora. She tilted her aching head back and saw that the walls of the round room stretched upward into gradual darkness. She couldn’t see a ceiling, a door, a window “ the room gave nothing to them but the spooky, ochre-colored light.
“I can’t be sure, but “ but I think it’s an Oubliettium “ a kind of magical dungeon, or prison,” Fiora’s hoarse voice responded. Hermione felt claustrophobia tickle her spine. The round walls seemed to squeeze in on her.
“I’ve read about Oubliettia “ for each Oubliettium, there’s only one way in, one way out, right? And the method of exit or entry could be anything “ a verbal password, a series of movements, a soft spot on the wall “ anything!” Hermione felt her hysteria rising. Every cell in her body screamed. OUT! Out! How are we going to get out?
“Hermione,” Fiora reached up, grabbed her shoulders. Hermione appreciated the strength she felt flowing through those tiny hands. “Hermione. Listen to me. He’ll have to come back some time “ don’t you see? He’s planning on keeping us here “ him, or You-Know-Who. They want something from us “ don’t you understand? Something other than what they’ve already got, that is…for now, we’re more valuable alive than dead. That works in our favor. Also, I know Severus Snape, better than he thinks I do…” she trailed off, a grim expression creasing her bird-like features.
“Snape!” Hermione exclaimed, remembering that familiar, pointed face, surrounded by oily black hair, towering above her in Fiora’ shop. How could she have forgotten? “He came into your shop…he said he’d come for something “ oh god. The Horcrux that Peter gave you. Snape knows about it and “”
“The only solace I have is that maybe, just maybe, he couldn’t find it. That perhaps, it’s still sitting in its place in the storage room,” Fiora muttered, more to herself than to Hermione.
“Oh, no. Oh, god no. Fiora! I put the Horcrux in my knapsack!” She frantically began looking for her bag, though there was nothing in the room other than the two women, their beds and the lone chair. “Why, why did I do that?” Hermione clutched her aching head.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Hermione,” Fiora said, though she had paled considerably, “Horcruxes are very powerful objects, they contain a portion of someone’s soul “ and in this case, a very persuasive someone”. Fiora cleared her throat and continued, “Well, now that you’re back in the land of the living, you and I need to put our heads together and figure a way out of here…I’ve been trying the past few days…”
“Days? We’ve been in here for days?” Hermione couldn’t believe she’d been out that long, it felt so unreal. That had been some Stunning Spell, alright.
“Yes “ though it’s nearly impossible to keep track of time in here, my watch is pretty reliable. I would say it’s probably very early Saturday morning. Besides, someone has been leaving food for us “ well, for me, since you haven’t been awake “ while we’re sleeping. The food’s come “ or been left “ twice. Once on Thursday, once on Friday, probably before dawn. I’ve been trying to stay awake so I can see where it’s coming from “ may give us some idea of how to get out of here…” Fiora trailed off, thinking. If Ron or Harry had been there, they’ve recognized that look of fierce concentration “ Hermione wore a very similar expression many a time.
Hermione was trying very hard to digest everything at once. She opened her mouth to respond, when Fiora jumped and let out a stifled shriek. Someone was sitting on the wooden chair in the corner. A tall someone, with a curtain of black hair, a sallow complexion and a hook of a nose. Severus Snape. His eyes widened a bit then narrowed again immediately when he saw the two women standing there, awake. Hermione inched instinctively closer to Fiora, who placed a strong hand on her shoulder.
“Well, well, well…look who’s up and about so early this morning,” Snape oiled softly, putting down a box which Hermione assumed contained food. “Decided to catch me in the act, Fiora?” His tone was cold, slightly mocking. And possibly “ admiring?
He pulled a wand from his pocket, paced a few feet “ as much as the cramped quarters would allow “ and turned his eyes on Hermione. “Ah, Ms. Granger, finally decided to rejoin us, eh? Probably boring Fiora to death with your inane chattering of statistics and facts. A regular tiger for facts, our Ms. Granger is…hardly need a textbook when she’s around, she just spews it right back to you. A bit like a trained bird, really. Has about as much imagination as one, at least,” he finished.
Hermione swelled with indignation. Now that she knew what Snape really was, she had no qualms saying what was on her mind, “YOU! You “ you “ murderer! Traitor! You taunted Sirius so much he dashed to the Ministry to help us “ basically makes you a murderer twice-over, really! I was starting to believe you were on our side! Everyone trusted you! Dumbledore trusted you! You were our teacher!” She saw something flicker “ was it regret, could it have been? “ in Snape’s dark eyes at this last bit. But then he gathered himself up and spoke.
“What a lovely display of histrionics, Ms. Granger. Now, seeing as you are both alert and obviously ready and willing to talk, I do believe there’s somewhere we all need to go,” his voice was barely above a whisper. “Right now.” Hermione tried to still her pounding heart. She couldn’t even manage being afraid at the present moment. She was so angry blobs of red floated in front of her eyes. She had nearly forgotten about her fellow captive.
“Severus,” Fiora began, stepping away from Hermione and walking towards Snape. To Hermione’s surprise, Snape backed away as Fiora approached, as if she were the captor, the one with the wand in her hand. “Severus. The girl has nothing to do with this, she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Let’s leave her out of it, shall we? I know what you want, and I’ll tell you where you can find it,” her voice was low and reasonable, and she quickly caught Hermione’s eye.
Fiora! No! Don’t tell him! Hermione silently pleaded with the older woman.
“Fiora, Fiora, Fiora. As intelligent of a witch as you are, you just got everything as wrong as you possibly could. First of all, this girl has everything to do with the situation. You must know who her friends are. One friend in particular, in fact. Secondly, while I appreciate the offer,” he paused, a sneer twisting his thin face, “While I appreciate the offer, I already have the object you are so willing to give me. All nice and tidy in Ms. Granger’s bag, just like a kitten in a sack. So you see? It’s really Ms. Granger that I need. Though, of course, you too could prove useful, in time.”
“I won’t help you find Harry! Or hurt him! You’ll “ you’ll have to kill me, then!” Hermione’s heart was ready to explode out of her chest. But she realized she meant it. And she was terrified as to what was going to happen in the next few seconds.
To her shock, Snape burst into laugher, real, belly-shaking laughter. “That won’t be necessary, Ms. Granger. The Dark Lord will find a way of getting what he needs from you without resorting to murder. At least, for the present time.”
Snape wiped his hand across his eyes, still chuckling a bit. “Now, I really don’t have time for any more chitchat, as interesting and entertaining as this has all been. If you two would please step over here “Fiora, you first “ not that I need to explain, but I will be performing a Stastasi spell on you, putting you into a light state of unconsciousness until we reach our destination”. As he explained, he leaned forward to Fiora, pointed his wand at her blond curls, and muttered several words in her ears. She immediately slumped forward on her feet, her eyes open but glassy and unseeing.
“Ms. Granger,” he turned to her. She moved forward. I have no other choice! We’re trapped!
Snape leaned forward, close enough that she could feel his breath tickling her ear, smell his musty robes. “Ms. Granger, do not react to what I am saying or we’ll all be dead before you can think it. They are watching us. When I back away, slump forward with your eyes open, like Fiora. Pay attention to everything.” This was said in a rush, in less than five seconds. Snape moved away, a cold, hard look on his face.
But there was something else “ something she almost missed, it was that quick. Before he straightened up, Severus Snape had winked at her.
The Time is Now by Hermione816
Chapter Notes: Finally!! I answer some questions for my lovely readers...where are Hermione and Fiora? What kind of trouble do they face? Read and find out...