Goodnight, Demon Slayer

Goodnight, Demon Slayer
Chapter Seventeen:
THIS Is The Crack Team That Foils My Every Plan?

"I swear to God, someone had better be dead," Hermione hissed through clenched teeth as she disentangled herself from Severus.

"Well if it's bound to be bad news, just ignore it. You can't mourn if you don't know anything's happened, right?"

"I have to get it, Severus."

"Say that again, and I won't be able to stop."

"I have to get the door, Severus, " Hermione giggled at his knowing misinterpretaion of her statement. The banging did not promise to stop anytime soon.

The banging on the door, sicko.

"No, stay here," implored the Potions Master, still sprawled on the floor. "It's nice here. It's... oh, God, Hermione, don't leave!" As if to accentuate his plea, Severus reached a long, strong arm out and grabbed Hermione's calf.

"Severus, they've been knocking for like five minutes."

"So let them leave their literature in the post slot. Please, Hermione."

"I'll be right back, Severus," she sighed, finally breaking from his grasp. It was probably was just as well that they stopped now. Hermione had no real interest in her first time being on her living room floor.

Carpet burn's a biotch, after all.

Smoothing her clothes, Hermione approached the door, the bell ringing again and the pounding continuing, growing more and more fervent.

"I swear to God, someone had better be dead," she muttered again under her breath. It was becoming the frustrated virgin's manta. If this was a salesman or something stupid and she'd interrupted her first true make-out session with Severus, she was going to be very, very annoyed.

Reaching the door in mid-bang, Hermione threw it open to find a rain-drenched, tear-stained Lavender Brown shivering on her stoop. The storm had subsided, and there was even a trace of a rainbow in the sky, but Lavender still looked like a drowned rat. It looked a bit suspicious to Hermione's enquiring mind. Hell, the fact that Lavender was even at her house was more than suspicious, but after her odd behavior at Harry's party, she'd been worried about her housemate.

Well, in the few seconds she was thinking about anything other than Severus.

"Oh, my God!" Hermione cried, and at the exclamation Lavender burst into a new, violent gushing of tears. "Are you okay? Come in!"

"No!" objected Lavender, and Hermione once again narrowed her eyes at the girl. She was obviously in bad shape, and it didn't make much sense for her not to want to come inside. Especially Lavender Brown, Captain of the Hogwarts Fashion Police. Sniffling, the girl turned bleary eyes to Hermione and continued. "I mean, I 've got to talk to you, and I don't want Professor Snape to hear. Can you come outside?"

"What is it, LAvender? What's wrong? Why didn't you go see Parvati? Or just floo me?"

Lavender had never liked Hermione much before. If she was in trouble, Hermione thought it unlikely for her to come all the way to her house. She lived on the opposite end of the country! Something wasn't right, but Hermione's compassion was beginning to negate her logic.

"She's in France with some boy from Beauxbatons. Please, Hermione, will you come out here and talk to me? I didn't know what else I could do!"

"Lavender, are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Hermione was becoming worried. Lavender would not come in the house and would not tell her what was wrong. In a less... um... worked up state, Hermione probably would have seen how this was not merely suspicious but also dangerous, but at Lavender's next words Hermione's heart broke.

"HE BROKE UP WITH ME!"

The wail tore through Hermione's quiet neighborhood violently, and Hermione was shocked into action.

"He? What? Who?" Hermione cried, terrified at the girl's sudden outburst. She had never dealt well with girl issues. Well, girls' issues with boys, really, and she had no idea what to do, but in her compassion, Hermione stepped out of her door and down to the stoop to embrace Lavender.

"You know what, Granger?" Lavender asked, suddenly sounding entirely too tearless for Hermione's liking. She made to move back up to her door, but was stopped instantly by strong arms in a Death Eater cloak.

"You're pretty dumb for a Know-It-All," snarled the voice under the hood. Hermione recognized it in an instant and began to try to shout for Severus and kick and punch her way out of the predicament, but she was paralyzed from the vocal cords down.

"You don't think we're as dumb as you are, do you, Mudblood? Say goodbye to the traitor. Oh, wait. You can't." Lavender and Draco laughed maniacally before Hermione was hit with another spell and was knocked unconscious. When she woke, she'd be in for the fight of her life.

Inside the Granger household, Severus Snape was trying very hard not to touch himself while waiting for his young companion to return. After ten minutes he gave up and decided he would go find her and show her the consequences of turning a man on and then leaving. But as he approached the front door, still hanging open and Hermione nowhere to be seen, his stomach dropped and his mouth dried. He called her name lamely before rushing back into the house and trying desparately not to vomit.

They'd taken her. Right under his nose they'd stolen her. He stood completely unmoving, unblinking, practically unbreathing for moments before moving, his mind suddenly clear and focused. He had failed her, but he would find Hermione or he would die trying.


Hermione woke with a start as she felt ice cold water slam into her face.

"Draco, was that necessary?" asked an irritating female voice that Hermione recognized but could not place. Coming to more fully, she opened her eyes to see Pansy Pasrkinson.

Should've known.

"So, you've decided to grace us with your presence, have you, Mudblood?" Pansy asked sarcastically. Hermione knew that logically, the best thing for her to do at this point would be to shut up and try very hard to be a good little hostage, but she could not do that. For some reason, the fighting instinct had been awakened in her and she could no more sit quietly and docilely than she could suck Draco Malfoy's dick.

"Actually, dumbfuck," Hermione wheezed. "You brought me here. There was no decisionmaking on my part."

"Ooh, she's feisty! This is going to be fun!" Pansy squealled, clapping her hands and jumping in the air. Moving her head carefully, Hermione could see Pansy and Draco were not alone. In the corner, looking slightly more evil than Hermione'd ever seen her before was Lavender Brown.

Shifting uncomfortably, Hermione could tell she was tied to a very hard wooden chair and that until recently she'd also been gagged. Aah, there was that famed Slytherin hospitality...

"Alright, Mudblood. Now, you're going to be a good little girl and answer our questions. If you're not, you'll have to be punished like all bad little girls," Draco growled sinisterly.

Hermione laughed in his face.

"Is that it? You just want to pump me for information?" she giggled. Draco's attempt at evil was in no way fooling Hermione. Sure, he was evil in a no-trouble-casting-the-killing-curse kind of way, but in the slow, torturous way, he really sucked.

"What else would I want to pump you for?"

The question hung in the air, a smirk present on the hostage's face as Lavender and Pansy began to snicker behind Malfoy's back. This gave Hermione hope, and she tried to talk some sense into her housemate.

"Lavender, what is going on? How did you fall into this? Oh, let me guess, you're dating this delinquent?" she concluded, nodding toward Malfoy's sneering form.

Advancing on Hermione's bound form, Lavender did not speak but only slapped her hard across the face, her nails raking Hermione's cheek and drawing blood.

"Oh, that's it, isn't it? You're fucking Malfoy!"

Again Lavender hauled off and smacked Hermione across the other cheek.

"No, you dipshit. I'm fucking Pansy." Lavender stood and watched Hermione's face as the news sunk in. There wasn't much surprise in Hermione. She had not been asleep everytime Lavender and Parvati had believed her to be. "Who's fucking Draco," Lavender continued. "And I mean, I do fuck Draco occasionally, but that's beside the point."

Hermione couldn't help herself. For some reason this predicament was just incredibly funny to her. Sure, she may die soon, but she was enjoying herself right now.

"Oh. How very open-minded of you."

"Shut up, bitch!" Pansy shrieked. "You're here because we need infornation. If you cooperate, we'll let you live-"

"Let me guess: if I don't I die a slow, painful death?"

It was Draco this time who punched Hermione, and she had to admit that it was beginning to hurt, but unless Pansy wanted to know how to make Dreamless Sleep Draught, Hermione wasn't telling her anything.

"This isn't a game, Mudblood! Tell us what we need to know or you die."

"Alright. I was trying to be nice, but if you really want to know. Your breath smells like something died in your mouth."

Pansy attacked this time, with a jab straight into Hermione's nose, causing it to crack and bleed while her eyes watered from the pain.

"What was that for? You told me to tell you what you needed to know!"

"Where is Snape?" Draco questioned.

"At my house. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you'd just asked me that instead of abducting me!"

Don't still be there, Severus! Don't still be there, Severus!

"No, Snape left shortly after we apparated you from there. Where did he go?"

"How should I know? I was unconscious, remember?"

"Where would he go?"

"Uh, try Hogwarts, you fucking idiot."

"Not there!"

'Enough!" Pansy screamed, rushing to the forefront. "Is he or is he not a member of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"NO, he's a Death Eater. Honestly, you should know that, Wonderboy."

"Granger, if I didn't need information from you, I swear to God I'd kill you here!" the Death Eater snarled.

"Good going, Draco! Now she knows we won't kill her!" whined Lavender.

"Shut up, bitch! She wouldn't have known that until you broadcast it!"

"You lot are the worst kidnappers in human history."

"SHUT UP, MUDBLOOD!" they cried in unison. The supervillains secreted off to a corner of the room where Hermione could not hear them, and when they returned, she felt a lot less likely to joke with them.

One by one, Draco, Pany, and Lavender began taking swings at Hermione, battering her head, neck, chest, gut, and legs. Any part of her within reach was far game, and by the time they had finished, Hermione's pain tolerance had cracked and she was weeping openly.

"That better, Mudblood?" Think it's funny now, bitch?" Draco spat while getting in one last good kick to her shin.

"Now, Hermione," Pansy asked, smoothing back the hair that had become frazzled during her assault. "Where is the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"I...I don't know. I've never been there."

SMACK!

"Bullshit! I know you and St. Potter and those Weasley brats have spent at least one summer there! Now, where is the Headquarters?"

"I told you- I don't know!"

"Bad girls get beaten, Hermione," Pansy crooned in a singsong voice.

"I don't know!"

A look passed between Hermione's threee captors, and soon they were beating hercilecilessly again. When she felt she was within seconds of losing consciousness, Hermione spoke.

"Alright! I'll tell you!"

"Well, now, that's more like it."

*****************************A/N**************************
Thank you to everybody who has reviewed- it is appreciated more than you can know, and I SWEAR next time I'll so thank yous, but I'm just SO exhausted right now. I do read EVERY one of them, and I love you for them!

THANK YOU!!!!

Also, if any of you have accounts on livejournal.com, let me know. My ID is potionmistressm (no "S" on the end of "potion"), and I have a grand total of 3 friends on my account which makes those LJ memes kinda crappy, so if you want to be my friend let me know.

God, I'm pathetic.

Also, everyone should read GrrArrg's new story "Tirer La Couture." If you're too lazy to look it up, it's on my rec list.

Thanks again!!! I love you!!!!