Upside Down

So close....I got lotsa nice reviews!! THanks you guys, this has made me feel wanted. I wanted to let you know that I already have another Dramione story hopping around in my head. And it uses a couple characters from another story I wrote. They're just too interesting to turn down. *Giggle* and I didn't realize until I read some stories from Ms_Figg, that some people here re-use some of their original characters in other stories. And then I wanted to do it! So when this story is ended, you probably won't have to wait long. I think I'll call it 'The Unseen.' So look for it....

And I know that I haven't had as many Draco/Hermione scenes as I should, but I promise when we get Ruby home I'll have a nice smutty chappie. Just hold a little longer...

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It was midnight as the group crossed the cemetery, intent on getting to the Black mausoleum. There were four of them; three to do the work and one to act as a watch-out. What they were doing was highly illegal, and being caught messing with the dead could come at a heavy price.

Sirius pressed his wand into the lock of the mausoleum door and muttered the spell that would unlock it. He motioned Lucius and Rodolphus inside after a pause to let some fresh air enter. Bellatrix stood at the open door, her sharp eyes darting about for any sign of movement that wasn’t supposed to be there.

The mausoleum was quite large inside, magically enhanced and going down at lease three stories into the ground. The ground level was actually quite empty, and the second level only partially filled. His mother, being a fairly recent death of the Black line, would be on the second level, in a stone coffin protected by Merlin-knew how many and what kind of curses. That was why Lucius had come along. He was an expert at curse-breaking.

It took about thirty minutes to find the right coffin, and another hour to break all of the wards. Lucius, his still-pink hair and clothes drenched with sweat, finally stepped away, keeping his wand out in case there was anything unexpected rigged up on the inside. Purebloods, especially the ones of the wealthier families, were very paranoid about their burials, as some of the stuff they were buried with was….well….expensive.

It took all three men to finally hoist the lid by hand, afraid that using magic to lift the lid would trigger something. They stepped back almost immediately, the smell of decay assaulting their noses.

“Merlin…” Rodolphus said, waving his hand in front of his face in an attempt to wave away the smell. Sirius peered down into the coffin, and snorted.

“Not so high and mighty now are you, Mum?” he asked. Then he looked at the other two. “So who’s reaching in for the ring?” he asked. Rodolphus shook his head.

“Nope. Not my mother…” he said, raising his hands. Sirius looked at Lucius.

“I broke the wards….you can reach in and get the ring….” He said. Sirius wrinkled his nose.

“But that’s gross…” he whined. “I didn’t even like touching her when she was alive….and that aversion has not decreased since she’s been dead. Come on….she’s all gross and moldy…” he said, looking down at the skeletal remains of his mother.

But the others refused to reach into the coffin, leaving a squeamish Sirius to do it. If he didn’t like Ruby so much, he would never have been able to go through with it.

“It’s for Ruby, it’s for Ruby.” He kept chanting, as he reached down, his eyes closed, to retrieve the ring. He jumped back with a shrill cry when Lucius suddenly grabbed his shoulder. The other two men laughed and snorted. “Bloody fucking bastards…” he grumbled. He leaned down and slipped the ring off of his mother’s bony finger, his face taking a slightly green pallor when her finger bones separated. He stood, shuddering, and held up the ring. “Success…” he mumbled.

“Now let’s get out of here…this place gives me the creeps…” Rodolphus said, shuddering as he looked around at the other stone coffins.

The three men made their way back to the ground level, and then to the entrance of the mausoleum. As they exited, the looked around for Bellatrix, but she didn’t appear to be anywhere near where the left her. Sirius, the last one out, looked around for his deranged cousin. He hoped she hadn’t had to deal with Graveyard Keepers. But he let out a very un-masculine screech when arms closed around his waist from behind, and a eerie voice whispered his name.

But then he heard the maniacal laughter of his cousin, and began to curse loudly.

“All you bloody idiots and your pranks. I swear to Merlin that if anybody else fucking touches me in this forsaken place, I will personally rip he or she limb from limb.” He snarled, his face flushed with embarrassment. Even Lucius and Rodolphus were snorting with laughter as they locked back the door to the mausoleum.

“Oi! ‘Oo’s over there?”

The four of them jumped when they heard the voice of one of the Keepers, and they all made a mad dash for the gate. They each Apparated when they crossed the boundaries of the graveyard, directly back to Grimmauld place.

Lucius, Rodolphus and Bellatrix collapsed into an uncharacteristic fit of giggles, and Sirius stood by, clutching the ring and glaring at them. Hermione stepped forward, a hopeful look on her face.

“Did you get the ring, Sirius?” she asked. Sirius looked over at her, and smiled. He held out his hand, the small silver ring in his palm. Hermione shot forward, and hugged him soundly. “Thank y-ew…..you stink…” she said, pulling away. Sirius’ smile widened.

“You’re welcome.” He said, and handed her the ring. Then he headed straight for the stairs to take a shower.
Hermione knew for a fact that Snape was already working on the potion, and she was extremely grateful for it. According to what she’s read about this….ritual….the potion was not very easy to brew…

She sat on the sofa, holding the ring tightly in her hand. The stone in this ring was the key to getting her cousin back, and she’d guard it with her life if she had to. She felt someone sit down beside her, and looked up to see the beautiful silver eyes of Draco looking down at her.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly. She nodded, and leaned against his side, her eyes filling with tears at the prospect of having her dear little cousin back. Ruby had truly gotten under skin, and was now an integral part of her life.

Not very many people knew about this, but Hermione’s parents had been sent away by her during her seventh year, in an attempt to keep them safe. She’d sent them to Australia, and modified their memory. But the catch was, when she went back after graduation to retrieve them, she discovered that someone else had tampered with her memory charm, and she couldn’t get them back. To her, it was like they were dead, because she couldn’t ever visit them as their daughter. Ruby was the only family Hermione had left, as her parents had been only children.

When Ruby had first showed up, this was the reason Hermione had taken her in immediately. Hermione knew what it was like to be without family.

~~

The next three weeks were hell to Ruby. Her punishments grew worse, the beatings marring her body, and eventually moving to her face. The blows to her face hurt the worse in her opinion, and she often fought harder when the guards slapped and punched her head.

But she had also been introduced to anal sex. And it hurt like a burning bitch. She often had two guards on her at once now, one in each opening. Her screams echoed through the small room, and even carried to Voldemort’s throne room sometimes. It was those times that Voldemort would sit upon his bone throne, and close his glowing red eyes, savoring the sound of the young girl’s shrieks.

On one particular day, her sanity was tried to its fullest. Usually she was given a bit of a break between each session, but that day the guards seemed to come one after another – literally. Her entire body was a bloody, broken mess by supper time, and Voldemort actually had to call them off for fear of killing her. She was huddled in a ball in the middle of the cold floor, too weak to even get back to the bed.

She was bleeding profusely from between her legs, and even from her anus. She was fairly certain she had a cracked rib, and it hurt to take breaths. One of her wrists had been twisted viciously, and was possibly broken. Ruby’s face was a whole different mess. Her nose was pouring blood, and one of the guards’ rings made a large cut on her left brow. Her right eye was swollen almost completely shut, and both her lips were split. But despite the injuries to her face, she was praying. She had been praying since the last guard dropped her to the floor, and she could feel her angel beside her, gently rubbing her face and singing another song to her.

~~

Snape finally emerged from the potions lab at Grimmauld Place, a clear bottle of thick brown potion in one hand, a book in the other.

It took only minutes for him to gather the inhabitants of the old dusty house, and usher them into the living room, one of the largest rooms in the house.

In accordance with the instructions in the book, they cleared furniture away to produce a large floor space, and drew out a perfect circle with chalk. Then, he had five of the people who were closest to Ruby stand at five points on the circle, and drew a star connecting them, Hermione at the top. The center of the star was large, large enough to fit a body inside, even laid out.

A few others stood by to watch.

“Are we trying to get Ruby back or summoning Satan?” Bellatrix asked, slightly amused at the detailed instructions of the circle.

“She’s already here.” Snape said, looking pointedly at Bella. She smiled.

Then, he smeared some of the thick brown potion (which smelled a lot like poo) on the left palm of the participants of the circle, and then outlined the pentagon that made the center of the circle. And finally, at Hermione’s feet at the point of the star, he placed the Comportatus stone.

“Now, there’s a chant. All of you hold up your left hand, palm towards the center, and repeat after me:

We cast the charm this very day
Retrieve the one who’s gone astray.

The potion works with heart of Blood
The stone reacts with black Rosebud.
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—

For this charm, our magic furl
We bring to us the missing girl.
Return to us this child away
The girl who’s name we choose to say: Ruby Grangeford.”

~~

The angel looked down at Ruby, and a smile suddenly lit up his face.

It’s time, child of Magic. You’re to leave this place.

Ruby looked up, and for the first time she actually caught sight of her guardian angel. His very skin seemed to glow with an unearthly golden light, and was the color of caramel. His eyes were large, and a deep, beautiful blue, and his hair was so blonde it was white. He was beautiful.

“How?” she asked hoarsely.

You’re family is calling to you with powerful magic. Without a bit of help I’m afraid the wards of the place would stop your exodus. And normally we Guardians aren’t allowed to interfere directly in the lives of mortals…only a nudge here or a whisper there. But I have been given permission to override these wards, and allow you to be taken home. I probably won’t appear to you directly again, but remember, child of Magic, that I will always be there, watching over you.

Ruby felt a strong squeezing sensation, and grunted as her breath was taken away. Then, she felt a light kiss on her cheek, before she materialized on the floor of Grimmauld place. There was a long, silent pause, and she heard loud commotion going on behind her, and several people calling her name. She put her hands over her head, a subconscious fear that it was a dream assaulting her, and making her afraid to open her eyes. She wanted to be home so badly that she wasn’t sure she would be able to handle the mental strain if this proved to be a dream.

Open your eyes, child of Magic. The nightmare is over…
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Grave-robbing....a family event. Sirius was all for it until he found out he had to reach in after the ring, eh?

And Ruby's finally home! Um...the ritual chant that they said....wasn't all mine....brownie points to anyone who can tell me where it came from, and what bits weren't mine.

Now, you've read, now Rate/Review....or BOTH!!!