| Harry was nearly thrown off his feet as the Snatchers forced the prisoners to swivel around again, so that the light fell on Hermione instead
"Wait," said Narcissa sharply"Yes - yes, she was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the \iProphet\i! Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?"
"I
"But then, that's the Weasley boy!" shouted Lucius, striding around the bound prisoners to face Ron"It's them, Potter's friends - Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name - ?"
"Yeah," said Draco again, his back to the prisoners
The drawing room door opened behind HarryA woman spoke, and the sound of the voice wound Harry's fear to an even higher pitch
"What is this? What's happened, Cissy?"
Bellatrix Lestrange walked slowly around the prisoners, and stopped on Harry's right, staring at Hermione through her heavily lidded eyes,
"But surely," she said quietly, "this is the Mudblood girl? This is Grander?"
"Yes, yes, it's Granger!" cried Lucius, "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!" "Potter?" shrieked Bellatrix, and she backed away, the better to take in Harry
"Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She dragged back her left sleeve: Harry saw the Dark Mark burned into the flesh of her arm, and knew that she was about to touch it, to summon her beloved master-
"I was about to call him!" said Lucius, and his hand actually closed upon Bellatrix's wrist, preventing her from touching the Mark"\iI\i shall summon him, BellaPotter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority -"
"Your authority!" she sneered, attempting to wrench her hand from his grasp"You lost your authority when you lost your wand, louis vuitton new bags Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"
"This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy -"
"Begging your pardon, \iMri Malfoy," interjected Greyback, "but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold -"
"Gold!" laughed Bellatrix, still attempting to throw off her brother-in-law, her free hand groping in her pocket for her wand"Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honor of his - of -"
She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon something Harry could not seeJubilant at her capitulation, Lucius threw her hand from him and ripped up his own sleeve -
"STOP!" shrieked Bellatrix, "Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"
Lucius froze, his index finger hovering over his own MarkBellatrix strode out of Harry's limited line of vision
"What is that?" he heard her say
"Sword," grunted an out-of-sight Snatcher
"It's not yours, missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it
There was a bang and a flash of red light; Harry knew that the Snatcher had been StunnedThere was a roar of anger from his fellows: Scabior drew his wand
"What d'you think you're playing at, woman?"
"\iStupefy!\i" she screamed, "\iStupefy!\i"
They were no match for her, even thought there were four of them against one of her: She was a witch, as Harry knew, with prodigious skill and no conscienceThey fell where they stood, all except Greyback, who had been forced into a kneeling position, his arms outstretchedOut of the corners of his eyes Harry saw Bellatrix bearing down upon the werewolf, the sword of Gryffindor gripped tightly in her hand, her face waxen
"Where did you get this sword?" she whispered to Greyback as she pulled his wand out of his louis vuitton fabric unresisting grip
"How dare you?" he snarled, his mouth the only thing that could move as he was forced to gaze up at herHe bared his pointed teeth"Release me, woman!" "Where did you find this sword?" she repeated, brandishing it in his face, "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"
"It was in their tent," rasped Greyback"Release me, I say!"
She waved her wand, and the werewolf sprang to his feet, but appeared too wary to approach herHe prowled behind an armchair, his filthy curved nails clutching its back
"Draco, move this scum outside," said Bellatrix, indicating the unconscious men"If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me
"Don't you dare speak to Draco like -" said Narcissa furiously, but Bellatrix screamed
"Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"
She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hiltThen she turned to look at the silent prisoners
"If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed," she muttered, more to herself than to the others"The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself
She turned back to her sister again
"The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!" "This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my -"
"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we're in!" shrieked BellatrixShe looked frightening, mad; a thin stream of fire issued from her wand and burned a hole in the carpet
Narcissa hesitated for a moment, then addressed the werewolf
"Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback
"Wait," said Bellatrix sharplyexcept for the Mudblood Greyback gave a grunt of pleasure"You can have me, keep me!" Bellatrix hit him across the face: the chanel quilted cheap handbag blow echoed around the room
"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next," she said"Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my bookTake them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them - yet
She threw Greyback's wand back to him, then took a short silver knife from under her robesShe cut Hermione free from the other prisoners, then dragged her by the hair into the middle of the room, while Greyback forced the rest of them to shuffle across to another door, into a dark passageway, his wand held out in front of him, projecting an invisible and irresistible force
"Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her?" Greyback crooned as he forced them along the corridor"I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, ginger?"
Harry could feel Ron shakingThey were forced down a steep flight of stairs, still tied back-to-back and in danger of slipping and breaking their necks at any momentAt the bottom was a heavy doorGreyback unlocked it with a tap of his wand, then forced them into a dank and musty room and left them in total darknessThe echoing bang of the slammed cellar door had not died away before there was a terrible, drawn out scream from directly above them
"HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed, and he started to writhe and struggle against the ropes tying them together, so that Harry staggered"HERMIONE!"
"Be quiet!" Harry saidRon, we need to work out a way -"
"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
"We need a plan, stop yelling - we need to get these ropes off -"
"Harry?" came a whisper through the darkness"Ron? Is that you?"
Ron stopped shoutingThere was a sound of movement close by them, then Harry saw a shadow moving closer
"Harry? Ron?"
"\iLuna?\i"
"Yes, it's me! Oh no, prada stripe handbag I didn't want you to be caught!"
"Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?" said Harry
"Oh yes, I expect soThere's an old nail we use if we need to break anything
Hermione screamed again from overhead, and they could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words were inaudible, for Ron shouted again, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
"MrOllivander?" Harry could hear Luna sayingOllivander, have you got the nail? If you just move over a little bit I think it was beside the water jug
She was back within seconds
"You'll need to stay still," she said
Harry could feel her digging at the rope's tough fibers to work the knots freeFrom upstairs they heard Bellatrix's voice
"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? \iWhere?\i"
"We found it - we found it - PLEASE!" Hermione screamed again; Ron struggled harder than ever, and the rusty nail slipped onto Harry's wrist
"Ron, please stay still!" Luna whispered"I can't see what I'm doing -"
"My pocket!" said Ron, "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!"
A few seconds later, there was a click, and the luminescent spheres the Deluminator had sucked from the lamps in the tent flew into the cellar: Unable to rejoin their sources, they simply hung there, like tiny suns, flooding the underground room with lightHarry saw Luna, all eyes in her white face, and the motionless figure of Ollivander the wandmaker, curled up on the floor in the cornerCraning around, he caught sight of their fellow prisoners: Dean and Griphook the goblin, who seemed barely conscious, kept standing by the ropes that bound him to the humans
"Oh, that's much easier, thanks, Ron," said Luna, and she began hacking at their bindings again"Hello, Dean!"
From above came Bellatrix's gucci coin wallet voice |
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