A fire was burning in the drawing room grate, but the room was blessedly empty.
A new portrait was hanging on the wall above the trap door, this time of a short, angry-looking man with an obvious toupee whose name proclaimed him to be OCTAVIUS MALFOY.
Harry bent down to pull the rug aside.
'I don't think you want to do that, Draco,' said a soft voice from behind them.
They whipped around. Lucius Malfoy was standing in the doorway, surrounded by a crowd of Death Eaters. Eleftheria was standing by his side, and she was no longer looking motherly in any way. Her huge black eyes looked like caverns in her pudgy white face.
'You,' she said to Hermione. 'What did you say your name was?'
'Amanda,' said Hermione haltingly. 'Amanda Brocklehurst.'
'I know the Brocklehursts,' said Elefttheria, coming forward into the room. 'And I know their daughter, Amanda. You are not Amanda.' She turned to the Death Eaters on either side of her. 'Seize hold of her,' she said.
Several things happened at once. The Death Eaters started forward. Hermione backed away in terror. And Harry dropped the corner of the rug he was holding, stepped sideways, and put himself between Hermione and the Death Eaters.
'Get out of the way, Draco,' said Lucius harshly.
'No,' said Harry. 'Leave her alone.'
'She's a spy,' said Eleftheria coldly. 'She is a friend of the Enemy. She was recognized, Draco, by the owner of the inn in Malfoy Park. She came here not to visit you, but with Harry Potter. The innkeeper saw her at the reception and told us as much.'
'You cannot be blamed, I suppose,' added Lucius, 'for having unfortunate taste in girls. Better men than you have been fooled by beautiful women. But I advise you to step aside, Draco. I don't want to hurt you, but I will.'
'Liar,' said Harry, 'You love hurting me.'
Lucius smiled. 'Maybe,' he said, and nodded at the two Death Eaters standing in front of Harry. Harry went for his wand, but it was futile. There were two of them, and one of him. He had time to hit one of them with the Impediment charm, but the other never even reached for his own wand. Instead, he made a grab for Harry, seized him, and threw him to the ground. As Harry struggled to get up, the Death Eater kicked him hard in the side of the head with his steel-toed boot.
Harry crumpled.
The Death Eater kicked him again.
'Careful,' said Lucius in a silky drawl. 'That's my only heir you're manhandling.'
The Death Eater glanced down at Harry. 'He's alive,' he said. 'But he won't be getting up any time soon.'
'Then let him lie,' said Lucius. 'Bring me the girl.'
The two Death Eaters seized Hermione by the arms, but she barely noticed. She was staring at Harry, who was lying on the ground in a widening pool of blood.
They propelled her forward until she was standing directly in front of Lucius.
'Hallo, Amanda,' he said. 'Shall I bother to ask you your real name? I think not, since we're not terribly interested in you. We're interested in the Potter boy.
Where is he?'
Hermione had her eyes squeezed shut, but she could still see the image of Harry against her inner lids. 'You killed him,' she said, and called Lucius a name she had never known she knew. She must have picked it up from Draco.
'Draco will be fine,' said Lucius impatiently. 'And don't pretend you care. You came here with Harry Potter. Where is he?'
Hermione opened her eyes and looked into Lucius' gray ones. They were as cold as winter.
She shook her head.
'Fine,' said Lucius indifferently, took out his wand, and placed the tip of it against her chest, just over her heart. He put his face close to hers. Close enough to kiss her.
'Crucio,' he said.
It was the worst pain she had ever felt, ever imagined. She was being burned, cut, sliced, torn open; she was wrecked and ravaged; her body would never be the same again. She could hear herself crying out in agony and yet it seemed she had gone deaf and blind, the world was going white; she screamed and screamed; she was dying.
Lucius took the wand away and the pain stopped. Hermione slumped to her knees, the Death Eaters letting go of her arms, and covered her face in her hands.
'Hurts, doesn't it?' said Lucius.
'Don't be stupid,' said Hermione. Her voice sounded tinny and strange to her own ears. 'Of course it hurts.'
Lucius took a step forward, put one booted foot on her shoulder, and pushed.
Without the strength to hold herself upright, Hermione fell sideways and lay on her back, staring up at Draco's father. I'm going to die, she thought wildly. I'm going to die and I never got a chance to tell' You don't have to die,' said Lucius, as if reading her thoughts. 'Just tell us where Harry Potter is.'
Hermione said nothing.
