“I knew it was a good idea for me to arrive early,” Bellatrix continued as she kicked Hermione onto her back. She whimpered, her eyes moving frantically around the room as if to find Lucius and Draco. “Ah, ah. They’re not here. That Parkinson bitch broke into the Black Estate – my ancestral home – to break out a prisoner. So they’re there, cleaning up the mess they made when they let her live.”

Bellatrix crouched low, her lips almost touching Hermione’s ear.

“That means it’s just you and me, pet ,” she sneered.

“Stay away from her!” Harry cried, pulling Bellatrix’s attention from her.

“What do we have here?” she asked, looking at the wizards that surrounded them.

“We believe it’s Potter, ma’am,” one of the wizards said.

“Potter?” her black eyes shined with delight. “Oh this is a very good day indeed. But… before we call the Dark Lord… Crucio!”

Pain exploded through Hermione’s body. It was worse than what she had experienced before, bound as she was. Her limbs wanted to shake, back wanted to arch against the pain, but she couldn’t. She screamed, the sound of it hurting her ears. And then, just as quickly as the pain came, it was gone.

She shook against her bonds, her head twitching as Bellatrix transfigured them to release her left arm.

The Dark Mark was still glamoured from her pale skin as she tore up the sleeve of her shirt.

“You never deserved it you filthy mudblood,” she spat.

“Don’t touch her!” Harry yelled, trying to fight the body bind curse.

“ Silenco!” Bellatrix screamed, pointing her wand at him. Then she turned, her eyes growing wide. “Where did you get that?”

One of her talon-like fingers was pointing at something Hermione couldn’t see.

“Found it,” came the Scottish man’s reply.

Bellatrix had seen the sword of Gryffindor.

“ Where? ” she hissed.

“In their tent,” the man said a bit cagily. “Figured it’s mine now.”

Bellatrix flicked her wand and Hermione saw thick black ropes appear before she assumed they hit the man from the gasping sound behind her. The other wizards yelled in indignation, pulling their wands on her but Bellatrix was too fast. In less than a second she’d had them all disarmed and over half were laying stunned on the ground. The other half scrambled from the room, screaming as they went.

“Where did you get it?” Bellatrix said, crouching again beside Hermione. “ How did you get into my vault?”

Agony ripped through her again as Bellatrix cast another crucio . Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes and it felt like her throat was shredding apart from her never-ending scream. It was as though her lungs had burned up – she couldn’t breathe even if she wanted to. Black spots bloomed in the corners of her eyes as sweat beaded across her forehead.

Then, as the curse lifted, her whole body tremored.

Beside her she saw Harry throwing his head back and forth, his green eyes wide in terror as he watched her.

“You know what I think?” Bellatrix hissed, pulling from the pocket of her robes a short dagger. “I think perhaps you need a reminder of your place.”

Rough hands pulled at her left arm, nails digging into her flesh as Hermione tried to move, but couldn’t.

Then, the tip of the blade pressed into her skin and Hermione screamed.

“ How did you get into my vault?! ” Bellatrix screeched.

The sensation was hot, burning against her arm. Her hair was wet with the tears that fell into her hair as she screamed incoherently. It lasted for seconds, minutes, hours, years, centuries.

One of her hands found Hermione’s throat while the other continued to carve into her arm in a pain that hurt almost as much as when she’d taken the mark. But then, suddenly, the hands were no longer there, the sick weight of Bellatrix’s body no longer pressing against her.

“ Cissy!” Bellatrix cried, scrambling back to her feet.

Hermione turned her head to see Narcissa standing in the doorway, her wand aimed at her sister, magic crackling around her.

“Bella, what in Salazar’s name are you doing?!” Narcissa cried, striding into the room

“Merely showing the mudblood her place! Lower your wand!”

Behind Narcissa, Hermione saw the figures of three men running towards the drawing room as darkness blurred the edges of her vision.

They were here.

They were here.

She was safe.

“That’s my daughter, you bitch! ” Narcissa yelled. “ Avada kedavra !”

Green light burst through the room, hitting Bellatrix square in the chest and forcing her to topple backwards. At the same moment Lucius and Draco rushed forward, Theo close behind as they descended on Hermione. One of them vanishing the ropes while Theo cast a diagnostic spell.

The moment the bonds were released, her body began to convulse; her teeth chattered, head jerking wildly. Draco held her head still while Lucius did the same for her arms while Theo tried to cast a series of healing spells on her arm.

“ Fuck ,” Draco cursed as he saw the wound. “That bitch. ”

“It won’t heal!” Theo yelled in exasperation.

“It’s a cursed blade,” Narcissa said, tears on her cheeks as she dropped between Hermione and Harry, releasing the curse on the latter who scrambled to his feet. “But it can be healed. Draco – is she wearing the bracelet?”

Draco nodded, canceling the notice me not charm on Hermione’s left wrist.

Narcissa took her wand and created a thin slice across her palm. Thick red blood beaded to the surface before she smoothed it across the wound. Hermione moaned, her body shivering as she felt a tingling sensation in her arm as Narcissa murmured an incantation above her that she couldn’t quite understand.

“It will take a few days to heal, but it will fade,” she said softly before healing her palm with a wave of her wand.

“Humph,” Lucius called, his own voice tinged with panic.

The little elf appeared in the room; his eyes wide at the chaos in front of him.

“Humph already knows, Humph has what Young Mistress needs,” the elf said quickly, handing a series of phials to Draco.

“You’re okay, love,” Draco said softly, his throat catching on the words as he pried open her jaw. “Theo, help me.”

Theo grabbed the phials, uncorking the first and handing it to Draco who tipped it down her throat.

Hermione choked, her body trembling as she tried to swallow the potion before he poured another one into her mouth.

Lucius shushed her, massaging her right arm slowly while Narcissa tended to Harry’s swollen face. His green eyes were wide in confusion.

“Why… why are you helping her?” Harry croaked after Narcissa had canceled the silencing charm.

Draco shot Harry a withering look before tipping the final potion into Hermione’s mouth.

“Because she’s family,” Theo answered for all of them.

Slowly, Hermione’s body began to still as Draco stroked her cheeks and Lucius, Theo, and Narcissa attended to her tremoring limbs. She could feel Narcissa’s cool fingers on her left forearm, trying to work around the painfully throbbing wound.

“You… said… You called her your daughter…” Harry said after a moment, eyes moving between the Malfoys and Bellatrix’s still body.

“Honestly, for the Chosen One you certainly are slow,” Draco groaned, leaning to press a kiss to Hermione’s temple.

“She is,” Narcissa answered. “I would do anything to protect her.”

Harry looked expectantly at Lucius, who did not even glance his way.

“She’s ours. It may not be by blood, but she is in all the ways that matter,” Lucius said softly as he spread out the fingers of Hermione’s right hand.

“Draco…” Hermione rasped. “Bella… said… Pansy…”

Draco chuckled, smoothing back her hair.

“Leave it to you to be almost tortured to death but still be worried about your friends. Pansy is fine, love. She had a dramatic entrance into the Black Estate before getting Luna from the dungeons.”

Hermione’s eyes grew wide.

“We did not know Miss Lovegood was there,” Lucius said. “Or else we would have retrieved her long before.”

“They’re safe,” Theo interjected. “And Pans got to have her big moment saving the witch she loves.”

“ Pansy and Luna?!” Harry cried. “What do you mean you would have gotten Luna out?”

Harry looked incredibly overwhelmed as he scrubbed his hands across his face.

Lucius sat back, finally giving Harry his attention. There was a cold, calculating look on the older wizard’s face – as if he were trying to decide how much to say.

“We have been working with the Order for the better part of a year to smuggle muggleborns and those targeted by the Ministry and the Dark Lord to safety.”

Harry gaped at him.

“But… but…”

“Kingsley Shacklebolt has been our contact, if you have any questions I suggest you speak to him,” Lucius said coolly, turning his attention back to Hermione.

“Cissa…” Hermione groaned, reaching for the witch.

“Yes, darling, I’m here,” Narcissa grasped her hand tightly.

“I’m sorry…” Hermione said quietly.

She wasn’t sorry Bellatrix was dead, but she was sorry that Narcissa had been the one to do it. As she looked at the only mother she would ever have now, she was surprised to see that there were only the barest hints of pain around her blue eyes.

“Don’t be, darling. Though I may be a snake – I am much more that of a lioness when it comes to protecting my children,” she said with a wry grin, stroking her hand over the stinging wound against Hermione’s arm.

“She… she thought we’d been in her vault,” Harry said slowly.

Narcissa’s pale eyebrows rose before her eyes caught on the gleaming silver sword behind them.

“Salazar, you found it,” Theo breathed, turning to give Hermione a smile. “Were we right?”

“Wait, you mean you knew about this?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Of course I did, mate. I’m the brains of the operation,” Theo quipped with a wink to Harry. “But really, I only surmised through Hermione’s research that you could use Basilisk venom to destroy a horcrux. You lot came up with the sword all on your own.”

“Narcissa… do you think – Bellatrix kept anything else in her vault? Anything that the Dark Lord wanted her to protect?”

Narcissa’s face darkened as she thought, continuing to absentmindedly stroke Hermione’s arm.

“There was something… Circe, it had to be twenty years ago… He asked her to place a cup in our vault. I only saw it once… It was gold with some sort of an animal on the front.”

“That’s it!” Harry cried. “Do you think you can get it for us?”

Narcissa shot Harry a small smile before she gave him a nod.

“Of course I can. I am a Black, after all.”