[fifty five]

The minute Theo's feet landed on the ground, the anti-apparition wards around his manor quickly kicked back in. Rodolphus would just have to get in the harder way.

He kept his hand tightly over the gash on Hermione's neck, who had lost a good amount of blood on their trip. Theo tried his best not to let go of his grip on her despite her squirms and resistance, for fear that she would splinch herself to pieces from her gash.

"Let me go, Theo! " Hermione screamed, angry tears cascading down her cheeks. She was reeling from the pain of his betrayal, which felt more painful than the bleeding gash at the side of her throat. She exclaimed with as much might as she could. Normally, Hermione could do wandless magic with no problem, but the wound on her neck and the shock in her core made her too weak to do effective magic.

Theo easily deflected it and breathed a frustrated sigh through his nose, before casting a gag over Hermione He murmured into her ear lowly, before marching over to the east wing.

Several Death Eaters had already sensed his presence, some of them already flanking him at his sides "The mudblood bitch wasn't that difficult to snatch, then?" Rookwood smirked next to him "Can I have a go at her after you?"

"Did I give you permission to speak, Rookwood?" Theo drawled as he dragged a struggling Hermione all the way to the end of the hall "And no, you piece of shit, "

"Insolent fuck." Theo hear Rookwood mutter under his breath. Theo whipped his head and aimed his wand at Rookwood "What did you say?" His voice was dull, but Theo's eyes were bright with rage.

"Nothing—

"." Theo smirked, pouring his anger and frustration from the last hour into the dark magic the spilled from his wand. In front of him, he, and three other Death Eaters watched as Rookwood writhed and yelled in crippling agony. Hermione let out a muffled scream, afraid of the man she thought was her friend. This wasn't the Theo she knew. His eyes were far too cold and his grip far too painful for it to be the the man she called Teddy. She wanted to run away, but Theo's grip on her was far too strong for her to be able to do so, which also wouldn't be wise with the amount of Death Eaters around her.

Theo breathed and stopped "You know I hate liars, Rookwood." He taunted as he toyed with his wand in front of them casually, as if the struggling witch next to him was no bother "And I told you to call me master Theo or young master. You are in my home after all."

"I'm not some bloody house—" one strikingly cold look from Theo was all it took too shut the Death Eater up, his head bowing in forced respect.

"Good." The edges of Theo's lips turned up to a smirk, he turned to the three watching in horror and raised a brow "I will call for you when I need you. Have we not established that you nosy fucks?"

"Y-yes, sir." Saber stuttered

"Then what the hell are you still doing here?" Theo bellowed "Unless you want to be next, get me my father and get out of my sight." He snapped.

He took long and quick determined strides to the room at the end of the east wing, hauling Hermione into it. The room had been cleared of magic and sound-proofed for their mission today. He locked the door behind him and turned to face Hermione with unreadable eyes. Determined to get away from her captor, Hermione squirmed under Theo's grip, but the amount of blood she's lost has made her too weak to slip away from his restraints.

"I thought you trusted me." Theo whispered, the pain of betrayal lacing his words so thick that Hermione had to look away from his pained eyes. When she didn't let out so much as a scream or a grunt, Theo's fingers gently hovered over the gag on her mouth "If I take this off, will you let me speak?"

Her defiant eyes glared at Theo as if to say

Theo let out a tired sigh and removed the gag on her mouth, watching her with a hooded expression "I thought you trusted me." Theo repeated quietly, gently helping her to the lone seat in the room.

Hermione wasted no time whacking Theo across the face, seething with so much anger. He openly accepted her hit, knowing full well how much he deserved it "What the hell was I supposed to believe after that stunt you just pulled?" Hermione hissed, her eyes flashing with anger "You let him hurt me."

Theo's eyes looked pained, because what she said was true and he will let him hurt her again, as much as he didn't wan him to "Don't you see, Hermione? I've been playing them." Theo shook his head, rubbing the spot she'd just hit "I've been trying to find out what the hell they've been up to. That's why I was gone for more than days."

"Couldn't you have just told us that?" Hermione glared at him, anger still bubbling in her chest "You know what, how am I supposed to believe anything that comes out of your mouth now? You could be playing for all I know."

The pain didn't leave the expression on Theo's face as he answered "Do you know why you're here? In a non-magical, sound-proof room, when you could be in the dining hall, tortured for all of them to see?" He narrowed his eyes "When I got here, , Hermione. All I could do was make sure I was a part of them, so that I can somehow fuck with them to keep you all safe. Had I not intervened, Rodolphus would have crucio-ed you 'til dawn in front of all of those slimy fuckers. He would've tortured you until you were broken, because to him, you're nothing but a sack of meat he wants to get rid of."

Hermione was stunned to silence by Theo's words, unsure what to say. Although the room had been sound-proofed, they could hear the commotion outside.

Theo gently turned her to face him "I have little time to explain things, but I promise I will when I get back." He said quietly, his blue eyes still wounded "Listen, he come and he hurt you. I managed to convince him to keep you here so that he couldn't use magic on you, but he'll do will still hurt because he's a sadistic piece of shit." Theo ran a hand through his hair, the distress evident on his features "My father will take care of you—make sure nothing's too damaged. Let me heal that gash on your neck before I go...Hermione, I wish I could do more but—"

"You have to make this convincing." Hermione finished for him, bracing herself for the torment that another Lestrange will bring.

"I was able to convince him that my reason for wanting to take you is so that I can make you my witch." Theo met her eyes "It was the only way I could make sure he wouldn't break you."

"And you weren't labelled a blood traitor like he called Pansy?" Hermione's brows furrowed, tilting her neck painfully to expose the gash to him. Theo suppressed a pained look as his cool fingers began to work on her skin.

"I didn't mean a witch I loved." Theo answered softly, not saying anything further. He gently grazed the tip of his wand over the wound, whispering healing enchantments under his breath. The painful sensation on Hermione's neck gradually faded, leaving her with a thin scar to remember what happened.