Hermione woke to the sound of crying.

Her eyes snapped open, and it was like her heart turned on, fluttering viciously in her chest. Her lungs grabbed for the stale air, tasting fear on the back of her tongue.

There were bodies all around her. The sounds of sniffling and crying. A warm light kept the room from total darkness. A cold marble floor beneath her she almost recognized.

"Hermione!"

She looked up. The room was moving. And she realized the bodies around her weren't soulless. The entire room — fifty people began crawling to her. Her lungs cramped, and she pressed back into the wall she woke up against.

"Hermione," said a familiar voice. She turned and Ginny was there, climbing over the people, grabbing her shoulders, tucking her into her chest, and saying, "You're awake."

Hermione looked past her red curls. The room was full of familiar faces. She could see Luna and Parvati. The bodies that had slithered to her were her friends, eager to hold her, not to attack.

Ginny pulled back, her hands on her Hermione's face. "Where did you go? Where were you captured?"

Captured. It came down to that word. Hermione opened her lips, cracking skin, and coughed at the sandpaper feeling in her throat.

"Water!" Ginny called. Four or five girls scrambled. "Are you hungry?" Ginny asked.

Hermione frowned. Food? Water?

A paper water cup forced its way to her lips. Hermione sipped, and looked up to thank the person there. It was Cho Chang.

Everyone was alive. Had they surrendered? Where were Ron and Neville? She blinked.

Only girls. Young girls. She looked at each of their faces. When her eyes landed on Luna, the blonde girl smiled gently and said, "They're keeping us separate."

"Separate and unharmed?" Hermione rasped. A plate of fruit passed over heads and appeared in front of her face. "And fed?"

"It's not poisoned. We've all been eating," Ginny supplied. Hermione just sipped her water.

"How long have we been here?" she asked.

"Four days," several voices chorused.

"You arrived yesterday."

Hermione snapped her head to look at Ginny. She scanned herself. No injuries. But there was something on her arm.

C. Yaxley. A tattoo of sorts. Magical. It was his signature.

She felt the blood drain from her head.

"That's who captured you." Parvati nodded at the tattoo. Hermione's eyes drifted down to Parvati's arm and saw W. Macnair.

She swallowed. "Is that who owns us now?"

Ginny pursed her lips and several girls looked away. "We're not sure," Ginny said. "They haven't said much to us, just kept us fed and kept bringing girls in." She took deep breath. "It's possible that—"

"I've already told you stupid chits," came a sour voice from the corner. Hermione craned her neck, and found the one body that had not clambered to greet her when she woke. Sitting against the corner wall, knees to her chest in a lazy way, not a hair out of place.