Harry Potter and the Catfight of Mysteries!
Quick note: For those who actually care about these kinds of things, this was written before I had read/watched Deathly Hallows, so it takes place right before that.
Chapter 1: A Convincing argument
"Oh, come on Harry!" Hermione said in exasperation.
"Look, you can't come, all right?" Harry reponded. "It's too dangerous."
"All the more reason why you need our help!"
"Unless you think we'd just get in the way of 'The Chosen One'?" Ron added, knowing that it would hit just the right chord.
Harry turned towards Ron angrily and was about to reply until he saw the grin on his face, demonstrating how predictable Harry's reaction would be to his hated nickname. His expression softened as he realized the logic of what his friends were saying. "All right," he said calmly. "You can come. But under one condition." Harry then repeated the instructions that Dumbledore had once given to him. "You do what I say, even if I tell you to run away and leave me behind to face the danger alone." Harry's companions readily agreed knowing that they would simply ignore the order if it came to that. They had been with Harry for many dangerous encounters and weren't about to abandon him now.
It had been several weeks since the Death Eaters' raid on Hogwarts. After seemingly an endless amount of research, with Hermione's help, Harry had finally tracked down another of Voldemort's horcruxes. Each horcrux that he destroyed brought him one step closer to ridding the world of Lord Voldemort. The only problem was that, if they were correct, it was located in a house on the continent in an area known for its large population of werewolves, vampires, and trolls. None of the three had ever been that far from home adding to the potential for this to be their most hazardous adventure yet. As much as Harry hated the idea of his friends being in danger, he was glad that he had given in and that they would be by his side.
Wanting to leave as soon as possible, they took only a day to pack what they would need and take care of whatever else they had to. Ron left a note for his parents explaining that he would be gone for several days and not to worry about him. He didn't really know why as he knew very well that the note would do more to scare his parents than if he had simply left without a word.
Chapter 2: Hidden Horcruxes
The first thing Harry, Ron, and Hermione noticed walking into the house was the smell. Moldy and covered in dust, it was obvious that no one had lived here for years.
"Lumos!" they each yelled, their wands suddenly illumining the house in light. From there, they split up to search for the horcrux, that piece of Voldemort's soul whose destruction was necessary if the Dark Lord were ever to truly be killed. Volunteering to take the second floor, Hermione creeped up the creaky stairs, ducking under the occasional patch of cobwebs. She wished that she had worn something with long sleeves to cover her rather than the pink tee shirt and blue jeans that she was wearing. She wasn't too concerned though as it was easy enough to avoid the more disgusting parts of the house from brushing against her bare skin just so long as she walked carefully.
When she got to the second floor, she began her search, methodically looking in each room and checking any potential hiding spots. Most of the rooms were empty making searching them easy. The last room, however, appeared to be a bedroom and was less sparsely furnished than the others.
Hermione looked throughout the room, in the closet, under the cushions of a ratty chair, and even under the floorboards in the areas that she could lift them. She was just about to give up on this room as well when something caught he eye underneath the bed. Stretching her arm out carefully, she pulled out an incredibly elaborate necklace. From down the hall, she could hear the stairs creaking and assumed that it was either Harry or Ron coming to check on her.
"I think I found something!" she yelled out as she continued to examine the necklace.
Despite sitting under a filthy bed for what must have been years, it looked as if it had just come from the jeweler's shop. Never one for subtlety, it was just the sort of receptical He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named would choose.
Peering closely at it, she could see her reflection and that of the rest of the room in the shiny jewels. With her back to the door, Hermione was nevertheless able to see the reflection of a figure standing in the doorway leveling a wand at her back. Turning suddenly, Hermione yelled out "Expelliarmus!" at the same time as her mysterious assailant. Both wands were ejected from their owners' hands, flying across the room to land under the bed. Hermione dove to the ground to reach under the bed for her wand but not before her attacker had sprinted to the bed as well. Just as Hermione felt her fingertips brush against the polished surface, she felt herself roughly dragged back to the center of the room. Diving on top of her, her attacker began to grapple with Hermione, each looking for an opening to grab their wand.
After several minutes of hair pulling and rolling around on the ground, Hermione managed to separate herself from her assailant. Standing up, Hermione got her first good look at the girl and saw a familiar face.
"Celia!" she exclaimed, recognizing a Slytherin girl one year below her. "What are you doing here?"
"Hullo Hermione. You don't think the Dark Lord would approve of a bunch of twits like you and your friends finding his horcruxes, do you? I'm impressed you managed to find this place. Unfortunately, you're just a little too late." In the background, Hermione could hear the sounds of fighting and spell casting below which meant that she shouldn't expect Ron or Harry to suddenly appear. "From the sound of it, it seems your friends are in as much trouble as you are." Seeing as how they were both disarmed, that seemed to be a particularly arrogant statement to Hermione.
Hermione took a moment to examine her opponent. Despite belonging to Slytherin, she would never have expected Celia to be a Death Eater. She was certainly nervous about fighting but still confident that she could get the upper hand if it came to that. In addition to a size and age advantage over the Slytherin girl, Celia bore a somewhat sickly and gaunt appearance due to long hours of study in the dungeon that was the Slytherin common room. Celia, much like Hermione, spent most of her time with her nose in a book. Like Hermione, she was regarded as one of Hogwarts's brightest students. Hermione had figured that it was just a matter of time before they had to compete against each other over something. But she never expected that it would be like this!
Chapter 3: The Slytherin Girl
Hermione quickly weighed her options. Trying to retrieve her wand was out of the question as was running away just to face the battle downstairs unarmed. The only choice she had, as far as she could tell, was to press her size advantage over Celia and see this fight to its conclusion.
Suddenly running forward, Hermione crashed into Celia driving her into the wall with a thud. Having never been in a fight before, Hermione could only do what came naturally to her, which in this case meant wildly lashing out at Celia without causing any real damage. Celia accepted the blows and waited for Hermione to tire herself out. Seeing an opening, Celia managed to wrap her leg around Hermione's and pushed toppling her over. As she was falling, she reached out and grabbed a handful of the Slytherin girl's black curls, bringing her down with her. Back on the ground, Hermione wound up on top and continued striking wildly at her opponent. The lithe and nimble Celia managed to slip her feet onto Hermione's chest and pushed off launching her onto the other side of the room. Both girls then stood and studied each other. Hermione hated the idea of fighting but was proud of herself for holding her own. Looking at the marks she made on Celia's face, she was confident that she was winning.
This was of course part of Celia's strategy. She knew that Hermione was stronger than her and she was perfectly content with a few scratches since she was otherwise still fresh. Hermione, however, was heaving from the exertion of her efforts and at this point Celia was ready to press her attack.
She walked up to Hermione and was again met with a flurry of uncoordinated attacks, these much slower than the ones from before. She waited until Hermione threw a particularly wild slap, causing her to overbalance. As Hermione stumbled, she fell into Celia who proceeded to pull Hermione's pink tee shirt over her head, blinding her and trapping her arms. As Hermione struggled to free herself, Celia took aim at Hermione's soft, unprotected stomach.
Finally, Hermione managed to get the shirt off and faced Celia, now with only her bra as a top. She put her hand over her stomach to contain the ache Celia's punches had left and tried desperately to think of a way out of this. She knew that she was almost out of stamina and would soon be easy prey for Celia to finish off. Celia, on the other hand, wasn't even breathing heavily and moved in for the kill. She launched a series of carefully timed punches, alternating between Hermione's face, breasts, and midsection depending on what area was exposed. When Hermiome feebly tried to strike back, Celia simply grabbed her wrist and threw her to the ground. This time, Hermione was thankful for the moldy wood underneath her as it gave her a much softer landing.
Hermione knew that she was in deep trouble and losing the fight. She would have loved to have given up at this point but knew that she couldn't afford to. She could still hear fighting going on below her where Ron and Harry were counting on her. She had to win.
Celia, of course, disagreed. She could have easily retrieved her wand at this point. But she had different priorities than Hermione and was enjoying beating up her rival. Wanting to increase Hermione's humiliation, she began working on unlatching the belt securing her jeans. Hermione did her best to fight back but it wasn't long before she was lying on the ground in nothing but her bra and panties. Getting beaten up and stripped in a catfight would be traumatic for any teenage girl. Combined with the desperate circumstances her group faced, Hermione broke down into tears.
"What's the matter there, little Miss Prefect?" She began peppering each sentence with a stomp onto Hermione's chest or belly. Hermione gave out a yelp from each one and did her best to defend herself. "Can't take it? (stomp) You know, we're not supposed to take prisoners (stomp). Normally we dispose of our enemies (stomp). But I'm having too much fun so I think I'll keep you!" With that, she ground her foot into Hermione's stomach eliciting a moan that simply made her laugh.
Hermione hated the idea of Harry or Ron seeing her in this pitiful state, half naked, sobbing, and under the foot of a smaller Slytherin girl. Nevertheless, she would have done anything to have them burst into the room and rescue her.
Celia bent down to whisper into Hermione's ear. "Don't worry about Ron. I'll make sure to take good care of him." Despite her injuries and exhaustion, she turned to Celia at the mention of Ron's name and shot her an angry look. "What he could possibly see in a filthy mud blood like you, I'll never understand."
That was too much for Hermione. Forgetting her pain, she reached up, taking Celia by surprise, and grabbed her hair. Dragging her to the ground and yelling in rage, Hermione quickly climbed on top of her and began choking her rival while slamming her head against the ground. Although disoriented, Celia grabbed hold of the sides of Hermione's panties and gave a hard tug. The painful wedgie off balanced Hermione and Celia used that as an opportunity to strike at Hermione's ribs with the base of her palm. Hermione collapsed off of her, clutching her injured side and screamed in agony.
At this point, Hermione was done. Celia had soundly beaten her and she knew it. But Ron and Harry were counting on her. If Celia retrieved her wand and joined the battle downstairs, they wouldn't stand a chance. Mustering the last of her energy and courage, she began to painfully crawl to the bed while Celia worked the kinks out of her neck from Hermione's choke.
"Oh, no you don't," was all she said before calmly walking over to Hermione and laying on top of her while putting her in a chokehold of her own. Celia was much lighter and Hermione was still able to drag both of them while her air ran out. Just as Hermione reached the bed, Celia slipped her legs underneath her squeezed them together in a simultaneous choke and leg scissor. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks from the pain in her already battered ribs. All she could do was squirm in agony, unable to even scream from the choke hold around her neck. Celia simply laughed.
"So, how does that feel?" she asked letting up the pressure around her neck while increasing that on her ribs. Hermione immediately offered her submission.
"Please! No more! I surrender!" Mercifully, Celia's legs opened and Hermione was allowed to roll onto her back and await becoming Celia's prisoner.
Reaching under the bed, Celia grabbed both wands. She then tunred to her sobbing opponent and wondered how else she could humiliate her. "Well, isn't that a cute bra. Hand it over." Hermione briefly considered refusing before remembering how helpless she was. Her body wracked with pain, she gingerly reached behind her and undid her bra. Unable to make eye contact with Celia, Hermione miserably handed it over. Now turn over on your belly and put your hands behind your back," Celia said harshly, Hermione meekly complying. Standing over her, she pointed her wand at her new prisoner, yelling, "Dominus Totalus!" Hermione's hands became tied together by a conjured black rope. "Now, I should warn you. This is going to hurt." Hermione once again found herself yelling in pain as Celia pointed her wand at Hermione's ass and branded her left cheek with the Dark Mark. "Oh, and I don't think you'll need this anytime soon," Celia stated, dropping Hermione's wand in front of her which she had snapped in two. Grabbing her hair and the back of her panties, she forced Hermione to stand and then picked up the horcrux. Before leaving, she grabbed Hermione by the ass and pulled her in close before giving her a passionate kiss. "Oh, am I going to have fun with you," she said before pushing Hermione to the door.
Hermione, for her part, couldn't believe that this was happening. She knew how high the stakes were, how important that horcrux was, and how much Harry and Ron were counting on her. But she simply couldn't take anymore pain.
Celia roughly led the sobbing Hermione down the stairs to the main floor. There they saw Ron and Harry trading volleys of curses with Draco Malfoy and another Death Eater. "It's about time you finished playing with the Granger girl!" Draco called. Seeing the horcrux in Celia's hand, he turned around to light the fireplace with a spell and took out a bag of floo powder. Before Ron or Harry could stop them, the Death Eater's and their new prisoner were gone with no way for them to follow. Engaged with Draco and the other Death Eater, they hadn't even noticed Celia with Hermione in tow until it was too late. Stripped, bound, and covered in dirt and welts, it was obvious what had happened to her. Hermione managed to mouth "I'm sorry" before she was shoved into the fire and disappeared to await whatever degrading acts Celia had in store for her.
