Hermione crouched next to her Mistress's seat in a state of readiness. It wasn't yet her turn to fight, but the last two years of harsh training had fully drilled a sense of discipline into her. The constant physical training Hermione had been subjected to had transformed her body even more than her mind, and she was at peak physical condition. How could she not be, when every day for the last two years, Hermione had been forced to run for miles, jump rope for hours, and do a combination of pushups, situps, and pullups until she was on the verge of collapse? Bellatrix had cared nothing for the suffering she had put Hermione through. The only thing Mistress cared about was that Hermione could now take physical punishment, and more importantly, dish it out.

It had all started after the war. The Dark Lord had won, and anyone who fought against him at Hogwarts was taken prisoner. After they had all been interrogated and every scrap of information possible had been squeezed out of the prisoners, Hermione included, there was the question of what to do with the female prisoners. The male prisoners were either executed or tossed into Azkaban to rot, but too many Death Eaters thought that it would be a waste to do the same with the younger females. They had all been auctioned off to various Death Eaters, and Hermione had been purchased by Bellatrix Lestrange herself. Quasi-sexual slavery was what everyone expected, but Mistress had come up with an unusual idea: Train the girls physically, and have them fight each other as if they were gladiators.

The idea had sounded absolutely ridiculous to Hermione, but it turned out to be her first introduction to the new reality of her situation: It no longer mattered what Hermione thought. Mistress wished it to be so, and so it was. That change in mindset required months of torture, isolation, and mental reprogramming before Hermione accepted it, but eventually, she had no choice. Her willpower had been exhausted, and it had become far easier to simply obey Mistress's commands than to think for herself.

After that, it wasn't simply her willpower that had been drained. Hermione's body had been pushed to the limits of what it could take every single day with the training she had been forced to do. Days melted into weeks, which melted into months, where Hermione would be compelled to train every hour she was awake. Bellatrix would not allow her to stop until Hermione was about to collapse, her energy completely spent. The following morning, Bellatrix would awaken her, and force Hermione to drink a number of performance-enhancing potions that would restore her strength. The house-elves assigned to keep her healthy did their job perfectly as well, so that no matter how hard Bellatrix pushed her, Hermione never broke down physically.

Hermione was a vastly different person now. Her old life didn't even seem real anymore. Being free to make her own decisions, living in peace and honing her mind through study? It sounded like a fairy tale. Hermione found it difficult to distinguish her memories from the fiction she had read as a child. Sometimes Hermione wondered whether she had simply made it all up after the mental breakdown Mistress had imposed on her. Maybe Hermione had never known the girls she fought against and was simply fooling herself into believing they had been friends in the past. But why would she do that?

"Alright, let's get the next two girls up. Abbott and Patil." Master Avery announced, reading from a parchment next to his chair.

"Which Patil?" Masters Crabbe and Goyle asked simultaneously, with both sisters crouched next to their chairs in poses similar to Hermione.

"Uh, Parvati." Master Avery said after a moment, looking down at the parchment again.

Parvati Patil rose gracefully from her crouched position. Parvati's long black hair was tied back in a heavy ponytail. Hermione had heard that swimming was the main way the Patil sisters built up their endurance, and as a result, Parvati's body was lithe and toned. Along with her sister, she was perhaps the most agile of any of the girls here. Parvati's kicks were fast and powerful, and she would often run rings around her slower opponents. Although Parvati used more energy dancing around than her opponent did, her kicks to the opponent's legs would start to hobble them, and if they couldn't take out Parvati quickly enough, the dark-skinned Indian girl would be able to finish off her opponent at her leisure.

Hannah Abbott rose from the other end of the room. Hannah's blonde hair was in twin braids behind her head, and her upper body was more defined than any girl here. Her master, Thorfinn Rowle, trained Hannah very differently than Parvati. Instead of training with an eye toward agility and speed, Rowle had transformed Hannah into a bruiser of a fighter. Hannah's punches hit so hard that her opponent would swear she was wearing brass knuckles, as Hermione had already experienced. During a previous bout, Hannah had broken Hermione's jaw and fractured her skull. It was the only lesson Hermione needed to know about the importance of staying out of Hannah's wheelhouse.

The assembled Death Eaters talked among themselves as Parvati and Hannah walked into the cleared area in the center of the room. Wagering on the fight was a common pastime for them, and Hermione waited for the odds to be determined. Eventually, they did; 2-to-1 on Parvati. Mistress Bellatrix had yet to bet, as she preferred to get Hermione's more studied opinion on the fighters before doing so.

"What do you think, pet?" Bellatrix asked curiously, looking down at Hermione.

Although Parvati and Hannah were very different fighters, the fight could go either way. Parvati only needed to make one mistake for Hannah to lay her out cold, but if she didn't make any, then Hannah would spend the fight getting whittled down whilst hitting nothing but air. Mistress expected a decision, though, so Hermione had to play the odds. Parvati was more likely than not to make a mistake at some point during the fight.

"Hannah." Hermione answered simply.

Bellatrix nodded and made the bet. Hermione let out a slow breath and focused on the upcoming match. This right here was her true skill. Hermione's physical ability was impressive, but every one of the girls could say the same. None of them could match her when it came to studying the moves of the different fighters, however. Hermione kept a mental catalogue of the way the other girls fought and could draw on that information effortlessly. For instance, she knew that Parvati liked to circle her opponent counter-clockwise because she could kick out faster with her left leg. Hannah, meanwhile, would always drop her shoulder in preparation for a powerful hook.

Hermione's own preference for either of the girls was meaningless. Mistress had bet on Hannah, and that was the outcome that Hermione wished for. Both girls had stretched and were soon ready to begin. Like Hermione herself, neither of them were wearing any clothes for the simple reason that the assembled Death Eaters preferred them to be naked. Any sense of modesty in them had long since been discarded, however. It had been years since Hermione had worn even a scrap of clothing. It would probably feel strange and cumbersome if any of them were given clothing to wear now.

Avery tapped his wand onto empty air, yet a bell rang nevertheless. Hearing it, Parvati and Hannah advanced on each other slowly. Hermione could see they had different expressions as well as different poses: Parvati's body was relaxed and she smiled confidently, while Hannah had her fists up and her arms drawn in with a tight look on her face. Parvati began circling Hannah as expected, but after only a few seconds, Parvati pivoted in place and lashed out with a spinning back kick that caught everyone, Hannah especially, by surprise. The kick caught Hannah squarely in the stomach and forced a gasp out of her. Hermione had never seen Parvati do that before. She added the surprise back kick to her mental catalogue so that she wouldn't get caught by the move herself. Meanwhile, Bellatrix made a dissatisfied noise and adjusted herself in her seat. Hermione felt a spike of nervousness rise within her. Hopefully, she hadn't led her Mistress astray.

Hannah backed off so she could recover from the kick. Parvati declined to chase her, so it was a few seconds before the fight was joined once more. Just as Hermione predicted, it was all Parvati at first. Hannah simply couldn't bring her power to bear. If Hannah closed in, Parvati would use her superior range and lash out with a kick to the legs before backing off. As far as Hermione could tell, Hannah had two options: Commit to a rush and hopefully catch Parvati off-guard, which would be punished hard if it didn't work, or simply circle Parvati and wait for the Indian girl to get too frisky with a kick.

A moment later, Hannah tried to rush Parvati, but Hermione could tell immediately that it was doomed to failure. Hannah swung a left hook that would have knocked Parvati off her feet, had it connected, but it whiffed completely as Parvati ducked it and dashed to the side. Hannah was still recovering from her swing, which Parvati took full advantage of by aiming a vicious kick to the back of Hannah's left knee. Hannah's leg buckled and she almost went down to one knee, but a few wild swings with her fists prevented Parvati from following up on her strike. They separated once again, but this time, Hannah was moving a lot more slowly than before.

Hermione sighed as she heard a displeased growl from her Mistress. The fight was not over, but Hermione felt as though she might have made a miscalculation. Parvati was more agile than Hermione could remember her being. It was easy to make assumptions based on how an opponent fought previously, however, and it was always an unpleasant surprise when those assumptions turned out to be false. But what about Hannah? Had she really added nothing to her repertoire?

Hannah was a lot more reluctant to attack now, so Parvati took over the role of the aggressor. Parvati quickly drove Hannah backward with a series of kicks to Hannah's knees, which the blonde-haired girl seemed to have no countermeasures against. Hannah now had a very worried look on her face, and she seemed to be barely able to fight back at all. Most of the Death Eaters had bet on Parvati, and consequently, there was a lot of clapping and mirth in the room. But Hermione wasn't so sure. Was Hannah really this helpless? Sure, she had slowed and had taken a lot of blows, but Hermione knew that Hannah was very tough. Tougher than this, certainly.

Parvati's smile had only grown wider as she laid into Hannah again and again. She was no longer confining her kicks to the legs. A particularly strong kick from Parvati to Hannah's stomach made the blonde girl buckle and protect her body with her arms. Parvati grinned and launched a roundhouse kick aimed at Hannah's head that promised to end the fight then and there, but Hannah twisted her head aside and brought her arm up in a flash, taking only a glancing blow and trapping Parvati's foot high in the air.

Parvati's gleeful look was suddenly replaced by panic. She jabbed Hannah in the face with her fists, but Hannah ignored the blows as she bull-rushed Parvati, who couldn't maintain her balance with just one usable leg. Hannah kept a strong hold on Parvati's trapped leg and drove the dark-skinned Indian girl to the ground. Suddenly, it was a completely different fight. Hannah was straddling Parvati, which negated the use of her legs. From this close up, it was all about power, and Hannah soon proved how fearsome she could be at close range.

The assembled Death Eaters groaned as Hannah put an end to Parvati's weaker efforts with repeated strikes to Parvati's face. Bellatrix began clapping for the first time, and Hermione felt a flush of pleasure at the sound. She hadn't led Mistress astray after all. Meanwhile, Masters Crabbe and Goyle looked quite put out, and Padma had an enraged look on her face. Master Thorfinn, however, was grinning.

Hannah growled before she gripped Parvati's hair with her left hand and drew back with her right arm. With no way to protect herself, Parvati let out a wail that was silenced a moment later as Hannah hit her in the face with a blow that had a bone-jarring impact to it. Hermione had no love for Parvati, but she couldn't help but wince sympathetically. Hannah pulled back her right arm again and put every ounce of strength she had into her next punch, which crumpled Parvati's face further. A third hammer blow followed, and Parvati's weak movements stopped completely.

Hermione looked away at this point. The fight was entirely over, but the Death Eaters wanted blood whenever they could get it. Hannah swung again and again into Parvati's face, which only loosely resembled what it had previously looked like. After the eighth blow, Hannah stood and raised her hands into the air. Even the Death Eaters who had lost their wagers clapped and cheered. Blood always got them excited, and seeing a girl be pounded into near-death was entertainment of the highest order for them.

Hannah had a look of bliss on her face, and it was a feeling that Hermione knew well. Nothing compared to the thrill of victory. More than the creature comforts they were offered for attaining victory, the joy each of the girls experienced when they won was what they truly sought. There was something completely elemental in the feeling, and it had to be experienced to be understood.

Meanwhile, Parvati had long since been knocked into unconsciousness. In muggle hands, Parvati could have very well have died from the savage beating she had sustained. But the house-elves here were masterful healers. From Hermione's own experience, she knew that they could return a girl from a bleeding and broken mess back into fighting shape in 24 hours at the most. They would certainly not be pleasant hours, but when was any of the time they spent here pleasant? Hermione couldn't remember the last day she had lived where that word would have applied.

"Good girl. You'll get an extra portion tonight. There might even be a Sugar Quill in it for you." Bellatrix said in a satisfied tone, stroking Hermione's hair.

Hermione flushed with pleasure at Bellatrix's words. The small treats would be appreciated, but gaining the approval of Mistress was far more important. Hermione had long since accepted that her existence revolved around Mistress. Her own desires, beliefs, and perspective? All secondary, and all of which were subject to change at any moment, depending on whatever whim Mistress might have.

Two house-elves Apparated into the circle and dragged Parvati's unconscious body away. She would be returned to health in a matter of hours, and Master Goyle would likely want her to be training at full intensity by tomorrow morning. Their owners hated it when their girls lost, and losing a fight (no matter how painfully) was never sufficient cause for slacking.

"Alright, this is the last fight for tonight. Granger and Chang." Master Avery called out, reading from his parchment.

"Good luck, pet. You know what I expect from you." Bellatrix said softly, looking down at her fondly.

"Yes, Mistress." Hermione answered at once, standing up.

Hermione was quite calm. Any apprehension or fear she might have felt had been extinguished from her psyche by Bellatrix's merciless training methods. Hermione existed to serve Mistress, and what Mistress wanted her to do was fight. More than fight, actually. Bellatrix expected her pet to win, and that's exactly what Hermione was prepared to do, regardless of the cost to Cho Chang or herself.

Cho Chang stood up from across the room. Cho was renowned among the girls for her mastery of different forms of Eastern martial arts. Ironically, Cho hadn't known anything about fighting before they were all captured, but her owner, Master Travers, had wanted her to be trained that way for the simple fact that her ancestry was Chinese. Perhaps he thought it more fitting.

Hermione wasn't concerned. Her encyclopedic knowledge of the fighting styles of the other girls would help her in this matchup. One of Cho's main strengths was her versatility. Kung Fu was her principle fighting style, but if she was having difficulty against an opponent, Cho could switch to Jujitsu or Aikido. Other girls would have a hard time preparing for the wide variety of moves Cho could employ against them, but Hermione's memory was more than capable of handling the situation. She had already memorized everything Cho would think to throw at her.

Hermione stepped to the edge of the circle and waited for Cho to do the same at the other end. Just like Parvati and Hannah, both of them had their hair in ponytails tucked behind them. They were both naked. Neither of them cared one whit. Their owners did, but the audience was irrelevant at this point. When two girls were in the ring (or about to be), nobody else existed until the fight was over.

Meanwhile, their Death Eater owners were settling on odds. It took a few minutes (Hermione used the time to do some simple stretches, with Cho mirroring her), but eventually, their owners came to an agreement. 5-to-3 in favor of Hermione.

This time, Hermione thought their owner's odds were closer to being correct. Hermione enjoyed a reputation as a winner even though her physical ability was a little below average among the girls here. Hermione's depth of knowledge, mental preparation, and emotional toughness enabled her to win a majority of the time against girls that outclassed her physically.

Cho Chang was one of those girls. She had longer limbs and greater flexibility than Hermione did. She also had quicker reflexes. But where Cho was lacking was her resiliency. If Cho found herself at a disadvantage that she couldn't easily reverse, she would lose confidence in her ability. Such a defeatist attitude would usually seal her fate, even if she was nowhere near beaten in actuality.

Master Avery tapped his wand on the invisible bell, causing it to ring loudly. Hermione let out a breath and walked calmly to the middle of the circle. Cho did the same, though more warily. When they were about 6 feet apart, Hermione held herself ready. Attacking first was a poor idea in this circumstance. Cho had a longer reach and was faster than she was. Hermione would have to cede the initiative to Cho and wait for an opening.

Cho started things off with a feint. She skipped forward and lashed out with an apparent thrust kick to Hermione's midsection. It was a risky attack that left her open if it missed. Cho's true intention was to pull back at the last second, with the momentum transferred into a side-kick that would punish an attempted dodge to the side. Hermione was not fooled for a moment, however, and simply stepped backward. She had seen Cho do the same thing to Lavender a month ago, as well as the resultant bruised ribs that Lavender had suffered in her eagerness to punish Cho's seemingly risky decision.

Stepping backward was not without a cost, however. The circle they were fighting in had been enchanted. As soon as the girls stepped inside, an invisible wall would appear around the edges. It would only vanish once Master Avery rang the bell to signal the end of the fight. Hermione had seen girls (herself among them) be flung into seemingly empty air and crash against the wall as if they had hit a chain link fence.

Cho instinctively took the space that Hermione had left behind. She began using her longer reach to throw out strikes to Hermione's face. Hermione could have easily avoided them by backing up again, but that was exactly what Cho wanted. Hermione couldn't allow herself to be penned in against the invisible walls of the circle. Her options would narrow and the fight would start to slip away from her. Instead, Hermione raised her arms to block and waited for an overly aggressive attack from her opponent.

Seconds later, she saw it. Admit the flurry of quick but weak strikes to Hermione's guard, Cho tried to catch Hermione unaware with a slower uppercut. Had it connected with Hermione's chin, the blow might have been decisive. But Hermione reacted as soon as she saw the wind-up. She dropped her guard and threw a jab that hit Cho squarely on the nose, then swung for Cho's temple. Cho brought up her hands in time to protect herself from the second blow, but Hermione had succeeded in taking the initiative. Cho quickly backed off and ceded the space she had gained previously. Both of them separated and took a moment to catch their breath.

With her attack having failed, Cho took a more defensive stance. That was just fine for Hermione. If Cho's lack of confidence was causing her to be more defensive than the situation called for, Hermione would gladly take on the role of the aggressor. She began circling Cho slowly, paying special attention to her opponent's hands. The position of Cho's hands would tell her what style she was using at the moment. Right now, Cho was still using Kung Fu.

Hermione continued circling, waiting for Cho to adjust her stance in order to keep Hermione in front of her. Attacking during that split-second opening would mean Hermione could close without taking as much risk as she would otherwise. As soon as she saw it, Hermione skipped forward to deliver a lightning-quick jab to Cho's face. Cho blocked the jab with her arm and attempted to sweep Hermione's legs out from under her. But that was exactly what Hermione was waiting for. She raised her own leg to block the sweep, succeeded in keeping herself standing, and swung her fist as hard as she could into Cho's solar plexus.

Cho gasped and stumbled backward. Hermione was too off-balance to follow immediately, but she had gotten what she wanted out of the exchange. Some girls, like Hannah or Angelina, would have driven Cho to her knees with a punch like that. Hermione didn't have their power, unfortunately.

Hermione regained her balance and pressed forward. Cho was attempting to catch her breath, but Hermione had no intention of allowing her to do so. She threw out punches to Cho's face, not having to worry about any kicks to force her away from her oxygen-starved opponent. Cho blocked them, but she wasn't making any attempt to counter-attack.

Here was where Cho's defeatism doomed her. She seemed entirely focused on getting away from her opponent and protecting her head from Hermione's admittedly vicious punches. But that wasn't the way to win. She needed to fight back and try to land a lucky blow while she still had the strength, only Cho's fear was keeping her from realizing that.

Hermione decided that enough was enough. She grabbed Cho's shoulders and pulled her opponent close to her body, then rammed her knee into Cho's stomach. Cho let out another loud, shuddering gasp and seemed to melt into Hermione's body. Any pity Hermione might have felt for Cho had been long since extinguished by her Mistress, however.

Wasting no time, Hermione grabbed Cho's arm and spun to the side, using her momentum to throw Cho to the ground. Cho collapsed in a heap, and Hermione was quick to drop on top of her. She drove her knee into Cho's back and grabbed her opponent's left arm again. Hermione knew Cho was beaten at this point, but simply beating the opponent wasn't enough to end the fight.

Hermione looked up at their assembled Death Eater owners, searching for her Mistress in particular. As soon as she located her Mistress, Hermione locked eyes with Bellatrix. Her owner had a wide smile on her face, but Hermione could tell that she wasn't quite satisfied yet. None of the Death Eaters were.

"P-Please. I give up." Cho whispered from the ground, sounding helpless and scared.

Hermione ignored her. If she didn't finish off Cho appropriately, they would both be punished. She hooked her arm beneath Cho's and pulled up brutally, all the while forcing her knee down on Cho's shoulder blade. Cho began screaming and thrashing beneath her, but Hermione had her easily pinned. Hermione pulled up on Cho's arm until she heard the first few cracks of bone, which coincided with even louder screams from Cho.

Hermione gritted her teeth and used every ounce of her strength to pull upward, breaking Cho's arm cleanly. As soon as the deed was done, Hermione released her. Cho sobbed in absolute misery, drawing her newly misshapen arm closer to her body. Hermione looked down at her opponent. She still felt no pity, even now. The house-elves would have Cho fixed up in an hour or so. Hermione had suffered worse before, both in a loss and as a punishment from her Mistress afterward.

The bell rang, and the assembled Death Eaters began clapping for her. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the ecstasy of her triumph. Then she looked for her Mistress. Bellatrix was applauding her, and the knowledge that she had served her Mistress well made Hermione feel warm in a way that was completely indescribable.

Mistress, for her part, was always at her most kind and loving when Hermione won. She could look forward to days of treats, and head pats, and sleeping together in Mistress's large, luxurious bed. At least until the next fight, and the next opportunity for Hermione to prove her full and complete devotion to the woman who had stripped all weakness and sentimentality from her, and in their place, had given Hermione the only meaning her life required.