The main character and the plot belong to me. The whole world of Harry Potter and basically all the other characters and spells belong to the wonderful JK Rowling.

My feet shuffled across the cold stone floor. On one side of me, Alecto Carrow held onto my arm while her brother was on the other side. They held onto my arms so tightly, I am pretty sure there would be more bruises. I tripped over my shift and started to fall, but they held me up and dragged me into the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All the muscles in my body ached; they had used the Cruciatus Curse so many times on me that my body burned knowing what they were about to do to me in the Great Hall.

Death Eaters lined the sides of the Hall. Some watched me with interest while others chatted with one another. I heard one telling a story to another about how they tortured and killed another Muggle. Their eyes lit up with excitement and they laughed as if they had been telling some sort of joke. As always, bile rose up in the back of my throat. I fought to keep my face impassive as I was dragged through the Hall. At the end of the Hall, where the professors used to sit during my time at Hogwarts, sat a very pale man, who as one would get closer, would realize that he was just in the shape of the man. He had no nose, but slits instead of a human nose. His eyes were red around the edges and dark in the center with slits instead of pupils. I knew who that man was. He had been torturing me since he captured me. He was the Dark Lord, or Voldemort as I knew him. His black robes draped around him and fell down the side of his throne. To me, he was no man. He was a monster.

His face morphed into some sort of a grin as the Carrows dumped me in front of his throne. It had been this way since the day I had been captured. I knew what would happen next. Bellatrix Lestrange stood beside him, her mad eyes glistening with excitement at the prospect of me being tortured. I was waiting for the curse to come when Voldemort decided to go off script.

"Rachel Low," he wheezed, "for the past two weeks, I have brought you in here. And in the past two weeks, I have done the same thing to you over and over again. I can see the pain you are in right now. Has the Cruciatus Curse become your biggest nightmare yet? Do you wake up with your muscles on fire? Do you wake up screaming?"

He looked at me expecting an answer. I tried to look him in the eye, but the sad thing was, he was telling the truth. Those had been my nightmares. Those and much, much more. Instead, I looked at his forehead. I pulled myself up into a sitting position and stared, making it look like I was giving him eye contact. I still was trying to keep my mask in place. I did not want him to know he was getting to me.

"I am offering you a choice, Rachel," he said. His dark eyes gleamed with excitement. "You can join me. Your pain will stop. I will no longer command my associates to torture you, and instead, you can be at my right hand. You are a strong witch, Miss Low, very strong indeed. I can make you great. I can make you famous. I can make you the strongest witch of all times. All you have to do is pledge your loyalty to me. But if you reject me, I will make your suffering worse."

He stood up and walked down from the stage to where I was sitting. He knelt down to me and ran his fingers across my face in almost a caress. He placed a finger under my chin and tilted my face to where I had no choice but to look him in the eye. His hands felt cold and clammy against my skin. Everything in my mind was screaming for me to get out of here. I needed to escape this man, but I could not run. If I ran, I would be dead. And I was not going to die at the hands of a madman.

"No matter what you do to me, I could never serve you," I whispered. Anger shook my voice.

"Then you leave me no choice," he sighed. It almost sounded like my dad when he was disappointed in me because I did something I should not have. It was bone chilling. He nodded to Bellatrix who grinned manically at me.

"Imperio," she said joyfully. Before I knew it, I was flying around the room. At one point, I lifted up the hem of my shift and flashed one of the Death Eaters. I zoomed around the room at top speed before I crashed into a stone wall. All the air went out of my lungs and everything hurt, but I had no control. Bellatrix slammed me against the wall a few more times before she opened a window and had me stand on the edge. There was a part in the back of my brain that was screaming at me to get back. I knew this was dangerous. I needed to escape this. I needed to break this curse, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not. The weeks of torturing me had paid off. My mind was too weak to fight.

Bellatrix sent me back inside. She released me from the curse then ordered the Carrows to escort me to my new cell. I vaguely registered the fact I was going to a new cell before the Carrows forced me to my feet and half carried me away. My legs would not work no matter how hard I tried to make them. We headed to the dungeons, but before we got there, they dragged me down a hall, opened a door, and threw me inside the room. They slammed the door, and I was left in total darkness. They had thrown me in a cupboard that was not even as big as my arm span. I could barely move. I could not even see my hand in front of my face. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. I started to scream hysterically. I was completely terrified. I could not even breathe. I lifted my hand to my face. I registered that my hand was wet which must mean that I am crying, but I cannot even feel the tears streaming down my face. This is it, I thought, I am going to break down.

My voice gave out from my screaming. I felt like I was about to pass out. I forced myself to calm down. In my head, I began to sing one of my favorite songs from home, "Scarborough Faire." My mother used to sing it to me when I was little to put me to sleep. My name is Rachel Low. I am nineteen years old. I am from Gryffindor House. I was born in a town just outside Dublin, Ireland. My parents were Purebloods, but they raised me in a Muggle society. I went to school with them. Some of my best friends are Muggles. We played football together. I was a fullback. My dad would take me hunting and fishing, and my mum taught me to sew and cook. When I got my letter from Hogwarts, my parents were so thrilled for me. They had heard rumors that Voldemort was trying to return. They wanted to keep me safe. They could have never known Hogwarts would become the least safe place for me.

My years at Hogwarts were exciting. My best friends were Katie Bell and Angela Johnson. I dated Oliver Wood for a few months my third year. He was a fourth year. In my fourth year, I hung out a lot with the Weasley twins. The three of us pulled so many pranks that I am pretty sure the teachers just had no idea what to do with us. I also helped the Weasley twins look after their younger siblings, Ron and Ginny. I was the first person who held them as they cried when Ginny was possessed and taken by the diary of Tom Riddle aka Voldemort. I helped them keep an ear out for whatever mischief Ron and his friends Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were doing. By the end of my fourth year, Fred and I were dating. We were still together when he died. He died protecting me.

That year, what was supposed to be Ron's seventh year, they went out on a mission to destroy Horcruxes. They are objects that Voldemort used to bind his life to the earth so that he could not die unless they were destroyed. They were told that there were seven Horcruxes. They were wrong. When Harry sacrificed himself, he did destroy the seventh Horcrux. He did come back to life. But Voldemort knew what they were doing and made an eighth in secret. When Harry tried to kill him, it did not work. Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately Apparated and got the hell out of here to find the last one. Many other witches and wizards left to find somewhere to hide and regroup. I was not so lucky.

For the past two weeks, I have been tortured by the Carrows, Bellatrix, and other high ranked Death Eaters. They have cursed me, beaten me, cut me, drowned me, and even worse, once they broke into my mind and made me think Fred was still alive and that he hated me. They have been starving me some. They at least give me water. They do not want me dead. They know I am much more valuable to them alive. Unbeknownst to a lot of people until the war broke out, I am a very strong witch. Some argue that I am even stronger than Hermione Granger because I am more adaptable, but that is their words, not mine. My problem was that I never tried. But somehow word got out, and now Voldemort is trying to break me. He is trying to break my will and make me his. Thankfully, I am very strong in Occlumency. Only once have they been able to break into my mind and see my memories.

I sat in silence in the dark. I can only hear my breathing. Everything in me is on edge. I do not know when I drifted off to sleep, but I woke up to light filtering into my prison. Someone came in and sat down next to me. They pulled the door shut then whispered, "Lumos." My eyes burned at the light. I looked to see who my new torturer was, but I was surprised when I saw it was Severus Snape. I had learned he was not really a Death Eater my first day in captivity. He has helped me keep from breaking this long. If not for him, I would have broken probably the second day. His light casted shadows in his eyes because his nose was so long. Back when I was a student, I hated Snape so much. Now, he has become the closest person I have to a friend. He might even be the closest person I have to a parent if my family is not still alive.

"We haven't much time," he whispered. The harsh lighting made him look even more serious. He thrust a small purse into my lap. "In there is your wand, a knife, some clothes, first aid supplies, dried fruit and meat, a sleeping back, and a small tent. I am going to get you to an unguarded escape route, and then you get the hell out of here. Try and make it back to Ireland if you can. The Order of the Phoenix is trying to move its members there. Voldemort's power hasn't reached the same levels there as it has here. If you can, find them and lead them to the same route you are going to be using for their next battle."

"What about the last Horcrux? Do you know where that is?" I asked.

"I'm not certain. He is keeping his information even more heavily guarded than last time. More than likely, it's a long, long way from here."

"Professor," I began. My eyes teared up with gratitude. "Thank you. For everything."

He pressed his lips into a thin smile. He stood and helped me up. The cupboard was so small with the two of us there that we were awkwardly pressed close together. He cleared his throat and opened the door.

"Let's go," he said.

I was worried about two things. One was that someone would see us and I would die or even worse, go back to that cupboard. The other was that my legs and muscles would give out. I was so weak. But the adrenaline of my attempt of an escape gave me new strength. I was not going to give up. I was going to fight. I was going to win. Snape led me all the way down into the dungeons. Most of the Death Eaters stayed up near the Great Hall. But Snape was at home in this part of the castle. He led me all the way to a statue of a great wizard from hundreds of years before our time whose name I did not know. The man was very fat. Snape glanced at me then rubbed the statue's belly. If it had been any other time, I probably would have been rolling on the ground with laughter. Now, I was just so worried someone would see me that I really did not care how I escaped. The statue moved silently to the right. I reached into the bag that had been charmed to be bigger on the inside and found my wand. The tunnel was very dark. I could hear a faint dripping noise further inside of it.

"Where does this lead?" I asked him.

"The Black Lake. It goes to a cave along the side that runs along the edges of the Forbidden Forest. Follow the river that flows out of it."

"Professor," I stepped towards him and gave him a brief hug. "Thank you again."

He smiled gently at me. "If I had ever had a daughter, I would hope she would be like you."

I let go and walked into the tunnel. I whispered, "Lumos," then started to follow the path down the tunnel. I heard the statue go back into place, but I did not turn around. I had to keep going. I stopped briefly to change clothes. Snape had given me leggings, jeans, a long sleeve shirt, a jacket, two pairs of socks, and a pair of sturdy leather boots. I decided to pull on the leggings because I could be more quiet in them without the swishing of the denim. The jacket was waterproof and light, but I knew it could keep me warm for the days to come. Summer was ending. The days were going to get much cooler now. My boots had a soft tread which would help keep me from leaving too many footprints if I walked softly enough. My leggings were black as well as my jacket and shirt which was a soft cotton. I found a strip of leather in the bag and tied my long, stringy brown hair out of my face. I then continued on.

The tunnel was long and sometimes very steep. I think it actually went under the lake at some points. The damp air did a lot to revive me, but my body was so exhausted from lack of food and the amount of torture I had endured. My 5' 7" frame was so thin, it was scary. I stopped for a minute to eat a piece of dried mango and catch my breath. I wondered how much longer it was going to be before I reached the end of the tunnel. But I continued walking, checking every once in a while to make sure no one was following me. Before I knew it, I had reached the end of the tunnel. The cave was shallow and small. I stepped cautiously into the cool night.

The air had a sweet scent to it. I took a deep breath and smiled. I was free! For the first time in two weeks, I was free! I walked to the edge of the lake and took off my shoes and socks. I pulled my leggings up and stepped into the water so that it covered my ankles. I dug in my bag and found a canteen that I filled up with water then purified with a spell. I sipped on my water and allowed myself to eat another dried mango slice. I washed my face and rinsed out my hair of all the grease, blood, and sweat that had built up in it, and then I put back on my shoes and continued walking. I found the river with ease and began to follow its shore. I walked softly, my wand at my side ready in case I needed to defend myself.

I found a good place to set up my tent. I pulled it out then cast a spell for it to set up itself. As I began to walk around the edges of my campsite to put up wards, I heard the sounds of fighting. It was far enough away from my camp so I could not be seen, but it was close enough to possibly become a threat. I decided to go investigate and possibly prevent the Death Eaters from finding me. I crept along before I found where the fight was taking place. It was one person against four. The one person was in a black cloak. Their face was obscured from me. Death Eaters had surrounded them and were closing in for a kill. The person knocked their wands out of their hands with a spell sending the wands flying into the forest, but they came after the person anyways. Two of the Death Eaters grabbed the person's arms. Another one was punching and kicking the person, who I am pretty sure is a man, while the other is digging in his robes for something. I knew I needed to help, but the thought of going back to Hogwarts kept me from leaping in.

"I'm going to ask you again, do you know?" The man who had been punching the other man yelled. I think his name was Rydersen. He had been in Slytherin. He was a seventh year when I was a first year. But the man refused to talk. The two people threw him to the ground and started kicking him in his torso. If I did not do something, that man was going to die. From what I could deduce, that man was one of us.

"Oh, to hell with it," I muttered. I stood up and ran into the clearing. "Stupify!" The Death Eaters flew backwards. By the time I got to the man, they were completely unconscious. "Petrificus Totalus." Their bodies went completely rigid. I cast a spell to lift their bodies off the ground. I hid them under bushes and vines where they could not be found. I then went to check on the injured man. His face was still hidden by the hood of his cloak, but I knew the damage was probably significant. I cast the same spell I had used on the Death Eaters and picked him up. I carried him to my tent. I then cast all the wards I could to protect myself and him and went to take care of him. I transfigured a rock into a large pot. Then I got some water and started boiling the water to clean the man's wounds. Snape had packed me some rags along with the first aid kit. I unbuttoned the cloak and pushed back the hood. I gasped. All the air left my lungs. I stood up quickly and found myself on the other side of my tent with my hand over my mouth. Platinum blonde hair was caked with mud and blood. Pale skin was black and blue and covered in blood, dirt, and grass stains. He was almost unrecognizable, but I would know that face anywhere. It was the face of Draco Malfoy.

I would love to know what all of you think. I actually have a basic outline for this story, so as long as I have the time, I actually have a shot of finishing this story. Anyways, you are wonderful for reading. Thank you very much, and I hope that you will love this story.-Elizabeth aka silentlyloud