A/n: Written for the Pick a List Competition prompt #7 Crucio, the Organization Boot Camp prompt #22 (stain) and the 1991 Challenge prompts #34 and 25 (Sophie Roper and hurt).

Clapping

Her blood stained the carpet. Theo had always been a little faint of heart, and had to swallow almost four times to force himself to clean up the mess. His father and Lucius Malfoy stood not too far off conversing. He was glad he couldn't make out what they were saying.

Sophie Roper was a girl in his year from school. She attended Hogwarts as a Gryffindor, and saddled down with the Order when it came time for war. Yesterday Draco and a few senior Death Eater's caught the girl and brought her back for interrogation. In the world of Death Eaters, that almost always meant torture.

And torture her they did. He couldn't stand to watch the experience, like normal. Draco taunted him as they tortured her, calling him a coward. Nott didn't even argue with the blond.

Draco killed Dumbledore a year ago. He knew that his friend was capable of anything and wouldn't test the waters with him. Theo was smarter than that.

But Roper was pretty bad off when they dragged her back to the dungeons. Sitting in his room upstairs later Nott couldn't help thinking back to her. She was worse off than most when she was dragged back downstairs to the dungeons, but better than an unlucky few. When Ron Weasley was captured they tortured him to death that first night. Draco enjoyed that night way too much.

Sometimes Nott feared his best friend. He learned long ago to never cross paths with Malfoy.

That didn't mean that he thought the man was right. Power and bloodlust clouded the man's once good judgment, and now he was one of the most dangerous Death Eater's in the fleet. Everyone knew it, including Theo. Friend or not, Malfoy wasn't above turning his wand on people who he believed might be trying to turn their backs on him. And Theo sometimes seemed to have wavering viewpoints. Sometimes he wondered if it was worth following Voldemort after all. Maybe he'd be better off getting away from this place entirely.

Yeah, fat chance of that. With Potter currently hiding if you were even suspected of being loyal to the other side you were killed. No questions asked. And Theo kind of liked living.

Still, thoughts of Sophie Roper plagued his dreams for most of the night. Since he was one of Malfoy's closest friends he had his own personal room, which was actually located next to the blonde's. Originally it wasn't like that, but things happened and he ended up moving up there. He kind of wished that he'd stayed down in his other room. Draco Malfoy got a little bit scarier every day.

That's why when Theo made the decision to go see Roper later he almost had a heart attack when Draco rounded the corner ahead of him, smirking when he noticed his friend.

"Late night walks Theo?"

Draco had these grey eyes, these terribly intimidating eyes that were always masked. Theo made extra sure to block his mind, considering how skilled Malfoy was at legilimency. He prayed that his thoughts couldn't be read, or Draco might just turn his wand on him.

"Yes, the room's stuffy. I thought I might go down to the dueling space for a while or to the dining room to get some food," he lied, hoping his friend didn't catch on. Draco showed no signs of understanding his underlying motive.

He actually shrugged. "Okay. I'll come with you. I've been debating whether or not to get something to eat. I just got back from the dueling room actually. You should've come down earlier; we could've practiced together."

So that you and the other Death Eaters could laugh when you took me down in two moves? No thanks Malfoy. "If I knew I would've," Theo joked, falling into step beside the blond. Now he was going to have to waste some time pretending he was hungry before he could actually continue on doing what he wanted.

He really wanted to go see Sophie, even if it was a huge risk. Part of him just had to know if she had died.

Escaping Draco took a lot of work. Theo had a sneaking suspicion that maybe his friend knew something was up. Hoping to get all this done and over with, a made his way to the dungeons. No one was around, and he hoped it would stay that way. At least he knew where the keys were kept for the cells down there.

He had to get this over with fast before someone came down. He wasn't Draco or Crabbe or Voldemort even. He didn't go down there just to torture a person like they would. He never really went down there. So if he was caught, he knew it would be bad for both him and Sophie.

Finding her cell, he let himself in. A figure at the back of the cell adjusted slightly, but didn't move very far from his approaching figure. Theo lit his wand and stepped inside, leaving the door cracked. He inhaled sharply when he saw her.

Coated across her chest and dripping down her torso was blood, and quite a bit of it from thin lines places across her upper body. It would take her a long time to bleed out like this, but he knew that the other Death Eaters wouldn't bother with her at least until morning. And by that time, she would be dead. The woman tried to scoot away from him as he approached.

"No- wait, I'm not here to hurt you." The disbelief in her eyes was prominent, and he knew that it sounded strange. After what she went through earlier, he understood why she didn't believe him. He wouldn't either.

"Please," she gasped, her voice strained and pained. "Please go away."

"No, no, I'm not here to hurt you." Waving his hand he produced a cup of water and extended it towards her. She just stared up at him with scared eyes. "Go on then- take it."

She didn't move, but whimpered and shook her head. "They'll be mad," she gasped, eyes beginning to dance around the room in fear. "They'll come back, they'll hurt me again."

"No, no, no one knows I'm done here," he tried to assure her, but felt like an arse. She was terrified out of her mind, and rightly so. He just didn't want to scare her any more than she already was. He was trying to be a good guy here.

"I'm going to help stop the bleeding, okay?" he said, leaning towards her. Her eyes had gone wide, and she was now frozen in fear. "Hey, it's okay-"

He was cut short by the sound of practiced clapping. He froze too, the color draining from his face. Someone found him out, and he had a pretty good idea who.

"Well done Theo," Draco said, and Nott heard the door shut. "You almost had me fooled for a moment. But when I went back down to grab my towel from the dueling room and you were nowhere to be found, I figured you might've come down here."

Theo felt his feet lift off the ground, and his body was forced to turn around about-face and stare at Draco, who used his wand to light a nearby lantern. The smirk plastered on his pale face caused Nott's stomach to do flips.

"You're not very good at masking your emotions," he continued, crossing his arms. "You looked fucking terrified earlier when we were torturing her. Hell, I suppose you look that way most of the time. But you seemed particularly bothered by what we did to her."

"You were more violent this time," he muttered, eyes focused straight ahead instead of on the blond. He feared what was coming next.

"Well we have to get more violent Theo. It's called progression. If the other side things we're getting soft, rebels like her will start trying to create renegade groups to attack home base." He pointed a finger in Sophie's direction. "She wasn't innocent when she came here Nott! She was supposed to take down the wards along with a small group. She was just the only one left alive when we finally stopped firing at them. She's going to die Nott; it's the way things are." He jabbed his friend with his wand. "Maybe it's time someone reminded you where your loyalties lie."

Theo didn't argue. He wasn't the better duelist in this situation. He knew Draco could take him even if he fought. And if he saved his strength instead of fighting, he might survive what was coming.

Draco took three steps backward, smirking the entire time as he twirled his wand. When he did stop walking and pointed his wand at Theo, the man closed his eyes, expecting to receive the same amount of pain and hurt that Sophie had.

He was wrong. Draco put more power behind his spell this time, now that there was only one person torturing.

"Crucio."