I stare down at the body of the man, it was hard to tell who it was. The tension hung through the air, thick as a potion. I couldn't make out exactly who it was but the hair was familiar, the clothes as well.
"If we call him, and this isn't who we think it is, he'll kill us all. We have to be absolutely sure. Don't be shy deary, come closer," Bellatrix's thin fingers yank me forward and I kneel down in front of the man.
"What's wrong with his face?" I ask her, staring into the eyes.
"Yes, what is wrong with his face?" bellatrix straightens and asks the snatchers.
"Something he picked up in the forest I reckon," one of the idiots replied. I keep my eyes focused on the man in front of me.
"Or ran into a sting jinx," Bellatrix smirks as she eyes the man's friends, Potter's friends. "Was it you deary? I've got you now." She stands up and walks away from me, the man's eyes follow her. "Give me her wand, let's see what her last spell was."
My heart pounds in my chest, on one hand I could hand them in. I could admit to my family and to myself that this was Potter. Who else would Weasley and Granger follow to the ends of the earth? On the other hand, I could not admit it and I could just say that I don't know again. It would get Weasley and Granger killed. I couldn't be sure what the right thing to do is.
My mother taps me on the shoulder, drawing my gaze away from the man. I stand and walk to her and my father's side, still slightly shaking. What was I to do?
"I've got you!" Bellatrix trills, laughing that awful, horrible laugh, as she sauntered over to the snatchers to get Granger's wand. A short gasp leaves her lips as she sees something she hadn't seen before. I move to see what she sees. Gryffindor's sword in the hand of a snatcher, the sword that was supposed to be in her vault in Gringotts. The one task that my family had been entrusted with as of late. "What's that? Where did you get that from?"
"It was in her bag when we searched her, reckon it's mine now." The dolt responses, mirth clear in his voice. Without even a moment's thought or hesitation, Bellatrix raises her wand and shoots a rope out at him, pulling the sword to her. She raises her wand and makes a snake appear on one of their necks and uses a whip on another. I stand to the side, careful not to get in the way of her. I've been on the receiving end of her spells. It isn't fun.
"Are you mad?" Bellatrix uses the whip to choke him, forcing him to the ground.
"Go! Go!" Bellatrix screams as they all stumble to their feet and disappear. "Cissy! Put the boys in the cellar! I want to have a little conversation with this one, girl to girl!" Wormtail walks over and grabs Weasley and Potter, dragging them to the dungeons. My heart pounds in my chest as Bellatrix stares down Granger, a horrible smirk on her face. My hand goes immediately to my wand but I freeze.
What was I thinking? I can't attack my aunt! She'd kill me without a second thought. My back stings at the memory of what she did to me when I failed the task given to me by the Dark Lord. Just because Granger and I did something back in our fifth year for a few months, does not mean that we could do something again. Does not mean that we should. She was from the muggle world, I was from the wizarding world. It would never happen again. According to my upbringing, it never should have happened in the first place.
Bellatrix throws Granger to the ground and casts the crucio charm on her. Granger's screams fill the room. Bellatrix throws question after question at Granger, not even letting her pull up the spell to answer. I feel myself grip my wand tighter and leave the room, walking to my bedroom. I couldn't stand there and just watch. I had come home from school on holiday expecting my parents to welcome me but, as usual, I was disappointed. All they had me doing was trying to get information of Potter's whereabouts. It was an impossible task but it was one that all Death Eaters had been given.
Granger's screams penetrate my room even after I shut the door. I kick over my nightstand and sit down on the bed, feeling tears well up in my eyes once again. It felt like all I've done for the past two, almost three years, was cry and struggle within myself. It was like I could feel the spells that Bellatrix cast on Granger, on myself. Bellatrix's words pierced my skin and made me cry even more. There was nothing I could do to help her or Potter. If I freed them and Voldemort found out, I would be screwed. There would be no place for me to hide. Chances were that my father had already contacted Voldemort and he was on his way.
After drying my eyes, I creep back towards the room. Her screams had stopped but as I got closer I could hear the sobs. Peering in, I could see that Granger was on the floor, pinned down by invisible ropes with Bellatrix on top of her.
"That sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringotts. How did you get it? What else did you take from my vault?" Bellatrix's voice rises from a whisper to a scream as Granger sobs beneath her.
"Please, I didn't take anything… We didn't take anything.. Please.." Granger knew that begging would have no effect but she couldn't help it. It seems that even princesses beg when they are forced to. "Please…" Tired of listening to her beg, Bellatrix reaches over to her left arm and begins to carve into the skin there. I watch as drops of red blood fall on the ground and listen as she screams.
"Bring me the goblin Wormtail!" Wormtail scurries off and down to the cellar. Granger stps fighting, tears streaming down her cheeks as blood runs down her arm. She weakly looks over at me and whimpers. I have to swallow a spell, a spell I want to use to heal her but can't. Come on Potter, you have to get out of this on your own. Please save Granger, I can't.