Alice could feel the tears well in her eyes as she read the report. Her best friend was gone. All the emotions in Alice's body seemed to freeze and her heart started to pound in her ears. The paper fell from her hands as she pushed away from the table, her hand covering her mouth. She could feel the contents of her stomach forcing its way back up her throat as she made it to the bath room. How could Dumbledore let this happen? He had promised them that Lily and James were going to be okay. Sirius had told them Dumbledore knew what he was doing. Instead, his idea of okay was letting the Potters die anyways, but then she thought of Harry. Little Harry Potter had survived. She wiped her mouth, leaning against the tub. What had happened? Had the Dark Lord grown weak at the sight of a baby?
Alice knew that was impossible. No one had ever survived the killing curse, except Harry. Her eyes glanced at Neville, who was playing with a plastic potted plant in the living room, a toothy smile covering his little face. She remembered faintly that Dumbledore had said there was a chance it could have been them. More tears poured down her face and she leaned back over the toilet, coughing until she was dry heaving.
"Alice...?" she heard, soft as it was. She looked up into the face of her husband. Frank's eyes held worry and confusion and Alice closed her eyes, trying to remove the image of Lily's lifeless emerald eyes staring at her.
"They're dead, Frank," she whispered. She heard a thud and opened her eyes, seeing Frank on his knees, his hand gripping the doorway to keep from falling. She felt more bile rise in her throat and she leaned over, throwing up once more.
"Frank…what are we going to do? What is going to happen now?" she asked softly as she felt Frank crawl towards her. Alice leaned her head on his shoulder and felt his arms wrap around her.
"I'm not sure, Alice, but it will be okay, and Dumbledore will know what to do. He may call a meeting tonight once everything has straightened out," he whispered in her ear. Alice wasn't sure if she should believe him but she nodded, wiping her eyes once more. After a few minutes, Frank pulled himself from her and stood up, offering her his hand.
"You stay home and I'll go to the office. I'll tell them Neville has the chickenpox from hanging around with the muggle kids at the park. The office might be swamped," he told her, wrapping her in his arms once more. Alice nodded; her head was lying on his chest and she let her arms go around him. Frank kissed the top of her head and disapparated.
"Come on, Neville, say mama," Alice said softly, smiling. What would have happened if the Dark Lord had chosen them? She shivered and swallowed the lump in her throat, not wanting to think about that. Neville giggled, falling over to lie on his back, turning his head to look at Alice.. His watery brown eyes stared at her and she wondered how anyone could try to kill an innocent baby. She failed to hear the 'pop' or the giggles Neville made at the arrival of another person in the house.
"Petrificus Totalus." a voice whispered. Before Alice could turn around, she was struck with the curse. As she fell, her head hit the corner of the coffee table and the world went black.
"She better be alive. She will know where the Dark Lord is, filthy muggle lover," a voice said harshly. Alice moaned and opened her eyes, trying to turn over, only to realize that her arms were chained to the wall of her basement. Her eyes widened and she pulled on the chains fiercely, her heart racing.
"Oh look! The witch is awake!" shouted a voice with glee tangled into it. Alice, who was breathing heavily, stopped and looked up from the pointy toed boots of Bellatrix Lestrange. Alice felt her insides freeze and she closed her eyes.
"What do you want, Bella?" she asked her, the fear she felt melting into anger. "What the hell does a coward like you want?" she shouted at her, pulling at her chains again. Bellatrix only smirked, stepping back into the shadows. Only then did Alice notice three other people present. She noticed the other two Lestrange brothers, but she didn't recognize who the other man was.
"The only thing I want is the Dark Lord back. You know where he is, don't you?" Rabastan hissed, coming out of the shadows. Alice turned her head, not wanting to look him in the face. She felt more tears well in her eyes, wishing that Frank was home. She heard Rabastan walk towards her and she saw, from the corner of her eyes, him crouch to her level.
"Don't ignore me," Rabastan said, using his thumb and index finger to grip her chin, forcing her to look at him. Alice winced, trying to pull away from him, but failing to do so. The fear returned once more, gripping at her heart.
"I…I don't know where h-he is, I swear," Alice whispered, closing her eyes. She felt his hand leave her face and she allowed herself to relax, only to feel her heard jerk sideways and a stinging on her cheek.
"I want you to look at me at all times. I swear, I will kill you if you fail to do what I ask," he growled softly into her ear. Alice nodded, swallowing back her pride and fear. Only then was she aware of the hand around her neck, his thumb rubbing a small circle. She was shaking all over and breathing unevenly. How had she allowed herself to be put into this situation? She vaguely remembered what she was doing before she ended up here. Her eyes widened once more as she remembered one little detail.
"Where's my son?" she asked softly. Rabastan gripped her neck and slammed her head into the wall, holding her in place. She whimpered, tears building in her eyes.
"Keep asking questions and he will be dead," he whispered harshly. Alice glared, spitting in his face. She realized how much of a mistake she made seconds later as he pulled out his wand.
"Crucio!" he shouted at her. Alice screamed, kicking her legs and pulling at the chains that restrained her arms. She felt pins and needles stabbing her, fire being forced into her stomach, her lungs refusing to take air. After what felt like hours, the pain stopped and she opened her eyes, staring at the dirt on the floor with blurry eyes. She screamed again when Rabastan's boot connected with her face. Blood collected in her mouth. Alice started coughing, spitting the blood onto the floor. She glared up at Rabastan, who had moved back to the corner with the rest of the group. She noticed the younger boy looked scared, as if he didn't want to do this. She couldn't understand why they were under the impression she knew where He-who-must-not-be-named was. As far as she knew, he was dead after killing James and Lily.
"What was that?" Rodolphus asked, staring up at the ceiling.. Alice, who had been nodding off, opened her eyes, staring at them. She coughed weakly, the taste of blood still polluting her mouth.
"Frank…" she attempted to shout, but only a soft whisper escaped followed by another fit of coughs. She caught Rabastan going for his wand and she turned her head, her eyes closed, waiting for the spell to hit but it never came. She peered out of one eye, turning her head slightly to see. Instead of the wand pointed at her, it was pointed at the stairs of the basement. She was confused at first, but realized what was going to happen. She shook her head, knowing her coughing had given her away.
"Alice, darling, why are you down here? Where is Neville?" Frank asked as he came down the stairs.
"No… Frank…" she whispered, coughing once more. Frank stopped, his eyes wide as he stared at her. She watched as he pulled out his wand but instead of Rabastan doing anything, she watched as the unknown boy grabbed a shovel and disapparated to the top of the stairs, hitting Frank as hard as he could with the shovel.
"Good job, Barty…" Bellatrix whispered, the smirk still on her cruel face. Alice looked confused and Bellatrix laughed, throwing her head back.
"Oh, let me introduce you to Barty Crouch's son, Barty Crouch Jr," Bellatrix said as Barty walked down the rest of the stairs, the fear long gone from his face.