CHAPTER 2
The cold stone against Remus' face was soothing. His arms were tied behind his back, his hands were numb from lack of blood flow, and he was so exhausted he could have slept for days. Sadly, he couldn't. The pain was too much.
Remus was no stranger to physical pain. As a werewolf, it was a very large part of his life. He could tolerate beatings, even the Cruciatis curse paled in comparison to the pain he went through once a month.
Fenrir Greyback was evil; Remus had always known that. Brutalities were expected of him, and since Remus had fooled him, tricked him into believing they were on the same side, Remus had not been surprised at the intensity of his anger. He'd also expected the Death Eaters to be vicious and cruel, and was not in the least bit affected by their laughter as he writhed in pain under their curses.
But Lucius Malfoy was one sadistic bastard.
Remus felt the skin break as he fell to his knees on the hard stone floor. He shivered as Lucius Malfoy circled him, his eyes crawling over every inch of Remus' bare skin. They'd taken his clothes, part of their plan to keep him as humiliated and downtrodden as possible. His body still ached ached from the beating Fenrir had given him earlier. He was quite sure he had at least two broken ribs. A sharp jolt of pain raced through his body every time he inhaled. He closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping his breathing light.
Suddenly, Malfoy grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his head back hard enough to make Remus cry out. Lucius laughed.
"Now, now, little wolf, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you weren't enjoying our... game," Remus felt a jolt of panic as featherlight fingers began to slide their way down from his throat, to his chest, and further... Since when had Malfoy been kneeling behind him? What the hell was planning to do?
This question was answered when Lucius forced Remus' knees apart with his own and pressed up against him-
Remus squeezed his eyes shut tighter and concentrated on the feeling of the cool stone against his cheek. It worked. His heart stopped pounding quite so hard, and his breathing slowed. He was able to detach himself from most of the pain. He realized bitterly that if he hadn't fought so hard earlier, he wouldn't have been in as much pain as he was now. But he decided his pride wasn't something he was ready to sacrifice for the sake of comfort. He didn't know where he was or how long he'd been there. He'd passed out before Lucius had finished with him, and had only just woken up.
Remus was almost calm enough to fall back asleep when he heard a door slam. He tried to turn his head toward the sound, but that required actually lifting his head, something he didn't have the strength to do. Besides, it would have been pointless anyway. Death Eaters had decided he needed to be blindfolded.
He heard someone enter the room, heard their footsteps coming closer. He didn't move even when they stopped inches from him. Remus pretended to be asleep, pretended he was dreaming. Why not? He sure as hell wished he was dreaming. He wished he was at home, in bed, with Sirius' arm slung over his waist-
His visitor decided to wake him with a savage kick in the ribs. Remus gasped and rolled onto his side, breathless and dizzy from the sheer, stupid pain of it. He was sure now that the number of broken ribs had risen from two to three at the very least.
"Did that hurt, pet?" Lucius Malfoy drawled.
Remus, still gasping for air, didn't take the time to think about lying. He nodded, and felt Lucius' featherlight fingers sliding down his ribcage, along his waist, on his hip...
He jerked away from that deceivingly gentle touch and instantly regretted it as a new wave of pain crashed over his body. Lucius grabbed his upper arm in a vice-like grip and hauled him upwards. Remus scrambled to get his feet under him. He realized he didn't need to when Lucius pinned him against the wall with enough force too keep him there without the help of Remus' legs.
"We're going to have a little chat, Lupin," Lucius hissed into his ear. "You're going to tell me all about your little friends, and their little club. You're going to tell me everything you learned in the Underworld and why Dumbledore sent you down there in the first place. But first-" Lucius spun Remus around so his chest and stomach were pressed into the wall. "First, you and I are going to have a bit of fun." Remus shuddered as Lucius licked a long wet path from the base of his neck to his ear. "Maybe it will loosen your tongue a bit."
Remus didn't need to see the smirk on Lucius' face to know it was there.
