"The sword! Where did you get it?" Bellatrix Lestrange yelled as my mind drifted from sleep to consciousness. Blinking, forcing the blind spots from my vision, the past hour returned to the forefront of my mind. In a blind rage, Ron had forgotten the imposing taboo that had been placed over Voldemort's name and as he screamed at Harry, he had said it. After an attempt to run from the enclosing pilfering men that had responded to the taboo, I had sacrificed myself to them in an attempt to let Ron and harry run free and get out of that forest and continue on the quest to hunt down the horcruxes. I had been captured by the ministries henchmen and had been bought to Malfoy Manor, which is where I now lay. I glanced at my surroundings. I was in a large room with tall ceilings and roof beams that towered far above me. With no windows and only the flickering light of a few candle stands, the room was mostly flung into darkness. In the corner of the room stood the 3 members of the Malfoy family, one of whom I knew, who I had spent 6 years of my life being tormented by, by the man that had tried and failed to kill the most powerful wizard of all time. But as I examined his appearance, he did not look like the cocky, intelligent boy that prided himself on blood purity and that we knew. In fact, he looked rather tormented.
He stood with his back slightly hunched, his head turned to the floor where it appeared that his eyes had begun to burn holes. His normal smirk had disappeared and been replaced by a constant grimace with his pale skin, if it were possible, even further pale than average. His usual perfectly groomed hair now stuck out with added volume and sweat, as though he had run his fingers through it numerous times. Suddenly, he looked over from the floor at his feet to where I was, catching my eye. His deep, grey eyes pooled into mine and I noticed the darkly tinged circles that ran under his eyes, almost as If he hadn't slept in days. The pain and recognition that sparked through his eyes alerted me to the situation at hand and I remembered what had happened.
These snatchers had been greedy, which according to what I had recently heard in a potter watch broadcast, most were, only doing this job to earn a few galleons and to laugh at the expense of the captured victim whom was almost always taken to the ministry for questioning. I was different however and I soon realised that they knew who I was with, who I was and it was the fact that I had been travelling with Harry Potter and that I was the current most wanted muggle born, that had bought me here. The greedy idiots had searched the tent and stripped it off the most valuable possessions including the sword of Godric Gryffindor, claiming it for their own and now the crazed servant of Voldemort himself was leaning into me as I lay on the cold stone floor, our faces inches apart, scrutinizing my face for a reaction. "The sword! Where did you get it?" she repeated, in a harsh tone and a sneer in her voice.
I began to analyse her reaction to the situation. The thought that we had somehow come into possession of the sword antagonized her, almost causing her to panic. I knew that I had barely minutes before she gave up on this form of questioning and resulted in torture. A response shot out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about it "I found it." She cackled and her eyebrows rose in amusement. "This sword is meant to be in my vault! One of the oldest, most protected vaults in the world, and you expect me to believe you found it?" she screamed, cackling again. I knew there was no point in replying. There was no way that she would believe the truth; that it had appeared to Harry in a frozen lake. So I decided to stay silent. There was a long pause as she glared into my eyes and I realised she was trying to force her way in using occlumency and I thanked god that I had made Harry teach me and Ron how to repel it while staying in the tent. I could feel the tugging feeling in my mind that meant she was trying to wrestle her way into my thoughts but I quickly pushed her out with quiet relief. Realising that she had been unsuccessful, her anger boiled.
"You filthy lying Mudblood!" she screamed with terror and enjoyment. My time was up. She sprung at me, grabbing my arm and muttering a dark enchantment, which I did not understand nor recognize. And then it started. Fire bubbled at my arm, spreading through my whole body until I was screaming in pain. The curse coursed through my veins like poison making me wretch and convulse in pain. My heart beat sped and tears streaked down my face as I felt the piercing edge of the wand that had murdered so many people, caused such pain and anguish, the wand that had murdered Sirius and drove Neville's parents to insanity, grate across my skin. The fire flung itself at my internal organs, causing them to twist and quiver in shock. My eyes flickered to the others in the room, to Draco Malfoy, looking directly at me. His face was warped with shock and confusion, his eyes trying to remove themselves from mine. I could hear the screams coming out of my throat but I could not feel them and as the pain reached my brain, I pushed myself to black out what was happening, ignore the pain, but it was too much and all I could do was take it and pray that my life would end soon. As I continued to scream in terror, I could see Bellatrix smiled and giggle in pure enjoyment.
And then it all ended. The pain had subsided and I could feel myself breathing again, feel the blood trickling down my arm and pooling beneath it. All that remained was a weight pressing down on my chest and hair tickling my face. I heard shocked gasps around the room and I felt the weight leave my chest and strong, warm arms lift me from the floor. I heard a woman's estranged cry in the distance and the strangers arms tightened as they muttered something back. I tried to force my brain to fight the shadow that the pain had left in it to attempt to calculate what was going on but the shadow was licking at my consciousness and soon all I could think of was the darkness that glossed my sight and thoughts.