Harry: It's STILL nothing but Malfoy and this mystery chick!
Would you quit bitchin'?
Draco jerked awake as the sound of something scraping against the floor cut through his peaceful sleep. He was still holding Persephone in his arms and his eyes had adjusted to the darkness the best he was able to do. He touched Persephone's face gently, easing her awake. He tucked her hair behind her ear, feeling the faint scars of earrings being ripped out of the cartelage.
"Good morning, how did you sleep?" He asked softly, his hearing much more acute.
"It's only morning on Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune. It's been 5 hours, 8 minutes and 54 seconds…what am I doing in your cell still?" Persephone asked half awake.
"I think it's meal time." He motioned at the stone bowls on their side of the bars. Draco carefully held her against him and stood to get their "meal". It looked like gruel but a tad…discolored. What potions did they put in the so-called food they give to the prisoners? It didn't look too appetizing nor did its smell make the stomach growl. It made his turn but he remembered what she had said earlier. And that got him thinking about the reasons why she was so thin.
"You don't eat this stuff, do you?" Draco asked shifting her in his lap tenderly. Persephone shook her head. "Why not? Why not take your own advice?"
"Last time I ate that stuff, it was poisoned just for me. The other inmates aren't my best friends. They'll beat you for no reason. It's to prove they're stronger than you." Persephone wheezed a few laughs. It pulled at Draco's heart to see her so sick and thin. "Their magic is decaying but my power keeps longer since it lives in a cycle. I haven't had anything to recharge my darker energy so my light dwindled and my body is suffering for it. Sad, isn't it? I was once so loved and now I am forgotten."
Draco raised one of the bowls to her chapped and split lips. "If I'm going to learn anything from you, you need to eat. You maybe more than an ordinary witch but you're still a living being and you need food to live, no matter how disgusting this stuff is."
Persephone let out a weak and heavy sigh like she was giving into defeat. It took a few tries but Draco got her to finish it all off. He finished his in a couple gulps and made a face. It was disgusting. He was lucky that he didn't get sick. Persephone leaned against him and closed her eyes. She was so weak and it made Draco think of the first time he had seen his Aunt Bellatrix when she escaped Azkaban. Back then, he had thought Bellatrix looked liked hell but now he knew what hell really looked like and in his mind, she was beautiful even in the horrible shape she was in.
Gently wrapping his arms around her, Draco fell asleep again with his only ally in his arms.
