Thank you to everyone who reviewed. This is a short chapter, but the next one will probably be longer... Feel free to give me your opinion on anything, it's a bit vague but there are sub plots behind it which will probably be revealed... once I figure out how. Realised I need a disclaimer...

Disclaimer: I own almost nothing, apart from my interpretation and main character. Other than that it's all Rowlings.

OXOXO

Her feet hit the ground back in her cell and Nicole fought the urge to cry. It had been night at headquarters but the darkness here was an entirely different kind. There would be no more stars.

"I was never your spy, why did you tell them I was a spy?" she whispered, not daring to look at him.

"Of course you were a spy, admittedly not a very good one. You took too little interest in their plans. You provided some information however, and the location of their headquarters as well as detailed maps of the surrounding area," he replied, his voice was behind her, she knew she should turn and face him yet she could not bring herself to do so.

"You were watching... through me? I thought I had escaped," said Nicole, her voice quivered a little and she cleared her throat.

He was closer now, she could feel his breath upon her neck.

"You will never escape," he whispered gently.

"Why did you taunt me then, you didn't need to let me out. Did you do it in purpose? Give me a taste of freedom so you could rip it away, just to torture me with it?" asked Nicole staring resolutely ahead.

"It was not about you Seven, you are a tool of The Dark Lord, to be utilized as he sees fit," came the mocking reply. Nicole bit back tears, she had thought she was free, "your usefulness in that position simply reached an end."

His presence was gone from behind her, he was about to leave.

"It would have worked, wouldn't it?" she whispered, "Merlin's spell would have set me free... I could have destroyed you. I was so close."

She turned around to face him, finally meeting his eyes. They burnt through her like a brand into her retina.

"That's why you pulled me out, that's why you would trade your son for a muggle. If you had of left me there I would have destroyed you," her tone was incredulous. He said nothing, his face twisted into a dangerous expression daring her to continue. She should have stopped talking, but realisation had hit her like a freight train and she was still being pulled along by its momentum.

"I... Nicole Archer, a number, a god damn dirty muggle, could have destroyed you because of your own conceited idiocy," she said, her face breaking into a grin of triumph, "I could have won."

The slap came out of nowhere, knocking her off her feet and onto the cold floor. She knew it had been inevitable, but it still scared her. It was followed by another one and Nicole curled up into a ball to protect herself from the blows that she was sure would destroy her but they never came. He instead grabbed her arm pulling her up to face him.

"You would never have broken the curse," he said his quiet tone radiating danger, "You never had a chance you little fool."

"But I was a threat," her voice would not be silenced, it burst from her in her elation, "We can threaten you, even if there's not a drop of magic in our veins we could still win. That means there's hope that someday we could..."

She was cut off by his sudden laughter, he let go off her arm and she fell back to the ground landing painfully on her shoulder.

"You? A threat, what a sad joke you are seven," his cold laughter was sucked into the dank walls thickening the chilling menace of the room, "If you were even remotely dangerous The Dark Lord would have ended your miserable existence long before now. You called me conceited? No my little idiot you are no threat," he looked down at her with heartless mockery, "I think it is time I reminded you exactly what you are."

She skittered away from him, the impulse to run flaring through her nerves. There was nowhere to go. He grabbed onto her ankle and pulled her back. Fear took over and her free leg shot towards his chest in a desperate bid for escape. He grabbed a hold of it before it could reach its target and with a flick of his wand she found herself immobilised.

"Enough," he said, his complexion was reddened by fury, "You will never again attempt to strike me, is that understood Seven."

Nicole could make no answer, she was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide with fear. After a few seconds his anger relented. He pulled her closer and parted her legs, placing himself in between them. He snaked an arm behind her back and pulled her upwards towards him. The way his arms cradled her, one behind her head, the other around her waist was a pure mockery of tenderness.

"This is your purpose Seven, and you should be honoured by it. You should be thankful," he whispered. Every word he spoke pierced her soul with pure shame. Tears fell from her eyes unbidden, Nicole could no longer hold them back.

This can't happen again, whispered a despairing voice inside her, I was free, he promised to help me. Another part of her kicked back in anger, he betrayed you, just like the rest of them, it would not disappear, He rescued me... he cared enough to save me. Then he threw you to the dogs, he didn't trust you. They're all the same and you've always known it. This is your own fault for being such a fool. He called me his friend. You meant nothing to him. You're to blame for all of this, you brought it on yourself.

Her eyes began to blur. If she had been able to control her mouth, she would have been screaming. His lips touched her damp cheek, in what seemed a gentle caress. From him it was a threat. He pulled away, a thoughtful look upon his face.

The hand holding her head up trailed around to clasp her chin.

"Come now, there is no call for tears dear Seven... It appears that you have picked up all manner of bad habits in your absence," he was mocking her as her very soul was breaking, "this is after all your own fault. What I do is for your own good."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

Something inside Nicole snapped into place and the last of her defiance reared up inside her. She would not allow him that. Calmly she concentrated all of her might on one single action. Despite the strength of his curse she found herself able to slowly turn her head to the side breaking the insistent pressure of his mouth upon hers. Her tears had stopped, she had realised it was not her fault. She had fought with all her might and despite what he had said she had almost won. It was enough for her. In fact it was the greatest victory she had ever felt. Nothing he did could possibly destroy that.

Her eyes darted back to meet his. His face was expressionless but his glare was so intense it sent ice through her almost entirely immobile body.

"Some very bad habits," he said quietly. He removed the support of his arms and she slumped roughly to the ground. He disappeared from her sight, she could no longer move her head to look at him. She felt his knuckles scrape her skin as he undid her jeans and pulled them off. His hands rested momentarily upon her bare thighs, "This is what you are Seven, and all you will ever be."

He was blessedly quick. When he was done he pulled out almost immediately and in the time it took her mind to return to reality he was dressed and staring down at her. She wondered if the hunger ever left his eyes, or if he was so empty inside that he was incapable of being sated. It had been more bearable than the last time, it had not hurt as much. Even his touches had been less amorous. Maybe he's losing interest, a part of her thought hopefully.

"I will return soon," his dark promise permeated the thick air long after he had disappeared.

XOXOX

He was true to his word. After what felt like less than an hour he was back. She had not moved, he had yet to lift the curse, she simply stared at the wall counting the bricks. She had no way to clean herself, no way to remove his stench. He stood staring at her for a while before he knelt down beside her.

"Does it hurt?" he asked gently, there was no guilt in his voice for what he had inflicted upon her. She continued to stare at the wall. 238, 239, 40, she thought to herself, 41, 42, 243.

"Look at me," he ordered, and she felt him move her head towards him. Their eyes met, "Much better."

His hand stroked her cheek and trailed down to rest upon her neck.

"Why must you force me to hurt you?" he asked her quietly. She stared at him in surprise, if she could have talked she was unsure whether she would have been able to find words.

"If you would just accept things then I could protect you," his fingers lightly grazed her collar bones and her brain was indignant, he was the only thing hurting her, "If she had just listened then I could have saved her... but she was too stubborn, always convinced that she was right."

His eyes stared intently into hers, "But you understand, how this world is, how things work. They never cared about you, your precious resistance. They practically gave you back to me. You were nothing to them. An object to be traded away."

The words stung but she could not deny their truth. He's right, she thought, They abandoned me, they betrayed me.

He smiled lightly, as if he'd heard her thoughts, "I would never let you go so lightly..."

They didn't all betray me, claimed an insistent voice demanding her attention, he helped me, he understood. After everything this world did to him, everything it made him, he still understood compassion. He was like me, just a chip to be bartered in this sick game.

His features clouded over as he looked down at her. Nicole realised he must have been reading her mind.

"You are mine, you fool girl. I own you body and soul, I'm the only reason you still have your pathetic excuse for a life," his tone was furious and his eyes were flashing like lightning. Evidently he did not like being found inferior to his son, "I have saved it more than once, in fact you are in my debt."

I will never be yours, screamed the quiet voice inside her head, You can't simply plant your flag on something and claim it as yours, you'll never do more than dent the surface, and as for saving my life... you can't destroy something to a slightly lesser degree than you could have done and then claim it as kindness.

"Now seven, don't glare at me so," he said gently, seemingly having restrained his anger. He smiled lightly but it never reached his eyes, "You know I have missed your silence, it was so intriguing."

Nicole flared her nostrils in anger, he laughed at her fury. His gaze travelled down her body and he frowned slightly.

"How on earth did you get so... filthy?" he asked quietly. He took out his wand and muttered a spell. She felt as if she'd just been dipped in ice water and then pulled out almost immediately. It left her shivering slightly, but clean. Her clothes seemed to have been returned to her and she felt relief at being covered once again. "You must behave yourself now Seven, The Dark Lord is insisting upon your presence."

The fury left her as she was consumed by pure terror.

OXOXO

"Where is your Muggle Lucius?" the cold high voice asked and Nicole fought the urge to hide behind his bulk. It struck her that she was his muggle now, no longer the mute.

He grabbed a hold of her arm and pushed her forward to face The Dark One. The force of his shove left her on her knees in front of the man. There was silence, no one dared to breathe and the lack of noise was deafening. She studied the design on the ground around her, there were words interwoven with a strange pattern. It could not quite be called a pentagram, it was too complex for that. All Nicole knew was that she was kneeling right in the middle. Common sense and what she had learnt in her research told her that was never a good sign.

"Look at me," ordered that same cruel voice. She met his gaze, she had no choice. His eyes were scarlet. As she was forced to look into them she could not help but wonder at that. Red was supposed to mean many things, danger, anger and passion being the most prominent. Red was the colour of brutal emotions that tore a person into pieces, it was the colour of feeling. Red perhaps more than anything else symbolised humanity. Red was the colour of the death eaters themselves, they clung to their slick silver, their empty black and their cold green, but their violence made them crimson. Red however was not the colour of the man before her. He had lost all claim to so vital a colour, just like she was sure he had no claim to humanity. She knew he was reading her mind, yet she was not afraid. Memories of her time with the resistance were pulled to the front of her consciousness and examined. She wondered if this was her betraying them, it left her feeling ill inside. She hated them all.

Wizards are thoughtless fools remember, her lesser half reminded her, They destroy almost everything they touch and don't even have enough sense to destroy the right things, an image of the stone flashed into her head and the presence invading her mind pulled it away from her just as quickly. It seemed that was where his interest lay. He saved me... Oh yeh he really did a fantastic job at that didn't he, he turned his back on me the moment I proved inconvenient I owe him nothing... What about Him... Draco's eyes flashed through her head, so similar to his fathers and yet so very different... He understood. He did his best, if the son of that monster can have some good in him then surely their not all bad. Maybe they're just desperate. She reminded herself that The Dark One was in her head and she ought to restrain her thoughts. A part of her found it oddly funny, Screw it, if he wants to dig around in my consciousness he can deal with the consequences. They're the only thing he can't take away... I wonder what other people's thoughts are like. Not as interesting as they seem like they would be.

After what seemed to have been an eternity he broke eye contact. The pressure on her mind was gone, yet he seemed unsatisfied.

"Where is it?" he hissed, his voice laced with anger. He was talking to himself, having taken what he needed from her mind he would no doubt ignore her presence. Or kill me. Well aren't I being pessimistic. Shut up.

The Dark One turned his gaze on the man stood behind her. Nicole found herself considering the two wondering which was the monster, and which was the creature to be pitied. Was the man without a soul a monster or simply pathetic. Was the man with a soul who followed such a thing even more the fiend, or was he a fool to be pitied his blindness. She suppressed the dangerous thoughts and studied the patterns on the ground.

"Use any means necessary to see that it is retrieved," ordered The Dark One.

Nicole found herself wishing with all her heart that she could get her hands on that damn stone. She clenched her fists tightly together in fury, her fingernails bit into her palms so hard they drew blood but she was beyond caring. I wish I had it in my fist right now so I could smash it to pieces and end this stupidity. I wish I could destroy that stone.

Nicole felt a sudden heaviness in her palm and looked down to see that she was holding something blue in her clenched fist. It felt oddly warm and it seemed to be glowing. She heard an intake of breath from around her as the blue glow became brighter. Without any semblance of coherent thought she smashed her palm down onto the ground and felt the crystal shatter beneath it.