Disclaimer: All characters belong to J. K. Rowling. Just my idea. Thanks to my new beta for this story Tessa Cresswell who has gone through and edited all the chapters to date! 7/23/2012. Enjoy :)
A/n: Keep letting me know what you think! I got a job though, so updates are a bit harder to do, but I will keep up as much as possible lovelies! At least one update a week, give or take a day or two. Maybe two if my schedule is good.
I'm heading up to my rooms. Father's charming dinner guests have arrived to speak of matters only concerning war, bloodshed, torture and Voldemort. It makes me sick! I am quite thankful that my evening will be spent elsewhere.
Of course, thoughts of Granger keep entering my mind. Will she be okay? And what the fuck did my father do earlier to earn those screams? The thing that really scares me though is that he came back up with a shredded piece of cloth. If they have been violating her I swear I will be sick. That is just too twisted.
Rounding a corner I hear a familiar, shrill voice enter my ears and I wonder why I didn't walk faster. "Draco! Where do you think you are going?"
Grumbling quietly, I turn around to face my aunt Bella, whose hair is in utter disarray as usual, black curls all over. Her clothes are dirty, and I can only assume that she has just returned from some sort of mission for the oh so important Lord.
Bella is one of the Death Eater's I cannot stand. She worships Voldemort like he is some amazing being, kissing his feet and often letting him use her. And her husband allows it! I have never once heard Rodolphus say anything to the powerful wizard about what he does to her. I assume that would be because he is so 'powerful'.
"To my rooms," I say, holding her intimidating gaze. I have known this woman for a long time, and refuse to quiver beneath that look. She rarely curses me, after all. "Father said I was not welcome to this fathering." Try as I may, I can't force venom into my voice. I could really care less.
She frowns. "Nonsense; you will be doing the Lord a great favor soon. I insist that you come with us to see your assignment."
Lucky me. Instead of replying, I nod tightly and follow her down the stairs, her favorite boots clipping on the floor. As we descend the stairs I notice there are not nearly as any people as I expected; Nott Senior and his son Theo, Parkinson and his daughter, both Zabini's and Blaise, Bella's husband and Lucius. Are we really all needed to go see Granger?
My father turns and glares when he spots me. "Draco, I told you to-"
"Lucius," Bella cuts in, eyes wide, "he should come with Rodolphus and I, to see the girl. You can explain to the others what is going on, but don't you think it's better we attempt to speak with the girl first before hexing? You never know, she may let something slip to him."
That sounds an awful lot like what father had been drilling into me earlier. He nods once, barely glancing at me. "If you deem it a wise choice."
"But of course," she replies, taking her husbands hand. I slowly follow behind the demented couple, glancing over at Blaise and Pansy. Zabini looks bothered that he is here at all, but Pansy looks afraid now that she is the only girl and scoots closer to my best mate. Strange behavior that is...
A part of me believes Bella knows our dungeons better then we do, for she spends an awful lot of time down here whenever she is at the Manor. Being so close to the Dark Lord, she is often the one sent to interrogate prisoners. I am surprised that her husband is along with us this time. She leads us to the correct prison door immediately.
Her words still ring in my head as the door opens; You never know, she may let something slip to him. That worried me. If Bella knew about my father's idea already, then I was in serious danger. If something ever happens to Bella to make Voldemort look at her badly, she immediately uses whatever information she currently knows and spits it out, typically taking the heat off of her and getting someone else seriously injured or even killed. I certainly hope father has kept his lips pressed tight about this.
Walking into the cell, I notice that Rodolphus has taken up a post on the opposite side of the room from Bellatrix, further away from her. Bella's wand is lit, and as the door shuts I feel my lunch trying to make its way back up my throat.
Father tore her apart; and not only that, that girl is practically topless, and bleeding a lot. I fear she may just be dead.
Bellatrix waves her wand, and it begins to stitch uneven, crude stitches up her torn flesh, locking in what little blood she has left. Pulling a bottle from her pocket, she shoves it into Granger's mouth. Instantly, Granger tries to resist and push back, but Bella locks her other hand on her nose, pressing the girl into the floor so she is forced to take the liquid, some escaping through the sides of her mouth as she chokes. Pulling back once the bottle is empty, Granger rolls over and coughs, spitting up part of the potion she just attempted to swallow.
Well, she's not dead at least. I still can't stomach how she looks, and turn my head away.
"I see Lucius had fun earlier," she commented, examining the girl. I look back and wonder exactly what kind of fun she means. The girl's bottoms are still in tact- well, as 'in tact' as they were before- so I don't think its anything invasive. But, he definitely beat on her either way.
Rodolphus chuckles from his corner. "It seems if he had stayed any longer he may have too much fun with her."
Bella scowls at him. "Don't even speak of that love. It would be inappropriate to tarnish himself with her body. Lucius is smarter then that." Pausing, she glances over at me. "And I hope you do as well. She did go to school with you after all."
My stomach constricts. "It's not as though we ever spoke or anything," I reply dismissively.
The woman in front of me shrugs, and is suddenly yanking Granger up by her hair. She scrambles to keep the thin piece of fabric in place, for it seems to have come undone. The raven-haired woman drags her over to be right in front of me, Hermione's dead eyes looking elsewhere... if they can 'look' at all. She's quietly whimpering.
"It doesn't bother you to see her this way, just a bit?" Bella taunts, shoving her against me. Her face contacts my stomach and she snaps it to the side, probably completely unaware of who I really am. "So broken and filthy?" At this, she chuckles. "Well, filthier."
I swallow. Merlin, I hope all she does is taunt me. I don't think I could ever curse her in such a state. "Why would it? She's only a Mudblood."
At the sound of my voice, her head whips up in recognition. A hand clamps around my lower legs and I can feel her shaking. I try to ignore her.
Bella tilts her head. "Perhaps, but Lucius tells me you try to keep the abuse to a minimum." Suddenly, she has Granger smashed hard into me. "But we are going to change that."
Ripping her back, Bella shoves her to the floor. The cloth shifts position and I advert my eyes, noticing in the light that Rodolphus does not even bother. Perhaps that is how their marriage thrives; they cheat on each other.
He steps forwards now, wand drawn, and wordlessly hexes her. She screams in pain, hands falling away from covering herself as she curls into a ball, her cries ringing in my ears. Only a few seconds later, the spell seems to stop and her loud cries turn into sobs.
"See Draco," Bella indicated, nodding to the witch on the ground, ears bleeding, "we're going to change that. You will watch us hurt her, so you do not try to help her at a later time. I should Crucio you for doing that in the first place." Apparently, the idea is not dominate, for she just turns her attention back to Granger after that horrible comment.
Her husband shoves Granger onto her stomach with his foot, revealing once smooth skin that is now littered with scars. It's sick, but at least I can keep my food down at the sight. He whispers a spell, and a large slash rips down her back, blood jumping out at the intrusion.
They must've forced her to take a blood-replenishing potion if they are causing her to lose so much again. I wonder if the only reason we are down here is to teach me to not aid her...
It continues for a few minutes, with Rodolphus slashing her occasionally and Bella Crucio-ing her, causing the girl to whither in pain. I chew on my lip to keep from saying something. This is certainly not a fight I want to enter into.
Finally, my uncle turns to me. "I'm sure your father has told you what we need to know from the girl. We will leave you alone for several minutes to see if you can figure anything out, but do not dare help her, or it will mean more pain for you." With that, the pair depart and leave me in a cell with a blind girl and a blood-covered floor.
Now I understand; they brought me down her as some sort of punishment for helping her before, and made me watch something everyone knows I can't stand, just to leave me with a defeated girl who may or may not answer my questions.
She has not scurried away or begged for them to stop this entire time. That's a bit concerning. Swallowing hard, I walk over and gently nudge her shoulder with my foot. She twitches and moans, but says nothing.
"Granger," I say softly, hoping she will respond. I have no idea how long they will be gone. "Are you alright?"
Her head whips around in my general direction. Yeah, that probably wasn't the right thing to say...
Her small, bloody hand finds first my shoe then my leg. I create a box to sit on and she uses my lower leg to drag herself up into a sitting position, her chest exposed. I again remove my eyes, but she's already attempting to cover herself.
"Granger, look... I-"
"Don't worry about it Malfoy," she says quietly. "I am not deaf; I could hear everything they were saying. You don't have to say anything," she finishes, slumping against my knee. The silence following is highly uncomfortable.
She isn't hiding or sobbing loudly today or questioning me, she is just leaning against my leg. I know in a moment I will have to shove her off and stand- pretend to be the bastard I'm expected to be.
"I'm sorry for this Granger," I mumble, not looking at her. I hate feeling pity for her, but her treatment is less then human. "I have to stand back up."
Instead of replying, she shoves away and shuffles into a corner, seeming defeated. Her hands wrap around her knees and she buries her head into them, softly crying. I'm thankful I lit my wand, but remove the box moments before Bella and Rodolphus return.
I immediately notice Bella seems pleased with the way things are situated. Glancing down at my ruined trousers, she frowns. "What happened there?"
I know she expects some arrogant, bastardly reply, so I throw on my best scowl, hoping its convincing. "She thought I may help her again, and clawed at my trousers. I kicked her and she scurried over there. The girl revealed nothing about the Order."
Bella grimaces, but doesn't seem to notice the lie in my words. Instead, she sneers at Granger. "No worries dearie, we will be speaking alone again very soon. Draco, I'm glad to hear you at least have not gone soft, but go and throw those tarnished trousers out before it seeps through and infects you."
That's probably the silliest thing I have ever heard, but if she is excusing me then I am more then willing. "Of course," I say, before sliding out and making my way to the stairs, thankful to hear both of them following behind me.
At the sitting room, Pansy stops me. "Is she... dead," she asks, eyes wide.
I frown. So now everyone knows she is here. "No," I reply curtly, trying to move past. "Why do you ask," I continue, when she is still in the way.
Biting her lip, she indicates with her head to glance over her shoulder and I do, just as Blaise steps beside us. The sight really makes the bile rise in my throat.
There's a body on the tile floor, crumbled with its neck twisted too far. The dirty brown hair and complexion instantly reminds me of some girl from school; Hannah Abbot, who had been in my year. Yes, it's her, and she's lying dead on my floor.
Pansy's eyes are wide. "Nott was allowed to kill her when she wouldn't give up information. I hope the same doesn't happen to Granger."
I frown again. "Why do you care?"
Her lips thin, but its Blaise who speaks. "It's not like we like any of this anymore then you do."
I nod, but depart quickly, headed up to my room. Once there, I empty my stomach and hope that's all I have to deal with tonight.