Chapter 9 – Unanswered Questions and Questionable Answers
I don't remember much from the following days.
They still dragged me to the drawing room. I felt the pain and I screamed, but my tears were a physical reaction to the pain, nothing more, and I had stopped to beg. Lucius had visited me in my cell once, the Day after the Green Light, but his words didn't get through to me, and when he had slapped me and kicked me I had simply curled up into a ball and waited for it to be over and he had left my room. Narcissa had brought a new dress once again, along with food that looked almost inviting, but I could barely bring myself to eat anymore. The only thing that kept me alive was the fear that I'd cave in and tell them about everything if I allowed myself to become too weak.
One day, I heard a commotion outside, and something like mild curiousness stirred inside me, but soon it had ended and my curiousness immediately subsided.
A while later I was dragged into the drawing room by a furious Bellatrix. Her curses were even stronger than usual, she must have been livid about something, and my screams could be heard throughout the manor, but even then I didn't care much. Just silently hoped for it to end, for her to slip and accidentally kill me. She hurled curses at me and kicked me and scratched my skin open, and I felt my bones break. This time she'll mess up for sure, I thought. Even Greyback, who was sitting on an armchair in the corner looked a bit uneasy, though the greed in his eyes made me think his discomfort was directed at the madwoman's unhinged mental state rather than my well-being.
"That's enough, Bella." I heard Malfoy's tense voice. There was no compassion, something else was wrong. For the first time ever since That Day I looked up and saw something akin to fear in his eyes. Good, I thought.
Bellatrix and Lucius had a heated, if hushed, conversation. Both seemed to be angry, but I couldn't gather much of what they were saying. I heard the words "Apparition" and "cellar" and then I thought I had heard somone say "Dobby", but that had to be my mind playing tricks on me. Bellatrix huffed and stomped out of the room, and Malfoy got me on my feet. He brought me to my chamber, with a tight grip on my arm but at least he wasn't dragging me. He even filled my bowl with fresh water with a small flick of his wand and a quick look at my body, that was in the worst state it had ever been during my stay here. There was still no compassion in his gaze, but no contempt either, which surprised me.
"Clean yourself," he said silently. He looked at me for a moment longer, opened his mouth and closed it again. Then he turned around and hurried out of the room.
I was left alone after that for several days. No one came to drag me anywhere. Occasionally, I would wake up to some food or fresh water. Someone had healed my nastiest injuries. Sometimes there would be a light orb illuminating my room, but some days I spent in complete darkness. I wondered if they had forgotten me already, if they would just let me wither away, but I didn't care much about that or about the darkness. I'd sit or lie on the floor, pressed against one wall or another (I didn't feel comfortable with too much open space around me, a habit I had picked up quickly after we began hunting for Horcruxes). I spent much of the time with my mind in a haze, but occasionally I'd still visit some of my less painful memories and I couldn't be but amazed by the fact that there was something left inside me, yet. I visited the basement of my fortress for a few times, too, but hate is a consuming emotion and there was little enough of me as it was.
My mind started slowly working again. I hadn't cried out of sadness ever since That Day, and I wasn't now. Feelings were dangerous. But I my thirst for knowledge had survived, and I started carefully arranging what little information I had. There wasn't anything else to do in the darkness of my cell, so I connected dot after dot, tried to find missing pieces and went over snippets of information I had heard, again and again (carefully avoiding certain memories).
Something bad had happened, bad for the Death Eaters, apparently, which was probably good for me. It had to do with the cellar, which was the place I assumed Harry and the others to be kept in. There were Anti-Apparition Wards over Malfoy Manor, that much was evident, but I was confident I had heard the word "Apparition". There was no way someone could have escaped out of here, just like it was impossible to apparate into Hogwarts except for the House-el-
Suddenly I remembered hearing the word "Dobby". I had believed to have misheard something, because what did Dobby have to do with- But could it be, that...? How would he know where they kept us, and why would they leave me behind? And who-
But my thoughts were interrupted by loud steps approaching my room, steps I didn't recognize. They were heavier than Bellatrix's and more careless than Malfoy's. Surprises were never pleasant at Malfoy Manor, but then again, I thought, how much worse could it be?
My question was answered as Fenrir Greyback stepped through the door, a wide, distorted grin on his face.
