Sorry for the delay. This was a tough chapter to write. Be warned.
10thMay 1998
Ginny had tears in her eyes as she stared at Percy, standing beside Draco and Theo and wearing Death Eater robes. George put an arm around her. Fred sank into the nearest chair, and said,
"Fuck, Perce…"
"Ready?" Draco asked. The other two nodded grimly, and they stepped into the floo.
"Draco! You're late!" Narcissa Malfoy descended on them as soon as they arrived at Malfoy Manor, ushering them away from the fireplace and brushing ash off Draco's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Mother," he replied automatically. "As you can see, I'm here now. Have you met Percy Weasley? He's been assisting Theo and I with our new task."
"Charmed," Narcissa said, as Percy bowed properly over her hand.
"Thank you for the invite, Mrs Malfoy," he said. She nodded.
"Draco, I need you," she said calmly. "Your friends should go and meet the other guests." They disappeared, leaving Theo to lead the way into the big ballroom which was busy with guests.
"Just hang back and don't talk to anyone unless you have to," he said, nervously. Percy straightened his robes.
"I know," he said, calmly. "Calm down. It will be fine. We're not here for a trial, after all." Theo laughed nervously.
"A trial would be fun compared to this," he said.
A few hours later, Percy was beginning to agree. Draco hadn't been seen again after their arrival, and he and Theo had been joined at their table by Goyle, looking worried, and then by Marcus Flint, who nodded to them both in greeting.
"Show's about to start," he said calmly. "Keep an eye out for that little bitch that got away from me in Diagon Alley – did you find her, Theo?"
"Not yet," Theo replied. Marcus shrugged.
"I guess someone else might have brought her in. Oh – here they come!" To Percy's horror, a line of partially dressed women was led in from elsewhere in the house, looking terrified. Marcus rose to his feet, clapping and cheering with most of the rest of the room. Theo's fingers tightened on his glass until his knuckles went white, but he leaned back and watched calmly as the first woman was brought forward. Percy forced himself to imitate him.
In a remarkably short time, all the women had been claimed by cheering Death Eaters led out – Percy presumed to the bedrooms upstairs. Those remaining turned to card games and more glasses of firewhiskey, the noise level rising continually. Theo had been pulled into a nearby game, and Percy sat back and watched, swirling the firewhiskey in the glass he was holding and taking the occasional sip. Quite some time passed, and Percy began to relax, becoming aware that he was likely to escape this with minimal damage. He relaxed too soon.
"Weasley! Nott!" Marcus Flint, distinctly more intoxicated than the last time they'd seen him, dropped back into an empty chair. "Go and enjoy yourselves! Come on, Weasley, this is your first revel! Fucking good one to start with, and on the subject of fucking, get upstairs already! You're missing all the entertainment! I know Nott is a fucking poof, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out. Come on!" Powerless to resist the bigger man, Percy found himself being dragged out of the room, exchanging a look with Theo as he went. Marcus propelled him up the main staircase, selected a door, a pulled it open.
"Fucking hot, this one! Go on, Weasley!" He shoved Percy hard between his shoulder blades, sending him careening forward into the room, and slammed the door behind him. Percy took a few hesitant steps forward to where a girl lay on the bed, naked and terrified, held by a body bind curse. Percy first silenced the room and then released her, trying very hard not to stare.
"Cover yourself up," he said briefly. Hesitantly, she pulled a sheet to her chin, her arms trembling. "What's your name?" he asked. She swallowed nervously.
"Audrey," she muttered. Percy sat down in a chair near the bed, trying to ignore the blood stains that were visible on the sheet and the bruises on her pale skin.
"Are you a witch?" he asked practically. She nodded. "I'm…"
"Percy Weasley," she said, surprisingly. "Sorry. Sorry, please don't hurt me." Percy shook his head.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said patiently. "Are you injured?" She blushed and nodded, a tear running down her cheek. Percy made an instinctive decision – the sort of decision that was normally attributed to his brothers.
"Lie down," he said quietly. "Lie still and quiet and close your eyes." Briskly, he cast several illusion spells and then threw the door back open again. "Flint!" he yelled, his voice echoing down the corridor. "Flint, this one is a corpse, for crying out loud!" Marcus appeared from the next room, his trousers unfastened.
"No luck," he grinned. "Didn't think I was that rough with her. Oh well, get a house elf to get rid of it then, you can always try another." Percy feigned irritation, and re-entered the room. Briskly, he crossed over to the bed and scooped up the trembling girl. Holding Audrey in his arms and praying that his Dark Mark allowed him to bypass the Malfoy wards, he apparated them both away.
"Where are we? What are you doing?" Audrey sounded panicked and Percy shushed her gently.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Just rest." He walked briskly until he found what he was looking for, and then managed to wriggle his wand free.
"Revelio," he said firmly. Nothing happened, and he groaned. Gently, he lowered Audrey to the floor and tried again, cutting his hand and allowing a few drops of blood to drip onto the ground. "Revelio Weasley," he said again, and sighed with relief when the cottage shimmered into view. He picked Audrey up again and carried her inside, lying her on the sofa and looking around desperately.
"Fleur, I love you," he muttered, catching sight of a variety of neatly labelled healing potions on the table. Rolling up his sleeves, he set to work.
After Percy had been pulled away, Theo wasted no more time at the revel. He apparated straight back to the corridor outside his bedroom and let himself in, unobserved. He closed his bedroom door behind him, tossed his mask away, and pulled the sharply tailored black robes over his head, letting them fall to the floor. His hands went to his belt when a voice behind him observed,
"I do hope you're not going to leave those there for Miffie to pick up." Theo, conditioned by an evening with the Death Eaters, refrained from jumping, but turned slowly to face Hermione where she sat on his window seat.
"What are you doing in my bedroom?"
"I came to see if you were ok," she said. "You were… upset before, I wanted to make sure that it hadn't happened again."
"You should go," Theo said. Hermione frowned.
"Why?" He took a deep breath.
"Because I'm drunk, and I've spent the night in a house where multiple women were raped and tortured. I shouldn't be near you just now."
"Do you want to be alone?" Hermione asked. He hesitated, and then shook his head.
"No. I'm a bit pathetic like that." She smiled.
"You're not pathetic. I'll close my eyes until you get into bed, go on."