To the kind reviewer that said I had too many similes, thank you! These chapters don't have as many!
Also, at the end, the Unbreakble Vow is mentioned. Again, I have taken a lot of liberties interpreting how the Vow works. I stretched its mechanics a ton to suit my purposes, but I think my interpretation still is reasonable.
Three weeks had passed since the Dementor. For the first few days, Silwen was left completely alone in her room to begin her recovery. No one came to visit, except for the food trays that she didn't dare touch. Kind, beloved memories replayed themselves in her mind, delicately keeping her from insanity. No, she was nowhere near recovered, but she had begun to ease herself out of memories and back into semi-consciousness. Recently, she was sleeping more—her mind in neither her room nor her memories. Brave enough to leave her memories but lacking the courage to move into complete consciousness, she had found a transition place where she could move on when she was ready. Yet today, Voldemort ruined the progress she had made, taking her back into her memories.
"Too many memories have survived the kiss," he snarled. "One more, I think, needs to be taken away for you to learn your lesson. Little Slytherin, which one is your favorite memory? Show it to me in the pensive." Voldemort drew his wand and forced it into her now submissive fingers.
"This one." With a graceful movement of her arm, a tear in the corner of her eye, Silwen extracted her dearest memory from herself.
Smirking at her display of apparent lack of will to resist, he said, "Ladies first," and escorted her into the pensive with convoluted courtesy.
...
It had begun to rain. Dancing merrily all over the Hogwarts grounds, it joyously invited all to come outside. Plants' leaves bounced to the rhythm, and in the mud, infant streams frothed happily, cutting new paths for a tiny, adventurous traveler to wander down them on a boat made from the Whomping Willow's leaves.
Inside Hogwarts, Silwen looked up at the Great Hall's ceiling and smiled, exhaling excitedly. Rain was a much needed mug of peppermint tea with lemon and honey or one of Draco's hugs after an extensive night of studying. And yet, it also rejuvenated her and filled her with life and adventure every time it stopped to visit. On her right, Draco too, glanced up at the ceiling, and back down to Silwen's face, mirroring her smile.
"Let's skip breakfast while the rain is still wants to play," she murmured. He nodded and grabbed her hand, but sheled them back through the doors, and through another pair of doors to the outside.
Pitter patter, splash! Pitter, splash! Pitter, pitter, patter! The rain sounded reminded Silwen of little children waving tambourines in a self-created dance, with little stomps every in between the tambourine shakes.
In moments, the couple was soaked drenched, but they clung to each other as they made their way down to the lakeside, daring to walk adjacent to the baby streams. Gripping the each other's elbows so as not to fall down in the mud, Silwen and Draco laughed at each near slip, then anxiously asking, "Are you alright?"
In the lake, the Giant Squid was also enjoying the rain, waving merrily at them with its entire head emerging from the water.
"He really is quite friendly," said Draco as they walked around the perimeter of the Hogwarts lake.
"Do you not remember how it picked up Creevy's brother when the boy fell in?" Draco shook his head.
"Both of them are Gryffindors, Sil, I don't care abo-"
"Shhh," said Silwen, putting a finger over Draco's lips, stopping for a second. "Don't say that."
"It still amazes me how much of a Hufflepuff you are," he smiled under her finger, his own fingers wrapping around her hand.
"The Hat almost did put me in Hufflepuff, you know, but I managed to persuade him to put me in Slytherin. He must have seen something cunning in me after all." He nodded, his grin growing larger.
"I certainly can," he responded, a sly smile crossing his lips. She grinned back, then looked at the lake, enjoying the feeling of walking in the mixture of rain and love.
The rain allowed Silwen and Draco to simply be, without fear of judgement. And, it held their secret hand holdings, stolen embraces, shared smiles.
Standing before the doors, Draco said,"So, you are off to Private-Study Potions, and I am off to Potions with your uncle," he said, wrapping his hands around her back, and lowering his head to just above hers.
"Tell my uncle good morning, would you?" she asked, her arms encircling him and drawing him nearer.
"Of course," he whispered, his lips right beside her ear.
Slowly, Silwen turned her head and tilted it, so that their lips brushed against each other like a hesitant quill on parchment. Once more, with slightly more pressure that still maintained the soft, gentle feel of their first kiss. Slowly, they broke away more quickly than Draco would have liked.
"Is something the matter?"
Silwen grinned at his perplexed expression then turned around in his arms so her back leaned into his chest. Carefully, he backed up slowly against a wall, drawing Silwen along with him.
"No, just the bell is going to ring, and I don't want the younger students to see us snogging as they head off to Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology." Draco chuckled as he tightened his arms around her stomach.
"What if I don't want to let you go?"
"Then I might have to hex you," she sighed, feigning a threat.
A pause settled for a moment or two, then Draco whispered, "You're safe here, you know-completely and utterly safe and sound."
Silwen let her head rest below his shoulder—she was not tall enough to reach his shoulder even when he wasn't standing at his full height—and relaxed.
" Safe because my uncle taught me almost every spell he knows. Because you're a powerful wizard with powerful connections."
"Sil,—" he warned, his arms tightening protectively even more around her.
"No one's listening, Draco. I promise."
"...We willkeep each other safe," he persisted, worry cracking his voice from wanting to be assured of this.
"Yes, love," answered Silwen softly.
"I-I love you, Silwen. I hope you feel that."
Once more, their heads met at their lips. Silwen's hands reached up to around Draco's neck as his hands slid over her shoulders, bringing her face upwards. Awkward, yet adorable.
"Safe and sound," she whispered, breaking apart to a normal distance between them when the bell sounded, able to look casual just before the students trudged outside.
Arms around the other's waist or shoulder, they walked inside squelching beautifully over the entrance hall's marble floor, mud sliding off their robes.
"I am so glad it's Autumn," said Draco, hugging Silwen around the shoulders one last time before class.
"The weather forecast in the Daily Prophet said it would be raining several more times this week," she replied, cheeks red from the sudden temperature change. Taking her wet hands in his, he began to rub them together, knowing full well that his efforts were completely futile; his were just as wet as hers. "Here," she said, taking her hands out of his, and reaching for her wand. With a wave and a nonverbal spell, both of them were completely dry. Another wave of her wand, and the mess they and the other students created vanished. "We don't want Filch giving us detentions before 1st hour has even begun, do we?" she said, smirking.
"Of course not," he answered, smirking too.
"So, we will see each other for History of Magic after Potions?"
"Meet you there."
"Good bye, darling." She gave his hand a squeeze, and then walked off, waving her fingers behind her.
...
An icy, almost transparent, hand clenched hers and dragged her outside of the pensive. Finding herself back on her cot, Silwen dried her face with her sheets and held in what she could of her emotions.
Mockingly, Voldemort hissed, "Why is that your favorite memory?"
"I-it was the day before you and your Death E-eaters invaded Hogwarts. Th-the day before Dumbledore left with Potter. The day before A-albus D-dumbledore died. It was the last day of my life that I felt completely-completely s-safe and s-sound before you annihilated everything."
"Ah," sighed Voldemort, his grip loosening. "Time to say farewell to it, Silwen."
Suddenly, hysteria exploded in her. "Please. You've already had a Dementor take away all my other ones. You can't take this one away. I think I might die if you do. This memory means the world to me. I-it..." Her eyes filling with tears , she began sobbing uncontrollably, despite the presence of the Dark Lord and his order to never cry in front of him.
SLAP! Furious finger marks seemed to glow on Silwen's cheek seconds after she fell onto her cot from the impact.
"I told you not to cry in front of me, little Slytherin," Voldemort whispered, his eyes narrowing to slits. He smiled to himself. Little did the girl know that he had put her memories into a pensive when she was sleeping before the Dementor came. Yes, the Dementor had sucked the memories from her, but in the Pensive, they still lived.
"It what?" he asked, sitting down on the cot, right beside her, capturing both of her hands in his. Hiccuping, she stopped her sobs and let the Dark Lord take her hands without reacting, still lying down. She pushed her face into the blanket, shrinking away from his next question.
Looking at the locket Voldemort had given her two months ago, she whispered, "I-it...was my first kiss."
"Such a memory of yours must be earned to be kept. Sit up, little Slytherin."
"No."
"Sit up before I get irritated and call Nagini."
"N-no."
"Do you want the Dementor to take it from you?" he hissed, his hand creeping up her arms, pinning them to the cot.
"No," she wimpered, her voice muffled from speaking into the blanket.
"Those who defy the Dark Lord must be punished so they know to never defy again," he said. His other hand commenced to comb her hair, almost causing Silwen's hysteria to return.
"W-why not some other p-punishment? Knives? The Cruciatus Curse? Various devices?"
"This one seems to bring you more pain than mere physical torture, making this manner more effective on you."
He paused, and the hand pinning Silwen's arms stroked her skin, reminding Silwen ironically of snowflakes; both were cold, white, and incapable of humanity.
"Please. Take this memory away, and you take away my happiness. I'll become a shadow."
"Very well. Do not cross me again. Do you promise me that?"
"No."
Using the hand that was stroking her hair, he retrieved his wand, tapped it on her head, and gently murmured, "Crucio."
Writhing, twisting, falling on the ground, her screams echoed around the room and down the hall. When he did so, she curled into a fetal position, hugging her knees.
"Do you want to change your answer?" his voice soft and icy.
"No."
"In an hour, I want to hear a different response from you. If not, I will take away that memory, or obliviate all Draco's memories and return all of your memories."
Silwen shot up into a sitting position, eyes riveted on his. "What do you mean, 'return my memories'? They were sucked from me. I can't get them back."
"Wrong, Silwen. You see, I duplicated your memories as you slept, putting the genuine ones inside the pensive, letting the Dementor feast on copies. In one hour, you might have them once more if your answer hasn't wavered." Voldemort's hands manacled her wrists and feet, threw her onto her cot, then as he left the room, Silwen whispered, "Wait." She shuddered, realizing she was requesting to be in the presence of the Dark Lord for a while longer.
"What is it, little Slytherin?"
"You can't harm Draco. The Vow won't let you."
"Once more, you err. I didn't think that was possible for you to be incorrect. I have two possibilities of stealing Draco's memories. One would be to ask an acquaintance who isn't a Death Eater to take the memories away. However, the next one is rather interesting. When you I had Greyback fetch you, you came to me without the Elder Wand, but did not die. It appears to me that by forcefully taking you back with you still convinced that you would bring the Elder Wand to me, the Vow has become...void. Which grants me every liberty that the Unbreakable Vow took away."
On the bed, Silwen's eyes widened in horror. "How-"
"For the first time since Potter's failed murder, I do not know."
"Don't harm them."
"Then you will let me take your memories away?"
"No."
"Perhaps, in an hour, your mind will be changed," he snapped. Robes billowing, he turned to the door, opened it, and strode out of the room. Click. He locks it, even though I never attempted to escape from here, thought Silwen. I won't change my mind. I will never change my mind. If he wants the memories, he will have to force them out of me. Now, he can kill Draco and my uncle. If he returns all of my memories to me, then at least, if he does kill my uncle and Draco, then they will still be with me.
The hour passed rapidly; she had taken a nap, having already made her decision, she thought a nap would be better then worrying furthur.
When Voldemort returned, Silwen's eyes fluttered open, saw him, then shut once more.
"I have changed my mind about taking your memory."
That made her eyes flash open, but she remained lying down.
"An ally has arrived from America." He paused, his eyes aggravated eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "You will keep him company. I have personal matters to attend to and won't be able to meet with him until later. Do this, and I will allow you to keep the memory as well as return all of your other memories to you."
This was too easy. Too simple.
"Why me? Why can't Bellatrix?"
"I think he would like the mystery of your blood more than Bellatrix's."
"What do you mean?"
"My visitor is a vampire, little Slytherin," he whispered, coming close to Silwen and stroked her neck. Silwen's eyes closed again, her face turning away.
"Fine. Let him in."
"Oh no, Silwen. You will entertain him in the Malfoy's parlor. But before that, you must look suitable." At that, none other than Narcissa Malfoy stepped into the room, holding a silken something in her arms. "When I told Narcissa about your clothing, she ever so willingly came back to help you," gloated voldemort, leaving the room. To Narcissa he said, "Prepare her. You have one hour before Greyback takes escorts you out."
