Pee Jar of Rancidness
Day Four
I worked at the eighteenth spring, hissing under my breath at every new scrape that blossomed on my reddened fingers. I squinted, struggling to make out the coils through the dim light filtering from underneath the metal door to my right. To my left a length of around a quarter-meter of intertwined coils laid on the ground, the edges jagged with the sharpened edges of stray coils. I was aiming to get up to half a meter's worth of makeshift rope.
The coin lay to my left, the metal surface worn down by my constant rubbing. It was as agonizingly cool as ever; no one had tried to contact me. A flash of worry seared through me; maybe something was wrong. For all I knew, there could be a full-out war raging between the werewolves, goblins, and wizards. And I was stuck in the forsaken cell in some unknown location, subject to the whims of two desperate captors.
Speaking of which…I heard dull footsteps resonating against the stone hallway. I cursed softly, shoved my handiwork underneath the mattress, and quickly tried to adjust the mattress so it looked the same as it had before. There was no time to pretend I was sleeping (besides, I'd already feigned sleep three times so far, and something told me the next time I tried it Andrei would not be as understanding), so I settled on the floor, resting my back against the perpetually-damp wall behind me (at least I knew I was in some area with an abundance of precipitation. This made me hopeful; I could still be in London). The door slid open with its usual creaking protests as the metal scraped against the concrete ground.
"Lion cub?" came Andrei's voice.
"You know, I'm older than you. Don't you think you ought to respect me a bit more? Enough with the nicknames," I said lightly, looking determinedly away from the much-sadder looking mattress. Would he notice that it was looking considerably thinner and that the middle sagged a bit?
But he just laughed, coming over to sit beside me. I resisted the urge to flinch away.
"But you will not tell me your name," he said, his tone darkening. I cringed inwardly; right, time to change the subject. Andrei, I'd realized, was usually very charming, but when he got impatient, he became unpredictable and violent.
"Now, let's try this again. I'm afraid Aleksandra is all for going for more…physical modes of interrogation. I've been fending her off, but if this contains to be as fruitless as it has been…" he let his voice trail off, the unspoken threats hanging in the air between us, staining the stale air with a bitter rancidness.
I swallowed, taking a moment to collect myself. The days of meager food had left Numberita (who was used to a rather large daily intake) weak and slow, which did not bode well for me. I was so tired…I noticed my hands were shaking a bit and quickly sat on them, not wanting Andrei to notice my bleeding fingers. Maybe I could tell him one thing. Maybe then he'd leave…
"Of course, if you were to help us, we could then help you," Andrei continued. "Say, with bacon."
I froze, Numberita springing to life. Had I ever mentioned my love of bacon to him? No, I was quite sure I hadn't. So he'd been digging, then. He knew my background enough to know my favourite food. But not enough to know that I'd sworn off of bacon after sixth year…I suppressed a shiver. How had he come to know that? Images of Seth bloodied and tortured flashed through Numberita, and it was all I could do not to leap over and punch his olive face.
I closed my eyes, my eyelids fluttering as I took a deep breath. In, out. He still didn't know my name. Which meant he couldn't have interrogated Seth. He couldn't have. He couldn't.
Then, with my wits gathered again, I pretended that I hadn't caught his mistake.
"B-bacon?" I asked, injecting as much longing as I could in the word. It wasn't very difficult; my stomach was growling and I honestly did crave the food.
A look of smug satisfaction passed quickly over Andrei's face, quickly masked by one of slight condescension. The git thought I was an idiot. Wait. Then that meant he still didn't know I was a Ravenclaw…so how did he know my love for bacon but not anything else? I furrowed my brow before realizing that he was speaking. Filing the thought away for Numberita to ponder upon later, I focused on his words.
"-tell us where it is."
It had been the same tune for the past four days. They'd gotten more desperate over the days. I'd caught flashes of fear when I refused to speak. So someone was threatening them. It almost made me feel sorry for the siblings. They were obviously poor; their clothes were well-patched but thin, and they couldn't afford to buy the Veritaserum that would have made this interrogation go so much more easily for them.
Almost.
So I swallowed thickly once more, clearing my throat.
"Why do you need the phoenix so badly?" I asked, my voice hoarse from disuse.
He blinked. "We've promised it to someone," he said, surprised into answering. Then he looked like he wished he could take back his words. I suppressed a feeling of satisfaction; so I'd been right. They owed the phoenix to someone – someone who was rapidly growing impatient, from the looks of it. Who was this person? I hadn't seen a trace of any goblins or werewolves, but that didn't mean they weren't working for Ragnuk.
"What does this person have over you?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"I'm supposed to be the one interrogating you," he pointed out. "Here, I'm in a forgiving mood…I ask a question and get an answer, you ask a question and get an answer."
I pursed my lips, Numberita mulling over the deal for a second before I realized Andrei was waiting impatiently. Right. A Gryffindor probably wouldn't be analyzing his facial features for any signs of deceit.
"Okay," I said hurriedly. He nodded, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.
"Good. Where is the phoenix?"
I laughed nervously. "Going for the big questions first thing, huh?"
He didn't answer.
Shoot. I actually had only a vague idea of its whereabouts. When Aurors confiscated evidence from a case, it was usually locked up in the basement of the Ministry. If it was a especially dangerous or involved case, then it got locked up in the Department of Mysteries. Judging by the number of Aurors that had stormed his flat, Numberita was guessing that this was definitely not a minor case…but did it warrant a hold in the Department of Mysteries?
And even if I did know where it was, did I want these people to get a hold of the phoenix? Numberita quickly ran down the list of benefits one could obtain from a phoenix: phoenix tears had great healing capabilities. Perhaps their patron had a rare illness? They could lift heavy loads. Somehow I doubted they needed a phoenix to lift something. Why not just use a levitating charm?
"Speak," Andrei commanded, cutting through my thoughts. I bristled before forcing myself to calm down.
"Of course. I am not completely sure-" he growled, and I hurriedly added, "but I do know that in all past cases involving magical animals the Aurors have hidden the confiscated evidence somewhere deep in Hogwarts."
He frowned. "Hogwarts? Are you sure?"
I nodded emphatically. They'd have a terribly difficult time breaking into Hogwarts, especially with all the new wards put up after the Battle of Hogwarts all those years ago.
"Hagrid – the groundskeeper – has a way of calming down otherwise dangerous animals. It's the safest place to keep them, and the students are usually too busy with schoolwork to notice," I continued, sending silent prayers that he would believe me.
He stared at me for a long thirty-two seconds. I didn't break the gaze, looking back at him evenly with what I hoped was a trustworthy expression on my face. Finally he nodded, breaking the eye contact.
"All right," he said heavily. Then he lunged forward, grabbing my shirt with his left hand and pressing his wand to my throat with his right. I let out a cry, my eyes widening as the wood jabbed painfully into my delicate skin. That was certain to leave a bruise.
"Wh-what about my question?" I rasped. He ignored my protest.
"If I find that you have lied, well-" he laughed, a short, harsh sound that was all too different from the charming warmth of his laugh on the park bench. He reached forward, plucking the coin from my hair.
I let out a yell, lunging forward to try and take it back. He pushed me back easily and sneered, his handsome features twisting into a menacing leer.
Then, keeping his eyes on me, he held the coin between his fingers and said, "Finite Incantum."
What? No. No. NO-
The coin dissipated in a shower of blue sparks. He let me go, and I collapsed to the ground, my hands scrabbling futilely at the rough floor. How could that be? Even if a Finite Incantum could destroy the powerful spell Ms. Granger had put on it, the coin should still exist – it wouldn't just disappear. It couldn't – unless…it had been an illusion this whole time.
"A smart lion cub, are you?" Andrei said scornfully. He stood, producing a small metal object – the real coin – from within his jacket and inspecting it ostentatiously.
I leaped to my feet with a cry, my eyes narrowing as I threw myself forward-
With a resound snap of his leg, his foot slammed into my gut, propelling me back to the ground. Hot, angry tears welled in my eyes as I doubled over, clutching at my stomach.
"Someone's been looking for you," he said casually, holding the coin up. "Keeps talking about what he'll do to your brownies and something about a golden quill if you don't show up soon. He's getting more and more desperate – pity he never mentions any names."
My breath caught in my throat; Al. He was the only one I knew who would be suspicious enough to keep it anonymous and know about the quills. So he had been looking for me.
Andrei pocketed the coin, and I watched with a sinking heart as it disappeared into the depths of his coat.
Saluting me mockingly, he turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him.
I curled into a fetal position, mouthing silent curses as I surveyed my stomach tentatively. It was sore, but I didn't think he'd broken anything – thank Merlin. There would be a large bruise, but that would be it.
Wait. I could hear distant voices outside.
I crawled forward, hissing as the movement jarred my wound, and pressed my ear against the door.
"-ogwarts? Are you sure?" Aleksandra.
"Look, it's the only lead we've got. Do you want to go back home or not?" Andrei.
"Of course, of course, but…Hogwarts is heavily fortified. What if we get there and get caught? Or what if it's not there?" she lowered her voice, and I couldn't make out her next words no matter how hard I pressed my ear to the cold surface.
"-will kill – no, he'll torture us and then kill us if we don't bring him the phoenix by next week. He's getting impatient." Andrei again, his voice rising a bit.
"Why don't we just grab some chicken feathers and transfigure them to look like ones from a phoenix? We'll be out of the country before he will even realize the dif-"
"Are you insane? He has the E-" Andrei was even louder this time, and my ears perked up a bit; what did he have?
Aleksandra shushed him, and I mentally pictured myself strangling her.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway again, this time growing softer as the siblings left the area in front of my cell.
I had to escape. It would take two, maybe three days for the siblings to realize that there was nothing at Hogwarts. I had no doubts about what they would do to me when they returned. So I shakily got to my feet, bracing my weight against the door and screwing my face up in pain, and half shuffled, half crawled back to the mattress.
Taking out the beginnings of my wire rope, I adjusted its ends before working on the next spring.
I had to escape.
Day Five
Aleksandra stopped by this morning with a bowl of watery porridge and a half loaf of stale bread. She didn't mention that anything was out of the ordinary, but I caught the nervous way she kept glancing at the watch – my watch, I realized angrily – on her wrist and the inky black traces of Peruvian instant darkness powder on her fingers that she and Andrei were planning on leaving for Hogwarts later today. She sneered at me but didn't exchange her usual bout of insults, instead looking at the watch again before practically running out of the cell.
I bit into the bread ravenously, allowing myself to eat only a quarter before forcing myself to stop. From what I could tell, Andrei and Aleksandra were the only ones here. That meant that this food would have to last me for two days. So, though my stomach was growling angrily and my throat parched, I forced myself to set the food carefully away in the corner farthest away from the pee jar of rancidness.
If they were leaving today, it was a half-day's journey just to get to Scotland. They would probably wait until night fell to try and break past Hogwarts's wards. Hopefully they would get caught…if not, they would be back and furious in two days, three at the latest.
I overturned the mattress once more and got back to work.
Day Six
I'd successfully completed a half-meter of the rope, but I wanted to keep going. I had nothing else to do, anyway, and I figured the extra length might come in handy. The skin on my fingers had scabbed over slightly, and I was certainly much better at untwisting the coils with only minimal damage to myself. I deftly braided three unwound coils, holding them down with my foot to keep them from coiling again, and wound it tightly around the already-existing rope.
If the lawyer thing didn't work out for me, at least I knew I had a career in rope making.
I smiled wryly to myself, twisting the last coil onto the rope. I leaned back, surveying my work critically. It lay gleaming slightly in the soft light filtering from underneath the door. It was around three centimeters thick and made of unwound coils twisted together, the stray ends sticking out in sharpened edges that shone menacingly. It was a bit crude, but it would do…I pushed down my instinctive hesitation at the prospect of…that and instead set my jaw resolutely.
I'd just have to pretend that whoever next walked into the door was an avocado monster. Right.
I didn't have any more time to think about the situation, however, for at the moment I heard footsteps echo across the hallway.
They were moving fast and stomping with more force than usual. Well, they were certainly angry. With my heart in my throat, I grabbed the thick wire and hid in the darkness behind the door, my fingers shaking slightly as I heard angry shrieks in Bulgarian.
The door slammed open, and I stepped to the side just in time to avoid the heavy metal. Aleksandra stormed inside, her clothes singed with a viscous, poisonously green liquid and her hair looking like it had been half-chewed and then spit out.
"TAPA KURVA!" she cursed. Well, I had no idea what that meant, but I was sure it wasn't anything good. She smelled of dragon piss and sported angry red burns snaking all along her right arm and was clutching her wand with trembling fingers. She skidded to a stop a few centimeters in front of me, looking around in confusion at the apparently empty cell.
I took a deep breath. Then-
"BATTLE CRY!" I bellowed, swinging my arms up and above as she half-turned, her mouth dropping open in surprise. I jumped forward, hooking my legs around the taller girl, and crossing my ankles around her lower waist. I swiftly pressed the barbed wire around her neck, holding it tightly enough that she couldn't move.
She let out a half-strangled sound, and I screwed my eyes shut for a second before opening them again determinedly. I leaned backwards so that my spine curved toward the ground, focusing on making her center of gravity – situated in her lower waist – move. There. Her waist shifted slightly, and her body soon followed. Twisting around in a move I'd seen in one of the action Muggle films I watched on the weekends (what? They're good!), I spun so that I was sitting on her back, my knees digging in the area between her shoulder blades.
Holy hippogriffs. That had actually worked! I resisted the urge to get up and dance triumphantly, instead tightening my grip on the rope when she began flailing desperately.
"You-you'll pay for this!" she rasped.
Oh, come on. How unoriginal could you get?
Right. Focus, Adela.
"Where is my bat? And where is my coin?" I demanded harshly. When she merely spat with a laugh, I reached down swiftly and plucked her wand from her hand, holding it at the nape of her neck (though I didn't jab it into her skin. I knew how much that hurt, and I wasn't going to stoop that low).
"Where is my bat? And my coin?" I repeated.
She let out another string of curses in Bulgarian.
"Because of you Andrei is captured!" she finally spat out.
A brief spark of hope flashed through me; if he had been captured, surely some Aurors would have followed Aleksandra back here. Maybe there were some Aurors coming right now!
Al. Was he out there somewhere?
I shoved away the thought, instead focusing on the situation at hand.
"I'll ask you one more time before I'll use more forceful measures. Where are they?"
She remained silent, calling my bluff. Perhaps all these days of pretending to be a noble Gryffindor had rubbed off on me, for the idea of hitting a defenseless target while she was lying facedown on concrete was unthinkable. I remained on her back, Numberita stumped for ideas.
With a roar, Aleksandra reared up, the back of her head slamming into my nose. I felt a dull crunch before a searing pain blossomed as warm fluid spurted from my nose.
Holy hippogriff. The bit-bitterweed had broken my nose! I stumbled backwards, spitting out the liquid as I struggled to get my bearings. Aleksandra was up in a second, her dark eyes narrowed with pure hatred as she rushed forward, her hand pulling back in a fist –
Dear Merlin. She was going to kill me.
"CONFRINGO!" bellowed a low voice. The air rippled as a slash of red-stained magic flew forward, slamming into Aleksandra. She was repelled backwards into the wall behind her, her body crumpling on the ground below.
I turned, Numberita still dazed with pain and shock.
A raven-haired boy rushed forward, his green eyes closing momentarily in relief as he drew me close, his arms wrapping around me tightly.
"Merlin, Lancaster. You scared me," he breathed, pulling back. He noticed my nose and frowned, moving his wand in a diagonal motion and furrowing his brow in concentration. I let out a strangled yelp as my nose set itself, the blood flow slowing down and clotting. Well. That left me a bit light headed.
Then he tossed me a familiar wooden bat, soon followed by a thin, dark cherry wood wand. My wand. Holding OBTS with my left hand and my wand with my right, I looked at the objects with wonder as familiar warmth spread up my right hand and a sense of belonging filled me with contentment.
After three seconds I looked up, meeting Albus Potter's eyes with a tremulous smile.
"Good to see you, Potter spawn," I said shakily. I took a deep breath, collecting myself. Do not cry do not cry do no-
To my horror, tears began dripping from my eyes, soon followed by the usual blubbering that always occurred whenever I cried (which was unfortunately more often than I liked to admit).
"But I had it all under control," I said, but the effect was ruined by my tears. Stop crying, Adela. I suddenly felt utterly foolish and embarrassed; how had I thought that attacking a highly trained criminal with a wire made of mattress springs would ever work out?
To my relief, Al didn't comment on my tears. Instead he surveyed the cell for a moment before turning back to me, his green eyes serious.
"You're right. You were doing great," he said sincerely.
And that's where I lost it, crumbling to the ground with half-hysterical sobs as I cursed Al for being so perfect and understanding and myself for crying in front of him.
After a second he kneeled down and wrapped his arms around me once more, his chin resting on the top of my head as his fingers rubbing small, soothing circles on my sides.
"It's okay," he murmured. "It's just me."
Author Note: :D well, Adela finally managed to escape! Oof this was an interesting chapter to write. Thanks again to everyone for reading/reviewing! Reading reviews seriously brightens my whole day :) As always, all reviews will be returned with a teaser of the next chapter c: Please let me know what you thought of the chapter!
ALSO - I've created a new story! (don't worry - before you all start hissing and saying - rightly so - that I already have way too many stories, this is a collection of one-shots from the OQaS-verse from various characters' POVs). If you're curious about it/want to see a particular scene from a different character's POV, just head over there c; The first one was a gift to Unpretentious for being my 200th reviewer.
My 250th reviewer will get a similar gift! :D
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Guest - Thanks for reading! /writes more ;D
