Disclaimer: All credit of original characters goes to Rowling.

It was less than a second later that the suffocating feeling of apparating left Elle's body and she fell onto a cold marbled floor she had never set foot on before. The jolt of the impact had caused Draco to lose his footing as well as his grasp on Elle and he was at his knees beside her, panting hard. Elle chanced a look up at him and for the few seconds that they were alone they held each other's gazes. Draco's eyes displaying only his concern for the girl. He looked as though it was a struggle for him not to lower his eyes from hers; he was ashamed.

Cracking noises began to sound from various points within the room and Draco and Elle got to their feet, Elle trying to stay as close to Draco as possible without arousing suspicion from the Death Eaters.

The room they were in was an entrance hall right inside the front door of the mansion. It was large enough to fit the kitchen, dining room, and living room of the Dursley's inside it at once. Along the walls there were painting of wizards Elle could just faintly remember seeing in Purebloods Through the Ages: An Ancestry of Magnificence. She was obviously in Malfoy Manor.

"What've we got 'ere?" drawled the voice of a man who was covered in scars and looking over Elle in a disturbing manner.

"Greyback!" Elle seethed, her voice filled with venom as she took a step towards him.

"Don't speak unless you are spoken to, filth!" Lucius shouted from the other end of the hall. All the Death Eaters in the room stood exchanging glances as if they didn't know what to do with Elle now that they had her.

"What are we going to do with her?" Bellatrix wondered, her eyes glinting with ideas behind them. All, no doubt, involving torture.

"The Dark Lord will decide what to do with her," Lucius intoned.

"Of course, but he is not here," Bellatrix whispered in a greedy fashion. "Can't we play with her until then?"

"I do not like to play with my food, Bella," Lucius snapped. "But you may do as you wish, as long as she lives through it. The Dark Lord must be the one to give her death sentence. When you're done throw her in the dungeons."

Elle heard Draco moan quietly from beside her but did not take her eyes from the werewolf across from her. She didn't even spare a glance at Bellatrix as the woman skipped in an insane fashion, her arms whipping around like a windmill, to where Elle stood.

She shoved Elle to the center of the space around which the others were gathered, where everyone would have a good view of whatever she was about to do. Elle's face didn't betray her; there was no fear to be seen there. She kept her gaze firmly on Greyback, showing only the hate she had for him through her eyes.

"What is going on here?" asked a controlled feminine voice.

"Just welcoming our new guest," Lucius said.

"Who is this?" the voice asked again. Elle guessed it was Draco's mother, Narcissa.

"It's itty, bitty Elle Potter," answered Bellatrix in a loud whisper as she circled Elle, trying to decide what to do with her.

"Elle Potter?" Narcissa asked in a surprised voice.

"Yes, yes," Bellatrix answered, coming to a halt behind Elle, who could feel her breath washing over her she was so close. "I think we'll give her to the puppy as a new play toy!"

"How many times I got to tell you not to call me a puppy?" Greyback snapped, but his eyes were shinning with excitement as he advanced on Elle.

Elle felt Bellatrix move away from her and heard her laughing gleefully. She stumbled back, away from the prowling man. Horror was quite obvious on her face now. She fumbled in vain trying to find her wand, knowing it had been left in the corridor near the sleeping Luna.

Twirling around she gave a brief thought to begging someone for help, but quickly ruled it out. In the crowd of nearly thirty people Elle saw only three faces that were not plastered with interest or excitement; Draco, who looked stormy with anger; Narcissa, confused and watching her son; and Snape, his face showing no emotion at all.

She heaved in a huge breath, summoning her strength and courage, just as she felt Greyback's hands on her neck. One was gripping it tightly as the other brushed her long hair over a shoulder. She sensed him lean in closer to her and stifled a scream as she felt his tongue move from the base of her neck to her hairline, where he inhaled her sent deeply.

Too quickly for the wolf to notice Elle widened her stance and threw all of her weight into elbowing the disgusting man in the stomach. As he pitched back from her, wheezing and clutching where she had hit him Elle whirled around. Gasps rang out throughout the room as Elle dove towards the pseudo Death Eater and tackled him. Pinning him to the floor for as long as she could while he was taken aback, Elle searched his body for his wand.

She finally found it in the pocket of his pants when Greyback gathered his wits and gripped her wrist, snarling at her. He flung her off his body and pinned her in return, his hands on her neck tighter than before.

Elle grappled with him, tugging at his hands and ripping his skin open with her nails. She flailed her entire body with as much force as she could. Her vision was beginning to grow darker and her head swam with visions of her godfather, who suffered for the cruel pleasure of the man on top of her, and Bill Weasley, who would never be the same because of him.

She stilled her body and looked into the eyes of the repulsive werewolf, a grin forming on her face. Elle removed her hands from Greyback's arms and aimed a punch at his ribs with her left and pulling his scraggly hair with all her strength to the right.

The effect was just as Elle had wished and Greyback was knocked off of her. She scrambled to her feet, the faces of all the Death Eaters around her shocked. And for the first time in her life Elle thanked the heavens for Dudley Dursley and his bullying ways, because they sure had helped Elle build strength and endurance.

Elle hadn't noticed Greyback regaining his feet, or him coming up behind her until he had spun her around and throw her against a wall, holding her upright with his own body pressed against hers, until she was finding it hard to breathe again.

"Who taught you how to play, my pretty?" Greyback huffed, looking quite worn out but still managing to sound like a creep.

Elle didn't respond, but focused her attention on trying to stop his hands from lifting the skirt of her dress. An all new type of terror began to pump the adrenalin through Elle's veins, she had never thought that even a man as detestable as Greyback would attempt this.

She lost all rational thought, tears began to well in her eyes as her throat constricted. Her eyes swept around the room until she found the grey eyes she was looking for. Draco was directly across from where she was now, murder explicit in his eyes and rage falling from him in palpable waves that only Elle noticed. His mother's hand was on his shoulder, but his attention was for Elle only.

"Draco? Draco, please!" Elle choked out, as the room around her burst into laughter.

He took a small step forward, but his mother grabbed his arm to stop him.

"DRACO!" Elle screamed as Greyback clutched at her thighs. She tried to force him away from her, but her arms didn't seem as strong as before.

"That is quite enough, half-breed!" Narcissa called from the other side of the room.

She drew both Elle and Greyback's eyes to her, neither quite sure who she had been addressing.

"I'm speaking to you, wolf. You will not touch that girl in my house! Such actions will not be permitted!" Narcissa said with confidence.

"I think you will find, dear wife, that this is my house. You have no say here," Lucius chuckled as though what was happening before him was nothing but a funny little show being put on just for his amusement.

Narcissa had given Elle something precious, though. She had distracted Greyback, who had loosened his grip, and gave her a moment to clear her mind. Shoving fear to the furthest reaches of her mind she reached over to the stand that was beside her and grabbed onto a large crystal vase with a beautiful arrangement of imported lilies in it.

"This is for Bill Weasley, you will never touch one of them again," Elle said in a hoarse voice as she brought the vase smashing down on the werewolf's head.

Greyback crumbled to the floor at Elle's feet, his hands on his head.

"You are an abomination," she told him. "Remus Lupin is a good man, he is loved and pure. Not even your foulness could taint him. This is for him."

Elle raised the wand she had finally gotten out of his pocket, tears were already leaking from her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Elle said, sincere but sure. "Avada Kedavra!"

She fell to the floor, her dress torn and bloody. The gathered Death Eaters converged on her. The wand was tugged from her hands and she was forced to look up by Bellatrix yanking her hair again. Bellatrix's own wand was at her throat.

"Get back, Bellatrix," hissed Draco. "She goes to the dungeon before you make any more stupid decisions!"

"Who are you to order me around?" Bellatrix screeched.

"We've all forgotten one thing in this chaos you've created," Draco's voice so calm and icy everyone backed away. "I am in charge now."

"You! You!" Bellatrix could not find an argument to suffice. There was none, for it was true.

"You knew, Bella," Narcissa informed. "That upon completion of his mission Draco would become the Dark Lord's second. You have no jurisdiction here any longer!"

Draco plucked Elle from the floor and cradled her in his arms, more gently than the lieutenant of the Dark Lord should have been capable of. He marched from the foyer without looking back, his mother following close behind him.

Elle didn't struggle, but stared ahead blankly. She didn't notice the grand living room they entered, or the long hall that led from it into a dining hall. She wasn't pulled from her stupor by the greeting Draco and his mother received from the many house elves that were gathered in the large kitchen.

She didn't move at all until Narcissa yanked a heavy wooden door that was in the corner of the room open for Draco to move through. What caused her to flinch was the air that wafted out of the open door; it was cool as ice, and Elle felt as though she had just been dunked into a lake in the dead of winter. Her whole body started to quake with shivers as Draco carried her through the door and down a flight of old stone steps.

With each step downwards that Draco took Elle clung to him tighter. Her head began to cloud with her darkest thoughts, her worst memories, and her deepest, best kept secrets. She shook her head violently, desperate to clear it. As Draco took the last step into the room at the bottom of the stairs Elle gasped, holding onto him as though her life depended on him never letting go.

From out of the darkness of the room came the creature turning the air and her heart to ice; a Dementor. It wasn't hooded now, like they normally were. No, Elle could see the foul thing's entire body. It was skeletal; the flesh clinging to its body was hanging, ripped open in some places, cracked, dry and peeling. Its gaping mouth immediately started emitting a sound that was a mixture between sucking and wheezing.

Elle's mind grew darker than ever before and her heart began to shudder. Whimpering sounds came from her throat as she turned her head into Draco. She witnessed again what she had done only moments ago. Her own had had dealt death, only now she could see no reason for the thing she had done, she murdered him in cold blood, unprovoked; as if she had been no better than Voldemort himself. Her mind flew back hours to the scene of the death of her headmaster. It played over and over, as if on a reel. Each time it flickered into her head it dug at her soul even more.

"Expecto Patronum!" Elle heard Narcissa whisper. A regal swan, silver and wispy, burst forth from the tip of her wand. It flew about, circling them, as Elle warmed and her thoughts drifted back to normal and her body slumped, exhausted, into Draco.

"Take her to the back, over there," Narcissa pointed to a dark corner of the room.

Draco was silent as he carried Elle to where is mother had pointed. He let her down so that she was standing on her own feet, but he was still holding most of her weight as he held her to his chest.

"Draco! What have you done?" his mother hissed, coming to stand very close to the pair, her swan gliding behind her.

"Be quite!" Draco demanded. "We can't be heard."

"This is your girl, Draco? The one you have been thinking of all these years?" Narcissa questioned.

Draco gave no response, but kept his mother's gaze and strengthened his hold on Elle.

"Harry Potter's little sister, Draco! How will you ever get out of this? How will you keep her safe here, when you yourself are not even safe? He will kill her!" Narcissa spoke quickly and quietly.

"I don't know, mother. I didn't mean to bring her here," Draco replied, his voice just as quite but filled with dread.

"He won't kill me," Elle stated, pushing from Draco's arms and scrutinizing the dank room. It was made completely from stone and there were no windows letting light in. The only light in the room came from the swan Narcissa had conjured.

"Of course he will, girl!" Narcissa exclaimed, looking at her like she was insane.

"What good would I be to him dead?" Elle wondered aloud. "None. He will keep be alive."

"What good would you be to him either way?" Narcissa asked.

"She's got all of Dumbledore's information and she'll attract Harry right to him. No way will Potter leave her here," Draco said, his eyes on Elle, who nodded.

"Is there any way out of here?" Elle asked.

"Only the Dark Lord can come and go as he pleases. And he will be back within hours!" Narcissa said.

"There's got to be a way out," Elle mumbled, her face scrunching up in thought.

"There is none," Narcissa stated.

"There's always a way," Elle repeated, ignoring the older witch.

"We must hurry," Narcissa said, ignoring Elle as well. "They will get curious if we linger here too long, Draco."

"Alright, let's go," Draco snapped, taking a step towards the stairs.

Narcissa shook her head, and held her son back.

"She must be chained," she said.

"I am not chaining her up! Those things will have her bleeding in minuets!" Draco growled, thrusting his arm at the chains hanging from the walls.

"If we do not do it we will all die!" Narcissa said, her voice rising.

"She's right. It has to look like I'm being treated just as any other prisoner would be. Or else, everything was for nothing," Elle said, shooting Draco a pointed look.

Draco was pissed; his face was set in stone as he guided Elle to the chains. He sorted through them, and then tapping on some with his wand the cuffs at the end of each chain clanked open. His fingers were feather soft as they ghosted over the skin of her legs, shutting a manacle around each of her ankles. Standing he moved behind Elle, he gently gathered her hair into a ribbon produced from his wand. Then he fitted a larger metal bond around her neck. The chain of it weighed heavily down her back when he released it. Coming around to face her he slipped two bracelet-like strips of metal onto her wrists, tapping them with his wand they sized themselves to fit her skintight. He avoided her eyes as he unclipped the charm bracelet from her and slipped it into his pocket.

When he stepped back from her Elle's hand shot to her neck as she tried to reposition the metal that was digging into a sensitive bruise left from the hands of Greyback. Narcissa was already ascending the stairs when Draco stepped back to Elle and placed a hand on each side of her face.

"Listen to me closely," Draco whispered to her urgently. "Do not mess with them, they will shrink and cut your skin. Do not try to move further than their range or they will burn you. If you attempt magic the ones on your wrists will cause slices to appear on your palms. Just wait, and keep your head. Don't let anything the Dark Lord may say to you get under your skin. If he tells you Harry is already dead that is a lie, do not believe a word he says. And for Merlin's sake for once do as I tell you!"

Elle nodded, the chain around her neck rattling at the movement. Her heart was beginning to speed up again at the thought of being left in the dark alone, without Draco. She clutched at his sides, drawing him closer. He leaned down, placing a slow kiss to her forehead. And then he left the dungeon, leaving Elle in the dark, cold space with just the Dementor for company. As the door Draco had just exited through slammed shut the wheezing of the creature started up again and Elle was thrown back into her despair, fighting the whole time to cling to thoughts that would keep her from losing herself.

Every second that passed felt like years to Elle—years of torture and horror. She had fallen to the ground moments after Draco had left, no longer able to keep standing on her wobbly legs. So she sat, huddled in a corner. Her legs were drawn tightly to her chest and her hands were gripping at her hair. She was struggling desperately to find a happy thought, but all that came to her were useless. Each memory that played itself out in her mind chipped away at her soul a little more than the last.

Her mind was no longer her own. She had no control over where her thoughts led. Elle sat and watched her life progress as though none of the good things had ever happened.

Elle witnessed every time Dudley did something horrible to Harry, felt every time he punched or kicked her. She saw every time Petunia turned her back on the two children that needed her most, influenced by and old grudge and the small mindedness of her husband. Elle remembered the year with the Dursleys that she had had to go through alone without Harry.

Then her mind took her to times at Hogwarts, where rationally she knew she lived happily and was loved. But she didn't see any of that. She saw the petrified faces of her schoolmates, the stony face Hermione as she lay un-lifelike in a bed in the hospital wing. She saw the blood writings on the wall, the deadly snake, and the ghostly image of Tom Riddle. Then Lupin, her godfather, turning into a werewolf, chasing her through a forest played through her mind. The thought that she would lose him grabbing her again, just like it had years ago.

It seemed as though her mind began to falter then, and she could no longer grasp onto whole thoughts, or entire memories. She was left with just flickerings of sentences from people, smudges of images. Elle wanted nothing more than to scream, let her frustration out. Or maybe scream for help, even knowing it wouldn't come.

Then her mind flashed, showing her Draco; laying on the floor of the girls bathroom, in several inches of water, bleeding; helping her through a crowd at the TriWizard tournament her third year when she wasn't able to support herself; his eyes, steely and stressed; how close he sat to her during her detention; him lowering his wand, resigned to die so that Dumbledore may live, not knowing what would be done from that moment to keep him safe.

These thoughts pricked at a place in Elle's mind she never went; to something she hadn't understood fully until only months prior. The prophecy given of her to Hagrid by a centaur named Firenze. This was her deepest secret, but she clutched to it like a lifeline. It would keep her sane, remind her who she was. It was not a happy thing, nor a sad one, and this may be why the Dementor could not hide it from her. Elle repeated it over and over in her mind, and when that was no longer enough she mumbled it out loud, glaring at the Dementor the whole time.

"Upon the opening of the eight month a girl will be born," Elle muttered, nodding to herself at how true that was, as the door opened and footsteps were sounding on the stairs.

"To parents who have thrice defied him," she covered her eyes with her hand and slid further back into the corner as whoever was coming was getting closer.

"To the brother he will mark his equal," she let out a sob, thinking of her brother and how he had no choice in the matter.

Elle looked up, and her eyes locked on Draco's familiar grey eyes. It seemed it had been years ago that she had last seen him, when it really hadn't been more than a few hours. His presence did nothing to sooth her soul though, nothing to rein in the darkness threatening to amass inside her if she so much as lost sight of who she was for a second. He seemed hesitant, like he'd never seen Elle before and no longer new how to approach her. Emerald eyes gazed into his silver eyes unwaveringly, and she whispered, "To the lover that will turn his back on him."

Draco dropped to his knees in front of her, hands clutching his head. He made a strangled sound that Elle paid no mind as she went on, "Rising like the phoenix, a light in the darkness; she will bring hope."

Neither teen moved as they both struggled with a fight that was at the same time separate and shared.

"Magic constructs her bones, flows through her blood; it will beg to do her bidding," Elle was powerful. She had been destined to be. She slammed her fist into the wall beside her; outraged she was so powerful, and yet so weak in that moment, so utterly stuck. Her movement caused the rusted metal binding on her ankles and neck to tighten, slicing into her skin. She hissed in pain, and Draco rocked where he was, groaning and still tugging at himself.

"Her birth is a gift to the god of war; compensation for his burden, so he may not be unloved," Elle spit through her teeth as the metal cut into her further. She tried not to let her voice waver with more thoughts of Harry, tried desperately not to believe her own thoughts telling her she would never see him again.

Draco rushed to her as she began to struggle in earnest against the constricting ring around her neck.

"Upon the stroke of midnight," Elle gasped as Draco finally gathered his wits and pulled his wand from his jacket, a silver lion bursting from the tip with a roar.

Elle tried to contain the crazy giggle that escaped her lips at the sight of the patronus, but failed. She slumped down the wall, the cuffs growing hot and digging into her raw flesh, as a vision of a more feminine lion trotted through her memory. She was warm and her mind blank, as she allowed herself to lose consciousness; her hand gripping Draco's shirt as he sat before her keeping the Dementor at bay.

I wanted this to be longer, but then I was like, "No that'd be mean. Give a girl a break." Let me know what you think. I was very nervous about this one, and considered changing it... but I didn't, so you get it exactly as I want it. =/ Should little girls kill people? No. Elle is much more than a little girl, though. And sometimes a baby's gotta do what a baby's gotta do (Who else watched Rugrats as a child, eh?). Anyways... review, please.