Author's Note: Here goes the next installment! Feedback is greatly appreciated.
Chapter 38
Draco
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"Lucia, I said stop bothering me. The week is over. Shut up and leave me alone."
"Please Draco? I'm so bored. Please play a game with me. I miss when you did every day."
"That's because you forced me to."
Lucia continues poking at me. Finally, she says, "What about hide-and-go-seek?"
I'm about to shout at her when an idea pops into my head.
"Fine," I say. "One game."
Lucia's eyes light up, but it just gets me angrier.
"I'll hide first. The whole house is on limits."
She nods, an annoying, too-big smile on her face. She closes her eyes and starts to count. I head straight for the basement cellar and check the time. It takes Lucia about thirty minutes to finally make it down to the basement. She's calling out my name like an idiot and I wonder if she realizes that defeats the purpose of hide-and-seek. But her voice is shaking, so I can tell she's scared.
"Draco?" she whispers as she finally steps into the cell. I'm in the corner. I jump out at her and scream and she screams and drops to the ground huddled in a ball. I laugh.
"Thirty minutes. That's a new low. Anyways, I'm going to go back to what I was doing. I'll come back for you later."
Before she realizes what my plan is, I've already run out the cell and locked it behind me. She screamed and starts banging at the metal door, crying. Father never comes down here and won't be home for hours. And Mother is also out. I'll have a good three hours or so all to myself.
"Don't leave me here, Draco! Please!" shrieks Lucia.
"See you in three hours. One for every ten minutes of my time you wasted," I said. Then, without looking back, I went back upstairs, ignoring Lucia's shrieks.
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I wake up screaming Lucia's name. My face is wet with tears and my whole body is sweaty and achy. I can't feel my arms. My pants are soiled and I smell like urine. My face turns red, but no matter how much I pull at the shackles, I only rub the skin at my wrists raw. It's incredibly dark, and I have no idea how long I've been here. It feels so long ago that Lucia left. The tin of water is still next to me, but I can't reach it. My mouth is so dry and my stomach has been growling for ages now. Father promised Lucia I'd only be here until I healed, but I guess that doesn't require food or water until day 2 or 3. Has it really been a day? Or two days? The thing about magic is that if anything in my body truly breaks, if I truly begin to starve, or hallucinate from dehydration, if the skin around my wrists festers and opens up, it can all be healed. When Father said I need a week to heal, he meant without magic. I'm sure of it now.
Suddenly, I hear a key turning in the door. My body stiffens and my heart starts pounding. Mother steps in. She won't look at me and she doesn't speak to me. She walks toward me and holds up a piece of bread to my mouth. I tug at my shackles, trying to meet her eyes.
"Please…Mother…" I manage to say. My voice is raspy. When was the last time I spoke?
Mother's eyes tear up, but she shakes her head and puts the bread close enough for me to bite. My heart sinks and my breathing quickens as a dreadful thought creeps into me. I bite into the bread and immediately begin chewing and swallowing. There's a vague feeling of nausea. I take another bite, more slowly. I eat the piece in silence and my stomach growls in protest, but there's only one piece. Then, Mother holds up a cup of water to my lips and I drink out of it. Once I finish, Mother whispers a spell quietly and a glowing light touches each cut on my body. It reaches my arms and they no longer feel numb and asleep. The circulation has been restored. The dreadful feeling makes the nausea worse. She's going to leave me like this.
"Five more days," she says.
I've always been good at keeping my composure, but in that instant, I panic. I can't be here alone without talking, without light, without moving. "Mom!" I shout. I haven't called Mother that in years. She winces. "Please don't leave me here like this. Please help me," I croak out. I'm trying to shout, but it sounds more like a whisper and like crying.
Mother gets up without a word, collects the two cups and walks toward the doors, but pauses at the doorway.
"Don't ever try to hurt your sister again," she says. She finally looks at me and her anger hits me harder than Father's belt did. "Your job," she chokes out. "Is to protect her, Draco. Always." Tears are streaming down her face and I finally give up and start to cry.
"I'm sorry, Mother. I'm so sorry."
She leaves, closing the door behind her.