Just letting you know I had to resubmit it since I forgot to save some changes before uploading.

Part IV: Revolution

Chapter XI: In Which Corinna Gives Up

When Corinna came to, she was in an unfamiliar room.

It was easily twice the size of the bedroom she had at home. She was lying on a large four-poster bed that took up most of one side of the room with bedside tables on either side holding lamps that were burning on a low setting. On her left side were large windows looking out at a snowy landscape. Taking up the rest of the room could have been an office area with a desk and two overstuffed chairs in front of a roaring fireplace. Sitting in front of a wardrobe was her school trunk and bag. Her traveling cloak and scarf were hanging on a standing rack next to it. As they both appeared to be warm and dry without the stiffness from a drying charm, she had to assume that she had been wherever this was for a while.

She felt around her jeans pockets, but the only thing she found were a couple of knuts she hadn't put in her pouch. Desperately, she went over to trunk and dug through it. Everything seemed to be there, even her stolen copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Everything, that is, except for her wand.

She muttered under her breath as she went over to the door next to the fireplace. It led to a pristine bathroom with no other door leading out of it. She backed out of it as she tried the other door. It wouldn't budge, and there wasn't a lock on it, so it was obviously locked by magic. Pounding on the door did nothing.

Panic really started to set in as she slowly backed away and studied the door. She rushed over to the window and looked out at the grounds. Everything was white as far as the eye could see: white snow covered the expansive lawn leading up to the hedge and beyond. The clouds surrounded the entire sky, so it was hard to tell where the sun was in the sky. Her watch said that it was just passed noon. She had been out for a few hours now.

Unable to unlock the door or Apparate or do anything without a wand, she was out of options. She walked over to the desk and picked up the wooden chair. She walked back over to the window and steeled herself. With a release of a tense sigh, she swung the chair back and slammed it against the window.

It bounced back as if it were made out of rubber, and the sudden reversal of force caused Corinna to fall back onto her rump. The chair clattered across the floor, and landed upended by the foot of the bed. She swore loudly as she rubbed her lower back as she stood and inspected the window.

"This isn't funny!" she shouted, looking around madly. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she looked around for anything else she could do to escape. She didn't care if she didn't have her wand and had to walk to the nearest village. It was better than whatever this place was.

There was a sudden pop and Corinna screamed loudly. It was only a house-elf carrying a silver tray with a matching dome over it. He was short and squat compared to other house-elves that Corinna has met, which had to be some sort of accomplishment. "Swetty is to bring food to Miss Carina," he said as he placed the tray on the desk. He looked over at the fallen chair by the foot of the bed but did not comment.

Her jaw clenched at being called that, but she had bigger gurdyroots to chop. "Where am I?"

"Malfoy Manor, Miss," said Swetty and gave a low bow. "Enjoy your meal."

"No, wait—" There was another pop and Swetty was gone. She stared at the spot he used to occupy as she mulled over her current situation. A million questions zoomed through her mind as she tried to make any sense of what was going on. In actuality, finding out where she was seemed to add more questions than it answered. If she was kidnapped by Death Eaters, shouldn't she be in a dungeon somewhere. She was certain a place like this would have a dungeon with chains on the walls that was musty and damp. Instead, she was in a bedroom with a cozy bed and a roaring fire.

She did not know how long she stood there, but a loud crack from the fire drew her back to reality. She swallowed thickly as she walked over to the desk and lifted the dome. The bowl of vegetable and bean soup was still steaming, along with the cup of tea. She noticed the desk held a chilled pitcher of water with a couple of goblets on a crystal tray. She replaced the dome and backed away from the food. She was not going to trust any sort of food or drink unless she knew where it came from.

She paced back and forth in front of the windows as she considered her options and came up short. There was no way to get out of the room without her wand. She was at a complete loss when, an hour later, Swetty popped back to collect the tray.

"Did you not like the soup, Miss?" asked Swetty. "Do you wish to have something else?"

"I wish to get out of here," she said. "Why am I here?"

But Swetty just popped back out as quickly as he had popped in.

"Dammit!" she shouted, running a hand through her hair that was stiff and crunchy from dried sweat. With a defeated huff, she flopped onto the bed and stared up at the canopy. Panic squeezed her chest tightly as she thought about Aunt Andromeda, Dora, and Remus expecting her back home. What will they do when she doesn't show up? They will assume something happened to her. She could almost hear Lee adding her name to the list of those missing and presumed dead, or would Remus talk about how she went missing possibly due to her connection with helping the cause? Personally, she would rather have Remus have the honors, but she was not in any sort of position to be picky on who spread the news via Potterwatch.

And what of Neville, Ginny, Luna, and everyone else in the DA? What would they think of her disappearance? Would it cause them to back off out of fear they would be next? Or would it cause them to double down against Snape and the Carrows?

She was also worried about the students who would need to leave. Many probably won't come back for the spring term, but there were quite a few weeks between then and Easter. A lot can happen to shift the tides of war. Someone would need to be there to guide the students to the Hogs Head Inn so Remus can reunite them with their families so they can escape from Voldemort's clutches.

There were a lot of things she didn't know. All she knew was that she needed to find a way to get out of here before they do something to her.

Corinna sat up on the bed, her eyes darting to her school trunk that was open with many of her possessions scattered about. She was surprised they let her have everything except for her wand. It took more than a wand to make a great witch or wizard. Sometimes all one needed was a gag gift.

She pulled out the flesh-colored string that Ginny gave her on Harry's birthday. She knelt down onto the floor and fed the string through the bottom of the door so that it was barely sticking out the other side. She sat down next to the door and put the other end in her ear. There wasn't much noise in the hall: the occasional door closing or the scurrying of feet, which Corinna assumed was Swetty or another house-elf cleaning. She was about to give up when she heard two male voices.

"…her damn mind," said the first male voice. This one seemed to be aristocratic in nature and Corinna felt like she had heard it before. "Crouch here fought a lot of the Death Eaters, myself included, and she expects us to play nice?"

"Careful what you say about my wife," the other male voice hissed. This one wasn't as familiar, and much gruffer than the first. "You were there, Lucius. She either proves that Carina is on our side or she gets rid of her."

"If she expects the girl to submit to herself to the Dark Lord as my son did, she is more insane than we thought." There was a shuffling noise. "Get that wand out of my face, Lestrange! Your daughter is a lost cause."

"Would you give up on Draco if he defected?" At Lucius Malfoy's silence, Lestrange continued. "My daughter was brainwashed. I'm sure she just needs some persuasion to see right."

Corinna's hands formed into fists to try to get them to stop shaking. She'd hate to know what sort of persuasion techniques they were talking about. She had a feeling there were no limits to what Death Eaters will do, even to those they believe are their children.

"Right," said Lucius Malfoy, not in the least bit convinced by the conjecture. "We'll see about that one. Although I would normally not care about school gossip, Draco did tell me that she was dating Harry Potter."

"All the better," said Lestrange. "It means that, if our plan succeeds, then we will have someone who can get on the inside. We'll have another Severus Snape on our hands."

Corinna felt like she was going to be sick. Getting kidnapped by these people was one thing, but them comparing her to Snape was just low.

"What is the plan, anyway?" asked Lucius Malfoy.

"Bella is leading this. She knows how to get through..."

The voices were now too far down the corridor for Corinna to hear them, but she had heard enough. They were going to do something to her. Having her suspicions, she wrapped up the Extendable Ears and shoved them into her pocket. She dug into her schoolbag and grabbed a role of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink. She righted the chair and sat down at the desk where she proceeded to stare at the parchment.

There was so much she needed to say, but she didn't know how to say it. Dear Corinna, she put at the top of the page, feeling silly for writing a letter to herself. But, in a way, she was writing it for someone else. Someone she was terrified of becoming.

Instead of thinking too much about it, she poured her mind into the page, letting the quill do all the work as she wrote as quickly as she could while it still was legible. Once she was done writing, mostly because she was out of room, with just enough space to sign the note. Normally she would perform a spell to get the ink to dry faster, but she instead had to do the technique she had to do for most of her first year: shaking the parchment until the words were no longer shiny.

Now came the problem as to where to hide it. If anyone came in, they would be suspicious of a bit of parchment floating around. As much as she wanted to put it in an obvious spot, somewhere less obvious was going to work better. Somewhere they wouldn't come across, but Corinna would.

Once it was tucked into her chosen hiding spot, she resumed pacing and trying to organize her mind.

She did not like the fact that Bellatrix was involved in this. It shouldn't surprise her, but it did. She half-expected to be killed on site when she saw Bellatrix again. So why was she here instead of being left in a shallow grave somewhere? Or, worse, her body left on Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted's doorstep. That seemed more Bellatrix's style. Not only to kill and destroy, but it also gloat about it to those who would suffer the most from said destruction.

Before she could do anything else, the door opened. Ill prepared for anyone besides the house-elf to come in, she was not armed with anything to defend herself, not that she knew much about doing such a thing without a wand. She straightened up and turned sharply to the door, but nearly tripped over her own feet as she saw who it was.

Bellatrix Lestrange stood in front of the door, looking the same as she did in the Department of Mysteries. Her long black hair fell down her back, leaving her once beautiful face unframed. The look she gave Corinna might have at one time been one of love, but Azkaban made them crazed as she looked over her daughter.

The last time she had been face-to-face with the woman, Corinna was dueling her with Dora. She would then go on to kill her cousin and Harry's godfather, Sirius Black. She also remembered, just a few minutes before that, Bellatrix tried to use the killing curse on Corinna as she ran with Harry down to the veil. The prophecy that Harry was holding was more important than her own daughter's life.

"It's good to see you again," said Bellatrix, and Corinna did not like the way she sounded.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Corinna coolly as she assessed whether or not she could take Bellatrix before she had a chance to shoot off any spells. But she never got the chance as Bellatrix closed the door and locked it behind her. Now Bellatrix's wand became the most important thing to Corinna at that moment.

"Of course," she said, in a fake-sweet voice that was reminiscent of Umbridge. Bellatrix put her wand into her robes, her eyes never leaving Corinna. She could feel Bellatrix's eyes boring into hers as she paid her no mind, merely remembered which pocket she put the wand in. It was odd for her to disarm herself like that, but it wasn't as if Corinna had a way to defend herself at the moment. All she had was her wits, and that wasn't going to help her against a Dark Witch. "What mother wouldn't want to see her long-lost daughter?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe one who tried to use the killing curse on her daughter?"

"That was before," said Bellatrix. As she took another step forward, Corinna stepped back. "I was desperate for that prophecy. You must understand what it means to be so desperate that you are willing to kill for something."

"No," said Corinna, looking disgusted. Looking at Bellatrix, it was hard for Corinna to comprehend that the woman before her was actually her mother. She knew it was the truth, there was no doubt about that, but it was as if her brain decided it wasn't going to accept it as truth. She had clung to the idea that Crouch was somehow lying to her, but that was impossible since he wasn't able to resist the Truth Potion before then. "I actually have morals, thank you."

"The Crouches really did a number on you," said Bellatrix. She continued forward and Corinna bumped into the window, no where else to go. "But when I look at you, I see the little baby girl who I held after you were born. You were such a beautiful baby. I knew one day you would make Rudy and I proud."

"He's not even my father," Corinna spat, and Bellatrix's eyes lost whatever love she was trying to convey. They immediately clouded over with hatred. "Or did you forget that you fucked Barty Crouch?"

In less than a second, Bellatrix crossed the distance between them and smacked Corinna. Her cheek stung but she made no move to give it relief. She would never give the woman that sort of satisfaction. "You do not talk to your mother that way!"

"I will talk to you however I want," said Corinna in a low hiss. All the anger she ever felt for Bellatrix coming all at once, feeling like molten lava in her chest. "What kind of mother kidnaps her own daughter, anyway?"

"A desperate one," said Bellatrix and Corinna snorted. "You were taken from me."

"Because you were sent to Azkaban for torturing Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity."

"They had information on what happened to our Dark Lord," Bellatrix shrieked. "I had to do what was necessary. My only regret was that you were taken from me."

"And that was the best thing to ever happen to me."

Bellatrix's wand was out now, but her arm was across Corinna's chest to keep her pinned to the wall. "How could you say such a thing? You weren't even left with the proper family. My dear Cissy was supposed to take you in, but you were snatched up before she could do anything."

Corinna was only half paying attention to what Bellatrix was ranting about. All she cared about was the black wood wand in her hand. "I can help you. I can undo what the Crouches have done. You can be that beautiful little girl again."

"You are mad," said Corinna as she reached up and grabbed the wand. Something burned against her throat as she cried out. The all-too familiar feeling of being stabbed with knives and the dropped into a vat of lemon juice filled every fiber of her conscious mind. She convulsed on the ground as Bellatrix let her fall.

Once the pain subsided, Corinna blinked to clear her eyes. "Oh, yeah, really proving your sanity there."

"You insolent…" Bellatrix stared at Corinna as she seemed at a loss as to what to do with the woman before her. "Do you know what my Lord wants me to do to you? He would rather you die. That I start over on my legacy."

"Then do it," Corinna choked out.

The seconds ticked by and Corinna wondered if Bellatrix was going to do it. It would have been easy for the crazed woman to do it. Corinna was unarmed. Bellatrix has proven that she would kill her own family. All it would take was two words and Corinna Crouch would be no more.

"What are you waiting for?" said Corinna as she stared down Bellatrix. "That must hurt. That your own daughter would rather die than have anything to do with you."

"I've got a better idea," she said softly as she stood up and held her wand out to Corinna. She stared at the tip, expecting the green light to come and engulf her into blissful nothingness. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to remember all the good things that happened to her. Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted taking her in. Dora finding happiness with Remus. Ron and Hermione slowly realizing that they had something going on there. Being the first person Terry wanted to tell when he realized he was gay. The times that Neville, Ginny, Luna, and Corinna planned for the DA.

And Harry. She relished all the times she spent with Harry. All the times underneath that beech tree by the lake or stolen moments in the Common Room. The only thing she regretted was that she could not recall the last time they had kissed.

At least her legacy will be helping those students get out of that horrid school and back to their families. All she could hope at this point was that the people she cared about would be proud of her.

Isn't that all anyone could hope for in the end?

"Imperio."

Carina Lestrange woke with a start in the familiar bedroom. She stared up at the dark canopy as she tried to pull her thoughts back to her dream, but it slipped away like trying to hold water in her hands. All she could remember was a boy. A very handsome boy with dark hair and emerald green eyes.

Knowing it was fruitless, she let the dream fully fade away as she carefully stood from her bed. Her feet shirked away from the cold floor as she stood to grab the dressing gown from the wardrobe. She always seemed to be cold in the Manor.

It was still dark outside, so Carina would not be able to see the beautiful lawn shrouded in snow. She particularly liked the fountain, which was still running despite the plunging temperatures. She assumed it was charmed in some way so the water did not freeze.

She turned her attention back to the fireplace where it was slowly fading into embers, which explained the sharp chill in the air. She dug around in her pockets for her wand, but then she remembered how her mother told her that she broke it and needed to get a new one. She was always doing such silly things.

"Swetty," she called, and the house-elf apparated in front of her. He did not let his discomfort of being summoned so early show as he waited attentively for his mistress's order. "Restart the fire."

"Yes, Miss Carina." It was just a snap of his fingers and the fire was roaring again. "Anything else you require?"

"Yes. Bring me my tea. I want it ready for when I am out of the bath."

"Of course, miss" said Swetty. He gave a low bow and was gone with another snap of his crooked fingers.

Carina crossed the room and went into the private en suite bath. The clawfoot tub seemed to call her name as she filled it up with as hot of water as would come out of the faucet. She poured the flowery-scented soap liberally so a thick foam sat on top of the steaming water. She shed her clothes and lowered her chilled body into the warm embrace of the water.

Her skin was already pink as the water seemed to warm her from the inside out. Carina felt herself drifting off as her head rested on the pillow and her eyes closed. She was almost asleep when the boy popped into her head again, reaching out to cup her cheek. She leaned into the exchange, her body feeling even hotter than the water would have accomplished. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as his hands seemed to guide down her back and hook around her thighs.

The kiss was hot and passionate as they seemed to form one being. Without breaking away, she removed the boys glasses, as she tended to do whenever they snogged. How she knew that, she did not know, nor did she care in the moment as he tongue slid inside her mouth and raked against her teeth. Their tongues seem to vie for dominance that Carina barely seemed to register as the boy's hand snaked up and cupped her—

"Carina, dear."

Carina nearly slipped under as she was pulled from her dream. She coughed on the soap as she righted herself. She scrubbed a hand down her sweaty face as she blinked to clear her vision. Sitting on the edge of the tub was a beautiful woman with black curls cascading down her back and framing her gaunt face. There was a concerned look on her face, but it did not quite meet her eyes.

"Good morning, Mum," she said, forcing the wet hair out of her face.

Her mother looked Carina over with a slight frown on her face. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I'm fine," Carina insisted, but her mother did not look convinced. "I was probably just a little tired, is all."

"You know you don't have to lie to me," said her mother as she stood and grabbed a towel from the stack by the sink. Carina stood as her mother wrapped the towel around her snuggly. "You can tell me the truth."

There was something about her mother that made Carina always want to be honest. "I did wake up very chilled this morning, but the fire was low."

"We'll see about that," she said. "Why don't you get dressed. Swetty brought you your tea, but I also want you to eat something. You won't recover if you don't get your energy up."

Carina smiled. "Yes, Mum. I'll do that."

"Thank you," said her mother as she guided Carina out of the tub. "Swetty!" she shouted, not nearly sounding as nice as she had when talking with Carina. When the house-elf appeared, she said, "Take care of this."

She slammed the door leading to the bathroom shut behind her. She ushered Carina over to the four-poster bed as she went into the wardrobe to a simple set of robes for her to change into. "Did you want any help?"

"Mum, I'm seventeen, not seven," she reminded as she accepted the robes. She still smiled as if she wanted to accept the offer but pride wouldn't let her. "I may be sick, but I'm not an invalid."

"I know you aren't, dear," said her mother as she lifted Carina's chin to look her in the eye. "But one does not stop being a mother even after their child becomes of-age, particularly one who is still so sick and weak. Get dressed and have a spot of breakfast. There's something I would like to discuss with you after."

"Of course," said Carina as her mother stood from the bed and crossed over to the door.

Once she was gone, Carina dressed and sat down in front of the fire, letting it warm her and dry her hair. The tea was prepared perfectly, without the cream or sugar even present on the tray. Carina did not really mind that it was there, but her mother yelled at Swetty for bothering her daughter with unnecessary things.

The tray also held a small plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. Carina grabbed a piece of toast and her cup of tea and turned back towards the fire. It was beautiful with the orange flames dancing about. It gave the stones around the fireplace an orange hue and odd shadows to bounce around the room. The sun was just about to rise, quickly moving through the kaleidoscope of colors as it tended to do in the middle of winter.

She did not have much of an appetite for much else, so she replaced the dome as she focused on her tea. It was something that always brought her comfort. Tea.

Swetty came by to take her tray as Carina curled up on the overstuffed chair and read her book. It was a fairly interesting read as it detailed the history of Malfoy Manor. It seemed that Armand Malfoy had rendered services to King William I and he gave him the land and resources in return to build the manor. The book did not detail exactly what services were given, but they were worthwhile enough to be given something so generous.

Carina expected her mother to come back by the time she finished the book, but she was no where to be seen. There was no reason to search her out, of course, as her mother would always come. With a sigh, she put the book next to her empty teacup and stood from the chair.

She was much warmer after her bath and sitting by the fire, but the chill in the air still seemed to cling to anything it could. She went into the bathroom and studied herself in the mirror. She was annoyed with her hair as it hung limp from her bath. It was an odd color: not quite blonde and not quite brunette. She thought the term was mousy, but it reminded her of rodents so she did not appreciate it. Either way, she attempted a comb through it to give it some life, but it just hung down her back in a lifeless cascade. It was also long, nearly reaching her hips at this point.

There wasn't anything remarkable about her face. It was round, ruddy, and she still had pimples running along her chin. The only thing of note about herself was her eyes. A dark blue, almost violet depending on the light. There were flecks of gold, just like the necklace she had hidden under her robes. Along with the watch on her wrist, she did not like the idea of taking it off.

Once she seemed to be ready for the day, she went back into her bedroom. Her tea and book had been taken care of, as well as her bed made and her discarded clothes back into the wardrobe. There was nothing else for her to do besides sit at the small desk and look out the window. She watched the albino peacocks walk along the aspen hedge, strutting around as if they owned the place.

The grounds were massive. She would love to walk around them once the weather got warmer. Right now, she was tired of cold. It would be much worse to go out in the snow and wind.

Her mother came back around the same time as Swetty brought her a bowl of soup for lunch. Carina ate some of the bread that went along with the soup to show that she was eating.

"I was thinking," said her mother as she sat down next to Carina in the available armchair. Her mother's pale skin seemed to glow orange from the fire in front of them, giving her an otherworldly look to her. "If you are feeling up to it, maybe you could join us for Christmas Eve supper tonight. It will just be us with Aunt Cissy's family. Your father has some important work to see to for our dear Dark Lord, so he won't be able to join us."

That gave Carina pause. It did not seem like it should be Christmas Eve already. "I would love to," she said stiffly.

"You will let me know if it is too much, right? I don't want to make you worse."

"Mum, I'll be alright," Carina reassured as she reached over to took her mother's hand in hers. It was cold and bony. "I would love to spend time with Draco."

"That's what I like to hear," said her mother as she squeezed Carina's hand back. "What do you think of Draco?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you like him?"

"I suppose I do," said Carina, but she sounded uncertain of herself, and it was evident that her mother was picking up on that, too. "I mean, he's my cousin after all."

"Oh, that just won't do," said her mother, shaking her head. "I'm going to need more than that." Her wand was out and Carina flinched away. It was always a bad sign when her mother had to bring out her wand. It meant that Carina was getting worse. "Imperio."

The calm rushed over Carina as a new sense of peace settled her worries of disappointing her mother. There came a new set of orders that Carina gladly accepted. She would do anything for her mother. She would jump out the window if it meant that her mother would be proud of her.

After all, mother knows best.