Part IV: Revolution
Chapter XIV: In Which Corinna Ruins Some Family Jewels
And to make things so much worse, Bellatrix showed up.
"What is this?" she demanded as the door slammed behind her. It seemed, no one else was thrilled about her arrival. Especially not Lucius if his sneer was any indication. "What's happened, Cissy?"
She walked among the prisoners, eying them all as a dragon would eye a piece of meat. No one said anything as Bellatrix stopped right in front of Hermione, who was now trembling.
"But surely," she said quietly as Corinna carefully extracted herself from the floor behind Bellatrix, "this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"
"Yes, yes, it's Granger!" cried Lucius. "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"
"Potter?" shrieked Bellatrix, backing away so she was next to Corinna and could give Harry a onceover. "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!"
Corinna had zero ideas before Bellatrix showed up how to rescue her friends. She somehow had less ideas as she watched in horror as Bellatrix rolled up her left sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark burned into the sensitive flesh. All it took was a single touch and Voldemort would come and they would have failed in their mission.
"I was about to call him!" said Lucius. He grabbed Bellatrix's wrist to stop her from touching the Mark. "I shall summon him, Bella, Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority—"
"Your authority!" she sneered, struggling out of Lucius's grasp. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"
"This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy—"
"Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy," said Greyback coldly, "but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold—"
"Gold!" laughed Bellatrix as she was still trying to throw off Lucius. It looked more like a schoolyard squabble than two grown adults fighting to see who gets to summon their precious Dark Lord. "Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honor of his—of—"
She seemed to freeze when she saw something glint over by the other Death Eaters—Snatchers, Corinna heard the term being used somewhere—who had taken a step back and let Greyback be in charge. Lucius took the opportunity to lift up his own sleeve and was about to summon Voldemort himself, just as he wanted to, when Bellatrix stopped him instead.
"Do not touch it!" she hissed. "We shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"
This gave Lucius pause. He wasn't much to begin with, but self-sacrificing was not something one could claim to be his strong suit. Bellatrix strode over to the others and Corinna looked over at Harry as he strained to see what was happening.
"What is that?"
"Sword," grunted the Snatcher.
"Give it to me."
"It's not yorn, missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it."
Bellatrix shot a nonverbal Stunner at the Snatcher, sending him flying. He dropped the sword on the floor and it clanked to the ground. Corinna instantly recognized it as the Sword of Gryffindor. Despite the tons of questions floating through her mind at that very moment, she wondered how in the world they got the Sword when it was supposedly locked up by Snape.
"What do you think you are playing at, woman?" demanded one of the other Snatchers who had pulled out his wand.
"Stupefy! Stupefy!"
Despite being four against one, it was easy for Bellatrix to subdue them as she was a Dark Witch with incredible skill. All of them fell except for Greyback, who was only forced down to his knees from the assault. Bellatrix knelt down to pick up the Sword of Gryffindor, her face paler than it normally was.
"Where did you get this sword?" she whispered to Greyback and she snagged his wand from his grasp.
"How dare you! Release me, woman!"
"Where did you find this sword?" She was not relenting. "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"
"It was in their tent! Release me, I say!"
With a wave of her wand, Greyback stood back up. Wandless and weary, he moved away from Bellatrix to stand behind an armchair. He was still brave enough—or stupid enough, rather—to continue to glare at Bellatrix from afar.
Bellatrix actually looked frazzled as she turned back to the Malfoys and Corinna. There wasn't much that could ruffle Bellatrix Lestrange. Apparently a Sword that was supposed to be in her vault was one of them. "Draco, Carina," she shouted, making both teens wince involuntarily. She pointed to the unconscious men. "Move this scum outside. If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."
"Don't you dare speak to Draco like that! You might be able to do that with your own daughter—" Narcissa was cut off when Bellatrix screamed.
"Be quiet!" she demanded as she glared over at her sister. "The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"
She was panting as she looked down at the Sword. The look that crossed her face made it seem that she wished anything else was in her hands at the moment. No one dared to so much as breathe loudly as she looked about the room, turning slowly.
"If it is indeed Potter," she said softly as her eyes lingered on him, "he must not be harmed. The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself…" She looked away, making it clear she was talking to herself and not for the benefit of the others. "But if he finds out…I must…I must know…"
She turned back to Narcissa. "The prisoners must be placed in the cellar while I think what to do!"
"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my—"
"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" She ran a hand through her scraggly hair and tugged gently as if to help clear her mind with pain. She looked even more mad than when she was torturing Neville.
Narcissa looked torn, but she seemed to believe her sister's threat. She turned to Greyback, who was snarling in Bellatrix's direction.
"Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback."
"Wait," said Bellatrix, holding her wand out as a stream of fire shot out of it. Corinna had to back away to avoid the spell hitting her so it, instead, burned a hole in the rug. "All except for the Mudblood."
Corinna's heart pounded loudly in her chest as Greyback's snarl turned into a wicked grin. There wasn't much difference, but the change was there.
"No!" shouted Ron, and struggled against his bindings. "You can have me, keep me!"
Bellatrix struck him across the face and Corinna made to step forward, but a sharp look from Hermione made her stop. It seemed she understood that Corinna had a charade to maintain. Hermione was still terrified, but she understood more of what was going on than what appeared on the surface.
"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next," Bellatrix promised Ron as he groaned from the slap. "Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them—yet."
"Do something, Corinna, don't just fucking stand there!"
That's the plan! Corinna wanted to shout at Ron, but instead, she tried a different approach. "Do not call me that, Blood Traitor!" she said, trying to sound as Bellatrix-esque as she could manage. It scared her how much she sounded like her mother to her own ears.
Ron's eyes lingered on Corinna's as Bellatrix threw Greyback's wand back to him. She hoped to convey that she meant nothing of what she said. That she was trying but she was wandless, outnumbered, and supposed to maintain the cover that she was under the Imperious Curse. It was enough to bring that stupid headache back.
"I'll let you help me with that one if we get to torture him," said Bellatrix as she cut Hermione away from the group. Greyback forced them back with a barrier spell. It looked like both Harry and Ron were trying to push through it, but it was no use. They had no choice but to walk in the direction that Greyback pushed them.
"Carina, Draco," said Bellatrix as she nodded her head over to the Stunned Snatchers. "Take them out back." She placed her knife against the pulse point on Hermione's throat. "I'm about to have fun with this one."
I'm sorry, Corinna mouthed to Hermione as she saw no other option but to obey Bellatrix's orders. Draco was able to use his wand to levitate two of them and have their limp forms follow after him. Corinna had to bend down and drag the other. At least Draco was kind enough to leave the heaviest one for her to deal with.
She dragged the body out to the courtyard and placed it where Draco unceremoniously dropped the others. Corinna studied them a moment, noticing that none of them had wands on them. They must have lost them during the scuffle. As she stood, she looked back at Draco, his own wand trained out as if he was contemplating following Bellatrix's orders.
The moon was high in the sky, just a sliver in the inky sky. The albino peacock squawked from the hedges, looking down at the scene below. A bitter spring wind shook the nearby trees, but the cold did not penetrate the little bit of paradise within the courtyard.
"What are you looking at?" demanded Draco as his eyes met Corinna's.
"We need to stop this," said Corinna easily. He did not look surprised to see that she was no longer under the Imperius Curse. "I know you don't agree with what's going on in there."
"Doesn't matter what I think," said Draco coolly as he crossed his arms and looked away from Corinna. "If I interfere and he finds out about it, I'm dead."
"We can protect you—"
"Don't," said Draco sharply. "The last person who promised me protection fell from the Astronomy Tower."
Corinna shouldn't have been surprised that Dumbledore had offered Draco a chance to turn his life around. That was the kind of man he was. "I'm on solid ground," she reminded. "Sometimes doing what's right isn't without risks."
"I'm doing what I can to make sure my family ends up alive at the end of all this," said Draco. "Even if it means serving your precious little boyfriend to the Dark Lord and letting my aunt torture that Mudblood."
"There isn't any way for me to persuade you to do what's right, is there?"
"Get back to me when you can guarantee we make it out of this alive."
Corinna knew this was her one chance. She lunged for Draco and pushed his wand arm up to the sky before the spell he was about to utter could hit her. They struggled for a bit, neither of them skilled at Muggle fighting as Corinna never had to do such things and Draco had Crabbe and Goyle to be his muscle. It was a lot of grabbing and standing there until the other turned away from the grasp.
Different colored spells shot through Draco's wand, but they all just shot into the air in a haphazard manner. She twisted his wrist to force the wand out of his grasp. It fell to the cobblestone with a clink, sending golden sparks flying towards the fountain. He tackled Corinna to the ground, knocking the breath out of her as he kept one arm against her throat and the other grasping for his wand.
Without really thinking, she drew her knee up and collided between Draco's legs with a loud thump. A high-pitched scream fell out of his mouth as he fell over to the side, his hands pressed against his groin as he attempted to alleviate the pain.
Struggling to catch her breath, Corinna rolled onto her side and snatched up Draco's wand. It was warm to the touch and she wasn't sure how the wand would work for her, but she didn't have many options. She had to do something to rescue her friends.
Draco was rolling on the ground, whimpering. "Petrificus Totalus!" Draco's body immediately stiffened into a board; the wince of pain permanently etched onto his pointed face. "I'm sorry," she said, knowing it wasn't much of an apology.
Although she did not relish what she had to do to Draco in order to get it, she was glad to finally have a wand again, even if it wasn't her own. She did not know how powerful she was with someone else's wand, but at least the body-bind seemed to be staying hold. He did not so much as blink.
She stepped over Draco's body and made her back inside. She did not have the pockets to hide the wand, but she held it against her forearm with the handle in her grasp. If she kept her arms at her side, hopefully no one would notice right away.
As soon as she stepped into the manor, she heard Hermione's cries. They echoed in her chest and reverberated deep into her soul. She swallowed against the lump in her throat as she walked quickly back to the drawing room. She didn't realize how badly she was shaking until she forced the door open.
The scene before her was horrifying. Narcissa stood by the marble fireplace, almost looking bored as they watched the action. Hermione was spread eagle on the rug, her extremely pale skin glowing under the glare of the chandelier. Bellatrix paced next to Hermione's prone body, looking reminiscent of a lioness eying her prey. Her wand was out, trained right at Hermione's chest no matter where she stood. Greyback stood off to the side, watching Hermione hungrily. He ran his tongue over his sharp teeth as his eyes only strayed to the different parts of Hermione's body as if debating which ones he would go for first. Corinna did not notice the newest edition to the group right away. A rodent-like man who Corinna could swear she met before. He had colorless hair, balding at the top, and was quite portly in his face and middle. He was one of the few people to look over at Corinna when she came in, and his eyes widened in panic at seeing her.
"Where's Draco?" Narcissa demanded as she eyed Corinna suspiciously.
Corinna kept her chin up and her shoulders squared, her face unwavering. Her wits were really tested when Bellatrix shot a Cruciatus Curse at Hermione, causing her to writhe and scream. Corinna knew exactly what she was going through, and it made her hate her mother even more than she thought could be possible.
"Taking care of the others, of course," said Corinna when Bellatrix let up the curse and Hermione was left panting and silently crying.
Corinna had to skitter out of the way when the door slammed open as Lucius dragged the goblin that was with the group into the room. "I got the goblin," he snarled. He pushed him over to Bellatrix, who stumbled and fell to the ground. His swarthy face looked up at the woman as she finally turned her back to Hermione to address the goblin.
The goblin seemed to make a show of looking over the sword, turning it over carefully and inspecting it from hilt to point. He was unaware of the world around him as he ran a gnarly fingernail along the blade. He pressed on the rubies that decorated the hilt and tested the weight in his hands. Corinna could not tell if this was the proper way of testing a goblin-made sword, but he at least gave a convincing act if it wasn't.
Lucius watched on impatiently, and Bellatrix watched on desperately. The rodent man seemed to shift his gaze between them and the goblin, while Narcissa's was unwavering on Corinna. Corinna felt a single drop of sweat run down her spine as she tried to remain neutral to the scene in front of her.
There was a loud crack, drawing everyone from whatever reverie they were in. "What the hell?" shouted Lucius. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?"
They all waited a moment, as if expecting another noise. "Wormtail!" shouted Lucius. The rodent man gave a slight squeak at being addressed. Maybe he was hoping everyone in the room would forget that he was there. Corinna could relate. "Go and check!"
The man called Wormtail walked over to the door with heavy footfalls. Corinna stepped to the side to stay out of his way, which brought her closer to Hermione. A plan to get everyone out of there was failing to come. There was no way she could take on four armed Death Eaters, and who knows who else. She didn't even know this Wormtail was in the manor. Who knows how many others there are who can instantly be called upon.
Wormtail and Lucius walked out of the drawing room. The goblin took this chance to stop his inspection. With Bellatrix and Narcissa now paying attention to the door and waiting for confirmation from Lucius or Wormtail as to what was going on in the cellar, Corinna drew out the wand and pointed to Hermione, but Lucius came back into the room and Corinna had to quickly scramble to hide the wand.
"Wormtail says everything's fine," said Lucius, rolling his eyes. Corinna did note how Wormtail wasn't with him. He pushed the door, but it did not close all the way, creaking open a few inches.
Everyone's attention went back to the goblin, who had resumed his inspection. Lucius went to stand by Narcissa. It seemed that everyone had forgotten about the man called Wormtail.
"Well?" Bellatrix demanded, a wild look in her eyes. "Is it the true sword?"
It was as if all the air was drawn out of the room. No one even breathed as they all waited for the goblin's verdict on the validity of the sword. He turned it over again, disregarding Bellatrix's huff of impatience.
"No," the goblin finally said. "It is a fake."
"Are you sure?" Bellatrix stepped towards the goblin, her wand arm shaking. "Quite sure?"
"Yes."
The entire room seemed to sigh in relief when the tension on Bellatrix's face fell away to something resembling happiness.
"Good," she said. She flicked her wand and she cut the goblin's face. He dropped the sword as his hands went up to stave off the bleeding. She kicked him aside as she strode back to the center of the room. "And now we call the Dark Lord!"
A shout to get her to stop remained clogged in Corinna's throat as she watched in horror as her mother pulled down the sleeve of her robes and pressed a finger to the Dark Mark.
As soon as Bellatrix lifted her finger from the Mark, Corinna expected something to happen. She expected Voldemort to instantly be there, his wand raised demanding someone to bring Harry Potter to the slaughter.
Instead, they all just stood there, looking at each other.
"And I think," continued Bellatrix as she fixed her sleeve and stepped over Hermione's prone body, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."
"NO!"
The door to the drawing room burst open and out tumbled Ron. He had a wand trained out in front of him as a shocked Bellatrix turned to face him.
"Expelliarmus!" he roared and Bellatrix's wand flew out of her hands. Harry, coming in right behind Ron, ran in and caught the wand. Lucius, Narcissa, and Greyback turned sharply to face the kerfuffle. As Harry Stunned Lucius, Corinna knelt down to grab Hermione, but Bellatrix had pulled out her knife and pointed it right at Corinna's neck, right on the pulse point.
"STOP!" she shouted. "STOP OR SHE DIES!"
Unafraid, she lifted up Draco's wand and desperately thought Levicorpus. Bellatrix screamed as her foot was tugged up into the air as if suspended by a piece of rope. The knife was still in her hand as she waved it wildly. As she wasn't that high in the air, she was still worried about Hermione's safety. She kept the wand trained and struggled to pull Hermione out of harm's way with only one arm.
She was only vaguely aware that Harry and Ron were dueling Narcissa and Greyback. Lucius stood back as he didn't have a wand. The goblin was clutching the Sword of Gryffindor, curled up as if that would help him disappear.
"You…you…" shouted Bellatrix as there was a grinding noise from above her. Corinna's shoes kept slipping on the rug as she inched Hermione's body away from where she laid. "You are as dead as that Mudblood there! How dare my own flesh and blood betray me this way!"
"Can you be any weirder?" demanded Corinna. The grinding became louder and they all looked up just in time to see the chandelier fall to the ground. Corinna quickly lowered the wand, causing Bellatrix to fall to the ground. However, Corinna could not get Hermione out of the way in time, and she instead dove to cover the prone forms of Hermione and the goblin so at least they wouldn't suffer even more.
Glass flew everywhere and she felt the shards embed themselves into her exposed legs and neck. She was tangled up in the chains as she struggled to detach herself from the chandelier itself. Ron dove down and helped dragged Hermione's form from the wreckage while Corinna helped the goblin. Harry was still shooting off spells somewhere above them.
"Dobby!" Narcissa screamed as she was pulling her husband out of harms way. Blood covered his face, a large gash starting from the corner of his eye and disappearing into his hairline. Even Bellatrix gave pause when Narcissa gave a shriek that was akin to Bellatrix. "You! You dropped the chandelier—?"
Dobby walked into a room, a shaking finger pointing at his old mistress while Narcissa had let her husband slump over with a groan while she pulled out her own.
"Kill him, Cissy!" Bellatrix shrieked to her sister, but a loud crack made Narcissa's wand fly out of her hands and fall to the other side of the room, colliding with the liquor cabinet. "You dirty little monkey! How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?"
"Dobby has no master!" squealed Dobby, holding his head up with pride as he glanced over. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"
Corinna looked over at Bellatrix as she readied the knife over her shoulder. Her wild eyes were solely on Dobby. Harry tossed a wand to Ron, telling him to go. She barely heard Harry telling her to hold on as Corinna twisted her body over Dobby's.
Before the familiar feeling of being sucked into a vacuum. Before the familiar sight of one scene melting into the other. Before they were completely free of the clutches of Malfoy Manor, all Corinna knew was pain. It bloomed from her shoulder, hot and sharp. She cried out when they made it back to solid ground.
Salt permeated the entire air as Corinna gasped for breath, and felt every single cut as the wind whipped off the sea. She released her hold on Dobby as she fell to her knees. She reached her good hand back, and knocked the knife that embedded itself in the fleshy part of her shoulder. She cried out loudly as the knife shifted and she clutched the top of her shoulder instead.
"Corinna!" Harry shouted as he knelt down in front of Corinna. Her vision quickly focused on the man in front of her, seeing his emerald green eyes and scar as if for the first time. "We need to get you up to the Cottage. Do you think you can stand?"
Corinna only nodded as opening her mouth would just illicit cries of pain instead of a cohesive answer. She clutched Harry's arm with her good one as he took on most of her weight so she could shakily stand, which was hard as the sand below them wanted to shift.
"Corinna Crouch saved Dobby's life," said the elf as they walked the slow track back to the house on the edge of the sand. Bill had come out of the house to help the goblin get back up. In the living room was Hermione on the couch while Fleur fussed over her and Ron hovered over. He quickly stepped back when his sister-in-law said something sharply in French. She was telling him to back up and give her space to work, but he seemed to get the gist without knowing the language.
"We've got a couple of other patients," said Bill from behind them. He placed the goblin in the oversized armchair by the driftwood fire, but he seemed to fit on it as if it were a loveseat. Harry walked Corinna over to the other armchair, and she braced her elbow on the arm of the chair to keep herself from falling over when he was no longer there to assist her.
"Is that a—" Ron seemed to somehow pale even more when he saw Corinna's injury, his freckles almost dark spots against his skin.
"One last memento from my dear mother," Corinna managed to bite out as Bill leaned over to inspect the wound, looking confused.
"I thought both your parents were dead," said Bill as he grabbed a couple of potions from the haphazard pile on the low table by the couch.
Corinna did not even care about the slip up. She especially didn't care when Bill pulled the knife out of her shoulder, causing her body to spasm in pain. She cried out and she clutched the nearest object in a tight fist, which just happened to be Harry's arm. Her eyes watered and she barely saw the outline of Dobby looking over the goblin. She did not even register Dean and Luna standing at the scene before them, looking horrified.
"My mother is not as dead as I would like her to be," Corinna whispered as she felt Bill put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding until he could utter a spell.
"Yeah, I plan on killing her next time," Ron spat out.
"Get in line," said Corinna, hissing as the wound began to sting.
"Who is this woman that is so bad that even Ronnie wants to kill her?" asked Bill. He dabbed some clear potion onto the wound and Corinna shuddered as the pain slowly subsided and was replaced with an odd cooling sensation.
No one else said anything as Bill carefully wrapped the wound awkwardly due to the placement in her lower shoulder, but the cut was deep enough that it needed to be covered while the potions did its thing. Corinna shuddered again, knowing she was going to be the one to tell everyone. It was her burden to bear, after all. She was the one unlucky enough to have whatever needed to be aligned in order for that to occur.
"Bellatrix Lestrange."
Corinna expected Bill to back off and start treating Corinna like a vile creature. Instead, he helped her arm into a sling and healed the rest of the cuts. He offered a pain potion that Corinna immediately accepted, even if it muddled her already cloudy mind.
"I bet she feels really stupid right now," he said as he straightened up and went over to help Dobby with the goblin.
"Yeah, especially since she summoned You-Know-Who and we aren't there anymore," said Ron. Corinna noticed that Harry rubbed at his scar and she reached a hand out to squeeze his.
"He's not very happy with them right now," said Harry as he looked down at Corinna. "Which is fine by me. Makes our lives easier if he starts killing off his own."
A twinge of remorse struck through Corinna's chest. She did not particularly care what happens to Narcissa and Lucius, and anyone who offs Bellatrix would be her favorite person ever, even Voldemort. She was worried about Draco, his prone body out in the courtyard. Sure, he was a coward for not doing what was right and instead being passive, but that does not mean he should die.
"I theenk she's coming to," said Fleur as Hermione gave a soft groan from the couch. Ron was immediately at her side, and this time Fleur was the one to back away from him. He knelt down in front of her, running his fingers through her thick curls. Hermione didn't say much, simply trembling and letting tears fall down her cheeks.
"Maybe we should all just head to bed," Bill suggested. "We can talk and figure things out in the morning. I think it's been draining for everyone."
Bill took the goblin—whose name was Griphook, as Corinna finally learned—to his own room as it would, apparently, be an insult to him to be forced to sleep next to wizards, even those who saved his life. He did not even pretend to suggest that everyone split off by gender, telling them that there were two empty bedrooms, a camp cot that could be set up in the sitting room, and a spare bed in the room that was currently occupied by a near-despondent Ollivander.
And here Corinna did not think their ragtag group could get any weirder.
"I'll take the one with Ollivander," said Dean and he scratched the back of his neck in a nervous manner. "Corinna, could I talk to you for a second?"
Corinna remembered back to the last time Dean said something akin to that. It seemed like a century ago instead of a year when he was worried about his relationship with Ginny. "Yeah, sure," she said as she left the others to discuss where they should sleep. Corinna personally didn't care as long as it wasn't on the floor.
Dean lead Corinna into the dim kitchen. Even in the little light that poured from the sitting room, she could see how nervous Dean was. Nervous and sad.
"I don't know what you heard, but…" Dean let out a shuddering breath and Corinna let him compose himself without pressure. "But I was with your uncle when we were ambushed by Snatchers."
Corinna let out a low hiss as the loss of Uncle Ted was a fresh, renewed blow to her very core. She almost wished for the pain in her shoulder back, something to focus on that wasn't the squeeze of her heart or the burning in her stomach as she grappled with understanding that he was just…gone.
"I'm sorry, Corinna," Dean said softly, and Corinna had to remember where she was and who she was with. "I did what I could, but he made sure I made it out of there alive, even if it meant he…"
"Dean," said Corinna as she placed her hand on the much taller boy's shoulder. "It's alright. My uncle is…sorry, was a good man. He would have much rather seen someone as young as you live and have a fulfilling life. I don't blame you."
They both stood there, tears shining in their eyes. Dean wiped his away with his sleeve. "He did talk about you a lot. You and his wife and daughter and future grandchild. He told me to focus on my friends and family to give me motivation to keep fighting, even when it seemed pointless. He was a very good man. I would be dead right now if it wasn't for him."
"Then that will be enough," said Corinna, and she sniffled loudly. "I should go see where I'll be sleeping. Dean, don't beat yourself up over this. He wouldn't want that." She turned to head back into the sitting room. "Have a good night."
"Wait," he said quickly as he dug into his pocket. "They took our bags, but I managed to shove this in my pocket when Ted gave it to me." He fished out a folded up picture and Corinna's heart seized when she realized what he held. "He looked at it a lot. He said it helped him and I'm sure he would want you to have to back."
Corinna shakily accepted the photograph and unfolded it. She could barely see past the tears pouring down her cheeks, burning as they gathered toward her chin. She watched as her, Dora, Uncle Ted, and Aunt Andromeda stood in front of the Christmas tree. Corinna looked uncertain to be in the photo, but she relaxed a little as Dora slung an arm around her and gathered her in closer to the rest of the family. Uncle Ted was laughing proudly while Aunt Andromeda smiled and held herself in a way that only those who were raised in a pureblood household would. She would never admit it to Aunt Andromeda, but she saw similar poses that Bellatrix and Narcissa held.
"Thank you," she said softly as she sniffled loudly. "Thank you, Dean."
They rejoined the others in the sitting room. Ron snagged up the opportunity to stay with Hermione, but it seemed that Corinna's boyfriend was going to be Mister Modest as he offered to sleep on a camp cot in the living room while Corinna and Luna shared a bed. But that lasted all of five minutes when, no longer having to keep up the charade that she was still under Bellatrix's Imperius Curse, she started bawling into her pillow. She was only vaguely aware of Luna climbing out of the bed with a squeak of the bedsprings, only to be replaced a few moments later with Harry.
Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, Corinna turned to clutch onto him, and he held her close while she cried into her chest until no more tears came and a restless sleep finally consumed her.