Author's Note: Late updates will happen, thankfully the world didn't come crashing down this time. I write daily updates on my profile; so please scope it out for progress on chapters and such.
-Montosse

(Disclaimer)

Lily jerked awake. There were heavy cast iron pots and copper pans and molds hanging above her. The room was hazy and smelled of smoke, alcohol, and faintly of burnt meat. She could hear water running. As her senses came to, Lily noticed she was laying on a pile of burlap sacks.

"…. Another one …" a woman's voice grumbled. A hand grasped her arm; Lily jumped and yelled out. It was Marlene. Marlene covered Lily's mouth; she slowly put a finger in front of her lips, her eyes were wide with shock. "Shh! You'll get us all in trouble."

"Marlene?" Lily whispered. "Marlene what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing!" Marlene grasped Lily's hands. "What happened to you?"

"I-I don't know …" Lily stumbled for words. "Where are we?"

Marlene looked around. "I'm not so certain, but I do know we're in a manor or castle, or something. They don't let us see much. We're only supposed to cook, clean, and – "

"Who's 'they'?"

Marlene's eyes widened. "The Death Eaters."

Lily went numb. This was it. She must have died and went to hell. That would explain the stuffy heat and steam. She never pictured what would happen after the Death Eaters found her; she only assumed her unfortunate death. Why was she still alive? "How long have you been here?"

"Months, at least." Marlene forced a small smile. "They found me not long after I was working with the Longbottom family. I have no idea how they found out – "

"Oi! That's enough chatter." A rough middle-aged voice barked. "Get her ready to work. The west corridor needs scrubbing!" Lily squinted through the steam. The voice was coming from a tiny figure with large ears and eyes ….

"Yes, ma'am! Right away!" Marlene called back. She helped Lily to her feet and handed her a faded, light green cotton dress. "This was one of my older ones. It should fit you, if not, I can always patch it up tomorrow morning."

"Was that a house elf?" Lily gapped at the short figure behind them, stirring a boiling pot in the hearth.

Marlene nodded briskly. "Yes. Change, quickly now. I'll fill you in while we're scrubbing."

The west corridor was definitely in need of scrubbing. There was fresh blood streaked all across the stone floors, seeping into the emerald green carpet and drapes. Lily was sickened. She could almost hear the tortured cries of the poor victim, who was nowhere in sight. Quickly, Marlene set down her bucket of soap water and started anxiously scrubbing at the carpet. Marlene looked thinner. She wore a lavender dress covered in countless stains and patches. Bruises were splotched along her forearms and legs. "What have they done to you, Marlene?" Lily wondered a she got down on her hands and knees and started scrubbing with her friend.

"Was that a house elf ordering us around back there in the kitchen?" Lily asked in a low whisper; fearful of who or what would overhear them.

"Yeah. They see muggleborns and blood-traitors as inferior to the house elves. We take directions and orders from the elves in this house." Marlene muttered. "The house elves are every bit as biased as the Death Eaters."

Lily shook her head as she dunked her scrubbing brush into the soapy water. "Have you heard anything from Mary, or your family?"

"Mary's dead." Marlene said bitterly. "She was only here for a day or two until they splattered her brains all over the drawing room curtains."

"What happened?" Lily gapped.

"Same as most of them; got hauled in after one of their raids. They thought she would be a decent maid, until she started screaming her head off and having delusions. They didn't waste any time with her. They killed her on the spot."

Lily forced herself not to panic. She focused on scrubbing the blood out of the carpet. "Did you see her?"

"Yes." Marlene was scrubbing rather violently. She too was oddly focused on the carpet. "She didn't recognize me … or at least, she didn't want to. It got to her, you know? One can only imagine. The madness of living in the muggle world with all their ignorance and running away from a threat you can't tell anyone about. No wonder it drove her insane. It's a miracle you and I are still all there in the head."

Lily nodded. She didn't want to think about poor Mary. She dunked her brush into the soapy water again. The blood was almost dried into the carpet; staining the worn emerald into an unpleasant brown. It seemed no matter how much she scrubbed, the blood wouldn't come out. "This is bloody ridiculous." She muttered. "Why don't we use magic?"

"No wands." Marlene mumbled. "The house elves aren't much help either."

"Why don't the Death Eaters do it then?"

"They won't get their precious pureblood hands dirty." Marlene said. "Besides, they like seeing pretty girls bent over, shining their boots, scrubbing their floors, sucking their sweaty cocks."

"What?"

Marlene looked at Lily with a pitiful stare. "When you've been here as long as I have, Lily, you'll understand that Mary was the lucky one."

"What did they do to you?" Lily asked in the ghost of a whisper.

Marlene stiffened. "What do you think? On my first day; I didn't know where the hell I was or what was going on. There's some bitchy house elf shrieking at me to wash the dishes and scrub the floors. They … the Death Eaters … they roughed me up. They grabbed my ass and put their bloody hands up my skirt. Before I knew it, I was dragged up to a bedroom. They forced my arms behind me and they took turns … three of them."

"Marlene …"

"That wasn't the worst of it." Marlene was trembling from rage. Her white knuckles gripped the brush. "Once they were bored with me, they tossed me aside. I was nothing more than a bloody toy to those fucking bastards. When I finally got the nerve to leave the bedroom, I ran faster than a broomstick. I searched for a way out. The windows, and doors outside; they've all been jinxed. My hands were burned when I tried to escape. The house elves found me, sobbing with raw bloody palms, and they berated me for not finishing the floors."

"Marlene …" Lily started. She didn't know where to begin. She couldn't imagine what other horrors Marlene witnessed. "What they did … that … that was not okay…"

"No. It fucking wasn't." Marlene spit on the floor. "It's best to work in groups. The worst they do is tease and rough you up. They never take you in groups."

"They shouldn't touch us, in groups or alone!" Lily snapped.

"Lily, honestly!" Marlene seethed. "Do you think these bastards care? We're in their castle! We have to go by their rules!"

Lily was silent. She stared at the carpet. The blood was slowly starting to fade out. If they scrubbed for a couple more hours, the blood would be gone without a trace. How much longer would they be out in the corridor before they would fall prey to rowdy Death Eaters? Lily willed herself to scrub harder and faster. "What are the rules?"

Marlene was scrubbing just as fast. "Depends on who you ask."

"For us?"

"We have to do whatever the Death Eaters tell us. Usually it's pointless cleaning or washing. We're up at dawn to cook breakfast, housework, lunch, more housework, dinner then more housework unless we're picked as a plaything for the night. Best case scenario; we're done with the night's work early and we can hide in the kitchens or scullery cupboard to catch a few winks. The rest of the time, we're grabbed by one of 'em and they take us up to the bedroom for the night."

"Every night?"

"Not always. If you're lucky enough to be given a brief task, you can go to bed early. I sleep in the kitchens once every week or so. It's a mess, mind you. It's noisy and hot, and the bean sacks are uncomfortable as shit. It's better to just let them take you up sometimes." An odd look fell over Marlene's face. "You learn to go numb. You don't feel attached to them or your own body for that matter. All their faces turn into a blur. You just stop feeling anything past midnight, I suppose. You only feel the warm bed." She smirked. "Some of them don't even fuck. Sometimes they're too tired or drunk to get it up, so they just fall asleep. Several times they just tell you to rub their feet, sing them to sleep, or even start the fireplace because they're too lazy to grab their wand or do it themselves."

"How have you managed so far? You're still living and breathing." Lily wanted to keep close to Marlene. Her knowledge from experience could spare her and possibly other newcomers.

"You call this living?" Marlene snorted. "I'm a marked blood-traitor, but essentially I'm a pureblood witch. They wouldn't kill me no matter how much hell I raised."

"Why?"

"You know why, Lily." Marlene said bitterly. "Just think about it. Any one of these days, any one of those Death Eater bastards will lock me in his room for the rest of my life. I'm still valuable as long as I can make a pureblood spawn …" Marlene angrily threw her brush down.

"Marlene, no!" Lily hissed. "They won't do that to you! I-I won't let them! You can sleep in the kitchens, and I'll distract them … or something …"

"Lily, you won't distract them for long. In their eyes; you're a disposable plaything. You're muggleborn. They won't keep you around to breed. They'll kill you on a whim if you don't jerk their dicks right. I should be the one protecting you."

Lily wanted to fight back, but what could she say? Marlene was right. It was miraculous she was spared at the wedding. Would she stand as little of a chance here in their own headquarters? "We'll watch out for each other." Lily said, looking her long time best friend in the eyes. "We'll be okay, or we'll both die trying, alright?"

Marlene looked at Lily and slowly nodded. "Alright."