When Malfoy entered the cell flanked by his four goons, he found Evangeline and Snape standing in front of the paintings on the wall. Snape had obviously healed Evangeline up some, because she looked stronger and much of the blood staining her body and clothing was gone. Although the wounds themselves still remained.
Malfoy smiled a reptilian smile and strode boldly across the room to them. He grasped Evangeline's face roughly in his hands and kissed her savagely. When he released her, he snarled, "Are you ready to cooperate now, my dear Evangeline?"
Evangeline gasped for breath and looked at Snape, who nodded his head.
She swallowed awkwardly and looked down and away from the sinister wizard. "Yes, I'll do whatever you want me to."
Malfoy rubbed his hands together with satisfaction and leered at her, reaching out to shamelessly squeeze and caress one of her breasts. "Excellent, my dear. This could have added benefits for later, but right now I need you to tell me how you can move into a painting."
The frightened witch shrugged, struggling to appear impassive and not cringe back away from his touch. "I don't know how I do it. I've always had the ability. I inherited it from my mother. I don't have total control over it. If I touch a painting, I get sucked into it."
He frowned in annoyance. "So you couldn't teach anyone else to do it?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so, I wouldn't know how."
Impatiently Malfoy stopped fondling her and began to pace back and forth, thinking hard for a few moments, then abruptly he stopped and shot her a sharp glance. "Can you take someone else into a painting with you?"
She nodded. "Yes."
Satisfied that he could still get something out of this, he nodded slowly to himself. "Okay, let's test this out."
He narrowed his eyes at Snape. "She will do as requested, Severus?"
Snape shrugged and stared back confidently. "I gave her the usual dosage, Lucius. She should obey orders without question."
"All right." He turned to his troops, looked them over and made a quick choice. "Marley come here." A tall hulking figure detached himself from the pack and reluctantly came forward.
Malfoy turned back to Snape. "Tell her to take Marley with her into this painting." He pointed at the first landscape. "And return through this one." He pointed at the second landscape.
"You heard what he said, Evangeline?" Snape questioned her in an arrogant tone.
"Yes." She nodded obediently.
"Then you'll obey these orders. Tell me how this will be accomplished."
Evangeline looked solemnly at Snape. "I will need to take Mr. Marley's hand in order to pull him inside the painting. Once we're in there, he can move around freely, and I'll show him how to move from one painting to another. Then we'll return through the second painting."
Snape looked at Malfoy and raised an eyebrow. "Satisfied, Lucius?"
"I will be if it works. I suppose I have no choice but to try it." The arrogant wizard gestured impatiently for Marley to take her hand.
Marley stepped up next to Evangeline, and they clasped hands. Then they moved over to the indicated painting, and she touched its surface. Instantly they both were sucked inside. Those in the room could see them moving around inside the landscape. Malfoy moved closer and touched the painting himself. It remained solid. "Remarkable," he murmured. "Lord Voldemort will be so pleased."
Snape fervently hoped not as he watched the two small figures move over to the side of the painting.
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Inside the painting, Evangeline was watching Marley closely. He'd dropped her hand the moment they appeared within the bleak landscape. However, he was sticking closely by her side. He seemed amazed but not overwhelmed.
"This way," she beckoned with a smile. "We just walk out of this painting and into the next one. It's easy."
When they got to the edge of the landscape, and Marley saw the mist, he hesitated. Evangeline ran quickly into the mist and was lost to view. He pursued her but within moments was completely lost in an impenetrable fog. Evangeline's heart sang. It worked! She was free! She felt a bit dizzy and placed a hand to her side. Severus had told her that the potions he'd given her wouldn't be enough, and she'd need to get to Hogwarts, as soon as possible, so that Poppy could treat her many injuries. Hoping desperately that Severus would be all right back with Malfoy, she headed for a painting that she knew hung in the infirmary, as the Potions Master had told her to do.
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Back in the dungeon, Malfoy was becoming impatient. "Something's gone wrong," he snarled. "They should be out of there by now." He rounded on Snape. "You incompetent fool, your mind control potion wasn't strong enough. Now, she'll tell Dumbledore about both of us!"
Snape shook his head. "I doubt if she'll return to Hogwarts. She has to find a new hiding place. The potion I gave her also contained a memory modifier. If she resists the mind control, her memory of what happened to her will grow increasingly hazy, until she'll remember nothing of this at all."
Malfoy snorted. "Why should that work any better than the mind control worked?"
Snape glared at him. "You didn't tell me how strong willed she was! I suppose, I should have double-dosed her. I'll know better when she's captured again."
Malfoy sneered. "What makes you think that you'll get a second chance at her after I tell Lord Voldemort that your incompetence let her escape?"
Snape sneered back. "If you tell Lord Voldemort about this, I'll have to tell him that you had her for three days and didn't inform him of her capture. Do you think he'll be pleased with that bit of information, Lucius?"
They glared furiously at one another. Malfoy was the first to look away.
"Get the hell out of here, Snape!" he snarled.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "This little fiasco will remain between us?"
"Damn it, yes! Now leave before I change my mind."
Snape picked up his bag and headed for the door. He paused in the doorway. "Happy Christmas, Lucius," he said with a smirk. Then he walked out. Behind him, he heard Malfoy give a howl of rage and kick something hard.
With relief pulsing through every nerve, Snape left Malfoy's dungeon and headed back to Hogwarts.