Author's Note: This story begins during the Second year at Hogwarts, during the Chamber of Secrets and will continue as time goes on. This is my first Harry Potter fanfic and along with my friend, ElfFlame, we are writing a series of four stories, which begins with ElfFlame's story- True Revenge. All four of these stories are interrelated and for the best understanding of the characters as we see them, they should be read in conjunction to each other. As always, I own none of this wonderful world that JK Rowling has created.
Author's Note: At this point in time I would just like to say that in telling events of this story from Lucius Malfoy's point of view, I am merely showing his frame of mind. I do not in any way condone or promote the things he does.
Spoiler Warning: This story contains spoilers, both minor and major from all five Harry Potter books.
Arsinoe 3: That was quite the cliffhanger, I will agree! Here's the second half of it, and be prepared, this is the darkest chapter of the entire story. I've worked on this chapter for over a month now to be just what it should be, and it's not exactly pleasant, sorry.
Wicked Lee: Well the moment has finally arrived to see what happens! I will warn you this is not an easy chapter to read, it was very difficult to write, so proceed with caution.
Walking Through the Valley of Shadow
Warning: This chapter is extremely dark. There are elements of bad language, physical violence, torture, and sexual assault. Be warned that it is not a chapter for the faint of heart.
There were two men at the door, towering above Adriana, as the door opened fully. She had never met these men before, though they seemed familiar to her. Both were brutish looking: ape-like in their mannerisms, and appearance. One of the mono-browed men sported a soup tureen hair cut that sparked a memory. The two boys with Draco Malfoy the day she'd gone to Hogwarts had looked like smaller, younger versions of these men. These must be their fathers. Adriana didn't have a good feeling about this. What was going on here?
"Good afternoon, Miss Orendes, won't you come inside?" The man with the soup tureen hair cut said, reaching his meaty hand out to take her by the arm and lead her inside.
"Yes, we've been looking forward to meeting you finally," The other man said, grabbing at Adriana from the other side.
Adriana didn't want either of these men touching her. Turning herself invisible, she tried to pull her arms out of their grips. When that didn't work, Adriana sent a painful shock into their hands, but Riddle must have given them some blocking spell to use. Frustrated, Adriana pulled hard on both her arms, which caused the men to be pulled forward, and their heads knocked together with a loud crack. After letting go of Adriana, she was able to fly up above them and into the manor. She didn't know where Narcissa was, but Adriana knew Riddle had to be here. What was he doing here? Why was he in Lucius' home? This was his plan, his trap for her, and she'd fallen for it. "Clever man," Adriana thought to herself.
Flying around the bottom floor of the manor, Adriana looked around for any signs of Riddle, while watching with amusement at the reactions of the two men at the door, at the same time. They had incredulous looks on their faces as they stood in the doorway looking outside to see where she had gone. There was a bowl of waxed fruit on a table in the main hallway. Adriana picked up two wax apples, and threw them at the backs of the men's heads. As the apples made contact, they spun around quickly, trying to see where they had come from, but Adriana had fled the scene before she could see what happened after that.
As Adriana flew about the rooms, she spoke. "Riddle," Adriana called out to his mind, "Riddle, I want a word with you."
In the main parlour, Voldemort sat in a chair by the fire. He was startled to hear a voice speaking to him from seemingly nowhere. Voldemort had never felt such an invasion in his mind before. "It's you, isn't it. I'm glad you took up Narcissa's invitation to come and visit me today. Show yourself," He said aloud, looking around for where the voice was coming from.
From out of nowhere, Adriana appeared in front of him. "I think you have something of mine that I'd like returned. I've come to collect it," Adriana said while never opening her mouth, looking Voldemort in the face for the first time. "Really Riddle, time has not been kind to you," She said, wrinkling her nose as she studied him. His snake-like face was gruesome and unattractive, it fit his personality perfectly.
"Something of yours you say? I don't think I know what you're talking about," Voldemort spoke, taking a step towards her. "But you have something that I would like. Perhaps we can negotiate some sort of exchange," Voldemort said, taking another step towards her. Voldemort looked at Adriana. He couldn't get a read on her at all, which should have been impossible. "I've heard so much about you from Lucius, although he's been reluctant to introduce us. I'm glad you've come here of your own volition, albeit under false pretenses," Voldemort reached his hand out to see if he could touch her and was pleased when he was able to grab her by the elbow and pull her towards him. Grabbing her chin with his other hand and pulling her face to within an inch of his, he squeezed her tightly, until he was just short of snapping her jaw. "You don't look like that much of a threat, girl. Yet I've heard about what you're capable of doing. I think you'd do well on my side of this war, and you ought to consider it, especially in light of the...other option," Voldemort hissed at her. Moving his hand from her elbow to her breast, he squeezed it tightly, hoping to hear her cry out in pain.
"Yes, and what is the other option, you impotent fool?" Was the cheeky response he got from her. Adriana had to stay calm and not fight back, it was taking a very long time to read his mind to find out where Lucius was. If Riddle was here, and wanted her to join his side, he was probably going to use Lucius as his bargaining chip in their negotiations.
Anger overwhelmed Voldemort. Maintaining his hold on her jaw, he pushed her across the room towards the wall, slamming her head into it with a sickening thud. Adriana saw the room darken around her and she felt very sleepy and nauseous all of a sudden. It took all of her power to stay conscious. She couldn't fight him off with her own physical strength and felt alarmed as he lowered his hand from her breast to her thigh. "Do you really want to see the other option?" He smiled at her. Suddenly he released her jaw and slapped her hard across the face. Adriana stumbled and fell onto the floor.
Adriana was dizzy, in a daze, and coming to see that she was losing control of the situation. If she didn't maintain her mental clarity, she'd never be able to finish scanning Riddle's mind for Lucius' location. She wasn't interested in doing anything to Riddle, she only wanted to get Lucius back. Closing her eyes, Adriana lay still on the floor, attempting to quickly healing herself. Everything felt as though it was moving in slow motion as bone and flesh knit back together again. She heard Voldemort speaking to somebody in the room, "There she is...and make sure to have some...fun with her."
"Now what?" She thought to herself. She could feel the vibrations of at least two sets of footsteps in the floor as the people approached her. One person stopped at her side and knelt down next to her. Adriana heard a male voice speak close to her, "Such a pretty girl." She felt hands patting her down, as though checking for hidden weapons, but having a little too much fun with it. The man lifted her shirt up to her neck, and she cringed as once again her breasts and thighs were groped. "Such a beautiful girl," The voice spoke hungrily. Adriana cringed, yet remained silent as her legs were wrenched apart. "You Mudblood whore, you sleep with every man you meet, Dumbledore, Malfoy," The voice snarled angrily at her as the man's hands tore her underwear off and moved on to explore her body. She felt his fingers inside of her, tearing the delicate flesh, felt the blood flowing onto the floor beneath her. As she struggled against the man, the other person, who was behind her, grabbed Adriana by the shoulders and shoved her back to the ground, holding her tightly. The person behind her shifted their weight, held her down with one arm, and Adriana felt the other arm move down her body. She felt the tip of a knife as it was drawn across her bare stomach. It stung as the knife cut just through the surface of her skin. It continued up and cut through her bra, baring Adriana to whoever was there. She felt hot breath against her cheek as the man leaned over her, running his fingers over her bare breasts. At the same time, she felt warm lips kiss her forehead, cheeks, and then her mouth as the man's tongue filled it, causing Adriana to gag. One of his hands closed around her throat, and Adriana struggled to breathe; the other hand moved back down, inside of her again.
Suddenly his hands disappeared, and Adriana could hear a buckle being loosened. The sound of a zipper being opened and the rustle of cloth told Adriana she didn't have much time left. She only needed another few seconds to complete her healing. As she finished, Adriana slowly opened her eyes and saw who was on top of her: a very grotesque and imposing man she'd never seen before.
Gasping at the sight of the huge man who was clearly ready to do more to her, Adriana lifted her arms up and pushed him off of her. Sitting up quickly and pulling her shirt back down, she faced him. "Who are you?" Adriana asked, trying to compose herself. It was an odd sort of question in such circumstances, but she needed to regain control of the situation.
"Lord Voldemort promised me a great reward, and I intend to get it," The man snapped, grabbing at Adriana's legs. Adriana kicked him in the face, sending him flying over backwards onto the ground. Standing up, she felt the blood between her legs, and realized how close she'd come to being raped by him. Fury enveloped Adriana and it took all of her strength not to kill him instantly. Instead, she treated him to a blend of painful spells, part Cruciatus, the rest being spells she had developed herself over the years. She focused the pain on the particular body part he'd been planning on raping her with. He wouldn't be doing that again any time soon. She watched for a minute or so as the man writhed on the ground in pain, a smile growing on her face, laughing slightly.
An arm grabbed Adriana from behind and she was whirled around to face an equally grotesque and imposing woman. Adriana had completely forgotten there was another person involved in her attack. There was madness in her eyes as she lunged at Adriana. "How dare you treat my husband this way! Release him from your spell!" She shrieked. The woman pulled out her wand and pointed it at her, uttered the word "Crucio" and screamed in frustration as it did nothing to Adriana. The Imperious Curse did nothing as well, in fact nothing worked and it only served to anger her more.
"That's your husband? Are you the one who did this?" Adriana pointed to the cut on her stomach. "What a fun family activity!" Adriana narrowed her eyes at the woman. Scanning her mind quickly for the woman's name, Adriana spoke, "Bellatrix Lestrange, you're Narcissa's sister aren't you?"
Bellatrix's eyes grew large. "Who are you to call me by my given name? How did you know?" She asked with a raspy voice.
"I have my ways," Adriana said, smiling slyly. "You know, between you and Lucius, it's truly a miracle that poor girl has any sanity left."
Bellatrix lunged at Adriana, but was blocked by her. Adriana drew up a fist and slammed it hard into Bellatrix's face. "Was that what you were looking to do?" She asked Bellatrix sweetly.
Holding her hand against her eye, Bellatrix snarled, "You mudblood bitch!"
From the corner of her eye, Adriana could see Riddle observing the two women. He no doubt wanted to see her true powers to know if she was worth the trouble or not. "You're displeasing your master; not doing your job, are you? Wouldn't that make you a failure? I hope he treats you well even though you're worthless in his eyes." So far Adriana hadn't been doing much of anything besides blocking spells. She was curious to see how far she could go against such people. She'd never been as skilled with offensive spells as with defensive, but she knew a few that had never failed her before. And it wasn't as though these people were deserving of any mercy from her.
Bellatrix grew more and more frustrated with Adriana, finally abandoned her wand, and lunged at her once again. "This is getting a little old, don't you think, Bellatrix?" Adriana asked with a bored look on her face which only served to fuel Bellatrix more. "I mean I haven't done anything to you and yet here you are, trying to torture me. Maybe it's my turn now, what do you think?"
Adriana crept to the fireplace, put her hand into the flames, and smiled as both Bellatrix and Riddle looked shocked that she felt no pain. As she slowly drew her hand out of the fire, she held in it a dagger made of flame. It looked as solid as any metal, yet was clearly made of fire. Standing up, Adriana faced Bellatrix, left the ground and flew towards her at top speed. Grabbing Bellatrix by the hair, she pulled her to her side, placed her arm around Bellatrix's throat, and placed the dagger's edge against it. Bellatrix screamed as it burned into her flesh. "I think this is a little more fun now, wouldn't you agree, pet?" Adriana whispered harshly into her ear. Bellatrix's hands grabbed desperately at Adriana. Adriana threw Bellatrix onto the floor and stood over her. She summoned Bellatrix's wand to herself and held it in front of her while it slowly transformed into a sword. Holding the dagger in one hand and the sword in the other, Adriana knelt down beside Bellatrix. "Thank you for an amusing time, Bellatrix, I hope our next meeting is under better circumstances," as Adriana whispered this, she bent down over Bellatrix. Floating the dagger out of Bellatrix's reach Adriana got a hold of her hair, and cut it off with the sword, leaving Bellatrix with a new short hairdo. Tying the hair in a knot, Adriana placed it in her pocket, took back the dagger, and turned her attentions to Voldemort.
"Riddle," She spoke to his mind, "You know who I'm looking for, and you will tell me where he is."
Voldemort looked as though ready to kill Adriana. "How dare you call me by that name, bitch! I could kill you for that, but I won't. Maybe I'll kill the one you're looking for, he isn't any use to me anymore. He's far too taken with you to be helpful in any of my plans. I asked him to bring you to me, and he failed to do so. And when he failed to deliver the prophecy to me, that was the last failure I would accept from him. I thought a little time in Azkaban would do him some good. Fudge is a most helpful ally when it comes to things like that." Voldemort knew Adriana couldn't kill him with the either the sword or dagger and grabbed at her, but was unable to even touch her. Each time Voldemort tried to touch her, he was blocked by some invisible shield, and he felt his hands burning. His Cruciatus and Imperious Curses were ineffective as well. He was torn between his animalistic desire to kill her for not giving him what he wanted, and needing to keep her alive and happy in order to coax the answers he sought out of her. Adriana had had enough of Riddle and wasn't about to let him hurt her again. She sent him a few painful spells of her own, watching his eyes grow wide with shock as he felt pain coursing through his body from another person for the first time in a very long time. She had no way of knowing how much pain he was actually able to feel, most likely very little, but any amount was far more than he was used to receiving from anybody else.
"Where is he?" Adriana demanded once again, always speaking into his mind, never from her mouth. "He isn't in Azkaban anymore, is he?"
"Of course he isn't there, I had too much left to do to him to leave him there longer than a month or so. He's here, and we've been enjoying him very much." Riddle's mouth twisted into some semblance of a smile.
Adriana called out to Lucius, hoping for a response. After several seconds, she felt a faint flutter in her mind, letting her know Lucius was still alive, but just barely. "I'm taking him with me. He will not come back to you. He's mine now! And, you are to leave his son out of this as well, or anybody bearing the Malfoy name or blood, understand?"
"Go ahead, his family is worthless to me now. He was never much more than a loyal servant, not too smart, but he had his uses. I knew the first time his father introduced us, he'd be vital to my rise to power. Although he'd always had an unnatural closeness to his mother, and she was holding him back from me, but I took care of that. Lucius' father was always a loyal servant as well, you see. With his mother out of the way, there was nothing holding Lucius back, but he was always more interested in his own power. I always had to keep a close eye on that one. But no more. He is spent. His best days are far behind him. He even dared to prevent his son from joining my side. He isn't even worth my trouble to kill him."
Adriana took a step towards the door that would lead her away from Riddle, but he called out once again. "I have showed you great mercy, girl. Such things cannot come without a price. You must tell me how you gained such power. You never told Lucius, but you will tell me, or you will not see him again, understand, pet?"
Taking a deep breath, Adriana slowly began speaking to his mind, "What mercy have you shown me? It is I who have shown you mercy, Riddle. But I will tell you this much, I am not as young as I look. There is no magic spell or special ability that I used. I merely had the time to develop my full potential, as all Magical folk would, given the same circumstances." She had answered his question as fully as she was going to, and disappeared out of his sight before he could berate her with more questions. She walked out the door and went to find Lucius.
Adriana searched the entire manor for Lucius. After looking for an hour with no luck, she walked towards the master bedroom, which was engulfed in a pitch black hallway. As she walked down the hall, she felt a chill pass through her body, which struck her as unusual seeing as she controlled her body temperature. All of a sudden, waves of sadness washed over Adriana's heart. For reasons she didn't know, tears flowed down her face. What was happening here? She felt as though all her happy feelings from her long life were being sucked out of her body. Adriana didn't like this feeling of being out of control. Memories of Brian, her stillborn son she'd had with Albus flooded Adriana's mind. Where were those coming from?
Creating a small ball of light to guide her way, Adriana looked down the hall to see a dark, ominous figure guarding the bedroom door. She'd heard about dementors, but had never experienced one first-hand before. Taking a few more steps towards it, her body was wracked with labour pains. Adriana was caught off guard and it took her breath away. She wondered what was happening to her. She wasn't pregnant, so why the pains? She didn't know if she could go on anymore. Adriana's body was overcome with contractions, causing the bleeding from her attack to flow heavily once again. The pain increased, and she was forced down to her knees.
Adriana obviously needed to do something about this. She'd never produced a Patronus charm before, but the time had come to do so. Since a Patronus could take on any shape, depending on the person, Adriana was unsure of how to visualize it. Trying to clear her mind of the pain and sadness, she realized she'd have to say the actual words of the spell for the first time. What were they? She'd never needed to know them before. She hadn't studied dementors since she'd left Hogwarts as a student some three hundred years ago. Looking up, she could see that the dementor was now gliding towards her. Panic flooded her body; it was "patronum" something. Thinking of all the Latin words she knew, she tried a few. "Efficio patronum," nothing. "Genero patronum," still nothing. "Creo patronum," the dementor was coming very close and Adriana felt overwhelmed with sadness.
Closing her eyes, Adriana took a deep breath, and slowly crossed herself. "I will fear no evil; for you are with me," Adriana said aloud slowly. She felt her heartbeat slow down and calmness begin to clear her mind. An image of Lucius came to her. He was smiling at her, holding her hand, making her strong. Opening her eyes, she felt Lucius close to her. Opening her mouth, she spoke the words, "Expecto patronum," and watched with amazement as a pale silvery-white shape began to form in front of her, blocking the dementor from her sight. The shape turned into what looked like a panther, but maintained its silver-white colour. The panther took on a life of its own, charging towards the dementor, teeth bared, claws fully extended. The dementor stopped in mid-glide, frozen to the spot it floated upon. It raised its arms defensively to ward off the panther, but the cat kept advancing upon it. The dementor glided a small way backwards, before turning around and quickly gliding away, down the hall, and out of Adriana's sight. The panther continued to run after the dementor, chasing it around a corner before fading away, giving Adriana a chance to stand up and go to the room the dementor had been guarding, out of harm's way.
As Adriana walked into the room, and looked around, she saw a hand on the ground, on the other side of the bed. Slowly walking towards the hand, she saw Lucius lying on the floor, looking as though he was dead. Adriana gasped as she saw him lying in a pool of his own blood, listened to the air rattle in and out of his lungs in shallow breaths. Falling to her knees, she put her hands on his chest and cried out, "Oh my darling, what have they done to you?" Tears formed in her eyes as she received no response from Lucius.
Adriana looked at Lucius' body to see what had happened. He wore nothing more than the dirty, tattered remains of an Azkaban prisoner's uniform. His face was thin and gaunt, his ribs stuck out of his body more than usual. Lucius looked as though he'd been starved since he'd been in Azkaban. He had burns, cuts, and bruises covering his entire body. Further examination showed that he also had a few stab wounds in his thighs and feet. "Lucius, Lucius wake up, can you speak?" Adriana gently slapped his cheek, trying to rouse him. When he wouldn't wake, Adriana tried to heal him enough to let him regain consciousness. Lucius' head began to loll as he tried to wake. "Lucius, darling, it's me, Adriana. Can you wake up?" She called out to him. Lucius began to moan and thrash his arms out against Adriana. He sounded as though he was panicking and fighting for his life with what little strength he had left.
The sounds of Lucius' struggle brought in one of the patrolling Death Eaters, investigating what was happening. Adriana steeled herself to defend not only herself, but Lucius, from this man. He slowly approached her as Adriana spread her arms out protectively over Lucius, shielding him with her body. "Get out of here!" She shouted. "Riddle's letting me take him home, and I'll kill you if you try and stop me, understand?" Panic arose in Adriana as the Death Eater continued to approach until he stood towering over her. Slowly bending down until he could look Adriana in the eye, he reached a hand out to touch Lucius on the arm. Adriana slapped his hand away, giving him an electrical shock in the process. "Don't you touch him!" She screamed.
The Death Eater gasped in pain, grabbed his injured hand, and looked at Adriana with pain in his eyes. He looked up and down Adriana's body, noticing her messy hair and the blood staining her skirt and legs. "I've come to help you," The man said harshly, reaching out again towards Lucius, more aggressively.
"Riddle sent you here to help me?" Adriana asked, unbelievingly. "Why would he do that?" The Death Eater touched the once again unconscious Lucius, placing one arm under his neck, and the other under his knees. With great exertion, the man gently picked Lucius up, leaving Adriana kneeling on the floor, looking up at the helpless man she loved more than life itself.
"Stand up, woman," He said gruffly, his voice straining under the weight of Lucius. Slowly, Adriana stood up, facing the Death Eater. "You can enchant his body to be weightless and carry him out of here," The man walked up to Adriana and held out Lucius' body to her. Holding out her arms, she accepted the now weightless body of Lucius, and slowly began walking him out of the room. Stopping at the door, Adriana turned around, looked at the Death Eater, and asked, "What is your name?"
The man stared for a moment at Adriana before answering, "Crouch."
"Thank you, Crouch," Adriana said quietly, before turning once again towards the hall. Lucius' arms hung down limply, swinging with each of Adriana's steps. His long legs hit against Adriana's and his long hair and what was left of his clothes fluttered with the breeze as she walked down the stairs.
The Dark Lord didn't try to stop Adriana from taking Lucius out of the manor. He didn't even grace Lucius with one last glance, as she carried him away from Voldemort, and the Death Eaters, and this life. It was this unspoken understanding that neither Adriana nor Voldemort existed to the other, that allowed this small miracle to take place. After leaving the perimeter of the manor, Adriana apparated back to the property, and gently carried Lucius home.
Note: This chapter deals extensively with a theory about Snape that has not been proved yet in the books.
References: The title and prayer Adriana says in the chapter are taken from the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.
Author's Note: At this point in time I would just like to say that in telling events of this story from Lucius Malfoy's point of view, I am merely showing his frame of mind. I do not in any way condone or promote the things he does.
Spoiler Warning: This story contains spoilers, both minor and major from all five Harry Potter books.
Arsinoe 3: That was quite the cliffhanger, I will agree! Here's the second half of it, and be prepared, this is the darkest chapter of the entire story. I've worked on this chapter for over a month now to be just what it should be, and it's not exactly pleasant, sorry.
Wicked Lee: Well the moment has finally arrived to see what happens! I will warn you this is not an easy chapter to read, it was very difficult to write, so proceed with caution.
Walking Through the Valley of Shadow
Warning: This chapter is extremely dark. There are elements of bad language, physical violence, torture, and sexual assault. Be warned that it is not a chapter for the faint of heart.
There were two men at the door, towering above Adriana, as the door opened fully. She had never met these men before, though they seemed familiar to her. Both were brutish looking: ape-like in their mannerisms, and appearance. One of the mono-browed men sported a soup tureen hair cut that sparked a memory. The two boys with Draco Malfoy the day she'd gone to Hogwarts had looked like smaller, younger versions of these men. These must be their fathers. Adriana didn't have a good feeling about this. What was going on here?
"Good afternoon, Miss Orendes, won't you come inside?" The man with the soup tureen hair cut said, reaching his meaty hand out to take her by the arm and lead her inside.
"Yes, we've been looking forward to meeting you finally," The other man said, grabbing at Adriana from the other side.
Adriana didn't want either of these men touching her. Turning herself invisible, she tried to pull her arms out of their grips. When that didn't work, Adriana sent a painful shock into their hands, but Riddle must have given them some blocking spell to use. Frustrated, Adriana pulled hard on both her arms, which caused the men to be pulled forward, and their heads knocked together with a loud crack. After letting go of Adriana, she was able to fly up above them and into the manor. She didn't know where Narcissa was, but Adriana knew Riddle had to be here. What was he doing here? Why was he in Lucius' home? This was his plan, his trap for her, and she'd fallen for it. "Clever man," Adriana thought to herself.
Flying around the bottom floor of the manor, Adriana looked around for any signs of Riddle, while watching with amusement at the reactions of the two men at the door, at the same time. They had incredulous looks on their faces as they stood in the doorway looking outside to see where she had gone. There was a bowl of waxed fruit on a table in the main hallway. Adriana picked up two wax apples, and threw them at the backs of the men's heads. As the apples made contact, they spun around quickly, trying to see where they had come from, but Adriana had fled the scene before she could see what happened after that.
As Adriana flew about the rooms, she spoke. "Riddle," Adriana called out to his mind, "Riddle, I want a word with you."
In the main parlour, Voldemort sat in a chair by the fire. He was startled to hear a voice speaking to him from seemingly nowhere. Voldemort had never felt such an invasion in his mind before. "It's you, isn't it. I'm glad you took up Narcissa's invitation to come and visit me today. Show yourself," He said aloud, looking around for where the voice was coming from.
From out of nowhere, Adriana appeared in front of him. "I think you have something of mine that I'd like returned. I've come to collect it," Adriana said while never opening her mouth, looking Voldemort in the face for the first time. "Really Riddle, time has not been kind to you," She said, wrinkling her nose as she studied him. His snake-like face was gruesome and unattractive, it fit his personality perfectly.
"Something of yours you say? I don't think I know what you're talking about," Voldemort spoke, taking a step towards her. "But you have something that I would like. Perhaps we can negotiate some sort of exchange," Voldemort said, taking another step towards her. Voldemort looked at Adriana. He couldn't get a read on her at all, which should have been impossible. "I've heard so much about you from Lucius, although he's been reluctant to introduce us. I'm glad you've come here of your own volition, albeit under false pretenses," Voldemort reached his hand out to see if he could touch her and was pleased when he was able to grab her by the elbow and pull her towards him. Grabbing her chin with his other hand and pulling her face to within an inch of his, he squeezed her tightly, until he was just short of snapping her jaw. "You don't look like that much of a threat, girl. Yet I've heard about what you're capable of doing. I think you'd do well on my side of this war, and you ought to consider it, especially in light of the...other option," Voldemort hissed at her. Moving his hand from her elbow to her breast, he squeezed it tightly, hoping to hear her cry out in pain.
"Yes, and what is the other option, you impotent fool?" Was the cheeky response he got from her. Adriana had to stay calm and not fight back, it was taking a very long time to read his mind to find out where Lucius was. If Riddle was here, and wanted her to join his side, he was probably going to use Lucius as his bargaining chip in their negotiations.
Anger overwhelmed Voldemort. Maintaining his hold on her jaw, he pushed her across the room towards the wall, slamming her head into it with a sickening thud. Adriana saw the room darken around her and she felt very sleepy and nauseous all of a sudden. It took all of her power to stay conscious. She couldn't fight him off with her own physical strength and felt alarmed as he lowered his hand from her breast to her thigh. "Do you really want to see the other option?" He smiled at her. Suddenly he released her jaw and slapped her hard across the face. Adriana stumbled and fell onto the floor.
Adriana was dizzy, in a daze, and coming to see that she was losing control of the situation. If she didn't maintain her mental clarity, she'd never be able to finish scanning Riddle's mind for Lucius' location. She wasn't interested in doing anything to Riddle, she only wanted to get Lucius back. Closing her eyes, Adriana lay still on the floor, attempting to quickly healing herself. Everything felt as though it was moving in slow motion as bone and flesh knit back together again. She heard Voldemort speaking to somebody in the room, "There she is...and make sure to have some...fun with her."
"Now what?" She thought to herself. She could feel the vibrations of at least two sets of footsteps in the floor as the people approached her. One person stopped at her side and knelt down next to her. Adriana heard a male voice speak close to her, "Such a pretty girl." She felt hands patting her down, as though checking for hidden weapons, but having a little too much fun with it. The man lifted her shirt up to her neck, and she cringed as once again her breasts and thighs were groped. "Such a beautiful girl," The voice spoke hungrily. Adriana cringed, yet remained silent as her legs were wrenched apart. "You Mudblood whore, you sleep with every man you meet, Dumbledore, Malfoy," The voice snarled angrily at her as the man's hands tore her underwear off and moved on to explore her body. She felt his fingers inside of her, tearing the delicate flesh, felt the blood flowing onto the floor beneath her. As she struggled against the man, the other person, who was behind her, grabbed Adriana by the shoulders and shoved her back to the ground, holding her tightly. The person behind her shifted their weight, held her down with one arm, and Adriana felt the other arm move down her body. She felt the tip of a knife as it was drawn across her bare stomach. It stung as the knife cut just through the surface of her skin. It continued up and cut through her bra, baring Adriana to whoever was there. She felt hot breath against her cheek as the man leaned over her, running his fingers over her bare breasts. At the same time, she felt warm lips kiss her forehead, cheeks, and then her mouth as the man's tongue filled it, causing Adriana to gag. One of his hands closed around her throat, and Adriana struggled to breathe; the other hand moved back down, inside of her again.
Suddenly his hands disappeared, and Adriana could hear a buckle being loosened. The sound of a zipper being opened and the rustle of cloth told Adriana she didn't have much time left. She only needed another few seconds to complete her healing. As she finished, Adriana slowly opened her eyes and saw who was on top of her: a very grotesque and imposing man she'd never seen before.
Gasping at the sight of the huge man who was clearly ready to do more to her, Adriana lifted her arms up and pushed him off of her. Sitting up quickly and pulling her shirt back down, she faced him. "Who are you?" Adriana asked, trying to compose herself. It was an odd sort of question in such circumstances, but she needed to regain control of the situation.
"Lord Voldemort promised me a great reward, and I intend to get it," The man snapped, grabbing at Adriana's legs. Adriana kicked him in the face, sending him flying over backwards onto the ground. Standing up, she felt the blood between her legs, and realized how close she'd come to being raped by him. Fury enveloped Adriana and it took all of her strength not to kill him instantly. Instead, she treated him to a blend of painful spells, part Cruciatus, the rest being spells she had developed herself over the years. She focused the pain on the particular body part he'd been planning on raping her with. He wouldn't be doing that again any time soon. She watched for a minute or so as the man writhed on the ground in pain, a smile growing on her face, laughing slightly.
An arm grabbed Adriana from behind and she was whirled around to face an equally grotesque and imposing woman. Adriana had completely forgotten there was another person involved in her attack. There was madness in her eyes as she lunged at Adriana. "How dare you treat my husband this way! Release him from your spell!" She shrieked. The woman pulled out her wand and pointed it at her, uttered the word "Crucio" and screamed in frustration as it did nothing to Adriana. The Imperious Curse did nothing as well, in fact nothing worked and it only served to anger her more.
"That's your husband? Are you the one who did this?" Adriana pointed to the cut on her stomach. "What a fun family activity!" Adriana narrowed her eyes at the woman. Scanning her mind quickly for the woman's name, Adriana spoke, "Bellatrix Lestrange, you're Narcissa's sister aren't you?"
Bellatrix's eyes grew large. "Who are you to call me by my given name? How did you know?" She asked with a raspy voice.
"I have my ways," Adriana said, smiling slyly. "You know, between you and Lucius, it's truly a miracle that poor girl has any sanity left."
Bellatrix lunged at Adriana, but was blocked by her. Adriana drew up a fist and slammed it hard into Bellatrix's face. "Was that what you were looking to do?" She asked Bellatrix sweetly.
Holding her hand against her eye, Bellatrix snarled, "You mudblood bitch!"
From the corner of her eye, Adriana could see Riddle observing the two women. He no doubt wanted to see her true powers to know if she was worth the trouble or not. "You're displeasing your master; not doing your job, are you? Wouldn't that make you a failure? I hope he treats you well even though you're worthless in his eyes." So far Adriana hadn't been doing much of anything besides blocking spells. She was curious to see how far she could go against such people. She'd never been as skilled with offensive spells as with defensive, but she knew a few that had never failed her before. And it wasn't as though these people were deserving of any mercy from her.
Bellatrix grew more and more frustrated with Adriana, finally abandoned her wand, and lunged at her once again. "This is getting a little old, don't you think, Bellatrix?" Adriana asked with a bored look on her face which only served to fuel Bellatrix more. "I mean I haven't done anything to you and yet here you are, trying to torture me. Maybe it's my turn now, what do you think?"
Adriana crept to the fireplace, put her hand into the flames, and smiled as both Bellatrix and Riddle looked shocked that she felt no pain. As she slowly drew her hand out of the fire, she held in it a dagger made of flame. It looked as solid as any metal, yet was clearly made of fire. Standing up, Adriana faced Bellatrix, left the ground and flew towards her at top speed. Grabbing Bellatrix by the hair, she pulled her to her side, placed her arm around Bellatrix's throat, and placed the dagger's edge against it. Bellatrix screamed as it burned into her flesh. "I think this is a little more fun now, wouldn't you agree, pet?" Adriana whispered harshly into her ear. Bellatrix's hands grabbed desperately at Adriana. Adriana threw Bellatrix onto the floor and stood over her. She summoned Bellatrix's wand to herself and held it in front of her while it slowly transformed into a sword. Holding the dagger in one hand and the sword in the other, Adriana knelt down beside Bellatrix. "Thank you for an amusing time, Bellatrix, I hope our next meeting is under better circumstances," as Adriana whispered this, she bent down over Bellatrix. Floating the dagger out of Bellatrix's reach Adriana got a hold of her hair, and cut it off with the sword, leaving Bellatrix with a new short hairdo. Tying the hair in a knot, Adriana placed it in her pocket, took back the dagger, and turned her attentions to Voldemort.
"Riddle," She spoke to his mind, "You know who I'm looking for, and you will tell me where he is."
Voldemort looked as though ready to kill Adriana. "How dare you call me by that name, bitch! I could kill you for that, but I won't. Maybe I'll kill the one you're looking for, he isn't any use to me anymore. He's far too taken with you to be helpful in any of my plans. I asked him to bring you to me, and he failed to do so. And when he failed to deliver the prophecy to me, that was the last failure I would accept from him. I thought a little time in Azkaban would do him some good. Fudge is a most helpful ally when it comes to things like that." Voldemort knew Adriana couldn't kill him with the either the sword or dagger and grabbed at her, but was unable to even touch her. Each time Voldemort tried to touch her, he was blocked by some invisible shield, and he felt his hands burning. His Cruciatus and Imperious Curses were ineffective as well. He was torn between his animalistic desire to kill her for not giving him what he wanted, and needing to keep her alive and happy in order to coax the answers he sought out of her. Adriana had had enough of Riddle and wasn't about to let him hurt her again. She sent him a few painful spells of her own, watching his eyes grow wide with shock as he felt pain coursing through his body from another person for the first time in a very long time. She had no way of knowing how much pain he was actually able to feel, most likely very little, but any amount was far more than he was used to receiving from anybody else.
"Where is he?" Adriana demanded once again, always speaking into his mind, never from her mouth. "He isn't in Azkaban anymore, is he?"
"Of course he isn't there, I had too much left to do to him to leave him there longer than a month or so. He's here, and we've been enjoying him very much." Riddle's mouth twisted into some semblance of a smile.
Adriana called out to Lucius, hoping for a response. After several seconds, she felt a faint flutter in her mind, letting her know Lucius was still alive, but just barely. "I'm taking him with me. He will not come back to you. He's mine now! And, you are to leave his son out of this as well, or anybody bearing the Malfoy name or blood, understand?"
"Go ahead, his family is worthless to me now. He was never much more than a loyal servant, not too smart, but he had his uses. I knew the first time his father introduced us, he'd be vital to my rise to power. Although he'd always had an unnatural closeness to his mother, and she was holding him back from me, but I took care of that. Lucius' father was always a loyal servant as well, you see. With his mother out of the way, there was nothing holding Lucius back, but he was always more interested in his own power. I always had to keep a close eye on that one. But no more. He is spent. His best days are far behind him. He even dared to prevent his son from joining my side. He isn't even worth my trouble to kill him."
Adriana took a step towards the door that would lead her away from Riddle, but he called out once again. "I have showed you great mercy, girl. Such things cannot come without a price. You must tell me how you gained such power. You never told Lucius, but you will tell me, or you will not see him again, understand, pet?"
Taking a deep breath, Adriana slowly began speaking to his mind, "What mercy have you shown me? It is I who have shown you mercy, Riddle. But I will tell you this much, I am not as young as I look. There is no magic spell or special ability that I used. I merely had the time to develop my full potential, as all Magical folk would, given the same circumstances." She had answered his question as fully as she was going to, and disappeared out of his sight before he could berate her with more questions. She walked out the door and went to find Lucius.
Adriana searched the entire manor for Lucius. After looking for an hour with no luck, she walked towards the master bedroom, which was engulfed in a pitch black hallway. As she walked down the hall, she felt a chill pass through her body, which struck her as unusual seeing as she controlled her body temperature. All of a sudden, waves of sadness washed over Adriana's heart. For reasons she didn't know, tears flowed down her face. What was happening here? She felt as though all her happy feelings from her long life were being sucked out of her body. Adriana didn't like this feeling of being out of control. Memories of Brian, her stillborn son she'd had with Albus flooded Adriana's mind. Where were those coming from?
Creating a small ball of light to guide her way, Adriana looked down the hall to see a dark, ominous figure guarding the bedroom door. She'd heard about dementors, but had never experienced one first-hand before. Taking a few more steps towards it, her body was wracked with labour pains. Adriana was caught off guard and it took her breath away. She wondered what was happening to her. She wasn't pregnant, so why the pains? She didn't know if she could go on anymore. Adriana's body was overcome with contractions, causing the bleeding from her attack to flow heavily once again. The pain increased, and she was forced down to her knees.
Adriana obviously needed to do something about this. She'd never produced a Patronus charm before, but the time had come to do so. Since a Patronus could take on any shape, depending on the person, Adriana was unsure of how to visualize it. Trying to clear her mind of the pain and sadness, she realized she'd have to say the actual words of the spell for the first time. What were they? She'd never needed to know them before. She hadn't studied dementors since she'd left Hogwarts as a student some three hundred years ago. Looking up, she could see that the dementor was now gliding towards her. Panic flooded her body; it was "patronum" something. Thinking of all the Latin words she knew, she tried a few. "Efficio patronum," nothing. "Genero patronum," still nothing. "Creo patronum," the dementor was coming very close and Adriana felt overwhelmed with sadness.
Closing her eyes, Adriana took a deep breath, and slowly crossed herself. "I will fear no evil; for you are with me," Adriana said aloud slowly. She felt her heartbeat slow down and calmness begin to clear her mind. An image of Lucius came to her. He was smiling at her, holding her hand, making her strong. Opening her eyes, she felt Lucius close to her. Opening her mouth, she spoke the words, "Expecto patronum," and watched with amazement as a pale silvery-white shape began to form in front of her, blocking the dementor from her sight. The shape turned into what looked like a panther, but maintained its silver-white colour. The panther took on a life of its own, charging towards the dementor, teeth bared, claws fully extended. The dementor stopped in mid-glide, frozen to the spot it floated upon. It raised its arms defensively to ward off the panther, but the cat kept advancing upon it. The dementor glided a small way backwards, before turning around and quickly gliding away, down the hall, and out of Adriana's sight. The panther continued to run after the dementor, chasing it around a corner before fading away, giving Adriana a chance to stand up and go to the room the dementor had been guarding, out of harm's way.
As Adriana walked into the room, and looked around, she saw a hand on the ground, on the other side of the bed. Slowly walking towards the hand, she saw Lucius lying on the floor, looking as though he was dead. Adriana gasped as she saw him lying in a pool of his own blood, listened to the air rattle in and out of his lungs in shallow breaths. Falling to her knees, she put her hands on his chest and cried out, "Oh my darling, what have they done to you?" Tears formed in her eyes as she received no response from Lucius.
Adriana looked at Lucius' body to see what had happened. He wore nothing more than the dirty, tattered remains of an Azkaban prisoner's uniform. His face was thin and gaunt, his ribs stuck out of his body more than usual. Lucius looked as though he'd been starved since he'd been in Azkaban. He had burns, cuts, and bruises covering his entire body. Further examination showed that he also had a few stab wounds in his thighs and feet. "Lucius, Lucius wake up, can you speak?" Adriana gently slapped his cheek, trying to rouse him. When he wouldn't wake, Adriana tried to heal him enough to let him regain consciousness. Lucius' head began to loll as he tried to wake. "Lucius, darling, it's me, Adriana. Can you wake up?" She called out to him. Lucius began to moan and thrash his arms out against Adriana. He sounded as though he was panicking and fighting for his life with what little strength he had left.
The sounds of Lucius' struggle brought in one of the patrolling Death Eaters, investigating what was happening. Adriana steeled herself to defend not only herself, but Lucius, from this man. He slowly approached her as Adriana spread her arms out protectively over Lucius, shielding him with her body. "Get out of here!" She shouted. "Riddle's letting me take him home, and I'll kill you if you try and stop me, understand?" Panic arose in Adriana as the Death Eater continued to approach until he stood towering over her. Slowly bending down until he could look Adriana in the eye, he reached a hand out to touch Lucius on the arm. Adriana slapped his hand away, giving him an electrical shock in the process. "Don't you touch him!" She screamed.
The Death Eater gasped in pain, grabbed his injured hand, and looked at Adriana with pain in his eyes. He looked up and down Adriana's body, noticing her messy hair and the blood staining her skirt and legs. "I've come to help you," The man said harshly, reaching out again towards Lucius, more aggressively.
"Riddle sent you here to help me?" Adriana asked, unbelievingly. "Why would he do that?" The Death Eater touched the once again unconscious Lucius, placing one arm under his neck, and the other under his knees. With great exertion, the man gently picked Lucius up, leaving Adriana kneeling on the floor, looking up at the helpless man she loved more than life itself.
"Stand up, woman," He said gruffly, his voice straining under the weight of Lucius. Slowly, Adriana stood up, facing the Death Eater. "You can enchant his body to be weightless and carry him out of here," The man walked up to Adriana and held out Lucius' body to her. Holding out her arms, she accepted the now weightless body of Lucius, and slowly began walking him out of the room. Stopping at the door, Adriana turned around, looked at the Death Eater, and asked, "What is your name?"
The man stared for a moment at Adriana before answering, "Crouch."
"Thank you, Crouch," Adriana said quietly, before turning once again towards the hall. Lucius' arms hung down limply, swinging with each of Adriana's steps. His long legs hit against Adriana's and his long hair and what was left of his clothes fluttered with the breeze as she walked down the stairs.
The Dark Lord didn't try to stop Adriana from taking Lucius out of the manor. He didn't even grace Lucius with one last glance, as she carried him away from Voldemort, and the Death Eaters, and this life. It was this unspoken understanding that neither Adriana nor Voldemort existed to the other, that allowed this small miracle to take place. After leaving the perimeter of the manor, Adriana apparated back to the property, and gently carried Lucius home.
Note: This chapter deals extensively with a theory about Snape that has not been proved yet in the books.
References: The title and prayer Adriana says in the chapter are taken from the 23rd Psalm of the Bible.