Chapter Six

Alex had left the café and headed straight for home, working a quick and dirty ward on the door as she passed inside, just as a precaution. It was a testament to how strange her last two days had been that she warded the door at all before dark. Truth be told, she felt a bit ashamed of her paranoia, but this had proven to be the strangest place she'd ever lived, and it seemed wisest to be cautious until she figured out what the hell was going on. Strange wizards following her on a shopping spree, hypnotizing her, and quizzing her about a scroll she knew nothing about; this was no way to spend your first two days in a new home.

Nevertheless, none of these were sufficient reasons for putting off her work any longer, though the events of this morning had caused her to change her mind about cleaning being her greatest priority. That would have to be delayed so that she could search her on-hand merchandise (carefully, as some of those items could be nasty) for this scroll Lucius was looking for. He was obviously an extremely wealthy wizard and she stood to make a good bit of gold from him if she could find it. If worse came to worst, she could also use it as a bargaining chip. Unfortunately, there were no scrolls at all in her inventory.

Next, she reviewed the log book, scouring every page for mention of a scroll with instructions for a potion, but turned up nothing. She pushed aside her desire to go back to the café and talk to Nina about it. The men who were interested in this scroll were dangerous. She didn't like to involve Nina in such a touchy situation if she didn't absolutely have to, and going to the ministry was out of the question. It was her problem, and she'd find a way to deal with it.

As there seemed to be no evidence of the item in question existing, Alex decided to put it out of her mind and begin the monumental task of cleaning the shop. After several hours of badly-performed cleansing spells, which only cleaned about half of the grime, organizing the files from the enormous filing cabinet, discarding outdated records, and just generally giving the place a thorough going-over, she brought down the bottle of cleaning potion and the scrubbing brush for some real work.

Having never used a cleaning potion this potent before, she was having a bit of trouble getting the hang of it. She tried pouring a bit from the bottle directly onto the counter, but that approach proved to be too direct and the wood began to smolder a bit. The shopkeeper had warned her to guard her skin at all costs and had talked her into buying dragon-hide gloves to wear while she was cleaning. She had thought that to be completely ridiculous…until now.

She now put on the gloves with great haste, and approached the bottle with a healthy respect and a new plan. Scowling at her lack of domestic ability, she poured a bit of the solution into a pewter bowl and tried delicately dipping the griffin-hair scrubbing brush into the solution. That seemed to work well. Now, she understood why she had paid a fortune for such a small bottle. A tiny bit worked wonders. With a smidgen of work, the counter was gleaming as if it were new. Once she repaired the chips in it and shined the glass, it would be lovely.

So engrossed was Alex in her work that she almost didn't register the slight crunching sound coming from the corner behind a display case. It sounded for all the world like a foot grinding on the dirty stone floor. Oh, no. Surely not. 'But I warded the door,' she thought. Of course, she wasn't stupid. Her wards were good for guarding against petty thieves, but she had no weapon at all against the caliber of wizard she had dealt with today. Her ears caught the sound of whispering, an incantation by the sound of it, Like a mantra, her inner voice began chanting, 'Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.'

Clearing the terror from her mind which held her frozen against the counter, she wheeled around and crept forward, wand extended before her. The attack, however, came from the other side of the room. "Expelliarmus." The force of the spell knocked her to the ground and caused her wand to sail into the hand of her assailant who quickly pocketed it. The incantation had been spoken in almost conversational tones, yet she could still feel her skin stinging. The power evident in that sort of casting could mean only one thing, that she was in very deep shit. Struggling to stand, she looked up to watch her attacker approach, but she really didn't need to. The voice was a familiar one.

"Lucius Malfoy. I knew you were trouble."

"It's a pleasure to see you as well, Alexandria."

"Don't call me that, Lucius, and don't try to pretend this is a social call."

"That's a very callous attitude. This morning, you were so drunk with passion, you couldn't think straight," came the noble voice. If you're a good girl tonight, I'll consider giving you what you wanted so badly."

'Oh, no. Oh, please no, not like that.' "I don't want shit from you, Lucius…" feeling a bit more steady, she began to rise.

"Don't move," came the harsh command. "I rather like you on your knees, Alexandria," was added more gently.

Alex steadied her mind and forced herself to remain calm and speak slowly to keep him at ease. "Alright, Lucius. I'm completely unarmed and you're in control. Just tell me what you want and I'll give it to you."

" That easily? I was hoping for a struggle," came the mocking voice.

"There's nothing in this world that I value more than my life, and you're clearly in a position to take that from me. Please, just tell me what you want."

A smile graced the handsome face before her and then vanished so suddenly that she wasn't sure she saw it. For a brief moment, Malfoy regretted what he was going to have to do this woman. Her pragmatism would have proven very valuable to him in his day to day affairs, she have may have even been of some use to the Dark Lord, himself. But, he couldn't have Severus acting like a lovesick schoolboy. It was too dangerous. Better to snuff out Alex's life now and let Severus get over her before he became too deeply involved.

"I told you earlier, I'm looking for the potion scroll."

" Yes. I remembered your mentioning it. I searched my inventory and my uncle's archives. I'm afraid that it just doesn't exist, Mr. Malfoy. I'm very sorry. I can try to…"

"Crucio!"

Having never been the victim of an unforgivable curse, the shock that he had cast it in the first place kept the first waves of pain at bay, but it didn't last long and soon the shop was filled with the sound of her screams. In a few seconds, he lifted the spell.

"Miss Borgin. I'm not accustomed to asking for anything twice. Tell me where the scroll is and we can stop this unpleasantness."

Alex spat blood from her badly-bitten lip. The pain had erased any control she had left, and she began to panic. "You stupid son-of-a-bitch, you're not even listening to me! Please, I don't know where it…"

"Crucio!"

He let her writhe for quite a while before he released her this time. He would have made her endure for much longer for speaking to him in that manner, but his anger had been sated with Severus and he was still fairly tired from the effort. He just wanted to get the scroll, kill the girl and go home. Maybe Severus would still be there and Lucius could explain things to him. He sighed. Knowing Severus, he'd left as soon as he woke up. Who could blame him?

Lucius sat on his heels before her so that she could see within his eyes that he had no intention of giving her any mercy. "I placed a silencing charm on this room, Miss Borgin, so no one's going to hear your screams and come to your rescue, if that's what you're hoping. I can keep this up for as long as it takes, minutes, hours, even days. I need that scroll. Is it really worth this?" A single tear slid from her eye and hit the cold stone floor on which her head was resting. "Why don't you just tell me the truth?"

The truth was that he was the most beautiful monster she had ever seen. Even now, she couldn't help but want him, and she despised herself for it. Pitifully, she raised her head a fraction of an inch from the floor and said softly, but with great conviction, "Fuck you, Lucius."

He stood back up with a sigh. This time, he just let her suffer. Absently, he wondered how long she could last. Her uncle had died in under an hour. Of course, he was an old man and Lucius had been much angrier that day at Borgin's outright refusal to even sell the scroll. What prompted him to hold out when he'd always responded to gold was a mystery. But, Lucius was determined to acquire the instructions for that potion. One drop administered in any way, even externally, and one could create a link from wizard to wizard enabling the apparation of one to the side of the other, at any time, despite any sort of apparation inhibitors, even the ones around Hogwarts. And, when he delivered The Boy Who Lived to his Lord, his reward would be incalculable.

Something landed on his feet with a thump. It was Alex.

Lost in thought, he had let the curse go on too long and the woman had passed out from the pain. Damn. He forgot for a moment that he wasn't dealing with Severus. The man had an impossibly high tolerance to the curse. But everyone has a breaking point. He would find hers. The trick was keeping her conscious long enough.

"Ennervate!"

After a few moments, when he was certain that she'd fully regained her senses, he spoke to her again. "I feel it's only fair to tell you that my patience with you has nearly reached it's end, Alex." He spoke these words carefully, quietly and with so little passion that it froze her blood. "Let me explain this carefully. I'm going to ask you once more, only once, and if your answer fails to please me, I will destroy you."

She was crying from frustration, now. Alex had never been in such a futile situation. She couldn't reason with the man because he wouldn't accept the truth, couldn't make a deal because she had nothing to bargain with, and couldn't make a stand because he had her wand, not that it would make much of a difference. With or without her wand, she was no match for Lucius Malfoy; she doubted that many were. She decided that she'd have to go with plan D. Stall.

Calling on what little acting ability she possessed, she spoke in her most reasonable, respectful tone, "Ok, Lucius. You win. I'm sorry I lied to you. I'll take you to the potion scroll, just…please, please don't do that again."

Lucius let out a sigh. He was greatly relieved that she was finally seeing reason. He really didn't wish to try to find the scroll on his own. "Just tell me where it is, Alexandria. You've been through so much strain, I'd hate for you to have to get up."

Hmmm. Give away her only bargaining chip? Not likely. She only hoped her ploy wouldn't cause him to feel the need to torture her again. She didn't think she could take much more of that without cracking.

"Believe me," she panted, "I'd love to stay here, but the lock to the scroll's container is cursed. Only a Borgin can open it."

Lucius considered this for a moment. He wasn't too happy with having her walking about. It was risky. But, she was unarmed and drained from the curse and her utter terror of him should keep her in check. "Alright, Alex. That's a good girl. Now, get up…very slowly." She did as she was asked and noticed that her legs shook from the strain of standing. That wasn't very good for running, if she got the chance. She flexed the muscles a few times in an effort to loosen them. "Before you take one step, tell me where we are going."

Where? Where? The only place she had another weapon was in her bedside table. There wasn't much of a chance, but if she could just get to it…

"It's upstairs."

"Fine. Now, turn around and walk. Slowly."

She did as she was told and her heart nearly leaped for joy at the sight that met her eyes. She'd forgotten all about that bowl of damnably caustic cleaning solution that was still sitting on the counter. If she could just get her hands on it…"

"Today, Miss Borgin."

Once again, she spoke to him quietly and with great respect. "I'm very sorry, but my legs are shaky and I can hardly walk. I'm trying."

Alex began walking in slow, halting steps, partly because her legs were weak, and partly to scrape together even a smidgen of a plan. She estimated five more steps to the counter. Four. Three. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she couldn't hear their footfalls in the otherwise silent room. The chance was about to pass her up, and she had no illusions about the likelihood of her getting out of this alive. This had to work.

Two steps, now. Suddenly she stumbled, grabbed the counter for support with one hand and the pewter bowl with the other in what she hoped seemed like a natural gesture. He closed the distance in a heartbeat. It was now or never. Grabbing the bowl in both hands, she spun on her heel and flung the acidic mixture in her tormentor's face. There was a loud curse, a satisfying hiss, the clatter of a wand to the floor, and she was running for the door.

She didn't make it two steps before a cold hand latched onto her arm with an iron grip and she was thrown to the floor. "Shit! Shit! NO!" Malfoy's perfect face was blistering from the potion and his eyes were shut tight against it, but the blade he had slid from his belt was still deadly in his capable hands. Alex had never felt such desperation! She was so close to freedom! The door was just a few feet away!

Unaware of the feral scream coming from her lungs punctuated by long streams of profanity, she latched onto the arm holding the blade with both hands, momentarily halting it's progress, and began kicking out at her assailant with all her might. She was slightly more than half his size, but he was tired and injured. Throwing all her weight against the arm , slowly she felt it begin to shake, then to give way. A knee to the groin convinced him to let go of her, another and he was on his back and she was crawling rapidly toward the door, trying to regain her feet. She felt the blade cut into her thigh, but was too high on adrenaline to even feel the pain. With a final kick to his scalded face, she was up and running for the door. As she slammed it behind her, she heard a sharp crack announcing that Malfoy had disapparated, and she knew she could stop running.

Unfortunately, now that her heart was no longer hammering in her chest and her adrenaline had begun to dissipate, she began to keenly feel her injuries. Limping up the stone steps and avoiding the eyes of the few wizards and witches left on Knockturn Alley, she tried to assess the damage. It was bad, but not irreparable. Her face had received a few drops of the potion she had used on Lucius, her left side was throbbing with pain, she was covered with bruises, and still suffering the aftershocks of being magically tortured. It was a wrench admitting it, but she needed medical attention, and Nina's sister was a school nurse. Alex limped onto Diagon Alley hoping that she would help.

She arrived at Nina's a few minutes later just after she locked up. By the time the door was reopened and Alex brought inside, she could hardly stand. The pain that she hadn't even felt from the knife wound had shown up now with a vengeance and was almost unbearable. It felt as if the blade had been coated with acid, but the wound didn't seem to be that bad at all. It was hardly even bleeding.

Thankfully, Nina was prudent enough to save the questions for later. She supported Alex through a locked door into a room in the back of the store where resided a large, full-sized mirror on the wall. At least, Alex thought it was a mirror. As they neared it, she realized that it didn't reflect this room, but seemed to be a window looking into another, a sick ward, by it's appearance. Before she could speculate further, Nina had tightened her arm around her waist and walked straight through the glass to the room on the other side.

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Thank you all for your reviews. I truly appreciate the advice I've been given and, as always, the kind words.

If I may address one review specifically:

--- Arsenoe3- I think perhaps you're being a bit unfair and allowing your personal problems with the behavior of others to influence what you write about my character. She does not have a "screw all these local customs attitude." If you read about her without this chip on your shoulder, you'll see that see finds the local customs to be quaint (in fact, I specifically said so) and is very kind to the natives who are kind to her. Please don't allow your preconceived notions about how others behave in a foreign country to translate into contempt for my character. It's unkind and unappreciated. Thank you.