Lucius arrived back in his Mansion and was furious. One of the house-elves that greeted him on his arrival had to pay the price. The poor creature had been thoroughly beaten and kicked by its master. It now bore the results for doing its job; a few broken ribs and some nasty cuts, but that was the life of a house-elf with the Malfoy family.
After taking some of his frustration out on the house-elf, Lucius sat down behind the desk in his study. He had gotten more information from Darius and Ariana than he could have hoped for. Lucius had played in on the row that had taken place in the hallway while he was waiting. He had heard every word of it and although his blood was boiling, he'd managed to sound concerned.
Cleverly chosen words and questions had taught him that Dahlia would probably be staying with her friend Eris as she had a few times before when situations went out of control. He didn't know the exact location of Eris' whereabouts but his contacts at the Ministry of Magic would probably be able to help out with that. Oh yes, Dahlia would pay a high price for playing around with Lucius Malfoy.
It had been a long day and when he got his revenge he wanted to have a clear head, so he stood up and walked towards his bedroom. He prepared himself for the night and never paid any attention to the sleeping Narcissa in his bed.
Eris nearly jumped through the ceiling when she heard the frantic knocking on her door. She rushed downstairs to find Dahlia on the doorstep with tears glistening in her eyes.
"By Merlin, Dahlia. What happened?" Eris asked and pulled her into a tight embrace.
That was it. This was too much for Dahlia and she broke down sobbing. Eris tightened her embrace and the two friends stood there in each other's arms without a word spoken for several minutes. Then Eris guided Dahlia into her living room and fetched her friend a strong cup of coffee.
"Now, Dahlia. Tell me what happened. He hurt you didn't he? I warned you not to toy with Lucius Malfoy," Eris said as she sat down on the sofa next to her.
"No, no, Eris. That's not it. I argued with him after Madeira walked into the bathroom when he was taking a shower but he didn't hurt me," Dahlia assured her friend.
"Then what happened? I've hardly ever seen you cry, so something must have upset you," Eris asked.
"I had a row with my father. He said that I'm a disgrace to the family. Apparently, they know about the boyfriends I've had," Dahlia explained.
"Well, that's not the first time you've had a fight with him. Trust me Dahlia, you're not a disgrace to your family. You're a fine pureblood witch and a good friend. Raidon's behaviour and opinions about the Dark Lord are much worse," Eris said as she patted Dahlia, who was now smiling, on the arm.
"Raidon's own ideas about the Dark Lord are the reason he got banned and disinherited. Thank you Eris, you're a star," Dahlia said and hugged her friend again.
"I know, but you may repeat that just to remind me," Eris said.
Dahlia finally felt better and laughed heartily at her friend's joke. She had been able to vent her anger and felt safe with Eris around. They were equally strong when it came to magic but Eris was the more rational one and that's what Dahlia needed right now - a comforting friend, who listened to her and gave her good advice.
"Thanks Eris, you know how to cheer me up and for letting me stay here until the storm is over… again," Dahlia said.
"Hey silly, that's what friends are for. Speaking of friends, where's Madeira?" Eris asked.
"She's on a journey with her family. She tried her best to get out but couldn't. I guess she's not the rebel I am. Raidon is a good brother, I love him but he's crap when it comes to emotions," Dahlia said.
"You know my door is always open for you, Dahlia. What do you say we call it a day and get some sleep? It has been a long day for you and I can't imagine that you slept much last night. You can have the spare bedroom," Eris said.
"Thanks again, Eris, I really appreciate this," Dahlia said again and hugged her friend once more.
As soon as Dahlia crawled under the covers, she fell into a welcome sleep. The day had indeed been exhausting and the amount of emotions that had gone through her head today had left a slight throbbing pain in the back of her head.
The next day passed in total peace. Dahlia slept 'till noon and when she woke up, Eris took her out for an exquisite lunch. The rest of the day, they taught each other new spells or chatted about silly things - anything to keep Dahlia's mind from her problems. At the end of the day, they solved the mudblood problem, in theory. Maybe the wine they'd had helped a little.
A peaceful day ended and by the time Dahlia went to bed, she had forgotten most of her misery. She had only slept for two hours at the most, when she suddenly felt the mattress shift. Dahlia rolled over onto her back and soon found herself pinned down by something or someone.
She gasped when she felt something cool pressed against her face, something made out of metal. A soft breeze shifted the curtains and let a ray of moonlight fall on the features of her attacker. Lucius Malfoy. The metal she had felt was the snakehead of his cane. She could see the moonlight reflect on the fangs of the silver creature from the corner of her eye.
"If you make one move or sound that I don't like, you will suffer severely," he hissed.
She only nodded slightly, too afraid to provoke him. The she felt him move his body. The small stream of light wasn't enough to light the entire room so she couldn't see what he was doing.
Lucius swiftly pulled the cover from the bed and exposed her body. Dahlia was only clad in a light nightgown and she felt naked. He must have been staring at her because she didn't see or hear him. Then the mattress shifted again and she saw Lucius' form sitting on his knees.
His hand reached into his robes and he took out a small piece of cloth that he used to gag her. Then he grabbed her panties, ripped them away and pushed her legs wide open. With one fierce thrust, he was deep inside her. She wasn't ready for him and it felt like he was tearing her apart with every thrust.
She wanted to scream out her agony. Her voice echoed in the dark room. She was sitting up in her bed and while little beads of sweat stood all over her body, she was shivering. It had all been a nightmare.
"You can scream all you want, there's nobody who'll help you."
Dahlia gasped and pulled the sheets up to cover herself. It was him. Lucius Malfoy was somewhere in this room but she couldn't see him in the dark.
"What about Eris? What have you done to her? You fucking bastard!" she screamed out into the darkness.
He couldn't have been far away because she suddenly felt his hand grabbing her arm in a painful grasp.
"Many have said that to me before but none of them survived to tell," he hissed in her ear.
Dahlia cursed to herself that she hadn't taken out her wand at the sound of his voice. She knew she had gone too far and she already feared the retribution that would follow. Lucius dragged her out of the bed and into the living room.
He twisted her arm behind her back at such an angle that she was forced down on her knees from the pain it caused. He released her arm but instead, wound his fingers in her hair and pulled her head back so that she was forced to look up at him. In immediate reflex, her hands flew up to his wrist and she dug her nails into his skin.
He threw her head forward with such force that she had to place both hands on the floor so as not to bang her head onto it.
She screamed out in agony when Lucius placed his heel on the fingers of her left hand. He removed his foot, grabbed her hair again and jerked her head upwards, forcing her to meet his cold eyes.
"I do not know if you realize it Dahlia, but you are in no position to harm me. Do you understand?" Lucius hissed in her ear.
"Yes," she answered with a quavering voice.
He pulled her up by her hair and backed her up against the wall. He used his full body weight to pin her there. His lips brushed against hers for a mere second. She wanted to turn her head away but he cupped her face and forced her to look at him.
"You have such a lovely body, Dahlia. It would be a shame to ravage it," he sneered.
His hand left her face, travelled over her breast where it lingered for a few seconds before it went down and cupped her sex. He slowly caressed her sensitive flesh through the fabric of her panties but then abruptly removed his hand.
"Rape is such a brutal tactic but it can be so efficient. I simply don't want to dirty myself with you, now that I know where you've been," he sneered before adding, "Who'd have thought? You're as common as a muggle whore."
That didn't mean it ended for her. He moved his face closer to hers but bent his head to her neck. He repeated what he'd done just a night ago and sharply inhaled her scent. Dahlia looked into the room over his shoulder and suddenly saw Eris' body lying on the floor. Her eyes widened and she gasped loudly.
Because of her reaction, Lucius brought his head back up and looked into her eyes. She felt a shiver pass over her spine when she saw a grin on his face.
"Don't worry, Dahlia. Your precious friend over there isn't dead. She's merely immobilised and unconscious. I never realized I was so terrifying that one might actually faint at the sight of me," he smirked.
In reply, Dahlia spit into his face. She realized that she might not survive – first for her insult and now this - but she was too furious to think before she acted. His eyes narrowed as he raised his hand and smacked Dahlia on her cheek with his flat palm. He hit her with such force that she fell onto her knees.
She carefully touched her cheek and felt something wet. Her blood. She looked at the hand that had hit her and saw his wedding ring. It was made out of pure gold and she saw that it was two intertwined snakes.
Lucius strode over to where she sat and crouched down at her side.
"Nice ring, don't you agree? It's not only a symbol of my marriage but it can be rather useful as well," Lucius said.
Dahlia couldn't think of more then one symbol or use for a wedding ring. The questioning look on her face made him chuckle.
"When the two snakes make contact with any other flesh than that of a Malfoy or a Black, it will release a small dose of poison. Those disgusting Muggles cannot trace it but it will break down on its own accord as soon as I leave the premises. Hence Aurors nor any other wizards will know what happened," Lucius explained.
"What are the effects then?" Dahlia inquired in a whisper.
"You will not die so you'll soon find out. Let's play a little game and if you can tell me what the poison does, you win. Fun, don't you agree?" Lucius smirked.
When Dahlia didn't reply at once, he grabbed her by the throat and raised her to her feet. Her hands flew up to his wrists again but stopped just in time when she remembered the consequences. The still throbbing pain in her fingers reminded her of the mistake she made earlier.
"You still don't seem to understand with whom you're dealing. I thought Darius would have taught you that much," Lucius hissed.
He lifter her higher until her feet hovered five inches above the floor. Then he suddenly released his grip so she collapsed painfully onto the floor. Dahlia desperately gasped for air as she tried to sit up.
"Now, let's find out if your friend here would like to join this little game," Lucius said as he strode toward Eris' unconscious body.