PURSUE THAT WHICH YOU TREASURE
CHAPTER 3: THE LION ESCAPES
Breathe in and breathe out… in and out… in and out… Simple but effective. The moment the pain eases and becomes bearable is always a pleasure. Your breathing returns to normal, your head isn't swimming anymore, the buzzing in your ears dies away, you start to recognize your surroundings again and realise that it's all quiet outside… all quiet?
Kaelin sat up abruptly only to fall back down onto her back again, almost blacking out once more. Rule No.1: Don't move too fast too soon, dummy!
"Pain… ow ow ow ow ow" she moaned, holding her head in her hands.
Quiet! It was quiet. But why? No loud laughter, no spiteful comments or preparations for more torture… strange and most unusual. How long had she been out of it? Certainly not that long. It was not like Lucius at all… to let a good ol' torturing session go just like that. What was going on here?
'Well, you won't find out lying on the floor, will you?' the part of her mind that was already functioning piped up.
Slowly Kaelin first sat up and then with the support of one of the walls pulled herself into a standing position. Although she was a little unsteady on her feet she willed herself to find out what was going on. And besides… distraction from the pain was essential… don't get lost in it, because then you don't stand a chance… you've lost.
During Auror training all those little advices seemed so unreal and far-fetched but during active duty you find that there's always some truth in it all. And no one ever said it was easy. What an understatement.
With some difficulty, Kaelin moved over to the heavy door and peeked through the small trellised window. There in front of her cell was… was… someone she didn't know reading a… a book? He looked young… too young to be allowed to guard her all alone. Lucius was squeamishly making sure that she was guarded properly and now… maybe this finally was her chance… there was only one way to find out.
"What'cha reading?" she asked through the grills.
"Nothing!" he growled back.
'Ah. He IS new!' she thought. Lucius always gave explicit instruction NOT to talk to the prisoners. Maybe even the 'getting on his nerves' way could work. Oh, that would be so much fun.
"Liar." She said, adopting a singsong voice.
"Bugger off!"
"Can't do that, sorry. No entertainment around here, except for you. If you could get me a deck of cards or a copy of Witch Weekly though, I might leave you alone."
"Shut up or I'll make you feel really uncomfortable."
Getting there! This was going to be easier than she thought.
"Uuuh, a threat. Now you have to tell me how you're going to achieve that… for effect, you see. I'm terribly curious, too."
She tried to suppress a giggle.
"Curiosity kills the cat."
"Wow, you're really good at this. I'm almost frightened."
Marcus Flint turned his back to the prisoner, obviously trying hard not to loose his patience.
"Don't stop now!"
Now he even started ripping pages from his book. A small pile of parchment was rapidly growing at his feet. 'Just a little more and I'll have him!' Suppressing a grin was now growing to be a huge effort.
"Come on, little one. The book didn't do anything. Didn't your mother teach you how to treat your own things?"
Her young guard turned his head and growled over his shoulder.
"I'm an adult. My mother doesn't tell me anything anymore."
"I see. So you already graduated from Hogwarts, aye?"
"Yeah, don't have to see that shithole ever again. I would have rather attended Durmstrang, but my mother…"
"… didn't want you to be so far away from home. Merlin, parents can be so overprotective, can't they?"
"The only fun thing to do there was Quidditch. Beating up kids without detention. Till my fifth year anyway…"
"You've been defeated then, huh? By someone who's better than you, by someone who's younger, by a mudblood." Chapter 10: How to behave when captured. Unit No. 5… or was it 6? Try to get as many information as you can, even if you can't use them immediately. Why not try to find out something about Harry. If the boy just graduated he should have been at Hogwarts the same time as Harry.
"Shut up bitch!"
What could have possibly possessed Lucius to leave this young man alone with her? Something must have happened. He had never left a new guard without any instructions… EVER. She had been too preoccupied with trying to breathe to realise what was happening outside.
"Harry kicked your Slytherin asses, didn't he?"
"Keep your trap shut!" Flint yelled.
'Well, Harry's alive… that's something!'
He jumped up, ran towards the cell, his wand raised, his arm outstretched towards her… HER… not the keyhole!
'YES, rookie mistake!' she thought, 'it's now or never!'
"Cru…" Flint began, but before he could even finish the curse, Kaelin stretched her arm through the grills grabbing Flint's wrist. She twisted the tip of the wand away from her to him."Stupefy!" The guard was completely taken by surprise and crumbled onto the floor. Luckily he loosened his grip on the wand for Kaelin to take it without difficulty.
"Alohomora!" Nothing happened. "Alohomora!" Stunning had worked just fine but the stupid door just wouldn't budge. "Oh, for Merlin's sake… Reducto!" The door was blasted out of its hinges and luckily landed right next to Flint's stunned body. After all she didn't intend to kill the boy.
However Kaelin hid in the dark for a moment as she expected at least 30 Death Eaters to wait for her outside. Someone must have heard the explosion… but nothing… this was definitely too easy. Cautiously she stepped out of the cell, looking around into the deserted corridors.
She shrugged her shoulders.
Then she turned towards the stunned guard on the floor and looked at him for a moment, her head slightly bent. Briefly shaking her head she took his feet and pulled him into her former cell with some difficulty due to her injuries…
"Yet again beaten by a Gryffindor. You know, this mistake you just made proves to me that you still have so much to learn. But don't worry… your mistakes just make you wiser. It's a shame really… that I can't stay and see Lucius' reaction. Oh well… Bye greenhorn… thanks and good luck!"
Kaelin turned around and vanished through the dark corridors towards freedom.
- - - - - - - -
All Death Eaters were waiting for the dark Lord to calm down, when June woke up. She stroked the back of her throbbing head and realised that when she had collided with the gravestone earlier on she had caught a gash which was bleeding heavily.
"You wait until I get my hands on you, you glaikit scrote! Stupid brat!" June grouched gnashing her teeth.
"June Malise Skrutin, I wish to talk to you!" The dark Lord suddenly hissed making June's stomach turn. She had known that this conversation was inevitable, that it would set her path into the future. One wrong answer could end her life… this time for good. There was however another thing that cost every Death Eater's life: disobedience. At the moment the dark Lord was in such a mood, that he would understand even the slightest hesitation as disobedience. So June walked over to him. She didn't walk too fast, because she didn't want to make him think that she was afraid of his voice, walking too slow however could have had the same result.
"How is it that I killed you, yet you're still alive?"
- - - - - - - -
flashback
June had been living in a cave for a couple of days. She was hiding from the Order and Snape, but the person she was really afraid to face was the dark Lord, as she feared that he would not only punish her for her failure, but also consider her a traitor. Up till now it had been impossible to think of Snape as a traitor, so if she would tell the dark Lord the truth, he would think, she was trying to blame somebody else. She also knew that in her condition, she probably would not survive, if he found her. Even if she did, she was damn sure that the child, she was bearing had no chance at all. So she stayed most of the time in the shape of a snake hoping it would be harder for the dark Lord to sense her. She didn't dare to go into the village nearby to steal food, so she fed on rats and other small animals, which lived in the forest, where the cave was located, praying it would not harm her child.
She had felt the dark mark burning twice in the past few days and had assumed that he had summoned his followers who were now looking for her. It was only a matter of time until one of the searching parties would find her and either she was to go to Azkaban prison or die. The longer June thought about her possibilities, the more she felt the urge to turn herself in. That way the dark Lord would not doubt her loyalty. Moreover her child would have a better chance to survive. But there was one thought which stopped her: What sense would it make to be born, if you were taught the wrong beliefs?
Three more days passed. On the morning of the fourth day Lucius entered the cave. June, who was transformed into a snake, watched him from a corner. Carefully he searched every bit of the cave, then turned around and yelled:
"She's not here!"
"She must be there, I can sense her."
An only too well-known voice answered and a hooded figure appeared at the entrance. The dark Lord muttered an incantation which forced June to reveal herself.
"I told you, she was here, didn't I, Lucius? Hiding out of fear of my revenge, that pathetic fool of your cousin."
"My Lord…" June started to say.
"Quiet, you will only speak when spoken to!"
While he was saying this, he waved his wand slightly and an invisible fist punched June into the face making her stumble back a few feet almost loosing her balance.
"It is obvious, that you not only failed to complete your mission, but also, seeing that you are the only one who got away, yet never returned to me, are the one who told my plan to the Order. How else is it possible, that they were informed?"
Snape is the traitor, Snape is the traitor, was the only thing, June was able to think at that moment, but she didn't dare to say this as she knew what happened to the wicked.
"Please, my Lord…" she started saying, yet was interrupted by the dark Lord right away.
"Oh, have we already arrived at the begging part of this conversation?"
"My Lord, it wasn't me. They were looking for me all over the country; I am wounded, without a wand…"
June didn't even see the dark Lord waved his wand, but within a second she fell to the ground writhing and shrieking in agony. The pain inflicted upon her by the Cruciatus curse filled up her entire mind. She was trying to fight it, trying to control her members, but she didn't succeed. So she gave in to the pain, unable to think or do anything. Her master's laughter and her own screams echoed in her head until it felt like it was about to burst.
As quickly as the pain had come upon her it also stopped. June was lying on the floor gasping. Her members were limp and sore. The dark Lord was looking down on her, then he suddenly spit on her.
"And this pathetic being I once considered to be one of my strongest and most faithful followers. June Malise Malfoy, you don't even deserve this name. June Malise Skrutin, that's how we are going to call you from now on. Your sister already brought disgrace to that name so it fits you quite well."
Again the curse hit June unprepared with full force. Her mind went blank again, the only thought, which filled her mind, was the one of pain. After some time it was replaced however by another thought or rather hope. She wanted to die if she would not have to endure the pain any longer. When the pain ceased as sudden as the first time, June again was lying panting on the floor. But she knew that she had to move. She had to convince the dark Lord that she was telling the truth. She had to survive; she had to save her child, if it was not too late already. So she forced her numb limbs to move. The dark Lord was watching her, obviously amused by her efforts, until she finally was kneeling before him. She bent her head like a subject before the king addressing him. Her voice just came out in a hoarse whisper.
"My Lord, I have never betrayed you. I beg you; please give me the opportunity to prove myself worthy. I will detect the true traitor for you and deliver him within a couple of days."
When she had finished, June looked up at her master, waiting for his decision. But he shook his head.
"Your slyness may have saved your neck before, but today is the day when your lucky streak ends. Any last words?"
"I am with child. Please, my Lord?"
But the dark Lord waved his wand slightly and June slipped into darkness.
end flashback
- - - - - - - -
"Tell me", he repeated, "How is it that I killed you, yet you are still alive?"
"I don't know!" June answered trying to keep her voice steady.
"How is it", he continued, "that I killed you, yet you return to me?"
June felt how close he was to loose his patience. Therefore she replied "Devotion!" and bent her head like a subject addressing the king.
"Explain!" he ordered.
This was the point when she had a small chance of convincing him that her loyalty had never wavered. She knew if she didn't succeed she wouldn't live much longer. So she tried to explain herself as good as possible.
"I deserved to be punished. If I hadn't failed that night, you would be immortal by now. I delayed your plans, because I misjudged the situation."
His red eyes were scrutinizing her face pondering, judging.
"You could have turned against me! May be you did."
A wave of panic washed down her back, as it seemed that she was not convincing enough.
"No, why should I? You never betrayed me, they did! We're still fighting on the same side!"
He cocked his head looking at her as if to challenge her. "Prove it!"
June inhaled deeply and demanded.
"Give me a chance and I will!"
To June's relief the dark Lord slightly nodded his head.
Yet another Author's Note by Kaelin (Juneand Cheryare not here so it's my job):
A little action, a little Voldemort... a lot more coming, if you review... We're waiting...