Chapter 7: Torment
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A.N. All underline words are in Japanese.
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Usagi jolted awaked. 'Oh no!' She thought. She must have overslept. 'I'm going to kill him!' She moved to stand, but pair of small hands stopped her.
"Oh no you don't."
Usagi looked towards the voice. It belonged to a girl around her age with light blond hair. She observed her surroundings. So much green. Eyes stared at her and she searched for Draco's face. She couldn't find him. "Dra-chan wa doko?" (Where's Dra-chan?) She asked no one in particular.
They just stared at her. "Nani…" She wailed. "Why are you all staring at me like that? I didn't do anything, did I?"
"What are you saying?" Someone spoke up.
"Nani?" Usagi questioned. She couldn't understand what they were saying.
"We can't understand you." The voice sounded apologetic.
"Gomen nasai. Wakarimasen." (I'm sorry. I don't understand.)
A girl with ebony black hair stepped up. "We can't understand what you're saying. You're not speaking English."
"Pansy," Someone said. "Why don't you use a translation spell?"
Usagi looked at her curiously, but Pansy shook her head. "I can't if I don't know what language she's speaking."
'Who are these people?' Usagi pondered. "Where's Dra-chan?"
"Blaise," The girl again spoke, recognizing Usagi's nickname for Draco. "Go fetch Draco."
X
Draco Malfoy entered the Slytherin common room. "Usagi, what's wrong?"
"I don't know." She answered in a small voice. "But they can't understand me, and for some reason I can't remember anything…except you."
Draco's eyes widened slightly. "You can't remember anything else?"
Usagi shook her head. "Is something wrong, Dra-chan? Am I sick? Do I have a brain tumor or something? I'm not going to die am I?"
"This wasn't supposed to happen." Draco sighed tiredly and Usagi noticed how much older than his 17 years he looked. Unfortunately, she took it as a sign that she would soon be six feet under.
"What wasn't supposed to happen?" She cried hysterically. "Oh no! I knew it. I'm going to die!"
"You're not going to die, Usagi."
"Do you want us to get Snape, Malfoy?" Usagi looked at the owner of the voice. It belonged to a thick boy with dark hair. Another boy, equally wide, stood next to him.
Draco nodded absently. The pair turned to leave. "And Crabbe?"
"What is it, Malfoy?"
"Don't let anyone know." His voice was deadly. "And I mean anyone, but Snape. Not even Dumbledore."
They grunted.
"If anyone asks, where you're going, tell them you need Snape to explain something. Got it?"
They nodded again.
Draco still wasn't sure about leaving such an important task to such imbeciles. "Bulstrode, go with them."
Usagi watched as the trio left the room.
X
When Professor Severus Snape swept into the room, everyone stepped aside to let him pass. Usagi eyed him curiously. "Who is this?" She asked Draco.
"He's the head of our house."
"We have a house…together?"
"No, you're in Gryffindor."
"What is she saying, Malfoy?" Snape inquired.
"She wanted to know who you were, sir."
"So it's true." His voice was soft.
"Yes, sir."
"You gave it to her?"
"Yes." He didn't understand it. When Snape first gave him the potion, he only felt a bit queasy. What was different?
Snape carefully watched Draco's facial expression as he thought. Realization hit the boy. "Oh no." He groaned. "The unicorn blood."
Snape looked at him sharply. "What unicorn blood?"
"We thought if we added unicorn blood to the potion, it would make it stronger so that even a stong witch or wizard like Dumbledore couldn't penetrate our defenses. It must have been too strong for her."
Snape blew up. "You foolish boy!" Draco stiffened. "Didn't it occur to you to ask me first? You can't just go around giving others potions that have not been tested!"
"We did test, sir!" Parkinson exclaimed. "And it went just fine."
"Hold your tongue girl!" Snape sighed, massaging his temples. "We must go to Dumbledore."
"But sir-"
"No buts!" Snape barked. "We can't risk anything happening to her."
"Won't he wonder where we got the potion?"
Snape sneered. "Then he mustn't find out about the potion."
"Then how-"
"You'll come up with something. After all, you did come up with the brilliant idea to use unicorn blood, did you not?" He answered sarcastically before slithering out of the room.
"Dra-chan, what's wrong?" Usagi, along with the others had been quiet throughout the whole exchange.
Draco sighed. "Translatus," he muttered. "Nihon-jin a English." He put his wand away again. Now they could all understand her. He turned to face the seventh years, "You woke up to find her here." That was their alibi. They nodded.
"Let's go, Usa."
She nodded. "Where are we going?"
"To see Dumbledore."
"Who's Dumbledore?"
"The headmaster."
They all followed him out. "Since we don't know where the old coot is, we'll need to draw some attention to ourselves." They climbed up the stairs quickly. "But what?" He looked at Usagi. "Can you faint?"
"I don't think I've ever tried it." She did not want to drop herself on the floor.
"Then I'll need you to have another vision?"
"A vision?"
"Yes. Sometimes you have these visions…like…nightmares without going to sleep."
"And you want me to have one?" She asked skeptically.
"You'll just pretend to."
"O-okay." She was still a bit unsure of the idea.
X
A scream echoed through Hogwarts. Draco inwardly applauded Merlyonne Blaire's brilliant screaming abilities. Professors and students rushed out to see what all the commotion was about.
He dropped next to Usagi who was twisting in "pain" on the floor. "Usagi!" He cried. "Usa!" His hands gripped her shoulders tightly. "Come- on, Usa." They were waiting for Dumbledore to show up, before ending it.
Parkinson kneeled on Usagi's other side. She managed to bring tears to her eyes. "You know it's not real, Usa. You can fight it."
Their charade went on for about a minute before Usagi's body jerked up. "Really, Usa-chan, you should know better than to mock me."
Usagi grasped Draco's arm. "It hurts." She managed to whisper. "It…really hurts…"
Pansy heard her, and she gasped. She looked to Draco. His eyes were filled with horror.
"Usagi..." He muttered.
"Come-on, Usagi! You can do it!" Pansy encouraged the tortured blonde.
Usagi screamed. "Aw...poor, Usagi-chan. But this all really your fault. You should know better. I can't let you disrespect me, now can I." It was more of a statement than a question.
Fat tear drops rolled down her face. "Help me, Dra-chan!" She yelled. Her tormented screams filled he hall. "Help me!"
The figure again yelled. "Cucio."
Usagi's body jerked up. "Usagi!" Draco yelled. "It's not real."
"She can't understand you!" Pansy reminded him.
"It's not real, Usa. Try to think of something else. Like…like the time when we were little and we were playing hide and seek and you couldn't find me and you gave up. But I didn't know that and I stayed in the closet the whole day feeling smug because I thought I was the best hider in the world. And it wasn't until Father came looking for me that I came out. Remember the time Mother baked a cake for one of her friends and we stole it and ate the whole thing by ourselves and we were not allowed to have any sweets for days, but then Mother forgave us after only two days and we ended up with cookies? Remember when we got married, Usa? I thought you looked so beautiful in your wedding gown. And for a while I forgot we were being forced to get married. And all I could think about, Usa, was how beautiful you looked. How about our lessons? Do you remember the lessons we had together, 'Sagi? How we would trick and fool the tutors and send them home practically crying. He gave a weak laugh. "Try to remember, Usa. Try!"
Usagi's screams eased, and he thought it was over. A sudden whip of air went across her stomach and blood trickled out. Draco looked at it disbelievingly. He yanked open her already torn robes and pulled up her blouse. He stared at the large gash that started at her waist and stopped above her belly button. Blood flowed from the wound. It was real. It was no longer just mental. The bastard was going to pay. The professors and the students were petrified. None of them made a move to help or otherwise. Even Parkinson was horror-stricken.
"Don't worry, Usa. I'm coming. I'll help you." He pulled out his wand.
"What are you doing, Draco?" Pansy got her voice back.
"I'm going to help her." He pointed his wand at himself and spoke a foreign word. His wand then dropped to the floor, but he wasn't finished. He tried to block out Usagi's screams. He needed to concentrate. He began to mumble words unknown. His hands glowed and he felt as though his soul was being pulled from his body. Only one person was able to catch the last word he spoke. "…amáre."
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"Headmaster…" He could hear McGonagall say.
"No, Minerva. We can't interrupt them." Old coot.
He, Draco Malfoy was floating. He hoped he got the spell right. He only did once before in his entire life and this was a particularly hard spell. He smirked. Of course he got it right, he assured himself. He was a master of the Dark Arts. His smirk disappeared, only to be replaced by a frown. 'How did he hurt her? How?' Draco looked around. 'Where am I?"
This couldn't be Usagi's mind. It was blank, with no images and no sounds except for her screams. How could this be? He remembered her face and the blood. 'Way to go, Malfoy.' He thought with bitter sarcasm. 'Bloody brilliant idea.'
"Dra-chan!"
"Usagi, where are you?" He yelled.
"Dra-chan!"
He ran towards the sound of her voice. 'Usagi, where are you?' He thought frantically. 'Usagi!' Draco Malfoy ran as he had never run before. With every step, his body weakened and his spirit became stronger. With every step, Usagi's cries got louder and he knew he was getting closer. Her mind got darker with every step and so did his vision. His breath quickened and his heart raced with each step he took. But that didn't matter. He had to help her. He had to save his bunny rabbit.
"Dra-chan!" Her voice terrified him. But he wouldn't give up. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoys protected what was theirs. Besides, they were counting on him.
Flashback
The door opened and Draco stood up. Haruka snorted, "You're to be king? You don't look that strong."
Draco glared. "Don't judge a dragon by its scales."
"Please, Draco-sama please keep our Usa-hime safe."
"We're depending you, Draco-sama. You've got to protect her."
Draco smiled reassuringly at Michiru. "Don't worry. I'm a Malfoy." He stated proudly. "And Malfoys always protect what's theirs."
Draco watched as they walked away, then he looked at Usagi who was lying on his bed, sobbing. Draco walked to her and placed his arms around her in a comforting way. They stayed that way until Usagi fell asleep, and he went to eat dinner.
End of Flashback
He could tell she was close. He could sense it. He could barely see and he wandered if he was blind. He reached in his pocket for his wand. He knew he had everything he carried.
"Lumos." He whispered. But no light came.
"Naw, naw, naw. That won't work." The voice reminded him of Peeves. "Naughty wizard. You shouldn't have come. Now I must punish you, too."
"Like hell you will. Why don't you face me like a man, you coward?"
"Man?" She got rid of the darkness and Draco was surprised to see that the big bad wolf was actually little red riding hood. She leaned in close to Usagi. "He's barking (crazy), isn't he?" The little girl asked her.
"Why, you're only a little girl." Draco sneered. "You're probably not even old enough to tie your shoes."
"I am not a little girl!" Little Red shrieked. "I am a young lady." She was angry. "I'll show you little. Deletrius." She shouted, aiming for him.
Draco managed to dodge, but the spell grazed his shoulder, and that part of his robe was deleted. Draco aimed for the little girl. "Crucio!" He shouted, and she fell.
Usagi had stopped screaming as soon as Draco found her, but at that moment, she started again. "Draco, don't hurt her! She's me!"
Draco stopped the spell, and so did their screaming. "What do you mean she's you!"
"She's my conscience, my mind, I don't know, she's me."
It was Little Red's turn to sneer. "Don't you know who I am, Draco-chan? That's a shame really, considering the fact that you created me."
Draco's expression remained emotionless. "Petrify!"
The girl easily dodged it. "You and your whole bloody family!"
Draco smirked. "You're good."
"Of course. You thought me everything I know, Dra-chan." The next spell she cast hit him and he tried to ignore the pain. It wasn't the cruciatus curse, and for that he was glad. Still, it was an incredibly powerful spell. One that increased the weight of gravity and pushed down him. He hell down and couldn't help the yell that escaped. Draco tried to stand. His breathing was becoming labored. Draco remembered what his father's words.
Flashback
"Crucio." Draco Malfoy immediately hit the floor. He tried to subdue his screams and his father strengthened the curse and the pain became unbearable. "Stop!" Draco commanded. "Please…"
As soon as the spell was terminated, Draco jumped on his father. He pulled the long blond hair angrily, but his father merely laughed and untangled the small hands from his golden locks.
"You cheated!" Draco yelled furiously.
"How did I cheat?" Lucius answered calmly.
"You tickled me and I dropped my wand! That's cheating! This is a duel, not some…tickling match!"
Lucius chuckled. "There is no such thing as a fair fight, Draco. Remember, just focus. The enemy will do his best to disarm you and you must do the same. Embrace the pain and never beg for mercy."
End of Flashback
"Ancile." He shouted and was immedialtely shielded and the spell's effect wore off. "Petrificus!" The spell hit her.
The girl glared. "I can't…move."
"No…really?" Draco responded sarcastically.
X
"Albus," he heard the faint voice of McGonagall. "Will they be alright?"
"I'm not so sure anymore, Minerva," was the Headmaster's response.
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Draco snorted. As if he, a Malfoy would ever be beaten by a little girl. He walked over to the petrified girl. He could see her struggling and he couldn't help the smirk that came to his face. "A duel of the dark arts? Did you really think you could beat me?" He drawled. "I'm a Malfoy- a master in this form of magic."
Little Red smirked. "So am I."
Draco was stunned. Did the girl mean she was so well educated in dark magic? It was impossible to be at such an age, wasn't it? But before he could question her, the little disappeared. Draco hurried to Usagi, who was also petrified. He knew he had to quickly remove the spell before it was drained her of all her energy.
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Draco Malfoy opened his eyes slowly as he tried to place where he was. Flashbacks of what happened all came rushing back to him, and he jumped to his feet. "Usagi!" He searched the room frantically for his wife. "Usagi!"
McGonagall sashayed into the room. "Calm down, Mr. Malfoy, the girl is fine." Her voice was indifferent. "She's in good hands."
"Where is she?"
"With the headmaster." Her gaze softened. "To think..." she shook her head. "Of all the pain that girl has been put through…"
"You know?" Draco managed to voice.
Professor McGonagall's steely gazed returned, and Draco could see a hint of disgust in her eyes. "All of it."