Maria Hanuschak: Draco became less and less despondent over the next few weeks. He grew into more of an adult. The whiney twit had become cool, silent, but calmly mature. He began to resemble Severus in attitude, almost. Severus and I continued work on combining the Icarus and Ashwinder potions. He was far less helpful in creating damaging potions as he was in creating their antidotes. It was finished nonetheless though, this perfect liquid of torturous death. Uncle was very pleased to receive it. I was summoned shortly after giving it to him and arrived in my family's dungeons. There was a girl, no, a young woman chained to the wall.
"She is an Auror," my Uncle said to me. "I thought that you might like to be the first to administer your new concoction."
"Certainly, Uncle," I replied. There was no wasting time this day. He handed me the potion and I walked to her. I noticed there were some others there as well, but I could not identify them. I was in front of her then, this shackled spectacle. She was close in age to me, younger or older I could not tell, but close.
"Read her first," my Uncle commanded me. I pulled her face to mine and looked into her eyes. She knew some basic Occlumency and it worked, for a little bit. Eventually, I smashed through her defenses and saw everything. I was horrified, not at any of the occurrences, but at who I saw. Severus was consorting with Aurors and had been conspiring against the Dark Lord for years.
"What do you see, Maria?" I could not answer him; I would not say it no matter how much I knew I should.
"Maria, what do you see?" Uncle said more forcefully this time.
"I'm sorry, Uncle, I don't know how to describe it," was my reply, which was the truth. I gathered some of her thoughts quickly though, censoring the ones I thought most revealing and setting the vaguest ones up front, "would you read them through me? I believe that may be best for getting all the details." He obliged and we played our former game, except he did not notice my Occlumency. For whatever reason, he had not read this woman's mind himself. He trusted me to do it for him.
"Well, that information has proved somewhat useful. Give her the potion now; she is no longer of any use to us," he said. I took the potion out of my robe's pocket and lifted her head once more.
"Tell him I love him," were her last words.
I knew whom she was speaking of. This werewolf and she had been seeing each other recently, though their history was substantial. I realized then how much the same we were. She was not some heartless killer. She had hopes and dreams and loved ones just like me. I looked her in the eyes and she almost seemed to smile in what was undoubtedly a look of understanding in mine. I raised the vial to her lips and she drank without struggle. A few seconds later she erupted in screaming. Her skin swelled and bubbled, then broke open. Ten minutes later, as the Ashwinder side of the potion worked much quicker in this variation, she began screaming again as flames literally consumed her. She looked at me the entire time. Her eyes and her screams haunt me to this day. That is when I knew that death was not always necessary to accomplish one's cause.
Chief Warlock Greene: You are aware of this woman's identity, correct?
Maria Hanuschak: Yes, I would like to reveal in due course if I may, sir.
Chief Warlock Greene: I will allow it. Proceed.