Chapter 127:

Forest Interactions

Ariella shakily stood, donning the dark robe thrown at her.

"You will remain silent unless instructed to speak. Am I understood, girl?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied, moving to stand behind her master. She could see Voldemort's gaze follow her and barely contained a shudder.

She glanced around quickly – noting most Death Eaters were present, though not all. She could see poor Hagrid having been hexed into chains not too far away. She felt bad for her former professor.

Ariella knew Harry would come. It was just a matter of time. They may have grown apart, but they were still friends…she hoped…at least to some degree. And he would come. Especially if it meant saving everyone else. So she stood, waiting, pulling the robe closer around her as the air chilled, while trying to call as little attention to herself as possible.

It went well until she had to muffle a scream, clapping a hand over her robed arm. She saw Mr. Malfoy shoot her a filthy look.

"Your son is in trouble, Sir. Please may I go to him?"

"No. You are to stay right here. I don't trust you not to disappear. Draco can take care of himself."

She could feel the burning intensify. He was in danger. Severe danger. Even given the battle. But due to Mr. Malfoy's order forbidding her to go to Draco's aide, she had to ignore her younger master's – or the bond's – request for help. Ariella fell to her knees. The bond was at war with itself.

It – the summons at least – vanished. Only for a different request to come through not a minute later. Her hand hadn't moved much. All she had to do was slip it under the robe to the bond mark.

Next moment, those around her startled – Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy included – as Draco appeared. It was good she was already on the ground – she would have had to kneel otherwise.

"Sir, are you – "

"Not now," he replied, his tone hoarse and sharp. She swallowed hard and nodded as he greeted his parents, aunt, and the Dark Lord, before standing stock still next to her. As subtly as he could, Draco held out a hand to her, allowing his servant to use his hand to hoist herself back to her feet.

One of the men questioned Voldemort. Saying he must be wrong about Potter coming to the rescue. Beside her, even given everything, Draco couldn't quite contain his snort of disbelief. Clearly, they didn't know anything about Potter.

"You weren't wrong," a strong voice said from across the clearing. All heads looked as Harry took off the invisibility cloak. She wasn't fully surprised when he did nothing as the Dark Lord raised his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Her eyes widened as the force of the spell seemed to not only hit Harry, but…almost backfire, knocking the Dark Lord backwards as well.

She watched as Bellatrix rushed over to him. Ariella didn't dare move. Neither did the Dark Lord. At least at first. Then he began to stir, brushing off people.

"Girl."

She found multiple wands pointed at her.

"Check the body."

Slowly, Ariella made her way over to Harry's still body, kneeling. She put her fingers to the side of his neck (granted, not exactly where a heartbeat could be felt. Just close enough). She could feel the coldness of the air against his body. Without thinking too much about it, she looked at the Dark Lord's feet and replied,

"You succeeded, Sir. I don't feel his heartbeat."

For once, she was grateful that they could detect if she lied. It meant no one was questioning her now. Even if she could tell some of them wanted to. Yet, even still…

"Draco, check him. Just to be sure your little slave isn't purposely avoiding the task."

Draco came and knelt beside her, paler than usual. Without looking at her, he simply replied, "As she is forced to, she told the truth."

Ariella thought his choice of words was odd, but still…perhaps it was once less punishment they would gain. The teens stood aside as Voldemort began playing with Harry's body.

Wands remained pointed at her but he ordered a chained Hagrid to lift his body up. Harry dangled in his arms. She trudged behind the dark procession back towards the castle, pulling the cloak closer to her body. Especially as they approached where the Dementors patrolled.

As subtly as he could, Draco glanced back to her, trying to check in. even in this…mess. As they arrived in the courtyard, she could hear exclamations of protest. No one wanted to believe it. She didn't want to believe it.

Ariella watched without processing what was happening before her in the courtyard. Neville had stepped forward, challenging Voldemort directly.

Good for him.

"I don't want you here for this," a voice whispered in her ear. Except…it wasn't quite in her ear. More like her mind. She glanced down to see Draco was gripping her arm, his fingers slipped into the robe's cutout and placed over his name-mark. Otherwise, he faced forward, observing as all others did, a grim mask back in place.

As subtly as she could, Ariella shook her head. His grip tightened.

"You're already in more danger than most. When the fighting starts again, the bond will send you back to the Manor. Wait in my room."

"If you're in trouble, it will just send me back."

"You don't stand a chance, Ariella. You can't harm anyone without consequences. My order stands."

She swallowed hard. She didn't know either of those things was possible. That he could speak to her like this – though it made sense, in a way. More importantly, she didn't realise she could just be…sent somewhere without being summoned. At least through the bond's form of transportation.

Sure enough, within minutes, she felt the bond tugging at her, whisking her away from the battle. Despite knowing it was coming, she screamed, landing hard on the parlour floor.

She wished it would have just taken her to Draco's room. As is, she trecked up there, feeling the bond flaring up. She knew he was in danger – knew all three Malfoys were. And there wasn't anything she could do to help.

She was stuck. Terrified. But she knew Draco was right – she stood less of a chance than most of the others. She couldn't harm most others without consequence.

Ariella was able to make it to the floor of Draco's room, to two doors down from his, when her arm burned as it never had before. It felt as though her arm were on fire. It wasn't a summons or request – not as far as she could tell. But what it was, that she couldn't identify. It was all consuming and the only thing Ariella could tell was something at the battle she'd been forced away from had happened. Something big.