Chapter Trigger Warnings:Mentions of torture

Chapter 128:

Waiting

Ariella groaned slightly, shifting. Not to her entire surprise, she was lying on her stomach.

"Careful."

She jerked harder than she meant to in an effort to see the speaker, even though she already knew to whom the voice belonged to.

She blinked, trying to turn over. It took her a moment, but she managed, looking to see Draco sitting against…a dirty brick wall? He was dressed simply in a rumpled night shirt and trousers.

"Where are we?"

"Azkaban. We're awaiting trial."

"So…the Dark Lord is…?"

"Vanquished. Dead. Saint Potter actually did it."

"Then – "

" – we are all awaiting trial. Thank Merlin they at least allowed you to share my cell."

"How did I get here, though?" she continued to inquire, sitting up adjacent him. She noted how though he didn't prevent her from doing so, his eyes sharply followed her stilted movements.

"After the battle, we were allowed to retire to Malfoy Manor, if only for a brief reprieve. I found you collapsed on the floor a few paces away from my room. Do you know what caused it?"

"Now knowing what happened – I believe it was the Dark Lord's death. The breaking of his bond. If you'll remember, I wasn't just bonded through the Dark Mark, but through your father's orders as well."

"Makes sense. It must have overwhelmed you."

"It certainly appears that way. Sir."

"After a few days, we were arrested. Father, and you, and I. Mother is on house arrest, as she doesn't bare the Dark Mark, nor was she as…complicit in most of the Dark Lord's acts.

"We've been here only for a day or so. It should take them at least a month to get through the major funerals and clean up and to sort through who needs trials, the severity of trials. I have a…feeling they'll get to us sooner than later, if only due to our age."

"What about me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dr – Sir, you aren't stupid. Please. What happens to me? I have the Dark Mark, but I'm also your family's property. How does this even work?"

"I doubt even the courts will have a firm answer. They'll have to consult older texts and will probably end up pulling some form of verdict out of their arses."

"I'll be staying here, won't I?"

"We both will. For the foreseeable future."

"Will you punish me?"

"For what? Not reaching my room? You collapsed! Due to the bond, no less. Of course, I'm not going to punish you for that. You obeyed me best you could."

Ariella could feel the bond give way – just a bit. Accept the forgiveness. Draco could feel it, too, though not quite to the same extent.

"Dr – Sir? How – "

" – Draco is fine."

"How will we handle the bond while we're here?"

"Best that we can. There won't be much serving, obviously, not much beyond the very basics, but I'm sure we can come up with something. It's not like we've been in this position before. There's no telling how the bond is going to react to this."

"Would you like for me to request a different cell?" she asked tentatively.

"NO! That isn't what I meant. I simply meant we're stuck in this cramped prison cell and it's going to be an adjustment."

"And your father?"

"Is in a different cell. Not sure how far he is. We're all rather cramped in here."

"I meant how am I to serve him while here?"

"I don't know if he can summon you, since you're both in here at the same time. Unless he does, though, we'll act as if at school: your priority will be me."

"Yes, Sir." She paused, thinking over all she'd been told. "I can't believe I was out for that long."

"That's partially my doing. Your body – or the bond, I can't tell in this case – wasn't reacting well when I found you. I did wake you up briefly to shower, as who knows the next time we'll be clean, and to eat some real food, but your stomach wouldn't tolerate it. Even when awake, you weren't fully…present. Whatever Father and the Dark Lord did when they extended the bond…it's had a large impact. Not to mention…"

"…not to mention? Please just tell me."

"Father punished you for lying to the Dark Lord. I treated you best I could while I still had the comfort and supplies to do so, but mostly just ordered you to remain asleep. It seemed like the best option."

She swallowed hard at that. "And you?"

Draco barked out a laugh. "He was certainly less happy with me than with you, that's for certain."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You did the right thing."

"So what happens now?"

"Now we wait."

The days blurred together. It was monotonous. They were fed by guards twice a day. It wasn't much – just enough to keep them alive. The guards dressed and acted almost like…the Unspeakables did. There was no…humanness about it. The only good thing was the Dementors had yet to return – at least to their wing. Though it didn't much change how…cold Azkaban was.

"Draco? I – I'm sorry, but I – "

" – just say it, Ariella."

"I think one of my cuts is infected."

"Let me see."

He watched as she hiked up one of his old shirts.

Damn it all, but she was right. One of her most recent scars had opened. And they had nothing he could treat it with.

When the guards came for dinner that night, he stopped them, pointing to where Ariella sat, her back to the guards.

"Can we get some medicine? Please? Or at least some extra water?"

Whomever these guards were, they didn't care. Simply thrust the normal bowls at him and walked away. He swallowed his anger best he could and turned back around. Using the rag left for them to "clean" themselves with, he dabbed with their own water bowl best he could at her back. She still winced.

"There's nothing more I can do."

"What if you ordered the infection away?"

"We could try, but in the past, those types of instructions haven't worked. Not on these scars, anyway. The same reason I can order you not to die, but it will only work for certain things."

She nodded.

"Lie down. They'll probably hurt less," he suggested, helping her to do so in the most comfortable way – especially considering their limited space. "And it wasn't a bad idea. It's hard to know what the bond will allow us to order away or not."

"Thank you." She paused, if only for a moment, folding her arms under her head, feeling bad about the amount of space her lying flat took up. "Why are they allowing us to share a cell anyway?"

"I figure it's because no one – even us, let alone those outside of it – actually know too much about the bond, given how out of use it is. Not to mention, Azkaban is fairly full right now given all that's happened. I'm sure they were only too happy to throw two of us in here in one cell."

"Wouldn't they suspect us of planning something?"

"I'm not going to question it, Ariella. We got lucky. Let's not push it."

So just a quick note – I'm sure a lot of you are noticing that we're at the end of the school years. I have every intention of continuing this story into their adult lives. (I even have several chapters drafted out already.) I hope you will continue with me.