A/N: A nice long chapter in which the plot becomes apparent. Firstly though, an apology, I know Carina does seem very…Mary-Sue-ish. There is no excuse for this but at the moment she is really only a concept. When she becomes a major character she will have a personality. Promise.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except Carina and Lucius's extensive range of hair care products.
Chapter 7: Not The Only Prisoner
The dining room was set with two tables. One for the adults and one for the children. Usually Lucius and Narcissa sat with the adults, but today the children's table was laid with three extra places.
Sirius sat down opposite his cousins and waited. Five minutes later Lucius still hadn't arrived. 'Honestly,' thought Sirius in irritation wishing that he had stayed upstairs to talk to James, 'James teases me about how long I take to do my hair but he should see how long Malfoy…' Then Lucius entered, dragging an indescribably beautiful girl behind him.
She had long blond hair and fathomless aqua-marine eyes. Her form was sight and curvy, she seemed only a little younger than Sirius's fourteen years and although Sirius had been staying with the Malfoy's for a week now he had never seen her before.
'How do guys like him get girls like that?' thought Sirius. But as his brain kicked in this though was followed by, 'Isn't he with Narcissa anyway? And she's far too young for him. What's going on?'
Looking up again he noticed that she was struggling like a wildcat to get away. He mastered the impulse to get up and help her as Bellatrix let out a high pitched giggle, he was brave, not stupid, and he knew that this was a fight that he couldn't win. Angling his head slightly to the right, he noticed that she was being held by a binding spell, it left electric blue traces of magic at her wrists.
Her eyes were wide; she was combating both fear and anger. For a moment Sirius was impressed with her control, nothing was exploding at any rate. Then the truth slowly dawned on him, she was a muggle. 'Why would the Malfoy's hold a muggle girl prisoner?' he wondered with a sinking feeling.
Dinner was nightmare as he sat, alive with curiosity. At last the others left (Lucius and the girls to redo their hair, Regulus because wherever Bellatrix went he was sure to follow and Snape to wash his hands) and Sirius was alone with the vision. He leaned over and touched her lightly on the arm.
"Hey, what's your name?"
She regarded him for a long moment but found nothing hostile in his deep brown eyes.
"Carina."
Sirius nodded and the pair lapsed into silence for a moment. Sirius remembering how Lucius had taunted her with the admittedly delicious food and permitted her to eat nothing. He wanted to ask why she was here but he didn't want to upset her and there could be no good reason behind a muggle kidnapping.
"He…he…the blond boy…he said…" she began; her voice had the chocked quality of someone who had been crying.
"Yes?" prompted Sirius.
"He said that they were going to have some fun. He said I'd wish I'd been left in my cell by the end of it."
"He's a git," said Sirius idly, chancing a glance at the adult table to see if anyone had noticed the pair talking.
Looking back at her he realised that she was looking for reassurance, from him. He felt a swell of affection towards her, an upsurge of tenderness. He wanted to help her, wanted to be her knight-in-shining-armour. He reached across the table and took hold of her hand, flicking his eyes sideways at the adults once more.
When he was sure that they were not being observed he said, "I will protect you no matter what…I swear."
He saw her eyes shining with faith in him and dropped her hand quickly as Lucius re-entered the room. Now all he needed was a plan to prove that her faith was rightly placed.
He replaced his look of intense concentration with one of haughty boredom, looking for all the world as though he had been left on his own.
"So Black," said Lucius, smiling mockingly as he resumed his seat, "up for a spot of muggle torture?"
A/N: Nice long chapter and (hopefully) I'll update next weekend but my ability to type all hinges on numbers of reviews so go on, push that little blue button.
