Chapter 26. Crucio
"M-my Lord," Lucius stammered, he swallowed hard as he took in the scene before him.
"You never informed me she had awoken Lucius." The Dark Lord tutted. "Instead… I had to hear of it from a revolting house elf,"
"I apologise my lord, it was my doing, I wanted to check myself that the girl was sound of mind from her extended sleep, before we brought her to you," Severus explained confidently, taking the blame. Lucius looked to his old friend, thanking him with his eyes as the two stepped closer to their master.
"She is quite sound of mind, aren't you dear?" Voldemort cooed into the girl's ear, sending repulsive shivers down her spine. The blonde little hairs on her arms and legs stood on end, fear pulsed through her entire body. "Respond to your Lord, girl," Voldemort hissed as he tugged at her hair roughly, earning a small yelp and whimper.
"Y-yes sir," She choked with her eyes squeezed shut, she clutched at her chest, the pain growing second by second.
"My Lord," Voldemort corrected darkly.
"Y-yes, m-my Lord," Astrid wept.
"Quite the obedient little thing…" Voldemort breathed as he moved his hand from her hair to her jaw, tracing it softly with his finger. "And her beauty… is unmatched… I see why you took such a liking to her Lucius,"
"P-please my Lord, please don't hurt her… the child…" Lucius pleaded with a gulp.
"Ah yes the child…" Voldemort sighed, he ran his hand lightly over Astrids thigh, tracing his long fingers up to her stomach where he caressed the silk nightgown with his lily-white fingertips. "You never informed me of this either, Lucius."
"With respect my Lord, I only found out upon seeing her at the ministry,"
"TWO WEEKS PASSED!" Voldemort bellowed, his hollow voice startling the frightened young woman on his lap, she let out a squeak and a whimper at the sudden outburst. "You have had plenty of time to inform me of this… development."
"My apologies my Lord," Lucius breathed, lowering his gaze.
"Your pure blood child is safe… for now Lucius. Now… to the task at hand…" Voldemort wheezed, his hand roughly gripped Astrid's chin and forced her head around to face him. "What information did you relay to your associates, girl?" Astrid kept her eyes closed as she tried to shake her head no.
"N-nothing," She cried. Voldemort gave her chin a sharp squeeze, to remind her of her manners. "My Lord."
"Nothing? You expect me to believe… you gave them nothing?" The Dark Lord mocked. Astrid's heart thumped in her chest, each beat stabbing her over and over again.
"I f-found nothing… my Lord," Astrid whimpered. Closing his serpent-like eyes Voldemort decided to look into the girl's mind, wandlessly and without a word he entered, but found himself tightly closed off.
"She is… skilled in the art of Occlumency," The Dark Lord sneered.
"Yes, My Lord, given who her father is it was to be expected… I already tried to extract information from her mind before…." Snape uttered, his face void of emotion. The Dark Lord decided to test the young professor's candour, since he had no way of peering into the truths inside her head. Releasing her face he reached into his robe for his wand, pulling it out sharply he pressed it into her throat.
"What did you tell them?" Voldemort's voice slithered, it then turned to a bone-curdling shout. "TELL ME!"
"Department of Mysteries," Astrid choked, "I told them you were interested in the Department of Mysteries, but that is all, I p-promise… my lord,"
"And how did you come about this information, from which…. Of my death eaters?" Voldemort hissed as he eyed Severus and Lucius darkly. Astrid swallowed hard; her eyes too fell on the two men opposite them.
"I… I,"
"Spit it out girl!" Voldemort sneered.
"I found a note… in Snape's desk," Astrid cried, fresh tears streaming her face. Voldemort didn't react the way she expected him to: he laughed. A throaty cackle escaped his monstrous mouth as he lowered his wand.
"You've been sloppy Severus…" the Dark Lord sighed, "crucio!"
Voldemort stabbed his wand towards the potion master, who instantly dropped to the floor, his body searing with pain. Severus gritted his teeth, determined not to yell out, as he lost control of his limbs, his entire body shaking and trembling with intense pain.
"S-stop please," Astrid cried, pressing her hand gently against the Dark Lord's chest, to his surprise, her eyes looked up at the hideous face of her captor, pleading with him. "Please stop… my lord."
To her own surprise, the Dark Lord did. Severus's body suddenly fell limp.
"Since you asked… so politely," The Dark Lord's hiss was almost like a purr.
After a moments silence Severus regained mobility, pushing himself from the ground, his hair and robes dishevelled, he stood and returned to Lucius' side, hands clasped together as if nothing had happened. Astrid's rapid heart beat began to relax as the tension in the room dropped somewhat.
"Tell me girl, do either of these men give me reason to question their loyalty?" Voldemort queried as he adjusted Astrid on his lap, pulling her into his chest.
"No, my Lord," She whispered against his faded black robes, her tears dampening the fabric. "They are undoubtedly loyal,"
"And what about you, dear Astrid, will you be… undoubtedly loyal?" Voldemort cooed. Astrid hated herself as she went to answer, the words that fell out of her mouth were foreign to her.
"Yes, my lord," she tried her best to sound confident in those words, but her voice came out as barely a whisper. Voldemort pressed his cheek against the top of her head, stroking the bare skin on her back he turned and murmured against her, his cold lips against her forehead sent a shiver down her body.
"Why don't you prove it?"
Astrid's eyes widened at his words; she knew they came with horrific implications. Voldemort found his way to her ear and nestling into her soft blonde hair he whispered into her ear…
"Cast the cruciatus curse… on Lucius," He ordered. Astrid whimpered at his request, she wanted to refuse, but she knew it would be suicide to do so, so she decided to make excuses instead.
"I-I've never done that… spell before… my lord" She stammered, Voldemort simply chuckled against her ear, before his voice turned dark, and low.
"I will help you,"
"My wand is broken my lord," She pleaded, her heart pounding painfully, she could barely breathe. Voldemort adjusted her, sitting them both more forward in the throne, he faced her towards the two men, wrapping his long slender arms around her. he took her right hand in his, his palm enveloping the back of her hand. His other hand then forcefully thrust his wand into her open palm, he forced her to wrap her fingers around the bone like handle.
"Say it," Voldemort ordered into her ear. Astrid closed her eyes, she couldn't. "Say it," He ordered again.
"I can't," She whimpered weakly.
"Of course you can, look at him, that man impregnated you, then abandoned you… he hurt you… killed your dear friend… he deserves to be punished," Voldemort tutted. "Now say it!" he ordered harshly.
Lucius sad eyes stared at his beloved, his chest rising and falling deeply as he prepared himself for the pain to come. He was no stranger to it. Astrid peaked through blurry, teary eyes to spy Lucius nodding at her.
"Do it, Astrid," Lucius inclined sadly.
"Crucio," Astrid whispered, the Dark Lord jerked her hand, taking control he flicked and jabbed it towards Lucius. The spell caught her beloved, causing him to drop to the floor just as Severus did, his cane clattering to the ground, his body shaking and jerking uncontrollably. Astrid tried to pull her hand away, to break the curse, but the Dark Lord would not permit her, he held her hand tightly, pointing it down to the man who groaned and shook on the floor.
"Enough, please," Astrid pleaded as it seemed like Lucius was under the effects of the curse for an age. The Dark Lords hold tightened further. "Please," She begged again, her voice barely a pant as she felt as if her heart was exploding in her chest. The Dark Lord sensed her pain, her overwhelming distress and released the spell.
Astrid choked a sigh of relief as Voldemort pulled his wand from her clutches, loosening his hold on her as he did, she took the opportunity to push herself from his lap. Voldemort had the opportunity to stop her, to grab her, pull her back to him, but he let her go, watched as she raced over to Lucius, who now struggled to push himself up from the cold hard floor.
Dropping to her knees beside him she helped him into a seated position, pulling him up by his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. He gripped her back, wrapping one arm around her back, the other running over her wet cheek into her hair. He pulled her close, nestling her face into his neck. His body ached, but he found the strength to pull her into his lap, hushing her.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry, I -didn't want to," She choked on her tears. He brushed down her hair placing soft kisses a top her head.
"I know… I know," His voice scratched in his throat.
"How… sweet," Voldemort mocked in a disgusted tone, he leant back in his throne, watching the love birds before him with his lips curled into a snarl. "You're lucky Lucius, if she had not been so… obedient, I hate to imagine… what would have been,"
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius nodded as he squeezed the trembling girl in his arms.
"Go now… I'm bored of… this," Voldemort waved vaguely towards Lucius and Astrid with a roll of his eyes. Lucius and Astrid raised to their feet, supporting each other they weakly retreated to the staircase, Snape turned to follow suit, however he was stopped in his tracks by his master's call.
"Not you, Severus…you will stay… I have much to discuss with you…"
Sorry, just a small update today, I'm currently away for a few days so expect a bigger update towards the end of the week, hope you're enjoying the story so far, please leave a review and let me know what you think!