Feeling like he could vomit, Draco didn't dare hesitate as he practically leapt out of the chair he had been seated in. He was terrified of where this would lead next. Wordlessly, he trailed his father down to the dungeon as his stomach tied itself up in knots. His anxiety was not eased in the slightest as they descended the stairs and his father made no move to turn on the light.
"Now remember Draco," he said, with a hint of something Draco could not identify in his voice, "You said it yourself. They deserve it.
As the lights turned on, four things occurred to Draco simultaneously.
One: there is a mudblood down here.
Two: father intends on torturing her.
Three: father wants me to torture her.
Four: that was excitement in his voice.
Thought five occurred to Draco a few agonizing seconds after his eyes adjusted to the light: I think I'm going to be sick.
Clenching his fists and pressing his mouth into a thin line, Draco tried to ignore the limp witch chained to the wall and the churning of his stomach. With a great deal of effort, he turned his head and stared directly into the cold eyes of Lucius Malfoy.
"Now, Draco, it's not that I don't believe your disgust towards mudbloods, but you know what they say: an unforgivable curse is worth a thousand words."
I don't think any sane wizard in the history of magic has ever uttered such a phrase. Draco just nodded, not trusting his voice.
"Rennervate," Lucius spoke as he simultaneously lifted his wand and pointed it at the girl with a flash of red light.
She awoke slowly, but soon her eyes were alight with terror.
"This abomination," Lucius spat, as if the girl was not staring wide-eyed at the pair, "is being borrowed. I have promised to return her alive, but I am still paying quite the price for her."
Draco just continued to stare at this father.
"Most people say thank you when presented with a gift, Draco."
"Th-thank you, sir."
Lucius glared hard at his son. "Malfoys don't stutter, Draco. It is a sign of weakness. Control yourself."
Almost in a state of shock, all Draco could do was nod again, and his father huffed in annoyance.
"Anyways. I felt that the best way to begin your, shall we saw etiquette training, was to make sure you understood the superiority a pure-blood has. See, watch what happens when you cast crucio on a mudblood."
A flick of Lucius' wand had the girl writhing on the ground. Tortured screams filled the emptiness, and Draco could not even form a coherent thought as he examined the agony etched into every one of the girl's features. Lucius held the spell for about 8 seconds, but did not stop out of pity.
"Now, watch what happens when cast on a pureblood."
Draco didn't even have time to process what Lucius' words meant before the spell hit him. I'm on fire. I'm being electrocuted. Someone's pouring boiling water directly onto my brain. Maybe this is what dying feels like…I hope I am dying. Whatever it takes for this to end. The spell stopped abruptly, and all Draco could do was breathe heavily as he fought the urge to burst into tears and vomit violently at the same time. Slowly pushing himself up, I don't remember falling, Draco regarded his father coldly as his point dawned on him. Although he had bit straight through his lip, he had not screamed. He didn't feel the need to point out to his father that he was only able to accomplish that due to the extensive training sessions they had had over summer break.
"Very good, Draco!" Lucius exclaimed, clearly overjoyed that his son had performed exactly as Lucius had anticipated. "Pure-bloods are stronger than mudbloods. They're pathetic excuses for magical beings. Now, Draco, your turn."
Draco's jaw actually dropped.
"Do it now, Draco, or I will…to you."
What kind of an impossible decision was that? I don't want to torture anyone, no matter their blood type.
"I see. Well if that's how you want to play it…"
The curse hit Draco and he hit the ground with a dull thud. Still making no noise, his mouth was open in a silent scream as he endured the curse for 4 additional seconds.
Pulling Draco roughly to his feet, Lucius gave him the choice again. Draco's mind was too fogged with fatigue to formulate an answer fast enough for his father. This time, however, his father just shoved him roughly into the wall.
"If you're too stupid to realize what needs to be done on your own, please, let me help you."
Before Draco even knew what was going on, a whispered spell hit him.
I can't remember the last time I felt so happy. So carefree. I feel like I am floating and nothing could possibly bring me back down to earth.
Draco allowed the mindless bliss to fill him, none the wiser, when a different voice filled his head: cast the cruciatus curse on that girl.
Draco merely sighed in answer, a slight smile on his lips. He didn't notice the strong resemblance the voice had to his father's. The voice urged on: do it, Draco, cast the cruciatus curse on the filthy mudblood.
Unable to come up with a reason why he shouldn't, Draco pointed his wand at the girl the voice had mentioned and uttered "Crucio!"
The girl began to scream, but Draco was far away from the noise. His head was filled with a blissful humming and he stayed ignorant to her shouts.
Again, Draco, she deserves it.
Well, if you say so. "Crucio!"
This time a spell hit him as well, and as all the mindlessness flooded out of him, Draco was forced to endure the tortured wailing. With dread, he realized that he was the source of her misery. Feeling like the joy he had felt seconds ago was from a past life, Draco abruptly turned away from the girl and begun to vomit. He heard his father chuckle in response to Draco's disgust.
"Now, now, Draco, deep down you wanted to punish her for being a mudblood. Otherwise, you never would have complied to cast the curse."
Too numb to feel rage at his father's words, Draco turned around to face the man, but said nothing in response. His mind was racing, yet he couldn't think of any one thing.
"You have made progress tonight, Draco. In time, I am sure you will disgrace the Malfoy name less and less. Now, clean this up and you're free to spend the night as you wish."
Draco wasn't even aware his father had left until the girl began to stir. She took several ragged breaths before turning her gaze to Draco, defiance shining in her eyes once she noticed the elder Malfoy was no longer there.
"You know," she rasped, voice hoarse from screaming, "I believe it's proper etiquette to learn a girl's name before you torture her."
Draco just stared dumbly. Without his father's chilling stare, he took the chance to examine her. She appeared to be about his age, maybe younger. I suppose the cruciatus curse ages one. Tangled black hair reached her shoulders and brown eyes regarded him just as shrewdly. Her skin was pale, too pale, with freckles littering her features. She couldn't have been more than 5'2".
"I'm Skyler," she offered, pretending he had asked, "and I assume you are Draco?"
Draco normally would have been appalled that someone with her blood status would attempt to converse with him. Given the circumstances, however, this was no normal conversation.
"Yes, I am," he finally said.
She nodded in response, but offered nothing more.
Not able to curb his curiosity, he looked her over once more before asking, "Why are you here?"
"My family owes your father money."
Draco's eyebrows shot up, "your father is selling you to mine?"
Skyler immediately shrugged him off, "it's not so bad."
"You can't actually expect me to believe that."
Dusting herself off, Skyler stood as she regarded Draco coolly; "Oh, right, I forgot you were in the position to give advice here. Having your father cast Unforgivables on you and shove you into walls is just peachy, isn't it?"
Draco whipped out his wand and pointed it between her eyes, "you know nothing; don't mistake my dislike of my father for a tolerance of you."
Draco saw the reality of the situation dawn on Skyler as she slowly backed away from him, chains rustling. He now noticed the slight tremble that shook her whole body and the way her eyes didn't settle on one point for too long. I'm antagonizing a girl I tortured ten minutes ago.
"Look…just forget it. I'm taking things out on you."
Skyler pursed her lips and nodded. Frustrated with the whole situation, Draco had no idea how to proceed. He couldn't be friendly, but he couldn't find it in himself to be rude. Procrastinating speaking again, he turned and summoned the bucket and sponge he had become so familiar with. He conjured soapy water and began scrubbing the floor, aware that brown eyes were following his every move. The only sounds in the dungeon were his scrubbing for several minutes. Eventually, however, Skyler cleared her throat, the silence and distance giving her courage. Draco made no move to acknowledge her.
"You're a wizard, you know," she said to his back, and when he still didn't respond, she continued, "so why are you cleaning by hand?"
Draco stiffened. "You ask a lot of questions for someone chained to a wall." Damnit. What is wrong with me?
To his complete shock, Skyler snorted.
Maybe she was under the cruciatus curse for one second too long. I think she's lost it.
He turned to face her, eyebrow raised in disbelief. She was studying him with a smirk. Something in her face made him feel sympathetic. We both have seen too much shit for our age and have upstanding citizens for fathers, clearly. Draco decided he needed to help her out, to soothe his own conscience, but also didn't want to do something she could exploit him for.
"Has my father fed you yet?"
She shook her head slightly, but said nothing.
Draco called for Tiki and she appeared with a small pop.
"Oh little master Tiki is relieved that youse is alright!"
Something unreadable passed over Skyler's face, so Draco chose to not acknowledge it. "Tiki, would you bring down two sandwiches?"
Tiki squeaked uncomfortably before looking down and admitting, "Master has told Tiki not to be serving the young lady."
"Let's just say they're both for me, alright? Bring down some water too."
Tiki nodded in approval and disappeared as quickly as she appeared. Before Draco had a chance to observe the impact that conversation had had on the girl, she was already opening her mouth to speak.
"Look, Draco, I really appreciate what you're doing but I'm not asking you to risk your father's wrath…especially since we've both been on the receiving end in the last hour."
Draco brushed her concern aside, "you're not asking, so don't apologize. Besides, Tiki won't tell my father, and I'm assuming you won't either?"
The snort was back. "No, Draco, I'd say your secret is safe with me."
Draco nodded slightly, and Tiki reappeared with two sandwiches and a water bottle.
"Thanks, Tiki," Draco said sincerely.
Tiki beamed and popped away, leaving the two alone. Draco handed her a sandwich, and raised the water bottle halfway to his lips before sideyeing her, daring her to protest him drinking straight from the bottle.
"Draco, I am chained to the wall of a family I don't even know, germs are the least of my worries."
Draco smirked slightly, "so if you knew the family you would reevaluate how bad this situation is?"
He raised his eyes to see a smirk of her own form before taking several sips and tossing the water bottle towards her. They ate in silence, although it wasn't awkward, and Draco could not express how thankful he was for that. He finished a few minutes later and turned to put the bucket and sponge in its usual corner. When he turned to face her, his face held none of its earlier amusement.
"I'm warning you; I can't go against my father. I don't look forward to our next meeting down here, but, tell him any of this happened, and I'll deny it all. Even though he does not have the highest opinion of me, you can be sure he will believe me over—"
"A mudblood?" Skyler spat.
"I was going to say a prisoner in his own house," Draco growled, "but have it your way. A mudblood. You would be wise to take this warning seriously; my father is not to be underestimated."
"I think I've seen what he's capable of."
"Funny," Draco said with no sense of humor in his voice whatsoever, "I didn't take you for a fool. You have been here one night only. Don't think he'll let you off so easy next time."
"You call being tortured easy?"
Draco snatched the water bottle from her, which only had a few sips left, before fixing her with his iciest stare. "You have not been within an inch of your life begging him to kill you to spare yourself the pain of continuing. You know nothing."
Draco saw her eyes widen, although she was attempting not to give him a reaction, and felt satisfied that his point had suck in. It's for her own good; if she doesn't have the right expectations he will kill her.
"Got it," Skyler responded stiffly, clearly not wanting to continue the conversation.
Draco nodded slightly before turning to leave, and was halfway up the stairs when he heard her say, "I'm not the weak one. You're the puppet."
Draco froze, and without thinking, sent a hex hurtling over his shoulder. She yelped at the unexpected sting and he could hear the chains rustle as she moved as far away as she could from him. He wanted to feel smug, or even satisfied, but instead he was overwhelmed by a different emotion: disgust. He ran from the basement and towards his room without another thought.
xXx
Draco didn't dare to slow down until he was in his bathroom with the door locked behind him. He felt anxiety tearing his stomach to shreds as his heart beat picked up and a cold sweat appeared on his forehead. He splashed cold water on his face over and over, as if he was trying to wake himself from a dream. I'm not escaping this nightmare so easily. Once he was no longer in danger of hyperventilating, he thought back to what had just happened.
She deserved it. She antagonized me, knowing her situation, knowing I had tortured her not an hour before.
Maybe, a more rational part of him spoke up, she was lashing out because of the helplessness of her situation.
I don't need a lesson in psychology right now. Besides, it's not like I'm in control of the situation either.
She doesn't know that. Besides, you can control how you treat her.
Draco needed an outlet for his frustration before he completely lost control, but as he punched the mirror, he realized that wasn't the right one; hissing immediately as glass rained down. He needed to get his impulsivity under control.
Maybe temporary insanity really is brought on by the Cruciatus Curse.
Don't blame your father for your own stupidity.
Upon realizing he was talking to himself on top of everything else, Draco almost laughed. Not only had his father kidnapped a mudblood to test Unforgiveables on, he had also used Draco, and that same girl had talked to Draco as if they had been friends for years instead of one of them being a chained-up prisoner.
I can't handle this for another second today.
Draco decided he had no major injuries he needed to fix, quickly changed into pajamas, and fell onto his bed. Even though his mind raced with the day's events, his body ached with exhaustion, and quickly beat out his tired mind as sleep overtook him.
A/N: Hi all, I rewrote this a few times (so please excuse any typos) because I felt like I couldn't get it quite right. I'm still not entirely happy, but that's life I suppose. Please let me know what you think :)