Written for the Defense Against the Dark Arts, at Hogwarts.
Task: Write about someone using the Crutiatus Curse and why he/she does it. Please try to also focus on their thoughts and emotions while casting the curse.
Extra prompt: (word) Twilight
WC: 802
A/N: There's one sentence that made me laugh out loud. Twilight, Bella... You'll see HAHAHA.
I don't own HP *sighs*.
He watches as his aunt cast the curse.
"CRUCIATUS!"
The muggle before them falls to the ground, screaming in pain.
"See, boy?" She smirks, never taking her eyes off her prey. "This is how you use Crucio. You need to feel magic, you need to want to hurt the other person."
His grey blue eyes looks mesmerized at the sight before him. The muggle, who's not that much older than him, screams in pain, with blood coming out of his mouth.
They are behind an alley. The streets are empty because the Ministry declared that they were no longer safe, now that the Death Eaters have escaped from Azkaban.
Now, as he watches how Bella is torturing the boy, he can't help but think that they are right.
"Draco? Are you even paying attention to me?"
She slaps his arm, hard, and sees when he flinches.
"You need to toughen up your act, dear nephew." She stops the curse, letting the poor boy breathe. "Otherwise you won't survive in this world."
He directs his gaze to her.
His aunt is not the woman she used to be. She's still a beautiful woman. But the years that she stayed inside that prison took its tool on her. She looks old. Before, she had those crazy but calculating eyes. Now, just by looking at them, they are still as crazy and calculating as ever. However, one can tell that she has seen too much already.
He's taller than her but that doesn't make her any less intimidating.
"Are you ready to try?" She asks with a cold voice.
He looks at the struggling boy at his feet.
Feeling the magic running through his veins, he says, "Crucio!"
Some red sparkles leaves his wand, but not enough.
His aunt scoffs behind him. "You need to want to hurt him. That's the secret behind this spell. It's not about how strong you are, but how much you're willing to hurt the victim."
She walks in front of him and, with a devious smirk, she says, "Crucio!"
The boy screams again, louder this time.
"His body is already damaged from the first time, so it's more painful now."
Draco holds his wand with more force than necessary. When she stops, he tries again.
"Crucio!"
Again, nothing happens.
In the twilight, Bella decides to end their practice.
"I'm tired," she says, putting her hand over Draco's shoulder. It startles him because it's the first time her aunt did something so... caring, "let's end this and return. We can try again tomorrow."
He slumps his shoulders as she kills the boy.
"When you're ready, you'll be able to perform this magic. You'll feel the power running through your veins, knowing that you're capable to hurt someone so much. But that's a lesson for another day. Come, otherwise Cissa will kill me for leaving you out here at night."
They walk towards the apparition spot, never once looking back.
x
It's years later when it happens.
The war is almost over. He switched sides when he realized that he'd gain nothing by remaining at Voldemort's side and, even though he had a change of heart, he's still a Malfoy and he has his best interests at heart.
He helps Hermione to sit. She had been captured during an ambush and he came, along the others, to rescue her.
They started something soon after he joined her side. He's not ready to call it love, but he knows that he's close to it.
Especially when he saw Bellatrix torturing her.
"My my, look at you, dear nephew!"
Her voice is rough and she has blood coming out of her mouth. He surprised her when he entered the dungeons that Hermione was being held captive and disarmed her, casting one of the many curses that he learned when he was a Death Eater.
He's much taller now. Almost two heads taller than his aunt. He's bulkier and his blue-grey eyes are more cold, more detached. He lived through hell and he survived, but not without some scars.
"I guess you're ready, eh?"
He knows what she's talking about. It makes him sick, to see that she's smiling even though she knows what he'll do to her.
He raises his arm and he can almost hear his heart thumping loud on his chest. He can feel the magic running through his veins. The blood boiling beneath his skin.
When he's ready, his heartbeat slowdown. It's not like how she said it would be. He remembers her saying that he'd feel powerful, but the only thing that he feels is sorrow. Not regret. Never regret.
His voice is collected and low, when he says, "Cruciatus."
She squirms under his spell and, as he hears her laughter, he wonders if that's what she wanted all along.
Reviews are appreciated.