She's in her rooms with her hands on her hips glaring at Tom. He's locked her away in the room again and hasn't allowed her to come out. Not even to eat with him.
"Why have you done this to me!" she yells. Frustration over her situation getting the better of her.
"Do not raise your voice to me." He hisses while staring her down.
"You made my family believe I was dead." She says softly so she doesn't anger him more. "and now they're dead. I want to know why. Do you hate me that much?"
He doesn't say anything to her.
"Tell me why."
"Because I could." And he leaves with a slam of the door. She hears it lock.
X
She's given up fighting him. He won't answer any of her questions. She's asked him multiple times about the locket around her neck, about why he did this to her, about the bonding ritual but every time she asks she gets the same answer. 'If I wanted you to know something, I would tell you.' He always says in his snide voice. She thinks about leaving sometimes, but where would she go? Everyone she's loved is dead and he is all she has from her old life. He probably likes it that way.
It's been two weeks since the ritual and she has barely seen him. He only comes to her room at night to take her. It doesn't hurt her anymore; actually she's begun to enjoy it. Just last night he hit a place inside of her causing her to scream out as a feeling rushed through her that she's never felt before. Tom was very smug after that.
He never stays though; he gets up, dresses and then leaves her alone on the bed. It makes her feel worse then she does before he does anything. She's read stories of men and woman who make love and then hold each other all night, tonight she's going to ask him to stay. After all, she is still a seventeen year old girl, even after all this time.
She's sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair when he comes in.
"Isabel." He greets her as he closes the door. He walks up behind her and moves some hair from her shoulder, placing a kiss there. "Did you miss me?"
"Yes." She says and has to resist rolling her eyes. She said no once, and that wasn't fun. She doesn't want to relive that experience.
"I thought so." He says as he smirks at her reflection. He takes the brush out of her hand and makes her stand up. He kisses her neck as he removes the dress from her body. "Undress me." He commands as he walks them back to the bed.
When they were teenagers she could handle him, but now he's older and more ruthless. It can't be easy, he's lived all those years but to her it's only been a few weeks since the 1943 dance. She feels totally out of control like she's living in a nightmare and there's no one there to wake her up. So she does what he says.
She starts unbuttoning his black shirt and when his chest is visible she places a hesitant kiss there. She looks up at his nervously, unsure of her actions. He smiles at her, a smile that could be considered warm if it wasn't coming from him. Once divested of his clothes he lays down on the bed pulling her on top of him.
"We're trying something new." He says as he places his hands on her hips and helps her lower herself on him. She puts her hands on his shoulders and doesn't move. He thrust his hips up and she gasps. "Do you like me being inside of you?" he asks. She cringes at his crude behavior. He used to be a gentleman.
She doesn't respond to his question and the hands on her hips tighten as he moves her up and down. Eventually she picks up on the rhythm and does it herself with her eyes slammed shut. She starts moving faster enjoying the friction. Trying to forget what's happened and the terrible thing she's doing… and who she's doing it with.
"Do you like this?" he asks her. "Do you like riding me?" when she doesn't answer he digs his finger nails into her sides making her whimper.
"Y-Yes." She mutters breathlessly as his hips move to match her movements.
"Yes what?" he says as he leans up and claims her mouth.
"Yes, My Lord." She doesn't want to say it but he'll make her if she doesn't.
He flips them so he's on top and starts barreling into her. She has to hold on to the railings on the bed so she doesn't hit the head board. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this." He growls out between thrusts.
When's he's finished, he rolls off of her and collects himself. He then sits up at the edge of the bed and starts putting his pants back on. She wants to get in his good graces. Maybe things will be easier.
She comes up behind him and touches his back. "Don't go." She says softly. He stops moving and looks over his shoulder at her with one dark eyebrow raised. "Stay here tonight, please?"
He eyes her for a few moments like she's hiding something and then he stands up. He buckles his pants and puts his shirt back on. Bending down, he grabs her chin placing a light kiss on her mouth.
"Your door will be unlocked tomorrow." He says and then leaves.
X
The house-elf showed her around the next day. The castle once belonged to Salazar Slytherin and Tom had taken it from whatever poor family owned it before. She shivers when she thinks about what he probably did to them. She's allowed to go anywhere but Tom's study and the dungeons. She doesn't mind though, she's just happy to be out of the room. It was starting to feel like a prison. A feeling of guilt rushes through her since she knows that Ginny, her brother, and Molly are locked away in an actual prison.
She opens to thick double doors that lead into the library and smiles as her eyes skim the rows of books. It will be much easier to pass the time with a good story. She grabs a book and sits down on one of the chairs facing the roaring fire. Her mind begins to wonder to the Weasley's… maybe she could convince Tom to let them go. It was her fault they're there after all.
She takes off her shoes and turns her body so they're dangling over the arm of the chair. The heat from the fire and the lights dimming from the setting sun make her drowsy and she doses off. Tom finds her this way.
He stares down at her sleeping form, deciding what he wants to do. She looks exactly the way he remembered her from so long ago. She's wearing a simple red dress that brings out the soft pinks in her pale skin and her red hair shines as the light from the fire reflects off of it. That's the same hair that first attracted her to him in the first place.
Her bright hair caught his eye when he was eleven, boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time. He dropped something and she turned to pick it up, her light blue eyes dancing as she smiled at him. Even at a young age he knew that that was what a real witch should look like and the need to possess her ripped through him. He never felt anything for anyone until that day.
She was a stubborn, beautiful Gryffindor and the only person who could get better grades then him in school work. He wanted her immediately. Her smiles would fill up the Great Hall and when he learned that she was from one of the most prominent pureblood families he knew he had to have her. She was perfect for him and his cause. If only she would have listened to him.
He tried to be good to her, he tried to be patient but he had big plans and ideas that she didn't understand. If she only would have behaved then none of this would have happened in the first place. When she first broke it off with him he wanted to kill her, but he decided to give her time to come to her senses. Something he would never do for anyone else. That all crumbled when she started seeing a mudblood and he wouldn't have any of that. How could she want any one else but him? She was his, why couldn't she see that?
She makes a little noise causing Tom to pull back from his thoughts and look down at her again. He brings his hand down and runs his fingers along the bottom of her foot. She wakes at the contact. When she sees him staring down at her she twirls her body so she sitting right in the chair.
"We're having dinner at eight." He says coldly. He knows no other way to be, especially around her. A part of him resents her for the hold she has over him.
She rubs her eyes to rid them of sleep. "What time is it now?"
"It's seven. I expect you to be ready and in the dining hall by a quarter till. Is that understood?"
She doesn't look at him as she answers. "Yes, I understand."
With a swirl of his dark robes he leaves and Isabel lets out a sigh of relief.
X
There is a dark blue, silk gown lying on her bed when she enters. She looks at it questionably for a few moments before she picks it up and runs the smooth fabric through her fingers. She's never had to dress up for meals so she wonders why tonight is any different.
Shrugging her shoulders she changes out of her other clothes and slips on the beautiful dress. It feels wonderful against her skin so she goes to the mirror to look at her self. It's formfitting and drops down to her ankles, with thin straps and a modestly cut front. She turns around to see that her back is totally exposed. She worries her lip between her teeth wondering if that is too much skin to show. A house-elf pops into the room and makes her put on high heel shoes of the same color and quickly does up her hair and make up.
As the house-elf is ushering her out of the room she chances a look at the clock. She has two minutes to make to the dining hall before she's late. Wanting to give him no reason to punish her, she takes off her shoes and holds them as she runs down the hall way. She lifts up her dress as she makes her way down the stairs but nearly trips on the rug at the bottom. She rights her self and makes it in front of the doors before the minute hand ticks to seven forty five. She puts on her shoes and smoothes out her dress before she takes a deep breath and opens the door.
Her heart stops when she sees that it's not only Tom waiting there for her, but a whole table full of people. She stands awkwardly by the door, watching the people with wide eyes as they all stand and look at her expectantly. Toms the only one not standing; he's sitting at the head of the table with a glass of wine in his hand. He's looking at her with amused eyes.
"Were you in a hurry?" he asks and the people at the table snicker. She is now conscience of her red face and her heavy breathing from running the whole way there. She looks to the ground. "Well, are you going to stand there all day or sit down so we can eat?" he snaps.
Her face becomes a darker shade of red as she quickly comes to his side and takes a seat on the empty chair to his right. The other guests follow suit. She chances a glance around the table as the food appears on their plates. Sitting across from her is the woman with black hair who was so mean to her during the night of the bonding ritual. She sneers at Isabel when she sees her looking so she turns her head away. Beside that woman is a man with dark eyes that she finds familiar but she can't place it.
She continues to study the guests until her eyes land on a blond boy about her age who's looking at her with a curious expression on his face. He has pale skin and dark gray eyes that stand out under dark lashes. He's handsome, but not as handsome as Tom. She nearly yelps when she feels a hand squeeze painfully around her thigh. She looks to Tom who's watching her with a cocked head and raised eyebrow. He's jealous, she can tell so she looks back down to her plate and picks up her fork.
She's about to start eating when she remembered that she's supposed to ask permission first. With all of theses people around that would be embarrassing. She looks at Tom again who's drinking from his wine glass. She bites her lower lip and gives him a pleading look but he ignores her. She puts down her fork and sits back in her chair. She's not going to ask in front of all these people.
"Are you not hungry, My Lady?" says the dark haired woman. Her voice is full of venom.
Her dark gaze makes Isabel nervous. "Um, well….I…"
"Stop stuttering and answer." She snaps.
Isabel can feel her face turn red as the other guests quiet down to listen. This older woman scares her. "No, I'm not very hungry." She lies in a soft voice and tries to look anywhere but at the mean woman in front of her.
"You dare insult the Dark Lord by coming to his table and not accepting his generosity."
She looks to Tom for help but he seems to be mildly amused by the whole situation.
"N-No, I don't mean it that way." She stutters and wishes that the floor would open up and swallow her.
"In what way do you mean it then?" she demands and tightens her grip around her fork.
"I don't know." She's incapable of coming up with any other answer. She kind of feels like crying. She knows no one in this room besides Tom and he's no help.
"You don't know?" she sneers and leans forward out of her chair. " What a weak little thing you are." She hisses. "Unworthy of the attention of our Lord."
"Bella." Tom's voice is low and cuts through the tension in the room. "I believe it's me who decides who's worthy." He says.
Bella sits back in her chair and smiles at him. "Of course, My Lord. I just don't understand what you see in this little harlot."
Isabel looks around the table and see that some people are smirking at her while others are glaring. She looks at Tom who's merely staring at the other woman with an unreadable expression. She hates him. Why does his take so much pleasure in her pain? Her face burns with embarrassment and unwanted tears are prickling her eyes. Everything is too much to bear so without thinking she gets up from her chair and runs out of the room.
X
She throws herself down on her bed and cries into her pillows. She used to be strong but now she feels like everything is out of her reach and she doesn't know how to handle things. She's about to get up to wash her face when her door slams open and a very angry looking Tom stomps into the room.
"Get up." He barks and she stands as quickly as possible. "Who the fuck do you think you are, leaving like that?"
"I was upset." She answers. "Why did you let that woman treat me so badly? "
"I can do whatever I want." He hisses and takes quick steps towards her causing her to back up until she's against the wall. "and I did not dismiss you."
"I'm sorry." She says weakly as she looks at his shoes.
He laughs a humorless laugh. "Oh, I bet you are. Do you know what happens to naughty little girls who disobey the Dark Lord?" he says darkly.
She can't help the shiver that goes up her spine. She swallows slowly and shakes her head no.
"They get punished." He grabs her hand and throws her against a desk by the window. She watches as he removes the belt from his pants. "Turn around and put your hands on the desk." He demands his voice is stern and leaves no room for argument.
She does so shakily and closes her eyes tight as she feels him lift the bottom of her dress up. She lets out a soft cry as she feels the cold leather of his belt hit her back side. He hits her over and over again until she's sure she won't be able to sit down properly for a month. When he finally stops there's a puddle of tears underneath her and her throat hurts from crying out. He stands her up straight and forces her to look at him.
"Did you learn your lesson, Kitten?"
"Yes," she says, sniffling as she brings her hands up to wipe some tears away.
"Good," he says as he puts his belt back around his pants. "Take a shower and go to bed. I'll be up later and I expect you to be ready for me."
With that he turns on his heal and slams the door, locking it from the outside. Isabel crumbles to the ground and cries until she thinks she has no more tears left. She makes a deal with her self. She isn't going to let Tom get to her anymore and she's going to try to get the Weasleys out of the dungeons. If she can get them out then she can go with them and leave this whole nasty castle behind.
X
She feels him slide into bed beside her so she shuts her eyes quickly and pretends she's asleep. She feels his hand go around her hip and she can't stop the little sob that escapes her mouth.
"I punished her too, Isabel. You should know that." He says referring to the hateful woman from diner.
"Why didn't you stop her?" she asks quietly as his body comes closer to hers.
"You need to learn to fight your own battles." He says as he places a kiss on her neck. "My Death Eaters are harsh and I won't always be around to protect you from them."
"You hurt me." She says barely above a whisper. "You don't have to hurt me to get me to listen to you."
"Do I not?" he asks as he settles himself between her legs and kisses her.
"No, no you don't."
"Then don't disobey me again and don't provoke my temper." He says against her neck and she would roll her eyes if it wasn't so serious.
She closes her eyes and lets him do what he wants with her body. That night he stays.
X