I Can't Say Goodbye.
Chapter 5. Broken Weapon
'There always seemed to be tension between Hermione and the Malfoy family, no matter what Malfoy it was. She seemed to get along with everyone, except for them. They always called her a, uh, Mudblood. But for them to kidnap her, that's too far. That war made people do crazy things. A lot of people just lost their minds around that time.'
"If you're going through Hell, keep going." ~ Winston Churchill
"Voldemort's coming here?" Draco asked, with a hint of fear in his voice. He may be a Death Eater, but he wasn't evil. Hermione knew that. He just didn't have it in him.
"Yes my dear. Since it seems the little Mudblood won't break now matter how hard we try. The Dark Lord is going to have to get the point across." Bellatrix strolled over and grabbed Hermione by the arm. Hermione unsuccessfully tried to stifle her whimper of fear and Bellatrix appeared gleeful at the sound. Hermione swallowed thickly as she tried to think of what other information they would want out of her. Besides Lucius coming to 'put her in her place', there was no other reason she could think of. If Harry was going to come rescue her, they would have done it already.
Maybe they were just going to kill her, right then and there. She didn't want to die. She had been so close to freedom, two times now. But what did she have left to live for? Her best friends, her Wizarding family; they didn't even come and try to rescue her like she thought.
Bellatrix pulled her out of the room and down a long hallway. She tripped over her feet a few times but she didn't have time to recover because Bellatrix was moving-and dragging her along-at a manic pace. Finally Bellatrix seemed fed up with her awkward gait.
"Ugh, take her, Lucius. She's so pathetic; can't even walk right. I don't want to touch her more than I have to." She threw Hermione towards Lucius who was walking behind them. Lucius rolled his eyes and let Hermione fall, not catching her.
"Bella, just use the Imperious on her; you love using that. Why not use it now?"
"Well if you must know, when I woke up in the hallway, my wand was gone. I can't remember why I was there in the first place, but I seem to have lost my wand, for now." Bellatrix sighed as if it pained her to talk any longer. 'Narcissa must have used obliviate on Bellatrix to make her forget about being cursed by her own sister. I hope that's all it takes for her not to get in trouble.'
"My god..." Lucius sighed. He grabbed Hermione roughly and pulled her along.
Hermione looked up at Lucius. He was stone-cold, like always. He didn't bother to look down at her the whole time they walked. Not even a side-glance. 'Well why would he be? He wouldn't bother to look at any of his other prisoners I'm pretty sure. Then why do I want him to look at me, even just once. Maybe I want to see if there is any sign of regret, any ounce of pity, just something. Even him just acknowledging that I am a human, he may very well be dragging me to my death.'
"If you stare any longer I will blind you, Mudblood." Lucius said still staring straight ahead.
Hermione blushed and quickly averted her gaze. She hadn't meant to stare that long. 'He has no compassion what-so-ever. I hope he suffers. I hope everything he loves or cares about will be taken from him. I hope his world will fall apart just like mine is. He deserves it.' She stared determinedly at the ground for the remainder of their trip.
Lucius
'Why is she staring at me? I'm not going to look at her. I can't give into her, and I don't know what I'll do if I did meet her eyes. Just keep looking forward and keep walking.' Lucius sped up a bit. Maybe the Dark Lord would end her today. That was all that he wished for. He hated these new feelings that had risen out of seemingly nowhere. He always had control of everything; Control over his peers in school, control over his wife, control over his job; control over everything...until now.
They reached the room where all their "interrogating" was done. The blood, her blood, was still splattered across the wall and floor. The Dark Lord was already there and sitting in a black chair in the middle of the room. He always looked terrifying, Lucius wouldn't deny that, but right now his presence was truly formidable. Lucius had only seen this look a few times before, and when he had this look, he knew the person was done for. He was certainly glad he wasn't in the Mudbloods shoes; she was in for a hell of a time.
"Well, Bellatrix, why have you called me here?" Voldemort asked in his deep, raspy voice. Maybe his look wasn't because he was going to kill anyone today, Lucius figured. Maybe it was because he had been called randomly, for a purpose he found unbefitting of his time. Lucius tried to study his master closely, but it wasn't the easiest thing to look at him. He fought the urge to touch his nose as he blinked subtly at his master's face. My god...if his nose ever looked like that...Lucius grimaced then hurriedly composed his face back into its usual mask of indifference. It wouldn't do to be caught with such an expression.
"Well, my lord," Bellatrix started, "This stupid little girl tried to escape today, and she can't seem to listen to us no matter what we put her through." Lucius felt Hermione tense up beside him. He glanced down at her without thinking and noticed she had a scowl on her face. She was trying to be brave, even in front of the scariest person on Earth. Lucius smirked at that. 'Foolish girl...'
"We were certain you would absolutely love to put her in her place a bit. You've been stressed lately, won't it be fun?" Bellatrix coaxed with wide eyes. Lucius could have sworn he saw a hint of fear in her eyes. He filed the fact away for later usage-probably when she was acting all high-and-mighty and prissy like-he would use it against her to knock her down a peg.
Voldemort's red eyes glanced from Hermione, to Lucius, to Bellatrix, then back to Hermione. He rose up from his chair-not at all gracefully-Lucius noted with a slight wince, and started to reach for his wand. Lucius threw Hermione to the ground. She needed to die. He was tired of having her in his house. He heard a little whimper come from Hermione as she landed on the floor. He automatically looked down, almost to see if she was alright, but changed his mind and looked back up. It would all be over soon.
Hermione
"Well then, let's have some fun shall we?" Voldemort grinned, which scared Hermione the most. She wasn't sure why, but even if he was scowling, she would have felt a bit better. Of course the situation itself couldn't get any better, but if he was smiling, she knew what was coming couldn't be good.
She knew that she was going to die, it was inescapable. She just didn't want him to kill her though; anyone but him. She almost wanted Lucius to kill her if she had to die. Hell, he killed Ginny, and tortured her within the past hours, he would probably be more than happy to get rid of her.
She looked up at Lucius one last time to see if she could see anything, anything at all. But his face was as impassive as ever. She turned her eyes towards Voldemort with as much courage as she could muster. Bellatrix flew into a fine tizzy at that.
"Filthy scum, you aren't fit to lay eyes on the Dark Lord!" she shrieked "Cruc-,"
"Bellatrix, That is enough...Obviously Crucio isn't teaching her anything. I'll handle this." Voldemort cut in with a whisper. He made his way over to where Hermione was and knelt down to meet her face. "So you think you are better than us do you?" Hermione wasn't sure if he was asking this as a rhetorical question or if he really wanted an answer.
"Well? I asked you a question, I expect an answer. Not only are you rebellious, you're also slow aren't you?" Hermione closed her eyes and pretended she was talking to someone else. Lucius's face popped in her head and made her furious.
"No. No I'm not. And I don't think I'm better than you, but you aren't better than me either. But I have never killed anyone, so maybe I am better than you, all of you." Hermione immediately regretted saying anything. She never did learn to keep her big mouth shut.
Electricity shot through her veins. She let out a scream. The electricity wouldn't stop, and it seemed to get more and more intense by the second. "This electric shock is merely putting your words into feelings. What you said was meant to 'shock' me wasn't it? Well it seemed it 'shocked' you as well. And now as much as you scream, it will get worse. The shrill of your screams fuel it, and cause the pain to grow greater. If you stop, the pain will stop."
Hermione listened to his words and tried to stop, but couldn't. The pain got worse until she felt like she was going to be sick. Her vocal chords felt like they were going to shatter. Tears stung her eyes as she opened them. She felt the tingling sensation in the back of her mouth, and she soon felt the sting of vomit in her throat. She welcomed the feeling; it silenced her screams which in turn stopped the painful electricity. She collapsed in a heap in the puddle of her vomit and panted.
She lifted herself up and got on her arms and knees. She tried to regain a regular breathing pattern, but it seemed like her lungs had closed up. She couldn't seem to get a full breath in before coughing more. Looking up she saw only saw Bellatrix and Voldemort looking at her. Lucius was leaning on the wall in the corner, but he didn't look enthused. He appeared almost bored with the proceedings.
Voldemort noticed Hermione wasn't looking at him like he expected her too. He followed her gaze and looked at Lucius, who seemed oblivious to their blatant stares. Voldemort returned to the pathetic sight in front of him, his lip curling slightly. "You dare not look at me while I'm trying to teach you?"
His voice snapped Hermione back into reality. As she was glaring over at Lucius, she was hoping he would do something. Maybe stop this. She knew he wouldn't, she knew he didn't care; But she was determined to get him to at least develop some sort of compassion, or sympathy; anything.
She looked up at Voldemort and Bellatrix laughed. It was a particularly pleasant sound and it resounded in the room with a hollow ding Hermione shuddered, how could one woman be so creepy? She didn't know what Bellatrix found so funny either, but it didn't concern her. She was just determined to get through this alive, or at least try. Voldemort raised his wand and Hermione shut her eyes tight, not wanting to know what was going to happen next.
He uttered words Hermione couldn't make out but she began to feel as if a million needles were poking into her skin everywhere. She looked down and saw little scratches starting to form. They started on her arms, and made their way up to her neck; then she started to feel it on her legs as well, even though she couldn't see her skin there.
At first it was simply uncomfortable, but the pain started to get worse. Blood started to pour out from every new cut that was forming and they were getting deeper and deeper. Hermione tried not to scream but lost that battle. She let out a whimper of pain and more salty tears drained from her eyes.
"Imperio!" Hermione felt that wonderful feeling again. She felt as if she wasn't in her body, she was just a spirit looking down on the scene unfolding before her. All her worries and pain disappeared. She wondered what he was doing. He wanted to cause her pain didn't he? Why place her under the imperious curse? At the moment though, she really didn't care. All she knew was that she wasn't in pain, and she was uncontrollably happy. "Now Harry, look at your friend. Look at what she has become because of you."
'Harry? What...?' Hermione wondered in alarm. Surely Harry was nowhere near the Manor?
'Cut your cheek.' Voldemort's voice hissed in her mind.
'What? Where did that thought come from? My hand...why is it moving? Where did I get a dagger...no. I have to resist, I'm not going to cut myself.'
Hermione raised her hand despite her efforts to stop it. She pushed the dagger against her cheek and felt it go through layers of skin, then she moved it, feeling it tear open her cheek. She felt the pain despite being under the imperious curse. She wanted to scream but she couldn't; doing so was impossible under the curse. All she could do was pray for it to be over soon.
She let go of the dagger and it fell to the ground, then she felt reality come rushing back. Her hand immediately went to her cheek which stung when she touched it. She looked at her hand mortified as she saw it was covered in blood. She was barely able to recover from the shock before Voldemort had started something else.
"Crucio!" The familiar pain came rushing back and she thrashed around in her own vomit and blood. Chainsaws were cutting away her skin, boiling water seeped into her skin, she was being crushed, she couldn't breathe, her organs were being clawed out, then release. "Harry, Come to Malfoy Manor if you ever want to see your Mudblood friend alive again. You cannot win this war Harry Potter. You will lose everything." Hermione vaguely wondered-as she lay motionless and panting on the ground- if Voldemort was communicating with Harry though his scar and dreams. He'd told her about his terrible nightmares and his apparent ability to share thoughts with the dark Wizard.
"Bellatrix, I believe I gave you the task of getting information out of her, did I not?"
"You did my lord, and I will gladly do that now. You don't need to waste your time on this filthy Mudblood any longer." Bellatrix came over and had a look of such admiration when she looked at Voldemort. It almost made Hermione sick with disgust.
"Good, thank you Bellatrix. I believe now she will be more...obedient. Here's a spare wand because I believe you lost yours. Also, Lucius, help Bellatrix won't you? You seem off...maybe this will help you some. Use any spell you like; just be sure to keep her alive...for now." Once he was done saying that he disappeared in puff of black smoke.
Bellatrix let out a loud laugh. "Now little insect, are you willing to cooperate or do we have to force information out of you?" She asked as she danced around the room. Hermione coughed and took in a deep breath. "I will never tell you anything. You are pathetic to torture someone until they give you information. We will win this war, without using what you do. You will lose, but I will not give into you." It took a few minutes for Hermione to get that out, but once she was finished she smiled a little. She survived Voldemort, she felt invincible, at least for now.
"Mudblood, so you know why the Dark Lord was saying stuff about little bity Potter? He was showing you to him, through his dreams. If Potter cared about you at all, he would be here by now. Obviously that is not the case though is it? You have nothing left in the world." Bellatrix sounded enraged.
Hermione looked up and felt a sliver of terror run up her spine. She had been right; Bellatrix was livid, and ready to spill some blood if the look on her face was anything to go by. Hermione closed her eyes with an inward sigh. This was not going to be pleasant..."Crucio!"
Lucius
Hours passed, and he was still in the same room, watching the same girl scream in agony. He didn't know if he could take much more of it. With the Dark Lord torturing her for that hour, it was easier for him to stand by. He wasn't going to interfere with that, oh no. Now however, with Bella mindlessly torturing the Mudblood, it took all he had not to stop it. Her screams pierced his ears, curdled his blood and made him want to light himself on fire purely out of guilt.
Had she been dead by now, like he'd hoped, he would be able to get over the thing she had on him. But as time went on, he didn't want her dead. But her screams almost fuelled him, made him feel better. He liked that, at least he knew she was still alive.
It's incredible what the human mind and body can handle. The girl has gone through at least three hours of indescribable torture, and she still wasn't willing to give up any information. She would break soon though. They always did.
Hermione
"You stupid little girl," Bellatrix shrieked in rage some time later. "You really think you are being brave? You are being foolish and you can avoid all of this if you just give us information! Lucius, come over here, you seem to have a closer relationship with the Mudblood." Bellatrix threw her hands up in the air.
Hermione tried to lift her head up but she found she couldn't move even if she wanted to. Her neck felt like it was frozen stiff. She shifted her eyes up and saw Lucius walk over slowly. He had a different look to him though. He almost looked human. He didn't look angry, or cold, or evil. He just looked like a man.
"Bella, come on. Just give her a break, and then we can continue later. She hardly seems in a condition to talk." Lucius said as he glanced down at Hermione. Their eyes met and Hermione saw something in them, for once. They weren't the slates of stone she usually saw. There was something else there. They looked at each other and for that brief moment of time, it was just them.
"Lucius, What are you doing?" Hermione jumped at the sound of Bellatrix's voice and quickly looked away from Lucius. 'Indeed, what is he doing?' she wondered to herself.
"Nothing, why do you ask?" Lucius replied nonchalantly.
"You're defending that parasite. Why?" Bellatrix seemed sincerely clueless.
"I'm not defending her Bella. All I'm saying is that she will be more useful if she was healthier, and not so beaten. If you haven't forgotten, she is our only weapon at the moment. She can't be absolutely broken and beaten down." Bellatrix was silent and all that could be heard in the room was Hermione's heavy breathing.
"Fine, I guess you're right. But torturing someone so weak, so feeble, is quite fun. You should give it another go Lucius."
"Bella, no. I'm not in the mood. Hasn't she gone through enough?" Lucius took in a deep breath.
"Lucius...what is the matter with you? If I didn't know any better, I would say you are starting to become attached to the little Mudblood. Tell me that isn't so." Bellatrix looked shocked, but Hermione didn't know whether it was sincere or fake. She had a feeling that Bellatrix knew something that she didn't. What was going on?
"You're out of line Bella," Lucius gave her a look of utter disgust "That is absolutely repulsive, she's repulsive. I wouldn't touch her even if my life depended on it. You know that. Who in their right mind would be attached to such a pathetic life-form?" He scoffed and turned around; clearly showing that the conversation was over as far as he was concerned.
Hermione wanted to say something. She wanted to tell him what she really thought about him, just to say something. She tried to speak but she could barely hear her herself. She doubted they would hear her. "You aren't the greatest person in the world either. You sick sadistic bastard. Why would anyone want to be around you either? You have no personality, no ounce of compassion in you, nothing. I hope you rot in hell."
It seemed Hermione was only talking to herself, because neither Bellatrix nor Lucius seemed to hear her. They didn't even react. They simply continued their conversation as if Hermione wasn't there, or she wasn't important. To these people she knew she wasn't, but it still stung.
Bellatrix laughed a bit, like she always did. It got on Hermione's nerves every time that woman opened her mouth, let alone laugh. "Well then, torture her. Prove it. You know what we do to people who betray our beliefs. If the Dark Lord had any suspicion at all..."
"Fine. Step out of the way." Bellatrix danced around Lucius and went to the side of the room.
Lucius took a step towards Hermione and raised his wand. Hermione stared at the wall in front of her, knowing what was to come. She had always heard stories about torture and rape victims, and how they could make themselves believe that they was in a different place and time; to escape the reality of the situation. She wondered how they did that, because that was the one thing she wanted right now. She could barely move, or even talk. She just wanted the pain to stop. She wanted these people to drop dead.
She hated these feelings she had. She never wished ill on anyone, until now. She was praying to God to kill someone, and she hated herself for it.
"Crucio."
Pain shot through her skin, but it wasn't as bad as anything she had felt previously. It then stopped after a few seconds. 'The Unforgivable Curses. In order to use them correctly, the spell-caster needs to mean it. The spell-caster needs to want the target to suffer more than anything. If spell-caster does not truly want the target to die or be in pain, the curse isn't as effective. I.E The cruciatus curse is described as intolerable pain to the target, but in order to cast it correctly one must desire to cause pain purely for it's own sake or for fulfillment. If one does not desire to cause pain, the curse is described as a mild discomfort for approx. 4-7 seconds, no matter how long the caster intends the spell to work. '
She remembered a book she read just last year about the curses. She remembered that excerpt from it. Is that what had happened? But why wouldn't he want her to suffer? He said before he hated her, despised her, and yet he didn't want to inflict true pain.
"You're useless sometimes." Bellatrix groaned from the corner. "If you can't do anything right now, I'll just be taking her. She will be out of your hair, and I will deal with her then."
"You're taking her?" Lucius said, with a hint of panic in his voice.
"Well yeah, that's what we agreed upon. She is my responsibility remember my dear, Lucius?"
"Yes I remember Bella, but doesn't that seem like a rash decision, not to mention dangerous, taking her in this state?"
"My god Lucius, since when have you cared about prisoners? You are getting soft. Snap out of it why don't you? I'm taking her and you can go back to do whatever you did before you had this burden."
Bellatrix walked over to Hermione and grabbed her arm, pulling her up. Hermione yelled out in pain and felt a squeezing sensation as she realized they were disapparating.
A split second later, they were thrown on stone steps to what looked like an exact replica of the Malfoy Manor, but about ten times smaller. "Come on, up, up!" Bellatrix pulled Hermione's arm upwards as she dragged her up the stone steps. They made their way into the dark house. The outside looked like the Malfoy Manor, but the inside was completely different. Once they got to the doorway Bellatrix let go of Hermione and shoved her wand into her back. "I trust you aren't completely inept to walk for yourself."
'Keep your mouth shut. Don't say anything. You know what she is capable of. Just be quiet.' Hermione thought as she took a deep breath and walked to where Bellatrix shoved her. The foyer, Hermione noticed, was big and empty. The walls looked as if some black-green mould was growing out of it, and the ceiling was cracked and it looked like it could cave in any minute. They turned left down a hallway which didn't look any better. There was hardly any light and the uneven concrete floor caused Hermione to trip several times.
"Bella? What are you doing heading towards the prison cell?" Bellatrix whipped around and smiled at her husband. "Rodolphus, dear, we have a new guest staying with us." She grabbed Hermione and pulled her around so Rodolphus could get a look at her. Hermione looked up and Rodolphus spoke again. "Well, you girls have fun." He didn't take his eyes off her. Hermione shifted under her weight as best as she could, since Bellatrix still had a firm grip on her arm.
Hermione looked everywhere but at the man staring at her. She could almost feel his eyes on her. They stood there for another couple seconds before Bellatrix caught on that her husband wasn't looking at her, but instead he was looking at Hermione. Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared. She grabbed Hermione's arm harder and threw her around in the direction they were walking before they were interrupted. Hermione felt Bellatrix's breath on the back of her neck as they walked. Her breathing got heavier and heavier by the minute.
Hermione wasn't sure why she got so angry, but she knew it wasn't a good sign for her. They reached a doorway and Bellatrix pushed Hermione through, plunging her into the darkness.
"Now Mudblood. I am going to ask questions. You are going to answer them truthfully. If you don't...well let's just say I can't guarantee you to ever see anything outside this room." She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "Do you understand?" Hermione stared into the darkness and said nothing. She couldn't see anything around her, or even where Bellatrix stood.
"I'll take that as a yes." Bellatrix let out her usual laugh which echoed on the walls around the room.
By the sound of her voice and the echoing, Hermione realized the room was even smaller than the cell she had previously been in. "Now Mudblood, why were you at the Manor dressed as my dear sister? You failed to answer that simple little question earlier."
Hermione took a deep breath. 'Just tell her. What is the big deal with her knowing I was trying to save Ginny?'
"I was trying to save Ginny." Hermione mumbled.
"Oh that little dirty red-head? Yes, well I hear she's dead now. So you don't have to worry about that. You know, if you didn't come and try to be a hero, she would be alive right now. We might have been nice and returned her. But because you and your little friends came, she's dead. Nice going Mudblood."
Her words stabbed Hermione's heart. What if she was right? Would they really have returned Ginny? No, they wouldn't. 'Get a hold of yourself. She's trying to upset you. Don't let her get to you.' Hermione's eyes started to water, but she tried her hardest not to cry. "Oh it looks like I upset the little Mudblood. Aww poor deary...Oh well, next question. You and that other blood-traitor are best friends with Potter. But who else was close to him while you were at school hmm?"
'What? No...I can't tell her that. I won't sell them out. I can take the pain...for them.'
"I'm not going to tell you." Was all Hermione said, but after she said it, she immediately wished she had just stayed quiet.
"So you want to do it this way huh? Well little miss, we will have some fun then won't we?"
Lucius
It had been two days since Bella took that piece of filth, but Lucius still wasn't felt anything different. In fact he almost felt worse than he did before. Now there was only Draco, Narcissa, and him in their big house, and for the first time, it felt empty. He couldn't place what it was, and that irritated him beyond how he usually felt. Ever since that girl stepped foot into his house, she had caused nothing but trouble for him, even when she wasn't around.
When Bella had been torturing her, all he could do is stand there, like a coward. He normally would have gladly stepped in and tortured the poor soul lying on the floor, but when that Mudblood was there, he wasn't able to bring himself up to it. Once Bella took her and left, he roamed the house looking for Narcissa. He needed to talk to someone-of course not about everything he was feeling-but at least to simply talk. He was hoping she would make him feel as if he really wasn't becoming soft.
He found her in the kitchen, but she wasn't really doing anything. Just standing there. He found it very ironic. There was his pure-blood wife, in their house, with no care in the world, and then in the same house, a filthy Mudblood was being tortured out of her mind. The two kinds of people in this world, two people from two ends of the spectrum.
"Lucius." She said as she turned around. Her eyes were red and puffy. 'Has she been crying?'
"Narcissa, are you alright?" Lucius said. His words just fumbled out of his mouth, they sounded hollow, cold. He wondered if she noticed this too. He did care about her feelings; at least he thought he did. So he wondered why he sounded so insensitive, to Narcissa of all people. He brushed it off as just him having a bad day, and he wasn't in a social mood.
"You have no idea do you?" Narcissa said again, breaking Lucius from his thoughts. He didn't notice her walk towards him, and she was now standing about two feet away from him. He could smell her perfume she always used. It smelled like flowers. Smelling that always made Lucius feel good for some reason. But now, smelling her perfume right in front of him, it did nothing for him. He really was losing his mind.
"Well frankly Narcissa, I can't read minds. I obviously have no idea then." Again, his words came out as venom, even though he didn't mean them to.
"How can you be so cold? I know you have tortured, even killed people in the past. But you didn't have to do this to that poor girl." 'I've killed kids younger than her.' Lucius thought. "How can you just walk away from torturing a girl, the same age as your son, and not feel a thing?" 'Not feel a thing? I'm feeling something, but even I don't know what it is.' "And then you expect me to live under the same roof as said girl, and know all of this is going on?" Narcissa took in a deep breath as a way for her not to break down in tears.
It was incredible how little Narcissa really knew about him, and what he had done or how he truly felt.
"Well she's gone now." He intoned
"Gone? You mean she's free now? Or...don't tell me. You didn't..." Her eyes widened.
"I didn't what? Oh, no. No, she's still alive. Bella took her so now she is with her and Rodolphus." Lucius crossed his arms and got a disgusted look on his face. His own wife. She was really worried about the stupid girl.
"Oh. Bella has her? Dear god, she isn't going to make it past tonight." Narcissa turned on her heels and started to pace.
"And why do you care what happens to the girl? You don't even know her, and she is beneath us. She isn't fit to walk this earth. You should know that." Lucius started to get more and more irritated as he stood there.
"She is just a girl Lucius! A young innocent girl. She can't help what she is! I know the Dark Lord needs, no not needs, he wants her to catch Potter, but is this really how to go about it? If he feels the need to stoop down to the level of torturing 17 year old girls, then maybe Potter should win this war." She looked at Lucius one last time before storming out of the room.
Lucius was left speechless. He had heard her complaints before about certain prisoners and the whole fact that he was a Death Eater, but he had never felt such betrayal. After that conversation they still weren't talking, even two days later. He hadn't even seen her within the two days.
Walking into one of the many living room areas in the house. He went over to the table and poured himself a small shot of firewhiskey. He hardly ever drank, but when he did, it was never for a good reason. He always thought of himself as being sophisticated, and he needed to be 100% there all the time. He didn't have the time to get drunk, and he had always been like that. Right now, he really didn't care. He picked up the glass, looked at it, sighed, and grabbed the whole bottle too.
He slowly made his way over to the leather chair in front of the fireplace and sat down. He drank the shot and felt the warm liquid burn his throat.
"So you've taken up drinking have you Lucius?" The snake-like voice came from behind him.
He practically jumped out of his chair and faced his master. "My lord. What do I owe the pleasure?"
Lucius knew the Dark Lord didn't come to see him just to talk. Every time he came to his house, it usually meant for another mission he would have to do. But now for the first time he felt nervous about what the Dark Lord would ask him to do. "Well Lucius. I have been thinking about the Mudblood girl. She isn't the best person to get information out of, as you may already know. Also I heard you tried, and ended up killing that blood-traitor am I not mistaken?"
Lucius' stomach churned. "That's right. She was almost dead anyway, I thought I would put her out of her misery." Lucius didn't dare tell him the truth. How would he react if he knew it was all because the stupid Mudblood angered him? He wasn't going to find out.
"Lucius, I can always tell when someone is lying to me. And right now, you aren't making your point believable. Lie to me again and you will regret it. But anyhow, I'm not here to discuss blood-traitors. Bellatrix has told me that the girl still hasn't said anything. She's being brave, a trait I wouldn't expect from someone like her. But I've been thinking about ways to get her to talk. When she tried to escape, Draco followed her to her house is that correct?"
How would he know that? Lucius never said anything about Draco and how he was involved. He knew he really couldn't hide anything from his master. "That is correct."
"So Draco knows where her parents live?" Voldemort squinted through his red eyes.
"Yes."
"Good. I want him to take you to their house, and I want you to kill them." Kill her parents? Lucius felt faint.
"Kill her parents, sir? And if I may ask, what would that do?"
"Well you see, if she knew you killed them, that would destroy her would it not? She will think she has nothing left to live for, thus giving us what we want." Voldemort had that sinister smile he got when he thought of some brilliant plan.
"Yes my lord, but again, if I may ask, why me? Bella is the one who has her as a prisoner and-,"
"Do you dare question me?" Voldemort's smile was gone and he looked at Lucius with contempt. Lucius knew if looks could kill he would be dead.
"No, my lord. I'm deeply sorry. I will go kill her parents tonight." Voldemort's smile came back and he looked pleased.
"Very good. I also expect you to go and tell the Mudblood yourself about what you have done."
'Tell her myself? Can I face her? Do I even want to face her? I could just tell Bella, and have her tell the girl...'
"No, I want you to tell her yourself. Those are your orders and I expect you to follow them Lucius. Do not disappoint me again, or you might not be around much longer." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Lucius sat back down in his seat and took another swig of the firewhiskey. 'Kill her parents. Do I want to do that to her? What am I talking about...Of course I do. I've wanted to destroy her since day one. I need to destroy her. Then why can't I bring myself to stand up?'
After about an hour and five more shots of firewhiskey later Lucius stood up and wobbled out of the room. He walked passed doorways and down different hallways. He reached his son's room and opened the door, to find Draco lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. "Draco." Lucius said sloppily. He found it harder to talk than normal. Maybe he had a bit too much to drink, but at the moment, he felt he really needed it.
"Yes father?" Draco stood up and stared at his dad, who seemed to be leaning against the doorway for support. "Are you alright?"
"Yes yes, fine. Just come with me." Lucius stumbled out of the doorway and started to walk towards his bedroom, hoping Narcissa wasn't in there. At first he didn't hear his son follow him, but after a few steps, the soft tapping of Draco's shoes were heard.
"Um father, why are we heading to yours and mum's room?" Draco asked after a few seconds.
"Because I need to use the fireplace." Lucius said very quietly. He wasn't sure if he could get many words out so he figured the quieter he talked, the less likely Draco would notice he had been drinking.
He knew he wasn't drunk yet, and he would remember all of this, but the warm feeling of the whiskey gave him the sense of courage he needed to kill these muggles.
They reached the two, big oak doors. He pushed open one door and almost fell inside. He regained his composure and quickly glanced in the mirror on the other side of the room, and saw he looked like he normally did. Good. "Now Draco. What was the address that Mudblood said that lead you to her parents?"
"Oh um, I don't know..." Draco muttered, hoping maybe his father wouldn't hear. But unfortunately he did.
"You don't know? Draco, I need to know, or the Dark Lord will not be happy. You need to remember."
"Well um, maybe it was something like 62, or 82, Talisman Drive, London?" Lucius sighed out of frustration. Why couldn't his son know what is important to remember? "But I think it was 62! So, um. Try that?" Draco added quickly.
"Well you best hope you're right." Lucius said as he stepped into the fireplace and said the address.
Hermione
She lay on the cold stone floor, that's all she wanted to do. The coldness felt good against her cut and bruised skin. She hadn't moved in over...well, she had no idea how long she had been there. It seemed like forever, but knowing her luck, it could have been only a few hours. Bellatrix had come in countless amounts of times, torturing Hermione until she would pass out. She had used more than the cruciatus curse the past few times.
She heard the all too familiar clicks of Bellatrix's shoes come towards the door. Hermione groaned and almost cried. She just wanted it to stop. She wanted to die before she had to endure any more pain. Maybe if she begged Bellatrix to kill her, she would. Bellatrix loved to kill right? It could work. The door swung open and light flooded the room; burning Hermione's eyes.
"Wakey, wakey Mudblood. I promised I would be back and here I am, but you don't seem thrilled to see me. You can be so cruel. I've had so much fun within the past couple of days." Bellatrix said in a sing-song type of voice
A couple days. Had she really been there that long? She couldn't believe it. She couldn't remember the last time she had any water or food. Her mouth and lips felt so dry, she began to wonder if it was possible if they could crack off. "No response hm? I'm beginning to miss your back-talking. It was quite entertaining you know. Anyways, you probably know what I'm here for. So let's get started shall we? Maybe today is the day you will talk? It's all up to you. You can stop all of this you know..." Bellatrix laughed. She raised her wand and began to say a spell, but before she could finish it, Hermione saw a shadow come up from behind Bellatrix.
Bellatrix could obviously feel it too, for she turned around and had a wild look on her face. "You know I'm with our little guest, what do you want?" She snapped at who Hermione figured was Rodolphus.
"Well Bella, Lucius is here and he wants to talk to our little Mudblood...alone." Bellatrix turned to look at Hermione and back at Rodolphus.
"Alone? Why? Just send him down here. Damn fool." 'Lucius is coming here too? Great, now what does he want? To gloat more? Just drop dead.' Hermione fumed inwardly. The man really knew how to rub it in. Bellatrix stood in the doorway, growling under her breath. It almost seemed as if she forgot why she was down there in the first place. Hermione thanked god that she wasn't being tortured though, for now.
After about five minutes, which seemed like eternity, she saw another shadow walk down the hallway. He reached the cell door and whispered something to Bellatrix, who then seemed to become offended.
Hermione usually would want to know what they are talking about, but right now she had no energy to even lift her head. She just let them whisper amongst themselves for a little bit. After a few moments Bellatrix stormed out of the room, leaving Hermione alone with Lucius.
She wanted to ask him what he wanted; she wanted to say some smart remark, but she found she couldn't. All that came out was a groan. "Lovely." Lucius said as he glanced down at Hermione. He looked back up just as quickly. Her skin was purple, green, and black from bruises. It seemed like there wasn't a spot on her skin that wasn't covered in a bruise. On top of the bruises though, there were a bunch of cuts, all different sizes. Some were merely surface abrasions, and some were deep and big. There were a lot, Lucius could tell, they would leave scars.
Hermione tried her best, again, to say something. "Wha...d...ya..." was all she could get out before she had a coughing attack. Her body jerked as she coughed and it felt like she was being torn apart. Her ribs felt like they were poking into her lungs each time she coughed.
"So pathetic." Lucius murmured. 'Why is he here? Is he here just to make fun of me? What...'
"But I'm not just here to see how pathetic you are, and make me feel better about myself, but I have some unfortunate news." He paused for effect. What could possibly be "unfortunate news" to them? Here she was, on the verge of dying, and he comes to tell her some unfortunate news? Hermione's eyes started to well up with tears out of anger. But Lucius' voice spoke again.
"Your parents are dead."