Chapter 4
She burned the letter, raising her wand to the thing and muttering 'Incendio.' She was delighted when the parchment caught fire, and then remembered that it was on fire.
She swore and dropped it, stomping on it until the fire went out. She called for the house elf to sweep up the ashes, and slid her wand away. She kept reading as the house elf cleaned.
When she finished her book, which was about basic magic, she went outside. She stood on the back lawn, practicing magic. Then, she heard a familiar drawling voice shout something she'd read in her book.
"Expelliarmus!" Draco yelled, brandishing his wand at her, then "Locomotor mortis!"
There was no time to react. Her wand flew out of her hand and towards him, and then he was cursing her! She raised her arm in front of her face in a protective motion, and the spell bounced off a shimmering shield that appeared.
She stared at it for a moment before grinning as it faded away. She'd done magic without a wand, or saying anything! Draco was shocked as well, and watched as her wand flew back to her hand. She laughed, sounding slightly deranged, and grabbed it out of the air.
Draco left. Not knowing what else to do, as the sun was sinking, she followed him. Mr Malfoy had arrived sometime while she was out back, and when she walked in he was furiously explaining what had happened.
She was grinning as she walked past the Malfoys, and she noticed a glimmer of amusement in the older man's eyes. Oh yes, their newly adopted daughter was going to be very powerful. He could tell.
Dinner that night was near silent, Draco throwing her nasty looks every time he took a bite, and Alexi was famished, eating quickly. Had the magic taken something out of her? Maybe.
She slept soundly that night, and dreamed of lessons the next day with a featureless woman, yelling commands at her and Alexi happily following orders.
After breakfast and then lunch, she had finished a book on the wizarding world, and was waiting impatiently for Bellatrix to show up. She wanted to start her lessons.
The witch was exactly a minute late, and appeared just outside the front door. Everything about her looked wild: her black hair, her dark eyes, her eccentric clothes. She seemed to be Mrs Malfoy's sister. Was their whole family in the service of the Dark Lord?
The woman led Alexi into a smaller sitting room on the second floor, and sat watching her for a moment. Then she raised her wand, knobbed and curved, to point at Alexi as they sat, watching each other.
"Crucio," she said calmly, a touch of insanity at the edges of her voice.
Alexi blinked and raised her hands in front of her face again to protect herself, wincing as the powerful curse hit her shield. She hadn't felt a thing when Draco had tried to curse her, but even blocking this one caused her pain.
After the remains of the curse had faded away, she pointed at Bellatrix's wand. Expelliarmus. She thought, forcing power into the word. The wand flew to her hand, and she set it down beside her.
The witch watched her, and then grinned cruelly. The rest of that day was spent outside, Bellatrix throwing random spells at her, and Alexi blocking them before attacking the witch herself. Bellatrix seemed delighted at Alexi's abilities, rather than outraged that she, a fully trained witch, could not get a single spell past this muggle-raised orphan.
This lasted until the sun disappeared below the horizon, when Bellatrix shot out two spells at once. The first cracked Alexi's shield and then second penetrated it entirely.
All feeling left her body except the pain the curse was causing her. She had first sunken to her knees, then fallen to the ground as she convulsed in pain. Low whimpers escaped her lips, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
Throughout the day the Dark Lord's presence had shown up in her mind, watching her progress. He was back again, and watched on without emotion as she writhed on the ground.
After several long minutes, his voice told Bellatrix "Enough," and then was gone. She lowered her wand and walked with long strides to where Alexi lay, staring up at the stars.
"Get up," she commanded.
Alexi did not obey her command. Alexi did not react at all. Her body was devoid of energy, and it was not within her power to even turn her head. Bellatrix was disgusted with this, and flicked her wand.
Alexi felt herself rising into the air, and was floating in front of Bellatrix as she marched back into the house. She became more aware of her surroundings a quarter hour later, and found herself a few feet above the ground in the sitting room. Bellatrix and her sister, Mrs Malfoy, were arguing.
Not wanting to just lay there any longer, Alexi gathered her energy and then rolled off of the invisible stretcher. She landed in a crouched position and slowly stood, swaying slightly as she did so. Draco was standing to the side, and the last thing she saw was him lurching forward as she fell again, blacking out.
And so ended her first day of lessons with Bellatrix Lestrange. She had been worked hard all day, slowly draining her of energy before she was tortured. Had that been Bellatrix's plan, to see where her limits lie?
She woke the next morning to find that it was not, in fact, morning. The sun had long since risen into the sky, and the clock on her side table informed her that it was almost one o'clock.