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I flinched again as I heard Bellatrix' high-pitched scream of agony. Tom had been at it for two hours at least; and I had been forced to sit here and wait it out. I had very rarely seen Tom so furious. He had even scared me and I was usually untroubled by his fits.

Bellatrix had finally fallen silent and Tom strode out of the room, the sleeves of his cloak rolled up and his eyes blazing. I straightened up in my chair, carefully watching him.

"She's fallen unconscious," he announced.

"Was that really necessary?" I inquired quietly.

"I contemplated skinning her alive, but what a shame that would be for the floors."

I sighed heavily. "Tom, I can assure you that she did everything she could."

"Like you did? Because several of my Death Eaters tell me that you offered Potter to let his Mudblood whore go free."

"Don't say that," I said lowly. "And to clear it up: I did. We had to find a way to make it all a little less bloody."

"I don't care about bloody," he snapped. "All I care about is seeing Potter dead and you let him escape again."

"I tried to make sure he didn't escape. I offered to set the girl free if he complied. How was I to know – how was anyone to know – that he had this crazy house-elf apparating him out of here?"

He still glared, but his next words were considerably calmer. "Bellatrix said they had the sword of Gryffindor."

"The Goblin said it was a copy," I informed. "And the girl told that they found it somewhere."

"Not very likely," he growled.

"I doubt she lied," I said.

"Oh, you doubt it, yes?" he sneered. "That confirms it."

"She was in no position to lie, Tom."

"Need I remind you that if they broke into the vault-"

He did not need to remind me. Had they in fact broken into Gringotts and stolen the sword, they would very likely have found the cup as well.

"Don't you think that if there had been a Gringotts break-in, we would have already heard of that?"

"You," he said dangerously, taking threatening step towards me. "You made me hide the cup there. If it is gone-"

"It is not gone," I snapped at him, though I was not as sure as I pretended to be. "But if you refrain from skinning Bellatrix, you can send her out to check that."

"She's not going anywhere anytime soon. Maybe you can inquire."

"They won't give me any information on the vault of someone like Bellatrix Lestrange. You could try, of course. But I don't really see the Dark Lord strolling along Diagon Alley, no offense."

His eyes narrowed at me and I shrank a bit into my chair.

"What I mean is that the Lestranges are high-class customers, now more than ever. And no one will let me check on their bank account." I watched him carefully and then added, "If you don't want to send Bellatrix, may I suggest that you just send Rodolphus instead?"

"You," he said very slowly. "Can consider yourself incredibly lucky that I like you well enough to not do the same to you."

With that, he turned on his heel and strut out of the room, the door slamming shut behind him. Seconds later, Bellatrix started screaming again.

I pulled my cloak closer around me, trying to ward off the rain at least a bit as I hurried down the hill. I breathed a sigh of relief as a crooked house came into view. It looked as though the storeys had been added one by one and I was sure it would have never held had it not been for magic.
I forced myself to walk even faster until I finally reached the front yard. I frowned slightly at sign reading 'The Burrow' and then proceeded towards the door. I knocked and pressed myself closer to the door in order to escape the splattering rain. Footsteps approached the door hesitantly.

"Who there?"

I was pretty certain it was Arthur Weasley's voice and so I called, "It's Lorraine Riley. Please open the door, I'm already soaked."

Behind the door, two people started whispering urgently to each other and I groaned with impatience. "Don't make me open the door by myself."

"Arthur, no-"

"Please, Molly, we can-"

"I said no!"

"It's about your son!" I called.

There was a short silence and then the door slowly opened. Arthur Weasley looked warily at me, but stepped aside at my glare. I walked inside and sighed in relief as I escaped the rain. A rather chubby woman was standing beside him, clutching her wand tightly.

"My wife," Arthur offered. "Molly."

"Pleasure, I'm sure," I said before I swiftly waved my own wand to dry myself off. "This weather," I muttered. "But I didn't want to just pop out of your fireplace, so..."

"Thank you for that," Arthur said. "What about my son, then?"

"Right to business, huh?" I mused. "Listen, we know for sure that your son is with Harry Potter."

"Ronald?" Mrs Weasley inquired sharply. "That can't be right. He's got spattergroit, the poor thing. He's in bed if you want to check-"

"Funny," I said. "Because he didn't look all that ill when he and his friends eluded us on Easter."

Mrs Weasley paled visibly and reached out to clutch on her husband's arm.

"You've got leave, go into hiding," I said. "As soon as the Death Eaters are done picking up the pieces, they'll come after you."

"Arthur," she breathed helplessly. "We need to-"

"Are you sure?" he asked, almost as pale as his wife.

"I saw him with my own two eyes as did several others. You need to leave right now."

Arthur nodded stiffly and then freed himself from the grasp of his wife. "Go get Ginny," he said. "We're leaving in ten."

His wife nodded shakily and then hurried away and apparently up the stairs, for I could hear her hurried footsteps through the ceiling.

"Do you have a safe place to go?" I inquired.

"Molly's aunt-"

I held up a hand to interrupt him. "You better don't tell me. Right now, the Dark Lord doesn't really trust me and I would rather not put you at risk."

If Tom ever chose to invade my mind, I would be in enough trouble either way, but there was no need to drag the Weasleys down with me.

"I cannot thank you enough," Arthur said slowly. "You don't owe us anything and yet-"

"It's the right thing to do," I told him. "Now it's your turn. Hide properly so that I don't have to put myself at risk for nothing."

He nodded again and his head turned up as there were again footsteps on the stairs.

"I should be going," I said. "If anyone notices I'm missing."

"Thank you again," he said. "Be safe."

"I'll try my best," I answered before opening the door behind me. "Good luck, Arthur."

I closed the door behind me before turning and disapparating on the spot.

The hallway of Malfoy Manor was gloomy as ever and it was for that very reason that I did not spot Rodolphus Lestrange before I ran right into him. He almost jumped back and looked down at me with a frown. "Lorraine."

"Rod," I breathed. "Sorry about that, you came out of nowhere-"

"Where have you been?"

I froze, swallowing hard. "Why?"

"The Dark Lord's been searching for you and he couldn't find you anywhere in the Manor. He said you were not leave-"

"Well, I had to," I said, trying to sound as self-assured as possible, which was not easy considering the circumstances. "What are you even doing here?"

"I've checked the vault," he informed me.

"And?"

"Both the sword and the cup are still there," he said, frowning again. "I don't know why that damn mug is important, anyways."

"It's an antique," I snapped. "And its exact value is of no concern to you."

He held up his hands in defeat. "All right, forget I even asked."

"Gladly," I muttered. "If you'll excuse, I think I better make my amends."

"Good luck, then," he said darkly. "I hardly recognized Bellatrix earlier-"

"Yes, she got it pretty bad," I said.

He nodded, but he did not seem too concerned about her. "You just be safe," he said. "Merlin knows we're better off with you than without you."

I pulled a face. "I'll try my best."

It was the second time that night that I said exactly the same. Maybe wizarding society was not broken beyond repair. After all, we all suffered, no matter which side we were on.

I gave him a small smile and then headed towards the drawing room. Lucius was standing by the window, whispering to his son. By the fireplace, Nagini had curled around one of the armchairs so that Tom, sitting on it, could gently pet the snake's head.

I cleared my throat, causing the Malfoys' heads to snap towards me. Tom, though, did not move the tiniest bit. "Come over here, Lorraine," he said, his voice freezing.

I gingerly walked over to him, trying not to do anything more to upset him. "I heard you were looking for me."

"It appears you were gone," he mused. "Did I not order you to stay here?"

"I had to check on my house," I said, trying to bring the lie across as convincing as possible. "I feared I had left a window open and the rain-"

"Lies," he hissed dangerously, finally facing me.

I squared my shoulders. "I'm not lying to you."

"Where have you been, though," he breathed. "Warning people in danger, maybe? Maybe you've been working for my enemies all along-"

"You're insane," I said. "I'm not working against you."

His eyes narrowed at me and I fought to keep my face blank. Nagini had raised her head as well, her split tongue flicking out swiftly before she hissed viciously at me. Tom hissed right back at her, the sound almost tender as he talked to the snake.

"So, what does she say?" I inquired defiantly.

"She doesn't like you," he informed, sounding almost amused.

"The feeling's mutual."

He looked up to me again, studying me carefully. "I'm going to give you one last chance, Lorraine. After all, you were right about the cup."

I held back my sigh of relief and instead answered, "Told you. The girl didn't lie."

"Good on her and good on you. I don't want you to leave without my permission ever again."

"Tom, please," I said. "You know you can trust me."

He did not answer me. Instead, he turned back to the fireplace, his fingers gently ghosting over the snake's head again.

The final battle is drawing closer so I'd be very interested in your theories ;) What do you think will happen to dear Lorraine?