"Astoria." Daphne called out in a quiet voice as she came to a stop in front of her bedroom door. There was no answer. Daphne risked pushing the door open, and she was met with the sight of an empty room. "Damnit." She muttered, closing the door. She leaned against the wall and ran a hand through her hair.
If Astoria wasn't in their room...There was only one other place she could be.
It was a place Daphne never wanted to go again. But she would have to if she wanted to rescue Astoria. And that would mean facing her father. Alone.
Daphne dispelled the disillusionment charm Bastila had placed upon her and continued through the halls. Each step she took sounded heavier and heavier to her own ears. She gripped her wand tightly as she neared door that led to the Manor library. She reached out to open it, then drew her hand back. She squared her shoulders, pushed her dread and paralyzing memories aside, and pointed her wand at the door. "Bombarda." The door was blasted inward. It flew off its hinges and slammed against the bookshelves on the opposite side of the library. The shelves were smashed to pieces with a loud crashing noise. Books fell to the floor, covered in wood and splinters, torn to bits.
Daphne strode across the room and thrust her wand at the wall and the broken shelves that still stood. The wall exploded. Daphne was struck with debris, bruised and bloodied, but she didn't pay it any attention as she stepped into the hallway that had been hidden behind the bookshelves. She walked to the end of the hall and blasted the next door open, revealing to her what she had already suspected, but hadn't wanted to be right about.
High pitched screams mixed with cruel laughter met Daphne's ears. In the darkness of the room she could see her father pointing his wand at a girl of twelve who was chained to the wall. He hadn't taken any notice of Daphne's arrival, but Astoria had. Over their fathers' shoulder, the girls' eyes met. Astoria's, wide and pain filled, and Daphne's, narrowed and rageful.
Daphne moved her eyes away, unable to stand the sight of Astoria's tortured gaze. She instead focused on their fathers' back. Daphne stepped closer to him. Closer and closer until she was right behind him.
Daphne swiped her wand at his legs, focusing everything she had on a single spell. Her father fell to the floor, separated from his limbs, blood gushing out as he screamed in agony. His eyes looked up and found Daphne's. His eyes went from agonized, to astonished, to angry in half a second. He started raising his wand. Daphne swiped her own wand at him again, severing his wand arm at the shoulder and eliciting another howl of pain.
He was close to death. His face went pale, he gurgled and made strangled noises, twitching feebly.
Daphne crouched down in front of her father, staring into his blazing, furious eyes. The same stare he had fixed her with so many times before in her life. "I don't know what I expected from you in your final moments, Father. An expression of remorse? Some sign that you realize all the pain and death you've caused were wrong? Oh well. I can live with that dream being crushed. I've got plenty more to look forward to that will definitely come true." She leaned in closer, almost face to face with her father. She could see the realization in his eyes. That she was polyjuiced. That the masked woman before him was his own daughter, come to murder him.
"I'm going to marry a Muggle-Born." Daphne whispered.
Her father took a breathe and coughed, spitting blood in Daphne's face.
Daphne jerked back. She slowly got to her feet, wiping the blood away. "Good-Bye, Father." She said simply. Then she swept her wand at him for a final time. Her spell cut through his neck entirely, decapitating him.
Daphne raised her eyes to Astoria, then slashed her wand at the chains, releasing the girl. Daphne caught her, holding Astoria in her arms. "You okay? Damnit, of course you're not okay. I never was after...But you will be. I promise." Daphne got to her feet with Astoria and started out of the room. Astoria's eyes closed, and she wrapped her arms weakly around Daphne's neck.
"Don't worry sis, I'll get you to St. Mungos and you'll be alright. And hey, you can meet my future wife too..." Daphne was hardly aware of what she was saying now. But she was saying anything, everything she could to comfort her little sister.
By the time she arrived back in the study room, Astoria was unresponsive. Daphne checked her pulse every few minutes to make sure Astoria was ONLY sleeping, but that still didn't do much to reassure her.
Bastila came into the study room a minute later, and her eyes immediately fell on Daphne and the unconscious Astoria. Bastila didn't waste time with questions. She called Eve, who appeared as promptly as ever. "We need to get her to St. Mungos. Now." Bastila told the Elf urgently.
Eve obediently put a hand on Daphne and Astoria, grabbed Bastila's hand, and apparated them out of the Manor.
Their appearance inside the lobby of St. Mungos was a shock, to say the least. A few Healers almost instantly took Astoria from Daphne, examining her and magicking her into the air. Bastila held Daphne back from going after the Healers as they took Astoria into an elevator.
"We need to get out of here." Bastila said quietly, looking around the Lobby. Everyone was staring and whispering. The receptionist, a young man, started over to them, along with four St. Mungos security guards. And a woman Bastila definitely recognized: Nurse Sarah.
"Right." Daphne replied as the St. Mungos security drew nearer. She knew as well as Bastila did that they would be asked questions that they definitely couldn't answer.
To make matters worse, the Polyjuice potion was starting to wear off.
"Take us back to the trunk's apartment." Bastila told Eve quickly. That's when her head became its' normal size again, and her mask slipped off. Bastila cursed, turning her head to curtain her hair and hide her face from Sarah, even as a security guard was saying, "We'd like to ask you a few things about the patient you brought in-"
Half a second later, Bastila, Daphne and Eve were gone from St. Mungos.
"Did you kill my mother?" Daphne asked after they reappeared inside the trunk's apartment and Eve had disapparated back to one of Bastila's many mansion properties. (Eve had said she wanted to keep them all properly maintained in case Bastila ever wanted to use one of them, something Bastila only agreed with because it gave Eve something to do, more-so because cleaning seemed like something the Elf apparently LIKED doing.)
Bastila didn't answer Daphne right away. She went over to the bed and lay down on it, closing her eyes for a moment. "Did you kill your father? That girl was your little sister, wasn't she? And he tortured her."
"Yeah." Daphne went over and lay beside Bastila, staring up at the ceiling. "He used to torture me, too. Until I got older. Started to defend myself, that is. Then I wasn't worth the effort, and he turned to Astoria..."
"It's over now. We did it. You saved sister, your parents are dead. You and Astoria can have a better life now." Bastila said soothingly, wrapping her arms around Daphne. "Your parents will never hurt you again."
Daphne leaned into Bastila, with silent tears running down her face. Soon, she was asleep in Bastila's arms. Bastila fell asleep shortly after, running a hand through Daphne's hair, holding her close to her chest.