Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Updated 1/20/2021
Chapter Nine
Captured
"I think he has gotten enough rest now," was the first thing Ari heard.
"It really looks like he's coming around," said a jeering voice.
Ari opened his eyes; he had a splitting headache that didn't seem to want to go away. He tried to rub his head but soon realized that his arms were tied behind his back. When he was finally able to focus he wished that he hadn't (or at least he wished that he had seen something different). There were three Death Eaters in the room, two of which were the big thuggish type that were probably there to intimidate him (which he would never admit to them, but he was … a little). However, it wasn't those guys that Ari was really worried about; it was the guy sitting across him that bothered him. There was something about the smirk (which was the only part of his face Ari could see clearly) that made Ari unnerved.
"Who are you?" the Death Eater asked in a pleasant voice that Ari recognized as the lead Death Eater that was at Hogwarts.
"Arthur," Ari said defiantly. "Who are you?"
"I should have fun with you," the lead Death Eater said leaning forward, Ari noticed that he was no longer wearing his mask, not that this helped him seeing as he had no idea who it was (but noticed that he was older and had a twisted face). "I know you are a Weasley, that much is obvious, I just want to know who you belong to."
"What's the matter, the Professor didn't tell you?" Ari asked.
"No, he was only sure your name was Arthur," the Death Eater said, which caused Ari to raise his eyes brows a fraction (so the Professor was new or at least he arrived after Ari got there; that narrowed it down considerable). "And you don't know which Professor it was, did you?" the lead Death Eater said groaning.
Ari gave him a tiny raise of the eyebrows and a fleeting smirk as an answered.
"Well, he did tell me that you are a know-it-all smart ass," the lead Death Eater said. "That's not really going to help you in here."
Ari just stared at him determinedly trying to keep his fear from showing.
"Luckily for you, Arthur," the lead Death Eater said, "I've decided to go easy on you for right now … as long as you tell me what you know, starting with who you are."
"My name is Arthur," was all Ari said.
"Fine them," the lead Death Eater sighed; though it was obvious he wanted to force this boy to talk so he was quite pleased. "Get the Veritaserum."
Ari portrayed his worry for the first time, and then tried to gather his calm.
"You seem a little worried there Arthur, do you have something you're hiding from me?" the lead Death Eater said.
"Why would I want to hide anything from you?" Ari said bravely.
"We'll find out," the lead Death Eater smirked and minutes later another Death Eater returned and forced Ari to take the truth serum.
"So, now what's your name," the lead Death Eater continued in a silkily voice brimming with confidents.
"Ar … Arthur … We … Weasl … Weasley," Ari said, trying his hardest not to answer, but it was impossible. It was the oddest thing being under the truth serum; there was just too strong of a compulsion to tell the truth to stop himself. That question wasn't so bad, but he feared the next one most, because once they knew this, they will know just how valuable he is.
"Who are your parents?" the lead Death Eater asked smugly, quite enjoying the pained look in Ari's eyes, even though they were mostly vacant because of the serum (he was a master interrogated after all, he could always decipher people's moods).
"R … Ron … Wea … easl … ley," Ari said trying his hardest not to, but it was no use. "And He … her … mi … o … ne … Gra … ang … ger."
"Wow," the lead Death Eater said and the other two shifted and smiled. "I can't believe this."
"He might know something," one of the other Death Eaters said. "What do you know about your Mum?"
"She was born in September 1979," Ari said hoping he had the brainpower to pull this off. For you see his Mum told him about a study that was going on about how you could get around Veritaserum without using a potion but it took a lot of will power. The thing to remember was no matter what you have to tell the true but …
"She's a Virgo which means she always like to keep things in order …" Ari continued.
"What? What the hell are you talking about?" the lead Death Eater said.
"She seems to be a little too …" Ari continued like there was no interruption; in fact he didn't even stop talking while the Death Eater was.
"What are the protection placed on your house?" the lead Death Eater asked.
"… Ever. Virgo is a very independent zodiac sign. They are fully able to put their intelligence to use and get things …"
"Damnit, he's not going to shut up about the stupid … er … whatever the hell it is that he's talking about," the Death Eater that asked the question said.
"No, it doesn't seem like it," the lead Death Eater said, as he and the other person in the room glared at him.
"How the hell was I supposed to know that he would start sprouting out nonsense?" he said.
"Don't speak again!" the lead Death Eater shouted.
"… Dwell too much on the past and over complicate things and this may limit their ability to move forward and confuse …."
"Tell me where you live," the lead Death Eater shouted at Ari trying to stop him from speaking.
"… Difficult if someone is not there helping them to achieve more and not be so …"
"Damnit," the lead Death Eater shouted.
There were only a few minutes left before the allotted time for the Veritaserum ran out and Ari was still talking about astrological signs. "They are pure, their motives are honest never malicious and they want to accomplish something."
"He stopped talking," the lead Death Eater said, he had given up trying to interrupt the boy a while ago and was really quite annoyed with him at the moment.
Ari didn't say anything but looked vacantly at the Death Eater, the effects of the Veritaserum had completely warned off by now.
"Where do you live?" the lead Death Eater shouted.
"1 … 2 … 3 … Brown Road," Ari said in the same force voice he was using before but he gave the Death Eater the wrong coordinate, though it was where his Mum usually practiced some of her protective charms so it should keep them happy if they go there.
"What protective charms are on your house?" the lead Death Eater asked.
"Spells," Ari said. "I don't … don't know …"
"It's time," another Death Eater said walking into the room.
"How long ago?" the lead Death Eater asked.
"I don't know," the new one said.
"Take him to the other room," the lead Death Eater said suddenly frowning.
"You think he was lying?" the Death Eater that asked the first question asked.
"Probably," the lead Death Eater sighed; that kid was going to be more trouble than he was worth … well, the Death Eater smiled to himself, maybe not quite that much.
Two minutes later Ari was throw mercilessly into a dark room; it was so dark that once the door closed it was unnervingly black.
"Arthur," a voice said coming from one of the dark corners of the room.
"Teddy," Ari said as relief build in him, he had been very worried about his friend while he was in the other room. "Is that you?"
"Yeah," Teddy said then there was a noise and seconds later someone was standing next to Ari. "Come on," he said taking Ari's hand and leading them to the corner he came from.
"Can you see?" Ari asked he really hoped Teddy could (and that he would be able to as well), it was very disconcerting for it to be pitch black with your eyes wide open.
"A little, but I would suggest you keep your eyes closed," Teddy said curtly and Ari was then reminded that Teddy always could see in the dark better than anyone he knew. Ari always assumed it had something to do with him being the son of a werewolf. Teddy also had a very good sense of hearing and smell (not to mention he was always a little touchier during the full moon).
"What did they do to you?" Ari asked.
"Not much," Teddy said, but there was something about his tone that made Ari start to worry.
"What is it?" Ari asked; he was imagining horrible things happening to his friend, knowing full well that these people were capable of doing anything.
"Stop worrying Arthur, they didn't do anything to me," Teddy said sounding almost amused for a second before he sighed. "They already knew everything they needed to know about me, they know the exact value of taking me was … so I couldn't tell them anything more," he said as his tone got darker with every word. "They made it abundantly clear why I'm here. I'm a distraction. They want Harry and the others to waste their time on trying to find me … us now."
"And they thought you would affect them all the most," Ari said.
"Yeah, especially the 'golden trio'," Teddy spat; putting his hands up into air quotes, not that Ari could see him (though he could fell that Teddy had moved his hands and figured he was doing that). No, Ari had listen to Teddy's advice and kept his eyes closed, it was a lot less disconcerting being in the dark with his eyes closed.
"They know they were wrong now," Ari said in a tone even more bitter than his friends.
"Arthur," Teddy sighed.
"They gave me Veritaserum," Ari said, like he had to justify this.
"Then you have no choice, Arthur," Teddy said trying to cheer him up, or at least stop him from blaming himself over something he had no control over. However, Ari just noticed that Teddy was calling him Arthur, this likely meant his friend didn't think that they were alone (or at least the Death Eater might be able to hear them).
"They think I know more then I'm saying," Ari sighed. "I don't think they're done with me yet." Then he looked in the direction that he thought Teddy was in, and opened his eyes, rolling them towards the direction he was sure the door was in. "How many …" he coughed realistically … "more times they will take me … I don't know."
Teddy smiled, glad that his friend got his warning and tapped him twice on the arm. "At least before you got here," Teddy said giving a forced laugh. "I was the most valuable hostage."
"You know that's not very funny, Teddy," Ari said, but he got the message, Teddy couldn't hear them because he was too loud. Ari then closed his eyes again and sighed. He looked back in Teddy's direction and then pointed at the door, and then at his ear and final back and forth between the two of them ('can they hear us?').
"Maybe …" Teddy said pouting. "But I thought it was."
"I think one of our Professors is here and is a Death Eater," Ari said, this was the best way he could think of to see if the Death Eaters really are listening in, which he bet they were.
"What?" Teddy exclaimed.
"Shocking isn't it," Ari said. "And it has to be a teacher that started in at least my second year."
"Oh," Teddy said hesitantly, he thought that Ari had gotten his message but didn't understand why he would be talking about something like this so freely if he had.
"Yeah, because he didn't really know my name," Ari continued looking at Teddy and giving him an encouraging nod to get him to play along.
"I see," Teddy said. "They couldn't have been there your first year because they would have seen your name, Arthur Weasley, in their role book but after that time you even convinced McGonagall to use …"
"Exactly," Ari said with a hint of pride. "So, it's between Professor Greengrass and Professor MacDougal."
"Well, we know that Greengrass was a Slytherin," Teddy responded. "But I'm not sure that's such a big factor in this anymore."
"That's what I was thinking too," Ari said. "I found Greengrass to know a lot about his subject and though he's not my favorite … I don't know …"
"So you think its MacDougal," Teddy said skeptically.
"I'm not sure yet, but that would make more sense," Ari sighed knowing that MacDougal was one of Teddy's favorite teachers (not the least because he taught Teddy's (and Ari too) favorite subject Transfigurations).
"Come on …" Teddy said.
"Think about it, Teddy," Ari said. "They knew exactly where you were going to be. Doesn't it make more sense that it was someone that took the time to learn more about you? Learn your tendencies and all that."
"I guess," Teddy was force to admit. "But Greengrass is every observant, you have to admit that."
"You're right," Arthur said. "He could have easily have worked out our patterns if he wanted to."
"But still, MacDougal was close to most of us, wasn't he?" Ari said thinking back.
"Yeah, except for you," Teddy said. "You never really liked him."
"He rubbed me the wrong way in the begging," Ari said thinking, it was only for the first week (when he came at the start of Ari's fourth year), he had asked question about who he was and was curious as to why he was called Ari in the role book. He had also asked question about his parents too, regarding how they felt about him hiding his name like this, which made Ari very uncomfortable (he never liked talking about his parents much except on occasion with Ryn or Tori). After that MacDougal had backed off, and Ari nearly forgotten about that until now, besides the reluctant feeling he had towards the Professor after that.
"If I recall correctly it had something to do with your name," Teddy sighed.
"Yeah, it did," Ari said.
"That doesn't sound good does it?" Teddy said pinching his nose.
"No, it really doesn't," Ari said. "Do you know of either one of them having a problem with Uncle Neville?"
"I'm not sure," Teddy said. "Why do you ask?"
"Whoever the Death Eater was, was standing over Neville about to curse him and he sounded like he loathed him," Ari said.
"He cursed Uncle Neville," Teddy asked fearful of the fate of his favorite Professor.
"No, I punched him before he could," Ari smirked for a second.
"Good," Teddy said.
"It's why I was captured though," Ari said; it didn't really matter to him, he would have done the same thing if he was given another the chance.
"It's still a good thing," Teddy said. Then there was a silent for a few minutes as the boys thought about the problem. "I always got the impression Greengrass respected Uncle Neville," Teddy said breaking the silence. "Not friends by any means, but there is respect between the two of them."
"I thought you were going to mention all the time MacDougal spends with Neville," Ari said.
"I'm not so sure that's genuine," Teddy said groaning.
"Really?" Ari said shocked by Teddy's answer.
"It just … one time …" Teddy said. "I saw him sigh in relief after Uncle Neville walked away … I don't know, it just seemed …"
"It seems like he was putting on an act," Ari finished for him. Ari was now trying to place the voice he had heard the other day, but it really was difficult because he hadn't really heard either of his Professor speak with such malice and loathing before. However, he really did think that it was close to the voice he heard the one time MacDougal had yelled. "I think it is MacDougal."
"That sucks," Teddy groaned.
"Would it be any better if it was Greengrass?" Ari questioned.
"I suppose not," Teddy said. "We trusted all of our teachers."
"I'm going to try to rest," Ari said leaning back. "I would imagine they will want to speak to me again soon."
O
It was four hours after that that the doors opened and Ari was dragged from the dark room. And placed in a bright room, the same room he was in before, and the lead Death Eater was there again, along with one of the thuggish Death Eater that was there before (the one that Ari hadn't heard speak, yet). A new Death Eater came into the room and handed the lead Death Eater Veritaserum and he stood in the corner; smugness emanating off of him.
"So Arthur, are you going to open up this time or are we going to have to do this the hard way?" the lead Death Eater smirked.
"I like doing things the hard way," Ari said mustering his courage again.
The new Death Eater laughed slightly and very maniacally and Ari head snapped to look at him; he knew that voice.
"You weren't supposed to talk," the lead Death Eater said. "Or make a sound."
"Professor MacDougal," Ari said looking as shocked as he could at the Death Eaters.
"Arthur," MacDougal said there was no shock in his voice, he already knew that Ari figured it out; they were definitely listening to them in that room.
The lead Death Eater looked rather angry with his partner but didn't say anything more about it. "We'll try the Veritaserum to start with," he said. "And I hope you don't pull you hour long talking trip again … trust me, it would be better for you if you didn't."
Ari did believe him; the identical smirk on the lead Death Eater and MacDougal's faces told him that whatever came after was going to hurt a lot. However, he knew that he was going to try to prevent himself from giving them any more valuable information.
So once again he was force to take the truth serum. "Tell me what protective spells you have on your house," the lead Death Eater said.
"I don't know what they are called," Ari said.
"How do they work?" the Death Eater asked; probably not realizing how broad that question was.
"Protective spells are usually placed on something that needs to be disguised or shield …" Ari said and spent the rest of the hour describing why you would use a protective spell and the various kinds that could be use (none of which were the ones that were placed on his house).
"It looks like your hour is up," the lead Death Eater said sounding very annoyed.
"Yes," Ari said, some of the potion was still in his system, but not so much he had to tell the truth.
"And it looks like you chose the hard way," the lead Death Eater continued, this time smirking.
"Yes," Ari repeated, glad he was unable to portray his fears at the moment.
O
Two hours later Ari was dragged back into the dark room. He was awake; though he felt like he could sleep for a long time now and there would be nothing he would like more, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep any time soon. There wasn't a single mark on him, but every inch of him hurt.
"Arthur," Teddy said walking over to his friend, already knowing that Ari had been through hell because he was able to hear his screaming, but there was something about seeing him so weak that made Teddy really afraid.
"Hey Ted," Ari said in a raspy voice, as Teddy finally reach the spot where the Death Eater left him. "Help me get to the corner yeah."
Teddy didn't argue, he knew there was no point in arguing with Ari, so he just helped his friend get to the corner. He suppose it was a good move because he had gather some cloth to make into a bed of kinds that Ari would be able to rest on.
"How are you?" Teddy asked after he got Ari settled.
"I'm sure you heard," Ari said weakly and then stared meaningfully at Teddy. "Everyone heard … everything."
"Right," Teddy said pretty sure Ari was telling him they couldn't speak freely in here.
"It was MacDougal," Ari said, he wanted Teddy to know this though it was bad news and he knew it didn't matter if the Death Eaters heard him say that or not.
"I didn't really doubt you," Teddy said in a force calm voice. "Get some rest Arthur, I'm pretty sure you'll need it."
"I couldn't agree with you more," Ari said chuckling for a moment but stopping because it hurt too much. He closed his eyes, but sleep wouldn't come to him. He was afraid of how he was going to wake up and that if he slept it would just bring him that much closer to his next torture session. Noticing his friend's discomfort, Teddy put a comforting hand on Ari's shoulder and he soon fell asleep.
That was how the time pasted for the two boys. Ari was taken out of the dark room every few hours so he could be subjected to some kind of torture. It was always a little different each time, they used a little different techniques each time to see if they could get anything out of him. Ari was starting to think that they didn't really care what he might know; they just liked the sound of his screaming.
They would occasionally take Teddy out of the room too (though nowhere near as often as they did Ari), to ask him what he knew about certain things. It was mostly about characteristics traits on Harry (or some of the others). They gave him Veritaserum too, but he was unable to fight off its effects, though he was able to make himself speak as slowly as possible (hoping that would stop him from saying too much).
"Do you have any idea what time it is? What day?" Ari asked he had just come back from a particularly rough session of torture. He had been given a potion that felt like his insides were on fire and at the same time he was also given Veritaserum to see if he would talk. He found it was a lot harder to concentrate but was able to make it through it (he just hoped they didn't realize how much he struggled with it this time).
"It's been two days," Teddy said immediately.
"It seems you have a better sense of time than I do," Ari struggled to say.
"Not really … I just know what today is," Teddy said and edge to his voice.
"Oh," Ari said, of course, it was the full moon. If there was one day of the month that Teddy knew without question, it was that day. Ari sat up and lean against the wall for a second … thinking.
"Arthur," Teddy said concerned, he was looking at his friend and could see that he was in a really bad shape.
"Huh?" Ari said, not really paying attention to him.
"I would have given in by now," Teddy said.
"What?" Ari said confused.
"The torture they put you through … I would have given in by now," Teddy said, he thought this was the best way of giving his friend a moral boost; he could tell that Ari couldn't take much more of this.
"Do you really think that I have anything of value to tell anyways," Ari said, a hint of amusement in his voice. He then put his head in his hands and went back to thinking about his half bake plan that might allow them to get out of there. However, he was really skeptical of the chances it had of working, because a lot of it depended on the two of them being able to overpower a more powerful opponent. He would have liked to be able to get Teddy's opinion on this matter (or at least have been able to give his friend more of a warning about what it was he was planning), but that was impossible in the current situation. So all he could do was think.
As he sat there weighing the pros and cons of his plan he fiddled with the little silver coin of his. That was one of the pros for the plan; he had already gone throw the trouble of swallowing the coin (which he did after the Death Eater had hit him, but before Teddy gave himself up the other day) and processed to regurgitate it back up a while ago. It really would have been a waste to go throw all that for nothing. Then there was the fact that no matter what the Death Eaters did to them if his plan failed it couldn't get much worse than it was right now. Add to it the fact that Teddy's senses were at their peak today and the extra anger should make him a tougher opponent; now really seem like the best time to try it.
So with that in mind, Ari sat up and waved his arms around trying to find Teddy, he really hated it in this dark room. He was finally able to get his attention (he knew he got Teddy's attention when he heard the snort, he must have looked like such an idiot). After this long imprisonment, Ari and Teddy had worked out a way to communicate pretty well, though it was much easier for Teddy to understand Ari because he could at least see hand motions, Ari had to resort to responding to physical contact.
Teddy placed his hand on Ari's shoulder 'What?'
Ari made a few hand gestures as well as mouthed (he was pretty sure Teddy could read his lips just as well as his hand gestures). 'Tell me when you hear them coming.'
Teddy squeezed his shoulder; Ari had no idea what that meant but he took it as Teddy being confused as to what he wanted.
Ari made another motion that meant 'I have a plan.'
Teddy placed his hand on Ari's shoulder again, 'What?'
'I need a wand,' Ari gestured (that one took a while for Teddy to get).
Teddy sighed (that was going to be difficult). Then he placed his hand on Ari's right wrist 'How?'
Ari motioned to Teddy his plan, and though it took awhile (and after multiple attempts made by Ari to get it right), but now they were getting ready to try. Teddy had lead Ari to one side of the door, and then he walked to the other, and the two of them waited for the two guard Death Eaters to come.
They only had to wait one minute before they heard the now all too familiar sound of the door opening and one of the Death Eater came in. "Hey," he said before Teddy tackled him, knocking him to the ground and taking the wand from his hand in one fluid motion.
"No you don't," the other Death Eater said pointing his wand at Teddy, but Ari had punched him a second after he had finished speaking.
"I don't think he thought you could stand," Teddy said as he threw Ari the wand, but it went over his shoulder (just like they had planned). Teddy didn't even give Ari a second glance after he released the wand, he was still struggling with his Death Eater and the other one was starting to stir as well.
Ari dove on the wand, picked it up and preformed the spell within seconds. With a smirk Ari turned around and cursed the Death Eater that was just about to punch Teddy.
"Stay down Ted," Ari said as he shot the other Death Eater that was trying to recover his wand.
"Expelliarmus," a voice said entering the dark room.
The wand that Ari was using flew out of his hand and he looked at the door terrified (this was the part of the plan that he was most worried about).
"Did you really think you could get out of here boys?" the lead Death Eater said in a leering voice shaking his head. "I thought you were smarter than that."
"It was worth the try," Teddy said defiantly (definitely struggling to keep his inner angry from taking over).
"Bloody Gryffindors," one of the Death Eaters in the background muttered.
"Well, I was going to give you another few hours but now that you have got me down here I suppose now's as good as time as any," the lead Death Eater said, smirking at the two boys. "It seems your family was very motivated to find you too, and they are better at finding some of our bases than we thought … but don't worry, they are nowhere near finding this place … at least not in time to help either of you. For you see we're getting ready to leave this place and find somewhere better to house you, well, at least one of you will be coming with us."
Ari and Teddy looked at each other; that didn't sound good at all.
"So which one will come with us and which one will became … a distraction," the lead Death Eater said, smirking manically at the two boys.
"Are you going to kill the spare?" Ari asked in his business like voice he always used when he was terrified but didn't want anyone to know it (he had used this voice a lot in the last two days, he hoped the Death Eaters didn't realize why he used it).
"So dreary, Arthur," the lead Death Eater said cheerfully, "And no imagination. If we kill one of you all that will do is make your love ones more eager to fight us, hardly the distraction we are hoping for."
"Then what?" Teddy questioned in almost a growl.
"You know it's up to me, which one of you that is chosen," the lead Death Eater said, ignoring Teddy's question as he smirked at Ari. "Though, I would really love to see you break, and spill every meaningless piece of information you might have to give us; there is something poetic about making a smart ass like you lose your mind completely."
The color drained from Ari face as he heard that. He wasn't sure exactly what that meant, what they would do to achieve that effect, but he could understand the torture he would go through if he was no longer able to think. He also understood how much that would affect his parent (especially his Mum) and the other people that care about him.
"I think I've made the right chose," the lead Death Eater said smirking, and then he motioned to the other Death Eaters in the room. "Take the smart ass to the interrogation room and leave the other in here, but make sure he can hear his friend."
"No," Teddy said stepping towards the lead Death Eater, but before anyone else could respond Ari put an arm on his shoulder.
"It's okay Teddy," he said and pulled the other boy into a hug, so he could slip the silver coin in his pocket. "Hold on when it's hot," he whispered to his friend in a steady voice.
"I will," Teddy said looking beyond confused by what Ari just said but knew that he meant something by that (and he would probably understand what when he needed too).
As Ari walked away from the room he cursed himself for not thinking that this was a possibility when he made his plan. Why didn't he just set the coin to leave a minute after he cast the spell? No he had to make it delay; thinking that he wouldn't have time to get to Teddy and that when the Death Eaters caught them after receiving some kind of punishment the Death Eaters would have left them alone. He thought that that was the best way that would allow the both of them to get out of there, but right now he really wished he went with the earlier departure. His only consolation, he thought grimly as he walked into the bright room to meet his fate, was that in about thirty minutes Teddy should be safe.
"Hello Arthur," the lead Death Eater said smiling. He wasn't the only either, it looked like just about all the Death Eaters that where at this place were inside this room; Ari assumed it was so they could watch the show.
"MacDougal's not here," Ari said; gathering the last of his courage knowing that there was nothing after this. "I would have thought he would have liked to see this."
"He most definitely would have," the lead Death Eater said as the other in the background laughed.
"So is this his punishment for his many slips," Ari quipped (it was always his natural reaction when he was scared). He noticed that only one of the Death Eaters smirked at that one. The Death Eater was unremarkable and easily looked over, but Ari got a weird feeling every time he came near him (though it only happened a few times).
"No, your dear Uncle Neville has been keeping an annoyingly closer eye on him so he couldn't get away," the lead Death Eater said (Ari was shocked that he got an answer until the Death Eater continued speaking). "But, soon nothing will matter to you anymore, so let's stop wasting time on this."
It was one last taunt to draw the fear out of Ari, but he wasn't going to let that work. So he stare defiantly at the Death Eater, he knew that the time had come and there was nothing left for him to do, so he let all the courage and defiance he had build inside of him; he wasn't going to let them see how scared he really was at this moment (he didn't want to give them the pleasure).
The lead Death Eater just stared at him for a few minutes waiting for the boy to crack no doubt, but finally he said, "you really would have had it so much easier if you just had talked," he smirked then said coldly. "Crucio."
Terrible pain had hit Ari like a ton of bricks immediately after the Death Eater said the curse. But, he was use to pain now, it basically all he felt for the last two days, and this wasn't the first time the Cruciatus Curse was used on him.
"Crucio," a second Death Eater shouted and the pain doubled. It was beyond belief the pain that was coursing throw him now. The only thought (and it kept repeating over and over again) was that he would give anything to make it go away; he was pleading for the pain to stop by any means.
And then it did.
"That should be enough," the lead Death Eater said.
"Are you sure?" one of the other Death Eaters asked; Ari noticed that it was the unremarkable one.
"Lestrange told me it only took a minute of being exposed to double Cruciatus Curse to make the victim lose their mind," the lead Death Eater said. "If he were here …"
"Well, he was taken out by the Weasleys," an unknown Death Eater said.
"His eyes still look alive," the unremarkable Death Eater said. "What's the difference if you torture a mindless body a little longer if I'm wrong?"
"I guess you're right," the lead Death Eater said. "Crucio."
"Crucio," the other Death Eater said seconds later.
And the pain seemed even worse than it did before, because in the few minutes of reprieve his mind allowed him to think that it couldn't have been as bad as he thought it was; or was it that this time he would know what to expect. But he didn't, because there was no preparation for how unbelievably painful this was.
He had no idea how long it was, probably only a second later, a second that seemed like an eternity, but he knew he was now at his breaking point; there was only so much pain the body can take until it shuts down.
He was right there … and then he wasn't. He didn't know where he was, but it was nothing like the place where he was just at. No, the place he was at now was peaceful and calming; except for the dim screaming he could hear in the background. When he looked in the direction of the screaming he realized that it was him; that he could see himself screaming in the room full of Death Eaters.
Ari didn't like that; he was afraid of what this meant, being able to look down at himself; but the tranquility of the place he was in was too powerful to allow him to worry. So instead, he turned his back on his screaming self and looked again at the beautiful surrounding. It was indescribable, simply because Ari had never seen anything like it in his life. There were different shades of lights in all sorts of colors (some that he didn't even knew existed), all beautifully colliding together to creature an all-inspiring atmosphere. As he looked at the brightest light, he noticed that he could feel some kind of energy coming off it and what was more that that energy was filling him up. As he sat there basking in the light's energy, he sensed that it was familiar to him and that it made him think of home.
And just as the energy mounted the screaming stopped and the light went out. There was no sound for a moment and all there was left for him to do was to look at himself, the one that was still in the room filled with Death Eaters.
"How's that?" the lead Death Eater said in a distant voice (Ari had trouble concentrating on it).
"Good, he's not in there at all," the unremarkable Death Eater said. "It's a pity; a mind really is an awful thing to waste."
"What should we do with him now?" another Death Eater asked.
"Throw him in the Floo," the unremarkable Death Eater said.
As two Death Eater pushed Ari's body into the Floo, there was a flash of light and then everything went dark.
A/N: Okay so this one was a darker chapter that was difficult for me to write. I hope you like it (or at least think I wrote it well). The next chapter you get to see what happened to Ari and what the reactions are when everyone gets to see each other again.