Chapter Eighteen

A/N: OOH, THIS CHAPTER IS AT MALFOY MANOR! :D YAY! Haha, okay, not so much 'yay'. Caution: violent torturing scene.

Rose's POV

I woke up bound to a chair.

Feeling groggy, I blinked several times until everything came back into view. I was in a bare, giant, ornate, and once handsome room, with an ancient chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I realized that I didn't recognize this place. It was a dim room, pale sunlight filtering in from a pair of windows. I remembered faintly the masked men in dark robes blasting a spell through my window, grabbing me from behind, and then Stunning me unconscious...

I reached for my pocket and found that my wand was missing. Spotting it on a faraway table with another wand, I cursed silently. I looked beside me, and almost cried out in surprise when I saw two other people, unconscious, and also bound to chairs.

I recognized one as Thalia's mum, Sally Wilcox. We had met over the various times Scorpius, Albus, and I had come over to Thalia's Gran's house for Christmas holidays. Her dark brown hair was swept into a ponytail and her blue eyes closed. She was wearing a pinstriped business suit; as she was a Muggle reporter. What puzzled me the most was why she was here.

The other person was the man that I recognized from the Daily Prophet; the American Auror who had been attacked by Death Eaters. His pale gold hair was falling into his eyes and a thin trickle blood was running from his forehead. Examining him closely, I realized that he looked strangely like someone I knew...

Miss Wilcox had woken up from her unconscious state and was looking frantically around. When she saw me, I motioned for her to be silent. She nodded, her eyes wide. She also scanned the room with her eyes and they grew more confused by the minute. When she spotted the man in the chair between us, her eyes practically bulged out of their sockets.

She seemed as if she knew him. That's weird. How would she? I tried to ask her through hand gestures, but then someone's footsteps echoed through the room. Steeling myself, I gathered my Gryffindor courage and put on a poker face.

Lucius Malfoy walked in, closely flanked by three other masked men I recognized as Death Eaters. They stopped when they spotted Ms. Wilcox and I awake.

"Ah, so you're awake," One Death Eater said.

"Oh, but it looks like Hollister over here is still unconscious, Dolohov," Death Eater number two spoke to the first one.

"I think we knocked him out pretty good, Flint." Said the third one, guffawing.

"Yeah, good. He was pretty feisty when we took him from Auror Headquarters, Nott." Flint said.

Lucius Malfoy just stood there, glassy eyed, Flint's wand pointing at his back...

"You're putting him under the Imperius Curse," I said, and then instantly regretted speaking in the first place when they turned to me.

"Smart one, are you, Weasley? Just like your filthy Mudblood mother." Dolohov sneered.

I stuck my chin out. "My parents and relatives will be here soon. They're going to save me and you'll lose, once again."

Nott laughed a cold, hard sound. "I don't think so, Red. Your parents aren't coming any time soon. It will be hours before they find out you're missing. But we're not after you and your relatives. We're after your friends."

What? My friends? Why? I thought.

"Yes, your friends," Flint said, "We're not after your relatives. It's your friends we want."

"But why?" I asked, confused.

"It's Wilcox and Malfoy we're after. We need to get rid of them first before we can carry on our plans." Nott said.

"Why, though?" I asked again.

"Enough questions!" Dolohov roared. He stepped over to Thalia's mom and glared at her. "Where is your daughter?"

Ms. Wilcox looked absolutely terrified. "I-I don't know."

With a flick of his wand, he cut the ropes that bonded her to the chair. He now stood over her, snarling, "You will tell me where your daughter is, or else I can guarantee that you will never see daylight again, filthy Squib."

She was now shaking, tears streaming from her eyes. "I-I don't know where she is, I swear!"

"CRUCIO!" Dolohov yelled. She screamed, and her body writhed and twisted in pain, lifting it up and down in the air, as if she was being wrung like a towel by a giant.

"You will tell me now!" Another flick of the wand, and she rose again, her body contorted in pain. I kept wincing as I watched. I hated to see her getting tortured. I had to do something. When I saw the man starting to stir and open an eye. He had been awake the whole time? Thinking fast, I whispered to him, "Hey, can you Summon your wand over to you? But keep your eyes closed and do it nonverbally." When he gave a small nod, I smiled to myself. Thank you mum for your resourceful and bright brain that I inherited.

Thalia's mum landed face down on the marble floor with a thud, cuts and slashes all over her face and body. Dolohov stepped over to her, his voice low and rumbling. "Tell me where she is."

"S-she c-called m-me yesterday. I-I th-think she's still in England." With that, her head collapsed on the floor, her eyes half-shut, one of her eyelids cut and bleeding.

"Wait!" I said. Dolohov turned back to me, eyebrows raised. "Don't torture her, torture me. I know exactly where she is." I felt like I was inching closer and closer to a bear trap, waiting with a racing heart for it to close on me.

"Ah, Red knows where they are, Dolohov. Isn't she smart? Tell us where she is." Nott said, obviously excited.

I put on a devious smirk that would've made Scorpius proud. Scorpius. I felt my heart swell at the thought of him. If I don't make it out of this, I just want you to know...I love you. Thalia...you're the best friend ever and I hate myself for yelling at you. Albus...you're the best cousin and friend I could ever ask for. Mum, dad, Hugo, Aunt Ginny, Fleur, Angelina, Audrey, Uncle Harry, Bill, George, Percy, Charlie, late Uncle Fred, James, Lily, Molly, Lucy, Roxy, Fred, Victoire, Dominique, Louis, Teddy...I love you all. My confidence grew, along with my courage. "Never in a million years, bitches."

They stared at me for a minute, evidently surprised, and then put on expressions of pure fury. "Alright, you asked for it." All three raised their wands, pointing them at me.

I love you. I thought, closing my eyes and picturing every detail of Scorpius's beautiful face. It was probably the last time I would ever see it. His silky platinum blonde hair, his mysterious grey eyes, that playful smirk...

"CRUCIO!"

The pain came, fast, furious, and white-hot. It seized my heart and wrung it so hard that a scream escaped my throat. Every inch of my body screamed. I felt triple the pain I had ever felt in my sixteen years. My nerves felt like they were being fried by electricity and my mind were filled with images and thoughts that caused me pain to no end. I felt like I was barely inches from dying.

I finally landed on the ground on my back. I felt something hot and wet trickle down the side of my face. I closed my eyes, my body still sizzling in pain. I hated the feeling of being defeated, to be weak. I wanted to get up, but even when I moved a finger, my frayed muscles screamed in protest.

A looming figure stood over me. "Tell me where she is."

I laughed, and the sound was painful to force out. "I don't know. We haven't talked to each other in days. I guess you missed a little something in your diabolical plan." My voice was raspy and strained, and it felt as if I was trying to cough up nails.

Dolohov looked furious. Suddenly, Flint was knocked backwards by a red jet. He was Stunned. Lucius Malfoy dropped to the ground, unconscious. Dolohov looked behind him and roared in anger. The man was standing behind him, his wand smoking.

"Get him, Nott!" Nott scrambled to retrieve his wand, but by then he was already Stunned.

Suddenly, two dozen more Death Eaters came pouring in from all sides of the room. "Here, catch!" The man called, tossing me my wand. I caught it, and was glad that I had my trusty 9-inch oak wood pheonix-core wand back where it belonged: in my hand. I got up and raced to the blonde, while casting a quick Protego to protect Ms. Wilcox, who was now unconscious.

"Thanks!" I yelled back, shooting Stunning spells and various other hexes at the Death Eaters that were surrounding us.

"Stupefy! You're welcome. I'm Thomas Hollister, by the way, American Auror, at your service." He said.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Rose Weasley. Oppugno! You know, I read about you in the Prophet. Why were the Death Eaters hunting you down? Tarantallegra!" I shot the spell at an unfortunate Death Eater that was standing to the left. As soon as the spell hit him, he started dancing uncontrollably.

"No idea! Rictumsempra! You were really brave back there."

I smiled, casting a Bat-Bogey Hex at another Death Eater. "Thank you."

All of a sudden, three people burst into the room, wands at the ready. I was overjoyed to see my three friends, Albus, Thalia, and Scorpius standing heroically at the entrance of the room. Every Death Eater stopped firing spells and turned to see the three of them. There was a silence and Dolohov stepped forward.

"Ah, this makes our job a whole lot easier." Raising his wand, I did some very irrational quick thinking.

"NO!" I shouted. Running toward them, Dolohov aimed his wand at me instead of my three friends.

Muttering a curse, Dolohov sent a jet of purple shot out from its end. Hitting me square in the chest, the last thing I saw was Scorpius's beautiful face, his grey eyes in shock.

Then everything went black.

A/N: How's that for heroic? Yeah, I know, blah blah blah you hate me and my cliffies! I'm sorry! But please review! Pretty please?

TFI