Firstly - Sorry, everyone, for the extended delays in getting this chapter to you. I've been swamped with homework.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope to have Chapter 10 to you all sometime next week. (That's the plan, in any case. lol.)
I also wanted to give a warm Thank You to everyone who has been reading, as well as reviewing and adding me to their favourites. I really appreciate it, and it reminds me not to neglect you all.
Please let me know what you think, and any concrit/suggestions you may have.
(Re-beta'ed by Dances With Vampires.)
Chapter 9: Manipulation 101
Janice sat at her desk, her lips pursed, tapping her heel distractedly. She had no idea what was going on behind those closed doors, but she knew she wasn't going to like it.
Two days had passed since they'd released the pictures to the press, and not a single tip had been reliable or given them anything of use. There had been no movement on any of their financial accounts, no word from Border Control, nothing.
She was so lost in her own thoughts that she nearly slapped Lloyd when he tapped her shoulder. "Oh, God, I'm sorry," she gushed.
"Staring at that door isn't going to make things happen quicker."
"We should be in there. You know that, right?" she breathed bitterly, resuming her staring at the doors.
"I know, but I also know why we aren't."
"I'm not fucking biased, I know she didn't kill them!" she snapped, and everyone in the office redirected their attention from their work.
Lloyd leaned in close. "Not here, and not now," he whispered. "Unless you want to get served with transfer papers or stuck in admin for the rest of your career. Now c'mon, we've got a case, and I need your help on it."
"Get another detective," Janice replied coldly. "I'm busy."
"Right, up you get, come with me." He pulled her to her feet and practically dragged her into an empty interrogation room. "Are you completely barking mad? Are you trying to get suspended? This attitude is exactly why you aren't in there with them now; you and I both know she is innocent, but that knowledge means jack shit if you lose your job. If you lose your job, you can't help her," he pleaded.
"Maybe I should lose it, 'cause I'm sure as hell not interested in working for an organisation that is so willing to sell out one of us just because it makes the case easier," Janice snapped back, breathing heavily.
"Listen to yourself, for Christ's sake, woman!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "If, and I mean if they find her alive, who do you think is going to stand up for her and make sure she doesn't get fed to the wolves if you and I aren't around? She is your friend. Now be a bloody friend and do your bloody job! You think I don't feel guilty over all this? I was pissed out of my mind Friday night, we all bloody were, and if we hadn't been things would have been bloody different, but they aren't! So all we can do now is try to fix it and do our jobs, and try and find her before she turns up in a bloody ditch somewhere! Either you're her friend, or you should just hand in your resignation now. Which is it?"
-.-.-
Lucius sat at the desk in his study, reviewing some financial information, when a very timid and anxious house elf poked his head around the corner of the door. "M-Master?"
"Enter."
The house elf sucked in his stomach as he squeezed through the gap between the wall and the door, so as not to move it. "Pardon, Master, Oggle's very sorry to interrupt you, sir," he said, giving a low bow.
"What is it?" Lucius asked, not really paying any attention as he signed an authorisation and pressed the family seal in wax at the bottom.
"It - it's the lady, Master, the one in the guest wing."
"I am quite aware that there is only one lady currently residing here, and I am aware of where she is staying. Get to the point, Oggle," he demanded, still not looking up from his work.
"Oggle has been doing as you ordered, Master - sending food up to her to eat at her leisure, Master."
"And what of it?" Lucius finally gave up on what he was doing, and gave the house elf his full and begrudged attention.
Oggle seemed to falter under the unwavering gaze now fixed on him, and he took a deep steadying breath. "She. . ." Crestfallen, his ears drooped as he looked to the floor. "She's not eating, Master. . .not even a bite. Oggle has tried making different foods she might like, but when he brings it back after the warming spell goes. . .she's not even touched it, sir. Oggle has tried making the Master's favourites, and the young Master's and the young Miss's, and knows not what to do. . .Oggle must be punished. . ."
Lucius sneered. "She hasn't been eating all this time, and you only thought to tell me now?" he demanded, getting to his feet.
The house elf stammered unintelligibly, backing up.
"Out of my way, you pathetic, useless creature." Lucius kicked the house elf aside as he stormed out of the room, his robes billowing behind him. "Three days. . ." he muttered angrily. Merlin only knew if she had even had a drink in that time, and if word got back to the Dark Lord about this. . . "Stubborn little bitch," he hissed as he rounded the corner into the corridor that would lead him to her room.
"What is the meaning of you starving yourself?" Lucius demanded, walking into the room unannounced.
Eliza looked over the top of a book Draco must have lent her, and casually glanced at the dining cart next to bed, the lid still hiding its delights. "Good afternoon to you too. Or is it morning? Sorry, I can't tell anymore, being stuck in this bed day and night."
"I told you what the terms were if you wanted more freedom," he retorted, fighting to keep himself composed and not give into the desire to hex her into oblivion.
"And I still decline," she replied childishly, resuming her reading.
"Have you at least had something to drink?" he demanded, slowly losing the battle.
"What's it to you?"
"You are my guest," he said shortly, closing his mouth before some other less-than-kindly words followed.
"I thought I was your prisoner."
"I'm sure you realise in this case the two are not mutually exclusive. I am in charge of your well-being-"
"And that well-being can best be addressed in my own home. Now, if you'll excuse me." She picked the book back up, and Lucius snapped, storming over and snatching it from her.
"Either you eat something on your own accord, or I force you."
"And then what?" Eliza asked, irritatingly smug. "I'm stuck in this godforsaken bed, remember? You want to be the one to change the sheets?"
Lucius took a deep, infuriated breath. "Fine. When you eat, you can roam your room. But that's it."
"How about you release me, and then I eat in a lovely cafe in London?"
"You really don't want me to force you," he threatened coldly.
"And you apparently really don't want you to force me, or you would have by now," she replied with the same cold, challenging voice.
That was true. All this time he hadn't trusted himself to not kill her if he pulled his wand on her one more time. They stared each other down, and it was then that it occurred to Lucius what she was doing as he started to pull out his wand. She couldn't quite hide the hope in her eyes as she followed his hand.
"Nice try," he replied, smiling at the speed in which her expression changed once she realised she had been found out.
"Do it. You and I both know you can stand me little more than I can stand you, you don't want me here anymore than I want to be here, so just kill me and get it over with." She looked him straight in the eye. "It's clear that I'm never going to get my life back, or have any semblance of a life, so do it." She continued to stare at him, waiting. "Do it, god damn it!" she shouted.
Lucius straightened himself up and threw the book back into her lap. "Not today." He turned and walked out without another word as Eliza burst into tears as he closed the door.
-.-.-
Lucius tracked Draco down in the music room, potions book in hand as he listened to Arnica practice her piano. It wasn't terrible, however there was the odd key that couldn't help but make even the most hardened ears cringe. "Arnica, I think you've played enough. Come here please," he said pleasantly to his daughter who skipped over and gave her father a hug as he took a seat and she climbed into his lap. "Now, have you been visiting Eliza with Draco like I asked?"
She nodded happily and Draco glanced up from his book.
"How would you like to have lunch with her today? It can be like a tea party," he said with feigned excitement.
"Can we have ice cweam and cake?" she asked excitedly.
Lucius smiled smugly. "Only if you both eat all your lunch, not just you, but Eliza too. And that way Draco can get some time to do some homework without worrying about what mischief you're getting yourself into. Now, best run along and tell Oggle what's for lunch, okay?"
"T'ank you daddy," she gave him a death grip hug around the neck, her knees digging painfully into his thighs, but he smiled none the less as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran out and down the hall calling for Oggle.
"What's with the tea party?"
"Why didn't you tell me she hasn't been eating?" Lucius asked turning to his son sternly.
"I… I hadn't noticed, the cover was always on the dish and so I assumed she had finished it. After all, we normally eat with you or in the garden."
"From now on, you and Arnica will be eating lunch with her. I don't care if Arnica has to force feed Eliza cake, that woman will eat, is that understood?" Lucius looked at his son sharply who nodded with a 'Yes, father'.
-.-.-
Whilst everyone was down stairs at lunch, Maddie stood in her room examining what she had. Molly had been kind enough to make the alterations to the robes to fit her better; however that was as far as it went. She didn't even bother asking if she could bring the skirt up a little further or bring the waist in a little more, from what she had seen of her interactions with her own kids, that was a definite long shot. Then there were her own clothes, and she was kicking herself over not bringing a larger selection, or at least doing some more shopping. She bit her lip as she looked at the lack of jewellery, and the drabness of her pyjamas.
She had been lucky that he previous school had been so focused on sports, it was enough to pad her popularity status, but at Hogwarts? That was a whole different ball game. There was going to be no escaping other students, hell she would be sleeping in the same room as a bunch of other girls… and then there was the fact she had only learned a few spells in the past few days… no. Maddie wasn't about to risk being at the bottom of the food chain, not when there was so much at stake. First impressions were going to make or break her, and looking at her selection, she couldn't help but feel more than a little broken.
Troy would never let her go shopping, not with their faces splashed across the front page. . .but it was pretty clear everyone was looking for their bodies, and surely they wouldn't think much of her walking into Marks and Spencer and doing a casual shop as though nothing in the world were wrong? And there was nothing particularly distinguishable about her, it would be so easy. . .all she needed to do was find someone willing to take her.
"Please, you have to help me! Otherwise, I'll spend my entire school year as some sort of social outcast - please!"
"Now you're just exaggerating. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are hardly social outcasts, and you'll be spending most of your time with them-"
"You don't understand, I've never been to a boarding school. I'm going to be on display every hour of the day and night, I can't risk it! I'm already behind on everything! Please, you need to help me. I swear, two hours at most, I know exactly what I need to get and get done. Please, Tonks? I am so terrified, and this will just give me that little peace of mind I'm looking for, that way I don't need to worry about my social status whilst trying to defend myself. Please?" Tears started to form on cue. "With everything that's going on, it will just remove some of the stress."
"And what if someone recognises you?"
"It's London, everyone's too busy doing their own thing to take notice of anyone else. You said yourself that the reporters are dragging lakes and so forth, they aren't looking for us alive; they're looking for a corpse! No one is going to think anything is off if two sisters, one of which just so happens to look like the girl on the news but is so happy and cheerful it couldn't possibly be anything suspicious-"
"You know what Troy would say."
"Yes, and that's why I'm asking you, not him. Please, you know that I'm right - that this can very easily be pulled off, and if anything goes wrong, you can bring me back here in a snap and tell me 'I told you so'."
"And how do you plan to pay for all this?" Tonks asked, arms folded as she shifted her weight.
"That's the easy part. Honestly, have you never done anything your parents told you not to?" Maddie held off a victory smile. She was winning, but she hadn't won yet.
"Why does being popular matter so much to you?"
"Okay, let me put it this way: If I'm popular, everyone is paying attention to me. If everyone's paying attention to me, I'm safe. If I'm not popular, people won't notice if something is wrong or if something has happened to me. School's dangerous enough, let alone magical school. Think about it - the teachers can't follow me everywhere, and what if I'm not in Gryffindor? You are all assuming that I will be, but what if I'm not? What if I end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw - then what? I just want to make sure I'm safe." Maddie hit home. "I know you don't like this idea, but you know I'm right, please, help me."
Tonks rubbed her forehead, desperately trying to find a reasonable excuse to say no. She chewed her lip before finally giving in. "I don't like this, I don't like it one bit. . .Troy is going to flip when he finds out." She sighed, frustrated. "Two hours. After that, we come straight back."
Maddie bounced and gave Tonks a hug with a small squeal of excitement. "Thank you!"
"I mean it, two hours. And if I even feel like something's about to go wrong, we are out of there. Is that understood?"
"Yes! Yes, thank you soooo much, you have no idea how relieved I am."
Tonks looked less than impressed, but resigned herself to her decision. "Get your stuff, we'll do it now whilst Troy is busy with Harry and Sirius."
Maddie dashed up the stairs, and rummaged through her bag to find the credit cards Troy had thrown out and she had salvaged from the bin. She tucked them into her purse and grabbed her handbag, and raced down to meet Tonks, who had taken on the form of Claire.
Tonks sighed, summoning her handbag and taking Maddie's hand. "Let's get this over with. . ."
"So here's the plan. As soon as I pay for the first lot of goods, the police come here pretty quickly, so-"
"Hang on, you never said anything about Muggle police."
"It'll be fine, trust me. By the time they get to the security footage to see that it was us using the card, we'll be done and at home. Promise."
"Maddie. . ."
"Troy," Maddie corrected. "It's a female name as often as it's male, and it's the name on the cards, so on the off-chance they actually check the name and signature it's less suspicious. Now come on, we're wasting time," she said, linking arms with her 'sister'. "Stop worrying, this will be fun."
"Either you're her friend, or you should just hand in your resignation now. Which is it?"
Janice was about to answer when the sound of many scrambling pairs of feet pulled their attention. She and Lloyd stepped out of the interview room.
"What's going on?" Janice asked.
"Troy's card was just used at Marks and Spencer in London," one of the officers said excitedly.
Janice dashed to her desk and grabbed her keys.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"In the event that it is Troy, I know him and he knows me. If a bunch of unfamiliar bobbies pounce on him, how do you think he's going to react?" she said as she grabbed her bag. "You have an old photo, I know what he looks like, I'm your best chance at finding him if it is him."
Lloyd glanced at the C.O., who barely nodded his head in approval. "Go get him."
-.-.-
Maddie glanced at her watch. Most of the two hours were up, she didn't have much time left.
"Are we done?" Tonks asked, both hands full of bags of clothes.
"Not quite, I need to stop at a hairdresser-"
"You are not getting a haircut; you can get that done in the magical world."
"No, I'm getting my ears pierced. Then I need to pick up some jewellery, and we're done, I swear," Maddie insisted, stopping in front of a salon.
"'Troy'. . ." Tonks said warily, glancing at the centre security running in the direction of Marks and Spencer.
"They're going past us, now can you get rid of these bags? They'll attract too much attention, and they're getting in the way."
Tonks made a deep-throated growling noise, but discreetly turned seven bags into one. She looked at the piercing gun and paled. "That doesn't do what I think it does, does it?"
"I've seen my friends get it done plenty of times, you barely feel it."
"I'm not watching this. . ."
-.-.-
Janice and the rest of the detectives arrived in record time, and they grouped up whilst Lloyd handed them all pictures of Troy.
"The bank said the transaction was at 13:42, I'll check out the security footage," Janice said. "In the meantime, I need you all to go around asking customers if they have seen him."
"It was almost a thousand pounds. . .I don't think we're looking for him, I think we're looking for some bastard who just found his wallet," one of the detectives voiced what everyone was thinking.
"I don't bloody care - procedure! Now get on it!" Janice ordered, as Lloyd followed her to Marks and Spencer.
-.-.-
"See? All done!" Maddie announced, showing off her ears to Tonks. "What do you think?"
"I think your brother is going to use me for target practice. You know there's an 'alternative' way of doing that. . ."
"Really? That's good; I can just tell him you did it for me, and he need never know," she piqued cheerfully, forging her brother's signature.
-.-.-
Janice stared at the footage being replayed. "My God, it's Maddie!"
She quickly pulled out her radio. "It's not Troy, it's his sister Maddie," she informed the rest of the detectives as her mobile rang - "Janice speaking."
"Another transaction was just made. Level 2, Shop L15."
Janice hung up and raced out of the room.
"Yes, I think they are lovely, but I also think it's time to finish up," Tonks said, getting steadily more anxious as she noticed officers wandering around asking customers if they had seen either Troy or Maddie.
"Fine, I'll pay for this and then we can go," Maddie replied, taking her selections to the counter.
Tonks grabbed Maddie's arm and practically frog-marched her out of the store.
"There should be an emergency exit around here. . ." Tonks muttered, looking at the map in her hands. "This way."
"Maddie!"
They turned to see Janice weaving through the crowd toward them.
"Shit. . ." Maddie muttered, picking up the pace whilst pretending not to notice. They rounded the corner into a passageway that led to the bathrooms and emergency exit, Janice catching up to them. Maddie spotted a sprinkler above them as they half-jogged. "Those will trigger the alarm. Can you get some smoke up there?"
"Maddie! It's me, you're okay!"
Tonks pointed her wand upward, and smoke billowed from the tip, triggering the sprinklers and alarms throughout the centre. They finally reached the emergency exit as Janice came into view.
"Freeze!" she ordered, and they both stopped and turned. "Let the girl go." She pointed her gun at Tonks.
"This isn't what it looks like, officer," Tonks said, still holding tightly to Maddie's arm whilst glancing around for cameras.
"Let her go."
"I can't do that, ma'am," she replied, fingering her wand behind her back. "I'm responsible for her safety."
"Hands where I can see them!" Janice ordered, taking the safety off.
"Tonks." Maddie was beginning to shake from fear, and cold from wetness.
"Don't worry."
"Hands! Now!"
"Reducto!"
Something hit Janice with enough force to send her flying back, and Tonks grabbed Maddie and pulled her out of the exit.
Janice found her feet and raced to the door, pulling it open. But they were gone. "Fuck!" The other customers started filing out through the emergency exit. "Will someone please turn that goddamn alarm and water off!" she shouted into her radio. What the hell had hit her? It was like she had been shot with a cannon ball, it was enough to knock the wind out of her, but she wasn't injured beyond a bruised backside. . .
"Janice! Jan', what happened?" Lloyd ran up to her.
"She got away with Maddie. . .she hit me with some. . .wind cannon thing."
"What?" Lloyd looked at her like she was insane. "You're soaking wet-"
"Didn't you hear me? That bitch hit me with something that sent me across the passage!"
"You're not injured, what could she have possibly hit you with?" he reasoned.
"Lloyd, pull the goddamn footage, Maddie is alive and someone has her. I heard her say the name 'Tonks', get moving!" she snapped, wiping the water from her face. "And turn that bloody water off!"
-.-.-
"Where the hell have you been?" Troy demanded, coming down the stairs as Tonks and Maddie appeared in the hallway. "What the. . .You're soaking, what the hell have you been doing?" And then his eyes fell on the bags at their feet. "Oh, you didn't. . ."
"It was all me, Tonks didn't want to-" Maddie started.
"You stupid girl! Are you completely insane? What if someone recognised you?" And then the other shoe dropped. "Someone did bloody recognise you, didn't they?"
"They thought we were dead, Troy!" she shouted back. "Eliza's missing, and they thought we were dead - I'm not an idiot, they think Eliza did it! At least now she's innocent-"
"Don't you dare try and justify this! What if one of those Death Eaters found you?"
"That's why I had Tonks come with me-"
"And how did you pay for all this crap, exactly?" Maddie hung her head in defeat. Troy snatched her bag and found her purse, watching her very closely as he opened it. His credit cards were neatly tucked into the card slots. "Go to your room," he ordered coldly.
Maddie bent down to pick up the bags.
"Leave them. I'm interested to know what was so important that you felt it necessary to jeopardise your safety and steal my money."
Maddie stalked up the stairs and slammed the door behind her.
"Troy, I. . ." Tonks started.
"I don't blame you," he said. "Maddie has a way of manipulating people. If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. I don't know how she does it, but when she wants something badly enough, people always have difficulty saying no. I'm just glad she had the sense to ask someone to go with her, and not just vanish on me." He took a deep, steadying breath and picked up the bags. "Could you fill me in on what happened whilst I look through her shopping extravaganza?"
-.-.-
Eliza sat in her bed, Arnica sitting opposite with some sort of bed table between them, on which was placed lunch and a child-sized tea party set. Arnica watched her as she ate her sandwiches, and Eliza's remained untouched.
"What's wong?" Arnica asked, setting her sandwich down.
Eliza smiled weakly. "Nothing, dear."
"You have to eat yourw lunch, or we can't have cake!" Arnica exclaimed, as though it were the biggest crisis facing the world that she knew of. She crawled around on her knees and picked up Eliza's sandwich. "Open up." She smiled, holding the sandwich up to Eliza's mouth. "And say 'Arrr', like this - Arrr!" She demonstrated.
Eliza raised an eyebrow at her. Lucius was a sneaky son of a bitch. "I'm not really that hungry," she said gently. Arnica was so innocent, nothing but a pawn in her father's schemes, and so happy to have 'anudder girwl in tha' house'; she couldn't find it in herself to destroy the little fantasy bubble she lived in.
"Wellw. . ." Arnica was clearly thinking very hard. "If you eat. . .two. . .den we can have cake," she informed Eliza matter-of-factly. "Say 'Arrr'," she ordered, bringing the sandwich back to Eliza's face.
-.-.-
Troy, Tonks, Remus, and Sirius sat in the lounge room discussing what Maddie had done, whilst Troy struggled to understand why they were so fascinated with it.
"Some witches and wizards - not all, but some are born with natural talent or abilities. For example," Tonks said, "I'm a Metamorphmagi, I can change my appearance at will. Harry is a Parselmouth. It's entirely possible that Maddie may be a Manipulator."
"Well, she's manipulating-"
"Not a manipulator as you know it, but as an ability," Remus interjected. "It's not something she would be consciously aware of. Some witches and wizards can cast wandless or wordless magic, but it takes a lot of practice. Most can cast a compulsion spell wordlessly but not wandlessly. Those who can do both seem to be born with it; many have tried to learn it, but can't get the hang of it. Those born with it are called Manipulators. Not much is known, because most are completely unaware that they even have an ability, and those that know work very hard to keep it a secret. What Tonks described, and what you did from past experience, are not unlike the effects of a compulsion spell; whilst you know that it is something you don't want to agree to, at the same time it doesn't strict you as, say, the Imperius Curse. You still have your free will, and control of your thoughts and feelings. You just can't help but find it easier to agree than disagree."
Troy sat back, taking it all in. "Is this something she can control?"
Sirius snorted. "To control something, you have to know it exists. She might be aware that at times she's good at convincing people to agree with her, that's no doubt why she has a popularity complex; she's used to it. There isn't any way to stop her being what she is, but knowing what she is can make it easier to take the control away from her. If you know that the reason why you want to agree, it gives you the control to take a step back and say to yourself, she's using a compulsion spell. It gives you the clarity of mind not to give in to what she wants."
Troy chewed this over. It made sense. Over the years there had been so many things he agreed to that he never normally would have, and he just couldn't remember why. "Should I tell her?"
"Well, that's the big question, isn't it? If she knows, what is she going to do? Will she do it more, will she do it less? Being a Manipulator isn't a bad thing, necessarily, but it is a lot of responsibility, and most can't help but take advantage of it. She's bound to learn one way or another. But how you deal with it if you do decide to tell her will greatly impact how she deals with it."
-.-.-
Eliza sucked her lip as Lucius walked in. Arnica had left to play outside almost an hour ago. "That was low, even for you," she sassed, arms folded.
Lucius pulled one of the chairs she had tried to move days ago with ease, and took a seat facing her.
"It worked, didn't it?"
Eliza dismissed the comment, not wanting to admit her hunger strike ended with a four-year-old teaching her how to open her mouth and chew. "What do you want?"
"You're stuck here for now-"
"Not this talk again," she grumbled.
"You don't want to be here anymore than I want you here,"
"I highly doubt that,"
"Must you argue everything?" he snapped.
Eliza leaned forward. "I haven't washed myself in three days,"
"Five"
"What?"
"You didn't wake up until Monday."
Eliza starred at him. "Oh god you didn't-"
"I didn't do anything to you."
"And I'm going to believe that…" she closed her eyes trying to banish the thoughts that were plaguing her already. "Assuming that you're telling the truth, why was I unconscious for so long?"
"There was a problem with your heart that we needed to fix, as well as fix the butchering that was done to you." Lucius looked very seriously at her.
Eliza snorted. "There is nothing wrong with me, and I have no idea what 'butchery' you're talking about."
"The metal rods and bolts – "
"I need those to-" Eliza automatically gripped her right wrist, and felt bone. "What did you do to me!" she demanded, moving her fingers up along her arm and elbow, trying desperately to find the rods and bolts she should have felt beneath her skin. "What did you do to me!" she repeated, feeling along her rib cage. She came to realize that she hadn't felt any of the dull pains she associated with the modifications.
"We fixed you."
"Fixed me! What am I, some toy that needs to be repaired?"
"You could be a little more appreciative. What those Muggles did to you was barbaric!" Lucius snapped, getting to his feet.
"Appreciative!" Eliza shrieked. "Oh, that's rich, calling others barbaric. Clearly you're such a bloody saint, aren't you? Appreciative of what, exactly? I should appreciate the fact you kidnapped me, tortured me, made me choose how someone died then watched him get eaten - oh, but wait, it gets better!" she ranted, a week's worth of frustration finally reaching boiling point. "You lot then decide that you have to turn my world upside down and shake it, telling me that I've been living a lie, that my father was just as bad as you are and that I can never see anyone I care about again with constant death threats looming over my ahead, and you want me to be appreciative!" The glass of the window exploded inwards, but didn't hit either of them. "And then you just waltz in and tell me that I am as much of a freak as you!" Eliza breathed heavily. She was too angry to be afraid. "I can't even stand and go to the bathroom, and you think I should be appreciative?"
Lucius's wand pointed directly at Eliza's heart, the vein in his neck throbbing.
"Do it!" Eliza shouted.
The pair stared at each other for what felt like a lifetime, Eliza's anger slowly dripping away and being replaced by fear. She began to shake as the realisation of her outburst hit home. She didn't want to die, not really, but the look on Lucius's face was enough to tell her that she wasn't far from it. She could see him fighting with his temper, but his hand was completely steady. If she died, they would go after Troy and Maddie. As far as she could tell, as long as she was alive they were safer.
"I. . ." She whimpered slightly as the last of her bravado slipped away, leaving her a cowering wreck. If she asked, would he grant her a quick death? Or had she crossed that line already?
Lucius finally moved, striding over to her, and ripped the blankets off her. Eliza screamed and tried to scramble away, but he held her arm in a vice grip, pointing his wand at her legs whilst she struggled and panicked. Something wrapped around them like ribbons and absorbed into her skin, sending a warming sensation from her toes to her thighs as though she had just stepped into a warm bath of liquid silk. He let go of her and walked to the door, putting the distance of the room between them.
Draco was there, watching from the hall. Lucius straightened up his shirt, the angry vein in his neck the only evidence that anything had transpired as far as he was concerned. "The bathroom is through the first door. There are fresh clothes in the wardrobe." He was fighting to stay calm, and with that he left, slamming the door shut.
Draco said nothing, quickly moving out of his father's way. But Lucius didn't let go of the door, his whole arm shaking.
"Arnica?" was all he said.
"Outside. She wouldn't have heard anything," Draco answered.
Lucius tapped the door handle with his wand and made his way to his study.
Draco followed slowly, not wanting to risk provoking his father, but at the same time wanting to help him. He had never seen him like this. Close, yes. He didn't keep that sort of anger boiled in, he always let it out either by killing or cursing. His father's hands shook as he poured himself a generous drink from the crystal decanter. Draco hovered by the door, ready to make a quick getaway if things went bad.
"I thought you were going to kill her," Draco commented, not sure of what to say.
"So did I," Lucius confessed, his voice far less steady than it had been in Eliza's room. He drained the glass in one go. "That woman's going to be the death of me." His hand was still shaking as he refilled the glass and collapsed into a chair.
-.-.-
Eliza didn't dare to move, scarcely believing that she somehow was still alive and unharmed. She thought countless times before that getting him angry enough to kill her would be the best way out, but his eyes. . .was that how a man looked before he beat his spouse to death? So many times she had seen the after-effect, but it had never occurred to her what it was like in the moments before. Or, she had imagined the terror, the fear of the victim, but never what the attacker felt or looked like. She felt so sick, and she had to fight to keep the nausea down.
And when he pulled the sheet back. . .Eliza let out a ragged sob, pulling the covers tighter around her, thanking any and every deity out there that he hadn't done anything to her. She felt so cold. So scared. She should have known better, should have remembered she was dealing with a killer. Not a father of two children, not a man concerned about her well-being, a stone-cold killer.
-.-.-
Troy stood in front of Maddie's room and knocked on the door. After an hour discussing the situation with the other wizards, it hadn't really helped him much, beyond calming him down and making him feel like an ass. "Can I come in?"
"I guess. . ." mumbled her voice from the other side.
Troy picked up the shopping bags and went in, sitting on the end of the bed where Maddie lay on her stomach hugging her pillow. "I understand why you did what you did," he started. "And I'm sorry that I reacted the way I did."
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why are you sorry? You were right, it was stupid," she grumbled into her pillow.
Troy sighed and rolled his sister over. "I'm sorry because I act like your dad, not your brother. Things have been really messed up lately, and you're the one stuck in the middle. However, that doesn't give you the right to steal my credit cards."
"Well, it's not like you were going to use them. You threw them out. And we aren't going back to that world, are we?" Maddie asked desperately. "This is our world now, this is our home, isn't it?"
Troy sighed. "I don't know. Whilst it's not safe for us at the moment, that doesn't mean it will always be like that."
"So what are you thinking? In ten years' time we go back and say, 'hey, we weren't missing, we were just hiding, can I have my house and job back?'" Maddie looked at him as though he was an idiot. "It's not like we can tell them."
"And what about Mum?" Troy pointed out.
"What about her? You can't stand her for more than ten minutes once a month, Eliza's the same, and I can't stand her full stop. You think she's going to be any more bearable after all this? Get real, she's going to be a bloody lunatic. She'll be more concerned that we've disrupted her schedule than that we're actually safe."
Troy snorted. "You're too young to be that cynical. So, are you going to be explain why you destroyed my credit rating?" he said, moving the first bag closer to him and pulling out. . . "Um. . .and who is this for, exactly?" he asked as Maddie blushed bright red.
"No one," she said quickly, stuffing the negligee back into the bag.
"I hope there's a packet of condoms to go with that," he commented warily. "I'm not old enough to be an uncle - well. . .maybe to Eliza's kids, but certainly not yours," he said jokingly, all the while mortified at his discovery. Why couldn't Eliza be around to deal with a hormonal younger sister? For an older brother this was just plain awkward, he never had to deal with that sort of discovery with Eliza. . .
"Troy!" she shrieked. "Get out!" She pushed at him 'til he was out of the room, and closed the door with enough force that the knob slammed into his lower back.
"Guess I deserved that one. . ." he muttered, rubbing his back.
He tracked down Molly in the kitchen. "Mrs. Weasley?"
She snorted at the sudden formality. "Call me Molly."
"Molly is a little too familiar for this topic. How do you deal with a hormonal teenager who is also a Manipulator?"
-.-.-
Janice rubbed her forehead, staring at the store security footage. It just didn't make sense, it had to be Maddie, there was no mistaking her, she had Troy's credit card, but this woman who abducted her… she was acting more as though she was shopping with a friend than her captor. In fact, it looked more like her captor was the one being dragged around – it just didn't make any sense… and when she confronted them, her concern wasn't for her, it was for this Tonks woman. It had to be Stockholm syndrome… it was the only thing that made any sense, but what about that weapon? She only caught a split second glance and if she was remembering rightly it just looked like a dark chopstick. The camera in the passage was poorly positioned, she had something which set the smoke off, but her body hid what the item was… do doubt some sort of smoke bomb or something. And once the sprinklers were on, barely anything was visible.
But she was alive, and if Maddie was alive there was a good chance the other two were also, after all, she had to have gotten Troy's cards from her brother, hadn't she?
-.-.-
Thank you for reading another chapter of mine.
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