Sorry for the delay! I'm the worst! But here is the new chapter and from now on... well, shit begins to get real.

SOOO I hope you like it and please tell me what you thought in a review if you can!

Of course, thanks tokaykay25, Bluecaty15, hellcatz93, Lynda coates, anita03 and Tears of the Dark who followed and favorited this story and are awesome for it obviously.


XI
Shattered


"It's so late." Juliana groaned as she got dressed, while Severus just looked at her from the bed. "I'll go first today. Wait at least half an hour before going yourself just to be safe, yes?" She reminded him and walked to where he was sitting, leaning down to kiss him properly. "I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." She was saying goodbye but neither pulled away from the kiss after she said it.

"I love you too." He replied a few moments later pulling her down into his lap, holding her close to him. She moved her hands to his neck and they continued kissing for at least ten minutes, until they finally found the strength to pull away from each other. She walked to the door that appeared on the wall, exiting the room after giving him one last look that showed him clearly how much she wished she didn't have to go.

Severus leaned back into the bed and looked at the ceiling for a while before getting up to get dressed.

As he was putting his shoes on, he saw a shiny object on the floor close to him. After tying his shoelaces, he walked to pick it up only to discover that it was Juliana's locket, the one with the inscription Only love will set you free carved on it in Portuguese. As far as he was concerned she was the only one who could open it, a fact he confirmed that fact after trying for five minutes to open it without succeeding. After grabbing his bag, he put her necklace inside his pant pocket to return it to her the next time they saw each other.

When exactly half an hour had passed since her departure, he left the room and made his way to the Slytherin dormitories, not seeing anything out of the ordinary on his way there, as usual.

...

Juliana had walked for five minutes in peace before noticing she was being followed. She began to turn around every fifteen seconds, getting too aware of her surroundings. She hurried her steps when a loud noise behind her made her stop and turn her whole body around, only to find nothing. When she turned again she collided with a hard chest, losing her balance. She closed her eyes instinctively ready for the fall, but a pair of strong hands grabbed her shoulders and held her in place.

"You shouldn't be here. What are you doing out of bed?" She sighed in relief with her eyes still closed. It's just a prefect, she thought and looked up. But he wasn't.

It's Mulciber. Get out of here now. Her mind screamed.

"Yeah... what are you doing out of bed?" She heard another voice ask behind her and she felt a chill run down her spine. She knew that voice, and she knew she had to be scared. She couldn't make a run for it, Mulciber would stop her in an instant and the consequences her little stunt would have were going to make her regret it. So she just turned around to face Avery's cold and evil look with her head held high.

"It's none of your business." Juliana replied with her jaw set. He smiled despite her answer, but it was far from being nice; behind it was what he had planned for her, and it scared her to death.

"Call the others." He ordered Mulciber, who only nodded and left. His smile disappeared and was replaced by a cruel smirk that seemed to say that he knew something she didn't.

Juliana's mind was running wild thinking of ways to get out of that place or make Avery harmless so she could escape. Sadly, his mind worked even faster than hers, because with a simple move of his wand her body went limp and she could only stand there without being able to move.

"Oh don't worry, I won't do too much damage until the others are here." He cooed in a fake reassuring tone. "You know... I wonder what made you believe someone like you could even try to be with someone like us and get away with it." Juliana's eyes— the only thing she seemed to have control of— widened in fear and he laughed. "Oh, yes. I know. I know all about your escapades, and how in love you both are. Don't worry, though. The others don't know you're dating. Only I know." He was grinning and her eyes burned with unshed tears. Avery walked to her, caressing her face with his free hand. "Oh, don't worry. I won't tell them... because everyone would consider him a blood traitor and what use would he have for me then? I just can't let that happen, can I?" He asked with his head tilted slightly to the side, his voice soft and gentle. She wanted to scream, but settled for burning the hand he had on her face. He removed it quickly and looked at her with pure hatred and disgust. She realized her mistake almost instantly. "How dare you? You disgusting bitch!" He yelled holding his burned hand into his chest. "CRUCIO!" He screamed with his wand pointed to her face, and she felt like her insides were being torn apart and acid was flowing through her veins. She couldn't do anything but let the tears run down her cheeks as sweat formed in her entire body.

But he was far from satisfied. That wasn't enough.

He lifted the spell that didn't let her move and she instantly collapsed on the floor, discovering that no sound would come out of her mouth when she desperately tried to scream. She heard footsteps getting closer and let herself be hopeful for a second until she heard the laughter of the others.

"That's a good start. Allow me." She heard an unknown male voice say before feeling like her back was being burned. She writhed in pain while they laughed, her nails trying to bury themselves into the hard floor but only tearing apart, making her fingers bleed.

"I'm not done yet." She thought she heard Avery say; her mind was getting fuzzy at this point and she definitely could not control her magic enough to fight back. "Crucio."

And the initial pain was there again, only this time it was stronger and she knew it wouldn't be long until she finally passed out. There was a gash on her back that ran from her shoulder to her hip and it was bleeding too much. If she didn't get help soon she'd die of blood loss without a doubt. She tried hard to concentrate enough to break the spell that was keeping her from screaming but it was too hard and she was feeling more and more tired by the second.

"I didn't bring you here to enjoy the view." Avery said and she managed to open her eyes just enough to see about six blurry figures looking down with their wands pointing at her. And she knew that if she wanted to live she had to do something quickly. The second before Avery said now and six people used the Cruciatus Curse on her at the same time, she managed to finally break the spell that was silencing her. So when the curses hit her, the ear shattering scream that came out of her mouth was enough to make them stop immediately and run away before someone appeared and discovered them.

All except one.

Avery crouched down and brought his face close to Juliana's. She was trembling uncontrollably and her skin was grey and pale. A puddle of blood surrounded her body and her eyes were completely bloodshot.

"If you say anything about who attacked you or I find out that you are asking anyone for help, prepare yourself to see him get killed before your eyes." He threatened and stood up to kick her hard on the stomach before leaving her alone.

He didn't need to say who he was talking about. She knew. Like she knew that if it came down to it he would do it, and that they had just tried to kill her. She was making a big effort to stay awake, but it got harder each second that passed. She couldn't see anything but blurred shapes, so she just curled into fetal position and let herself go; the sound of hurried steps and the feeling of being lifted up from the floor being the last thing she recognized before losing consciousness.


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