Hawknest143: Thanks for reviewing! Sorry it was so difficult to read :( I didn't particularly enjoy writing it, if I'm being honest. I think this might be worse for her too right now, but it might be better for her in the long run. Right now he's attempting to impregnate her with that magic. If it doesn't work this time, she will continue to have to go through that until she becomes pregnant. This chapter ends with a cliffhanger as well, sorry. I honestly didn't register the last chapter as a cliffhanger, but I can see now how it would be

PineappleBearr: Thanks for reviewing! I really didn't realize that this was a cliffhanger, sorry about that. This chapter kind of ends with an cliffhanger as well :/

Anonymous: Thanks for reviewing! Sorry about the cliffhanger! I know they're not the best. There's one this time, too, sorry again. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much that updates can make you cry! That's super encouraging

Ldub: Thanks for reviewing! I hope it made sense. It'll become clearer later why she can't go into hiding and why she's unwilling to. Thanks, I always get nervous writing scenes between Charlotte and Voldemort. If the part you're remembering is the part I'm thinking of, it kind of happens in this version too, but it happens much differently. I hope that won't turn you off from reading

CHAPTER 7

My body aching, my head throbbing, my throat raw from screaming, I crack my eyes open slowly and carefully but am unable to see where I am. I could be anywhere. I begin trembling again, and that's when I realize that my head it in someone's lap, someone who is currently running their hands through my hair. My heart races, and I attempt to scurry away from this person, only for a fire to ignite inside of me. I scream out in pain, only assuming that this is some after effect of the Dark Lord's magic, yet I do not stop trying to escape until I reach the edge of a bed and topple onto the floor, falling free of the sheets that were covering me. The stone floor is hard, cold, and unforgiving. I whimper and fold myself over, a new pain making its way through me.

"Aurelia!"

"Charlotte!"

I have no idea what to do at this point, because any movement only causes more pain, and I want no more of that. So I just lie there, trying to breathe through the agony shooting through me. At least I know now who is in the room: it's Bellatrix and Narcissa. Two pairs of hands grab me by the arms and pull me to my feet, and I cry out, unable to stand upright because of the pain, and collapse. A wave of magic lifts me onto the bed despite my pathetic whimpering. Something warm runs down my legs, and despite the fear gripping my heart, I wipe it and draw back blood—and a lot of it. I glance down to see crimson stains on the sheets. What the hell did he do to me?

"Aurelia," Bellatrix says. She brushes my hair out of my face. She must have been the one who was playing with my hair.

"Where am I?" I ask quietly, unable to pull my eyes from my blood-stained hand.

"You're in my private chambers," my mother says.

"And what am I doing here?" Speaking, using those muscles in my abdomen, hurts almost unbearably, but I try to fight it down. I need answers, and I can't get those without asking questions.

Narcissa touches my arm. "The Dark Lord sent us to retrieve you. You were hysterical. We had to put you under a bewitched sleep to calm you and move you here."

My breathing quickens, the pain increasing with each breath. "What time is it?"

"Nearly two in the morning," Narcissa says softly. "You've been out for almost three hours."

Two? Is that too late to go to McGonagall? She said I could come whenever…but two in the morning?

"What's wrong?" Bellatrix asks.

I glare at her. "You're asking me that? Seriously?"

"Aurelia—"

"I have to go now." I don't wait for them to reply before attempting to Apparate. A wave of fire spreads from my core and draws a loud cry from my lips, and I collapse back and give up, pressing my hands against my stomach in an attempt to stifle the pain. "What's wrong with me?" I weep.

Narcissa presents a glass of what looks like water. "You need to drink this," she says. "You're injured."

"Obviously I'm injured!" I shout, an action I immediately regret as a new wave of agony washes over me. It's too much for me to bear, and I turn my head to the side and vomit, which only brings another round of pain. The vomit immediately vanishes. "I want to know what he did to me," I whisper, trying not to agitate whatever keeps hurting me.

"We…we don't know, exactly," Narcissa says quietly. "It…it was Dark Magic, and it has left its mark on you." Hence the blood, I'm assuming.

I pull my knees to my chest and hide my face so they can't see it pinching in pain. Bellatrix pulls a blanket over my naked body and watches me sadly. "Aurelia dear, you need to drink that." She motions to the glass in Narcissa's hand. "It will take the pain away." I try to sit up but have to stop with a quiet whine. Bellatrix climbs onto the bed and slides behind me. She helps me sit up, ignoring my whimpering as she adjusts my body.

I can't keep myself upright, and I let myself fall against her. Narcissa tries to hand me the glass, but with each minute, I grow weaker and am unable to hold my arms up long enough to take it from her. Bellatrix accepts it on behalf and holds it in front of me. I nod at her, unable to bring myself to ask for her help, but she seems to understand what I mean. She lifts the glass to my lips so I can drink it. While doing so, she kisses the top of my head. "Aurelia," she keeps whispering to me, "my sweet Aurelia, my baby girl." When the glass is empty, Narcissa takes it from Bellatrix. "You need to rest."

I need to go see McGonagall. But the drink they gave me, which had not been water, is already making me sleepy. Bellatrix wraps her arms around me, and I find myself adjusting so I can rest my head in her lap. Again her hand is in my hair, gently running her fingers through it. "You'll be fine," she says quietly.

I drift off.

When I wake up the next time, my head is still on my mother's lap, and her hand is still in my hair, now motionless. She is asleep.

Though I am not fully recovered, the pain is no longer torturous, which is definitely an upgrade from how I was feeling earlier. Right now I'm simply sore all over. However, I am not so sore that I will be unable to go to Hogwarts. I don't know why the idea of leaving Bellatrix like this saddens me, but it does. It won't stop me, of course, but it slows me. I carefully remove my mother's hand from my hair and slide away from her. I feel like I've ran a marathon, my muscles are so sore.

My clothes are folded neatly at the foot of the bed, and I begin putting them back on. "Aurelia, are you going somewhere?" Bellatrix asks groggily.

"I have to leave."

"Snape won't even notice that you're still gone," she argues. "You can stay until a reasonable hour." Her voice is becoming stronger now.

"What time is it?" I ask.

She looks over at the wall, her eyes squinted. "Nearly five."

"I really must leave."

Our conversation wakes Narcissa, who had been sleeping sitting up against the bed's headboard. "Charlotte, you need to stay and get your strength back." She can hardly keep her eyes open while speaking to me.

"No."

Bellatrix crawls off the bed and comes over to me, violently taking me into her arms—I hold back the whimper of pain. "Take care of yourself."

"Goodbye," I whisper.

I Apparate, holding my midsection and whining through the pain. I arrive in Hogsmeade, and though part of me says to go see Zoe first, I ignore it and dash to the castle—well, "dash" is a strong word because moving too quickly sparks that fire in my core again. I walk as gingerly and as slowly as it takes to keep the pain from returning too badly.

It takes me a while to find the main entrance, but when I do, it's unlocked, and I can't help but wonder why. Without questioning it too much, I make my way to McGonagall's office as quickly as I can without causing too much discomfort.

Always having tried to respect this particular professor, I usually knock on her door, but this time, I open the door and hobble to the middle of the room. There's no way for me to know where the entrance to her private quarters is. "Professor!" I cry, sobs already catching up to me as the memory of the Dark Lord seeps into my mind, my hand pressing into my belly, tears flowing freely. "Professor!" I hear a noise come from behind the far wall directly behind her desk. "Professor McGonagall!"

A door, one that had not been there moments before, opens in the wall, and the professor comes out in her dressing gown. "Rodgers?" she says, coming toward me and placing her hands on my shoulders too look into my face, searching my eyes. I instantly feel myself calming. "Come with me." With her arm around me, she leads me into her private chambers, then closes it off. "Sit down." It's a small living quarters, an open door leading to her bedroom, a closed one that I don't want to ask about, and a sitting room where we're currently standing. It's decorated with a small table for two people and a white sofa in front of a fire. She walks me to the sofa, and we sit down, a relief spreading through me at no longer needing to stand up. "We don't have to talk unless you want to."

I force myself to look her in the eye, but tears cloud my vision too fiercely for me to see anything. McGonagall reaches toward me, gathers my hair behind my head, and brings it forward to drape it over my shoulder. She proceeds to put her hands on my cheeks, wiping the tears that run down my face. "You will still be the same Charlotte Rodgers that you were before. It doesn't matter what's happened to you or what will happen to you; you will always be Charlotte Rodgers," she assures me.

I can't bring myself to talk about what happened just yet, so instead I coarsely whisper, "Except I'm Aurelia Lestrange."

"Though that might be your given name, you will always be Charlotte Rodgers."

I try to smile, but I really can't do it right now. A few minutes of silence later, I say, "He didn't…he didn't force himself…he didn't rape me."

Relief floods her features. "That's—"

"Not as good as it sounds," I cut her off. "He…did some kind of…Dark Magic. The Cruciatus Curse is not as painful as whatever he did…" I look away from her.

"Charlotte—"

"It felt like a fire ignited inside of me," I interrupt her again. "It slowly…consumed me. All of me. And once…once it died down…it…there was this intense…stabbing. It felt like a knife was ripping me open…" I can't go on, and I break down again. She doesn't try to stop me from sobbing. "There was s-so much b-blood! I-I've n-never been in that much pain be-before!"

McGonagall surprises me and wraps her arms around me. "It's okay, Charlotte," she says gently. "It's okay."

I let myself fall into her embrace, not caring that I should go back to Spinner's End. I am only slightly ashamed to admit that I find more comfort around her than I do around Bellatrix—that's nothing to be ashamed about, you'd feel this way around Bellatrix too if she hadn't Cruciated you and didn't believe that this horror is an honor.

The next time I open my eyes, I'm lying down on the sofa, and it takes me a long moment to realize where I am. Beside the sofa, in an armchair that I'm positive was not there before, sits McGonagall, reading by the light of the fire.

"P-Professor?" I say quietly.

She closes the book and turns her full attention to me. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know," I answer honestly. I haven't moved too much, which means I haven't had to deal with any sort of pain again. "What time is it?"

"Nearly noon."

"You…you let me sleep that long?"

"I saw no need in waking you."

A smile comes to my lips. Then a wave of nausea rushes through me. My head jerks to the door that I seriously hope leads to the bathroom, and I roll off the sofa and run in that direction. Luckily for me, it is the bathroom, and there is a toilet. I fall down in front of it and throw up. I cry out for my mother, only realizing after that my mother is not here. Nor do I want her to be here. She thinks this is a privilege.

But the door opens, and in walks McGonagall. An invisible force pulls my hair back, and a cool cloth appears on the back of my neck. "Are you all right?" she asks quietly, crouching down beside me.

"Yeah," I croak, my throat burning terribly, my core burning again from the sudden movements, "I just haven't—" More puke comes up. "I haven't really eaten much in the past—the past few days. And the thought of the Dark Lord—" My empty stomach continues trying to empty itself.

"I'll get you something to eat then, shall I?"

"I don't know if I can eat," I whisper.

Then she's gone, just as fast as she came. I lean against the wall and close my eyes. I knew I should have eaten. I just knew it. But I hadn't been able to, so I guess there wasn't really a way that I could have. But still, this is humiliating. Not only did I interrupt McGonagall's routine by showing up in the middle of the night, but now I'm also needy. The thought makes me feel so guilty.

McGonagall comes back to the bathroom and helps me back into the sitting area and over to the small table. "Thanks," I say quietly, staring into the bowl of what appears to be some sort of hot soup. "There…there are some things…that I think you should know."

"Such as?"

"Snape…he's…the Dark Lord's close to taking over the Ministry…and Snape…he's going to be the new headmaster when that happens," I struggle to say.

"What?" Her face is turning red with fury. "Albus…he killed Albus and believes—he cannot be headmaster! Not after…"

"And two Death Eaters—Alecto and Amycus Carrow—will be given the position of Deputy Headmaster, as well as Muggle Studies and Defense Against the Dark Arts posts," I continue. She needs to know this, needs to hear it from me, before word is spread. "And they enjoy punishment."

"Albus would never stand for this," she says quietly. Then she meets my eyes. "You're sure about this?"

I nod. "I was in the meeting when they were talking about it."

A few minutes pass. "Are you safe with him—with Snape? Has he hurt you?"

"The Dark Lord has ordered my safety. The Death Eaters will not hurt me."

"Like Bellatrix wouldn't hurt you? Was it not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named who directed that attack?"

I bite my lip. "It was, but at the meeting, he specifically demanded my safety."

"And you trust that the Death Eaters will obey?"

"I didn't, but after what he's done to Avery by now…it would take a lot for someone to harm me again."

"Again?"

"Avery—he was Mrs. Stoico's brother, the son of her murderer—he wanted revenge for me killing his father. The Dark Lord and Bellatrix found me as he was attacking me. He was punished quite severely. I believe he's currently in Azkaban." Or at least I hope he is.

McGonagall shakes her head. "I don't like you being with them. You cannot trust any of them."

"I don't want to be with them either," I lie. It's actually quite enjoyable being at Spinner's End now that I'm no longer purposefully making Snape's life miserable. "If there was any other way, I would choose it."

"Will you be attending Hogwarts this coming year?"

"It's the will of the Dark Lord," I say. "I have to admit that I agree with him on this one thing. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't come back. I'd lose my mind."

"It's going to a rough year," she says quietly.

I push the food away from me. How am I supposed to stay at Hogwarts if I'm pregnant? Better yet, if I'm not pregnant, what will You-Know-Who do? Will I be summoned away from Hogwarts every so often so he can try again? What's going to happen to me? I meet McGonagall's eyes. "Can I ask a favor of you, Professor?"

She nods, and I hate that I have to ask her something like this. But I've just realized how weak I am right now. Walking up to the castle with such little rest is now coming back to haunt me. "Can you help me get to Hogsmeade? I need to see Zoe—Zoe Accrington—but I can't make it down there right now."

"You can stay here until you're strong enough," she suggests.

I shake my head. "No, I need to see her. She needs to know that I'm alive."

McGonagall nods kindly, and once I've finished a small meal, she helps me to my feet, and I lean heavily against her as we make our way out of the castle and to the village of Hogsmeade. I direct McGonagall through the streets until we reach Zoe's building. We make short work of reaching her door, and the professor knocks calmly. Zoe cracks the door open pauses. "Professor?" Then she opens the door all the way. "Charlotte!" Disregarding the professor entirely, she throws her arms around me, apologizing quickly and releasing me at the sound of my moan. "Merlin, it's good to know you're alive. Come in." McGonagall leads me into the flat. "You can bring her in here." Still supporting me, McGonagall follows Zoe into the bedroom area. Zoe pulls back the sheets and says. "She can rest here for a while."

"That's your side of the bed," I say quietly.

"It doesn't matter."

McGonagall looks between the two of us but says nothing as I crawl into the sheets and close my eyes.

"Thank you, Professor," I say softly.

"I'll take good care of her," Zoe tells McGonagall. "Thank you for bringing her here."

I drift back asleep.

The next time I awaken, Zoe is on the bed next to me, her hand gently resting on my stomach, and the moment I move, she says, "Are you okay?"

I glance at the clock. I've been here, asleep, for nearly three hours. "Just sore."

"Oh, I have something for that." She rolls out of the bed and disappears from the room, and by the time I've sat up, my back against the bed, she has returned with a vial. "Professor McGonagall gave me this for you. She said it'll help with the pain."

I take it eagerly and drink it. "How long was she here?"

"About an hour."

I nod, smiling as the potion takes affect and soothes my pain. "It's nearly four," I say softly. "I should go back before they start hunting me down."

"Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately. Thanks for taking care of me." I reach over and take her hand. I can't imagine how I'd be handling this without her, what I'd do if I didn't have her in my life. "I think I might love you, Zoe."

She grins, then bends over and wraps her arms around me. "I love you, too." Still smiling, she gives me a swift kiss. "I'd love for you to stay, Charlotte, but I don't want you getting into trouble. I'll see you later, yeah? We can talk after you've healed, when you can get away from wherever you have to go."

I touch her cheek, then Disapparate.

An intense pain erupts in my core, and I gasp for breath, unable to adjust to my new surroundings before Snape's hands are on my shoulders. "Charlotte! Where were you? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

"You were worried about me, Professor?" I laugh, but I silence immediately because that only makes everything hurt more. The potion was doing wonders moments ago, and I don't understand why it is failing now. "It…he…I…" I can't speak, so I just shake my head and close my eyes.

Snape gently wraps his arms around me for a brief moment. "You'll get through this."

I take a minute to calm down before I tell him what the Dark Lord did, and despite me explaining how painful it was, Snape's relief never really leaves his eyes. But I can't face him, so I leave him in the sitting room while I make my way to my room to be alone for a little bit longer.

A short while later, we're sitting in his kitchen, eating the food that the woman across the street made for herself and her husband. My body aches, but I don't currently want to die, so it's all better than it was before. Snape and I haven't really spoken since I ran off earlier.

Then he clears his throat. "The Dark Lord came to speak with me after your mother and your aunt took you away," he says.

"Why are you just now telling me this?" I say, the sudden anger producing a sharp pain in me once more.

"You ran off before I had a chance to tell you. But I'm telling you now." I nod. "He's rather furious that you've been taught Occlumency. You told him Professor Dumbledore taught you?"

I smile. "Yes, and it felt great to lie to him."

"I'm proud of you, Charlotte," he says. His words almost make me cry again. "Truthfully, I was worried about you trying to apply Occlumency against him."

I tap on the table. "But, um…there is…there is one thing…that I want to know…if…if you can teach me…"

He sets his plate aside. "And what might that be?"

I bite my quivering lip. "How to…um, how to…fight off…the Imperius Curse…"

His jaw clenches, his eyes darkening, the look on his face becoming murderous. "He used that against you?"

I nod, tears forming in my eyes. "Could…could you teach me? You…you were the…the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher…if…if anyone can…I thought it'd be you."

Snape looks at me sadly. "I—" He stops and grabs his left arm. "We're being summoned." With that, he Disapparates, and I follow his lead, only hoping I am supposed to be going to Malfoy Manor.

The pain in my gut erupts again with my Apparition, and I do my best to fight it down as I take in the sight of the Death Eaters here at the manor. They rush about, cheering, and I hear someone shout, "The Ministry has fallen! Scrimgeour is dead!" which causes another round of joyful screams from the Death Eaters. None of them seem to notice me, and I'm not sure if I'm even supposed to be here. Snape said nothing about me following him. He could have meant "we" as in "the Death Eaters."

The Death Eaters silence immediately when the Dark Lord raises his hand in a command. "I believe there is a wedding reception with those blood traitor Weasleys that needs to be disbanded," he says softly. Then he points a long finger at a man and adds, "Rowle, bring me Harry Potter."

The room is filled with loud popping sounds as the Death Eaters race to go destroy Bill Weasley's wedding.

The Weasleys. Tonks. Many other Order members are probably there.

I have to help them.

It doesn't matter that I was angry with them for not helping me get away from the Dark Lord—they aren't aware of what I'm truly facing, and therefore I cannot be angry. I know what is about to happen to them, and I cannot stand by and do nothing.

Bracing myself for the next wave of agony, I Apparate.