EmilyCMalfoy: Thanks for reviewing! Haha, I hope it was worth staying up so late for! I think Daphne's had a crush on Charlotte for a while, there have been some hints that Charlotte was too oblivious to pick up, but I don't think she'll ever act on her feelings. With all that Charlotte's going through, I think Daphne is kind of afraid to make any kind of move. She would rather Charlotte decide on her own. I'm glad I can see your reviews again too!

CHAPTER 28

"You can kick me out at any time if you think I'm too much of a bother, Professor," I say quietly, watching Severus from my place on the sofa in his chambers. He has once again created himself a desk so he can continue working while I awkwardly try to go to sleep with the weight of my trip to Malfoy Manor looming over me. I'm leaving in the morning, and the kind professor has allowed me to sleep in his chambers again.

"If I were annoyed by your presence, Charlotte, I would have kicked you out a while ago," he answers dismissively, not so much as looking up from the papers on his desk.

"Have I told you how much I appreciate all you do?" I ask quietly.

"Yes, but it's always good to hear it again."

He looks over and half-smiles at me, and I laugh through my nose. "In that case, Professor, I sincerely appreciate how much you've helped me. Particularly with the potion during the torture. I doubt I could've handled it otherwise."

He makes a strangely sad face but does not comment. "Are the marks gone? Madam Pomfrey's dittany helped?"

"Yes."

Severus turns his attention back to his work, and I roll over and bury my face into back of the sofa.

When I awaken in the early hours of the next morning—early enough for the sun to not even be rising yet—a blanket is tucked around me. I pull it close and grin. Then I fall asleep again.

A gentle hand nudges me awake later, and I pry my eyes open. "It's nearly time for you to leave, Charlotte," Severus says. He offers me his hand, then pulls me upright.

"I don't want to," I whisper.

"I know."

I sigh loudly and hang my head. "Do you know who will be watching after me?"

He shakes his head. "I'm afraid they don't tell me." Then Severus sits down beside me. "You'll be fine." I lean against him and rest my head on his shoulder.

I glance at the clock and force myself to stand and get ready to leave for Malfoy Manor. When I come back out of the bathroom, Severus gives me an encouraging smile. "I'll be here when you get back."

"That's comforting to know. And I don't say that sarcastically." I inhale, then Apparate.

The moment my feet hit the floor in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, someone's arms are instantly around me, and it takes me a short moment to register who it is. "Draco!"

"Charlotte, I've been so worried about you!" Does that mean Astoria has been writing him about me again? Why else would he be worried about me? Because of your duty to Voldemort, don't be daft. Of course he's worried. "C'mon, I've been asked to watch over you until Bellatrix gets back, which means we have a few hours!"

I smile. This day just got slightly better. "Where're we going?"

"Just come on! You'll see!"

"I don't like surprises!" I say as he takes me by the hand and begins leading me through the manor.

"I think you'll like this one though. I'm pretty sure of it."

Draco takes me through countless corridors and hallways until we've reached the backyard. Many of the flowers that once bloomed in the garden I saw during my first tour of the manor on that dreaded Christmas holiday are no longer blooming, now replaced with other colors of flowers that seem to brighten the world around them. The hedges that reach well above my head are still as green as ever, and Draco leads me through their maze but stops at none of the benches we pass. "We're almost there," he says.

I don't know where "there" is, but I don't ask. I glance back at the manor. Someone could easily get lost in this maze of hedges and flowers, but I'm not nervous. Actually, I'm quite at peace. Perhaps this is one of those things that Draco has a knack of doing: making me feel better. Even when we're all but lost in a garden, I feel safe with him. I feel almost like we are children again, even though we never knew each other when we were young.

At last, we reach the end of this maze where it opens to a large area just before the sparkling lake. I briefly wonder why he dragged me through the maze rather than going around, but because I kind of enjoyed it, I won't question him. He probably knew I would enjoy it.

Stretching out into the lake is a wooden dock. At the end of that dock is a gazebo. Something tells me that Draco does not intend on us sitting in the gazebo.

"I go here to clear my thoughts, and get away from the Death Eaters that so often frequent our house now," he says, hiding his bitter tone quite well but still not able to conceal all of it. He waves his wand, and from the other side of the gazebo emerges a small wooden dinghy. "I find the gentle motion of the water calming." He smiles at me, then suddenly stops and clears his throat. "We don't have to go out there, you know, if-if you don't want to. I mean, we can stay on land if you'd like. I just thought I'd give you the option."

I find myself eyeing the craft enviously. "Let's go out onto the water."

A broad smile covers his face as we walk out onto the dock and crawl into the little boat. It magically carries us into the middle of the lake. The view of the manor makes it seem even more massive from out here, the rising towers reminding me more of Hogwarts now than it ever has. I glance at Draco and find him smiling at me. "Why do you always seem in awe when you see the house?"

"Because I grew up in caves and borrowed homes, and it's hard to believe that my family owns something like this."

"I wish I'd known you back then, back when we were only children, back before all of this started happening," he says quietly. "Can you imagine what life would have been like had You-Know-Who never risen to power, had he never been born?"

"I haven't put much thought into it, honestly."

"I have. Would you like to hear what I believe life would be like?"

"Sure."

"I suspect that Bellatrix would have still married Rodolphus, which means I hope you would still be here. Your parents would never have gone to Azkaban. Our mothers, being close sisters now, would have been even closer then. We would've grown up together." Then he points to the area beside the garden. "We could've learnt to fly a broom right over there, learnt to swim in this lake, learnt magic together from our parents." He smiles. "You could have been the sibling I never had. We would have ruled Hogwarts together—you could have calmed down my arrogance, because let's face it, I've struggled." He chuckles to himself. "Potter would never have been famous. We—the children of the Lestranges and the Malfoys—we would have been the great ones at the school."

"Your arrogance," I interject.

He laughs. "You know what I mean." His eyes fill with sadness. "The life we could have had," he whispers. "I miss it sometimes."

"Me too, now that you make it seem like it actually happened."

"But our children, they'll grow up like siblings, the way you and I should have. It doesn't matter if the last name of yours is 'Weasley.'"

I frown at him. "My children will never bear that last name."

"Didn't he make you happy at the time?"

"Until he left me because he feared I was cheating on him with Zoe. He doesn't trust me, with good reason, and I don't want to put either of us in that position again."

Draco swallows. "I'm sorry about Zoe."

I shake my head, tears burning my eyes terribly. My voice is airy when I say, "I'd prefer not to speak of that, if you don't mind."

"Of course."

I grin at him. "What about you and Astoria?"

He smiles. "We write often. She's worried about you. So is Daphne." My heart clenches. So it's not just an act—they might actually care about me. "I haven't told them anything, of course. Wouldn't betray your trust like that." I look away from him again. "Apparently there are times when you shut down completely and don't speak for days at a time? Charlotte, you can talk to me."

I shrug. "I don't want to talk about it. Just…Zoe stuff, you know?" Silence falls, and I fill it with, "Astoria hates the Carrows, Snape, and the Dark Lord."

"Good, make sure it stays that way."

"She wants to join Dumbledore's Army, which has reformed since the Carrows arrived."

"Don't let her," he says firmly.

"Wasn't really planning on it. I've been advising against it. To everyone in Slytherin."

He nods. "Thanks. Daphne included?"

"Yes, of course."

He watches me closely for a long enough time that I begin to feel uncomfortable, and then he says, "So anyways, when we have kids of our own, they will be the cousins who are siblings. There is no debating this."

"That sounds perfectly fine with me," I laugh. My laughter dies quickly. "Let's just hope it isn't the Dark Lord's child."

"It won't be. You won't have his child." He clears his throat. "When this war completely breaks out, and the Dark Lord finally faces Potter, if you need to disappear, I'll be here to help you in any way that I can. I need you to understand that. I know I said that once before, but I need to make sure that you understand."

"Thanks, Draco."

We sit out on the lake for a few more hours, Cosmo the house elf bringing us breakfast and lunch. (Because of my half-meals with Severus, I actually have been able to stomach a little more than I could the last time I was here.) During this wonderful time, I nearly forget about my impending duty, the real reason I'm here at Malfoy Manor. It all comes back to me when I hear, "Draco!" come from the shore. I turn around to see who has the nerve to interrupt us. It's Narcissa, of course, and beside her stands Bellatrix. This is when I realize that all of what Draco said earlier could have truly taken place had it not been for Voldemort. My bitterness towards him grows.

"I guess my few hours with you is up," he says sadly. The boat propels itself back to the shore. When we reach the dock, Draco climbs out of boat then helps me out as well. We walk toward our mothers.

"Aurelia," Bellatrix greets me, forcibly taking me into her arms as she does every time I see her.

"Mum."

"The Dark Lord has requested that I watch over you for the remainder of your time here," she says happily.

I nod then turn to Draco. We hug each other. "Thanks for everything," I say.

"Anytime," he says.

Narcissa smiles kindly at me. Then she and Draco leave me and Bellatrix behind. "Come along," she says to me, taking my hand and placing it in the crook of her elbow. Together we begin walking toward the manor. "How long have you been out here?"

"Since I first arrived this morning," I say.

She nods. "Have a good discussion with your cousin?"

"We always have good talks."

"About what?"

"What life could have been like for the two of us—meaning me and him—had you and Rodolphus not gone to Azkaban, how we could've grown up together."

She smiles. "Cissy and I actually talked about that when we learnt she was pregnant."

"If only life had been kinder."

My mother stops us at a bench beside some rose bushes, and we sit down. "I've gotten orders from the Dark Lord," she says quietly, taking my hand in hers. "I cannot spend the Christmas holidays with you this year."

My heart leaps with joy. "Really?" I ask, keeping my voice even. Perhaps I'll be able to go with Christopher for Christmas after all. "What am I supposed to do instead?"

"You're to stay at Hogwarts with Snape until that last weekend of December. You'll have to come back here as usual. Then you are to go back to Hogwarts."

"Oh." I can definitely get Snape to let me leave the castle. This works out perfectly, but I can't let her know that I'm happy about these arrangements, so I keep my face neutral.

"But," she says joyfully, "I've spoken with the Dark Lord about me being able to spend time with you—"

"I thought he didn't want me to be a distraction to you."

She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "That's why he won't let you live here at the manor with me, but he believes I can influence you in great ways, so he supports my spending some time with you, so long as we are not around each other too much too often."

"Oh." So he only lets us spend time together because he thinks she can convince me that my duty isn't as horrible as it actually is. I want to be angrier about this, but I get to spend time with her, so I almost don't care.

"He's given me permission to take you back to Lestrange Cottage for your eighteenth birthday," she says. "He's given you permission to leave Hogwarts after dinner to meet me here so I can take you the cottage. He should've already sent word to the Carrows and Snape."

A genuine smile comes to my face even though I know he's only letting her take me out of Hogwarts to try to manipulate me into being less combative about this whole situation. "Great."

"That's not all," she says quickly.

I raise my eyebrows at her.

"He's assured me that we'll have the Easter holidays together. Or at least part of them."

"And this change of heart is because he wants you to try again to convince me that everything is going to be all right? That this is an honor?" He's probably still trying to placate her for sending me to Azkaban as well, if I had to guess.

"Yes."

"At least we get some time together, right?" I ask, actually feeling a bit of happiness rising up in me at the idea of being able to spend time with her again. I've missed her, honestly. I've missed her terribly.

Together we stay in the garden until it's time for me to go to Voldemort. My mother leads me to the room. She takes me into her arms one last time. "I'll be waiting for you."

I pluck up my courage and enter, assuming my typical fighting demeanor.

"Oh Merlin, Charlotte," I hear. I pry my eyes open and find Narcissa standing above me, her face completely horrified.

"Nar-Narcissa," I whisper.

"The Dark Lord sent me to help you," she says gently. "What happened?"

"I fought…I fought…the Imperius Curse… I wouldn't…I wouldn't…let him…not willingly…" I fight to speak, simply breathing causing an extreme ache to course through me. Everything hurts, almost as badly as when the Carrows tortured me. I'm sure I've been beaten, as I was last time, though I cannot remember it. I also cannot bring myself to regret my actions. Blood tickles as it runs down my face and arms. I'm so tired of being hurt.

Narcissa's kind hands touch my face. "Is it really worth all of this?" she asks quietly.

I nod the best I can, moaning quietly and trying not to cry.

My aunt pulls out her wand and begins waving it over me, the aches lessening continuously until they are completely gone. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Yes. I always am." Am I? I often wind up hiding away at Hogwarts, trying my best to ignore what's happened to me. How can I say that I'm all right when all I can do after these beatings is struggle through life?

Narcissa smiles sadly, then helps me to my feet and wraps my Hogwarts robes around me. "How much more of this can you take?"

I put my arms around her, wanting to be held in a motherly embrace (which she willingly gives) and whisper in her ear, "Until he is killed once and for all."

She tenses but says nothing, instead holding me more tightly as if to tell me that I will eventually make it through this. Then she pulls away, grabs up the rest of my clothes, and leads me to Bellatrix.

When my mother's dark eyes land on me, her face pales. "Aurelia, what's happened?" she whispers frantically.

"I—what?"

She reaches out and grabs my arm. Narcissa gasps. "What happened to you?"

There is fresh blood on my sleeve and a large cut that I guess Narcissa missed earlier. "I…I…I don't know…"

"Aurelia." Her tone is firmer with me than it has ever been, but I can't tell her that Voldemort has been physically beating me. I'll be punished for such things, not to mention that he'll probably hurt her too if I tell her.

"Is that…I thought you said you weren't hurt when you fell, Charlotte," I hear Narcissa offer.

I follow Narcissa's lead. "Did that really happen? I thought…I thought I dreamt that…" I look at Bellatrix. "I'm sorry, the Imperius Curse takes a lot out of me."

"How did you fall?" she asks, obviously suspicious.

"She tripped over my feet when I was helping her up," Narcissa quickly lies. "And she caught herself on the bed frame, but I guess it did more damage than we thought."

"And you're okay?" my mother asks. She has no reason to doubt me or Narcissa, which is probably why she just accepted our answer as truth. Why would her sister and daughter lie about an injury? Why would she ever assume that her precious Lord Voldemort would hurt me?

I nod. "Yes, Mum, I'll be fine." She quickly pulls me into her arms, and I give Narcissa a smile, which she returns. Things could have gone very badly. Next time we need to make sure all evidence of my beatings is gone before I go to Mum.

On second thought, hopefully there won't be a next time.

My mother and I separate. "You can't be here much longer," she says quietly. "The Dark Lord has ordered you back to Hogwarts."

"I'll be back next month," I say, "for my birthday."

She smiles and says a quick goodbye, as does Narcissa.

Severus is awaiting me in his private chambers, and the moment I see him, I break. Tears stream down my face, and a sob tears through me before I can stop it. He closes the gap between us. "It was worse this time."

He wraps his arms around me, and I let myself fall against him, muffling my sobs in his chest. "The Imperius Curse?" he asks softly.

"No, I can still break that. But he was ang-angrier this time. Narcissa had to heal my-my wounds. Mum nearly caught us. There was st-still blood on me."

"You—he made you bleed? What did he do to you?" he whispers, a fury in his voice that he once so often directed toward me.

I tighten my hold on him and swallow down my sobs. "I fought him, but after a-a few punches, he threw me onto the coffee table. The table…has sharp corners… I don't remember what all exactly happened, but…I know that it hurt because it still does."

Severus rests his head atop mine, and I can't stop the smile that breaks across my face. The horrifying Severus Snape, the Death Eater who murdered Albus Dumbledore himself, is holding me in his arms and trying to assure me that I'll be okay, even though we both very much know that I will not be. "I'm so sorry you have to go through this," he says quietly.

"It could be worse."

"I'm trying my hardest to protect you. I hope you know that."

"Of course I know that."

We stay in each other's arms for a short while, and when he finally pulls away, he says, "You're free to remain in here if you'd like. I can't imagine you'd want to go back to those other students right now. Especially Pansy Parkinson."

I shudder dramatically, and he smiles at me. We both know the real reason I don't go back to the common room is because I don't like facing them until I've recovered from whatever magic the Dark Lord uses on me. "You don't mind me hiding in here?"

"My offer was not an empty gesture."

"Can I skip class Monday and continue hiding in here?" I ask hopefully. "I just—I want more than a single day to recover this time."

"I'll inform the Carrows that you will not be in class."

"And the other professors?"

"It's not entirely necessary that they know. It's not like your skipping is anything new."

I look down at my feet. "Thank you."

"I'll work in here to keep you company, if you'd like."

"I'd like that very much."

He waves his wand, and a desk emerges from thin air. "Don't sleep on that sofa again though. You'll rest better on the bed. It's yours for the evening."

"But what about you?"

"One night on the sofa won't kill me, Charlotte. I'm not that old yet."

"You're sure?" Why is he so nice to me? I don't deserve this.

He sits down at his desk. "Charlotte, if I had not been sure about it, I would have told you so. Now go lie down and try to rest. There's no need for you to be hurting so badly right now. Here, drink this and go to sleep."

I follow his orders and drink the potion, the leftover soreness leeching out of me, and I crawl under the sheets on his bed, but I do not attempt to sleep. Instead I watch him carefully as he writes something on a piece of parchment. Something that seems like an abnormally long letter, but I don't question it.

I doubt if I'll ever again question anything he does. After all that he's done for me—and is still doing for me—he could set Hogwarts on fire and I'd probably follow him off the grounds and into the unknown.

Recently I've been becoming overwhelmed and burnt out and, frankly, discouraged. A bit of writer's block. I need to take a step back for a while to see if I can work through this rough patch I've hit with the story. I'll have the next chapter up, hopefully, around the start of July. Sorry for the inconvenience.