CHAPTER I: Closing Walls
March 9th, 2001
THE GIRL LAY shivering on the stone floor, her gaze lost in the endless expanse of gray as her mind tried, again and again, to grasp something, anything. What was her name? She had one, didn't she? Of course, everyone did.
Tick.
Why was she here? There must be a reason, right? People didn't suffer for no reason.
Tock.
Because she'd been suffering. Was suffering. Would probably suffer more soon.
A voice, smooth and cruel, slithered through the haze. Softly, tauntingly, "Mrs. Malfoy."
The name felt familiar, but distant, a half-remembered dream slipping through her fingers and crumbling into dust. It belonged to her, didn't it? Yes.
Maybe…
A boot nudged her side, rolling her onto her back. She gasped at the movement, her body too weak to resist. A face hovered above her, but her mind refused to make sense of it. Dark hair, sharp cheekbones, cold eyes. There were two of them—men, brothers, though she couldn't remember how she knew that. Did she even know that?
"I think it's time for us to continue our conversation, don't you?"
Conversation? No, they wouldn't talk. They never talked. They yelled, demanded, spoke questions in hoarse throaty and eager voices but they never talked. Talking was life. This was pain and suffering.
She said nothing.
The man crouched, wand tracing an idle line along her jaw. "Phoenix."
The word struck something deep inside her. Phoenix. That name belonged to her, didn't it?
The voice sharpened. "Tell us about the resistance. Tell us about her."
Her.
A face flickered in the shattered remains of her mind.
Blue eyes, lightning scar. The leader.
Holly Potter.
The resistance.
Phoenix.
There were names, places—hidden strongholds, secret meeting points, whispers of revolution stirring in the dark. But when she reached for them, there was only emptiness. "I don't—" she tried.
"Crucio."
Fire crawled through her veins, searing every nerve, pulling her apart piece by piece. Her own scream echoed back at her, raw and broken.
It lasted forever.
Then, suddenly, it was gone.
"Tell us what you know."
Another voice, heavier, like rust scraping against steel.
Tick.
"I—I don't—"
"Don't know?" Mocking now. "Convenient."
"She's stalling."
Another pause. Then—
"Crucio."
Pain again, worse this time. Her body convulsed, spine arching, limbs jerking, breath choking in her throat.
It would never stop. It would never—
And then it did.
Her body slumped, muscles trembling. A boot pressed against her ribs, rolling her like a discarded doll.
"Maybe we got it wrong," said the first, reluctance in his voice. "I think she's useless."
"No," the other murmured. "Just broken." A pause. "Damn it. I really thought we had her."
"What do we do with her now? He'll come looking… he already is…."
He? He who? Someone was looking for her? Well, why hadn't he already found her? Why hadn't he stopped this, then?!
Silence stretched, thick and suffocating.
"We should kill her. She's worthless now. If she ever was Phoenix, she isn't anymore."
Her body curled in on itself, though there was no strength left to fight. Die? No, she didn't want to die!
Why?
Why would she ever have let herself end up here?
What had she done—what had she believed in—that was worth this? Nothing.
Her breath hitched, a sound barely more than a whisper.
Had she really chosen this?
She had to have.
And she must have believed, once, that it mattered.
That she mattered.
That she was more than just a broken thing waiting to be discarded.
Tick.
Once, she must have had a reason.
Tock.
She just couldn't remember it.
Not anymore.
She screwed her eyes shut, an inexplicable echo of a thought, Sco, sliding through her shattered mind.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Green light.
A rush of wind.
And then—
Nothing.
Tick, tock.
A/N: This is a story that's an adjacent one to my "Every Hour Until Then" universe, so you might want to take a look at that story for context. If not, you should be able to catch up - just know there'll be MAJOR spoilers for EHUT main Holly Potter story! Mostly, I'm posting this because it's living rent-free in my head and I want to stay motivated to write it.
If you happen to have found this, please let me know your thoughts! It'd be very motivating. Tnx.