𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍 - 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞

❃ chapter eleven

tw: mentions of rape

this is seriously dark and was incredibly difficult to write. please skip this chapter if you are triggered by this topic.

❃

Soft fingertips stroked her cheek, still slightly warmed with fever.

"How are you feeling?"

Maybelle's vision blurred in and out as she viewed figures standing over her by the bed, a fresh bandage wrapped around each of their left forearms.

"I'm okay," she whispered, squinting her eyes as she slowly sat upwards, a hand guiding her back.

"Draco?"

"Hi, love," he smiled gently from besides her, "I'm right here."

"The rest of us have the mark already," Theodore exclaimed, leaning against the doorframe, "The Dark Lord gave them to us while you were sleeping. Bellatrix got you a deal. You should be grateful."

Maybelle nodded solemnly. She knew she wouldn't have been able to mentally handle the screams of her friends as the mark was inked into their skin, burning with ill intent.

"It took a lot of convincing, my darling. I wish I could give you more time, but I must give it to you now. That is what was promised to The Dark Lord," Bellatrix exclaimed, shuffling her friends out the door. Draco remained by her side.

Maybelle knew it would be painful when he began to place rags beneath where her arm sat on the covers.

"This is going to sting terribly," Bellatrix huffed, jabbing her wand into Maybelle's left wrist, "Try to keep quiet."

"I'm right here," Draco whispered as the door slammed closed, a silencing spell coming over the room, "You'll be alright."

He grasped his hand onto her free one, and didn't let go.

"Morsmordre."

The black ink bubbled into her veins through a slit of the wrist, squelching as it branded the skull then snake into the layers of her skin.

Draco covered her mouth with his hand to muffle her screams but it was no use. Tears raced down her face as her muscles began to tremble, trying to do anything to stop the pain.

"It hurts," Maybelle sobbed, blood trickling from her forearm onto the dry rags, soaking them red.

"I know. I'm sorry."

Draco clenched his jaw in attempt to keep his expression neutral, biting down on his lip as to stop it from trembling, but she could still see each piece of him break through her tear blurred eyes.

The pain halted slowly, Bellatrix stitching the wound closed with a simple spell. Blood was cleansed, betrayal committed, and an unfortunate silence came across the bedroom.

"You're done, but it's far from over," Bellatrix scoffed, counting the side effects on her fingers, "The less you reject it, the sooner you'll feel better."

Both of them nodded, Maybelle's cheeks red and eyes puffed. Draco looked nearly the same, perhaps slightly more angered.

"I was in love once," Bellatrix exclaimed in a monotone voice, reaching for the door handle, "Don't fuck it up, nephew. You'll only regret it."

............

Maybelle's recovery was far worse.

Sweating profusely and dehydration. Nausea and vomiting. She ran a fever of 103 for five hours, unescapable night terrors flooding her vision as she drifted in and out of consciousness on top his bed.