The Lion and the Eagle |Neville Longbottom|

21. Roommates

            Brian and Liam did not make up for lost time in the time it took to assign me a room. As expected, all the rooms were enchanted to open via wand only. Any Death Eaters could open and close these, their captives could not.

When they finally released me into a room, the urge to vomit rose sharply in my stomach. The odor was appalling, to say the least. Those in the room looked grimy, as though they had never seen what a shower or a bathroom looked like. A small figure cowered into a ball in the corner.

The reality sunk in once the Death Eaters locked the door.

Since I was the odd one out, the two in the room—both female—looked at me warily. I rolled up my sleeves to show them no Dark Mark.

"I'm not one of them," I said calmly.

The girl in the corner slowly unfurled herself but did not move beyond that. The other girl approached me. She looked to be my age, though her face could tell a different story with how mature it looked. Her black hair was unkempt and tangled. Her eyes were wild and red-rimmed, like she had just been crying.

"You the latest 'recruit'?" she croaked in a sneer.

"Is that what they're calling us?"

"To them it sounds nicer than 'prisoner' or 'captive'." The girl spat at my feet. "Sorry, wasn't meant for you. I got here two days ago, they have yet to make a final decision on me. She," the girl pointed to the little one in the corner, "she's been here longer. We've said a few words to each other, but that's as far as we got. You got a name?"

"Jenelle."

"Ember." The girl with the black hair sniffed. "She's Bree. As you probably guessed, I'm the mouthpiece."

"How did...how did they get you two? Why?"

"Where do you want me to start?" Ember laughed bleakly. "I know blood status is behind it, I'm half-blood. Can't speak for Bree. Death Eaters tend to view purebloods on the highest of pedestals. Can't understand why they're continuing the Dark Lord's work even though the bastard is dead."

"You don't think he's somehow...?"

"Back?" Ember shook her head. "I don't believe so. When Harry Potter finished him, that was the end of it. These Death Eaters are stupidly arrogant, doing what they're doing. There are more in this manor, I hear them."

"Death Eaters or captives?"

"Both," croaked Bree. Ember and I turned to the girl. "They treat us terribly. Scraps of food, if we're good. Buckets for the bathroom. They empty those out, at least, though whoever does it complains all the time. These clothes are our own." Bree slowly used the walls to help herself stand. "They're testing our will. If we're too weak..." She shuddered. "If we endure, they...they move us someplace else."

"And we have no idea where," said Ember gravely. "But we're due to know our fates soon enough. Were you a random snatch?"

I licked my lips. "Yes. I...There had been a small group of them that ambushed me. I thought they had worse intentions...it really seemed like it in the moment." I looked around. Everything looked dusty. There were no beds to share, not even cots. There was only one pillow and one blanket, and the blanket looked questionable at best. The bathroom buckets looked decently cleaned but I could smell that they had been used.

"It's an adjustment," said Ember.

"Good to know. Have you...?"

"Tried to escape? I thought about it, attempted only once. I was lucky they didn't kill me on the spot."

"What about you, Bree?" I looked to the girl.

Bree shook her head, keeping flush against the wall.

"She doesn't like to talk about it," said Ember. "I've tried with her a few times."

"That's all right," I said. "We're all still strangers to each other. I understand."

"Did you try to escape?"

"Without my wand, didn't think to try. I couldn't get very far." I rubbed my face with my hands. "So...we just wait around for someone to come knocking?"

Ember nodded. "It's how things go around here. Don't expect to sleep much—others nearby tend to cry, scream, and shout because they can't sleep. The Death Eaters on patrol at night don't appreciate it. Some get so enraged they..." Ember swallowed. "Let's just say there have been a few guard changes because of reckless stupidity. Anyway, what's yours is ours. We'll share what we can, but don't expect us to become best friends."

I got that impression fairly quickly.

I picked a corner of the room, the corner farthest from the buckets. Bree remained in her little slice, and Ember took the last unoccupied corner. There was a window to this room but the grime on it was so thick it was hard to see out of it. We'd only see doom and gloom outside anyhow, with how dark the skies were and the current storm that was overhead.

I imagined Neville, broken in that forest, all by himself. He had to pull through. Ron had to get my Patronus in time. The Aurors had to find Neville so he could get nursed back to health. If I got my wand back anytime soon, I'd try to send another Patronus to give information to Ron for him to relay back to the rest of the Aurors. While I didn't know the full scale of this scheme, I knew enough to give them a bone.

I just hoped I endured long enough to get rescued.

"Who did they hurt?"

Ember's question brought me out of my head. "What?"

"You've got a look about you. They hurt someone you care about."

"They went after my parents," I said hollowly. "As far as I know, they're safe, but I don't know where. I had someone with me while I was on the run from the Death Eaters. They'd found us. My partner...last I saw him, he was in bad shape."

"And they left him alone?"

"Yes. Shocking, isn't it?"

"Your friend must've been too hurt for them to not see him as a threat."

"He's an Auror. They must've figured if they took him it'd raise an alarm with the others." I slid down the dark wall until I hit the floor.

"Sounds like you've got friends in high places."

I shrugged. "He intervened the first time the Death Eaters tried to take me."

"Well, I hope your friend makes out okay in the end. I was fortunate to not have had anyone around when they came for me. I tried to send for help—I don't know if my message got out or not."

Once the conversation between Ember and I died out, that was it. Bree did a little bit of walking around our space, stretching her thin legs. Ember messed with her hair, trying to get the tangles out with her fingers. I lightly hit my head against the wall, as though that would help me think up a plan.

This scheme was bigger than just me. Though I just met Ember and Bree today, I hoped their final resting place was not in this room, or on the grounds of Malfoy Manor, just as I hoped it would not be mine.

**Fun fact: If anyone remembers Through Thick and Thin, that was Ember's original introduction/appearance. I don't remember if I had plans for her beyond Jen's second book since I've been doing this rewrite.**