Arthur's attack fueled Harry's Defense Club to practice more rigorously, Adelaide could see the way the Weasleys and Harry practiced. They were more aggressive, but they weren't skilled enough yet, so their spells were sloppy. She quickly withdrew from Harry's mind as the meeting wrapped up and she realized Harry and Cho Chang were having a moment.
It was the last day before they headed back for Christmas Break. Adelaide was slightly nervous. She wasn't sure if she would have to meet up with the Dark Lord and discuss what she had been doing and what her plan was for the task. After the attack of the snake turning out to be a vision and not a dream, Adelaide knew exactly how to get Harry into the Department of Mysteries. She just had to coordinate with the Death Eaters who were going to collect the prophecy and give it to the Dark Lord.
She walked to the train hand-in-hand with Draco. He looked so handsome with his black trench coat and the white snow against his beautiful platinum blonde hair. They made their way to their compartment and slept almost the entire ride back. As they pulled up to King's Cross, they looked everywhere for Draco's parents, but couldn't find them, so Adelaide dragged them to a quiet corner and apparated for both of them to the Malfoy Manor.
As they made their way in, Lucius barely acknowledged their presence. Narcissa was bustling around, ordering elves to put up festive decorations and make a large amount of food. Lucius side glanced them, "Go put on some nicer clothes. We're hosting a dinner party."
Draco scrunched his nose, "A dinner party?"
Lucius scoffed, rolling his eyes, "It was just a gathering of Death Eaters, but people are paranoid that there is a traitor in our midst after Belvina and Herbert's arrest, so your mother turned it into a festive Christmas party, so if the Ministry decides to bust in we can hand them a glass of eggnog and wish them a happy way out." he seemed to choke on the words in distaste. He bitterly took a long sip from his glass of whiskey, walking away.
Draco muttered under his breath something about appreciating the warm welcome. Wretcher wobbled up to Adelaide and Draco. She smiled at the familiar elf, "Hello Wretcher. Can you please take Draco and I's trunks upstairs?"
Wretcher smiled up to Adelaide, "Of course Mistress Burke. It is so nice to have you back home." he snapped his fingers and disapparated with their bags.
They both made their way upstairs, getting ready for the "Christmas Party". Adelaide began laughing as she was putting on her red lipstick. Draco looked over to her confused as he struggled to fix his tie, "What's so funny?"
Adelaide was now hysterically laughing, her stomach hurting. Draco smiled seeing her laugh so brightly, "What are you laughing at?" he chuckled.
"Your dad's hosting a Death Eater Christmas Party." she wheezed out, laughing even harder. Draco started laughing as well until they were both clutching their stomachs. Lucius bursted into the room angrily, "What is with all this noise? People will be over any minute."
Draco and Adelaide immediately stopped laughing, but after a few moments of tense silence, Adelaide let out a tiny chuckle which completely set them off again. Lucius snarled, exiting dramatically by slamming the door shut. Finally, they were able to get ahold of themselves enough to finish getting ready.
Adelaide went over to help Draco with his tie and she muttered a spell that made his expensive black tie begin to slowly snow and sparkle. Draco looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, "Seriously?"
She smiled sweetly to him, "It's cute! And festive." she playfully poked his nose. He new that the Death Eaters and his father wouldn't find the tie amusing, but she did, so that's all that mattered.
He gazed down at her beautiful black dress with long whispy puff sleeves and open back. He glanced down at her arm, and he could see the Dark Mark through the sheer fabric. She followed his gaze to her arm and she quickly put a covering spell on the fabric that hid the Dark Mark. She muttered, "Sorry." now embarrassed. He grabbed her hand quickly, staring deeply into her eyes, "Don't be." she smiled up to him.
She tapped her wand to her dress making it sparkle just like Draco's tie. She dragged him over to the mirror to look at their matching outfits. She pulled out a box from the air and opened it, revealing a beautifully rich red pocket square that matched her vibrant lipstick. She neatly tucked it into his breast pocket and smiled up to him.
He went to lean in for a kiss, but she pressed her hand on his face, "I'll get lipstick on your face."
He laughed, straightening up and offering his arm, "Ready?"
"Ready."
It was definitely comical seeing the Death Eaters wander around the ballroom talking loudly and laughing with each other. A few of them glanced over at Adelaide and Draco suspiciously, but continued talking amongst each other. If the Ministry entered now, there would be a lot of explaining to do. Most of them were all known Death Eaters from the first Wizarding War that claimed they were put under the Imperius Curse to do the Dark Lord's will. The ones who were either caught in the act or admitted openly to their loyalty to the Dark Lord were in Azkaban.
Narcissa made her way over to Draco and Adelaide smiling brightly, "You two look incredible! Let me take a picture!" She had clearly had a few drinks as she was slightly out of her shell and more talkative than normal.
Draco groaned, but Adelaide smacked his chest, "Smile." which he laughed lightly staring at her, she was so beautiful.
"Perfect! I think.." His mother smiled pulling the picture from the camera. Adelaide and Draco looked at each other confused because they didn't realize she already took the picture.
Adelaide laughed sweetly as she looked at the moving picture. Draco looked miserable at first and after Adelaide hit him, he laughed and looked at her like she was the only girl in the world.
It was a perfect representation of their relationship.
She instinctively kissed his cheek and turned red as she realized she accidentally left a huge red kiss mark on his cheek.
"What?" he looked down at her as she looked at his cheek with a bit of embarrassment. She decided to quickly play it off, "Nothing. You just look so handsome."
His heart melted slightly until he noticed a few of his father's friends pointing at him laughing and whistling. He furrowed his brow, confused by the sudden attention. He turned to a mirror in the hallway to see the red lips on his face, he darted an angry glare at Adelaide who laughed lightly at him.
She rolled her eyes and silently casted a cleaning spell to get rid of it. "It was a bit funny."
He smiled down at her, but was interrupted by his father who looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Adelaide come with me."
She felt an icy chill down her spine. She sent a pained smile at Draco, trying to hide the fear in her eyes as she excused herself and followed Lucius.
He pulled her into a room where the Dark Lord sat with Nagini's head wrapped around his hand.
"Hello Adelaide. Enjoying yourself?" he sounded angered, on edge.
She didn't know how to respond and was terrified of upsetting him, she bowed slightly, "My Lord."
He looked towards the door, "Muffliato"
He slowly looked back to her, "I'm going to be very straight forward with you and you will answer me honestly. Who's side are you on?"
She swallowed hard, "I'm sorry, My Lord?"
His eyes squinted angrily up at her. He lifted his wand towards her and yelled, "Converto Presidio" Adelaide felt a light veil remove from her body. All the blood drained from her face.
He had found out about the Protection Spell that prevented any Unforgivable Curse from touching her and removed it. She was completely vulnerable now.
"Good, now that's over. Crucio."
A red light emerged and she fell to the ground screaming in agony. She felt like hot knives were flaying every nerve in her body. Her vision went blurry as the pain overcame her senses. She could hear herself screaming, but she couldn't even recognize her own voice. The pain was so intense she felt like she was dying.
Finally he released the spell causing her to take a deep, shuttering breath.
"Did you tell Dumbledore about Nagini's attack in the Ministry the other night?" he seethed, getting close to her face.
She cried desperately, "No! No! My Lord, it was Harry!" she tried to back away from him, but she still felt the pain from the curse aching over her body. "Harry could somehow see through Nagini's mind, I don't know how, bu-"
He pointed his wand at her again yelling, "Crucio!" she screamed again as the pain shot through her body again causing her to writh on the floor in agony. He released the spell and angrily spat, "Don't lie to me Adelaide Burke! How could he have seen the attack on Arthur Weasley that night? You're the only one in that damned school who knows and uses legilimancy!" he seethed, casting the curse on her again causing her to scream again uncontrollably.
She begged through her gasping breaths as he released the spell, "I'm not lying, I promise. I promise. I don't know how he saw it My Lord, I've only placed images of the empty Department of Mysteries and the shelf with his prophecy in his dreams. Please My Lord, I promise. I would never betray you. Ever." she whimpered, bracing herself for another torturing session.
He angrily dug his wand into the arm of her sleeve, "Then why do you cover your Mark in shame? And if you knew Harry Potter had seen the attack, why did you let him intervene? We almost had the prophecy, we were so close."
He slashed his wand into the air, a stray curse flying from his wand and hitting her in the face.
She cried out as the spell hit her and she desperately tried to find a way to explain herself, holding the side of her face that was now screeching in pain and throbbing, "I-I don't know My Lord. P-Please, I thought you purposefully placed the d-dream in his head. Like you s-said he doesn't know legilimancy, so there was no other explanation. P-Please my Lord, y-you have to believe me."
He slowly put his wand away, his shoulders relaxing, "Alright, I believe you..for now. I will not ask you again, get Harry Potter to retrieve that Prophecy and get a grip on the Minister. His paranoia is beginning to drive him mad and people are noticing. I'm not ready to be found yet, we are still gathering our forces." he disapparated and she gasped harshly for air, clutching her face. She could feel her lip gushing blood and her eye felt swollen.
She had never felt so much pain in her life, she thought she could die right there and then on the floor. She struggled to her feet, pain shooting throughout her entire body. She opened the door and everyone stopped and stared as she stumbled out.
She was on the verge of passing out, but she could see Draco across the room see her. He dropped his glass and ran over to her, catching her as she fell.
She looked horrendous. The color had completely drained from her skin, her lip was busted and bleeding violently all over her face, neck, and dress. Her eye was almost completely swollen shut and black. Her body was shaking terribly and the heels of her hands were bleeding from where she had dug her nails into them.
Lucius grabbed Draco's arm and growled, "Get her upstairs and out of sight, now."
Draco helped her up, she let out a pained cry that pierced his heart. He quickly helped her up to his room, gently laying her on the bed. His hands were shaking uncontrollably at the sight of her so beaten up.
Adelaide weakly whispered, "Philip" He tilted his head in confusion. She attempted to say something, but her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out.
Draco was pacing across his room, running his hands through his hair, He felt his heart pounding against his chest. He had never felt more angry and scared in all his life.
Suddenly a sharp crack sounded behind them and he turned to see an ominous looking Philip behind him. He looked at Draco murderously, "Where is she?"
He pointed towards Adelaide on his, making sure not to make any sudden movements. He had never seen Philip so angry in his life and that's saying something.
He thundered over to her, kneeling down and placing a hand on her forehead. He closed his eyes and was quiet for a few moments. He opened his eyes, "The Dark Lord thinks she betrayed him. I just checked, she didn't she genuinely doesn't know how Harry could see the attack."
Draco quietly interrupted, "What are you talking about? How did you know what happened?"
Philip angrily snarled, "Because I set up a one-way communication line with Adelaide, so if she's ever in trouble I know immediately." he pointed towards his ring and he saw that in it was a tiny compartment with red liquid in it. He knew from there he had used blood magic to tie Adelaide to him.
"The Dark Lord knows about the Protection Spell our mother placed on us. He reversed it and used the Cruciatus Curse on Addie along with a mild hex to the face." he coldly stated. He seemed composed, but Draco knew he was one step away from lashing out.
"Give her a Healing Potion to calm the pain in her face. I'll inform the Dark Lord she was telling the truth. It will take time to recover from the torture, don't leave her alone." he stood up and disappeared into a whisp of smoke.
Draco quickly ran to their cabinet, pulling out the Potion and softly pouring them into her mouth, making sure she didn't choke on them.
She was out for about a half an our before she woke up in a complete state of panic. Draco, was sitting in the chair next to his bed, and when she woke up he quickly rushed to her, grabbing her hand, "Shh..sh..Addie it's ok I'm here, I'm here. You're safe."
Her breaths slowed down and she clung tightly to Draco almost to the point where it hurt him, but he didn't say anything. He got into the bed next to her and held her in his arms, softly stroking her hair.
They didn't say anything and soon enough Adelaide drifted off to sleep, but Draco couldn't fall asleep. He wanted to be there to protect her and comfort her. They were both terrified of what happened, she tried so hard to do everything right for the Dark Lord so something like this could be avoided.
After about a week Adelaide was able to move around the Manor. Perseus, upon being informed of the incident, moved into the Malfoy Manor for about a week. She didn't talk much, she jumped at little noises and cowered if Draco or Perseus walked up to her. Her face had recovered, only a scab from where her lip was busted remained. She had her mind set on one thing, to get Harry into the Department to retreive the prophecy. She would do so by getting rid of Dumbledore, finding Harry's weakness and exploiting it in a dream. He now thought that his dreams were actually happening after Arthur's attack, so she would place another attack in his mind and watch him go running to the Ministry.
She went over the plan many times. It consumed her every thought, she had her mind set and she was going to do it. The Dark Lord would know she was on his side once she completed this task, he had to know.
It was the first time she admitted to being on the Dark Lord's side to herself. She never wanted to endure that again. She wouldn't allow it. Even if she had to be Voldemort's right hand, she would never put herself in a position to be tortured like that.
Perseus and Draco were beginning to seriously worry about Adelaide. She hadn't said a word in days and barely ate. They would find her pacing in empty rooms or sitting curled up in a couch looking out the window blankly. She would cry softly in her sleep and Draco would just hold her, trying to insert happy dreams into her mind.
The break passed fairly quickly and Draco wondered whether it would be best for Adelaide to return to Hogwarts. She seemed to be so fragile like she would break at any moment. "Addie, are you sure you want to go back?"
Fear spread into her eyes, "Yes. I'm sure. Are you crazy? I have to go back! I have to complete the task." she began to breath heavily and tears formed in her eyes. Draco pulled her into his chest and whispered, "Ok, ok. I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. I love you so much, I just want you to be safe."
She coldly replied, "If you love me you'll let me do this task without interruption."
Her words stung slightly, but Draco couldn't let it get to him. Something had flipped inside her, she was different, obsessive, nervous, cold, distant, on edge.
He summoned their trunks down and offered his hand to hold as they left. She stared at his hand for a few moments, and slowly grabbed it.
He purposefully sat in a private compartment, closing the window and locking it. She slowly rested her head on his shoulder. He noticed his shoulder was beginning to feel wet and looked down to see her crying silently.
"Oh, Addie." he wrapped her arm around her, resting his chin on top of her head as she buried her face into his chest. She cried for a good ten minutes before looking up to him, "I'm sorry I've been so distant. I just feel like if I lose focus of the task he'll get angry at me again."
His throat burned in anger and he felt tears pressing against the corners of his eyes. He wanted to take her far far away, but he couldn't. He couldn't save her, the only thing he could do was help her with her task and make her feel less alone.
"Don't apologize Addie. I'm here for you, always."
She leaned onto his shoulder and whispered, "I love you."
He breathed a sigh of relief, that was the first time she told him she loved him since the Christmas Party. He felt like he was starting to get her back again.
She whispered a cooling spell to get rid of her tears and puffy eyes and they got off the train into Hogwarts. She took a deep breath, she was going to complete this task.