❃
The Ministry of Magic had officially fallen by August first. That included my Father returning from St. Mungo's.
My lessons with Mulciber were going surprisingly well; Bella had handpicked him for my training herself.
He was incredibly intelligent, telling me stories of places he's traveled around the world as I practiced the spells he taught me. We'd begun to work on balms and pastes at this point. He said he'd teach me the basics of potions as well, that way I had a basic knowledge of what Snape was going to teach me during the school year.
His personality was very sarcastic and enjoyable. I see why Bella liked him. He told me of his times at Hogwarts, his friends, the pranks he'd play on classmates. He definitely would've gotten along with the twins.
It's unfortunate they're in The Order.
"Alright, we're all set up," he exclaimed, potions with labels lined up on the table, a mattress ready on the floor.
Today a group of death eaters were to attack an Order safe house. Draco and Blaise would be amongst them.
Draco was scared, but knew it was necessary.
Mulciber wanted me to try healing someone on my own, without instruction. That he'd be the assistant, instead of me.
"Working in high pressure situations to save someone you love is exactly the kind of practice you're going to need for this war. This is an opportunity to prove your skill to me. I know you're capable," he exclaimed, laying a blanket down over the mattress.
"And you'll be there if I fuck something up?"
He chuckled. "I promise," he patted my shoulder.
I'd nearly fallen asleep when the first crack of apparation appeared in the room we'd set up for medical attention.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"His arm got hit by a diffindo charm, sliced it down the middle. He's lost a lot of blood," the other death eater panted, placing the injured man down on the mattress.
"Hand me a bottle of blood replenishing potion along with some wound cleaning liquid, it looks as though it's cut to the bone. Do you have any essence of dittany?"
"I do," he handed me each ingredient, shining a lumos charm over me so I could work.
Firstly I dabbled the antiseptic over his wounds, jerking him awake as he groaned in pain.
"Give him some sleeping draught, I can't work when he's moving." Mulciber did as I said.
Once the wound was clean I squirted a few drops of essence of dittany over his arm, stitching the rest of the wound closed with a needle and thread.
"Are you sure you haven't done this before? You're a bloody natural," Mulciber exclaimed as I poured a blood replenishing potion down the death eater's throat.
"I haven't."
"Impressive," he exclaimed, "I'll move this one to a free bedroom. Keep watch," he picked up the man's body with ease, carrying him out the door.
Barely thirty seconds passed before another body was apparated inside.
"Oh my god," I whimpered, his sobs all too familiar. The death eater placed Draco down on the mattress before immediately apparating away.
"Draco you need to tell me what happened so I can fix it," I held his hand tightly.
"Everything hurts, Flower, they made me-they made me torture-"
"Draco, I don't care, I need to heal you. Tell me what happened," I exclaimed, tearing his shirt from his body as I studied the wounds on his chest.
"Incendio spell," he groaned at the third degree burns engraved in his skin.
"Okay, okay, you're gonna be okay," I stammered, standing to find the potions and ingredients from the shelves and tables.
"It burns so bad," he cried, his nails squeezing into the sides of the mattress to relieve his pain.
"I know, I'm sorry," I nearly dropped the stuff I needed onto the floor as I sat back down next to him.
"Lumos maxima," I exclaimed, setting my wand down on the table so I could see him fully.
The burns were beginning to blister, turning a disgusting yellow hue as his skin bubbled.
"Holy fucking hell," I whispered.
Antiseptic would hurt too much; I soothed his wounds with aloe vera before applying a thick layer of orange burn healing paste on his chest.
"Does it still hurt? What can I do?" I quivered as his whimpers filled the room, squeezing my hand so tightly I thought I may need to inject skele-gro into my fingers.
He continued to hyperventilate after I had given him a potion to ease the pain.
"Draco, Draco what's wrong? I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
"I-I can't-I can't unsee it, they m-made me torture them-"
I finally understood, taking a potion from the counter.
"Open," I placed my thumb on his bottom lip, tilting his head back as he opened his mouth, pouring a calming draught down his throat.
His breathing immediately slowed, settling into peace as he returned from his panicked state.
"Well done," Mulciber stood in the doorway.
"How long have you been standing there?" I snapped, staring at him in anger.
"The entire time. You had to see you were fully capable of healing someone without an assistant," he exclaimed.
"You're ridiculous," I muttered, taking Draco's shoulder over mine as he wrapped an arm around me.
"I can take him up if you want-"
"No, I'll do it. You can heal the rest by your bloody self," I stormed out, a very quiet Draco hunched over my arm, using me as a crutch as I helped him walk up the stairs.
I lied him on his bed, pulling the covers up to his waist, placing cool patches over the remaining burns.
I slept on his couch that night.
"Morning," I said. He watched me stretch my legs, already in a new pair of pants, having had washed the burn paste off his chest.
He said nothing.
"I think I did a pretty damn good job," I stared at his barely visible burns from across the room, them almost completely clearing up overnight.
"Mhm," he mumbled, throwing a loose t-shirt over himself.
"Draco, about what happened last night-"
"I don't want to talk about it," he whispered.
I sat up, "Draco, you said they made you torture someone. I'm worried about you-"
"I don't want to fucking talk about it," he mumbled again, staring out his window.
"Draco please..." I whispered, "Did-did they make you kill someone?" I stood, taking his wrist in my hand.
"Just shut the fuck up, Maybelle," he seethed, ripping his wrist away from my hand, turning away from me as he stormed over to his desk, leaning over it, his hands gripping into the wood so harshly he left nail marks. "Fuck. Learn how to mind your fucking business. Stop being so fucking annoying,"
I stood in silence, my heart having dropped to my stomach.
"You used my name," I whispered.
"So? Why does it fucking matter?" he snapped, slamming his fists on the desktop.
"You're welcome for saving your life," I sniffled, wiping a tear from my cheek as I stormed out the door, slamming it with so much force the walls shook.
I knocked three times on his door.
"Come in," the voice chimed.
"Hey May, what's going on?" Daph smiled, sitting in Blaise's lap, her brow furrowing at the sight of my tears.
"Blaise, what happened with Draco last night?" I asked shakily, sitting down on the end of the bed.
"I was just telling Daph, I'll start from the beginning. We apparated to one of the Order's safe houses in Norway. Inside were multiple muggleborn families. Because of Draco's failed task, he was forced to torture one of the families. It was a husband, wife and their daughter. She was only four," Blaise's voice grew quiet. "Your Dad... killed them. Including the child," he looked down at his hands, avoiding my gaze, "he made Draco watch."
Oh my god.
"Thank you for telling me," I whispered, standing from the bed and running down the stairs, knocking harshly at the door to the temporary medicine room.
"Maybelle! is everything alright?" Mulciber opened the door, taking me inside.
I shook my head, allowing my tears to fall. He caught me in his arms as I fell to the floor.
"Oh dear," he whispered, patting my head as I sobbed into his chest.
"I'm sorry, this is embarrassing," I laughed through my tears, clinging to his jacket.
"It's alright, darling. Would you like me to give you a calming draught?"
I nodded.
"Here," he handed me a vial. "Would you like to talk about it?"
"I'm alright, but thank you," I took it from him.
"If you need anything, let me know. Feel better," he waved me off, shutting the door as I left.
I quickly unpacked in my bedroom, guzzling down the draught like a shot of fire-whiskey.
My day was spent feeling numb at peace as I read magazines on the bed, sitting in a comfortable set of sweats, opening the windows to let the summer air inside. I enjoyed listening to the birds chirping, the sound of crickets in the nearby forests as the sun began to set. Once it got dark enough, I closed them.
The door opened swiftly, shutting with a quiet thump.
"Everyone else is at dinner."
I stared blankly at him. The panic in my chest wouldn't ignite; I couldn't feel anything over the calming draught.
"Figured I'd fuck you one last time before you return to school tomorrow."
❃
𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒅𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 <3
~ 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝, 𝚒𝚕𝚢