~
It had been two weeks. Eleanora sat in the basement of Malfoy Manor, her knees hugged to her chest, her chin resting on her knees. Her notebook sat open next to her, but there was no more room to write. She'd filled the entire thing. She'd used up her last pages on messages to Bill. If she died here, she needed him to know there was nothing he could do. Bill was the type of person to blame himself if anyone he loved got hurt. She didn't want him to blame himself for this.
Eleanora flinched at the sound of the latch on the door and quickly transformed the notebook back into a pin. She hid it in her sock and wrapped her arms around her legs. She couldn't remember what it felt like to be warm anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut as footsteps echoed on the staircase. She didn't want to know who had come to get her this time. The person didn't speak, but she felt a rough hand on the back of her robes as she was forced to her feet and marched to the stairs. She kept her eyes shut until she felt the last step. Then, she squinted at the room in front of her.
To her dismay, she saw Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback standing with a handful of other dark wizards. Lestrange and Greyback were the worst of them. Eleanora dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand until she felt blood. She didn't meet Bellatrix's eyes. The man who had escorted her upstairs pushed her roughly towards the group of wizards. She caught herself before she hit the ground and pain shot up her legs. Her entire body hurt from weeks of torture. In two steps, Bellatrix strode over and pointed her wand to Eleanora's neck. She could feel it digging into her skin and could feel her hands start to shake.
"I'm going to ask you one more time..." Bellatrix said slowly. "Give me the location of your headquarters, and maybe I won't kill you."
Eleanora gritted her teeth, preparing herself for what was coming. She looked anywhere but Bellatrix's face. Her eyes drifted to a window to her right she'd never noticed before. Maybe it had been covered by curtains. Outside, the sky was a solid shade of gray.
"Pay attention!" Bellatrix snapped, digging the wand further into Eleanora's skin. Eleanora's eyes lingered on the window for a second longer, and then moved to Bellatrix's face. She gave her head a defiant shake, and then braced herself for what was to come.
It happened instantly. Pain ripped through Eleanora's body and she fell to the ground, clutching at her stomach. After undergoing the Cruciatus curse multiple times a day for two weeks, she was almost used to it. The pain never got any better, but she could think more clearly than she could when she'd first undergone it. She'd started thinking about Bill every time the Death Eaters tortured her. She would go through all the things she liked about him in her head, his smile, his hands, the way he looked when he came into her room at night to comfort her from nightmares. It helped distract her from the pain.
This time was different, though. This time, Eleanora thought about the window. She thought about the window and about the placement of the people in the room. She managed to open her eyes and blink away the tears long enough to see that there were fewer people around than usual. An idea started to form in her head. It was risky, of course, but anything was better than the alternative.
The pain subsided and Eleanora was left lying on the floor, shaking violently. She usually stayed down, figuring they would get bored after awhile, but this time, Eleanora pushed herself onto her knees.
"Going somewhere?" Fenrir said with a chuckle.
Eleanora needed a distraction. She cast around the room for anything. She only needed a second. Unable to think of anything better, she went for drastic measures. With no warning, Eleanora jumped to her feet and dove, not at Greyback, but in the opposite direction towards the large and rather stupid looking man standing by the window. She collided with his chest, not doing much besides surprising him, but it gave her enough time to grab the man's wand from his hand.
Spells fired from all directions and Eleanora ducked just in time. She didn't fire back, though. Instead she pointed the stolen wand straight at the window and shouted, "Confringo!" The window burst into a thousand pieces and she made a dash for it, just as the stolen wand's owner tackled Eleanora to the floor. The wind was knocked out of her upon impact and she struggled for a second, still clutching the wand like it was her lifeline. She pointed it down at the man still holding onto her legs. "Stupefy!" The man flew backwards and Eleanora scrambled to her feet. She was at the window now, but before she could jump through, she was hit by a disarming spell. A shock went through her body and the wand flew out of her hands. She didn't linger on it. Eleanora vaulted over the window sill and plummeted down an entire story, hitting the ground hard.
Her legs gave out underneath her and her knees sank into the soft mud. Eleanora didn't think she'd ever felt anything as pleasing. She was outside. She struggled to her feet and limped towards the forest, hoping to put as much distance between herself and the manor before they came looking for her. She had just reached the tree line when she heard branches cracking behind her. Eleanora took a deep breath, ignoring the pain seeping through every part of her body, and started to run. She didn't look back, she focused only on her feet hitting the ground beneath her. With every step, Eleanora tried to apparate, but she couldn't do it. Her heart started to pound harder as whoever was following her got closer. They were at her heels now. She risked a look over her shoulder and immediately regretted it.
Fenrir Greyback was only half transformed, but the sight of him was one of the most terrifying things Eleanora had ever seen. Her stomach dropped as Greyback caught up to her. His hand caught the back of her robes and she was flung violently into a tree. Pain shot up her back as she slammed against the trunk. She instinctively reached into her pocket for her wand, but there was nothing there. Greyback was baring down on her, gnashing his teeth into a horrible grin. The sight made her feel sick. So this is how I die, Eleanora thought. This is it.
She shrunk away from the werewolf, still casting around for a way out, but she was out of options. She was pinned against the tree with nowhere to go. One of the werewolf's hands reached out and raked her leg. It felt like an explosion erupted on her skin. She couldn't stop herself from letting out a scream that sounded more like a whimper than anything. She didn't have the energy to scream anymore. Eleanora couldn't watch Greyback anymore. She buried her face in her hands and waited for the pain to continue, or maybe end. She thought about Bill. She thought about the twins. She thought about Daisy, and her parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.
Then, nothing happened. Death never came. Eleanora sat against the tree, shaking, for nearly a minute before easing her face away from her hands. Fenrir Greyback was still there, but he was laying on the ground in front of her, motionless. He was face-down, so Eleanora couldn't tell if he was passed out or dead. She didn't care. She looked around to find out who had done it, and was froze when she saw the boy standing a few feet away. He was dressed all in black, which made his pale skin and white-blonde hair even more prominent.
"Draco?" Eleanora said. Her voice was no more than a whisper. She couldn't get out much more. Draco Malfoy took a step closer. "Is- is he dead?" Eleanora tried to get up, but more pain erupted in her leg. She looked down at the wound and had to take a few deep breaths before looking back up at Draco.
"Sleeping. Should last a few hours."
Eleanora looked back down at the gash, which was oozing blood, creating a dark stain all over her already muddy jeans. She took a corner of her robes in her hands and ripped off a long strip. Draco watched Eleanora wrap her own wound tightly, tying the makeshift bandage off in a tight knot. Then, she looked back up at Draco. His wand was drawn. "What, are you going to kill me yourself now?" Draco shook his head. His eyes were trained on the wound and his face had gone paler than usual.
"I don't... like... werewolves," he said slowly.
Eleanora narrowed her eyes at him. "Then what exactly was your plan?" she said, thinking of Lupin and growing almost annoyed at Draco. Then again, he'd saved her life.
Draco seemed to snap out of a daze. He cast a worried look up towards the house and then crouched down next to Eleanora.
"Listen to me very carefully, alright? There's not much I can do for you, but I can tell you how to help yourself. You won't be able to apparate within the forest, we have charms set up everywhere. Normally it's a day long walk to the other side of the forest, but you're injured, so..." he trailed off, thinking hard. "-Listen, I'll try to stall for you, but you need to go as fast as you can. Head that way until you reach a field. You'll know you're there when you see it."
"Why are you doing this?" Eleanora whispered, just as a large raindrop fell on her head. An indistinct voice called from the manor.
Draco looked furtively in that direction, and then back at Eleanora. "Doesn't matter," he muttered. "I would've killed you myself, but I don't have... permission."
"Thank you."
"Don't expect it to ever happen again." Draco straightened up and assumed the haughty air he usually had. The voice called from the house again, this time more distinct.
"Draco! Draco..."
"I have to go," Draco said quickly. "I'll throw them off your scent for a few days, just get out of here. And don't come back."
Eleanora nodded silently and watched as Draco turned to head back to the house. The image of his white-blonde hair disappearing through the trees reminded her of something, but she wasn't exactly sure what. She looked back down at Fenrir's body, then struggled to take a deep breath. Little by little, one movement at a time, Eleanora forced herself to move. She tried to stand, but couldn't. Instead, she got herself onto her hands and knees and started crawling through the trees in the direction Draco had pointed.