Aary's POV
"Malory, dear. Come on over."
When Malory starts making her way to the opposite side of the room, I swear for a second Bellatrix and I make eye contact. We've only met a few times, and it wasn't a proper introduction.
She probably has no idea that the man she killed in the Ministry was my father. And the thought of that makes me want to scream.
As the large men force Harry onto the ground, Draco and Malory stand directly in front of him with horrified expressions. Ron and Hermione try with everything in them to escape but it's impossible because the Death Eaters are too powerful.
There's no way any of us are getting out of here unless they allow it.
"We need to be absolutely sure that it's him," Bella says quietly. "Your father will kill us all if we've called him here for no reason."
Malory nods her head with no emotion while looking down at Harry. I feel Blaise's hand slowly intertwine with mine behind our backs and that's when the single tear in my eye decides to fall.
There's two ways this can go; The Dark Lord arrives and kills Harry, or he kills Harry and the rest of us as well. No matter what, it's going to end in blood. And even though I have a subtle hint of Gryffindor in me because of my father, I'm not brave enough for this.
"What's wrong with his face?" Draco asks.
I glance over at Harry's swollen face. One of the other two put a Stinging Jinx on him to buy them time. It's clever but it doesn't last forever. Soon enough his face is going to go back to normal.
Bellatrix huffs. "I don't know, why don't you ask one of them?"
Everyone in the room turns towards Hermione and Ron. I see the guilt rising on Hermione's face even though she's trying to hide it.
"Someone check what her last spell was!"
I wait to see one of the Death Eaters approach Hermione's wand, but no one moves. That's when Bellatrix's eyes meet with mine for the second time.
"You, find out her last spell." She demands.
I hesitate to do so but when Malory nods, letting me know it's okay, I slowly let go of Blaise's hand and move closer to Hermione. Once I pick up her wand off of the floor, I use my own to cast the Reverse Spell.
"Well?!"
The charm forces the wand to show her last spell, which is exactly what we all thought it was. She used the Stinging Jinx to make his face look distorted.
I turn back around to let Bellatrix know, but the expression on her face distracts me. And when I look at Draco and Malory, they are making the same faces. All three of them are fixated on something behind me.
"W-Where did you get that?!" Bellatrix struggles to speak.
As soon as I look back at Hermione, I notice the Death Eater beside her is holding a large silver object. The moment I spot the red jewel at the top, I know what it is; The Gryffindor sword.
"I found it in her bag. I guess that means it's mine now." The Death Eater responds.
Bellatrix's face loses all of its color. The anger in her bones grows intensely, I see the exact moment it meets with her head. At the same time, she raises her wand and shoots a curse directly at the Death Eater. Blaise pulls me out of the way just in time before it hits me also.
As the Death Eater gets thrown in the air, so does the sword. Before it hits the ground, Bella catches it with one hand. I see a sense of relief come over her when it's back in her possession, but that quickly fades once she remembers where it was.
Her head shoots up and the first person she looks at is Hermione.
"You broke into my vault, didn't you?! What else did you take?!"
"We didn't break into anything!" Ron snaps.
I expect her to argue with him but instead she just raises her wand once again and places the Cruciatus curse on him. Instantly, he falls to the ground in pain and Hermione tries to help but the Death Eater doesn't let her budge.
My eyes force themselves shut because seeing the curse placed on someone is one of the worst sights. There's no physical damage being done to Ron but I can feel the hurt growing in his brain.
"Please, stop it!" Hermione begs. "We didn't break in your vault!"
Bella gets closer to Hermione's face. "Then where did you get it?!"
"It just appeared!" Harry shouts from the back of the room.
Bellatrix doesn't believe anything they're saying, all it does is make her more angry. She swings her hand across Hermione's face, creating a large gash on her cheekbone. I see tears filling her eyes and no matter how hard she tries to keep them in, they still fall.
That's when she looks up at the four of us. First, she glances at me and Blaise, next she looks to Malory and Draco.
"Aren't you going to do anything?!" She weeps.
For some reason when Hermione decides to call out to us, Bellatrix takes it as something else. The glare she gives me makes my heart drop into my stomach. Slowly she scans me up and down, along with Blaise. I assume she's going to start asking us questions but instead she starts walking back over to Malory.
"Why does she think you will do something?" She asks Malory, quietly.
Before she can answer, Draco interferes. "They're just trying to make us feel bad, Bella."
She keeps her focus on Malory and that's when I see Draco starting to get genuinely worried. He glances at us for a split second, almost like he's trying to warn us for something.
"I hope you're not lying," Bellatrix whispers to Malory. "If you are and your father finds out...well, you know what will happen."
Malory's bottom lip starts to quiver but she just nods. Bellatrix remembers Harry, who is still on the floor, and decides to check in.
"Draco!" She snaps. Draco hurries to her side. "Have you figured out if it's really him?"
Him and Harry make eye contact for what feels like a century. Draco has hated him for years so we all expect him to quickly turn him in. But at the same time, I know he's not cruel.
"I can't be sure." He mutters.
Bellatrix runs her hands through her hair while sighing dramatically. I can feel the tension growing in the room as it gets silent. With Harry on the floor, Ron struggling to stand, and Hermione dripping blood from her cheek, there's not a corner of the room I can look in without seeing pain.
Suddenly, Lucius returns to the drawing room. He nods at Bellatrix and I see her straighten her posture. Blaise pulls me closer to him as soon as we see the small crowd of people entering the room. The first person I spot is Snape, who is giving me a petrified look.
And then I see the one person everyone's been waiting for; The Dark Lord.
"This better be important."
My eyes grow big in fear as he walks past us and directly to Bellatrix. She bows her head to him but he doesn't even acknowledge it. He has a large group of followers that worship him like a god, and he couldn't care less.
"M-My Lord, we think it's him." Lucius stutters.
"You think?" He growls. "If you made me come all of the way here-"
Before he can finish his sentence, a large puff of black smoke shoots into the air, blinding every single one of us. I close my eye tightly and hold my breath in hopes of not getting it in my lungs, but it still manages to seep its way in. Coughing and shouting comes from every side of the room.
At first, I have no idea what is happening. But the familiar smell that comes off of the smoke tells me everything I need to know.
Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.
The moment the smoke clears, we all see that the spot where Harry once sat is now empty. Hermione and Ron, along with the Gryffindor Sword have vanished into thin air.
"No!!" Bellatrix screams. "No, someone find them!!!"
A few of the Death Eaters start to move, but The Dark Lord stops them. He turns to Malory with a vicious smile.
"You and your friends can go find them." He says to her.
She doesn't like what he's asking but knows she doesn't have a choice. When her and Draco begin walking towards Blaise and I, Bellatrix interrupts.
"Draco and the two can go," She snaps. "Malory should stay here."
The Dark Lord glares at Bellatrix. "Are you fighting me, Bella?"
Her eyes widen and she quickly shakes her head. "No, My Lord. It's just that...I think she may know something about how those three broke into my vault."
All of the sudden, my heart rate starts to increase. Sweat builds up on the back of my neck and I convince myself that this is the moment my chest explodes. But when The Dark Lord turns towards Malory once again, my heart stops completely.
"Is that so?"