After interrogating Greyback, Bellatrix snarled, "We don't have time for her right now. Take her and these others down to the dungeons. Except for the mudblood."
"NO!" I screamed, suddenly getting some strength back. "I was travelling with them! I know how they got that sword!"
Crouching down beside me, she growled, "Then we'll knock out two birds with one stone, shall we?" The others were all taken away. Instantly, she hit me with crucio. I screamed again, sobbing. "Where did you get the sword?!" I said nothing. Putting away her wand, she drew out her knife and straddled me.
"This is no way to treat family, Bellatrix," I said.
"You are no family of mine," she retorted, slashing her knife across my cheek. I cried out in pain. "You were in my vault!"
"No," I replied in as calm a voice as I could muster as I sobbed. She crouched over my arm and began to cut deeply into the skin. I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks. My mind was losing it as I screamed, "PLEASE! DRACO, PLEASE!" All eyes turned to him. He was shaking but wasn't moving or looking at me.
I screamed as she kept cutting into my skin. Finally, I shouted, "IT'S A FAKE! IT'S A FAKE!" She stopped. I couldn't hear what she said, but soon a goblin was standing before her.
After the goblin agreed with my statement, Bellatrix said, "Then we might as well just kill her. We have no more need of her."
"NO!" Two voices screamed. To my shock, Draco and Harry were dashing forward, Hermione and Ron behind them as they fought their way through the older witches and wizards. Bellatrix grabbed onto me, holding her blade to my throat.
"STOP OR SHE DIES!" Bellatrix screamed. "Stop or we'll see how pure her blood really is." Draco froze, very pale and lowering his wand, as did the others. "I expected better from you, Draco." I was slipping in and out of consciousness. Suddenly, there was a creaking noise above us and then a deafening crash and more pain. Someone grabbed onto me and began to drag me somewhere, but I saw Draco being left behind.
"Draco," I said weakly. With a cry of annoyance, Harry rushed forward, grabbing the pale boy and dragging him over to us. Then with a deafening crack, we all disappeared.
"VALERIE!" Draco was screaming, holding onto me tightly. I could tell by his voice he was sobbing. "VALERIE!"
"Hush," a familiar voice said, not unkindly. "Take her inside." He picked me up and began to carry me. I was still going in and out of consciousness as someone began tending to me.
Hours later, I woke with a groan. I felt sorer than I ever had before in my life. My eyes fluttered open to see two people sitting at my side. The last two people I expected. "Draco? Harry?" I groaned. They both looked up. Draco had been crying, his now scarred face red from his tears. I tried to sit up, crying out in pain.
"Stop," Draco said thickly, pushing me back down. After a pause, he said, "I'm so sorry, Valerie. I was so scared."
"It's okay, Draco," I said, grabbing onto his hand. Harry glared over at him. "Thank you, both of you, for saving me." Harry nodded. "And thank you for lying for me, Draco." He nodded, glancing over at Harry uncertainly." Harry left soon after, leaving me with Draco.
"I don't think any of them like me much," Draco remarked, partially as a joke.
"No," I replied. "But I'm not worried about them. As soon as I'm strong enough, we're going to go find Fred and the three of us will hide together."
"Why and where?" Draco asked.
"He's my husband, Draco. We could go to Grimmauld Place," I suggested. "But Draco, you need to tell Bill everything you know about what they're doing, what they know, their plans." When he still looked scared, I said, "You've already crossed sides, Draco. This is the only way to make sure we're as ahead as possible. Please, Draco."
"Okay," he agreed.
"Thank you, Draco," I said. Someone knocked on the door. "Come in." The door opened and Bill appeared.
"I need to talk to you," he said. Glancing at Draco, he added, "Alone."
Draco looked terrified but I said, "It's okay, just wait right outside, okay?" He nodded and hesitantly left. "What is it, Bill?"
"Why is he here?" he asked the moment Draco was out the door.
"He saved my life, Bill," I defended. "Look, I know you have no reason to trust him, but I do. He got dragged into this life without a say."
"Then why didn't he accept your help in the first place?" Bill countered.
"Because he was scared," I said. "He stepped in because-" I broke off, realizing he didn't know what we had been doing. "He saved my life, Bill. Please, just let him stay until I'm strong enough to protect him. We'll both leave then."
"No, you don't have to," he sighed. "You're my sister now, Valerie. If you care about him this much then...I guess he can stay."
"Thank you," I replied. He nodded and got up. Once he'd gone, Draco came back in. "I convinced him to let you stay."
Before he could reply, I heard Bill yell, "Harry, what the hell's going on?! You turn up here with a dead house-elf, a half-conscious goblin, and a Death Eater, Valerie looks as though she's been tortured, and Ron and Valerie have both refused to tell me anything-"
Letting out a wince, I sat up as Harry replied, "We can't tell you what we're doing. You're in the Order, Bill, you know Dumbledore left us a mission. We're not supposed to talk about it to anyone else."
"Other than Valerie, apparently," Bill countered.
"She doesn't know what we're doing," Harry countered. "She was just tagging along. We never told her."
"Harry, what about the goblin and house-elf?" Bill asked. "Why are they here?"
"I can't tell you that," Harry replied. "Besides, I'm surprised you're not more pissed about the Death Eater in your house."
"Valerie vouched for him," Bill replied. After a long pause, he finally said, "Which one do you need to see first?"