This chapter contains mentions of abuse, rape, blood, death, self-harm, suicide attempts, emotional trauma, and other traumatizing subjects. Please read with caution.
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"You're alive."
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Theodore marched through the doors to the castle, like he did every night the Dark Lord had summoned him. Carrying no choice in this at all, he simply needed to do as Voldemort wished.
Nodding to the Death Eaters he passed, he made his way down to the basement of the castle, where they'd set up a room for him. Somewhere he could heal wizards and witches without the intrusion of the horrible surroundings.
It truly was terrifying in that cellar.
Screams and shouts echoed from the most vicious creatures there were to imagine. It didn't feel safe out in the corridors, but in there — where he had all his herbs, potions, brews, everything he could possibly need, it felt secure.
For months, he'd been assisting the Dark Lord in getting his soldiers back. Whenever a battle had been in place, they took the wounded Death Eaters down there, to his room where he worked his magic on each and every single one.
Theodore did that every night, for months.
It was the deal he'd made with Voldemort in order to protect his friends.
When the Dark Lord approached him, they couldn't defend themselves like they could now, present day.
Amelie had been asleep for a week, and Draco was in the midst of his own chaos. He focused all his hatred on slaughtering guilty Death Eaters, but he didn't know that Theo lived to be the one healing them when he did.
He didn't have a choice. The Dark Lord would've killed everyone in their lives if Theodore didn't obey, so he did. He had been carrying the mark for a few days now, and the alliance that came with the ink in his skin caused him to heed.
The Dark Lord explained it to him — why Theodore had to become one of them, and it was simply because of loyalty.
The night they'd ambushed him and Draco in that safe house was the night Voldemort decided to make him a part of his troupe.
He made a deal with the devil to save his friends, and this was his way of paying for it.
That didn't live to be the only unrevealed skeleton in his closet — him healing the most unforgivable people wasn't anything compared to what he'd done.
Day 1.
Grabbing his keys, he stalked out of his office for the 6th day he'd been assisting the Dark Lord. Marching through the massive metal doors that lead into the most detached place of the castle, where all the monsters held imprisoned — he tried to stay calm.
Theo had a mission to complete, someone that needed healing from within. A human that the Death Eaters tried to heal themselves, but there wasn't anything else they could've done.
It was a lost cause. They'd figured that Theodore earned a shot to work on him, and if he failed, then they'd let him go.
The brunet stared at the two guards outside the door as one of them reached a folder out to him, ''All the information you may need,'' The solider muttered, ''We'll be right outside. Call if you need assistance, he can be... a bit much.''
Gulping, Theodore nodded unsurely as he took the sheets of paper in his hands, and one of the guards opened the door for him, ''And just so you know, his face is a bit... out of place.''
They slammed the metallics shut behind him as he winced. His eyes instantly falling across the bed as it stood chained to the wall, rattling against the stone. The body, lying on top of it, tossed, wrenched, and turned violently into the cuffs being secured around his fists and wrists.
Swallowing the fear he carried, Theodore looked down onto the papers in his hands, and he hummed to himself.
Patient 012.
20-year-old male.
Death Eater since 12 months, an obligation by blood.
Blood status, clean. Pureblood.
Spouse, deceased.
Deformed magic to the head.
Slowly bleeding out from within, attempts to heal the injured organs failed.
Theodore looked back up at the frame, shakingly struggling to breathe on the bed, and he hesitantly strolled closer, placing his papers on the desk. He hauled out his wand.
''This won't hurt you. This won't hurt you in the slightest. I have to see what happened to you — I need to understand, so I know how to save you.''
The body fought Theodore's magic. It yanked, wrestled, and heaved up to a point where Theo had to numb it, and he read the signals.
Still being exhausted from healing his best friend at home after she tried to take her own life, he nearly fainted by the harsh senses he got. Shades of dark azure colors sparkled, looped, and swirled lively in the air around them.
Something horrifying, skin-crawling had occurred to this boy, he thought, and he watched as his body had been ripped apart, how his organs had been carved, and just how haunted the boy's mind seemed to be.
With a gasp — Theodore pulled away, breaking all the magic between him and the patient, stumbling back as his spine struck the door.
This was no ordinary Death Eater — what this body had been through, healed from, was far from anything he'd seen before.
Amelie had gone through hell, and her wounds were indescribable, but this — this was worse.
Day 3.
The second time Theodore was meant to see the body he was now terrified of was two days later. He'd been excused from it due to the frightening truth it carried.
Never could Theodore understand where a person could get tortured in the way this boy had been. Never had he seen anything similar to this, and that caused the brunet to be scared beyond explanation.
He tried hard to heal him and the wounds he had melted into his skin, but sometimes it felt like it all was for nothing, as if something kept holding the boy back from allowing him to mend him properly.
Patient 012 simply screamed and shouted as he came close. He was in the most massive loss of his memories, and nothing Theodore did seemed to help him.
Nott was tired himself. He still had a tremendous loss of his own back home. His best friend was still in a coma and had been for over a week. The boy he cared for back at the manor was kept afar from salvation at this point. Draco was a chaotic mess without Amelie, and that hurt Theodore more than he'd be able to speak.
Still, he did everything he could to save them. To heal Amelie during the days, keeping a close eye on Malfoy only to leave at night and cure Death Eaters. He didn't look after himself anymore.
The body he was healing in this room was growing on him. It had only been a couple of days, but he couldn't help but feel the same kind of protective instincts as he did with Amelie.
Patient 012 had been tortured in a similar way as she'd been. He could tell by the way his magic worked on him.
Day 4.
''How are you today?'' Theodore muttered as he stepped inside the door, placing his papers on the desk and hunching down next to his patient, ''You feeling any better?''
''I am—'' The boy rasped out, coughing as crimson blood stained his palms, ''I think I am.''
''Good, good,'' Theodore hummed, pulling his wand out and getting ready to perform his healing as he'd done every time he was assigned to check up on the patient, ''You know the drill.''
''Unfortunately, I do,'' The boy kept coughing out blood, and Theodore numbed him. Giving the dark soul a bit of peace in his misery.
Fading away, Theodore got started.
Patient 012 finally began talking to the brunet after three days of complete shouting. He had to yet failed to reveal his name, yet Theo couldn't help but own a feeling of familiarity.
His face was deformed, indeed, but something about those eyes he carried. Those green, intense eyes. He felt like he'd crossed them before.
Shrugging the sense off, the blue shades looped around the body, and once again, Theodore felt sick.
Watching every crawling thing his organs carried, the way he'd been abused and tortured beyond reason. Never could he understand how this boy was still alive.
This happened a long time ago. Theo could sense this from the way the scars within him had shaped over time — the way he'd been torn apart from the inside only to heal slowly.
Humming the words he knew would ease his pain and, piece by piece, bring his insides back together.
Day 7.
''Are we feeling any better today?'' Theodore looked straight at the boy, watching his eyes as they had tears running in the lids of them, ''What happened?''
Patent 012 sat up, curled into the corner of the bed as his body shook uncontrollably, ''I had this dream — this memory, I think,'' He choked out, ''Someone hurt me, a lot. Someone—''
Sobs interrupted the boy's words, and Theodore rushed up to the bed, kneeling down beside it, ''It's alright,'' He whispered, reaching his arm out, and he let his fingers run along the shivering skin his patient possessed, ''You can tell me about your dream if you want to. It can help me understand what happened to you.''
He felt incredibly bad for the boy in chains. He couldn't imagine every horrible act he had to go through as a child to end up this way.
''It was my father,'' The boy whispered, nearly fainting from breathing so heavily, ''He hurt me. He hurt my mother and Theodore...''
It was a pause, a pained one, as Theo nodded for the boy to keep going.
''I think I hurt my father.'' The boy shook, wildly now and his eyes began to roll into the back of his head as Theo brought his wand out, mumbling the magic for the boy to get some sleep.
Seeing how his patient slowly became unconscious, Theodore stood tall in front of the bed, yanking at his arms and legs to have him lay flat on the mattress.
Once again, Theo rose his healing, but this time — this time, he was allowed more of the boy's mind.
Seeing how his father beat him senseless, how his mother was both raped and tortured in front of him when he was a young boy, over and over. How the man, calling himself his father, justified it all with love.
Repeating the words, how he loved the both of them so much that he had to do this. That this was the way it all had to be, and it was the way he had to learn how to love.
He was creating a monster out of that child, manipulating and shaping his son's mind to his own wishes — to who he wished his child to be.
Day 8.
His body was slowly coming together but not as close to being utterly healed.
Patient 012 still had the most painful way to go, and Theodore fought his demons at home. Struggling with the way Amelie yet had failed to wake up and how Draco still killed mercilessly, but he stayed intact. He fought to remain strong as he did his duties back at the manor, only to come to the Castle at night.
''It's looking better,'' Theodore muttered, stepping away from the bed, ''A day more or two and your body will be healed. I just need to get some things from back home, some herbs and then—''
''How is your friend?'' The boy asked, stroking his palm across his deformed features, ''The one sleeping, I mean?''
''She's...'' Theo huffed, slipping down onto the edge of the bed, ''She's still asleep.''
''I'm sorry to hear that,'' His patient answered, ''She seems like a sweet girl, from what you've told me.''
He clutched at his stomach, feeling the magic as it faded and the pain rushed through his veins yet again, ''I think I had someone once,'' He whimpered, trying to neglect the ache, ''I think I had a girlfriend, someone I was meant to spend my life with.''
''You did?'' Theo asked with a raised brow, his foot stamping nervously at the ground, ''Do you remember anything else about her? Something she'd have told you about yourself? Her name? Your name?''
The boy shook his head, his eyes falling to watch the chains wrapped around his limbs, ''I remember loving her a lot, just like my father taught me. He had this saying, I think, that love is meant to hurt and if they're not willing to bleed themselves dry for you — they don't deserve you.''
Theo swallowed thickly as he knew exactly what the boy's father made love look like, ''Did you...'' He anxiously whispered, not knowing if he wished to go there — if it was too soon for the boy to reveal such secrets, ''Did you love your girlfriend like your father loved your mother?''
The boy looked up, his eyes began to darken, ''I don't— I don't know—'' Stuttering as Theo noticed how his mind tried to close it out, not to deny or admit to doing anything to hurt someone he loved.
His body wasn't ready for it yet.
Day 9.
''I have somewhere to be tonight,'' Theodore said urgently. He was meeting Draco at the Manor in a few minutes. They had a terrible fight, and he had forced the blond to take him along on his mission. He'd come to the castle to give his patient the last herbs he'd need before his body was ready and healed.
''Where are you going?'' The boy asked, his legs hung over the edge of the bed before he tilted back, lying plain on the mattress, ''What happened? You seem a bit... off.''
Theo pushed his lips together, and he gritted his teeth, ''I've been... You know the boy I told you about? My friends, the one in the coma — her boyfriend?''
The patient nodded, wincing a bit by the herbs Theodore poured across his exposed chest.
''Well, it's a never-ending fight between us, let me tell you that. He never lets me be close to her,'' He huffed, placing the lid upon the vial and reaching for his wand instead, ''I know he's going through a lot. Those two really love each other, and they were apart for months before she ended up in a coma — I understand that, but she was my best friend for my whole life before he came along, and he doesn't get that.''
''Perhaps he's just worried about her, overprotective?'' Patient 012 asked, concern grew in his inky pupils, ''It can be like that with boyfriends. I was very protective over my girlfriend when I still had one.''
''I don't know...'' Theodore sighed out, humming in between the words to keep his magic afloat, ''I just don't think it's fair. We're supposed to be a team, all of us, but it's him taking all the responsibilities for her, and I'm left out. I don't know. Perhaps I'm pity about it.''
''I don't think you—'' Gritting his teeth as he drew a harsh breath, the patient's skin crawled at the healing magic, ''I think it's human of you, and I think it's sweet that both of you are looking after her.''
''Yeah, I don't know,'' Theo kept his nonchalant act as the herbs floated in the air, and with a snap of his fingers — they dusted, ''There you go, I have to run, but I'll come by tomorrow and check up on you. I think you should be healed until then.''
''Theodore!'' The boy called out for him as he threaded his shirt across his body again, ''Don't fight them. It's easier if you all just stay friends. I know it's hard, but I see it as a good thing. She just has one more person in her life that protects her. Besides, if him looking after her means that you spend more time here, I'm fine with it.''
Theodore blushed at that, and he closed the door behind him.
Day 11.
''She's awake!'' Theodore shouted as he stepped through the door, looking right at the patient he'd grown utterly close to, ''She woke up, and she—''
Theo lowered his voice immediately, seeing how beaten the boy seated on the bed had sunken. His persona didn't glisten as much anymore, ''What happened?''
''I remembered something...'' He said in a whisper, dread coated him, ''About my girlfriend...''
Striding up to the bed, unhesitatingly, the brunet slipped down at the end of it, ''What did you remember?'' Feeling scared at how his patient was acting, Theodore withdrew a bit, ''Is it something bad?''
Tears formed in the boy's eyes, and he didn't look at Theo. His sight glued to his lap, ''I hurt her, I think,'' He whispered, lowly as if he was ashamed, ''I think I hurt her, a lot.''
''What do you mean?'' Theo asked, concerned and bewildered, ''Hurt her like your father hurt you?''
They had talked about it, how his father treated both him and his mother.
''I think I hurt her worse than that...'' The boy was on the tipping edge of tears, and he crawled back over his bed, into the corner of the mattress, ''I had this dream where I did horrible things to her... I don't know why. I don't understand how I could do that to her...I loved her. I loved her so much—''
Patient 012 broke down completely as he hugged his knees to his chest, and he cried. He sobbed out so loudly that it bounced heavily in between the walls of his cell.
''How could I do that to her?'' He whimpered, not clearly understanding how manipulated and ruined he was from his father's abuse, ''I loved her so much, she helped me, and I hurt her, Theodore. I hurt her so much.''
He began to scratch his own face, his nails clawing at the deformed features as he panicked. Not owning a thought of why he did what he did.
Theodore couldn't bear seeing the boy as he wounded himself, and he, without a second thought — shoved closer across the bed, wrapping his arms around the boy and bringing him to his lap.
He held him so closely as he cried, ''If you hurt her, that's more than wrong. I had a friend once that was very hurt by a loved one, and there's no excuse for that, but you know—'' Clearing his throat, Theodore reached for his wand, wishing to numb the boy, ''You know what you told me about your father. He hurt you too, he hurt you so much, and you were so—''
Just as Theo meant to cast his spell, to free the boy some rest — he jolted back, voiding the magic.
His eyes crowded in torture, ''Don't make me fall asleep, please. I deserve this. I deserve to be hurt like this. I hurt her, and I have to hurt too.''
Day 12.
Theodore had begun to feel something, some urge to see the boy he was meant to take care of. Even if this was a secret like no other and an unforgivable one at that, him working for the Dark Lord without his friends knowing. This particular patient brought him some sort of comfort in the miserable truth he was trapped in back home. Amelie had indeed woken up but without a memory intact.
She didn't recollect what had happened to her or the past three years of her life, which caused the brunet to drown in his own verity.
The things he was forced to do to her, to search her mind and body to figure out a way for her to regain her lost memories, weren't easy. Draco was viler than he had been, and he had begun to disappear during the days as well.
Theodore didn't question it more than he had to. He knew the blond did what he believed to be right — just like Theo did.
He stayed behind with his best friend, knowing that she needed the comfort more than anything. All she managed to recall was him and their friendship.
In the midst of tall the chaos he'd been dealing with — he found shelter in this room, together with that broken boy he was healing. It felt good to him, being cared for by someone that didn't know his heartbreaking past.
''And today?'' Theodore smiled as he stood bent over the desk, scribbling down what they'd been doing, ''Did you dream of that girl last night?''
''I did,'' The patient said, fiddling with the edges of his sheets, ''But this was a good dream, I think. She was happy with me this time.''
''Really?'' Theodore spun around, smiling broadly at him before striding across the floor and taking a seat at where he'd usually sit, ''That's amazing. What did you do?''
''It was summer, and I took her overseas... I know she wasn't happy. I don't think she ever was happy with me, but I remember that I wanted to try and make her happy between our... fights.''
Theo nodded, tilting his head and looking at the boy, ''And where did you take her? Did you have a good time?''
''France, I think. She had a thing for libraries, so I think I took her to one... I hope I made her happy there,'' He dragged a hand through his hair, smiling back at Theo, ''Do you think I ever made her happy? Even when I hurt her? That there is a chance, even a small one — that she actually loved me back?''
Sighing out, he thought back to the times Amelie had told him about Adrian and how she indeed loved that boy — perhaps this was something similar to that, he believed.
''I don't know...'' Theodore mumbled, ''Did she say she loved you?''
''All the time,'' He whispered, falling back onto the bed, ''She said she loved me all the time, and still, I hurt her.''
Day 13.
''He's healed, sir,'' Theodore spoke up from his seat across the massive wooden table, ''But he still has a severe memory loss, so if I just could—''
The Death Eaters around him began to snicker, and a frown climbed the brunet as he peered across the masked men.
''Perhaps it's time for us to fill you in on why patient 012 has no recollection of his being?'' The Dark Lord uttered with a smirk as it curled upon his features, ''I think you've owned it. You have shown me loyalty, and I plan to reward you for doing so.''
Theo looked more than puzzled, confused to a level he failed to explain, ''What are you...''
''Don't tell me it never struck your mind, boy?'' Voldemort rose from his seat, sauntering across the floor until he reached the back of Theodore's chair, ''Don't tell me you never realized the similarities I've been leaving behind for you to find?''
''I don't—''
''How is your friend? The girl...what was her name?'' Voldemort tipped his chin to the man seated next to Theo.
''Amelie, my Lord,'' The man spoke, lowering his gaze, ''Amelie Avery.''
''Right... Amelie, when did she wake up, boy?'' He looked back at Theodore, ''Four days ago, perhaps?''
He froze, remembering what his patient told him about the girlfriend he once had. It was right there. The truth he'd failed to see — the verity as it crumbled. He didn't once think that the two were connected.
It made sense now. Amelie woke up the night his patient was fully healed.
''And the dreams don't ring a bell?'' The Dark Lord pushed Theodore's limits, ''He told you about his dreams, didn't he? Amelie, doesn't have any memories left either, does she?''
His patient's memory held in the exact missing as Amelie's did, and he didn't see it.
Theodore began to feel dizzy. His insides lit on fire, ''No...No, it can't be—''
''I took his memories away and that of course, as the bounded souls they are, she lost hers as well, didn't she?'' He chuckled darkly, ''And to think you didn't see it, boy. That you didn't understand that you all along saved the boy she killed herself to escape.''
''I didn't—'' Tears rimmed in his eyes, ''I didn't know it was — I wouldn't have done anything—''
''You let your feelings for that boy come in the way!'' Voldemort shouted, making him coil back in his chair as he tugged his messy curls back, ''It's a pattern, boy. You fall for the people you believe you can protect, but you can not save. It's the same way with that girl. You were in love with her when she was at her darkest. You thought that you felt something for Malfoy when he was the one in need. You are weak for that. You are nothing more than a weak boy, and especially now when you have earned feelings for that girl's gravest nightmare.''
''I can't do this—'' The tears he fought so hard, failed him and rolled down his pale cheeks, ''I didn't mean to do this—''
''But that only works in my favor. It means that you'll stay with the boy, and you'll keep helping him become the Death Eater he once was.''
Shaking his head, Theodore hid it in the palms of his hands, ''It can't be true. This can't be true! He can't be alive—''
''Didn't you feel the magic, son?'' The Dark Lord growled, staring viciously at him, ''You had to feel it at some point, that bond they have. That unbreakable chain resting between Amelie Avery and—''
''No!'' Theodore forced his chair back, wiping the tears, ''It can't be true! That boy downstairs is nothing like—''
''He is. He is just at the loss of his sanity. Right where I want him to be. He needs to remember his roots, what his father taught him,'' Voldemort slipped down onto his own seat again, ''You see, son — he was one of my most clever soldiers, and I need that boy back. I need the ruthless soul his father taught him to be.''
''It's not true! He can't be—''
''It can, and it is,'' The Dark Lord raised his voice, ''Adrian Pucey is indeed alive, thanks to you.''
Day 15.
Theodore tried to fix this again. He tried to use magic to restore Amelie's memories, and he was close — close enough to feel them, but Draco had stormed in, interrupted her with it, and he didn't know what to do anymore.
He didn't know what to do with anything.
He was lying to his friends, and he had saved one of the worst people he'd ever known. No one would forgive him for this — he wouldn't forgive himself for it.
The Dark Lord was right.
Theodore had grown to feel something he shouldn't with Adrian. He'd seen the haunted mind he held behind all that evil.
He'd seen the reason as to why Adrian grew up and became that horrifying boy he lived to be and why he hurt Amelie beyond explanation.
''Your girlfriend?'' Theodore asked as he looked at him from the doorway, his eyes scanning Adrian's, and he saw it in a different light now, ''What happened to her, do you remember?''
Even if his face was deformed, Theodore could see what it was he recognized over two weeks ago. It was Adrian. He saw it so clearly now.
''I had a dream about her again,'' Adrian had his spine tilted against the wall, his legs stretched out across the mattress, ''I wasn't a good person to her, Theodore. I was horrible.''
Theo knew that already.
''I don't want to speak out loud what I did to her... but I hurt her, very much, in all ways I could,'' There was so much remorse in his voice, something that begged for mercy, ''I loved her. I really did love that girl. She meant so much to me.''
''Do you remember her name?''
Adrian iced, snapping his neck as he looked up at the brunet, ''I—''
''Do you remember what you did to her before you had to forget?''
''I can't—''
''Do you remember that you locked her up in a cell for months and that you tortured her in the most inhumane ways I have ever—''
''What are you—''
''Do you remember that you raped her?''
''I don't—''
''Do you remember how you killed the girl carrying your baby?''
''Please, what is this—''
''Amelie is my friend!'' Theodore yelled out, his arms thrown out in the air, ''She's my best friend, and you—''
His chest heaved so violently, barely drawing enough air down his throat, ''You took her life from her. Five years of her life, she spent hurting with you, and I just saved your life.''
Adrian tried to stand up, but the chains kept him from doing so, ''I don't know what you're— I don't remember—''
''You don't deserve to remember her,'' Theodore spat angrily before he marched out and he slammed the door shut behind him.
Day 17.
''I killed my father,'' Adrian blurted out of nowhere as Theodore was seated at the desk. The confession made him spin around, abruptly in his chair as he stared ever so blankly at the boy, ''I remember killing my father.''
''What?'' Theo sounded so confused. Amelie always told him that Adrian's father died of natural causes, ''How do you know that?''
''It comes back in small pieces, every time I come to terms with something horrible I've done — something new comes back to me,'' He had his knees pressed to his chest, ''I remember you, I think.''
''What—''
''You hated me,'' He said, vacantly, ''I think you were the one person hating me more than I hated myself.''
''I don't—'' Theodore began but quickly hushed, only looking at him as his heart felt heavy.
''It's alright. I can't blame you for hating me.''
Theo didn't dare to speak a word, knowing that the boy was fragile and worn from remembering all his ghostly demons.
''How—'' He gulped, ''How do you remember me?''
''From school, I think. I remember your face and the girl. You were friends.'' Adrian was too ashamed to look at Theo, ''You hated me for hurting her.''
''I think we're done for today,'' The brunet forced a smile, exhaling anxiously, ''I'll come by—''
''You have every right to hate me,'' He continued, still not sparing him as much as a glare, ''I hate myself too.''
''You said you killed your father?'' He questioned from the doorway, his fist clenching the knob, ''Why did you kill your father?''
Adrian faltered for so a minute, his eyes battling the tears, ''He said it was the end of it all. He said that's the way the game has to end. I had to kill him.''
''The game?'' Turning around, he watched how Adrian began to claw at his arms, scratching his skin, ''What game?''
''The one he made me play. He hurt my mother, and he said it was love, and he said he loved me and that love function this way... and then he gave me a knife—''
''You don't have to—'' Theodore pleaded, silently, ''You don't have to tell me these things if you don't want to. I know it's hard to talk about it.''
''I deserve to hurt,'' He whispered, digging his nails deeper, and Theodore wished to stop him. To tell him to stop, but he couldn't.
If he only knew how much he'd pained his best friend.
''I hurt your friend, and I deserve what my father did to me.''
Shutting his eyes and banning the world from around him, Theodore walked out.
Day 18.
''Please,'' Theodore begged, his hands grasping at the desk between them, ''Please. I'll do anything. Just let her remember.''
Theodore had been lying to them. To his friends — Amelie's reason for not remembering was so much darker than her own head being in denial.
It was a part of it. Even without the Dark Lords curse, she wouldn't be lucid for days after waking up, but it's been over a week, and he couldn't keep seeing how much Draco was hurting from this — how much Amelie she was crumbling.
This wasn't fair to them. They'd been through enough, and if anyone deserved some rest — it was Amelie and Draco.
Theodore would easily give his own mind for Amelie's to return. He owed her everything after what he'd done in secret.
''Anything?'' Voldemort hissed, mockery slipped his tongue, ''You'd do anything for my prisoner to remember the monster he was and for that girl to regain all her demons?''
His eyes pleaded the Dark Lord's, his tone craving mercy, ''I'd do anything for her to remember.''
''Even if you lose the boy, locked up in that cellar? Even if you lose the connection you created and the wrongdoings he mastered?''
''Anything, I'd do anything for her.''
Voldemort grumbled for a minute, taking in all the ways this could do him any favors until he rose his chin, staring back at the brunet, ''I will grant you your wishes if you keep attending Adrian Pucey. If you can give me your word that you'll turn him human for me — so that I can break him into what I need him to be.''
Theodore felt a scowl as it mounted him, knitting his brows and clamping his teeth, ''I thought you said you wanted him to become the monster he was before—''
''He is compromised,'' Voldemort spat, evilly, ''Even if he takes shape as he did before he was injured, he's still compromised with his memories of her. He didn't kill Malfoy. He cursed him. He still took her into consideration, and I can't have that in a soldier.''
Letting go of the desk and stepping back, Theodore frowned, ''And how do you suggest I turn him human? Believe me, sir. There isn't something human in Adrian.''
''Perhaps I need to remind you of the feelings you have gained for him? Something tells me that you wouldn't have done so if you truly believed that he wasn't worthy of redemption, knowing him as your friend's abuser or not.''
Flinching back by the hand, Voldemort slammed to the table. He began to fear the man, ''He changed his manners in the loss of his memories. He is starting to realize what went wrong in his life. He's beginning to understand that his life and the brutal acts he carried for that girl were fated long before he meant to execute them, isn't that right, boy?''
Theodore's eyes held so much agony. He didn't wish to work together with Adrian — feelings involved or not. He didn't want that sinful soul to be a part of his life, but at the same time, as the kind-hearted soul Theodore Nott lived to be — he wouldn't be himself if he didn't give that vile boy a chance.
Perhaps he could turn this. Maybe he had the possibility to shift this around, to aim Adrian's ways for the better and keep him there.
''That is what it will take of you to have Amelie Avery's memories restored and for me not to sentence her to death.''
''You can't— Malfoy will never let you anywhere near—''
''Do I have to remind you that I have proven their lives to still be bounded? That the vow is still intact? Both of them survived. The magic doesn't cease to exist until they both are dead. I can easily take that poor girl's life by killing my prisoner.''
Feeling as he was defeated no matter how he turned and twisted it, a slight nod tipped off Theodore's head. He agreed.
''I'll do it,'' He huffed out, ''I'll help you break him. I'll help you make him the solider you crave him to be, but only as long as you keep our deal in play. Amelie, Narcissa, and Draco will never be hurt — You'll stay away from them.''
Gritting his teeth and shooting the boy a wicked smile, the Dark Lord bowed his head.
And once again, Theodore gave every piece of himself to save them.
Day 19.
The Dark Lord had given Theodore the potion he needed for Adrian's memories to be restored, and the brunet stood in the doorway to his cell.
With the vial in his hand, his body shook uncontrollably. Constantly reminding himself that this was for Amelie. That her remembrance of the past three years was worth the time, he'd spend alongside Adrian.
The boy was asleep. Theodore made sure that his body would be numb for this as he strode up to the bed, hunching down beside it.
He ripped the stopper of the glass, and he traced it carefully up to Adrian's lips, pulling at the lower one to separate them.
It had to be worth it.
Draco would have Amelie back, and they could finally be a family again. The vile boy would be locked up in this cellar, and he'd do what the Dark Lord asked of him.
Not stalling another breath, Theodore poured the darkened liquid down Adrian's throat in one go.
It didn't take long until he began to wrestle the magic. The haunted, skin-crawling memories Adrian was forced to forget welled over him worse than a thunderstorm.
Every evil act. Every mean word. Every time he'd beaten her senseless. Every time he'd violated her. The time his father forced him to end the never-ending wheel of abuse and manipulation by taking his life.
All of it drowned the boy as his body ached, his limbs trembling, and all Theodore could do — was to watch as he slowly regained consciousness.
''What the—'' Adrian breathed, his hand yanking at the chains keeping him in place, ''Where am I—''
Slipping out of the dizziness, Adrian shot up, his eyes instantly falling to see Theo as he still sat next to the bed, ''Nott, what the hell—'' He coughed at the bitter taste of the potion, ''What have you done to me?''
He remembered. Theodore hadn't revealed his last name to him, and Adrian stating it was all the clarification he needed that the potion indeed worked.
Blinking quickly, Theodore stepped back, not wishing for Pucey to lash out of him as he remembered everything, ''I didn't do anything to you...'' He whispered, backing away until his spine struck the wall, ''I saved her.''
That was all that circled his head, his drawn mind — Amelie.
He had left her without saying goodnight, but he knew that once he returned in the morning, she'd be back. Their Amelie would be back with all her memories intact, and he could never tell her why. He just had to play foolish and pretend that it was a miracle, that her body was ready.
''I can't—'' Adrian shouted, tugging at the bonds around his ankles, ''I can't! Take it away again, take it away!''
Theodore froze as the boy became untamed. He didn't want to recollect it all.
Adrian loved Amelie. Adrian loved Amelie so much that it suffocated him. He loved her in ways no one ever loved him, and he'd easily give his life for hers — but he was taught the falsified truth of love, in which his father's constant abuse caused him to see love in ways it should never be shown as.
He was drowning in it. He was dying on that bed as he began to rip at his hair and scratch his own skin. Blood shortly coated his arms, legs, face. He bit his own flesh, tearing and shredding himself apart in the awareness of everything he'd done.
It was his mother's death that tipped it all over the edge, and the loosened screw in the nightstand caught his attention.
Tears rolled down his skin, and he reached for it so quickly that Theodore didn't have the chance to react. He stabbed himself.
Adrian drove the sharp end of the screw against his skin, carving himself apart at the repulsiveness for his own body.
''Stop!'' Theodore shouted from afar, scared to death that he'd wound himself and that he'd take Amelie with him, ''Please—''
Not thinking of his own safety, Theo ran towards the bed, twisting his wand as the screw was ripped out of Adrian's hand, but that didn't cease the marks he'd already given himself.
Theodore threw himself over the boy, his blood stained Theo's clothes, but he didn't bother. Not now.
Pinning his arms down, he mumbled the magic it took for Adrian's limbs to ease and his body to slacken.
The hysterical screams and the hyperventilating breaths exchanged for sobs and shaking heaves, ''I'm sorry—'' Adrian cried out, caving into Theodore's touch, ''Please, tell her I'm sorry. Tell her I never wanted this...''
And then, Adrian Pucey fainted.
Day 21.
Theodore was back. He'd failed to visit since Adrian got his memories back, all because he wished to spend a bit of time with Amelie.
She'd fallen asleep with him, taken care of him that entire night, and she was worried. He had returned the morning when her own remembrance was restored, all covered in blood.
How he'd missed her. The Amelie he loved so deeply was back, and he couldn't be happier, even if he had to work on the boy in the cellar.
''Get the fuck out,'' Adrian growled the second he saw Theodore step through the door, ''I don't want your fucking help. You need to leave.''
Theo simply shook his head, ignoring the boy as he stepped up to the desk in order to read the papers placed upon it, humming as he read how Adrian had fought every single soul as they entered the door.
''I said get out—''
''You don't make the rules here,'' Theodore snapped, his tone harsh, ''You don't have a say in this. All you will do is sit there and be quiet.''
Adrian's eyes widened, his breaths hitched as he caught the brunets words. Never had he seen Theo behave like this, ''Well, it's my bloody cell and I—''
''I don't care,'' Theodore muttered, nodding at the parched sheets as he kept reading in silence, and it stayed like that for minutes, neither of them speaking.
Adrian didn't want Theodore in his room. He didn't want to be anywhere near the boy who'd made him feel something in his weeks of misremembering. He loathed himself for enjoying Theo's company.
''So what is this?'' Pucey grunted, yanking at his chains, ''Why am I being kept here?''
''They didn't tell you?'' Theo rose a brow, staring blankly at him, ''There's a guard coming in here every thirty minutes, and no one told you?''
''They didn't tell me anything,'' Adrian spat, ''All they do is come in, stare at me like I'm some freak, and then they leave.''
''You're stuck here because the Dark Lord wants you to be,'' He said, dragging his sight away and feeling as his pulse quickened, ''He wants you to become more...vile, so he asked me to take care of it.''
''More vile?'' The boy hissed rudely, ''And you're supposed to tell me how to become viler? What is this? A joke? How the hell are you supposed to make me — you are scared of the dark, Nott. You couldn't even go to the bloody bathroom back at school without asking her to join you.''
''Don't speak about her,'' Theodore snapped, narrowing his hues in the green ones, ''You don't get to speak about her.''
Something so unfamiliar happened, and it threw the brunet off completely.
Adrian listened.
He didn't push it. He simply quieted and looked down at his crossed legs. Theo realized that the work he'd conducted with Adrian before he regained his mind was working.
''Can I—'' He was speaking through his teeth, ''Can I ask you something about her? We don't have to talk about her, but I'd like to know something.''
Theodore's lower back tilted against the desk, and he sent Adrian a swift tip of his head, curious to hear what he wished to know, ''I can't promise that I'll answer, but go ahead.''
Hesitating, Adrian shifted a bit on his bed, ''Is she still with...him?'' He cleared his throat awkwardly, ''Is she still living with him? Even after what I...did?''
''After you locked her up and tortured her for three months?''
Adrian's eyes pooled, and he snapped his neck, staring into the cement wall next to him. He didn't want to show any emotion.
''She is,'' Theo whispered, ''She's still with him.''
''Is she...'' He huffed, not sounding as angry as Theo believed he'd be from hearing that Amelie still stayed by Draco's side, ''Is she happy with him?''
''Very,'' Theodore felt a score of doubt as it wavered, ''He's good for her.''
''Good,'' Adrian said, so quietly that Theodore barely caught it, ''That's all I want.''
''I don't believe you,'' Theodore didn't. He was terrified that this was Adrian manipulating him, that he played him in speaking the things he wished to hear.
''Then don't believe me,'' He gritted, clenching his jaws, ''I don't need you to believe me. I'm stuck in here either way.''
''How?'' Arching his spine off the desk and taking a stride forward, ''How is it possible that all you want is for her to be happy — when you did nothing but hurt her? I don't understand it. You never showed any remorse for what you did to her. You never apologized—''
Adrian looked at the place on the far edge of the bed where Theodore usually took a seat, and he nodded towards it, gesturing for the boy to sit down, and he did.
''I don't—'' He clamped his teeth together, ''I know you don't believe it, and I know that it sounds ridiculous—''
Adrian never talked about it before. He never reflected on why he did what he did to Amelie. He never answered questions about it. Not once did he take any responsibility for what he'd put her through, but the weeks he was kept in the dark — it caused him to feel something he'd never felt before.
Remorse. Guilt. Regret.
Not once had Adrian Pucey ever regretted the hell he'd forced upon her — until now.
''I know after everything I put her through, you don't believe me, but she was everything—''
''But you hurt her—''
''I know I did. I'm not saying that I didn't. I'm saying—''
''For years, Pucey and you—''
''I know!'' Adrian roared, battling the chains attached to his limbs, ''Don't you think I fucking know that? Don't you think I am aware of what I did to her? Of course, I know that I hurt her!''
''I'm fucking damned! I'm a lost, bloody cause, Nott! She was the last piece of sanity I had left, and I had to ruin her! I had to fucking destroy everything about her because I knew I would never deserve her!''
Theodore blinked quickly at Adrian's shouting.
''I loved her! I still do! I love her more than I have ever loved anyone, and that's what my father taught me to do. I wasn't worthy of her, and I had to break her into loving me. That's what he did to me, to my mother, and that was what I had to do with her!''
He was heaving, breathing so unsteadily as tears rolled down his cheeks.
It broke him, knowing what he'd done.
''She was all I had, and I had to make her love me. I had to make her understand me! She would've left me if I didn't, father taught me how to make her love me and I—''
Sobbing out as his body shook, ''I hated him. I loathed my father for what he did to me and my mother, but he taught me how to love him. He taught me how to—''
Theodore once again realized that he never stood a chance. Adrian was indeed doomed from the very beginning of it all. It was his father's wish all along.
''He showed me how to make her love me, and I did! I made her love me, but it wasn't enough. I couldn't stop hurting her—''
Hugging his knees to his chest as he cried, ''And I broke her...''
''Adrian—''
''I didn't mean to break her. I didn't mean to hurt her like I did. I just wanted her to love me—''
''You destroyed her, and you took everything from her,'' Theodore whispered, keeping his tone calm as the boy stopped talking.
''She would've loved you. She did love you. She loved you so much that she let you hurt her.''
''I loved her so much...'' He cried, his skin red and swollen, ''I just wanted her to love me back, to love me like I loved my father.''
''Your father was a monster, Adrian. He didn't love you. He manipulated you—''
''He loved me!'' He screamed out, too scared to face the horrifying truth of what his father actually did to him, ''He loved me, and I love her. He loved me, and I love her. He loved me, and I love her.''
Theodore didn't say anything else that night.
He simply began the rescue of the boy's head, making his head stable and cleared for redemption.
Day 23.
Theodore had done his research. He studied the condition Adrian was kept in thoughtfully, reading up on everything he could do to break the boy's vicious behavior down and make him understand what actually happened to him. He'd also been mixing a potion for him to make his features go back to the way they were before he was cursed with the magic that deformed it.
It went well. Adrian, just during the two days they had been doing this — managed to let most of his menacing self go.
He began to see, with the help of Theo's magic, just how cruel his actions had been and what he'd done to the girl he loved.
It wasn't easy, doing what they did. To reform and shape his mind for the better, but they had come a long way. Spells and talking healed him. He opened up, and he understood.
''She didn't deserve it, any of it,'' Adrian whispered after yet another session, ''She was so kind to me and I—''
''That's progress,'' Theodore hewed him off, seeing how exhausted he was from spending the nights learning about his past, ''And I think that's enough for today.''
He was confused that behind all that pain and all he'd been through — a boy so puzzled was hidden.
Theodore never knew Adrian before he turned vile, not as Amelie did. Every time Amelie spoke about him, every time she told Theo about the kind-hearted boy she knew rested within, he never believed her.
Rising from his seat and ready to stand up, Theodore looked at Adrian, sitting curled up in the corner of his bed. Hiding from everything and everyone.
''I'll be back—''
''He never loved me, did he?'' Adrian asked, stilly, almost as if he was afraid of the words he'd spoken. Agony tore through his eyes, ''My father never loved me, or my mother.''
Huffing out, he stepped towards the boy, kneeling next to the bed, ''I can't answer that.''
''Do you think I loved Amelie?'' Tears glinted in the green eyes, and his skin was so pale, ''Do you think I ever loved her like she loved me?''
''I think we all are a bit in love with Amelie,'' Theo's heart ached as he gently nodded, ''But think you did. I hope you loved her.''
''I think I loved her too...'' He mumbled, tucking his chin into his knees, hugging himself as he began swaying back and forth, ''I wanted to love her, and I wanted her to love me.''
''She loved you very much, Adrian.''
''I hope she did...'' His tone ruptured by the tears, ''It felt good, being loved by her. She was good to me.''
Feeling as an arch tugged in the corner of his lips, Theo smiled, ''She's a good person. The best.''
''I know,'' Adrian swallowed the aching lump in the back of his throat, ''That's why I wanted to be with her. She took care of me, even when I hurt her. She loved me all the same.''
''Amelie usually does that. She sees the best in people,'' The brunet kept his faint smile, and the thought of his best friend caused warmth to flush within, ''She saw the best in you, Adrian. Even when you hurt her, she saw all the good in you.''
''She deserved better,'' He laid down, rolling to his side and facing the wall, ''It just hurts, knowing that my father didn't love me. I thought he did. I thought he loved me because I loved him... Just like Amelie loved me when I was the one hurting her.''
Adrian began to see the parallels.
''But she doesn't love me anymore, does she?''
Closing his eyes and standing tall, Theodore hummed, ''Adrian—''
''She has someone else now. She has Malfoy, and he's good for her, isn't he? Better than I ever was?''
''He's very good for her.''
''And she's happy?''
''She's happy with Draco, yes.''
''Does he hurt her?'' His chest began to slow, his breaths shifted shallow, ''Does he hurt her like I did?''
''He doesn't.'' Theodore grasped at the sheets of the bed, and he tugged it across Adrian's body, ''Draco would never hurt her. He saved her.''
''I know they can't know I'm alive, but if you can — please thank him for me. He saved her...'' He whispered as he fell asleep, ''She's happy...''
Day 26.
''She hit her bloody head!'' Theodore yelled out, so angrily that the veins in his neck popped out, ''You said you'd honor our deal, but you didn't, and she hit her head. What if she died? What if she—''
The Dark Lord stared him down as Theodore slammed his fists into his desk, ''Did she die?'' He gritted, ''No, she didn't. See this as a warning, boy. You're executing your task well. Adrian Pucey will begin to carry out tasks as soon as the potion heals his deformed self—''
''So why would you attack us like that? One of your men cursed me, and it left her all alone with them. They put their hands on her. Malfoy will never let that go, and neither will I. That was far from our deal. Why would you, not once but twice—''
''But don't you dare forget that I am still in a conflict with Draco Malfoy. You might be living with him, assisting that girl on her small adventures, but I am and will be finding her mother before any of you do.''
Theodore pushed himself back, shaking his head, ''I know you are, but that isn't the—''
''I'd advise you to keep restraints on your behavior, son. I don't do well with threats. I am still the Dark Lord, not one of your friends that you can challenge as you please. You'll pay me respect, or I'll end her life.''
Voldemort rose from his chair, still glaring at the brunet, ''I won't be reminding you of this again. Keep that girl away from her mother, and I'll do my best to stay out of your hair, but come into my office with that attitude again, and I'll show you just how vicious I tend to be.''
Backing up, he threw his arms out, ''She's not going to stop looking for her mother,'' Theodore knew that they found an address. That they were close on locating her.
''Then I'll suggest you make her stop, if Athena isn't returned to me, shortly. I will act out.''
''This is unbelievable! We had an agreement, and I am doing my part. I am healing your Death Eaters, and I am almost completed with turning Adrian Pucey into an actual human being. Still, you do this—''
Aiming his wand towards Theodore, Voldemort scoffed, nearly chucking darkly below his breath, ''That is enough! You are my servant, and you'll do as I please. Now get down to the cellars and do what I keep you alive for.''
His blood boiled, his fingers balling as he spun around, storming towards the doors.
''Son,'' The Dark Lord called out for him, making him falter in his attempt to leave the scene, ''I wish for you and Narcissa to be present at the meeting tonight.''
He marched down to the cellars, and he attended his daily dose of healing. Making Adrian shift into humanity more and more for each minute that passed. Clearing his face from magic, the potion almost fulfilled its purpose as he laid the boy down.
''You did well today,'' Theodore muttered, scribbling down onto his paper what they'd concluded and reached, ''You'll be ready in the morning, I believe.''
Adrian nodded, placing his hands upon his stomach, ''Can I ask you something?''
''Of course,''
Pucey felt safe with Theodore. Perhaps it was the love Amelie carried for the boy that caused him to feel that way. He'd never cared for her friends in the past, but it was something special about that boy with curls so messy and a smile that seemed to take all his pain away.
''You said the other day that you think we all are a bit in love with Amelie...'' He lowered his tone, sounding unsure, ''Are you in love with her?''
Theodore frowned, spinning around abruptly and he nearly felt offended by the asked question, ''Am I in love with her?'' He repeated, ''Why would you ask—''
''Because I always thought you were. I remember when I first believed that you were in love with her. I know I hurt you for it. I was so scared of losing her.''
Huffing out, he slipped down onto the chair across the room, ''I was, at one point I was in love with her, yes, but she would never love me like that.''
''I thought she did, and that's why I hated you,'' Adrian was looking up in the ceiling, where Theo, not too many nights ago had placed stars that glowed a bit in the constant dark he was captive in — so that Adrian wouldn't feel lonely when he wasn't around, ''I hated you because she always loved you more.''
''Do you still hate me?'' Theodore rose a brow as he spoke, ''Now, I mean?''
''I don't.''
Smiling to himself, he turned to face his desk again, ''I'm glad you don't hate me anymore.''
''Do you hate me?''
It was those words that caused shivers to flee Theo's spine, and his heartbeat began to swell in his ears, ''I hate what you did to her, but I don't hate you. I don't hate this version of you.''
''I still hate myself.''
It ached again.
''I know you do,'' Theo didn't know how to comfort him now. He wasn't angry. He wasn't crying. He simply talked, ''I know you do, but you're trying, aren't you?''
''Do you think Amelie hates me?'' Adrian kept his stare glued to the stars in his roof, ''I wouldn't blame her if she did.''
''I don't think Amelie is capable of hating anyone. She's too... Amelie. I heard her curse two days ago, and I didn't know what to think.''
Adrian propped himself up on one elbow, gawking at the brunet, ''Really? Amelie cursing?''
''Yes, we were looking for her mother, and we were attacked, so of course, she panicked. I did too, and when the building began to fall—''
''You were what?'' Adrian snapped, reacting to what he said as he shoved himself to the edge of the bed, his legs hanging from the brim of it, ''Was she hurt?''
It was a flash of concern in his eyes, a loop of worry as he understood that Amelie was put in danger.
''She hit her head...'' Theodore barely whispered as he noticed the change in Adrian's demeanor, ''Tell me what you're thinking right now. Tell me what you feel knowing that Amelie was hurt.''
''It makes me...'' Adrian's fists balled, ''It makes me angry. It makes me furious, where were you? Where was Malfoy? Was she alone? Is that it?''
''She wasn't alone,'' Theo squinted, cocking his head as he let his elbows rest on his knees, ''I was with her, but I couldn't do anything.''
Studying the way he was reacting now.
''So you just let her get hurt?'' Adrian rose from the bed, yanking his chains, ''Is she okay now? Was she hurt badly?''
It was mesmerizing to Theodore, seeing how he, in the span of a month, had gone from torturing her to actually caring for Amelie in ways that he didn't believe to be possible.
It truly worked. All the hours, all the pain and pieces he had to give of himself to please the Dark Lord and save his friends lived to be worth it.
Adrian fought his demons, and he became better.
''She wasn't. A simple spell fixed it,'' He sought to hide his smile, ''She was with Draco when I left her.''
''Why didn't you protect her?'' He began to raise his voice, ''She's not supposed to be hurt. You said it yourself. She's not to be touched—''
''Adrian—''
''And where the hell was Malfoy? Why didn't he do anything?'' Continuing without realizing how much progress he made, ''How the hell could you two let that happen? Why was she the one—''
''That's enough, Adrian,'' Theodore spoke up, shaking his head as his curls followed, ''You have no idea what happened—''
''Then tell me, tell me what happened and tell me why she was the one getting hurt.''
Blinking confusingly, Theodore's lips parted, ''We snuck out. We left without Draco knowing, and we got caught, they ambushed us, and we didn't stand a chance, but she's fine. She woke up, and she saved us. She brought us back to the manor—''
''She saved you?'' Lifting a brow, Adrian seemed bewildered, shocked almost, ''How did she save you?''
''She fired a spell, and it made the Death Eaters flee,'' He mumbled.
''Amelie did that?'' Adrian's fingers twitched, feeling both surprised and astonished that the girl he once knew had changed, ''I don't know what to say...''
''She changed, Adrian, this past year, she changed so much.''
There was a slight pause of hurt between them, and he understood that she indeed turned for the better without him, ''I hear that...'' His shoulders sunk, ''I'm happy for her.''
They didn't speak much after that. Theodore slipped him the last of the potion to heal his face, and he apparated back to the manor in order to get Narcissa. They needed to attend the meeting just like the Dark Lord had wished, and after being excused, she joined him in the cellar.
She craved to see for herself as Theodore completed the spells to make Adrian return to his original shape.
Narcissa didn't stand to see it for long, and she burst out in tears as she stepped out.
Day 29.
Adrian had been granted a bit of freedom in his imprisonment. The Dark Lord had settled his claws in the boy and brought him out of his cell for training — to make the boy become what he always wanted him to be.
Adrian Pucey was ready. He had dealt with his demons, and he had taken responsibility for what he so viciously executed in the past. They even talked about Pansy's death, how he felt and why he craved to cease the girl, pregnant with his child, of life.
He couldn't talk, nevertheless think about Pansy without breaking apart, and Theodore understood that this was another missing piece of his father's abuse.
Adrian was taught love with violence, and that's what he gave the people around him. His mother's death was out of pure anger. He couldn't stand the lady that simply watched as his father beat him, raped him, and forced his wicked mindset upon him.
The nights Theodore had to spend at the castle, he tried to ease the boy's mind at his best capabilities. They played cards, took a walk through the woods, and they built their relationship — just like they'd done for the past month.
It pained Theodore to hear what the Dark Lord made him do. How he tutored him into madness, and how he was free from under his deceased father's abuse, only to be chained to the darkness again.
He wished he could talk to someone about it. He hoped that one day he'd be able to tell Amelie everything — every last piece of information he was forced to keep from her, and it drowned the brunet. Knowing that he did all of this behind her back, but he tried so hard to convince himself that it was for her safety, and it was.
If it weren't for Theodore doing this, both she and Draco would've been dead a month ago. He saved them to the highest price, and he could only hope that she'd forgive him.
The chemistry between Adrian and Theo had shifted. It wasn't as plain as it used to be. Theodore began to enjoy coming to the castle in order to see him, and now — now that he knew Amelie's mother to be alive and well, her brother still being undiscovered, it felt like he could breathe, just for a minute.
Day 30.
Draco and Amelie had spent another night at the cabin, and Malfoy was only home for a short minute before he needed to attend his father in London. During the little time Theodore had to spend at the Malfoy Manor before he would be sent back for his nightly duties at the castle — he wished to spend it with Amelie.
She told him all about the plan she had, how she was going to buy a new mansion for them and how she wanted to surprise Draco with it on the night of his birthday. Theodore helped her. He joined her as she bought the new majestic house. He strolled across it as she showed him the rooms before he had to leave.
''It's your turn,'' Adrian scowled, his legs crossed, and they had restricted the chains to his ankles only, leaving his arms free to move as he placed another card up on the sheets, ''No— don't cheat, it's—''
Laughing out quietly, Theodore rolled his eyes, settling another card upon the one Adrian laid down, ''I'm not cheating. You just need to learn how to play.''
''Learn how to play?'' The boy raised a brow before frowning, staring vacantly at his hands, ''Well, I don't have any—''
''It's not my fault, is it—''
''Then fuck this,'' Adrian huffed out, throwing his cards across the bed as he leaned back, ''I'm done. I don't want to play anymore.''
''Only because you're losing?'' Theo grinned, mockingly but his smile faded as he watched how exhausted Adrian was, and he put his own cards down.
The mauve circles hugged around his eyes and his skin ashen, ''I can help you sleep, Adrian. You know I can help you sleep.''
''I don't want to sleep,'' He tilted his head, looking back at the brunet as he thought that the room had shifted cooly. It began to get to him, being locked up, ''And I'm not tired... it's just hard, listening to the Dark Lord.''
''But you're telling me anything there is to know, don't you?'' Theo asked, gathering the cards with a twitched of his wand as they disappeared, ''You promised me that you'd be honest about all of this, what he makes you do and what tasks he—''
That was his plan. Fooling the Dark Lord into believing that he had full control of Adrian and that he once again shaped him into the soldier he wished for him to be, but Theodore didn't let him. He was there every night he possibly could, and he helped Adrian overcome it.
To not fall over the sword he'd once bled dry from.
Adrian had changed, and Theo would fight to keep him that way. He knew the monster he could turn into if he was manipulated the right way, and he never wanted that evil soul to see the light of day ever again.
''I am honest,'' He sounded sad, worn, ''I am honest, but it's still hard.''
''What?''
''Hurting people,'' Adrian admitted, ''It's hard hurting people again. Every time I hear someone scream — I think of Amelie. I still have nightmares of her screams.''
''She doesn't scream like that anymore,'' He meant to calm him, to place his hand on his shoulder as he stood up, giving him a stroke of comfort, ''She's happy, Adrian.''
''Does she still have scars?''
It stung in Theodore's chest, ''She does. I tried to take most of them away from her, but it didn't work.''
''I think you should let them be,'' Adrian whispered, tilting his head to rest against the hand Theo kept on his shoulder, ''It shows how far she's come, how hard she fought all of this... Is she ashamed of them?''
''She used to be, but I don't think she is anymore,'' His hand brushed against Adrian's jaw, nearly unconsciously, neither of them minded the touch, ''She has grown in ways you'll never imagine.''
''I'm happy she is. Amelie deserves happiness.''
''I know she does,'' Theodore pulled away the second he realized what he was doing, clearing his throat and excusing himself, ''I'm sorry— I'll just—''
''Wait—'' Adrian breathed, his hand snatching Theodore's, and he tightened his fingers, ''You don't have to go—''
Clenching his jaw, Theodore sighed, seeing how Adrian stood up next to him, ''It's not appropriate,'' He muttered, trying not to look at the boy, ''You're not—''
''I'm not what?''
They stood so close to the other now, neither of them withdrew.
''I can't feel like this with you,'' Theodore whispered, nearly sensing Adrian's heated breaths as they fanned his lips, ''It's not okay. You are in love with—''
Adrian let his hand run up the length of Theodore's arm, and he halted on his shoulder, ''I am, and I think a part of me will always belong to her, but that doesn't mean I can't feel something for someone else.''
Theodore let his eyes gaze to Adrian's lips, and he felt his heart as it beat so wildly within. Never had he felt like he did now.
''She's my best friend.''
''And she's happy with someone else,'' Adrian said, so softly, his fingers brushed along Theodore's jaw, cupping his chin, ''Why can't I be happy with someone?''
''You hurt her...''
''I'm not saying that the person I was should be forgiven for what I've done. I don't deserve forgiveness, but you healed us,'' Adrian blurted out the words, lingering with his touch, ''You saved her, and you saved me.''
Theodore didn't know what to do — what to say.
''I care for you...'' He continued, ''After being with Amelie, going through what I did with her, I didn't think it would be possible for me to care for someone ever again, to put myself out there and actually feel something... be human again, but you made all of that possible.''
Gulping, Theodore slowly moved his hands to Adrian's arms.
''Don't tell me you haven't it, what I have been feeling this whole time, even before you knew who I was and I knew you,'' Their noses stroking along the other, ''I know you feel it too.''
''I do,'' Theodore whispered, airy, ''I feel it too.''
That was all that needed to be said, before both of them, at the same time — pushed their lips together. Adrian kissed him, so emotionally and Theodore kissed him back.
Pulling apart after moments, their eyes collided, and they smiled.
Day 32.
Theodore was standing in the middle of the crowd in the castle. He hadn't been there since his kiss with Adrian. Not that he didn't want to, but because Amelie needed him. Athena had been taken, and Amelie had been wounded. The Dark Lord had been sending for him, but he ignored it.
No one in this world was as important to him as she was, and now — now he was there again, but this time, with her.
He'd agreed to play a part in Draco's plan to locate her mother, and he was allowed to follow her to the castle, but she vanished during the speech the Dark Lord held. He didn't dare to move just in case she'd look for him in the same place she'd left him.
Draco was here. He knew that, and when he was circling the property — she'd be safe. She wouldn't be harmed.
Theo waited for long moments, wishing that she'd be back and that they could leave before he was discovered. Knowing that Adrian was out there as well. He had been assigned to take part in the masquerade — to recognize Amelie and Draco, but he wouldn't give that information up if he did. Theodore made sure of that.
If Adrian placed an eye upon either of them, he'd stay quiet.
''Theodore—'' He was yanked back by his shoulder, spinning around as he leveled the green eyes, ''I saw her.''
Frowning, Theodore shook his head, ''Adrian, what are you—''
His voice clocked him, hearing how the usual tone's in Pucey's vocals shredded differently, ''What did you do to your voice, what happened—''
''The Dark Lord took parts of it, so she wouldn't recognize me if I ran into her and in case I made a run for it. He said he'd give it back once the night is over, but Theodore—'' He was heaving, his chest roughly rising and falling, ''I saw her, I talked to her and I—''
Still standing in the mass of Death Eaters, Theodore took a step closer to him, just in case someone would eavesdrop, ''What do you mean you talked to her? Did she figure it out? That it was you? What did you say—''
Even if he was hiding behind his mask, Theo saw how stressed the boy was, ''I ran into her in a hallway, I think she was down in the basement, and she tripped and I—'' He gasped for air, ''I saw her, and I couldn't stay away, Theodore. She was just standing there all alone and I—''
Shooting a sneaky look around, Theo made sure no one watched them, ''She was right there, and I was so mean to her.''
''You what?'' Theodore snapped, narrowing his sight in Adrian's, ''What did you say? Why were you mean—''
''I panicked!'' He harshly whispered, ''I panicked. I didn't know what to say or what to do and then suddenly called her an ungrateful witch and the next thing I knew Malfoy stood behind her, and he protected her—''
''So she's safe? Do you know where she went, because I need to take her home—''
''That's the problem...'' Adrian's voice lowered, sounding scared almost, ''Death Eaters were circling the halls, and they ran into us. They didn't stand a chance. They paralyzed them and took them away. I tried to stop them, but they said they'd kill her if I didn't stand down—''
''Damn it,'' Theo growled out, ''Do you know where? When was this? Right now?''
''I tried to find you, so probably... twenty minutes ago?'' He uttered silently as Theodore nodded, ''I tried to stop them. I didn't want them to get hurt.''
''I know, I know you didn't, but where was this—''
''She's here...'' Adrian gritted his jaws at the look of his first love, standing in the entrance of the room, her dress smeared to her body, beautifully but the second he caught the blood as it gushed down her arms and her haunted eyes — anger boiled within him, ''And she's hurt,''
Adrian fumed in rage, ''She's drenched in blood, Theodore. If they hurt her, I swear—''
''You'll do nothing,'' Theodore nodded awkwardly towards him, ''You'll go back to your cell, and I'll be there as soon as I can, but you'll do nothing. We have come so far. We can't afford you getting caught.''
''They hurt her,'' He growled so lowly, ''She had blood running down—'' Adrian was still looking at her. Even if his feelings now belonged to someone else, Amelie was mesmerizing to him. He hadn't seen her for so long.
''I know they did, and I'll deal with it, now leave before—''
''Teddy?''
''Go!'' Theodore urged as Adrian stepped away, ''Leave, now.''
Seeing how the boy walked into the crowd, Theo spun around, facing his best friend, and he gasped, ''What the—''
Amelie finally opened her eyes, tears pearled in the corners of them, and she looked at the boy that just showed her everything she never knew. It all felt surreal to her. Every last piece of it felt like a never-ending nightmare.
She was seated on his bed, him next to her, and her lips parted, a shaky breath trembled from her throat.
"Say something," Adrian whispered as he noticed her shocked state, but she didn't.
Amelie didn't speak one single word as she instead reached her hand between them, and she let the tips of her fingers softly brush over his forehead, ''You're alive...'' Her voice was barely heard, ''I thought you died, with me...''
Adrian swallowed the lump he felt expanding, and he clenched his jaws at her touch, ''You're alive too,'' He said, his tone thin, ''I understand that you wanted me to die, looking back on it, I wished I did.''
Amelie frowned lightly as she pulled her hand back, ''Adrian, I—''
Shaking his head, he looked intensely at her, ''Don't,'' He mumbled before he peered away, ''Don't try to make me feel better, Amelie. We both know what I did to you, so let's not pretend that this is something that it isn't.''
She still hadn't earned a chance to grasp what Adrian had shown her, how Theodore had spent a month, ever since he saved her — hiding her former lover, assisting the Dark Lord in matters that tore her apart.
''He's...'' Amelie breathed, feeling as her heart pounded roughly within, ''He's in love with you?''
Flickering his sight to the floor, Adrian stayed silent. He couldn't help but feel like he'd betrayed her. Even if Amelie was head over heels in love with Malfoy, he still held an aching soul when it came to her.
She'd always have a special place in his heart. Anyone who'd lived to know her would. Amelie was his first love, even before he turned violent.
''Teddy is in love with you?'' She was shaking now, her fingers twitching against the palms of her hands as Adrian noticed. Amelie never thought he paid any attention to her in that way when he, in reality, did.
Reaching for her hand, Amelie flinched back, flying up to stand on her feet, ''I'm—'' She heaved, ''I don't—''
''I'm sorry,'' He mumbled, pushing himself back from her. He didn't want to harm her more than he'd done already, ''I didn't think.''
''I can't do this,'' She let out, her hands tugged at the roots of her hair, and she combed her fingers through it, ''I can't think about this, right now. I can't—''
''You don't have to,'' He stood up, and he was still so tall in comparison to her. She barely remembered that about him, not as lengthened as Draco was next to her but close, ''You don't have to do this at all if you want to leave — you're more than free to do so.''
Amelie faltered for a second, her arms dropping to her sides, and all she saw was the boy she once loved so dearly. Adrian was no longer portrayed like the beast he turned out as. He was the boy she fell in love with.
She looked at him in the ways only she did, and he gazed right back at her. The moment of quietness between them spoke more than any words ever could.
His hair was longer, much longer. His eyes didn't carry the sinister dash in them anymore. They simply held green, the fusion of olive and forest shades she always adored. His skin had dimmed, the rosy cheeks didn't sparkle any longer. The faded scars on his throat and hands caught her eye. Adrian didn't own many scars, not that she recalled, but he did now.
Taking in every inch of the boy she'd given her life to diminish, she sighed out in relief. She'd never admit to it, but something within that powerful chest she didn't know she owned was happy to see him.
Amelie didn't loath Adrian. She didn't hate him even before she was granted a piece of his mind and the understating of what befell them when she wasn't aware.
''I didn't come here to—'' She hushed, taking a well-needed breath, ''I didn't come here to fight or to question you or—''
''Amelie,'' Adrian nodded towards her, wishing for her to calm herself before it turned too overwhelming for the chaotic girl, ''It's alright. You don't have to explain yourself. Tell me what you need.''
Tipping her head, she peered around, nervously in his cell. It was dark. Barely a crack of light slipped through the bars of the door. The outlines of the desk showed in the shadows, and his bed stood solidly in the corner of the room.
Cement and stone were smeared from the ground, all across the walls and up to the roof. She wouldn't wish this room upon her worst enemy. Even the room Adrian had kept her locked up in was on better display than this.
''Draco,'' She whispered, fixing her sight upon him again, ''I need Draco, and he's been taken away.''
''What?'' Adrian lifted his brows before furrowing them. Not denying that sting of pain in his chest by her telling him that she needed the blond boy, ''What do you mean—''
''Draco had this plan, that Teddy would bring me to the ball so that I could look for...someone and it went fine until we were leaving and he was taken. He forced us to leave, and he stayed behind—
''That's three days ago, Amelie,'' He cocked his head, confused, ''I don't follow.''
Her fingers tangled in front of her, ''He was supposed to be taken. That was a part of his plan, but something went wrong, Adrian. He never came back to me, and like you said, it's been three days, and he's not back,'' She was rambling the words now, not truly understanding them herself, ''Draco always finds his way back to me, and he hasn't. That could only mean two things, that they're keeping him locked up or that he's—''
Amelie couldn't fray the tears as they ever so rolled down her skin, wetting the mauve circles underneath her eyes, ''I need your help. I saw what you had written in the diary, and it just hit me that it couldn't be a consequence that I felt something so strong with you in that hallway the other night, so I had to come.''
''I don't understand what you want from me. Do you need me to go get Malfoy, or what is this about?'' He questioned, still puzzled.
''You know where they keep them, right? The witches and wizards they know would escape?'' Amelie hoped with everything she owned that he did, ''I think they took Draco to a place they knew he could ever flee from, and I need your help to find it.''
Adrian knew exactly what she was talking about, what place she wished for him to reveal. He'd been there, not too many days ago, on a mission, but it was dangerous.
''Azkaban,'' He said, plainly, ''If they want to torture him, they would've taken him to Azkaban. There's a department in there, where they keep their own people, the most dangerous kind.''
Amelie blinked quickly, battling the tears, ''You think they took him there?''
''I can't think of another place they would have taken a Death Eater like him. There's no respect for the mark within those walls. He's treated like a traitor in there.''
It iced her veins and caused her lungs to strain, thinking about what they most likely did to him.
''Can you take me there?'' She was begging him. She didn't need to say it for him to hear it.
''Take you to Azkaban?'' He rose a brow, almost scoffing at her now, ''You want me to take you to Azkaban, and then what? Do you stride through the doors like nothing? Simply get Malfoy and walk right out?''
Amelie looked away, her sight floored, ''I need him back, Adrian. You can make fun out of me all you want, but I need him back. He never gave up on me, and I can't live with myself if I don't try to get him back.''
Adrian had let go of the worse side of his mind, but he still didn't find enough peace in Draco. He was wounded from Amelie leaving him for the blond, giving herself to Malfoy with him yet in the picture.
She saw as he hesitated, his eyes as they flickered, and his lips pushed together.
''Adrian, please—'' She whimpered, ''I can't find it myself. You don't have to do more than to follow me there. You can leave right after. I have Blaise to accompany me. You just have to—''
''Amelie—''
''Please,'' She pleaded, ''You owe me this. He saved me, Adrian. I need him back. He needs to be with me.''
Her heart was breaking more for every second they stood in that cell, knowing what Draco had to go through while Adrian doubted it all.
''I'll do anything, please just bring me to him.''
Huffing out, he clenched his jaws, and he gritted his teeth, ''No one can know about this. Not Theodore, not Malfoy. Just you, me, and Blaise. The Dark Lord will kill us all if he finds out—''
Her chest tightened, daggers ripped through her throat as she breathed, ''I can help you, I can save you—''
Adrian slowly lengthened his arm between them again, but this time, Amelie didn't yank back. She allowed his fingers to brush across her cheek, feeling her skin against his, ''You can't save me, Amelie,'' He whispered with an arch as it shaped on his lips, wiping a tear away, ''Not after what I've done to you. I won't let you put my mercy on your conscience.''
Gasping for air as he withdrew, he nodded towards the wand, tucked into the hem of her skirt, ''I am going to need that,'' Adrian craved as she immediately pulled it out, giving it to him, ''Blaise, is he outside?''
She nodded, her hair spilling around her shoulders as he drew a breath, ''Then let's go save Malfoy.''
_____