A/N: Hello My lovely Lovies!!
Hope all is well, Don't you love when I promise to post regularly, but then I post late anyway? Writers block is really getting to me because I have so much to fit into the few chapters we have left! Now! I briefly mentioned it in a comment last week, but I will be ending this story a few chapters before the expected ending. I will be doing this because I am working on 2 (two) spin off ideas and they will both take place after two VERY different endings. More details on this to come.
Subtle spoiler alert for this chapter, the term "Obscurus" is used at the end and this isn't something we've touched on yet. It will come into play again later on, but it won't be explained the same. So, just so those of you that don't know and we are all on the same page:
Obscurus: An Obscurus was the manifestation of the repressed energy of a young Witch or Wizard. Described as a "Dark" and "parasitic" force, an Obscurus was created when the wizard child in question consciously attempted to repress their magical abilities or were forced to do so through physical or psychological abuse. This energy could manifest itself as a separate entity that could erupt in violent, destructive fury
So with that being said, Grab a snack (I enjoyed some biscuits) and a drink, (A cup of tea is always good for the soul) and lets dive in!
Love and Dungeons,
Val
~Draco~
"Now, now. If what Augustus says is true, I'm sure our young witch will waste no time in seeing she pays the price for her crimes," Voldemort said, allowing Elodie the privilege to question a Healer they had brought in.
I hated that my father made me attend these gatherings. It always went further than humanly necessary. At times when we'd all watch as Voldemort would kill a witch or wizard and then allow his snake to feast upon them, it made me cringe. Not because it was such a terrible task to watch or because I was afraid that one day it could be any of us in their place. No, it was the way that so many of them enjoyed it. It was the way she was beginning to enjoy it.
"Of course my lord," She answered him, sounding like the obedient minion he'd hoped she would become.
She was right, this was my fault. I'd seen the letter she wrote to my mother asking for her help in the war. The way she promised this would serve to relieve my family of any debt they saw themselves aligned with her. I had pushed my mother on it. Insisting that we couldn't let her get killed the moment she walked through the door. Or as my father would see it, we couldn't allow ourselves to be indebted to a half breed.
"Will no one else be addressing the giant troll in the room?" Dolohov said, soldering annoyed. Not that any of those that were once considered his most loyal followers were particularly thrilled at the new addition. "My lord, I implore you. See the risk you are taking in keeping the half-breed this close to you."
I felt my jaw tense at what he was insinuating. Part of me wanted to believe that none of them had even two functioning brain cells left to rub together. That all of this was just some sick and twisted plan so that any day now, she would shoot her last killing curse. And it would be in the direction that would serve to favor those she loved most.
"We should have killed her the moment Bellatrix walked her through the door," Rodolphus said, nodding his head from aunt Bella's side.
But she was different now. And I wasn't a fool enough to convince myself she particularly enjoyed being here. I watched the way she was settling into a different side of herself. The way that it almost came natural to her. As if it was what had been missing from her life all along. She had in fact changed. And granted it may not have been how I wanted to find out, the argument we had found ourselves in confirmed it.
"I am well aware of the risk that concerns you, Antonin. For which I applaud you, and any of my followers who share this concern," He said, gliding across the scuffed marble. Looking at everyone, wand in hand, cloak floating around him like a puff of smoke. "The ancient magic I gathered all those years ago, has bonded to her better than I had hoped it would. I have found, however," he said, speaking slowly, reaching his hand forward and it hovered over Nagini. "My most loyal follower. Bellatrix, how do you see my young protege?"
"For a filthy half blood? Well, I suppose she is rather advanced, my lord. Still rather thick if you ask me," She answered him, stuttering slightly through her words. It was no secret that she held resentment for Elodie. She'd only been amongst the ranks a short period of time and already Voldemort entrusted her the way he did.
"Even those with the strongest wills, can be broken," He said, looking at the giant snake as she looked back up at him with a subtle hiss. "And made obedient."
It wasn't an easy statement. It was one that weighed like a heavy cloud over the room. From the way he spoke, to the way the mannerisms between Nagini and himself continued on so naturally.
Holding his wand in his hand, angled. Ready to fire a curse at any moment. "I think it is time we remind our guest, just where her loyalty is best served. A gentle push, as discussed."
And while I hated every moment I'd acted as a witness in that room, there was a part of me that was glad I knew that they had plans for her. Plans that went beyond her disposal. But the logical side of me, the side I'd found myself leaning heavier on as of late, knew that while they wouldn't kill her right away, they were more than capable of treating her in such a way that would make dying a better option.
"I'll bring her to you after, my lord," Auntie Bella responded obediently.
~Elodies POV~
I shut the gate of the dungeon, locking it and casting a nonverbal Mufilto. I summoned two chairs, placing one not too far from her and the other about a foot away. I took a seat in the farther one and motioned for her to take a seat as well, watching the way her eyes shifted from the chair to me, as if she believed I was setting her up.
"Go on, it's okay," I said, crossing my legs in front of me. Waiting to see what she would choose.
A moment went by, a long moment, of her just staying there, propped on her hip.
"Do you smoke?" I asked, standing and gesturing to the pack of cigarettes Dolohov or Rodolphus Lestrange must have left behind after their last interrogation. "I never picked up the habit, but often I wished I had," I said as I removed one from the pack and held it out to her.
"It's a terrible habit. Even for wizards," She said, looking up at me, a strange look settling in her eyes. "I know you Ms. Potter. I've known you since before you were born, I knew your parents. You are not like these people," She said, finally allowing me to see what the look in her eyes truly was. It was bargaining.
I took the cigarette I'd offered her, placing it back into its carton. "Are you barking mad?" I asked in a flat voice while I held her gaze before I turned to look at the gate. "Why on earth would you be lurking about Diagon alley at a time like this?" I asked, looking back at her.
Her eyebrows pulled together as she appeared to question whether I was asking a serious question in a concerned manner, or as an interrogation tactic.
"My promise as a healer has not changed simply due to the current political stance of the wizarding world," She said in a very matter-of-fact manner. "I swore to protect and aid those that were in need of medical assistance. A service I've provided to you for a long time, should you care to remember," She said, growing slightly more agitated.
I was a stone. Looking at her unmoved and unphased by her words. Words, words, they all just seemed to begin to blur. As if I were tired and forcing myself to stay awake. Then again, it wasn't that far off.
"You could stand to be more careful," I said simply. "They've been killing witches on sight for less. Have you considered what they-"
"Why is it you think I've been brought here, Ms. Potter?" she said, cutting me off. "Surely they would have killed me already if it weren't for something more."
There was something in the way she looked at me that I hadn't seen anyone do since the first day I'd arrived. She looked at me, seeing beyond the green eyes and dark magic.
"You've lied to me, why should I believe a word of what you say? Why should I help you?" I asked quietly, remembering everything I'd seen and witnessed through my eyes as well as those of my fathers before me.
She let out a sigh, watching the stairs. Almost as if she'd heard someone, but there was no one there. It was just the two of us, occupying the space with silence and secrets.
"I've told you before, you're a clever girl Ms. Potter," She said lighter. "Do not trust anyone."
Her words shouted in my mind, echoing as if she had shouted them in a cave. I didn't trust anyone here, could she really believe otherwise? If so, did it mean others believed so as well? It was what I'd wanted. No, What I wanted was for this to all be over. To know what I needed to do so I could throw my last killing curse at Voldemort. What I wanted, was to go home.
"You don't know a thing about who I am," I said, standing from my seat.
I wiggled my fingers with little effort, moving the seats back to where they originally were. I walked through the metal bars, not turning to look back at her as I faded the light from the torches. It wasn't the first time I'd thought about my lack of trust in those around me, but had I unknowingly placed trust in someone? After the fight with Draco, surely I didn't. In all honesty, perhaps I didn't trust him all that much beforehand either.
I walked up the stairs, not stopping until I reached the door at the top. Only then did I give myself the briefest of moments. Pinching the bridge of my nose, breathing in air that felt thick the more I breathed in and out. This wasn't real. None of this was real.
"Huh, You just about done here dearie?" Bellatrix said, allowing her annoyingly tantalizing voice to fill the space. It held the specific ring that she brought out when she particularly wanted to press my buttons. "Reckon you won't be getting much out of this old bag of bones any time soon."
"As much as I would love to have a row right now," I said, before I lifted my head to meet her eyes. "Will there be much more to this conversation? Because I'd sooner take a hole to the head," I said, allowing my face to show her just how annoyed I truly was.
The corners of her mouth crept at the corners, allowing a particularly wicked smile to pry through her stained teeth. "Don't test me girly," She said, quickly raising her wand. "That can always be arranged."
We stood there for a moment, her with her wand raised and ready to blast a curse through. Me, with my eyes fixed on her face, knowing she didn't have it in her to kill me, not yet at least. Though, given by how callous she was known to be, I could tell it wouldn't be all that much longer.
"Grab your coat, we're going on a little trip," She said before turning to stride away from me, her heels banding as they strode across the floor with each and every click.
***
Narcissa, and Rookwood stayed behind in the great room with Lucius and Draco, all holding a strange glint in their eyes before we apparated away in a puff of foggy smoke. Glouds of black and gray both swirled together.
Part of me didn't think we were in the country anymore, having spent so much time at Malfoy Manor, everything else looked foreign. We'd apparated to a small clearing, a grove of trees and roots surrounding us. I wanted to force myself to recognize where we were, but hard as I tried, nothing looked right.
"Huh, well that's lovely, wouldn't you say?" She said, looking at something through the smallest of openings in the trees.
"Beautiful," I said, looking down at a head of mud I'd landed in. Making a mess of my black velvet boots. I cast a nonverbal Scourgify, repelling the mess away before I looked up at her. "What?" I asked skeptically, unsure of why she was looking at me the way she was.
She lifted her arm, pointing her finger beyond the tree grove. "Take a look," she said, holding her position.
I stepped closer to her, matching the intensity in her eyes, never wanting to show her a single iota of weakness. If this was her clever form of a training or practice exercise, then the very least she could do was replace my boots after.
"What exactly is it I'm-" I began, slowly turning to look away from her, only to be silenced when the view of mine and Fred's home came into view. "What are you-"
She grabbed onto both of my arms, overpowering me in strength as she kept me from taking a step back.
"Oh. So you know this place do ya?" She said maniacally, a wicked gleam filling her eyes. Enjoying the way I was trying to squirm my way away from her. "Not! Another. Word," She said, slowly, emphasizing and empowering each word.
"What are you going to do? Torture me? Huh? Do it," I offered, looking her dead in the eyes, not knowing what it was she was playing at.
"Free yourself, would ya? Let go of what's holding you back," she said casually, taking a step back to get a better look at me. "Come on, I haven't got all night!"
"What?" I asked, confused by what she was asking me. "There's no one inside there. You're wasting your own time," I told her, hoping it were true. Refusing to look at the beautiful building who's halls I'd once roamed through so freely.
"Perhaps," She said in a childlike manner. "But do you think anyone will be watching for us to turn the lights on?"
Zooming past us in a similar cloud of dark black smoke, Rookwood landed a few steps before the front door. Giving us one last look back, he sent in a single lumos to illuminate the upper level of the house.
"Stop it, that's enough," I said to her roughly, breaking free of her hold, but watching the light as it moved from room to room. "Okay, okay. I'll stop holding back. Just, stop it!"
Keeping fixed on the house, in the hopes that no one would show up.
Roughly grabbing my face into her hand, her fingers dug into either side of my jaw, forcing me to look at her. "I say, when it's enough." She said in a low voice. "You may have my sissy ready to lie for you, but I certainly will not."
"Please," I said, pulling away, only to be held in place after she'd pinched me with a body bind, strong enough to hold me in my place. Frozen. Unable to rundown and stop him from doing anything further.
"Now, Freddie is it? Shouldn't be long now for him to make an appearance," She mocked, tightening the curse until my knees met the ground.
"Stop it!" I shouted, holding myself up against the way she was trying to send me chest first into the ground. "I swear if you-"
"If. I. What?" She shouted at me as her frame towered over me. A bully, having no point to prove, but pushing it forward just the same. She moved to stand behind me, grabbing onto my face and forcing me to watch. "Perhaps you'll remember this the next time you don't do what is asked of you."
But before I even saw what sort of signal she'd sent to Rockwood, a blast of Feindfire taking the form of a serpent burst from the darkness. Encircling the house, just as it once had the Burrow.
"Stop holding back! Turn it off," She said, tightening her grip on my face.
"No! Please!" I said, fighting against her hold, harder and harder. "Please, I'll listen!" I pleaded, willing to do anything to keep my home standing.
"Turn it off!" She repeated in a shout. "You know how to play with fire! Stop holding back!"
But as the fire made its way through the yellow grass field, slowly creeping its way up the ivy covered walls, I knew that they had absolutely no intention of putting the fire out. They're only intention was to destroy.
"Let go," A low hiss not belonging to anyone present said. "Turn it off..."
Reaching the roof, and spreading through the leaves collected in the gutters. It wasn't the house they meant to destroy. It was the last piece of the old me that was left that they wanted to annihilate.
With a silent apology, spoken to the last bit of light magic I'd kept concealed, I allowed a shift to take over. Sending all traces of a body bind flying away from me in a red burst as I eyed the fire and watched the flames shrink.
I took a step closer, then closer once more.
Not stopping until I'd made my way to stand several feet in front of Rockwood. Wanting nothing more than to allow the flames to engulf him, just as I'd engulfed them.
"Very good..." The hiss said, speaking behind me in encouragement. "Now, destroy it," He said.
And it was in that moment that I knew, I'd all but lied to myself when I'd once tried to convince myself that I could still hold onto the old me through the entirety of this ordeal. That I'd be able to keep the part of me that did love being consumed by dark magic and power.
Eyeing the beautiful house one last time, I watched it erupt into flames from the inside out. Glass shattering and flying in shards, moving past me, clearly knowing I wasn't one to be trifled with.
It was all consuming power. The kind that is only truly appreciated by those that were once so powerless. The kind that could only come into fruition by being hosted by an Obscurus. That is who I was. Someone who'd refused to give in until it consumed me.
Realizing I'd just about stopped breathing, I took in a gasping breath. Putting a stop to the fix, wanting to no longer be magic drunk off the intoxicating feeling. I fell to my knees, watching the once solace building burn and crumble to the ground.
"Oh, pet," he said as he clicked his tongue in his mouth in a cooing manner. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, cold and hard as the stone from which it's heart mimicked. "You come from me, but you are not me," He said, giving me a few pats as he spoke in riddles. "Your soul and body are your own, and yours to do with as you wish. Why would you ever choose to hide that?"
Crumbling and caving. Falling in slates to the ground, there was no doubting what he was saying. This was no longer my home. No. Simply a reminder that I could never go back. I had arrived at my final destination. And I was already dead inside.
Fear not...
You are found...
Come away...
Come away...
He kicked his cloak forward, allowing his bare feet to be seen before he stopped to offer me his hand in assistance. I felt the way my light faded eyes met his. Not caring what I had to do, or what would happen to me. So long as tonight was the last I'd see of this life.
"There," he said, helping me to my feet. "Now, I need you to kill one more."