A/N ~ ENJOY >:)
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"Ron, wake her up," Hermione whispered.
"No, you wake her up," Ron backed away. "I don't want to get hexed- she can do magic now."
"Don't be ridiculous, she won't hex you-"
"She very possibly could and would."
"You wake her up, then, Harry-"
"Do any of you know how to whisper?" Y/N snapped.
They all went quiet. Y/N was glaring at them through her puffy morning eyes, half her face buried beneath her blanket.
Hermione, Ron, and Harry looked at each other. Y/N frowned at them in confusion.
"I don't-"
"Happy birthday!" Her three friends chorused, beaming, and confetti shot out of Hermione's wand and rained all over her.
Y/N rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up, still confused but delighted.
The three climbed onto the sofa and attacked her with a group hug. Y/N couldn't help but smile bashfully as she was crushed between their arms.
"Thanks, guys," she said sheepishly, patting Ron's arm. "Wow, I forgot- I'm seventeen! I can do magic now!"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry backed away, grinning, making way for Y/N to reach for her wand.
She grabbed it from the table next to the sofa and pointed it at the compass Dumbledore had left her, which was lying next to Hermione's handbag.
"Accio compass,"
The compass flew into her hand and Y/N beamed.
"Slick," Ron smirked.
Y/N was so excited to use magic that she Apparated to the furthest bathroom in the house to change that morning.
She even tried holding her toothbrush with magic, tying her shoelace with magic, doing her hair with magic.
She took so long that when she entered the living room minutes later to put away her bundled-up clothes, Ron, Harry, and Hermione had already gone to breakfast.
As Y/N made her way across the living room, she glimpsed a bright reflected light from the corner of her eyes.
She froze in her spot and turned to the light source.
It was just a piece of broken glass on the floor, near the old grand piano.
Y/N frowned and knelt down to pick it up. It was, in fact, not broken glass- but a piece of a broken mirror.
She gazed into it and saw her own eye staring back. Nothing special there.
She didn't know why, but something about it tells her there was magic in it.
She should just toss it into a trash can, really, but her gut was telling her not to let go... and the next moment, it was right.
Y/N gasped and almost dropped the broken mirror, her heart hammering inside her chest.
Staring back from the mirror was no longer her own eye, but a glistening blue eye with wrinkles and pale lashes.
Y/N had seen the eye before... blue and twinkling... but there was no way it could be...
"Y/N?"
Y/N flinched and spun around, just to see Ron frowning back at her by the doorway.
"It's just me. Are you alright?" Ron asked slowly.
"'Course I am," Y/N quickly replied, though the broken mirror hidden in her palm said otherwise.
"Well, breakfast is ready," said Ron, still looking suspicious. "Hermione's getting fussy, so you should hurry..."
"Oh, right, I'll be there in a sec," Y/N gave him a small smile.
Ron narrowed his eyes at her for a second, before turning around and leaving the room.
Y/N gazed down at the broken mirror again. Her own eye stared back. She sighed and decided she'd probably imagined it.
But that didn't stop her from slipping it into her shoe to examine later.
She then managed to Apparate into the kitchen, where Ron and Harry had just entered, making Ron trip on air, and Harry laugh.
"Bloody hell, Y/N," Ron scowled.
"Taking advantage of magic already, are you?" Harry snickered.
"Oh, you wish I was," Y/N grinned, twirling her wand between her fingers.
Harry rolled his eyes but managed to pull her in by the front of her sweater and gave her a swift but deep kiss before Ron could turn back.
When he did, they were already making their way to the long dining table separately.
"Happy birthday, Mistress Y/N," Kreacher came trotting over and gave Y/N a low bow, then pulled out a chair for her.
"Thank you, Kreacher- this looks amazing," Y/N beamed. He'd made her a full English breakfast, and a hot cup of coffee.
Hermione was at the end of the table, mumbling about their plan in a low voice, as she spooned her eggs into her mouth.
"Maps," she said under her breath, acknowledging Y/N's presence with a nervous nod, "Polyjuice Potion... Invisibility Cloak... Extendable Ears..."
They all gulped down their breakfast, then set off the room, Kreacher bowing them out and promising Y/N he was going to bake her a cake for when they got back.
"Bless him," said Y/N fondly, when they left the room.
They made their way outside and onto the front step with immense caution.
Hermione had taken all of their things with them, in her tiny handbag, just in case.
Y/N had nothing on her but her wand, and Dumbledore's old compass in the pocket of her robes.
They could see a couple of puffy-eyed Death Eaters watching the house from across the misty square.
Hermione Disapparated with Ron first, under the cloak, then Ron came back for Harry. They Disapparated once again, and Harry came back for Y/N.
"Can I do it and you side-along?" Y/N requested, as Harry threw the cloak over them both.
"Fine," Harry smiled.
"Thanks," Y/N quickly looked up and kissed him on the jaw. "hold tight."
Harry clutched her arm tightly and she spun on her spot.
After the usual brief spell of darkness and near suffocation, they arrived at the tiny alleyway, the first stage of their plan.
Hermione and Ron were already there, looking serious and nervous.
"Right then," said Hermione, checking her watch. "she ought to be here in about five minutes. When I've Stunned her-"
"Hermione, we know," said Ron sternly.
Hermione gave him a look and pointed her wand at the heavily graffitied fire door beside them, which burst open with a crash.
They stepped inside the dark passageway behind and Hermione pulled the door back toward her, to make it look as though it was still closed.
Little more than a minute later, a short blond woman came walking towards them.
Ron nodded, and Hermione's silent Stunning Spell hit the woman in the chest and she toppled over.
"Nicely done, Hermione," said Ron.
Together they carried the little witch behind the graffitied door.
Twenty minutes later, after repeating the same process with three others, they found themselves standing in front of four unconscious Ministry workers.
Hermione plucked a few hairs from each of their heads and added them to four separate flasks of muddy Polyjuice Potion.
"I'll be Mafalda Hopkirk," she said, "Harry, you can take the tall one. Ron, take Reg Cattermole-"
Which left Y/N with Iris Murk, a middle-aged witch with black heavily sprayed hair.
They all drank their own portions of Polyjuice and transformed within a minute.
Y/N felt extremely odd in someone else's body. It had been five years since she last had Polyjuice Potion. It wasn't a fun process.
Hermione used a duplication charm to extract the workers' clothes and they quickly changed into them.
Y/N didn't know about the others, but her heart was practically beating out of her chest.
"Remember, don't speak to anyone unless absolutely necessary," said Hermione, adjusting Mafalda's coat. "Just- try and act normal,"
"This is completely mental," Y/N mumbled, staring around at the strangers in front of her.
"Completely," Hermione agreed.
"The world's mental," said Ron, taking a deep breath, "we might as well be, too."
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After flushing herself down a literal toilet, Y/N found herself stumbling into the main hall of the Ministry of Magic.
She took in a sharp breath and stared around- awestruck, and terrified.
The last time she was there, it was completely empty and there was glass everywhere, as well as a possessed Harry and Voldemort himself.
Now, it was filled with hundreds of thousands of grim-looking formally clothed witches and wizards and a dozen guards.
Beside her, Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked up, all of them looking as terrified as she was.
"Let's go," Hermione whispered, and the other three followed her lead through the crowd, towards the lifts, behind the huge golden fountain.
Y/N could see Harry's face on the 'Undesirable No.1' posters to her left and to her right as they walked.
And even saw her own face, labeled, 'Undesirable No.2', though less frequent than Harry's.
The Quartet strode into the first empty lift they saw and Y/N let out a relieved breath, though when she turned back around, she tensed again.
"Cattermole!" A man called, forcing open the golden grille gate. He was white-haired, and a Death Eater.
Ron gulped.
"Yaxley?" he croaked.
"It's still raining inside my office," Yaxley scowled. "it's been two days now."
There was a beat of silence.
"Maybe try an umbrella," Ron said in a shaky voice, after a moment. Yaxley looked furious.
"You do realize I'm going downstairs to interrogate your Muggle-born wife?" he snarled.
"I- I-" Ron stammered.
"I'm quite surprised you're not down there holding her hand while she waits." said Yaxley, "Already given her up as a bad job, have you? Probably wise..."
With a nod and unpleasant smile to Harry, Yaxley swept away toward another lift.
The grilles shut with a clang and the lift began to move upward.
"What am I going to do?" Ron asked the other three at once, "If I don't turn up, my wife... I mean, Cattermole's wife-"
"We'll come with you," said Y/N, "we should stick together-"
"No," Ron shook his head. "we haven't got much time. You three find Umbridge, I'll go and sort out Yaxley's office- but how do I stop a raining?"
"Try Finite Incantatem," said Hermione at once, "that should stop the rain if it's a hex or curse."
"Say it again, slowly-" said Ron, searching his pockets desperately for a quill, but at that moment the lift juddered to a halt.
"Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement," said the disembodied witch's voice.
Hermione gave Ron a little push and he hurried out of the lift. Y/N gave him a weak thumbs-up.
The moment the golden gate closed, Hermione became uneasy.
"Actually, I think I'd better go after him," she said, "I don't think he knows what he's doing and if he gets caught, the whole thing-"
"Level one, Minister of Magic and Support Staff."
The golden grilles slid apart again and Hermione gasped.
In front of them stood a squat, toadlike witch, wearing a velvet bow in her short hair and clutching a clipboard to her chest.
Y/N had forgotten how much she loathed Dolores Umbridge.
"Ah, Mafalda!" said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. "Travers sent you, did he?"
"Y-yes," squeaked Hermione.
"Good, you'll do perfectly well." Umbridge smiled her devilish smile. "That's that problem solved. And Iris- you're accompanying as well?"
"Oh- yes. Yes. Of Course." Y/N sputtered, trying her best not to glance at Harry.
"We'll go straight down to the courtroom, then." Umbridge chortled.
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The courtroom was tall, so tall that the top half had been made to store dementors.
Y/N felt them as clearly as she saw them. Cold, miserable, and full of bad memories.
... Dumbledore's office, at the age of fourteen, hearing the news of her parents' tragic fate...
"Iris, are you alright?" Hermione asked in her shaky Mafalda voice.
"Oh, y-yes," Y/N shuddered, "quite alright."
Her consciousness came back to the room.
Hermione was staring at her in concern, sitting rigidly next to her, clutching a clipboard to her lap as though it was her life support.
Umbridge stood behind a podium, scowling down at the center of the room, where a middle-aged Muggle-born man was chained to a chair.
A silver cat patronus sat upon her podium, licking its paw broadly.
Y/N was half paying attention to what they were saying, her mind drifting from the room to the horrible memories the dementors were bringing back.
... Her barely alive father sitting on a bed at St Mungo's, staring back at her as if she was invisible... Rookwood's lifeless eyes, wide and foggy...
"-I swear! Please!" The wizard in the middle of the room cried, "Minerva McGonagall came to my house when I was eleven and told my family- I was born with magic-"
"This is your final warning," said Umbridge's soft voice, "If you struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss."
The man's screams subsided, but dry sobs echoed through the room.
"Take him away," said Umbridge.
Two dementors appeared in the doorway and seized the upper arms of the wizard who appeared to be fainting.
They glided away down the corridor with him, and the darkness they trailed behind them swallowed him from sight.
"Next- Mary Cattermole," called Umbridge. A small woman was escorted into the room- she was trembling from head to foot.
Her dark hair was smoothed back into a bun and she wore long plain robes. Her face was completely bloodless.
"Sit down," said Umbridge in her silky voice.
Mrs Cattermole stumbled to the single seat in the middle of the floor beneath the raised platform.
The moment she had sat down, chains clinked out of the arms of the chair and bound her there.
Despite her dizziness, Y/N's will to kick Umbridge remained strong.
"You are Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?" asked Umbridge. Mrs Cattermole gave a single, shaky nod. "Married to Reginald Cattermole?"
That was the man Ron was supposed to be. Mrs Cattermole burst into tears.
"I don't know where he is, he was supposed to meet me here!" she cried.
Umbridge ignored her.
"Mother to Maisie, Ellie, and Alfred Cattermole?"
Mrs Cattermole sobbed harder than ever.
"They're frightened, they think that I might not come home-"
"Spare us," spat Yaxley. "The brats of Mudbloods do not stir our sympathies."
Y/N clenched her jaw and clutched her wand, furious, as Hermione got hold of her wrist before she could go any further.
Another dementor glided past them and she felt another swoop of cold hopelessness pass through her.
Hermione gave her arm a comforting squeeze and Y/N took a deep breath.
Suddenly, she heard Harry's voice whisper into her ear,
"I'm behind you."
She froze and Hermione jumped so violently she nearly overturned the bottle of ink in front of her.
Luckily, both Umbridge and Yaxley were concentrating upon Mrs Cattermole, and this went unnoticed.
Y/N tried to stay as still as possible. At the same time, Ron stepped into the room in the form of Reg Cattermole.
Mrs Cattermole let out a sob of relief and reached out for Ron's hand immediately.
Ron looked terrified but took her hand his and held it firmly.
"Wands only choose witches or wizards, Mrs Cattermole," Umbridge continued, ignoring Ron's arrival completely. "You are not a witch."
Tears continued to roll down Mrs Cattermole's cheeks and she was shaking her head hopelessly.
"I have your responses to the questionnaire that was sent to you here- Mafalda, pass them to me." Umbridge held out a small hand towards Hermione.
Hermione's hands were shaking with shock as she fumbled for the sheaf of parchment, walked to Umbridge, and handed it to her.
"That's- that's pretty, Dolores," she was bold enough to say, pointing at the Slytherin locket around Umbridge's neck.
"What?" snapped Umbridge, "Oh yes- an old family heirloom of the Selwyns. I'm related to them. Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related,"
She then turned back to Mrs Cattermole and added in a louder voice,
"A pity, that the same cannot be said for you."
Yaxley laughed jeeringly, but his laughter did not last for long.
The next moment, there was a flash of red light and Umbridge crumpled, forehead hitting the edge of the balustrade.
Y/N would've jumped up and cheered if it wasn't for the situation.
Yaxley, confused, looked around for the source of the trouble and saw Harry's disembodied hand and wand pointing at him.
He tried to draw his own wand, but too late.
"Stupefy!"
Yaxley slid to the ground to lie curled on the floor.
Y/N ran for Umbridge and wrenched the locket from her neck.
"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione, her brown eyes wide, staring above at the ceiling.
Y/N looked up and saw that the charm holding the dementors back had broken. Dozens of dementors surged down into the room.
Harry seized Y/N's hand and they ran from the room, following Hermione, Ron, and Mrs Cattermole.
They hurried back through the black tiled corridors, slipping and turning abruptly, trying to find their way back to the lifts.
Y/N was reminded, pathetically, of a scene from one of Remus' favourite muggle movies about teenagers in detention.
"Why are you bloody smiling?" Ron roared, running past her.
Y/N didn't bother replying, for she'd spotted a lift at the end of the corridor.
The five sprinted towards it and crashed into each other, though it didn't matter, now that they've made it inside.
Harry quickly shut the grille gate and everyone backed against the farthest side of the lift.
Y/N caught herself holding her breath as a dozen scrawny dead hands reached inside, fumbling for their throats.
That feeling again- of hopelessness... the memories were rushing in again.
She was sure the others were experiencing it too.
"Expecto Patronum..." she was surprised to hear her own voice so weak, breaking, as she pointed her wand at them.
She heard the others try as well. Hermione's otter came bursting from her wand but faded away within seconds.
Ron's Jack Russell Terrier appeared as well... for a while, anyway.
"Expecto... Patronum..."
Y/N reached deep into her mind. What's made her happiest? Who's made her happiest?
Harry's smile, Hermione's laugh, Ron's horrible humor... Rolf's annoying self, Tonks' hugs, Remus' voice...
"Expecto Patronum!" Y/N gasped, and at once, a beautiful doe came bursting from her wand, Hurtling towards the dementors.
There were the two... but the other was a stag, just as elegant and bright and warm as the doe. It was Harry's patronus.
The dementors were chased away, back down the tiled corridor, and the lift went down.
They were able to breathe freely again.
Y/N looked to her side and was horrified to see that Hermione and Harry had turned back into themselves.
By the look on Harry's face, she knew she had turned back into Y/N as well.
Mrs Cattermole didn't seem to be paying attention to them. She was clutching Ron's arm and muttering endlessly under her breath.
Finally, the lift opened, and they had no choice but to step into the people-crowded hall.
They kept their heads low and walked at normal speed, trying to avoid attention.
However, halfway through the hall, Y/N, Harry, and Hermione realized Ron was no longer with them.
They all froze and spun around to see Mrs Cattermole with her arms around Ron's neck and her lips on his.
Ron's eyes were wide. Harry looked exasperated and Hermione looked like the phrase 'what the hell?' in human form.
When Mrs Cattermole let go, however, her loving eyes were replaced by terrified ones. Ron's Polyjuice had worn off as well.
"Er- it was nice to meet you!" He said, and hurried away, catching up with the rest of them.
Once the four were together, they continued to make their way through the crowd, heads kept low.
Y/N remembered suddenly, the endless lines of guards positioned at the entrance, where they'd entered the Ministry an hour ago.
There was no way- no way they could get out of there.
"Someone stop them!" Someone yelled from behind. Yaxley had revived from the Stunning Spell. "STOP THEM! THAT'S HARRY POTTER!"
People who'd heard him stopped whatever they were doing and looked around in confusion.
Yaxley sent curse after curse at them, skimming Y/N's coat many times.
Eight uniformed guards were striding towards them. Harry quickly made a turn in direction and Y/N and Ron nearly crashed into him.
The four broke into a run, not caring anymore if they'd attract more attention.
Harry directed his wand at a stack of his own 'Undesirable No.1' posters and they flew up everywhere, into people's faces, into the fountain.
"SHUT THE FIREPLACES!" yelled Yaxley, from somewhere behind them.
One by one, the fireplaces were sealed shut by thick golden bars.
The four of them were quicker, though, arriving at the very last fireplace at the end of the hall.
A lot of things happened within the next seconds.
With only a few feet left between her and the fireplace, Y/N felt a hand seize the back of her coat.
She still made a jump for the fireplace, gripping Harry's arm as tightly as possible, searing into darkness.
But the grip on the back of her coat did not loosen, as she was pushed through space and time, away from the Ministry of Magic.
She screamed and threw punches, trying to push Yaxley away...
Then, just for a split second, they were back on the front door of Grimmuald Place... but so was Yaxley, who was now holding Y/N around the neck.
Hermione turned on her spot again, determined to shake him off by Apparating to different places.
But Y/N knew there was no other way. No other loopholes. If there were two choices to choose from, she'd choose the other one.
Unfortunately, though, there was only one way out of this. So she let go of Harry.
Hermione realized what Y/N had done, at the very last second, and her eyes widened... but by that time, it was too late.
A millisecond later, they were gone. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gone.
Y/N whirled back around at Yaxley, and her heart dropped at least five storeys.
Not only was he pointing his wand at her, but her own wand was in his hand. He must've snatched it from her while she was in shock.
She was still in shock. Speechless, hopeless.
She remembered, she still had her last weapon. Her powers. So she recalled them as quickly as possible.
But Yaxley knew what he was dealing with. Voldemort must've told him about her powers.
Y/N saw a flash of red light, and the next moment, she was in darkness.
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Y/N woke up to a horrible, throbbing pain on the side of her head, and more darkness.
She was blindfolded. Very tightly, right around the area that her head burned.
She was sat on the floor- it was marble- she could feel its coldness. Her hands were bound behind her, tied to something strong and solid- probably a pole or the leg of a table.
She tried to stand up but was dragged back down by her hands, which were tied very low to the floor.
She could hear whispering. Low, careful whispering.
At least there wasn't the wicked laugh she dreaded. Bellatrix Lestrange was her biggest fear.
"Ah you've woken up," snarled the voice of Yaxley. He sounded triumphant and almost giddy.
"Let me- go-" Y/N cried through gritted teeth, tugging her bounds helplessly. "Let me go, you prune-"
"You aren't really in the place to make threats, sweetheart," said another voice. Fenrir Greyback.
Y/N stopped writhing and stilled.
"You recognize me, don't you?" Greyback sneered.
Y/N struggled again, feeling the cloth bonds pierce into her skin.
"Let me go," Y/N repeated, through gritted teeth. "or I'll use my powers- and you all can join your friend, Rookwood, down there."
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Then, they all laughed. Or Yaxley and Greyback did, anyways.
"We didn't just randomly blindfold you, Miss Scamander," laughed a new voice, from somewhere to her right. Lucius Malfoy. "We know you need your vision in order to use your powers."
Y/N's heart shrank. Of course, they knew. Her last hope was simply a meaningless threat.
"Give her the potion." said Lucius.
Seconds later, she felt a hand cup her face and tilted her head upwards. Y/N was slightly taken back by this. The hand felt... gentle?
It was warm, trembling, and soft. It did not seem like it had manhandled a person before.
Y/N turned away aggressively, and her face slipped from the person's grip. The hand came back, more violent this time.
Y/N tried fighting it, even as the person poured the unknown potion into her mouth.
The side of her head seared with pain again.
She gasped and choked and felt the potion spill all over her front, and was forced to swallow.
"Good," said Lucius, "now we can take off her blindfold."
The blindfold was torn off. She screamed in pain, as it was roughly pulled over the wound on her head.
Overwhelming brightness poured into her vision.
She blinked rapidly, still panting and coughing, and her eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness of the room.
It wasn't even that bright, just brighter than the blindfold.
She was in a big room with black walls- a chandelier was above, and she was sure she was tied to a table.
In front of her stood Yaxley, looking jubilant, Fenrir Greback, shining his awfully sharp teeth, and finally, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.
Lucius looked pleased, though Y/N could sense his nervousness. Narcissa, on the other hand, would not look at her.
So the two Malfoys were there... Yaxley, and Greyback, but no one else.
The floor was marble, she was tied to a table... Y/N had a good guess of where she was.
But that didn't matter now. She'd just been forced to drink a random potion that may or may not kill her any moment.
"What was that?" She demanded. She had a handful of guesses- Veritaserum, Sleeping Draught, poison...
"Just a little something to contain your powers," said Lucius, giving her a vile smirk, "temporarily, anyway."
Y/N knew, as she tried to recall her powers, he was right. She concentrated her powers on Lucius' cane, but found nothing.
"Now, tell me, Miss Scamander," Lucius started again, "Where are your little friends?"
"I don't know," Y/N spat, "they left me." she didn't know what made her say it. It was not so true. She left them.
And she didn't have any grudges against them whatsoever. She saw the shock on Hermione's face before they Disapparated.
"They left you?" Lucius tutted, then turned to the others. "And I thought Potter was so crazy about his girl... apparently not."
Y/N didn't reply. Her blood boiled, but she might as well play along.
"I've found your little secret hideout, Miss Scamander," Lucius continued. "Black's house, wasn't it?"
"What? You didn't find anything!" Yaxley hissed. Everyone turned to him. "I was the one who found it!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you needed validation from a seventeen-year-old." Lucius shot.
Yaxley fell silent, though he was red in the face.
"You do know why you're here, don't you?" Lucius turned back to Y/N, who glared at him deeply. "The Dark Lord needs your help. He'll be here in a few days, and he'll be delighted to see you."
"Well, send him a postcard now and tell him I can't say the same," Y/N said coolly.
Yaxley laughed tauntingly and Lucius and Greyback's lips curled. Narcissa remained silent and emotionless, staring firmly at the floor.
"Fiesty, are you," said Greyback, in his hoarse hound-like voice. "I'm sure losing a limb or two would shut you up." he licked his lips.
"No!" Lucius said, suddenly, "The Dark Lord made it clear not to touch her once we've got her!"
"And why would you let her know?" Greyback growled. "She was about to be scared!"
Lucius' face turned pink as he glared back at Greyback.
Y/N's heart was beating fast. They would not harm her. Not even Bellatrix, if she turned up sometime later.
Lucius turned to his wife.
"Cissa, take her to the cellar for now," he said swiftly.
Narcissa didn't look so keen as she walked back to Y/N and untied her bonds from the leg of their dining table.
Then, she pulled Y/N up to her feet, tied her hands together again, and forced her to walk. Y/N struggled violently, but Narcissa's grip was firm.
"Where are my things?" Y/N asked her fiercely. By 'things' she meant her wand and her compass.
"We have them," Narcissa replied, in her cold but steady voice. She still remained emotionless. No smile, no sneer, nothing.
Y/N found herself getting forced down a flight of stairs and she struggled, even more, fear overflowing her.
"Stay still!" Narcissa snapped, now frowning, as she opened the barred door of the basement.
"Why are you doing this?" Y/N asked desperately. "What have I ever done to you?"
Narcissa didn't reply and pushed her into the dark and empty room.
"You don't want to do this, Narcissa," Y/N turned back around, as Narcissa locked the barred door.
"I do what I want to do," Narcissa's nostrils flared, not meeting her gaze.
"Imagine if they did this to Draco," Y/N rushed forward to the bars like a prisoner. "If they- tied him up and drugged him- and- locked him up in a dark room-"
"Be quiet!" Narcissa hissed, now looking straight into her eyes. "Be glad they have not harmed you!"
There was a short moment of silence.
"They..." Y/N scoffed. "You're not even on their side- because you know this is fucking wrong. You know but you do nothing."
Narcissa rolled her eyes and turned on her heel, marching back up the stairs.
"And you're a coward for that!" Y/N shouted after her, tears of desperation pricking her eyes.
Narcissa vanished from the top stair and Y/N fell back into the cellar, her body shaking from anger and fear.
She attempted, hopelessly, several times, to kick or shove the door open. It did nothing but bruise her.
Y/N knew, deep down, there was no way out of there, but she tried, anyway.
After long crucial minutes, she stopped throwing herself at the very solid bars.
She searched every inch of the room for a loophole, but there was nothing but solid walls.
She finally stopped, choked back a few sobs, and slid down onto the floor, curling in a dark corner.
She was sweating all over. Her hands barely felt anything, from the tightness around her wrists.
The side of her head was aching so bad, she wouldn't be surprised if she passed out from the pain.
There was barely light in the cold cell, no water, no food, no Harry...
Where were her friends, right now? Where had they Apparated to?
How would they react when they realized Y/N was left behind?
For the first time in her life, she was terribly scared. This was all her fault, it really was.
Her fault, that Voldemort was one step closer to killing the boy she loved more than anything.
She wasn't one to give up easily, but at that moment, she did.
Voldemort would be there in a few days and probably torture her until she was just alive enough to kill Harry.
She let herself cry like a small child. She knew if she could see herself from another person's perspective, she'd look pathetic; hands bound, sweating, bawling, weak, and filthy.
The tightness around her wrists and the mysterious pain on the side of her head didn't even matter at that moment.
"I'm sorry..." she whispered to no one, feeling tears roll down her face. Her whole body shuddered, her anger and impatience replaced by guilt. "I tried... I'm sorry, Harry."
She thought of him, probably feeling confused and betrayed. Of Ron and Hermione, glancing hesitantly between themselves.
Of Rolf, Remus, and Tonks, once they realized, perhaps a month from now, that the Ministry had stopped printing Undesirable No.2 posters.
Her poor father... clueless about anything that's going on. He wouldn't even bat an eye once Rolf delivers the news to him.
She sobbed in the dark until she had nothing else, no one else to cry for.
Finally, she pulled herself together and the hiccups subsided.
She realized there was pain occurring from her ankle as well. It had irritated her since she woke up, but she hadn't thought about it.
She let out a shaky sigh and kicked her shoes off.
With a small clang, a piece of broken glass fell onto the floor.
Y/N froze and stopped moving, her bleeding ankle completely ignored.
It was the broken mirror she'd found back in Grimmauld Place.
She felt a jolt of excitement and quickly grabbed it from the floor with her bound hands and started attempting to cut herself free.
She sawed the cloth bonds for a good minute and finally, they slipped off her wrists.
But what good can hands do when you're stuck in a cellar where all the walls were enchanted.
She tried, anyway. Pushing and picking the cellar door.
After a Quartet hour, her hope came down to zero again.
She slumped down to the floor once more, leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths.
She lifted one of her hands and felt the side of her head, where the overwhelming pain practically ate her up.
She winced from her own touch and looked down at the hand. Bright, red blood. A lot of it.
She thought it was sweat trickling down her neck this whole time. But now she knew her head probably hit something hard when Yaxley stunned her.
Y/N bit down the pain and distracted herself by looking down at the mirror in her hand.
She did a double-take.
A piercing blue eye was gazing at her behind spectacles. The same familiar blue eye she saw back at Grimmauld Place.
"Please," she whispered, her voice only half audible, "Please help me. I'm in the cellar- in Malfoy Manor..."
A few seconds later, the eye vanished from sight. Y/N cursed under her breath, shaking her head, feeling the tears piercing her eyes once again.
She threw away the mirror, leaned back against the wall and bit her lip so hard she could taste metallic blood.
Merlin, the pain was blinding her.
She probably had a concussion, and the tightness of that blindfold had probably made it worst.
That was it, wasn't it? Y/N thought. They finally lost to Voldemort. And for absolutely no reason, apart from Y/N Scamander's stupidity...
She did not know, however, that not more than a minute later, she would be proven wrong.
Y/N had to cover her mouth to stop herself from shrieking when a thundering crack echoed the cellar.
She got on her feet in alarm, scrambling, and held the mirror out in front of her (it was truly her only weapon). She stared.
The elf in front of her wore clean knitted clothes and a yellow and purple sock on each of his feet.
Unlike Kreacher, he looked young, even for an elf, and his eyes were bright green.
"Dobby?" she gasped, her voice high-pitched.
She was so glad to see him that she would've hugged him if she wasn't so confused.
"Miss Girfend!" Dobby yelped, his tennis ball-sized eyes wider than ever. "Miss Girfend is injured!"
He was staring at the red tracks of blood at the side of her head.
"What are you-? How did- how did you know I was here?" Y/N asked, practically breathless.
"Dobby will tell Miss once Dobby gets Miss out of here!" said Dobby, at once, "Malfoy Manor is not a good place- especially not for Miss Girfend!"
"You can Apparate in and out of here?" asked Y/N, her heart rate increasing with hope.
Dobby nodded overwhelmingly, his ear flopping against his face.
Y/N could hear, faintly from above, back in the dining room, the screeches of chairs. They'd heard Dobby.
"Let's get out of here," said Y/N, nodding. "Wait- is it possible for you to summon my wand? They took it, and- and there's a compass-"
With a small pop, Dobby seemed to have grabbed her wand and Dumbledore's golden compass out of thin air.
Y/N couldn't help but smile. She loved the feeling of hope.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps thundering down, towards the cellar.
But when Lucius, Narcissa, Greyback, and Yaxley burst into the room, they were greeted with a deafening crack. Y/N Scamander was gone.
∞ ϟ 9¾ ♔ ⚯͛ △r⃒⃘ ➵ ♆
A/N ~ One of many upcoming close calls. Don't worry, for people who love suspense, it's not over yet.
Also, I'm back to online school, so I'm sorry if my schedule is a little wonky.
ANYWAY, ILY ALL, HAVE A GOOD WEEK<3
-ScribblingQuills