'it is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil'
[anthony burgess]
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"Holy shit."
"Holy shit."
"We have to go back!" Harry said as soon as Dobby had disapparated, frantically pacing around. They were once more in their tent and would regroup with the others that had been rescued—Luna Lovegood, Mr Ollivander, Griphook—in a few weeks at Bill and Fleur's place. "She can't stay there—we can't just leave her! I'm going back, I'm going back."
He made to grab his rucksack, but Ron pulled him away from it; placing a firm hand on his arm to stop him apparating somewhere as Hermione spoke up. "You-know-who almost turned up, Harry! They'll be waiting for you—"
"I DON'T CARE!" He yelled exasperatedly, his chest heaving up and down as his breath struggled to keep up with the feverish pace of his heart. "I'll take them all on if I have to! Did you even see her face—they've been hurting her! She's been all alone this whole time and I've been doing nothing to save her. I'm going back."
"Harry, mate, listen to me!" Ron put his hands on Harry's shoulders, forcing him to meet his gaze. "Calm down. You can't blame yourself for this! None of us even knew she was alive."
"But—I should've known, I should've figured it out, I—"
"Stop," Ron spoke, and Harry finally took a breath; looking down as he hastily wiped the tears that had fallen down his cheeks. His voice became softer. "I promise we'll get her back, but going right now is a death wish—and that's exactly what we don't need right now. We'll regroup, we'll think, and we'll come up with a plan, okay? We won't leave her there."
"...fine," he nodded, dropping the rucksack to the ground. "We'll come up with a plan."
Ron snuck a glance at Hermione, who nodded in encouragement from where she had sat down on the edge of her bed. A small smile lined her lips despite the evident pain she felt putting pressure against her forearm where Bellatrix had carved Mudblood into her skin.
Seeing this, Harry rummaged through his bag and pulled out a bandage roll. He handed it to Ron, who kneeled and gently wrapped it around Hermione's arm as she wiped at her eyes. Harry sat next to her, and as Ron secured the bandage down, sat on her other side; the two boys trying to offer her any sort of comfort. She linked her arms through theirs, and it was quiet for a moment before a teary smile formed on her face.
"Addie's alive," she said, the words feeling foreign, and Harry's heart warmed—but at the same time, it ached.
"...I don't get it," he spoke quietly. The other two looked over at him. "How is she alive? I mean—the rose was dead."
"I don't know..." His arm moved a little as Hermione shrugged. Her voice was soft. "It could be something to do with the monster form; the dark magic. Maybe it thinks she dies whenever she transforms into it because she's technically not physically there."
"I just feel so bad," Harry said quietly, looking down at his hands. "...knowing that she's been there this whole time. There were chains on her wrists and everything. They could've done anything to her," his voice broke a little, and Hermione held his arm tighter, but he shrugged it off and stood up abruptly. "Sorry. I need some air," he said curtly and stepped away towards the tent's doors.
Hermione made to follow him, but Ron grabbed her hand. "Wait," he said, and she sat back down defeatedly. "It's okay. We'll just give him some space."
She nodded and leaned against his arm, her eyes growing tired as the night's events caught up to her. Their hands were still entwined, but neither moved away. He ran his thumb over her knuckles.
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Later that night, sleep never met Addie's emotionally exhausted mind as the events of just a few hours ago replayed continuously in her head.
The manor was eerily silent now—a stark contrast what had been the loud wrath of Voldemort after he had just missed finding the one he sought to kill. She had been locked up with new—and more—chains now, and the cell door that had taken so much of her energy to destroy was fixed and put back into place as though nothing had ever made it fall.
Addie had, oddly, not been directly punished, but ignored—which meant that the scraps of food she was usually given to keep her alive had never come. It was almost worse than if they had directly beaten or inflicted the cruciatus curse upon her as a once-off punishment because this was like a waiting game. They were seeing how long she could last on the brink of death's hands; how far they could push her toward the ledge without actually making her fall.
By now, as Voldemort and many other death eaters had left a while ago, it seemed as though Addie was the only one left in the manor.
That is until the cell door creaked a little as someone opened it slowly.
It was so dark that she couldn't tell who it was; squinting to try and see their figure in the shadows as they closed the door with a very quiet thunk.
As Draco kneeled beside her, the two lit by moonlight streaming in through her tiny cell window, Addie faced the other direction; refusing to acknowledge him. But then, very quietly, he said:
"I'll help you."
She looked back at him and scoffed at the sheer amount of audacity he carried. His face may have seemed genuine, but she wasn't convinced for a second. "Nice try, but I'm not as believing as I used to be."
He sighed, seemingly expecting this—which only annoyed her further. "I'm serious. I want to help you get out of here." His voice was barely above a whisper.
She didn't say anything.
"Please. Trust me."
"How the hell am I supposed to trust you after everything you did?" She glared, but her voice wobbled. "You used me to save yourself. You led the death eaters to me when you knew I was too sick to defend myself. You took me away from everyone I love and had them believe I was dead for months, you—"
But then he held something out; bringing it into the moonlight so she could see it. It was bread rolls. Actual, real food. Addie took one from his hands and looked it over skeptically. "This doesn't change anything. How do I know you haven't poisoned this, or put some weird spell on it, or—?"
"I haven't done anything to it, Adeline," He sighed, tearing some of the bread off of the one she held, and she watched as he ate it with no concern. "See? It's straight from the pantry." He moved to take more to prove his point, but she pulled the bread away from his reach.
"Stop eating my bread," she mumbled and took a tentative bite.
Even if it was plain, it was the best thing she had eaten for months—and it was gone in a matter of seconds as she ate the whole thing. Addie grabbed another from his outstretched palm.
"You know, you're adorable when you're mad," he said with a glint of amusement.
"I can literally kill you," she spoke with her mouth full of bread, and he chuckled a little before growing quiet as she finished eating.
"I know you have no reason to trust me," Draco said, his voice low. "And I don't expect you to. Just let me help you get out of here."
He held something else out. Something that, in her peripheral vision, twinkled in the moon's reflected light. Addie looked over, and felt a swell of emotions bloom in her chest at the sight of her locket.
Draco rested it on her palm, and watched as she opened it. Addie blinked away the tears that started to form in her eyes as she saw the moving photograph of herself, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny with happy, beaming faces looking back at her. It made her heart ache in missing them, but at the same time, renewed her drive to fight back; reminded her what—who—she was fighting for.
"Don't let anyone see that," Draco said. She closed the heart-shaped locket and inspected the gold chain that had broken after Voldemort ripped it from her neck those months ago—but it was fixed now. Addie looked up at him, holding it out.
"...Can you—?"
"Yeah."
She turned around on the floor as he took the necklace. Draco brought it around her front and wrapped the thin chain around her neck, and as he did the clasp up, Addie held the locket between her fingers. Touching its gold, she was brought back to when Harry had first given her the locket—and she couldn't help but miss him more than ever before.
He had been so close just a few hours ago. So painfully near. After months of being without him, of wishing for even just his presence, he had been suddenly right in front of her, within reach—but not close enough to touch.
Addie didn't know how much she could miss someone's touch until she had been without his for months. She missed his arms around her, holding her close to his chest as she fell asleep in front of the common room fire. She missed the warmth of his hands entwined with her own, and the way they'd fit together like two halves of one whole. She even just missed the way he would nudge her shoulder playfully, or the way he would rest his hand over her thigh, or the small kisses he'd plant on her head. She missed him, him, him.
Addie tucked the locket under her shirt; the chain long enough to remain hidden. Turning back around, she eyed Draco for a moment. "Why do you want to help me now?" She asked quietly, trying to discern if the sincereness lining his features was actually there or just what she wanted to see. "What changed?"
"I regret what I've done, but I can't change it. No matter how much I wish I could." He bit the inside of his cheek, and after a moment, motioned around the cell and said, "you don't deserve this. You tried to talk me out of this stuff but I did it anyway. I took everything from you...and I don't deserve a second chance—but I want to give you back as much as I can. Which, I know, can't be everything. I can't undo what you've gone through here. I can't give you back the months you've lost. But I can get you back to them, and I will."
"...but what if you get caught?" Addie asked softly.
"Then I get caught."
"But they could kill you."
"Then so be it," he said. "I know the risks, Adeline. But...I want to do the right thing for once."
She studied his expression for a moment. His eyes never left hers, and his voice was firm. Addie waited for any slight hesitation or the sign of a façade, but it never came.
"Okay," she finally whispered, nodding. "But how—?"
"I've already figured it out," he said, relief in his tone. "For the next week, it'll just be the two of us plus or minus some other death eaters around here. A lot of them will be at some undisclosed location for these big meetings with Voldemort—that's all my father told me. So, I'm meant to be the one guarding you and giving you those potions that make your magic weak—but instead, I'll give you food like this to get your strength up. We can't get you out of here during then because then it'd be way too obvious that it was me."
"This Friday, my mother and father are taking us all to one of our safe houses, and it's when the manor will have the least amount of guards. Pettigrew will be the one meant to be tending to you that day, and will be the only death eater actually in the manor, but he's the weakest of them all. You'll have your strength by then, so you can easily just break out, trap him in there and leave. I'll sneak back here when my parents are in bed and I'll hide until you come out of this cell. When I see you, I'll see you off through a window out the back. All the guards will be around the front—there will be a lot less than usual; three, maybe five tops—and this particular spot is a blind spot from just about any angle, and you can leave. By the time they notice you're gone, you'll already have a massive head start. Got it?"
"...not really."
"Over the next few days, I'll give you food, not the magic-weakening potion. Then on Friday, you'll be able to attack and trap Pettigrew when he comes to give you the potion. I'll meet you outside the cell and see you off. There will be barely anyone around. That better?"
"Yes. Got it." Addie took a breath; already feeling a buzz of excitement at the anticipation.
"So we've got a plan?" He asked, and she nodded.
"We've got a plan."
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a/n:
romione <3
do we think draco is trustworthy or sus?
will addie be able to escape?
thank you all for reading! let me know what you thought of the chapter <33
-g