Katie and Draco had gotten a compartment to themselves on the Hogwarts Express. They were returning to Malfoy Manor for the Easter holidays and Katie was not at all excited. For most of the train ride, she sat in silence, staring out the window, her head leaning against the rain-splashed panes.
"Nervous?" Draco asked, glancing up from the book that he had been reading.
"Can't say I'm thrilled to be going back to the house where I'm being help captive." my mumbled miserably.
Draco frowned and took her hand. "I promise Easter is going to be better than Christmas," he assured her. "I'll make sure of it."
How Draco was supposed to make an enjoyable time out of Katie's two weeks being locked up and surrounded by people that she despised, Katie didn't know. Draco's promise that Easter would be better than Christmas was broken as soon as they arrived at Malfoy Manor. Narcissa Malfoy was waiting for them on the platform to escort them home. As they walked up the long, wide, hedge-shadowed driveway of the Manor, Narcissa kept throwing nervous glances over her shoulder, as though she was expecting someone to leap from the tall hedges, grab Katie and Draco and disappear with them.
Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange were flanking the front doors like security guards, which Katie thought was odd because Mr Malfoy no longer had a wand — Voldemort had made sure of that. Lucius and Bellatrix said nothing as Narcissa led the two students into the Manor, nor did they come inside after them. The doors slammed shut and Lucius and Bellatrix remained outside, guarding the doors.
"What are they doing?" Draco asked, referring to his father and his aunt, but his mother only shushed him.
Narcissa's shaking hand clamped onto Katie's shoulder. Katie could feel panic growing inside of her. What was going on? Why was everyone acting so suspicious?
"He's — he's waiting for you in there, Katerina." Narcissa stammered, pointing to the grand room. A shiver ran down Katie's spine. How had she not been expecting this.
Katie and Draco exchanged a single, fearful look before Katie nodded and entered the grand room. The table and chairs had been put back in place as she and Bellatrix no longer needed the area for training. With a horrible case of déjà vu, Katie spied Voldemort sitting at the head of the table. He was twirling his wand idly around his fingers and staring straight at Katerina, his red eyes glowing with malice. Katie got the feeling that this meeting would not be as civil as their first.
She knew what Voldemort was going to tell her to do, so she crossed the floor and sat down opposite him before he could ask her to do so. Voldemort placed his wand down on the table but kept his palm resting atop of it.
"You have not done as I have asked," he said, his voice raspy and cold. "I sent you back to Hogwarts with strict orders to help Severus Snape take complete control of the school and the students within it."
"Snape seems to be doing just fine on his own." Katie said.
Voldemort let out a huff of annoyance.
"There is a rebel organisation in the school," he went on. Katie's stomach lurched uncomfortably. "I know not the name of the organisation, nor do I know its members, but I am aware that a band of students meets every week to plot and plan rebellion."
"You're scared of a group of school kids?" Katie arched an eyebrow.
"I have reason to believe that this rebel group is in close affiliation with the secret society known as the Order of the Phoenix."
"The Order was disbanded," Katie lied quickly. "After Sirius died."
Voldemort's eyes narrowed. He surveyed his daughter avidly. Although she would never admit it aloud, Katerina was terrified. She thought she was doing quite a good job at keeping her voice steady and her expression fierce, yet their was no denying the terror that seemed to pulse through her very veins anytime she was in the presence of Lord Voldemort.
"You dare lie to me?" Voldemort hissed. The frightening sound made Katie wince.
"I'm not lying." she said after swallowing down a lump in her throat. She could have sworn she heard Voldemort growl.
"You have lied to me twice and disobeyed my direct order to help Severus Snape take control of Hogwarts." Voldemort spoke slowly, dauntingly, and if he was trying to intimidate Katie, it was certainly working, but she was far too stubborn to back down.
"I know you won't hurt me," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not afraid of you."
Apparently, Voldemort did not like it when someone told them they were not afraid of him, because he got to his feet so fast that Katie was sure he must have broken the sound barrier.
"Wormtail!" Voldemort bellowed.
Katie stiffened. She had not noticed the third person in the room until he came scurrying out of the shadows. He was a short man with thin, unkempt hair that sat in balding patches on his head. His fingernails were long and unclean and his eyes were wide and watery.
With a roar of rage within her, Katie recognised Peter Pettigrew — the man who had sold the whereabouts of Lily and James Potter to Voldemort.
"Get me the boy." Voldemort told Wormtail.
"Yes — yes, my Lord." Wormtail whimpered and he left the room at once.
"No!" Katie pointed her wand at Wormtail but Voldemort disarmed her swiftly. She rounded on her father. "Leave him alone, leave him alone! He hasn't done anything!"
Voldemort said nothing. He paced up and down in front of the fireplace while Katie stood helplessly fidgeting with her fingers, desperately racking her brains to come up with a way to get herself and Draco out of this situation.
No more than two minutes later, Wormtail returned, dragging a frightened-looking Draco by the sleeve. There was a rush of footsteps and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy hurried inside. They were as white as snow.
"My Lord—" Narcissa started.
"Silence!" Voldemort cut her off. Narcissa flinched then, whimpering, latched onto her husband's arm and watched despairingly as Wormtail dragged her only son to the centre of the room, situating him mere feet away from the Dark Lord. Draco's pale eyes were swimming with horror.
Drawing a deep breath, Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it squarely at Draco, who shut his eyes tight, as did his mother and father.
"Don't!" Katie shouted, tears streaming down her face. "Please don't! I'll do anything, I'll tell you anything!"
Although Voldemort's face was severely lacking in features, Katerina was sure that he was smirking triumphantly as he turned, lowering his wand ever-so-slightly, to meet his daughter's eyes.
"Anything?" Voldemort repeated rapaciously.
Katie gulped harshly, realising the danger of the bargain she had just made.
"Anything." she confirmed. Her voice was heavy as she blinked away her tears. Voldemort lowered his wand to his side and Katie let out a sigh of relief, but her ease was short lived.
"I have but one question," Voldemort said leisurely, as though he was savouring the sound of his own haunting voice. "Where is Harry Potter?"
Katie froze — not just her body, but her voice too, and her mind. She had not even considered the fact that this might be something Voldemort would ask of her. Wide eyes flickering between Draco and Voldemort, Katie had all but one thought -- would she prioritise Harry's safety or Draco's?
Draco was here with her now, standing before Lord Voldemort, trembling with fear. If she refused to answer Voldemort's question, he would torture Draco, and Katie was sure that he would show no mercy. On the other hand, if she was to tell Voldemort the last place she had seen Harry, he would have a better chance of finding him, and when Voldemort found Harry, he would waste no time in killing him. Harry was a great wizard, there was no doubt about it, but even if he and Hermione had managed to hunt down and destroy all of the Horcruxes, Katie wondered whether or not Harry would be able to defeat Voldemort one-on-one. He was, after all, one of, if not the most powerful Dark wizard to ever live, and Harry was all but a seventeen year old boy.
"I..." Katie began. She squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't know."
"Liar!" Voldemort bellowed. Katie had been bracing herself for a roar of fury, but that did not stop it from being any less spine-chilling.
"I'm not lying! I don't know where he is!"
"Crucio!"
Narcissa buried her head in her husband's chest as Draco screamed and fell to his knees.
"Stop it!" Katerina's scream was somehow louder than Draco's.
"Tell me where Harry Potter is!"
"I don't know, I don't know!"
Draco screamed even louder. Katie ran forward and dropped down by his side, trying and failing to hold him still, to give him comfort, to let him know that she was right there with him, but he continued to thrash and cry in agony.
"You were with him!" Voldemort roared. "Why did he not return to Hogwarts!"
"I don't know!"
Voldemort's Cruciatus Curse must have grown more intense because Draco's screams grew louder again and echoed throughout the room. Narcissa was sobbing and Katie couldn't see through her tears.
"Stop it!" she begged. "Please, stop it!"
Voldemort did not lift the spell. The colour was fading from Draco's face.
"Horcruxes!" Katie shouted, guilt flooding her the moment the words left her mouth.
As soon as she spoke, Draco stopped screaming. A fire was burning in Voldemort's eyes but Katie payed no mind to it. She pulled Draco's head into her lap, brushed the hair from his face and cradled him. He did not open his eyes and he was still shaking, but at least he was alive.
"I'm sorry," Katie whispered to him. "I'm so sorry."
"What did you say?" Voldemort hissed.
Katie bit her lip, but there was no point holding back any longer. She had already let the secret out, so she might as well play to her advantage. Now it was her turn to intimidate Voldemort, which was probably the stupidest thing she would ever do in all her years. Carefully laying Draco's head down on the floor, Katie brought herself to her feet. Narcissa and Lucius threw themselves forward to check on their son.
"He's hunting Horcruxes," Katie said loudly and clearly. "And I was helping him before I came here."
Voldemort's head twitched upwards and Katie believed that, had he had a real nose and not just slits where a nose should be, his nostrils would have flared.
"But you already knew that, didn't you?" Katie drawled menacingly. She started pacing forwards and Voldemort cast no spells to push her back. He had been stunned into silence. "You've known for months. You know that they've already found one, and you know that it's only a matter of time before they find the rest."
"Enough of this!" Voldemort barked.
Katie stepped closer still. All of her fear had been diminished and replaced with anger and a thirst for vengeance. There was no way Voldemort was going to torture Draco and get away with it.
"And they'll find them, all right. They'll destroy them, too, and then Harry will destroy you."
"Harry Potter is a child!" Voldemort roared.
"A child who defeated you when he was a baby!"
Voldemort slashed his wand through the air and Katie felt pain shoot across her cheek. It was as if she had been whipped. She reached up and touched her trembling fingers to her scar, the one that Remus had given her so many years before, to find that Voldemort had reopened it. Not only had the wound been split open again, Voldemort cut it deeper, longer and wider, and blood was pouring from it an an alarmingly rapid rate.
In his other hand, Voldemort still had Katie's wand clutched tightly. Katie knew that this was a long shot — she had never successfully done wandless magic before, but she focused her narrowed eyes on her wand and shouted, "Accio!"
Miraculously, her wand left Voldemort's hand and flew straight into her own. She goggled at it briefly but did not have time to sit and admire her own abilities. Voldemort was now pointing his wand directly at her. She thought it was a little hypocritical of him that, were any of the Death Eaters to lay so much as a finger on her, he would chop off their entire arm, but he could duel her and abuse her and it was totally fine.
Katerina aimed for Voldemort's chest. He let out a cackle of mockery.
"Do you really think your timid school spells are any match for my power?" he said.
Katie tightened her grip on her wand. "You said it yourself, father," she responded. "I've got hidden power that other wizards could only dream of."
Katerina had never quite understood what her unspoken power was, but she knew one thing — it was a byproduct of rage, as Voldemort had so kindly informed her. It was sparked by a craving for revenge, and in that moment, she was feeling angry and vengeful.
She was well aware that she couldn't really kill Voldemort. She had no way of knowing if Harry had found all the Horcruxes. Even if he had, as far as they knew, the sword of Gryffindor was the only way to destroy the Horcruxes, and last time Katie checked, Harry did not had the sword lying around. Maybe, if she got lucky, she could destroy his body and slow him down. Harry had done if before as a mere infant, so why couldn't she.
"Rina, what are you doing?" Draco asked, his voice hoarse and raspy from screaming so much.
At first, Katie thought that he was referring to the fact that she was about to duel Voldemort, but then she realised that the entire room was trembling. It was as if there was an earthquake, and she could tell by the expressions of mingled shock and confusion on the faces of Voldemort, the Malfoys, and Bellatrix, who had since joined the scene, that none of them were making the room quaver.
Katie looked at her wand. A faint silver glow was surrounding it — so indistinct that it may have been a sliver of light passing through a dust cloud.
The chandelier began to clank and clink, the windows were rattling, and Voldemort almost looked scared.
"What is this?" he asked. "What are you doing?"
Before Katie could respond, before she could fully comprehend what she was doing and how she was doing it, the chandelier exploded and the windows smashed. Glass rained down upon them and Katie was too flabbergasted to react. Glass shards scraped and cut her skin. For a few moments, the sound of shattering and falling glass was so great that it drowned out all other noise, and the silence that followed the shower was so thick that it was almost pulverising.
"I knew it..." Voldemort whispered. "I knew you had power."
Then, in a whirl of black smoke, Voldemort was gone. Exhausted from the energy it took her to preform whatever kind of magic she had just done, Katerina collapsed. Draco was sitting up now. The shock of a room in his house being blasted apart may have woken him up a little.
"How — how did you—?" he gasped.
"I don't know," Katie breathed, staring at her hands and her wand. "I didn't even do it on purpose."
Katie looked up at the Malfoys and Bellatrix, who appeared to be just as perplexed and astonished as she was.
"I'm sorry about your room, Mrs Malfoy." Katie said sheepishly while scratching the back of her neck. Bellatrix waved her wand and the broken glass began returning to the windows and the chandelier, but she kept her eyes firmly fixed on Katie as if she were in a trance and her wand was acting of its own accord.
***
"This is no good." Katie grumbled, folding her arms.
Draco chuckled. "You're not going to get it first try. It took me years to learn."
They were sat by the piano in Katie's bedroom at Malfoy Manor. Determined to keep his promise that Easter would be better than Christmas, Draco had been teaching her to play the piano, which they quickly discovered she was useless at.
"We've been at it for days and I still can't tell a B from an F."
"That's because there is no F, darling."
Katie scoffed. "Whatever."
"Here, look," Draco took Katerina's hand and guided it to a key near the centre of the piano. "This is a middle C."
"All right..." Katie still sounded unsure.
Draco took his hand off of hers. "OK, now play--"
"Hey, no, put your hand back." she protested.
Draco rolled his eyes but grinned nonetheless.
There was a knock at the door. Katie and Draco turned their heads in time to see Wormtail hobble into the room. He was more fidgety than usual — something that happened when he was feeling anxious.
"M-Master Malfoy," he stammered. "Mistress Bellatrix wishes to see you in the grand room."
Katie gave Draco a fearful look but he squeezed her hand, smiled reassuringly, and left the room with Wormtail. For the next few minutes, Katie aimlessly hit the keys on the piano, playing a tune that sounded horrible. She couldn't seem to sit still. What did Bellatrix want with Draco?
Ten minutes passed and Draco still had not returned. Curiosity and worry getting the better of her, Katie left the bedroom. The cold eyes of the Malfoy family portraits followed her as she walked through the hallway.
"Was that you playing the piano?" Septimus Malfoy said shrewdly. "May I request that you never attempt it again? My ears physically cannot bleed — as I am a painting — but were I not—"
"Septimus!" the female Malfoy ancestor scolded. "For the last time, do not disrespect the Dark Lord's daughter!"
As Katie descended the stairs and grew closer to the grand room, she was starting to hear voices from within. Someone was yelling — Bellatrix, and she was angry. Katie could not make out exactly what Bellatrix was saying, but then the woman shouted something clear as day.
"Get the girl!"
The door burst open and Wormtail emerged frantically. Katie froze, her muscles seizing up, as Wormtail's eyes found her. Wormtail nodded his head back towards the door from which he had come and Katie nodded. Her mouth was dry and her heart beat was rapidly picking up, but, nevertheless, she still followed him inside.
What she saw inside the grand room made her heart miss several beats.
Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were standing in front of a boy, the face of whom Katie could not see because Draco was crouched in front of him. A little way to the right stood Bellatrix next to a Death Eater that Katie recognised from the wanted posters. It was the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. There were two other men that Katie did not know but they were restraining — Katie resisted the urge to gasp — Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
They looked dreadful. Their clothes were filthy, torn and matted with blood, their faces grimy, their hair tangled and, as Katie glanced down at herself, dressed in the sleek black skirt and white blouse that the enchanted wardrobe had picked for her, she could not help but feel guilty. All this time she had been complaining about being held at Malfoy Manor while it was really Harry, Ron and Hermione who had it worst. They had been living in a tent, scraping for food and hunting for pieces of Voldemort's soul that were damn near impossible to find.
With a horrible stab of panic, Katie understood something. If Ron and Hermione were there, then Harry must have been kidnapped too. That could only mean that the boy on his knees was—
"Harry Potter!" Bellatrix rasped. "Blair, you know him better than anyone. Is this Harry Potter?"
Katie was confused as to why Bellatrix could not just identify Harry himself, but as she stepped forward, she understood why. His face was terribly misshapen — it was red and puffy and his eyes were completely obscured by his eyelids which had swollen to a tremendous size. She knew at once that this was Harry, but she was not about to hand him over to the Death Eaters.
"No," she said firmly. "It's not him."
Lucius' nostrils flared, Bellatrix sneered and Narcissa paled. Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance.
"Not him?" Bellatrix repeated, malice dripping from her voice.
Katie shook her head. "Not him."
"Well, what about the other two?" Bellatrix demanded. She sounded panicked. "Are they not the Mudblood and the blood traitor that he's thought to be travelling with?"
Katie met Hermione's eyes. Something was swirling inside them — but was it fear? Desperation? Katie wasn't sure.
"Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley," Lucius spat their names with utmost disgust. "Yes, it is them."
"No, it isn't." Katie countered. Once more, Hermione and Ron looked at each other.
"Yes it is!" Lucius barked.
"No, it's not," Katie bit back angrily. "Ron is my step-brother and Hermione is my best friend, I think I'd recognise them."
Anger burning in his eyes, Lucius lunged forward and seized Katie by the arm, an act that took her by surprise. She did not think that Lucius would have the nerve to defy Voldemort's strict orders not to harm her.
"Lucius!" Narcissa warned shrilly. He ignored her.
"You listen well, Blair," Lucius growled. His jowls were quivering with rage. "If I find out that you're lying to me—"
Katie yanked her arm from Mr Malfoy's grasp. "You wouldn't dare to hurt me. He'd have your head."
"Not if I am the one to hand Potter over to him!"
"That's not Harry Potter!" Katie yelled.
"Yes it is!"
Without stopping to think about it, Katie drew her wand. She and Lucius were standing so close that, when she pointed her wand at him, it almost touched his nose.
"I blew your grand room up before. Don't make me do it again." she warned.
Suddenly, Bellatrix let out a scream that sounded like a cry of anguish. Everyone jumped. The woman was pointing at the man that had hold of Ron.
"What is that?" she whispered.
"Sword." the man grunted.
"Give it to me."
"It's not yours, Missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it."
There was a bang and a flash of red light. The man fell, motionless, to the floor. There was a roar of anger from his fellows: the man holding Hermione released her and drew his wand.
"What d'you think you're playing at, woman?"
"Stupefy!" she screamed. "Stupefy!"
The second man fell where he stood while a spell forced Greyback to his knees and held his arms outstretched. Bellatrix bore down upon him, the sword in question now clutched in her hand, and Katie realised what it was. A ruby glinted on the end of the magnificent silver sword — it was the sword of Gryffindor.
"Where did you get this sword?" Bellatrix hissed at Greyback as she pulled his wand out of his unresistant grip.
"How dare you!" he snarled. He bared his pointed teeth. "Release me, woman!"
"Where did you get this sword?" she repeated, brandishing it in his face. "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"
"It was in their tent," Greyback told her. "Release me, I say!"
She waved her wand and the werewolf sprang to his feet, but appeared too wary to approach her. He prowled behind an armchair and stood there.
"Draco, move this scum outside," Bellatrix ordered, indicating to the unconscious men. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."
Both Katie and Narcissa took furious steps forward, but Katie spoke first.
"Don't you dare speak to Draco like—"
"Be quiet!" Bellatrix shrieked. Then she turned to Narcissa. "The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"
Katie looked to Harry but saw that he was avidly avoiding her gaze. What were he, Ron and Hermione thinking in that very moment? As far as they knew, Katie was dead, and now they found her living in apparent luxury with the Malfoys. Katie could only hope that they didn't think she had left them to join Voldemort.
Bellatrix stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. "If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed," she muttered to herself. "The Dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself... but if he finds out... I must... I must know..."
She turned back to her sister again.
"The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!"
"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my—"
"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" Bellatrix shrieked. Katie had never seen her look so demonic, nor did she have any idea why Bellatrix was acting this way. Sure, she had always been mad, but Katie thought she was overreacting about the sword.
"Take these prisoners to the cellar, Greyback." Narcissa told the werewolf.
"Wait," Bellatrix said sharply. "All except... except for the Mudblood."
Katie was sure her heart stopped.
"No!" Ron shouted. "You can have me, keep me!"
Bellatrix hit him across the face; the blow echoed around the room.
"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you neck," she said. "Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them — yet."
She threw Greyback's wand to him, grabbed Hermione by the hair and dragged her to the middle of the room, where she threw her to the floor as Greyback forced Harry and Ron out of the door.
"That sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringotts. How did you get it?" Bellatrix demanded. She was standing over Hermione, pointing her wand down at her. Katie's heart was beating so fast that she was sure it was going to explode.
"What else did you and my friends take from my vault?" Bellatrix shouted.
"We didn't take anything," Hermione sobbed. "We found it — please — we didn't take anything!"
"You're lying, you filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth! Crucio!"
Hermione screamed — a horrible, blood-curdling scream that almost made Katie feel physical pain. A hand slipped into hers and she looked aside to find that Draco had returned from disposing of the men. He would not look at Hermione. His face was contorted with anguish and he flinched every time Hermione screams grew louder.
"I left the door open," Draco whispered to Katie. "Come on, we can get away."
Katie gaped at him like he had three heads.
"What?" she said. "No, we have to help them. We have to help Hermione."
Draco shook his head and tried to pull Katie along, but she would not budge. "There's nothing you can do, Rina. Our best bet is to leave now. We can run away. Remember you asked me to run away.. on the night that Dumbledore died? We can escape all of this."
"There's no escaping this, Draco!" Katie shouted over Hermione's ringing screams. Katie seized Draco's arm, pulled up his sleeve and brandished his Dark Mark in his face. "This will never go away, this will follow you forever, wherever you go. You can't escape this!"
"There's nothing we can do, Katerina!" Draco hissed.
Katie and Draco had been so caught up in their own predicament that the did not notice that, not only had Hermione stopped screaming, but Bellatrix had brought a goblin up from the cellar and was now interrogating him about the sword.
"Well?" Bellatrix said to the goblin. "Is it the true sword?"
"No," the goblin answered. "It is a fake."
"Are you sure? Quite sure?"
"Yes."
Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from it.
"Good." she said, and with a casual flick of her wand she slashed a deep cut into the goblin's face, and he dropped with a yell at her feet.
"And now," Bellatrix said triumphantly as she rolled up her sleeve. "We call the Dark Lord."
She touched her finger to the Dark Mark. Draco's grip on Katie's hand hardened.
"Come on!" he whispered, panicking now. "We're running out of time!"
"I can't leave them!" Katie whispered.
"And I think we can dispose of the Mudblood," Bellatrix simpered. "Greyback, take her if you want her."
"NO!" Ron burst into the room; Bellatrix looked round, shocked.
"Expelliarmus!" Ron roared, pointing a wand that wasn't his at Bellatrix, and hers flew into the air and was caught by Harry, who had sprinted after Ron. Lucius, Narcissa and Greyback wheeled about. Harry stunned Mr Malfoy and he collapsed onto the hearth. Jets of light flew around the room. Draco pulled Katie to the floor and a burst of green light hit the wall where her head had been only seconds before.
"STOP OR SHE DIES!"
At once, the flashes stopped. Katie whirled around to find the source of the voice. Bellatrix was supporting Hermione, who seemed to be unconscious, and was holding a short silver knife to Hermione's throat. Katie squeezed Draco's hand so firmly that she may have broken a few of his bones.
"Drop your wands," Bellatrix ordered. "Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"
Simultaneously, Harry and Ron dropped their wands to the floor at their feet and both of them raised their hands to shoulder height.
"Good!" Bellatrix leered.. "Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches!"
Draco gave Katie a hopeless look. She knew that he had no choice as he stepped forwards and picked up the wand from Harry and Ron's feet.
There was a peculiar grinding noise from above and everyone raised their gazes upwards in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and an ominous jingle, it began to fall. Bellatrix, who was directly beneath it, dropped Hermione, screamed and threw herself aside. Hermione fell into Ron's arms.
"Protego!" Katie screamed, shielding herself and Draco from the glass. She did not fancy being cut up by that chandelier again.
In the shock of the moment, Katie and Draco did not notice Harry hurtling towards them. Harry wrestled the wands out of Draco's hands and, after meeting Katie's eyes for the briefest of moments, regrouped with his friends and, somehow, Dobby.
"Stupid elf!" Bellatrix screeched. "You could've killed me!"
"You must not hurt Harry Potter." Dobby squeaked.
"Kill him, Cissy!" Bellatrix ordered. Her sister raised her wand but Dobby snapped his fingers and Narcissa's wand flew from her hand and landed on the other side of the room.
"How dare you take a witch's wand! How dare you defy your masters!" Bellatrix bellowed crazily.
Dobby straightened up proudly. "Dobby has no master! Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"
Harry and Ron seized Dobby's hands, Hermione clung onto Ron, and Dobby spun on the spot to Disapparate. In one desperate attempt for revenge for the elf spoiling her plans, Bellatrix hurled her dagger, and it disappeared with the group.
"We have to go," Draco said to Katie. "He's coming — if he finds out we lied..."
Katie was frozen in shock.
"Rina, come on!"
But Bellatrix had heard him.
"Not so fast." she growled, her deranged eyes focused on the pair of Slytherins.