Eleanore and Draco were now sat, nervously, at the desk of Amycus Carrow, watching apprehensively as he played with his impressive collection of knives.
"So...what's your excuse?" He spoke menacingly, leaning himself forward on his elbows. Eleanore thought fast.
"I-I just wanted to see my mother...in the mirror of erised."
To her horror, Amycus let out a blood curdling laugh.
"You lie well, Miss Yaxley. But not well enough."
"B-but, I did."
"She just lost her mother, Amycus." Spoke Draco, sternly, only for him to be greeted by a knife point to the throat.
"And you wanted a group of what, 20 or so, students to see her too, did you?"
At this, Eleanore was stuck. She had hoped that her excuse would allow them to be separated from the others, giving her the opportunity to convince the Carrows to hand the punishment over to them.
Her plan did not work out.
When Amycus drew the knife tip from Draco's throat and sat down, an audible sigh of relief escaped her lips.
"You're not getting away that easily, Eleanore...you will tell us what you were doing, or we will kill you both."
"You can't kill me!" Interjected Eleanore, leaping forward in her seat slightly.
"The dark lord gave me a mission and it's a mission that must be carried out til the end."
Amycus looked immediately defeated, and he groaned in dissatisfaction.
"Very well, have it your way, Miss Yaxley."
Alecto lunged forward from behind them, grasping Eleanore's chin in her bony hand, squeezing her cheeks together to force her mouth open. She pulled her neck backwards, forcing her gaze towards Alecto, and poured a suspicious looking liquid down her throat.
"What the fuck is that?" Draco gasped, flustered in his seat and unsure whether to break Alecto's grasp on Eleanore.
"Language, Mr Malfoy!" Spoke Amycus, taking too much pride in the scene in front of him.
"It's veritaserum. No doubt you're familiar with it."
Draco sprang from his seat, forcing Alecto's hand from Eleanore.
"You're giving her too much, goddamn it!"
Eleanore's neck snapped forwards, and she coughed and spluttered some of the liquid back up, wiping her mouth as she shot an evil glare towards Amycus.
"Let me try that again...WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT?"
The anger in his voice resonated through the whole room, startling the two students.
Eleanore resisted, as best as she could, she could feel the words forming in her mouth, but she bit her tongue hard. The sweat had begun to prick at her temples and she could feel her body tremble as she forced the words back down her throat. She looked nervously to Draco, who had now wrapped his hand around her arm in an attempt to comfort her. Eleanore felt like she was drowning, slowly, as the words seemed to bubble in her throat. She let out a desperate gasp of air, and to her dismay, she spoke.
"We were teaching the younger years."
An evil smile played on Amycus' lips.
"And what were you teaching them, exactly?"
"Defence against the dark arts." Eleanore had given up resisting, for she new she could not win.
"How long have you been teaching the younger years?"
"A few months."
"And what are the full names of the students assisting you?"
"Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom."
It was at these words, that Eleanore fell limp. Her hand clasped over her mouth in shock of what she had just said.
"Enlighten me, Miss Yaxley...were you and Draco actually punishing all of those students, like we asked you to?"
"No."
She had begun to cry, causing Amycus to laugh at her.
"Pathetic...just like your father."
The anger immediately possesed Eleanore's being, and she found herself lunging across the table towards Amycus, reaching for his throat.
"Eleanore! Stop!" Cried Draco, desperately trying to pull her from the desk.
Suddenly, both Draco and Eleanore found themselves bound with thick ropes, and they both toppled to the floor with imbalance. Alecto had cast the incarcerous spell.
Eleanore's tears fell thick and fast on the cold, stony floors of the office. She looked to Draco desperately for comfort, her eyes begging for forgiveness. Draco looked back at her soothingly. He hated how he couldn't hold her hand.
"Let's have some fun, shall we, Alecto? The truth serum will still be running rampant through young Eleanore's blood, of course."
Eleanore felt Amycus' foot step heavily on her hip, forcing her to roll onto her back, her gaze was snatched away from Draco and now all she could see was the evil smiles of the Carrows.
"Who do you love the most in this world, Eleanore?"
He mocked, in a childish voice. Eleanore's tears were streaming down her hot cheeks.
"Draco Malfoy and my- and my father."
"And tell me, do you miss your mother?"
"YES!" She screamed back at them.
Amycus bent forward, placing his face just inches away from hers. He spat on her, relishing in the sight of his saliva mingling with her tears. Eleanore had a look of pure disgust playing in her eyes.
"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU SICK BASTARD!"
Screamed Draco, wriggling chaotically in a futile attempt to free himself.
"DID I NOT SAY LANGUAGE, DRACO?!"
Amycus screamed back, making his way towards him. To Eleanore's horror, she could hear the sound of Amycus' foot landing heavily on Draco, the sound of pain escaping his mouth was enough to force a loud cry from Eleanore. The sounds of his boot crashing down on Draco's bones continued for an agonising amount of time. When it finally did stop, Eleanore willed herself to roll around and look at Draco, whose face was now bloodied and bruised.
"Oh my god, Draco." She gasped.
"It's okay, El. I'll be okay." He whispered back.
"Alright, Alecto, cut them free. I have one last thing for them to do."
Alecto bent forward with a large knife in her hand, slicing through the thick rope like it was butter.
Reluctantly, Eleanore rose, taking Draco's hand and helping him up. He let out a small cry of pain when he sat, for he was pretty sure Amycus had broken a rib.
"Since it was your genius idea to use this Eleanore, I must insist you use the Sectumsempra curse on Draco."
Eleanore rose immediately from her seat, her fists clenched tightly at her sides.
"What? No!"
Amycus stood too, his wand drawn furiously towards Eleanore.
"It is my understanding, that the dark lord gave us explicit instruction to kill you, if you do not conform."
Eleanore laughed cruelly in his face, her eyes squinted with anger.
"You dumb fuck, did you not hear me correctly when I said you can't kill me?"
Amycus' lips were screwed up with dissatisfaction, and he lowered his wand slowly.
"Very well then."
His arm became outstretched quickly, violently, and he screamed the word "Sectumsempra", jolting his wand towards the young witch, who had been sent flying into the the office door with a loud crash. She had been knocked out cold, and now was lying bloody on the floor.
"What have you done?" Draco gasped, tears falling quickly from his blood shot eyes. He hovered his hand over the deep gashes in Eleanore's torso as if he could radiate healing powers from his palms.
"I think we've had enough, here. Take her to the hospital wing, Malfoy."
As much as it physically pained him, Draco scooped the unconscious Eleanore into his arms and carried her from the office, sobbing uncontrollably as her blood cascaded down his arms. When they had used the curse on the younger years, their wands were strategically placed so that the cuts would only skim their arms. Amycus had used the curse directly towards Eleanore, causing several deep gashes all over her body, which were now oozing with blood.
Draco laid her down on the floor, brushing a strand of hair from her face and tucking it gently behind her ear. He raked his mind desperately for the healing charm, and pointed his wand to her chest.
Vulnera Sanentur
Vulnera Sanentur
Vulnera Sanentur
His wand hovered up and down her torso, and a small smile of pure relief tugged at his lips when he watched the blood flow slowly back to her. The cuts were healing right before his eyes, and yet she remained unconscious.
When Draco was satisfied with his work, he scooped her back into his arms and carried her to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey frowned at them when she saw what the Carrows had done, to two students nonetheless. She also insisted that Draco stay too, for she inspected the bruises and cuts on his face carefully. She had also placed on hand firmly on his chest, and shuddered visibly when Draco let out a cry of pain. Pomfrey confirmed to Draco, that he had sustained a broken rib.
Draco and Eleanore spent the night together in the hospital wing, their assigned beds next to each other. Draco's eyes never left the young witch lying peacefully beside him. Not until he finally fell asleep himself.