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Old 03-28-2011, 11:53 PM   #48 (permalink)
steflegan
Ravenclaw
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 666

Hogwarts RPG Name:
Melina Morninglory- "Glory"
Second Year

Ministry RPG Name:
Violet Downing
Minister's Office
Ravenclaw
WizWorld Universal / Tom Felton for President

Next chapter- long and dark. But, as I said, it always gets darker before dawn.

Let me know what you think!



Chapter Eighteen: Fall from Grace


He didn’t understand her, couldn’t comprehend why she would willingly suffer so much for someone else. Was she suicidal? But he'd known her for years, known she was smart and strong and fiercely loyal. He couldn’t stand her, but he at least had to admit she had those qualities. The ones he secretly envied. The ones that made him hate her more because he didn't possess them. Watching her under the Cruciatus Curse, though, he was surprised at how disturbed he'd felt. He’d seen it used before on prisoners in the dungeon; of course that was only because he’d snuck down to watch. His mother was very adamant about sheltering him from the uglier side of the business.

Why did he care? Was it because he knew her? Because she was a girl? Because she was the same age as he was? He didn’t know but his insides screamed that what was happening to Hermione was wrong, terribly wrong. He sat at the table, tormented by the conflict that threatened his comfortable indifference to the world.

But she’s a Mudblood, he said to himself, and Mudbloods should be wiped off the face of this earth- they poison our pure blood lines and ruin the gift meant only for us. He believed the party line- after all, it was what he’d been taught his entire life. However, he was hit by the disconcerting fact that he was merely repeating his father’s words, as if he wasn’t capable of his own thoughts.

“All right,” said Bellatrix, “She should have had enough time to come to her senses. Draco, let’s go.” His head snapped up. “Me?” “Yes you,” she said, rolling her eyes. “No, absolutely not you!” It was his mother’s voice.

She strode into the room with anger and determination. “Narcissa-” his father began. “No Lucius, I’m putting my foot down! There is no way I will allow my child to witness an interrogation. He isn’t old enough and he’s not prepared for what he’ll see. I absolutely forbid it!”

Bellatrix intervened: “Cissy, you didn’t see how well he handled himself with that blood traitor Caverty. And I think he deserves to watch the little Mudblood suffer; she’s the one who causes him so much trouble at school. He should be allowed some revenge.” “I don’t care who she is, Bella!” Narcissa shouted.

Draco just sat there, wishing with all his might that he could be anywhere but where he was. His father stood up and moved quickly to his mother. “Narcissa- No, don’t interrupt me! Draco has already started his training and is more than ready to take the next step. War is coming and he needs to be capable of the activities that war requires. He will be accompanying Bellatrix downstairs, and he will get his hands dirty! That is my final word on the subject.”

Narcissa was furious. “No! I won’t let you do this! Draco is just-" “THAT’S ENOUGH, NARCISSA!” Lucius roared. Draco jumped in his seat; he’d never heard his father dominate his mother that way. Narcissa blanched, stunned and speechless. Her eyes darted to Draco, who returned her frightened gaze with his own. He knew she wouldn’t go against his father-she never had before. In his whole life she’d never actually stepped in and protected him; she just showed up afterward to pick up the pieces.

Narcissa’s eyes filled with tears as she stared at her little boy. Then, her face hardened and she turned to her husband and sister; “Remember one thing,” she said, her voice deadly cold. “If anything happens to my son, I will kill you both. Don’t think for a moment that I wouldn’t.” With that, she marched out of the room. Draco heard her start to cry as she went up the stairs.

“Well, that was pleasant,” quipped Bellatrix. “Draco-come with me.” Draco stood up with his heart in his feet and reluctantly began to follow her. “Today, Draco!” Lucius followed behind his son with a firm hand on his back. They walked down through the dungeons again and Bellatrix opened the door to the room. Hermione’s head snapped up and she pushed herself back against the wall, as though she could pass through it and come out safe on the other side. “Have you had time to think? Decide to be a good girl and cooperate?” taunted Bellatrix, “or do you need another lesson in good manners?”

Hermione had been thinking; she’d been thinking up a more convincing lie to tell. “Look, I-I’ll tell you what I know,” she stammered. “When we all g-go home for holiday, H-Harry never lets us know where he’s staying. He feels that by doing so he keeps us out of danger. That way w-we can’t give out his location because we don’t know it ourselves. Even if we send him an owl, he won’t respond. He does it every time to protect us. Please, you must believe me! I truly don’t know where he is!!”

Bellatrix paced slowly around Hermione, her eyes narrowed. She seemed to be pondering the truth of Hermione’s statement. “Hmm- but it didn’t keep you out of danger, did it?” she mused. “Well, not to worry- I have lots of other questions for you. Here's one: you were there the night that Harry Potter discovered his prophecy in the Department of Mysteries. You heard the prophecy yourself. What did it say? Tell me exactly what it said! If you answer my questions well, you may actually leave here with all your limbs intact. If you don’t-you’ll beg for death before I’m through with you.” she said matter-of-factly. “Oh, and keep in mind that I already know parts of the truth, so I wouldn’t try to lie if I were you.”

Hermione didn’t have time to craft a compelling lie for the question anyway. Hermione tried to look indignant “I'm not going to lie! I didn't hear what it said. I couldn't. The voice was… rather soft and I wasn’t standing near enough to Harry. I certainly couldn’t make it out from where I was.” She forced herself to look Bellatrix confidently in the eyes and prayed couldn’t see through the lie.

Bellatrix frowned. “Oh dear, you’re not very much help at all,” she mock-pouted. “But I have to hand it to you- your performance was compelling. I’ve heard you're one of the cleverest witches of your year,” she said acidly, “but not quite clever enough.” She thrust her face just inches away from Hermione’s and replied in a voice both soft and deadly, “Want me to tell you how I know you just lied to me?” She watched the blood drain from Hermione’s face.

“Don’t you remember? Lucius and I were there at the Department of Mysteries that night. Your little group didn’t realize how long we’d been watching you before we made our presence known. From our distance we couldn't hear the prophecy, but we did see you. Standing right next to Harry Potter. Paying very close attention to that little globe. Now, call me crazy, but I’d bet my right arm that you heard every single word. Isn’t that right you LYING LITTLE TRAMP!!” She shook Hermione like a rag doll then struck her repeatedly, using punches to accentuate her words: “HOW DARE YOU LIE TO ME?!!” Bellatrix began to laugh, a psychotically gleeful laugh. “Oh, you’ve done it now, Mudblood! I’m going to ENJOY punishing you!” She kicked Hermione in the knee with her steel-tipped boot, causing her to cry out in pain.

“Bella,” floated Lucius’s sing-song voice, “shouldn’t we let Draco have some of the fun? You are supposed to share, are you not?” Bellatrix calmed her laughter down. “Oh of course I am! Draco, darling, come over here please, and take out your wand.” Draco felt his heart start pounding as fear gripped him like a vice. “N-no…um…that’s ok…I’m not ready… I-I-I don’t want to.” His father took his arm: “You are ready, and you are going to, so get up there.” He gave his son a rough shove forward.

Draco slowly moved toward his aunt, taking as long as he could to close the small gap between them. “You’ve never cast the Cruciatus Curse before, have you?” she asked. His eyes grew wide. “N-no,” he managed to say, “But Auntie, please, I-” “Well then, you’re in luck!” replied Bellatrix as cheerfully as if she’d told him he won the last ticket to the Quidditch World Cup. Her eyes glowed with maniacal delight. “Point your wand, dear- I believe you know the word.”

Draco slowly, unwillingly raised his wand to Hermione’s chest. He couldn't look her in the eye. He tried in vain to block out the sound of her cries. “Please, Draco! For God’s sake, please don’t do this to me!” His wand arm was shaking too violently to cast the curse, and he felt his knees threatening to buckle under him. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t escape- he couldn’t do anything but stand there frozen in fear. “Damn it, Draco, cast the curse!” shouted his father, “Do it!” He recoiled at his father’s words but just couldn’t force himself to comply.

But again, as she did with Caverty, Bellatrix put her arms around her nephew and began whispering in his ear. “It’s alright, darling. You can do this. She deserves it,” she murmered. She spoke each word slowly and deliberately.

“All those times she outdid you in class and made your father ashamed of you? All the condescending comments, the self-righteous glares, the audacious insults she’s thrown at you? She’s humiliated you; she punched you in the face while her friends looked on and laughed. Laughed at you, Draco Malfoy! That filthy little Mudblood, who isn’t fit to lick the dirt off your shoes, speaks to you as if you were beneath her! Are you going to allow that? Are you going to let her, of all people, disgrace the noble name of Malfoy because you were too cowardly to put her in her place? Maybe you’re afraid of her- how pitiful that would be. Maybe you belong beneath her.”

He felt his mind twist hard at his aunt’s voice; he felt the heat rising inside him again, boiling pure hatred in his veins. Beneath her?! Like hell!! In that moment he despised Hermione; he wanted to hurt her, to make her pay. He was no damned coward! He was ready to shut that big mouth of hers for good.

His wand was raised, his face stony. Now he looked her in the eyes. Hers were pleading and tearful; his were cold and merciless. He could see her mouth moving but couldn’t hear her begging him. Summoning all the strength he had, he channeled it straight down his arm and into his wand. “CRUCIO!!” he roared, throwing every ounce of his hatred into the word. He felt an explosion of pure power blow through him, charged with electricity. It was the most intense feeling he’d ever experienced.

The curse hit her so hard, Hermione couldn’t even scream. She felt as though she’d lost consciousness, except for the fact that her body was overloaded with agony. There was no sense of time or space; there was only pain- relentless, searing, white-hot pain. She was unaware of when she found her voice again and began screaming at the top of her lungs. She wasn’t even aware that she was slamming her head over and over into the stone wall as she convulsed from the pain. Blood was flowing from the back of her head and down her neck; she hit her head a final time and knocked herself unconscious.

Still, Draco didn’t stop. The power was too strong; he ceased to control it and it began to control him. He kept his wand aimed at her and continued to focus on the curse. Lucius grabbed him from behind, wrenching his wand arm back and breaking his connection to Hermione. Draco felt the power abandon him in a rush, driving the air out of his lungs. He collapsed on the ground, panting and light-headed. Bellatrix stared at him with an ecstatic sense of awe. Lucius sat behind him, took the wand from his hand and leaned his son back against his chest. “That’s enough for now,” he breathed.

Last edited by steflegan; 04-04-2011 at 06:46 AM. Reason: much better re-wording in many places!
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