Choice's Curse {d.m.}

One Last Time

a/n- i wrote this whole thing in less than a day because ive been home feeling super sick so hopefully its not too incoherent! sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter, hopefully this'll make up for it<3

I had felt more fear over the course of my sixth year than I had felt in the previous years of Hogwarts combined, but I'd never felt fear quite like this. I felt frozen, like even my very blood had stopped thrumming through my veins, as Bellatrix strode towards Draco and I.

My heart was pounding so hard it hurt, my hands were shaking, and my knees felt like jelly. Bellatrix's eyes were practically black, they were so dark, and her skin was pale, making the bruises underneath her eyes stand out like a neon sign. Her teeth were crooked, yellow, as if she'd been a smoker for years on end, and her nails were cracked and sharp.

And of course, on her arm, tattooed in dark ink, was the Dark Mark.

I was trying to think of what to do, but the terror that was pounding in my chest was making it impossible to think. There was no way I could take on Bellatrix by myself, and even with Draco, we'd likely end up dead sooner than we'd end up victorious. Draco hadn't answered his...his cousin, apparently, and I was hoping that she hadn't heard what I had told Draco right before she appeared.

Draco was already in danger of being labeled as a traitor and as a failure, and I was certain that even being told by someone like me that he was loved was one step closer to that. If she had heard, Bellatrix didn't say anything. Instead, she cocked her head at her cousin, her pile of messy hair falling loosely around her gaunt face.

"Come, nephew. You know the Dark Lord doesn't like to be kept waiting," she scolded. "Grab the girl, and we'll return to the manor. Our plans can wait a few days, I'm sure. Oh, how my lord is going to reward me!" Bellatrix said joyously.

Bellatrix turned, heading towards the cabinet. I longed for Draco just to look at me, so I could at least feel slightly comforted, but all he did was grab my hand and pull me forward. He squeezed it tightly for a moment, as if he were telling me he was there.

It helped, but not nearly enough. I didn't...I didn't feel betrayed. What was he going to do, directly defy someone who worked so closely with Voldemort? I wouldn't have expected him to, no matter what our relationship was. That would've sealed our fate quicker than I could've blinked.

No, he had to obey, and I had to go along with him. We'd...we'd figure something out.

Right?

Draco shut the cabinet door behind me, immersing us in suffocating darkness. I waited to feel something, but it just felt like we were standing in a wardrobe for a few moments before Draco muttered something and opened the door once more.

We weren't in the Room of Requirement anymore, though. Draco pushed me out in front of him, making me step out into the dimly lit, faintly musty-smelling shop that we had appeared in. The shelves were lined with faerie skulls and wicked-looking weapons and cards drenched in dried blood and practically every other bit of dark magic or cursed item you could think of.

I decided rather quickly I didn't care much for this shop.

I had no idea where we were, but Draco and Bellatrix clearly did. The shop owner dipped his head to them reverently before disappearing to the back room, leaving the three of us alone.

"Draco, you know how to Apparate, yes?" Bellatrix asked.

Draco nodded, much to my surprise. That was magic we weren't supposed to learn until our seventh year, if we learned it at all.