The Godmother

18. interrogation

The smell was the worst thing. Other than the dark. And the wet, cushiony brick floor. And the screaming. Why were there people screaming?

Elizabeth felt like they'd cut off all her senses and slit her throat. She couldn't tell which was her left or her right. They'd thrown her in a lone cell, cut off the lights and left her alone. Had it been an hour or a day? She couldn't tell. There was no windows or ventilation. Nothing. Love had torn her apart, again.

The smell was overbearing. Mixed with the heat due to there being no ventilation, Elizabeth felt like she was swimming in feceas and sweat and blood and mould. The ground was so mouldy it felt like she was walking on a bed of moss. She'd found a hair bench in the corner, ignored the hair, sat down and hadn't stood up since.

As for the screaming, it could have been anything. It didn't stop. It was there was she arrived and stopped for the fraction of a second to draw a breath and then keep screaming, as if it would make a difference. How had it been screaming for so long? Its throat should be ripped bare to blood and whatever skin was left of the back of its neck.

How was it still screaming? Elizabeth closed her eyes (not that it made any difference) and tried to pretend it wasn't there. She wavered in and out of consciousness, though she couldn't really tell what was real and what was a dream anymore.

How had this happened? How had everything been turned upside down so quickly? Was Sirius ok? Easy question: the necklace hadn't burnt up, so he must have been safe. It didn't stop Elizabeth's mind from wandering.

Those aurors had obviously been there all along, which means they knew something. They must have made Dumbledore make Elizabeth confess. They'd have told him to riddle his words in the perfect way so that she would tell him that she'd been 'talking' to Sirius. Now that she looked back on it, she could understand what his eyes were saying. They're behind the curtains. She wished she hadn't have been so dumb and ignorant. After so many years at war, she let something so fickle and obvious slip. It was blindingly obvious. Why had she missed it? Why was she trapped in a cell?

She didn't know whether she was awake or not, but the clanging of metal echoed through the cell. Elizabeth opened her eyes- or she blinked- either way, there was a torch suddenly shining brightly in her eyes. She put her hand over the torch in front of her face, blocking the burning fire that was being held closely to her face.

"Elizabeth!", a voice whispered desperately. It wasn't one that she knew, but it was familiar. Elizabeth felt feverish in the light of the fire. She hadn't been used to the light. She blinked hard, squinting her eyes before she made out the face behind the fire. It was Atticus Floyd, the lawyer she'd gone to see with Remus.

"Atticus?", Elizabeth asked. Her voice was raspy and mangled, as though a cat had scratched it. Had the person who was screaming been her? "Is that really you?", she managed.

"Yes, yes it is", he said, "I need to cut the long story short, Elizabeth. You don't have much time. They want to execute you, blame you for Black's escape despite you undoubted innocence. I want to help you. In a few minutes after I leave, they're going to take you to a small room and interview you. They'll dose you with veritaserum. You need to lie."

"How am I going to lie if they give me veritaserum", Elizabeth said, hopelessly. She felt tears running down her burning cheeks.

"With this", he said. From his pocket he pulled a tiny, black vial. "It will make you immune to the effects of veritaserum and all other potions that they give you. It lasts for a day. You will lie to them, say that you've never talked to him, seen him, only heard of him in the papers. Whatever it takes. They're going to believe you because they'll think you're dosed on veritaserum."