The Eighth Horcrux

Chapter 8: The Dinner

The first thing she felt was pain. Sharp needles of it all over her body. Her arms and legs felt stiff as boards and her head felt like it was on the verge of splitting open. Slowly, Alex opened her eyes. She was in a small, dark, stone chamber with a door and windowless walls. Malfoy Manor. It had to be. She was in one of the dungeons. She tried to sit up, but immediately regretted it as searing white-hot heat shot through every nerve in her body. She lay back down and bit her lip, tears suddenly springing to her eyes. She couldn't even remember how she had gotten here. The last thing she remembered clearly was Matt. She remembered making him promise her those three things, and then she remembered his arms around her as she fell asleep, then everything was fuzzy. She closed her eyes and concentrated on trying to remember what had happened. Salome had woken her up and said that there was a loud noise outside. Then ... what had happened after that? Something about a cat ... .and she remembered a cottage. An old woman .... had invited her inside ... why had she gone? Why had she gone inside? What had she been thinking going into a stranger's house in the middle of the night? And ... tea ... the woman had given her tea and ... Bellatrix. It had been Bellatrix.

As if on cue, the door opened and a familiar figure slunk into the room.

"Hello, Alexandra," Bellatrix's lips curved into a cruel grin. "Did you sleep well?"

"What do you want?" Alex demanded through clenched teeth, sitting up abruptly and grimacing through the pain.

"An old friend of yours would like to talk to you. He asked me to bring you here."

A thought suddenly occurred to her. "H-how did you know where I was? How did you know where to find me?" Alex asked, her voice shaking, afraid of what the answer might be.

"So observant!" Bellatrix exclaimed with mock incredulity. "So intelligent! Interesting that you noticed that, but," she giggled, "went into a stranger's house for tea in the middle of the night!"

"I ... I can't remember why I did that," Alex whispered, more to herself than to Bellatrix. "Why can't I remember ... "

Bellatrix, still cackling gleefully, leaned down until her face was inches from Alex's.

"I think I have a pretty good idea, dearie, but I'm not going to tell you!" she sing-songed. "You'll find that out later, along with how I knew where you were."

"Please just tell me," Alex pleaded as Bellatrix stood up and all but skipped over to the door.

"Oh, I couldn't do that now," Bellatrix cooed, tossing one last glance over her shoulder at Alex. "I fear it would break your heart."

She swept out of the room and Alex blinked as the door slammed shut behind her, trying to make sense of what she had just heard. However, she didn't have much time before the door opened again, much more slowly this time.

She froze, knowing who it would be before the door even opened all the way. She stepped backwards until she was pressed with her back against the cold stone wall at the far side of the chamber, as far away from the door as she could possibly be.

The door creaked open and the pale face and black robes that plagued her dreams stepped into the room.

This was the first time they had been face to face, not in a vision, since the night she had left.

"Alexandra," his lips curved into what could only be described as a sinister smile. "It's so good to see you again."

She didn't reply, just stayed where she was, the coldness from the wall seeping through her sweater and chilling her body.

"You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you."

"What do you want from me, Tom?" she asked quietly, her voice trembling against her will.