Legilimens

| Twelve |

9 June, 1998

Days had gone by since the capture of the new prisoners, but none would dare speak. Not even under the pressure of Bellatrix' torture. After the death of Dean Thomas, all of them had kept their mouth shut, partly in fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, but also because they didn't want to betray their friends and families more that they had already. The Dark Lord's army hadn't located the boy yet, but they were getting closer each and every day, raiding every known hideouts of the order, from the Shell Cottage that was now partially destroyed, to Godric's Hollow and the Shrieking Shack. They hadn't found anything of relevance, but they would, eventually. 

Today was day three of torture, and Bellatrix was in charge. After the daily reunion with the Dark Lord, most of his followers disapparated away to fulfill their part of the mission, only Draco stayed behind, exiting the room quickly when The Dark Lord demanded to speak privately with his aunt. He moved quickly out of the room and into the entrance hall, then disapparated to the locked door of the cellar. He silently pushed it open, then walked to the prisoners cowering away from him to put a few more locks on their minds just in case Bellatrix could move around his previous ones, then used the Obliviate charm on the young witches so no one would, accidentally or not, betray him. He was about to walk out of the room when he spotted Luna. They had never been friends, and never would. But she used to be one of Josie's closest friends, and Draco knew Josephine would be upset if he didn't at least try to protect her. He sighed in exasperation, asking himself when had he turned so weak for Josie, then walked to the blonde girl and hit her with a numbing charm. It wouldn't fully protect her from the torture, but the pain would be far more bearable.

When everything was ready, he chained them and brought them up the stairs and into the drawing room, where they all waited the arrival of the Lestrange witch. She entered the room a few minutes later, licking her lips at the sight in front of her. Draco felt bile rise in his throat, then coughed to clear it.

"I will leave you to it, dear aunt. Something else requires my attention."

He took long strides to leave the room as quickly as possible, the laugh of his aunt bouncing off the walls on his way out.

***

Draco was getting closer to his bedroom quarters, the only rooms of  Malfoy Manor left untouched, when he heard the floor creak behind him, warning him of the presence of someone. He turned around in a flash and pushed the unwelcome Death Eater to the wall, his hand closing around his throat. The hall was poorly lit, making it hard to recognize the dark wizard in front of him. Draco drew out his wand.

"Lumos."

The tip of the wand light up, illuminating the surprised face of Theodore Nott. Nott had been a fellow Slytherin, in the same year as Draco, but the two boys had never been really close. Draco had spent his youth believing blood traitors and mudbloods needed to be eradicated, while Nott hadn't mind their presence. The Nott family was old fashioned, and Mr. Nott was a known Death Eater, strict and harsh to his son, but Theodore had refused to abide to the old laws. Draco and him where equals, but in Draco's young eyes, Nott had been a weak disgrace to the pure bloods. If only he knew then...

When the Dark Lord rose again, Mr. Nott promised the Dark Lord the obedience of his son, and by the time the Dark Mark's had been etched onto Theodore's skin, Mr. Nott had died and it was too late to back down. Theo loathed the man, his armies, the killing... He thought he was the only one feeling out of place in the cold manor. He thought he was the only one wishing things would go back to how they used to be. But he was wrong. He had followed Draco one day, and what he had seen had given him hope.

"I know..." He coughed out, gasping for air "what you are doing."

Draco stood stoically, his grip slightly loosening.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." He spat.

"I saw you." He coughed. "In the cellar."

Draco narrowed his eyes menacingly before he kicked a door open and threw Nott inside. He followed after looking down the corridor, then shut the door and cast a Muffliato at the room.

"Speak, Nott."

"I saw what you did to them in the cellar. I saw you help them." He took a deep breath. "I want to help too."

Draco stayed silent, urging him to keep talking.

"I hate this bloody mess we created, and I want that bastard dead."

Draco wanted to believe him, but he couldn't risk it. With no warning, he crawled into the other wizard's mind and looked for confirmation. Theodore had spoken the truth, and as he was about to untangle himself from the maze of memories, he saw something only his family and the culprits knew. Something about him. He scrambled out of Theodore's mind and stepped back, looking at him in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"I'm responsible of the potions in the Manor. I was going to find out eventually."

"Why do you want to help me?"

"My mother died because of all this. Your parents did too, my friends... I just want it all to end."

Draco nodded slowly, then presented his hand to shake.

"This is what we're going to do, mate..."
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Sorry for the short filler chapter, but I thought Draco was in great need for a friend..! I promise next chapter will be more important and interesting ;)

Gaby xx