Legilimens

| Fourteen |

17 June, 1998

She was in a dark and humid room, and all she could hear was the faint drip of water colliding with the cold concrete floor she was lying on. Upon arriving at the manor, some Death Eaters had brought her to the cellar and knocked her out, and she only gained consciousness a short while ago. Nothing could reveal the time, and she could've been held captive for minutes or hours. She had spent many days at Malfoy Manor in the past, but she had always tried to avoid the cellar. Looking around her, she could barely see the faint shadow of the pillars and the guard standing outside the metal door, watching over her. The sound of her breathing was all that reached her ears, and she waited what seemed like hours before the sounds of footsteps resonated down the stairs and the door creaked open. Josephine was too far away to see the faces of the people that walked slowly into the room, and slowly moved their way. As soon as the door clanked shut, the other prisoners scattered away, whimpering faintly and rubbing their open wounds and bruises. She recognized the faces of some students that had shared her classes, but her eyes widened when she noticed Luna Lovegood sitting a short distance away, singing softly to herself.

"Luna!" She whispered-yelled.

The singing stopped right away and the blonde turned her head sideways, a grin forming on her split lips as she saw her friend. The two of them hugged and Josie stepped back to examine Luna's battered features. Her lips were split, dried blood at their corners. A bruise was forming on her cheekbone and her left eye was swollen shut. Josephine winced at the sight and tried to use a wandless spell to heal her wounds, but nothing happened.

"We can't use magic in here." Said Luna at the confused look on her friend's face. "It's guarded."

Josephine nodded and sat down beside her friend.

"How long have you been here?" Asked Josie.

"I don't know, exactly. It's hard to grasp time while being here..."

Josephine nodded in understanding.

"But I'm glad you're here. It means we will be rescued soon."

"Why do you say that?"

"You are way too valuable to the rebellion. They can't risk losing you. They'll come for us." She added, sure of herself.

Before Josephine could say anything, the door opened and Bellatrix entered the dark room, her eyes looking around until they stopped on Josephine. The dark witch smiled briefly and yelled at the wizard guarding the room.

"Her." She said, pointing at Josie. "Bring her to the drawing room."

She then turned on her heels and left the room. The guard, she recognized as Augustus Rockwood, walked to her and grabbed her by the arm before pulling her all the way up the stairs and into the drawing room. During her stay at the Manor, she had spent her days either outside, in the Malfoy's library or here, with Narcissa, who loved to lose herself in her many drawings and paintings. Now, the room had been emptied, the canvases thrown carelessly in the corner of the room. Bellatrix was waiting for her in the center of the room, and Rockwood quickly went back to his guarding position, leaving the two women alone in the vacant room.

Josephine looked around, trying to avoid the cold stare of the other witch, not wanting to show any sign of weakness of nervousness. Swallowing her fear, she finally stared the dangerous witch in the eyes and waited for her to say something.

"Before the others arrive, I think you and I should talk. Girl to girl." Bellatrix finally said, approaching slowly.

Her mind was screaming at her to step back, but she didn't move a muscle. Bellatrix circled around her, grasping strands of Josie's hair between her dirty fingers and examining her from head to toe.