The Mudblood

Chapter 111 : Summer

The artwork for this chapter was made by https://www.quotev.com/29338974 and it's awesome! Lainey's orange hair fades into black and then honey blonde because those are the colors that it's been (:

"Do you know what you've done?"

"Shut up," I murmured, my voice sounding higher and more strained than it should have. I was curled up against the wall that divided Malfoy Manor's foyer from the dining hall, my knees hugging my chest as my hands squeezed either side of my head. It was so late at night that it was nearly a new day, but tiredness was the least of the pains that I felt. Every muscle in my body was twitching and constricting at odd intervals as sparks of agony lingered in my nerves. I had never personally endured the Cruciatus Curse; my mind had only felt its pain through the visions where my mother was tortured, so I hadn't had any idea that the effects would last even after the spell had ended, that my body would continue to be rocked with torment.

It hadn't taken me long to realize that I should have listened to Draco, that we shouldn't have returned to the Manor. As soon as we'd Apparated into the foyer, masked Death Eaters were upon us, dragging us apart even through my protests. Voldemort took his wrath out upon me first, openly torturing me in front of all of his minions. I wasn't as brave or tough as Harry or Ginny or Fred would have been; I screamed, I cried, I begged. Luckily, Draco was still so disorientated and delusional that he didn't seem to comprehend what was going on. Maybe he would have wanted to watch, though. After what I'd put him through this evening alone, he would probably revel in my suffering.

Though the actual torture of the Cruciatus Curse had been almost unbearable, it was nothing compared to the desperation and dismay that I felt now. While I was sitting here on the floor, still aching and sore and going slightly insane from the pain and the lack of sleep, Draco Malfoy was inside the dining hall with Voldemort, still mostly hairless, still in deep shock, and now being forced to torture Death Eater Rowle for failing to capture Harry Potter. As if being thrown in a raging fire wasn't enough, Voldemort felt the need to punish Draco even further for lying about my whereabouts. Narcissa Malfoy had a reason to be hovering over me now, yelling at me in a whispered tone as she resisted the urge to assault me.

"You had Draco lie to the Dark Lord for you?" she fumed in a hushed tone as her thin fingers clenched into fists. "He could be killed—"

"I know," I snapped, my words drowned out by the screams of Rowle. My body shivered involuntarily and I squeezed my eyes shut to ward off the pain. "I know—I know it was selfish of me. I didn't think—"

"Clearly you didn't think—"

"I didn't think Voldemort would come looking for me! And I didn't think that today would be the day that he happened to overthrow the Ministry—"

"And I suppose there was nothing you could have done to prevent him from being thrown in a fire?" she hissed as redness consumed her pale face. My stomach knotted as I recalled that there was something I could have done: I could have tortured Fred, and that would have saved Draco from nearly being burned alive. This fact only increased my guilt and made me feel more confused than before. "He must be traumatized! He could have died—"

"Why aren't you berating your sister, hm?" I questioned as I finally looked her in the eye. The dim light of the foyer was giving me headache, and her features were distorted with my brain being in such a haze. "Bellatrix is the one that threw him in the fire! She could have prevented that—"

"Bellatrix has been under the Imperius Curse whenever it comes to torturing Draco," Narcissa spat venomously. "Ever since she was hesitant to torture him at the beginning of the summer, the Dark Lord's felt that it's necessary to give her an 'extra push', as he says. My family does not hold the same prestige that it once did with the Dark Lord, especially not now that our poor Draco's been betrothed to you. Maybe it would have been better if he'd died."