𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨 (𝖽𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖿𝗈𝗒 𝗑 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋)

twenty-six

The Ministry was under our control. Saying Voldemort's name out loud alerted him. Empty cries and screams sometimes sounded from the dungeons. Voldemort was in his best place so far; I was struggling to keep hiding my pain.

Of course, I had Draco. But he was struggling already, he didn't need to know that I was too.

I was alone with my thoughts at the dining table. Suddenly, a shriek followed by hysterical laughter rang through the manor.

"It's him!" yelled Voldemort. Bellatrix jumped around behind him, laugh uncontrollably while they walked into the foyer. "Harry Potter has spoken my name! Greyback, Scabior, bring him back to me unharmed."

I jumped up from the chair and turned to the Dark Lord. "Would you like me to join them?"

"No, you'll be more useful here."

I nodded briskly, confused but ignoring it.

"Go fetch Draco, I have a feeling he'll want to be here for this."

I dashed up the stairs and down the hallway to his room. I knocked and entered to see him pacing again.

"Draco, come on." I grabbed his hand gently. He stopped walking but kept his head down. "The Dark Lord . . . he found the Golden Trio. He wants us to join him in the main room."

Draco nodded slowly but didn't move otherwise.

"Draco?"

"I'll be down in a bit."

His voice was low and shaky. Obviously he was upset, and lately he had been dealing with it worse and worse. I'm getting even more worried.

I let go of his hands and walked down to the foyer. Bellatrix was standing alone, thinking. Voldemort had disappeared, but that didn't worry me.

A flash of grey appeared in the window and I turned my attention to it. I saw a group of people making their way towards the door. Greyback and Scabior were dragging groups of people.

After the gates let them in, they walked to the door. Bellatrix told me to step back as Narcissa walked into the room.

Narcissa opened the door for the two Death Eaters. She looked at me, nodding towards upstairs. She wanted me to get Draco. I obliged and ran back up the stairs.

This time, Draco followed me down to the room.

"What is this?" Lucius said as Draco and I appeared back in the room.

"They say they've got Potter. Draco, Y/n, come here."

We walked closer to the group. Greyback moved out of the way, allowing my eyes to fall onto Potter's swollen face. I saw his scar, but his glasses were cracked and in his shirt pocket.

"Well?"

Neither of us spoke.

"Well, Y/n? Draco?" Lucius said, his voice avid. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"

"I can't—I can't be sure," Draco said, his voice shaking. He backed away from Greyback, and probably would have gone back to his room if I hadn't grabbed his arm.

"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!"

I stepped forward for Draco.

"Y/n, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiven—"

"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr Malfoy?" Greyback said, anger rising in his voice.

"Of course not, of course not!" He approached Potter, examining his pink, swollen face. "What did you do to him?"

"It wasn't us."

"It's a Stinging Jinx, sir," I said.

"There's something there, it could be the scar, stretched tight. Y/n, come here, look properly! What do you think?"

I took a close look at Potter. "I don't know." I stepped back to Draco and followed him back to the fireplace, where his mother was standing.

"We had better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa said coldly. "Completely sure that it is Potter before we summon the Dark Lord. They say that this wand is his, but it does not resemble Ollivander's description. If we are mistaken, if we called the Dark Lord for nothing . . . we'll end up like Rowle and Dolohov."

"What about the Mudblood, then?" Greyback said desperately, turning the group of prisoners, all tied together, around so we were facing Hermione Granger.

"Wait," said Narcissa. "Yes, yes! She was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the Prophet! Look, Y/n, isn't that the Granger girl?"

I hesitated. They hadn't done anything against me. I shouldn't hurt them like this. "I . . . maybe. . . ."

"That's her," Draco chimed in quietly.

"But then, that's fine the Weasley boy!" shouted Lucius, walking around the prisoners. "It's Potter's friends, isn't it?"

I realised he was talking to me and Draco again. "Yes," I said.

Bellatrix walked out of a room and into the parlor. She and Lucius started bickering once again, but my attention was focused on Potter. Bellatrix ended up Stunning Greyback snd Scabior.

She reached down and grabbed a sword from Greyback's hands. "Draco, Y/n, take Scabior outside. If you don't have the guts to finish him yourself, leave him in the courtyard for me."

I nodded, grabbing Scabior by his ankles and dragging him through the door. Draco followed suit, and soon we were outside.

"I can do it," I offered.

"I know you can. I want to try."

"Start with Crucio."

"Crucio!" Draco yelled softly, pointing his wand at Scabior. Nothing happened.

"I got this," I said. Despite every instinct telling me to stop, I put out my hands and willed all of my feelings into them. Scabior started writhing around on the ground, silently being tortured by the invisible force I could somehow control.

I couldn't bring myself to kill him, so we walked back inside. What we entered to was chaotic—the rest of the group of prisoners were screaming from the dungeons, while Granger was being dragged by her hair into the middle of the room. Bellatrix was laughing with she dragged her.

Weasley was screaming for Granger. I saw Draco wince with every shriek, and I grabbed his hand.

I led him upstairs and took him into my room, which was furthest from the front room, where Granger was being tortured.

He was crying again. This time, it was just a few, empty tears.

I sat next to Draco on the couch and grabbed his hand.

"Hey, Draco?"

"Yeah?" His voice was shaking.

"Can I tell you something?"

He nodded, wiping his few tears away with his free hand.

I took a deep breath. "I know . . . that you and I are going through Hell right now. This is probably the hardest thing we'll ever have to suffer through in our lives. I just . . . I wanted you to know that I'm here with you the whole way. We're going through this together. And hopefully, we won't be under the Dark Lord's control someday."

"I love you, Y/n," Draco said softly, resting his head on my shoulder.

"I love you too."