Forever Home | Draco Malfoy

Chapter 7-6: Bloodtraitor

TW: detailed torture 

Weeks had gone by, according to Draco, yet nothing seemed to change. Desiree and Ollivander were still stuck in the cellar, doing nothing but surviving. Ollivander would occasionally be taken upstairs but that never lasted long.

Bellatrix had yet to follow up on her promise to speak to Desiree again. Desiree didn't mind, truth was, she was scared as to what lengths Bellatrix would take to extract information from her.

"Pettigrew! Get the girl!" Bellatrix shrieked. Desiree felt her stomach drop. Bellatrix was clearly mad about something, and she didn't want the anger taken out on her though that was the fate she knew she held.

Peter approached Desiree with fear in his eyes. He was obviously scared of Bellatrix. His hand was trembling as he pulled Desiree from the ground. She tried as best she could to fight back, but the same Death Eater that brought her to Bellatrix the first time took her from Peter. She landed with a harsh skid as she was tossed to the ground.

"Thank you, Rowle," Bellatrix said aggressively, looking at Peter. With this remark, Peter quickly left the room. Rowle followed not too long after, but not out of fear. "Now, let's see if you want to talk today, shall we?"

"I already told you, I don't know where they are," Desiree winced, Bellatrix had picked her up by her hair.

"Ah, well then maybe you just need proper motivation," Bellatrix chuckled, pressing Desiree's chest against the cold stone floor. Desiree felt her left arm be torn from her back. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time," she paused, placing a sharp blade against her bare skin. "Where is the safe house?"

"I don't know! They never told me! Just please don't- Ahh!' Desiree screamed. She could feel Bellatrix carving into her arm. The air hitting her wounds caused a burning sensation in her arms to spread with each new wound open.

"Tell me where they are!" Bellatrix shouted in her ear.

"I don't know! They never told me anything about it!" Desiree shouted back. Suddenly the carving sensation began again. She could feel tear welling with what felt like each letter being cut into her arm.

"Now, let me make myself clear," Bellatrix snarled in her ear, lifting her by the hair to her mouth, "If you just tell me where they are, we can all forget this happened, and I'll let you go back down to the cellar in peace."

"I don't know where they are! I swear!" Desiree wailed. By now, her arm was pulsing. She could feel blood pulling from her arm.

"Fine," Bellatrix shrugged, going back to carving letters into Desiree's arm.

"Ahhh!" Desiree screamed. She wanted badly to hold in her screams but by now her pain was far too immense.

Suddenly, the door to the drawing-room, in which Desiree was pressed against the floor, swung open. Desiree could see Narcissa walk in. But, just outside the door, she saw his tall, pale frame lurching with widened eyes. All of the colors drained from his face once seeing Desiree getting tortured by his own aunt.

"Draco," Desiree whispered, trying hard to focus on him instead of the pain.

Narcissa quickly closed the door behind her, she knew Draco shouldn't see this, "Bella! What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting the answers we need. Since she doesn't want to willingly tell us where the rest of the Alcyone family is, I figured, we'll just force it from her," Bellatrix looked up from Desiree's now bloodied arm.

"The Dark Lord did not assign this to you. In fact, he hasn't instructed anyone to do anything to her yet," Narcissa caught Desiree's pained gaze. Desiree could see the pain in Narcissa's eyes. Desiree was like a daughter to her.

"The Dark Lord will be pleased when I come to him with the whereabouts of the Alcyone family," Bellatrix spat.

"Bella, has it occurred to you that she might not actually know?"

"Oh, please, Cissy, that's what they all say," Bellatrix scoffed.

Desiree was using this small conversation break to try to recollect her faith in thinking everything would work out. Right now, all she could feel was the pain from her arm and that immensely outweighed her hopes. She could feel tears stream down her face.

"Bella!" Narcissa shouted just as the knife came back into contact with Desiree's arm. "Think of what you're doing to Draco."

"How does this have anything to do with Draco?" Bellatrix snapped.

"He cares immensely for her. I had to force him against a wall not to run in here after he recognized her screams. Bella, he is in utter agony right now. Please, just think of Draco," Narcissa pleaded.

"You will be the one to explain why we don't know the Alcyone family's location," Bellatrix sneered, removing herself from the top of Desiree.

"Thank you, Bella," Narcissa nodded, waiting for her sister to leave the room before reaching down for Desiree. "My darling girl, I am so sorry you are having to go through this. This is a life I would have never wished for you or Draco. I am so sorry. Here, let's get you down to the cellar, and I'll clean you up."

The next moments moved by in a haze for Desiree. Her vision had blurred from being brought up so fast, the immense pain in her arm was sending her into something like shock. The only thing she could register was the pained look on Draco's face as his mother brought her back down to the cellar.

"You just sit right here, and I'll be back with everything to clean your wound through the gate. If I knew it wouldn't cause you more harm, I'd let you stay up there with Draco. But, I'm afraid it would only make things worse for the both of you," Narcissa said solemnly, tucking a strand of hair behind Desiree's ear before closing the rod-ironed, gated door behind her.

In Narcissa's absence, Desiree was able to finally look at her arm for the first time. She sucked in a breath, her lip began trembling, and tears met her cheeks again as she read the word etched into her arm.

Bloodtraitor.

"Mum, please, just let me do it. I know how to do it so that she won't freak out," Draco's voice sounded from the top of the stairs.

"Take it," Narcissa muttered.

Desiree could hear footsteps slowly approaching her. She knew they were Draco's because she heard him talking to his mother on the steps leading down to the dungeon, but Desiree still felt anxiety build within her.

"Ally," Draco muttered. "Ally, I'm here to clean your arm."

Without a word, Desiree poked her arm through the hole of the gate. Her back was hidden by the wall. The only part of her that Draco could see was her arm.

She let out a small wince of pain at the sudden burn of the alcohol on the cuts.

"Ally, you know this isn't true. You aren't a bloodtraitor," Draco choked out. She could tell he was trying hard to keep it together for her. Desiree could only manage to let tears roll down her cheeks.

"I want you to know that I'm here for you. I know you probably don't want to see me, but, I'm here," said Draco, gently pressing the bandage over her wound. "I'm going to go now because I know that last thing you want to do is talk about it. But, please, don't shut me out."

Before Draco could leave, Desiree clasped her hand against his. She needed him to just stay with her. She just needed his presence, it was too much to process right now, let alone talk about.

"Stay," she muttered, squeezing his hand a bit tighter. And so, he sat, right at her side on the other side of the gated door, hand interlocked with hers. He would stay there as long as she needed him.