scapegoat

03

If what had before been shouts of protest, her presence had only given way to a choir of cries.

Shouts and jeers surrounded her as faces of disgust mirrored onto the gleaming floor beneath her, some faces in whom she recognised. She grasped at her tattered clothes, feeling the blood from her previous ordeal still soaking through the material.

She tried to convince herself it was this that was creating the commotion, that the drops of blood still blossoming in her eyes were so horrific to them that that was why they were shouting. Perhaps if she said it enough it would be true.

The material tightened in her grasp.

A gavel hammered through the room and she felt Snape's presence remove itself from behind her.

Looking up she saw an older man, perhaps in his late seventies, glaring bitterly at her. His face seemed familiar, perhaps someone she'd seen shopping in Diagon Alley... He motioned with his hand, and she looked to see him gesturing to a large iron chair in the centre of the room.

"What a spectacle you've made", he drawled in a voice that was indicative of a heavy smoker. "Should you not be thanking us all for your warm welcome?"

She'd taken a seat now, looking around the room as the jeers began to turn to cackles.

"Well?", he prompted, clearly annoyed that she did not reply immediately.

"Thank you", she managed to stutter out.

He smirked and clicked his fingers. "Magnify her voice, Leveret"

A hooded figure came from her right and she flinched as an overly exaggerated spell strained her vocal chords.

"Excellent", the older man said. "I'm sure we all will be glad to hear your charming voice in full definition", he leant forward. "Tell us, do you know why you're here?"

She chewed the corner of her cheek. Her general knowledge on her situation was abysmal, all she knew was that she was part of a new regime and that part of this meant she was to be hurt in any way imaginable. Public humiliation, sexual assault, blood-letting and now a trial, she could think of endless ways she'd been abused, but not one as to why she was here in this specific seat.

"I do not", she managed to croak out as the magnifying spell constricted her throat tightly.

He clicked his tongue, the wet sound echoing around the room. "And of your friends?"

She straightened. "What of them?"

A pin could drop in the room and you'd hear it loud and clear.

"Of their location, of their whereabouts?"

She frowned. Was he tricking her into admittance or did he perhaps know where Harry and Ron were? Her trust in him was non existent, just as it was for anyone in the room, but she decided it was perhaps best to be truthful, was that not the safest option?

"I know nothing of their whereabouts", she breathed.

He scowled. "You're lying. Are you a liar?"

"No"

He laughed. "So you believe you are being one hundred percent truthful in saying you have no idea where your dear, dear friend Mr Potter is?", he looked around the room.

"I know nothing of his whereabouts", she repeated.

A flicker of anger crossed his face but it was quickly swept away with a grin. "I'm not adversed to giving you veritaserum...I'm sure you're aware of the side effects"

Her jaw loosened slightly. Her lack of knowledge seemed to have perturbed him and from what she could gather, he was going off course to his original intentions. Being under the control of someone obsessive rattled her and she tried not to show that fear outwardly as a movement came from in front of her.