Innocence

Chapter 131

CAMILLA'S POV

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," I said when I saw Poppy. She was tending to another child, he looked like a first year, maybe second. She looked up at me and smiled. "Camilla," she said. I nodded and hugged her. She looked at Severus. "Did you kidnap her?" she said sharply. My face fell. Why would she- Then it hit me. Nobody knew. Nobody knew besides me that Snape wasn't the bad guy. Well, he did bad things but he had to. He had no choice. "If you are just going to be contributing sarcasm, I can tend to Camilla on my own. But given you have actual healer training and Camilla might be dying, I'd hope you can put your feelings for me aside and help her." he replied. Poppy looked at me with shock. "Dying?" she said. "But not dead yet." I said quickly. She nodded and led me to the room in the back. I laid on the bed and she ran a diagnostic. Both their faces dropped. "You were right." Snape said. I nodded. "How did this happen?" Poppy asked. "I'll give you 3 guesses." I said. "Oh dear. Don't worry. We can fix this. Right Severus?" she asked. He was quiet. I sat up and looked at him. "Right?" I asked.

He turned around and faced me. "I know what to do, but I'm not sure we should do it." he said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "The only way to fix this is if I open your chest, re-break your ribs and heal them properly to relieve the pressure on your internal organs," he said. My face paled. "The worst part is you'd have to be awake for it because if we put you to sleep you might not wake up," he said. "So I'd feel all of it?" I asked. He nodded. "This is mad. The pain would be overbearing." Poppy said. "If we don't do this, she'll die." Snape said. "I know you have no trouble causing your students immense pain but I do. In no way will I subject-" Poppy started.
"Do it." I said. They both stopped and looked at me. "Camilla, are you sure? This will be horrible. All the pain draught in the world won't help." Poppy said. "If I don't do it, I'll die. And everything I've survived so I can fight and win this war will have been for nothing. I won't allow that." I said. They just nodded. "I'll prepare. We can begin in an hour or 2." Poppy said. Snape nodded.

"I knew it! I knew it was true!" Ginny came running in followed by Neville. They hugged me and I froze. It's been so long it didn't feel real for a second. Then it did. "Ginny, Neville. You guys are here!" I said happily. "And so are you?" Ginny said. I nodded. "Why?" she asked. "There's something I need to tell you." I said. I explained everything. What was happening and how they would fix it. "Are you mad?" Neville asked. "Yes, but that never stopped me before." I said with a chuckle. "We'll stay with you," Ginny said. I smiled. Then Poppy and Snape came back in. "Are you ready?" Poppy asked. I nodded and pulled off my sweater so I was in my bra. My ribs and stomach were black and blue. Ginny and Neville stood back and I drank a pain draught and a calming draught. Then I bit down on a rag on a rag and he began. I felt the cut and I screamed.

DRACO MALFOY

I screamed again. I saw flashes of the worst moments of my life. The moment I raped Camilla, the moment I got my dark mark, the moment I died, the moment I came back. Everything. I saw it all as pain consumed my body. I screamed again and again. Sweat coated my body and I shook like a leaf. The second Amycus, Alecto and Nathan had me, they dragged me to a room in the depths of Hogwarts. They strapped me to a chair and began the torture. That's what it was. I wasn't going to die. I was going to be tortured to death. It was far worse and Nathan knew it. He didn't let me say goodbye. I begged him, I begged him to let me say goodbye to Camilla and he wouldn't. I could feel my brain getting fuzzy. I couldn't remember things. How old was I? Where was my mother? Where was I? Was I dead? Not yet. No, I did die. But then I came back. Or did I. Did I imagine that? Or did I die again? I can't remember. I can't remember anything. Then it stopped. I gasped for air. I tried to force the air into my lungs. Words tumbled out of my mouth but I couldn't hear myself. "What's he saying?" Amycus asked. Nathan grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. "Dragon, the star is a dragon. She needs to remember. The star. It's a dragon." I mumbled. Nathan repeated it to them and they laughed. "He's gone mad." Alecto said. Nathan smirked. "Not yet. But I know what will drive him over the edge." Nathan said smugly.