The familiar walls of Grimmauld Place are what Delilah is greeted with as the red smoke fades from around them.
"Where are we?" Draco breaks the silence as he observes his surroundings.
"A safe house," Delilah replies. "It belonged to Sirius after the death of his family"
"This is the Black household?" Draco asks. "It's falling apart"
"It needs some TLC," Delilah traces her fingers across the peeling wallpaper. "Sirius started fixing it up before he died. Then over the summer Hermione, Cedric and I continued fixing it up"
A loud clatter coming from the lounge causes the three to enter defensive mode. Delilah's fingers spark with the familiar red magic as Stuart, Cedric and Draco draw their wands.
Delilah's eyes lock onto the squat figure of Mundungus Fletcher who was rifling through the belongings in one of the cases that stored the antiquities collected over the years.
"You dirty little scavenger!" Delilah snaps.
With a flick of Delilah's hand, Mundungus is pinned against the wall. Red tendrils snake across his body, holding him firmly in place as fear fills his eyes.
"Miss Potter-"
"How long have you been stealing from this house?" Delilah asks.
Mundungus' lips were firmly sealed closed, refusing to answer Delilah's question. His silence causes Delilah to tilt her head to the side with a small smile forming on her face.
"If you're not going to talk, then I guess you don't need to breathe do you?"
Delilah clenches her fist and Mundungus' mouth falls open as his chest contracts, trying to draw in air. But it was a pointless attempt, his throat was entirely closed up by Delilah's magic.
"Delilah!" Draco looks at the man who was steadily turning the colour of a blueberry.
"Just wait," Delilah responds to Draco's exclamation of her name. "You ready to talk now?"
Mundungus nods rapidly and Delilah unclenches her fist. Loud gasps are the only noise in the room as the small man tries to suck in as much oxygen as he could.
"That wasn't necessary," The man wheezes.
"Don't push me, Dung," Is Delilah's response. "Now how long have you been stealing from here?"
"Since Sirius' death," Mundungus replies. "Anytime you, Diggory and the Granger girl left, I'd come in and pilfer a few valuables"
"Who knows you're here?" Delilah asks.
"No one," Mundungus replies. "No one knows"
"Good," Delilah replies. "I think I'm going to leave you with my friend Merope for a while and then we'll send you on your not-so-merry way"
Delilah waves her hand, a red shimmer coating the walls.
"Oh and Mundungus?"
"Yes?"
"If you try to escape this room, the shimmer on the walls will melt the skin off your body,"
Delilah closes the door to the lounge as Merope's screams fill her ears followed by the terrified screams of Mundungus.
"Is this really necessary?" Stuart asks, wincing each time Mundungus shrieks in terror.
"No, but isn't it fun?" Delilah asks, offering an innocent grin that was anything but.
The witch begins the ascent of the stairs before turning to the two wizards.
"Oh and if any of you try to break him out, it won't work,"
Stuart goes to reach for the door handle to test Delilah's claims. Before his hand even makes a connection with the object, an electrical jolt courses through his body. The wizard turns to Delilah, his hair standing on end which causes amused laughter to fall from Delilah's lips.
"She's gone insane," Draco whispers.
"Not insane," Cedric replies. "She's angry. She's lost nearly everyone she loves"
The screams of Mundungus continued for two days before Delilah decided she'd had her fun.
Delilah opens the door to the lounge room and Merope offers her a wide grin.
"Had fun?" Delilah asks and the ghost nods. "How are you feeling Dung?"
"I won't come back I swear," The man whispers, his voice trembling with fear.
"Well, I am going to have to modify your memory," Delilah kisses her teeth before leaning down to come face to face with the man who was bound to a kitchen chair. "We all know you'd sell us out to the highest bidder and we can't have that"
"So I won't remember any of this?"
"Oh now Mundungus, don't be silly," Delilah's voice was mocking. "You're going to remember every second of your and Merope's time together. I'm just going to modify myself, Cedric, Stuart and Draco out of your memory. But you're going to remember every bit of pain and fear you've felt"
Delilah's hand glows red as she waves it in front of Mundungus's eyes. She scans through his memories, removing and modifying where she needs to. She then gently taps Mundungus' temple, and the man falls forward. His eyes were shut, in a state of slumber that would only end when he was out of Grimmauld Place.
Delilah waves her hand, the fireplace bursting to life before she throws floo powder into the flames. Once the flames had turned green, Delilah begins to lug the man over to the fireplace.
"Oh, wait," Delilah crouches down, grabbing Mundungus' little bag full of money.
Once she was satisfied, she pushes the man into the fire. The green flames engulf the conscious man and he's gone from her sight.
"Where did you send him?" Stuart asks and only receives a shrug in response.
"Who cares?" Delilah asks, walking up to Stuart. "Cheer up Stu, the fun is only just getting started"
YOU ARE READING
SKREIGH- C.DIGGORY
FanfictionIn which Cedric Diggory falls in love with the Hogwarts whack job. CEDRIC DIGGORY X OC