Deception

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ xxxᴠɪx - ʟᴏᴠᴇ & ᴡᴀʀ

It's a strange notion, pain.

You know what it is, what it mostly feels like. You know when to expect it, you often see it coming, but it's an entirely new thing when it's so excruciating that you might think it's the last thing you feel.

The first thing I heard when I arrived at the destination of Bellatrix's choice, was panicked screaming and maniacal laughter. The pain in my abdomen was so extreme I couldn't grasp the entirety of the situation. I was blinded and felt hot liquid gushing over my legs as I writhed on the cold black wooden floor beneath me. Trembling uncontrollably.

"She's splinched!" cheered Bellatrix. "Look at her! Haha!"

"Bella!" shouted a familiar voice. "Do something!"

"I think I'll leave her like this, she's going to die anyway!" jeered Bellatrix at the familiar voice.

"You can't possibly know what the Dark Lord wants! She might be of value to Him!" yelled the familiar voice again. I couldn't place whose voice it was, it was someone I should know.

There was a pause when nobody said anything, and I thought I might've passed out for real when Bellatrix groaned: "Fine!"

A nonverbal spell was cast on me and I felt stiff as a board, then the darkness took me.

~•~

"Cast a diagnostic." Said someone softly. "Hurry, before she comes back!"

I slowly opened my eyes, my eyelashes fluttered to shield my eyes from the white light cast on me by someone's wand.

"She's awake!" said the other voice I heard before. "Elenore, how do you feel?"

"Fantastic." I muttered my voice was hoarse. Had I been screaming? Was I the one screaming when I arrived? Why couldn't I remember? My eyes darted to the large orb that was flickering extremely fast above my stomach, its black swirl encircling it menacingly, as if it was choking it. My uniform and vest were stained red and it felt wet and sticky against my skin.

"What does this mean?" asked the first voice and I strained my eyes to look at the person to the right of me. I couldn't see her clearly because of the lumos the other person was casting on me, but I finally started to recognise her.

"Mother?" I said softly. "Is that you?"

There was a pause and suddenly I felt a familiar hand on my own.

"Yes it's me." she said sadly.

"Are you alright?" I asked her as I tried to sit up but the jolts of pain that coursed through me instantly convinced me otherwise.

"Are you honestly asking if I'm alright?" she huffed. "Ella you've been splinched! And very bad too!"

I blinked at this information. It would make sense, was my child safe? I looked at the fast flickering orb of light again and swallowed as I remembered what madam Pomfrey told me.

"Do you see the flickering of the orb? It isn't supposed to flicker, it's supposed to pulse, slowly. Every time it flickers it's siphoning."

This meant it was now siphoning fast. I could feel it drain my energy and my magic.

"I'm dying." I said more to myself than anyone else in the vicinity. There were two gasps.

"We just patched you up." Said the second voice, she directed her wand to the side and I saw a blonde witch staring at me with her dark eyes. Narcissa. "Your vitals seem fine."

"No they're not." I said with a sigh as I felt tired. "I'm dying. My child is siphoning my magic and life force. It's tainted with dark magic thanks to the Dark Lord. It lives off me like.. a parasite and will eventually kill me." I said with a grimace as I recalled Draco's words. "Now that I'm hurt severely, it will only siphon faster."