just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

96. behind enemy lines pt. 2

cw~

"I brought you some more food." Draco Malfoy's voice carried through the makeshift dungeon in his families cellar, a steel barred door keeping Juniper caged down there like an animal. Her eyes followed him as he walked through, placing the tray of leftover scraps of the Deatheater's dinner beside the other's that she had left untouched, and were now rotting.
This time he looked back at her, and she thought she saw a trace of remorse on his face. He kept his distance, just watching her as she stared at him.

"You can't do magic down here. It's been... enchanted. Or whatever." He muttered, looking around. "I can see you're trying, but... it's not going to work."

Juniper continued to stare at him with a slight disgusted expression. She stopped trying to set him on fire with her mind, not that she'd ever let him know that he was onto her.

"Do you want a change of clothes?" He continued, glancing up at the stairs he just descended. Juniper had been sitting in the murky, swampish cellar for a week- or it might've been two weeks, or three, she lost count when they started clearing some of her trays- in her gold bridesmaid dress, watching parts of it go black from dirt or stray strings of fabric start to unravel.

"Dumbledore told me you were dead." He said as Juniper gave no response. "And I believed him. I thought I killed you in the astronomy tower instead of stunning you."

Juniper continued to stare, wishing that he had killed her in the astronomy tower, and wishing even more that he'd kill her now.

"Look." He let out a long sigh, his voice dropping lower in case someone was listening in. "Bellatrix is mean to arrive in a few days. I don't have the strength to kill you, and she doesn't have the restraint. Just do whatever she says, don't try and defy her or fight back, she'll just torture you."

Juniper let out a scoff, kicking the tray of food away from her as she glared at him. She went to make a snarky retort but her voice got caught in her throat, coming out as weak cough.
A week later Draco, along with another Deatheater, came back down and dragged a weak and frail Juniper out of the cellar by the arms, her knees bashing against the stairs as they pulled her. They left her on the marble ground, both falling back in line with a circle of Deatheaters that surrounded her.
She laid on her stomach, her cheek flat against the floor as she stared at Draco, his eyes darting around the room to avoid eye contact with anyone.
The sound of Bellatrix Lestrange's maniacal laughter echoed from the foyer, tension rippling through the room as she got louder, waltzing through the house as if it was her own, stuck in conversation with Narcissa. She let out an excited squeak, the clacking of her heels stopping as she spotted Juniper on the ground, her white-blond hair splayed out on the ground.

"What do we have here?" Bellatrix cooed, her footsteps quieter as she approached Juniper.

"Veela, connection to the Weasley family." Lucius said, peering over her shoulder to look at Juniper. "And the Order, and Esmerelda Jones. And in the Department of Mysteries-."

"The pink one!" Bellatrix concluded, crouching down to push Juniper's hair out of her face with her wand.

"The pink one." Lucius sighed in agreement. Bellatrix tilted her head, facing Juniper, only inches away. Juniper could see the decay in her teeth and the black eyeliner smudges around her dark eyes.

"Welcome." Bellatrix grinned, her eyes flashing with joy. "Lucius, what's the plan?"

"Numbers wouldn't hurt." Lucius mumbled, thinking up an answer. "And it's not a good look for the Order for someone so close to swap sides."

"And being a pretty little Veela..." Bellatrix turned back to Juniper, all her thoughts visible on her face as she bared her black teeth in a smile. "That's all some people need."