the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 43: the Dark Lord

Trigger warning: attempted rape.

Esmeralda had no idea how much time had passed since arriving at the Lestrange Manor on her wedding night. It could've been hours or days, she did not care. Her white dress was ripped and stained with her own blood and dust from the tiny cell they had been holding her in. A blindfold pressed her eyes tightly as they moved her from room to room. She hadn't been bothered to memorise her steps. She had no hope.

Her Animagus form had been no help the first night nor the following. She was too weak to even stand.

Bellatrix was once again circling the chair Esmeralda was chained to. The Death Eater held her wand on her right hand, yet her left was the knife's owner. The cold edge of the knife grazed Esmeralda's neck and blood trickled down towards the necklace Perla had given her. She tried to close her eyes, but Bellatrix smacked her with the back of her hand.

"Now, now," Bellatrix muttered, "Keep your eyes open. Remember what happened last time you closed them."

A shiver went down Esmeralda's spine as she remembered the pain from the knife gashing her upper thigh. She looked up at the witch and opened her eyes as much as she could. The swelling from Rodolphus' first beating lingering on her eyelids.

"That's much better," Bellatrix said, "Are you ready to tell me what I want to know ?"

"I don't know how," Esmeralda's voice came out with a rasp.

"Liar !" the black haired witch exclaimed, "Crucio !"

Esmeralda's fingers dug into the arms of the chair as her back arched with pain. She felt as if every single bone in her body broke at the same time. Her blood boiled and her head throbbed as if it would explode in any second.

Bellatrix used the Cruciatus Curse sporadically, preferring to slash, cut, and hit the young witch. Somehow, Esmeralda was grateful for it. She had the vague memory of learning that the overexposure to that particular Unforgivable Curse caused madness or even death. She knew only one thing for certain; the Death Eaters needed her alive.

The pain subsided after a couple of minutes. She looked up at Bellatrix.

"How is it that Dumbledore and McGonagall's perfect little student is so stupid ?" Rodolphus said from the corner of the room, "We've been at this for days, Bella."

"She knows what we're asking of her," she snapped at her husband, "The old lady is just stubborn."

The dark haired wizard pushed himself off the wall and approached his wife and Esmeralda slowly. Each step he took caused the tied up witch to flinch. He grabbed Bellatrix's shoulder and, together, leaned over Esmeralda.

"Maybe we should try it together," he said, his free hand curling into a fist.

Bellatrix dropped the knife on the floor and mirrored her husband. A terrifying grin appeared on both their faces as they, simultaneously, raised their fists and collided with Esmeralda's ribs.

Her vision went cloudy with every punch they threw at her. At first, she only saw their faces in front of her in between blurriness. Then, with every contact, she saw the couple laughing and torturing two figures. The vision came and went. She neither knew nor cared where they were punching her, she only cared about the horrid sight of red flashes. The figures twitched and screamed in unison as the Lestranges casted the Cruciatus Curse upon them repeatedly.

It was the same vision she had had months prior. The first time she touched Bellatrix. 

"Physical contact,"