BLOOD TRAITOR [HARRY POTTER - BOOK 1]

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter world; all rights go to J.K Rowling. I do however own my original character Nova Malfoy and her background.

Fear had long abandoned her as she looked into the ratty face of Peter Pettigrew. It abandoned her like everything else; her magic refused to defend her and her father was nowhere to be seen as she was tortured and his master attempted to control her. Even the great Albus Dumbledore was absent. Nova Malfoy had been thrown into reality and she was learning a harsh lesson: she was alone and if she couldn't protect herself, she was going to die.

"You don't have to do this." She tried to reason as she trembled in anticipation. She watched as the reddened rope burns sunk deeper into her wrists with every pull of her restraints; she couldn't give up. Slowly, she lifted her head only to gulp as her nose grazed the wand that was mere centimetres from her face. "You can let me go." Her grey eyes caught Wormtail's, whose face faltered slightly causing his clawed hands to loosen around his wand. "I lost control of my magic again...I overpowered you." She prompted, nodding slighting with a charmed smile.

"He'll...he'll know. He'll kill me, I have to!" The small man spluttered, thrown by the girl's charm. She reminded him ever so slightly of his master and it unsettled him causing him to tighten his grip once more. Nova watched the tormented look on the man's face as he fought with his decision; his hands shook incredibly and his wand flew erratically, worsening her dizziness.

"I'll alter your memories, he'll never know. I promise." A slight smirk tried to force its way through the pleading look on her face but it was easily forced away; if there was one thing that she had learned from her brother it was the art of hiding emotion, the art of deception and so she pushed the cunningness and the calculations back behind the walls that hid her fear and the excruciating pain. "You know what murdering a defenceless girl would do to your soul...is it worth it when I can make it all go away?"

Wormtail shifted on his feet as the witch's eyes bored into him until the pressure was too much. His wand dropped as he ran to her and untied her restraints, muttering incoherently to himself. As Nova rose to her full height, slightly dizzy from the blood loss and fatigue, the man almost bowed as he held out his wand to her. She gladly took it as she felt the power that she had over him before turning to head out the door. Wormtail whimpered behind her as she reached the threshold of the door causing her to close her eyes and exhale before turning to face him, concentrating as hard as she possibly could, she performed a memory altering charm - that she had read about in a book that she had stolen from Professor Flitwick – sealing their secret to her mind alone.

The corridor was pitch black as she whispered Lumos. Her hands trembled as she forced her feet forward, grasping the wall to steady herself and blinking furiously in an attempt to banish her blurred vision. She froze as she heard footsteps approaching and the murmur of whispered plans, her mind raced as her feet remained planted with her lack of energy and her heart hammered her chest cavity with every approaching footfall. As her knees buckled under the weight of her body, two arms wrapped themselves around her.

"Nova!" A familiar female voice rung out as they held her steady. "It's okay, I'm here." The voice that she now recognised as Tonks, cooed softly. "Remus! Sirius! I have her!"

The youngest Malfoy was tearing at the seams as she broke down in her cousin's arms. She cried her heart out as the adrenaline washed away and the pain flooded in – drowning her. Nova had never known fear until she was bound to that chair, never known panic until she was face to face with the darkest wizard of all time. She felt weak as she allowed herself to cry, felt frustrated as her words failed her. Her tears signified her experience, her fear but mostly the simple knowledge that she truly wasn't alone. Her friends and family had been looking for her and they had eventually found her.