Annabella The Sidekick (Sequal To Defiance)

Chapter 43

    "The dark lord is coming to see you in three days," Bellatrix laughs as she's torturing me. "He wants me to try and get you to our cause. If you don't join, he'll kill you himself." Bellatrix laughs very hard as if she's heard a hilarious joke.
    Voldemort, coming here to kill me. I expected to be killed, but not this soon. I never had any hope for rescue though. At least, I hope nobody would be stupid enough to try and rescue me.
    The next two days are only agony. I've tried to imagine the outside doesn't exist, as the man in the next cell told me to. He was killed yesterday. He held no purpose to them.
    On the day before Voldemort comes, the food comes down as usual. Only now, someone new is carrying it. "Draco," I whisper. His head turns and his eyes grow wide with shock. The tray with a few slices of bread falls from his hands and hits the ground with a loud sound. Cursing, he picks it up quickly.
    Coming over to my cell, he asks, "How long have you been here?" I shrug. "He's coming to kill me tomorrow Draco," I whisper. Angrily, Draco shakes his head. "Listen to me Annabella. You will not die. I'm sending a message to the order. I'm brining you something else to eat, just hold on," he says.
    So I do. I'm coughing up blood, but that's nothing new. I suspect it has something to do with the amount of times Bellatrix has kicked me. Everything hurts. Whenever my cuts, the ones that are words, start to scab over, Bellatrix opens them again with her knife.
    A while later, Draco comes downstairs with a sandwich. "I'm so sorry Bell," he says. I shrug, tearing into the sandwich. "You didn't know," I tell him. "I heard screaming," Draco tells me. "It's probably nothing new," I say bitterly. "You're right," he replies.
    "Anyway, listen. I've managed to get a message out to the order. It wasn't easy, but I did it. They're going to come for you. You have to run and not look back. I don't exist from now on, understand?" He asks. I nod silently. "Don't be like that. It's better this way. Someday this will all be over and we'll be okay again," he reassures me. "I love you," he says. "I love you too," I reply.
    With something of substance on my stomach, I lay down in the cell. I'm still bleeding, but I feel a bit better. I don't know if I'm just drowsy or losing too much blood, buy I somehow fall asleep.
    I hear footsteps coming down the stairs. I'm excited at first until I see the death eater's mask. I shrink back against the wall when the death eater stops outside my cell. "I'm about to die," I mutter to myself, angry at Draco. He gave me hope. For a while, I had hoped that I would live.
    I wait for the death eater to grab my arm and drag me away. I will not go down without a fight. Not today. He comes closer, but not agressively. "What have they done to you?" He asks. Oh my Merlin. "Remus?" I ask. He quickly puts a finger over his lips. "Don't talk Annabella," he instructs me before gently lifting me.
    When we get upstairs, I see the door to the sitting room where I was being tortured is closed. We almost make it to the door when a blonde haired woman comes downstairs. Narcissa. She looks like she's about to call out, but changes her mind. She tosses something to us that Remus catches. My wand! She gives a curt nod before screaming. "Bella!"
    Remus runs out the door, toward the boundaries of the grounds. Spells are shooting past us and out of nowhere, other order members appear, casting spells back at the death eaters. Remus turns on the spot, and I feel all my cuts reopen.
    We land somewhere, and I'm set down on something soft. More footsteps sound, followed by a shriek. "Molly! Send a letter to Dumbledore!" Remus shouts. He reaches into the cabinet for something, pulls it out, and comes close.
    "Annabella? Can you hear me?" He asks. I try to say his name, but only a croaking noise comes out. He smooths my blood - matted hair. "It's okay. I have some Dittany. It's going to sting but it'll be okay," he tells me. Soon, I feel a sharp pain on my arm. After the past few days, it's nothing I can't handle.
    Remus heals a few of the smaller cuts riddled across my stomach, revealing the larger ones. Those. "Oh my," he says. "I think it might scar," he says. He continues to smooth my hair, telling me to just hold on for a little longer.
    Finally I realize it; I'm safe. I start sobbing immediately. "Annabella? What is it?" Remus asks, alarmed. "I'm safe?" I ask. "Yes, you're safe. I promise," Remus tells me. I try to smile, but start coughing up blood instead.
    "George! Fred!" I hear Mrs. Weasley shout. "Mum I need to see her!" George exclaims. "George that's not a good idea," Remus says. "For two reasons. One, she's very injured and bleeding. Two, she's in her bra." There's a silence. "Fine, but I'm staying in the hall," he says.
    I start coughing again, spitting up blood. "Kreacher!" Remus shouts. "Kreacher doesn't answer to filthy half-breeds!" I hear the house elf say. "Kreacher?" I whisper. The surly house elf has always had a special spot for me. "What can Kreacher do for Mistress?" He asks. "Water?" I ask. He nods and disappears, only to reappear with a glass.
    "Kreacher will do it!" He exclaims when Remus tries to take the glass. Gently, the elf cradles my head in one and hand and brings the glass to my lips with the other. I sip the water, and soon it's gone. "Not too much or Mistress will be ill," Kreacher says.
    Soon, someone appears in my line of sight. It's blurry however, so I can't tell who. "Just swallow this dear," she says. "It's better if you're asleep." So I drink the potion she puts to my lips. Before I know it, everything is black.
    When I wake up, I'm in my room at Grimmauld place. I'm clothed, thank goodness, in a pair of pajama pants and one of George's shirts. I look around and see my dad sitting beside my bed, reading. "Daddy?" I ask. He looks up with relief in his eyes. "Sky! She's awake!" He yells. My Mum comes running.
    To my surprise, there are tears in her eyes. "Oh darling!" She exclaims, rushing over to my bedside. "It's okay now," she whispers shakily. "It's my fault," my dad says. I sit up too quickly, and my head spins. "It is not!" I tell him. "I disobeyed orders from the Order."
    "Bell!" Harry yells, running into the room. "You've been out for ages. The twins have almost gone mental! I'll go owl them," he says, hugging me. "Do you hurt, Sweetheart?" My father asks. "It's not bad," I lie. "Honestly?" My mother asks me. "Everything hurts," I say. "Just rest some more than," my father says before leading my mother out and shutting the door.
    I'm here, in my room. I was so convinced that I would never leave Malfoy manner again. I thought I would die there. Voldemort was going to kill me. I know there will be questions once I'm well again. Honestly though, I don't know if I can answer them.
    I'm about to drift off to sleep again when the door bangs open. Two twins stand there, looking at me as if I'm fragile. Just the sight of George makes me so relieved I start to cry. They both take a few steps into the room and close the door.
    "What's the matter? Are you afraid?" George asks. Instead of answering, I cry harder. "Bells? Does something hurt?" Fred asks. I shake my head, although everything hurts. Finally, I calm down and smile. "What happened, Love?" George asks. I shake my head and subconsciously pull my shirt down. I won't talk about it.
    "You were internally damaged and bleeding. You were cut all over and when we came to see you, we thought you were dead," Fred explains. "It was bad. You were pale and dehydrated," George says. "You lost a lot of blood. We had to give you a blood replenishing potion every hour. We took turns watching you," Fred tells me.
    My lip quivers, remembering just why they had to watch me. "Do you think I'll be in trouble for disobeying orders?" I ask. George laughs. "No Love, I don't think so." I cough, but to my relief, no blood comes up.
    "I'm cold," I tell the twins. "Georgie will you come lay with me?" He nods, and inches down beside me like I might break. I curl into him, and we fit perfectly. "How's the shop?" I ask. "Brilliant," George says. "Everyone loves it! We've actually been making a lot of money," Fred informs me.
    "Tell me more about it," I whisper. "We've decorated the outside and it's amazing. It gets so crowded that the two of us can't handle it so we've got Lee working there," George tells me. He goes on and on about the shop while I drift off to sleep.