RISE OF THE FALL | R.B.

LVII.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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CHAPTER LVII.

Lucius didn't speak as he grabbed Reia's shoulder forcefully and broke her chains with a quick spell.

"Lucius?"

Reia could barely recognise who it was—her vision was still blurry, and her voice was hoarse and raspy from screaming for so long. Her body still ached—from what, she couldn't remember—and Lucius pulled her up to her feet roughly.

Her mind felt strangely blank—she couldn't quite place where she was, or what had happened. She didn't remember her mind ever feeling so empty. Was she missing something? Had she lost something?

How did she know Lucius? Who was Lucius?

She was certain that she knew him from somewhere...

But then suddenly her own name slipped from her mind.

Who was she?

He didn't even take her out of the dungeons. Rather, he seized her shoulder and apparated, without giving her any warning.

She lurched forwards in surprise and when they finally arrived at wherever Lucius had taken them, she vomited all over the ground.

It was a combination of the shock—and because she was feeling tired, hungry and sick, that made her vomit.

Lucius disregarded the vomit and left the mess there, simply stepping over it.

She curled up on the ground, unable to move as she shivered in the coolness of the night.

With a quick glance, she realised that Lucius had taken them to Grimmauld Place—except she was lying in the middle of the road.

"I—," She tried to speak, but Lucius cut her off.

"I only did this, because Regulus told me to," He hissed, "If it came to me, I'd have left you in there forever. You're nothing but a filthy half-blood. That makes you nothing, to me."

She couldn't remember who 'Regulus' was. The name seemed so familiar—but she couldn't place it.

What was a half-blood?

As her eyes moved to the wooden stick the man held in his hand, she wondered why he was holding it—what did it do? What even was it?

But she didn't have time to voice these questions, because the moment she opened her mouth, the man raised his hand, aimed the wooden stick at her, and then suddenly she lost track of her thoughts.

The pain struck her suddenly, causing her to scream. She shook and cried out, feeling the tears streaming down her cheeks as she pleaded for Lucius to please stop.

He did.

But by the time he had, he was gone.

She saw nothing but darkness as she fell limp and blacked out.

***

She heard the beeping first, even before she opened her eyes.

When she did, she was met with a blindingly bright light and a woman half-asleep on the chair beside her bed.

She had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there, but the moment she moved in the bed, the slight creaking sound woke the woman up, and she immediately jumped to her feet and went over to the side of her bed.