Voldemort was back. It had been five months since Christmas, and the Triwizard Tournament was over. Draco was standing in the foyer of his mansion, clutching the hand if his girlfriend, Adriana Dolohov. Her family was staying at his home for the summer, along with some rather unwelcome guests. Draco and Adriana had just arrived to the Manor for the summer, only to be met by a shaking Narcissa Malfoy.
"He's back, Draco. He's here." She grabbed her son, and tried to whisk the two of them upstairs, but was interrupted by a whiny voice.
"Oh, Cissy. You must've forgotten...the Dark Lord himself requested a meeting with all residents at Malfoy Manor...including these children," Bellatrix Lestrange stood just at the base of the flight of stairs, watching her sister and the two frightened teenagers.
Narcissa nodded, and guided them back down the stairs. "Be brave," she whispered. As they entered, they were ushered to two empty seats at a large mahogany table. Adriana sat with her parents, Draco with his.
"My servants," A high, cold voice carried across the hall. "It has come to my attention that the organization known as the Order of the Phoenix is hiding Harry Potter from me. It has also come to my attention that one of our present number knows the place the Order is hiding Potter."
Draco's eyes flitted to Adriana. Just a month before term ended, Ron Weasely had offhandedly mentioned the address in front of Adriana. Only she knew it.
"Dear girl...," the voice echoed. "You have potential," Voldemort nodded towards Adriana, who was visibly shaking. "Leave us. All but Lestrange and Miss Dolohov." The Death Eater's scattered, Draco reluctantly shuffled out of the room, sending Adriana a loving glance before he was out of sight. "Miss Dolohov. Is it true...you know the location of the Order?" Adriana nodded just barely. "Tell me." She remained silent. She didn't want to betray them all...some she cared for genuinely. "Tell me." She remained silent, not lifting her eyes. "Bellatrix, the girl requires. What is it she fears the most...?" Voldemort beckoned to Bellatrix, whose eyes landed on Adriana with a hungry glare.
A pain shot through Adriana's head as memories swirled to the forefront of her mind. Little things like sitting in the Three Broomsticks with Draco, taking long walks around the Black Lake with Draco, kissing in the common room with....Draco. Adriana closed her mind, but she was too late. Bellatrix nodded, and was gone. Many, many silent moments, she returned. Alone.
"What did you do?" Adriana asked, visibly shaking.
"Tell me the location of the Order of the Phoenix...or you won't be hearing from certain people ever again." Voldemort gave her a satisfied stare. Adriana shook, knowing full well that they had hurt him somehow.
Tears now spilling over onto her cheeks, she met Bellatrix's eyes. Sorry, Hermione. "Number. Twelve. Grimmauld. Place."
Eight days. Eight excruciatingly long days. She hadn't seen him. She'd looked nearly everywhere...Lucius seemed vacant, and Narcissa very upset. Narcissa cried often, and seemed very shaky around her sister.
Finally, Adriana got up from her bed and set off down the hall. It was the middle of the night, so not many people were awake. As she reached the top of the stairs, she heard a hushed argument between Bellatrix and Yaxely.
"Lestrange...," Yaxley was pleading for sanity. "We can't keep the boy there forever."
"We can. I know the girl's dying to see him...poor things," Bellatrix was mocking Adriana. "Not as bad as the boy. Told him the girl was dead. Should've seen him- a mess really. Hasn't even begun to recover." Bellatrix couldn't hold back her squeal of delight.
Tears spilled uncontrollably over Adriana's face. Relief from the fact that Draco wasn't dead. Grief for all the pain he'd gone through...but where was he. Then it dawned on her. Bellatrix and Yaxely had dispersed. Adriana took off down the stairs, and to a small corner of the foyer. Another downward staircase, barely visible. She ran down the many flights of steps until she reached a thick wooden door. The Malfoy dungeons were infamous for their horrors, and the people who had gone insane inside of them.
Adriana charged through the door and plunged into the dungeon. "Lumos," she whispered. The room was flooded with light, and Adriana continued walking until she saw him. "Draco!" She called. He was sitting, leaning his head against the corner wall. His hands were chained in front of him, tethered to the floor a few feet in front of him. He was blankly staring at the wall opposite, unaware even of the light. Adriana's eyes scanned the floor, and her eyes caught his wand, broken on the floor near an unused fireplace. She set her wand down, and sat down next to him.
He was barely even conscious. She leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him...no response. She changed positions, and knelt right in front of him, and gently touched his face. "Draco, it's Addie," she made eye contact with him. She saw his eyes move slightly, before filling with tears. He squeezed them shut, and pressed his head against the wall.
"Make it stop," he whispered. "You're not real...she's dead, she's dead, she's dead..." he muttered to himself. He thought she was a nightmare. This was something he'd been dealing with regularly from the sounds of it.
"Draco," she was sobbing herself. "I'm not a dream...I'm here. I'm not dead, please look at me." She reached out and grabbed his face, turning it to look at her. "I'm really real." He shook his head, still trying to ward off whatever nightmare was playing in his mind. "Remember that time in the common room, when Blaise caught us kissing? Or the times we went to Hogsmeade togehter? The Yule Ball?" He was crying even harder now, shaking. The nightmare was getting worse. "Draco, please listen. I have that necklace you gave me that night after the Ball...I'm wearing it right now." She had one option...none of the other's were working. She leaned in, tilted his face up to hers and kissed him very very gently. "Please come back," she cried. "I love you..."
His eyes opened. "I love you, too."
"Alohamora," Adriana pointed her wand at the lock on the chain, and they broke off his wrists. He stood up quickly, and grabbed her. He was squeezing her so tightly she thought she might break. He had his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her as close as she could get. She buried her face in his shoulder, crying softly. "I thought they killed you that day. Bellatrix...she never told me what happened...I couldn't lose you." She was sobbing.
He buried his face in her hair, crying himself. "Bellatrix told me that you never gave them what they wanted...she said that Voldemort killed you then and there. I had dreams about you every night, and I couldn't deal with it. I love you, I love you, I love you..." He continued, his voice muffled by her hair. "Let's get out of this place...please?"
"Obviously," Adriana tried to laugh through her tears. "But where do we go?"
"Anywhere but here."
