Transfixed: A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 48

To get to the dungeons, I would have to pass Bellatrix's wing of the house, which I was not looking forward to. If I made any noise and she heard, I shuddered to think of what she would do to me. I really wasn't supposed to go to the dungeons, but before I left the Manor, I just had to see them for myself. I had to know who was kept there.

The truth was that I was so consumed by Draco and my assignments since I arrived at Malfoy Manor that I had nearly forgotten the dungeon was there. And I felt a growing sense of guilt. If it were Harry, Ron or Hermione, they wouldn't have ignored it like I did. They would have done something.

I crept down the hallway just off the foyer that would lead me to the cellar, and I tiptoed past Bellatrix's room. Then, the hallway stopped, and a dingy stairwell went down for what looked like forever.

"Lumos," I whispered as I descended the dark stone steps. I felt a flicker of fear as I realized I had no idea what awaited me down there. Were these prisoners alive after whatever Voldemort had just done to them?

As I neared the bottom of the stairwell, a terrible odor filled my lungs as I breathed in, and I couldn't help but cough. It smelled rotten, and my fear grew bigger. Straight ahead was a set of bars, and I held my wand up to see what was inside.

"Hello?" I called softly, then braced for a reply. Instead of a reply, I heard a faint whimper in the distance.

"Who's there?" I called, a little louder this time.

Then, I saw him. Slumped against the wall was Garrick Ollivander, the owner of the wandshop in Diagon Alley. I could tell he was badly wounded. Blood coated the right side of his face from a wound on his head, and he was gripping his side.

"Mr. Ollivander?" I said softly. He gave me a confused look, the way everybody did when they saw who I had become.

"Audrianna Cliffton?"

I nodded. "Are you OK?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but then winced in pain as he clenched his side even harder. I wanted to scream in frustration as I pulled on the bars, but the cellar was obviously locked. It was clear the man was dying, and I began to panic. I could not let this happen.

"I'm going to help you, alright? Just don't move," I said. I looked around frantically to see if I could spot any keys. I knew there was no way the alohomora charm would work, and there had to be a key somewhere that could get me in.

"What are you doing here, Miss. Cliffton?" he asked softly, his voice barely louder than a whisper. I wracked my brain to think of an answer, but came up blank. If I was a Death Eater, then what excuse could I give for helping him? And if I wasn't a Death Eater, why would I have a Dark Mark? I decided to just ignore the question.

"Do you have any idea where the key might be?" I asked.

"Wormtail is the one that brings us food, though it's not much. The keys are with him."

I looked to the left of the cellar to see an old wooden door, and I pointed to it.

"Is that his room?"

Mr. Ollivander nodded, and I went to look at the door more closely. On a small plaque next to the door was a scrap of parchment with his name scrawled on the middle: Wormtail. I pressed my ear against the door to hear a rather loud snoring sound coming from inside. I crept away from the door as silently as I could, remembering just how dangerous it was to be down there at all. If either Wormtail or Bellatrix caught me, they would tell Voldemort. Or, they would just kill me themselves.

I went back to the cellar door and looked at Ollivander, who was growing paler by the second.

"Is anyone else in there with you?" I whispered.