Bonded by Evil [COMPLETED STORY]

chapter nineteen

Draco Malfoy POV

I was in my room when I heard the unmistakable crack of apparation. People come and go through here all day, so I wasn't especially curious to find out who it was. It was only when I heard the familiar cackle of my aunt before screeching the Cruciatus Curse that I sprang up from my desk and ran down the corridor.

I couldn't tell where it came from, but what came next was far worse. Screams, piercing screams that were rich with agony resonated throughout the entire house. Sprinting in an out of each room on the floor was doing me no good, I couldn't find the source. Every scream tugged at my heartstrings a little more, because I knew whose they were.

Alora was the only person Bellatrix was supposed to be seeing today, and she was back far too soon, which meant something didn't go her way. I warned her, I warned her about what she shouldn't do or say, and obviously she didn't listen. I've never met a person more stupid than her. All she had to do was listen, for once in her life.

After five minutes of searching, the stress was starting to get to me. I stopped for a moment to listen, no matter how horrible it was, I had to stop. I ran my fingers through my hair, hugging at a handful of it before running up to the third level. They had to be in the sitting room, it was the only room that was open enough to echo that much.

While I was taking the steps two at a time, I finally heard her voice. She was begging, pleading for Bellatrix to stop. There was a faint crack in her voice as she spoke. I'd never heard it before, not even yesterday afternoon. She would despise me listening to her sounding like this. All I could remember in that moment was that time in the common room when I slammed her against the wall. She made sure not to even blink to show she was tough, and now?

"Please, please! I'll do it, I'll kill them, please!" I heard clearly, between sobs.

A shriek.

"No, no, please, stop! I'm begging you, please!" Her voice cracked a little more.

A shriek.

"I promise I'll do better!" This time each word had a break in it.

A third shriek.

"Just kill me!"

No more words came, just sobs.

I burst through the parlour doors with my wand drawn. I probably couldn't take Bellatrix in a duel but she wouldn't try and fight her own nephew, would she? She heard the door slam into the wall and took her wand away from Alora and held her hands up as if she were surrendering.

"Draco, honey, just in time for the show."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm sorry, is this not the Alora Slater who told you your father might as well be gone? The Alora Slater whom you've complained about for six years?"

"Bellatrix."

"Bellatrix? What? You suddenly develop feelings for the girl and all is forgiven?" She growled through her teeth.

"You don't need to use the Cruciatus Curse on her first day. Nothing is forgiven and I don't have feelings for Slater. I just don't need to hear screaming while trying to read."

"How is she going to learn to obey me, Draco?"

"Not like this, get off of her or take it somewhere else."

"I liked it better when you didn't care, it made life a lot more fun."

"NOW!"

Crossing her arms angrily, she stood up and kicked Alora in the side, hard. I heard a rib crack. She didn't walk away, but stood there staring at me. I waved my wand, motioning for her to go, and that finally did the trick. She stomped off, making sure it was loud and obnoxious, the Bellatrix way. Alora was crying while laying flat on the ground, not moving besides the small shakes from her sobs.

I dropped down next to her, putting her head in my lap. She was struggling to breathe, I didn't know how to fix ribs though. The arm with the Dark Mark on it was exposed and bloody, so I quickly rolled her sleeve down. She obviously didn't want me looking at it but there wasn't much she could do right now. Her eyes starting looking like they were going out of focus, she could not pass out on me.

"Hey, hey, you're okay. She's gone," I whispered to her.

Her sobs started slowing and turned into coughs and simple cries in pain. I'd never seen the Cruciatus Curse on a person before, it was traumatizing. I couldn't even imagine how scared she was, how much pain she was in. The sick feeling in my stomach started growing rapidly, I had to keep talking.

"You're fine... you're fine. The pain will go away, stop crying."

I couldn't leave her but she seriously needed help. I thought the pain wore off right when the curse stopped, but I guess broken rib made that difficult. I craned my neck and turned to the open door.

"MOTHER!"