Transfixed: A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 68

We walked in silence, and I gripped Draco's hand tightly. We both knew Dumbledore's Army was bound to be angry, but I had somewhat naively hoped that things would go back to the way they were before the holidays. Clearly, I was wrong.

"It's going to be OK," Draco whispered to me as we neared the isolation wing. "Everything is going to be OK."

I nodded stiffly, trying not to think about what we had to do. I had come so far as a spy; I could not throw it all away now. Hurting the students would be horrible, but having their safe house exposed would be worse. Much worse.

We approached the door to the isolation wing and let ourselves in. The Carrows were waiting for us, standing in front of the crowd of students with their wands raised.

"What took you two so long?" Amycus hissed. "Audrianna, where were you anyway?"

"Uhhh... Owlery," I lied. "My owl has been nursing a broken wing so I went to check on her. I'm sorry, Professor."

"Oh, never mind," Alecto said dismissively. "The students have decided to make their lives very difficult by behaving as Unfavorables again. What a shame. Right, Amycus?"

"Yes, a terrible shame," Amycus replied, although he seemed more delighted than I'd ever seen him. Then, he turned to us. "Well, now your time has come to exercise your duties as Junior Inquisitors. Each student in here attacked a professor, therefore, they will each be receiving the cruciatus curse for their actions."

My stomach began to do somersaults, and I swallowed hard. I had managed to avoid using the torture curse since my duel in the Ministry, and every time I thought about it, I remembered how much I enjoyed watching Bellatrix suffer.

The Carrows didn't seem to notice the agony on mine and Draco's faces, so they smiled and headed for the exit.

"Once you're finished, you're dismissed for the night," Alecto said. "Thank you."

And then they were gone.

The students all looked up at me, and even though most of them were my age, they all looked very young. None of them bothered trying to attack us or escape, because they all knew that Draco and I had grown more powerful than them through our training. I took a shaky breath in, and my mouth felt as dry as sandpaper.

"You all must know we don't want to hurt you... We want you to succeed," I said quietly. The students said nothing.

"Wasn't wiping our memories hurting us?" said Timmy, who was sitting towards the back of the group. Neither Draco nor I said anything. Suddenly, Neville stood, and I instinctively reached for my wand.

"Don't bother," Neville said, and for the first time, he looked defeated. "I know there's nothing I can do anyway. I'll go first. Let's just get this over with."

I looked at Draco, and he walked with Neville to the small room where punishments were to be conducted. The door closed behind them, and then we heard a scream pierce the air. Everyone jumped, including myself. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

A couple of moments later, the door opened, and the two of them reemerged. Neville seemed to be shaking slightly, but overall, he seemed to withstand the effects of the torture curse remarkably well.

"It's not too bad, guys," Neville said as he took a seat on his cot, although now that he was closer, I was able to see the pained look on his face.

Then, Ginny stood. "I'll go next," she said.

Draco gave me a small nod, and I began to walk with her to the punishment room. I felt like I would be sick at any moment.

Once we were alone, she turned to look at me, fists clenched by her sides.