The Marauder's Daughter

BEATEN AND BRUISED

(tw// heavy concepts, ab*se)

josephine lupin-black

I rushed down the stairs of the Burrow and out the front door, the warmth of the house vanishing as the cold air outside hit me like a brick wall. Fred followed behind me, yelling as I pulled on my jacket.

"JOEY WHAT IS GOING ON?!" he yelled at me over the sound of the loud wind, the snow going up past our ankles.

"FRED GO BACK INSIDE!" I yelled back at him. "Just-just go inside, please. I'll be back."

He caught up to me, and placed his hand on my cheek, moving my chin to look up at him. "What's going on, Joey, please? Is he okay?"

I looked away and winced before looking back up at him. "I will tell you everything later, I promise you. I've just got to go get him, please. He's-he's in danger."

"I'm going with you," he told me, stroking his thumb across my cheek.

I shook my head. "It is too dangerous. Just go inside and get him some clothes and get your mum, she'll understand."

"If it's too dangerous I don't want you going without me," he told me, his expression serious. "I don't want you to get hurt."

I tapped my foot anxiously. "I'm not arguing about this, we're wasting time, so just come with me."

With that he extended his hand to me and the world around us turned colder than ever, us swirling until we reached the pathway to the dark, looming manor ahead of us; Malfoy Manor.

As we approached the manor, I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my wand, the doors growing closer and closer.

When we reached the doors, I noticed a sliding wooden piece, guarded by iron bars to make a place to commerce with visitors before they entered. Carefully, I knocked on the door, and pulled Fred and I off to the side from the window that would reveal our identities.

The slab clicked and opened, and the booming voice of a man sounded. His eyes darted back and forth, before the slab shut, and then the door creaked open. He stepped out the door, looking to the right, and I attacked him from behind with the Pertrificus Totalus charm, also known as the full body bind curse.

His body fell to the ground, and I stepped over it, Fred following behind. Carefully, we crept inside the manor, and though it didn't seem possible it was colder in there than out in the snow. Fred reached out in front of him and grabbed my hand as we walked against the wall and to the grand staircase.

Carefully, we stepped up the white marble stairs, which didn't creak. Finally, I broke out in a jog as I ran up the stairs and down the hall to the left. A grand darkly colored door gleamed in the hall, the words "Draco Lucius Malfoy" engraved into a gold plaque hung in the center.

I knocked, and then opened the door, to see Draco sat on his bed, his fingers fidgeting to keep him from crying.

He looked up at me and I walked over to him, where he immediately broke down and cried, leaning his head forward onto my stomach, his arms wrapped around me. I looked back at Fred, Draco mumbling swears under his breath.

"He-he's going to kill me-" Draco said between cries.

I removed him from my stomach, and pulled his chin up to look at me as I kneeled down on his eye level, the dark bruises around his eyes gleaming, a fresh red handprint mark on his cheek.

"He isn't going to hurt you anymore," Fred said behind me, immediately understanding why I came here in such a hurry. "You'll stay with us, mate. He can't hurt you there."