I was trying desperately not to die. I knew that the Healers here had dismissed me as a goner, but I was adamant against breathing any last breaths - there was too much to live for, to save.
Harry told me that the ransom note for my daughter, my wife, and my daughter’s boyfriend had arrived at the Auror office yesterday, with demands for Blaise Zabini to be released from Azkaban, and for Draco Malfoy to give Goyle a sum of two thousand Galleons, as payback for turning him in to Magical Law Enforcement as a proven Death Eater.
He wanted nothing from me except for me to die on this hospital bed and leave them all vulnerable. Allow Hermione to die of sorrow and pain, and to leave my little girl to whatever torture he was already administering. I imagined rising from this torture chamber and marching into whatever hovel they were being kept in, rescuing them from pain like I’d rescued Hermione from Malfoy Manor, all those years ago.
Naïve. We’d been so naïve. To think that by ending Voldemort, somehow all our troubles would vanish. To think that by eliminating one link in the chain that was Dark Magic throughout history, we were eliminating all of it. How could we have been so ridiculously sure of our safety?
Harry and Ginny came for only a few minutes to half an hour each day now, because Lily was on an upper floor, unable to awake after being force-fed a Draught of Living Death. They told me that Albus and James were entertaining Hugo at Mum and Dad’s place, and that Mum didn’t want him hanging around me, looking pale and frightened. Dad came in everyday, and brought laughter and candy, something that I missed. Mum came in with him once or twice, but her doting worry was too much for me to handle.
I knew it was only a matter of time before this damned spell reached my brain or my heart. Already I had so many bodily issues (losing both kidneys for a day does that to you) that I could die the instant blood wasn’t pumping anymore. But I wasn’t afraid for myself - I was afraid for my family.
After the war, it had taken a matter of hours to, even after only two kisses, decide that I wanted Hermione to marry me. When I asked and she said yes, I decided that the rest of my life would be blissful. I was stupid.
When Hermione was kidnapped a few years after the Battle, I realized the world was still a dangerous place, but I was comforted by the fact that it was still not as bad as it had been when old Voldy was at large. Then this. Waking up after five weeks of being dead does something to you - you realize that the world is a dangerous place, no matter what Horcrux-making “Dark” wizards get offed by your best friend.
I felt like, in my insistance that the world was all right again, I’d brought about my wife’s abduction, and my daughter’s rush to save her. By doing little to truly protect our family, I’d failed them all.
****
ROSE’s POV
****
Scorpius was bleeding at the mouth, and as our torturers left the room again, I dove to his side and held my sleeve to the trickle.
He glanced at me deliriously. “You make me feel better.”
His dopey, dithering affection brought an unexpected smile to my face. “I know,” I told him, moving my hand from his mouth to his forehead as he came to, and the fear in his eyes steeled again.
“Rose, I’m going to get you out of this,” he told me, standing.
“Don’t do anything foolish, Malfoy, I intend for both of us to ‘get out of this,’” I hissed, standing up next to him and putting his lips on mine, ignoring the small ringing in the back of my head . . . You’re only fourteen. You’re only fourteen.
“Crucio,” I heard Goyle rasp as he came back in, and I fell to the floor, excruciating shivers running up and down my body. I felt tears well in my eyes, I felt my blood vessels burn, and then it was over. I rose quickly and turned to see Scorpius take a swing at our captor’s jaw, grab my hand, and pull me away as he went in for a kick to the gut.
Goyle pulled the wand on Scorpius, only for him to snatch it and kick him again.
I dove for the door, trying to wrench it open, as Goyle had locked it behind him. I heard voices on the other side, harsh laughter. “Forget your key again, did you, Greg?”
More men. We’d never escape.
The door opened and two burly thugs stood there, eyeing me with distasteful amusement.
“Pretty one, that,” they said. “Is this who Greg’s been keeping locked up in the cellar?”
I stepped back, feeling for Scorpius, only to have my wrists grabbed from behind. I swiveled my head, and saw Scorpius lying on the ground, there, his nose caked in fresh and dry blood, his eyes unfocused.
“This one’s yours, if you want her,” Goyle sneered. “I’ll put the boy with the old woman and we can finish them off together. Do what you want with the girl.”
The thugs liked this idea, and I started to scream. Wordless, mind you, but hopefully loud enough that Scorpius would come to and save me. Why wouldn’t he save me?
His eyes popped open right as the cellar door slammed behind us, and the world went dark, as I was pulled to my death and the last horrors of my life.
****
HERMIONE’S POV
****
Draco Malfoy, age thirteen. I saw him in the young man tossed into my prison. Maybe a bit more determined and kind, but reminiscient of the child I’d known in third year.
“Are you Mrs. Weasley?” he asked me, coughing and sitting up.
“Mrs. Weasley was my mother-in-law. Call me Hermione. Are you Scorpius Malfoy?” I asked him, knowing the answer.
“Yes. Umm, Mrs. Weas- Hermione, I’m dating your daughter,” he coughed, and I reeled at the statement. Rose, dating a Malfoy? Was he in Gryffindor, or Slytherin, or neither? Was he kind or like his father? Was he using her?
If they were dating, was she here, now? The thought chilled me. Not my Rose.
“Where is she?” I gasped, fearing what his words would be.
“We were being held together, but we tried to fight back, and I got knocked out, and two of Goyle’s thugs took her away,” he moaned, the fear and sadness and desolation in his voice heartbreaking. He truly loved her. How old was he? Fourteen, like Rose? I wish I’d figured out how I’d felt about Ron that early on - life would have been much easier in school for us. Maybe not for Harry, but that was besides the point.
“We’ll get her back, Scorpius, I promise,” I told him, coming next to him and rubbing his arm. I wondered what Astoria Malfoy was like, and if she was crying over her misplaced son as we spoke and I comforted him. I decided then that I would make sure I saw Rose and Hugo again, and that Astoria and Scorpius were reunited.
My Brave Face by grangergirl35
Chapter Notes: In the last chapter, in the last sentence, there was a typo where Scorpius tells Rose she'll see her "sister" again. For all of you who thought I just added ANOTHER plot twist, lo ciento. That was supposed to say "brother". Also, some of you wondered why Scorpius said "Draco" rather than just "my dad". You'll just have to wait and see why, won't you?
Chapter Endnotes: Please review, mis amigos!