Chapter Text
"I told him."
Dracena's voice barely sounded like hers anymore.
Someone stood in front of her. She couldn't quite make out who. Her vision kept going soft around the edges.
"What?"
"I told him."
A hand caught her hair and pulled her head back. Dracena made a small squeal of pain.
"Everything?"
"Yes."
"Everything, Malfoy?"
"Yes."
"Who did you tell?" a voice demanded.
"Snape."
The hand released her.
Dracena's head fell forward.
"Professor Snape."
"How long?"
"Since January."
"And Dumbledore?"
"Didn't know."
"Your father?"
Dracena's eyes moved. Lucius stood against the far wall. He had been standing there for most of it. She couldn't remember exactly when they'd brought him in. Before the second Cruciatus, perhaps. Maybe after. Time had become unreliable.
Father looked immaculate except for his face. His face looked terrible. Dracena looked away.
"He didn't know."
Someone laughed. "No." another voice said. "He certainly didn't."
Dracena closed her eyes.
"What did you give Snape?"
"Names."
"Whose?"
She told them.
"Locations?"
She told them.
"Which operations?"
She told them.
There was no heroic resistance. No clever lie. No brave declaration that they could kill her before she betrayed anyone. Dracena Malfoy had imagined, once, that perhaps she would be capable of something like that.
She wasn't. They had hurt her. She had tried not to talk. Then they had hurt her more. Then she had talked. It had not taken particularly long.
Snape had warned her. "Do you know what the Dark Lord does to people who lie to him?"
"No."
"I do."
Now she did too.
"Who did you warn about Selwyn?"
"Snape."
"The Ministry raid in February?"
"Snape."
"Yaxley's contact?"
"Snape."
"The safe house in York?"
"Snape."
"The shipment from Albania?"
"Snape."
Each answer made someone angrier. That was when Dracena began to understand. They already knew. Maybe not everything, but enough. This wasn't an interrogation anymore. Perhaps it hadn't been for some time. It was revenge. They were angry. Dracena had cost them people.
Money.
Plans.
Safe houses.
Months of work.
People had escaped because of her. People who were supposed to die, had lived. Death Eaters who were supposed to disappear quietly into respectable society had instead found Aurors waiting for them. She had done more damage than she'd known. That realization should have made her proud. At the moment it mostly made her terrified.
One of the Death Eaters crouched in front of her. "Do you know how many friends you cost me?" Dracena breathed through her mouth.
"No."
"Three."
"I'm..."
She stopped herself.
"Sorry" seemed inappropriate. Besides, she wasn't.
The man smiled. "Let's see whether you can remember anything else."
Dracena's eyes widened.
"I told you everything."
"I know."
That was the worst answer possible.
"No."
His wand rose. "No, please. I told you..."
"Crucio."
There were no thoughts after that. Only pain. When it stopped, Dracena realized she was on the floor. She didn't remember falling. Someone was crying. It took her a moment to realize it was her. She tasted blood. A boot nudged her onto her back.
Dracena stared at the ceiling. "I told you." she whispered.
"I know."
Another laugh. Dracena turned her head. Father was still there. His fists were clenched. His face was white.
And he was furious.
At them.
At her.
At himself.
"You've established your point." Lucius said. Nobody answered him. "You have the information."
"We're deciding whether she has more."
"She doesn't."
"How would you know?"
Lucius's jaw tightened.
"Apparently I wouldn't."
That hurt more than Dracena expected. Father looked at her. There were a thousand things Dracena wanted to say.
I'm sorry.
I had to.
You were wrong.
I still love you.
Please don't hate me.
Instead she whispered:
"Father, please..."
His face hardened. Dracena looked away. A Death Eater laughed. "Perhaps another round will improve her memory."
Lucius moved. Only half a step. Several wands immediately pointed toward him. He stopped.
"Enough." The door opened. Everyone became still. Dracena didn't need to look. She knew it was the Dark Lord.
Voldemort entered. He regarded Dracena on the floor with mild interest. "How disappointing."
Dracena hated that voice.
"All that promise." He walked around her. "All that pride."
Dracena tried to push herself upright. Her arms shook with fatigue and pain. She fell down on her back again.
Voldemort looked toward Lucius. "And all that confidence in your daughter."
Lucius said nothing.
"You insisted she was not a resource." His smile was thin. "In hindsight, I should have listened." he smiled, that awful, terrible smile.
Lucius' eyes moved to Dracena. Something ugly passed through his expression.
"You betrayed us."
Dracena closed her eyes.
"You betrayed me." She opened her eyes again and tried to speak. Couldn't.
"Why?"
Dracena almost answered, Then Voldemort spoke. "Does it matter?"
Lucius looked at him. "It matters to me."
"How touching."
Voldemort turned toward Dracena. "Perhaps she can explain after we've finished."
One of the Death Eaters raised his wand again. Lucius's voice became very quiet. "Do not."
The man paused. Voldemort smiled.
"Lucius."
"She has told you everything."
"Perhaps."
"You have made your point."
"I don't believe I have."
Voldemort looked at Dracena.
"Again."
The man's wand moved, then the world disappeared.
This time, it wasn't with pain. Everything just went dark
Dracena blinked. She was still awake. Still alive. She just couldn't see. Everything was absolute black. Someone shouted.
"What the.."
"LIGHT!"
"Lumos!"
Nothing happened.
"AURORS! DROP YOUR WANDS!"
Chaos. Dracena heard an explosion. Someone screamed. A door shattered. Spells cracked through the darkness.
"Peruvian Darkness Powder!"
"Clear the room!"
"Destroy everything!"
"Move!"
Footsteps went in every direction. Someone crashed into a table. Glass shattered. Dracena curled instinctively against the floor.
Hands touched her. She screamed.
"Dracena."
Father. She froze.
"It's me."
Something pulled at the ropes around her wrists.
A blade? No. A spell. She couldn't see.
"Father?"
"Quiet."
The ropes loosened. Dracena pulled one hand free, then the other. Her wrists burned. Lucius found her face in the darkness. His hands were shaking. She had never felt her father's hands shake before.
"I love you, Dracena."
She stopped breathing.
"I'm sorry."
"Father..."
Something slammed into him. Lucius disappeared. Dracena heard bodies hit the floor.
"Father!"
"RUN!"
She didn't know whether the voice was his.
A spell struck the wall beside her. Stone exploded across her face. Dracena crawled.
Someone stepped on her hand. She screamed. Kept moving.
She found a wall. Followed it.
Someone grabbed her robes. She twisted away.
Another explosion.
For a few seconds she saw light through the darkness.
Red.
Green.
Gold.
Figures moving.
Aurors. Death Eaters. Blackness swallowed everything again. Dracena stumbled through a doorway.
"Father!"
No answer. She kept moving.
The Aurors had surprise. For perhaps three minutes, it was enough.
Until it wasn't.
The Death Eaters knew the building. They knew the exits. They knew which rooms mattered and which evidence had to burn. By the time the Darkness Powder began to thin, half the documents in the hideout were already on fire.
A masked Death Eater blasted an Auror through a doorway. Another collapsed the staircase. Someone shouted for retreat.
The raid had failed. Not completely. Nothing involving that much fire could be considered completely unsuccessful, but the Aurors were withdrawing.
Dracena realized this when two of them ran past her.
"Go!"
One grabbed her arm. Dracena tried to follow, but her leg buckled. The Auror caught her, then a curse struck him in the back. He fell.
Dracena hit the floor beside him. "No." she whispered. She crawled toward him.
A hand caught the back of her robes. Dracena kicked.
"LET GO!"
Someone dragged her backward. The last Auror disappeared through the doorway.
A spell hit the wall. The doorway collapsed. Dracena screamed.
"No!"
Dust filled the corridor. The hand holding her tightened. Dracena turned. A grotesque face.
Voldemort.
The darkness had mostly cleared now. He looked almost amused.
"So close." He said, in a serpentine voice.
Dracena stopped struggling. "No."
"So very close." He looked toward the ruined doorway. "Your rescuers appear to have abandoned you."
Dracena glared at him. Voldemort smiled.
"Where is Lucius?" Nobody answered. That smile disappeared. "Find him."
They did. Or, Lucius found them first. He stepped through the smoke and dust. His robes were torn and filthy, with black soot and dirt. His hair had come loose. There was blood along one side of his face. His wand was already raised. Dracena had never seen her father look less like Lucius Malfoy. Or more like him.
"Let her go."
Voldemort turned. "Ah."
Dracena stared.
"Father."
Lucius didn't look at her. "Leave my daughter alone."
"Lucius."
"If you have a grievance, you will address it to me."
Voldemort's expression became almost curious. "Your daughter betrayed you."
"Yes."
"She betrayed everything you claim to believe."
"Yes."
"She has cost us lives."
Lucius's jaw tightened. "I am aware."
"And still you defend her?"
Lucius finally looked at Dracena. She couldn't read his face. "She is my daughter."
Voldemort laughed. It wasn't loud. That made it worse.
"Oh, Lucius." He stepped closer. "You still misunderstand."
Lucius raised his wand slightly. "I understand perfectly."
Voldemort glanced at Dracena. "Killing her would punish her."
Dracena went cold. "But pain is so much more instructive when applied to someone else's flesh." Voldemort laughed.
Lucius's face changed. Voldemort smiled.
"Every scream she makes tells me something about you."
Something broke. Dracena saw it happen. Lucius Malfoy had spent years compromising.
Negotiating.
Rationalizing.
Drawing lines and moving them.
Giving Voldemort money.
Influence.
Names.
Contacts.
Telling himself that this concession prevented a worse one.
That cooperation preserved the family. That survival required unpleasant choices. Then Voldemort had put his daughter on the floor and tortured her so Lucius could watch. There were no more lines left to move.
Lucius raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!"
Voldemort deflected it. "Avada Kedavra!"
Lucius threw himself aside. Green light exploded against the wall.
The room erupted. Dracena rolled beneath a table. A red curse crossed above her. Lucius fired back. Voldemort twisted aside. Stone shattered.
"Stupefy!"
"Protego!"
"Confringo!"
Lucius ducked. The wall behind him exploded. He answered with something Dracena didn't recognize. Voldemort barely avoided it.
For the first time, Voldemort's expression changed. Surprise. Lucius pressed him. Spell after spell. Not elegant anymore. Not restrained. Furious.
Voldemort gave ground slightly.
Once.
Twice.
Dracena stared.
Her father was GOOD. She had known that, abstractly. Lucius Malfoy had been duelling since before she was born, but she'd never seen it. He moved with frightening precision. A flick of his wand sent a curse toward Voldemort's knees.
Voldemort jumped it and answered before landing. Lucius spun behind a stone pillar.
Green light carved a chunk from it.
"Father!"
"STAY DOWN!" Lucius hissed.
Dracena stayed down. For once in her life, she obeyed immediately.
Voldemort laughed. "You cannot win."
Lucius stepped from behind the pillar. "We'll see about that."
Another curse. Voldemort blocked. Lucius fired another. And another. Voldemort stopped smiling. Their spells collided. Light filled the room.
For several seconds neither gave ground, then the spells broke apart. Both men staggered backward.
Lucius was breathing hard. So was Voldemort.
Dracena realized something extraordinary. Father was losing. Voldemort had expected to crush him. Instead Lucius Malfoy was making him work for it. Voldemort realized it too.
His face twisted. "Enough."
Lucius raised his wand. So did Voldemort. Dracena saw what was coming.
"No!"
Voldemort's wand moved. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Lucius shouted at the same instant. "EXPELLIARMUS!"
Green. Red. And then? Black.
The world vanished again. A second cloud of Peruvian Darkness Powder exploded through the room.
"SECOND TEAM! MOVE!"
Aurors. More explosions. Someone grabbed Dracena.
She fought.
"Malfoy!" An unfamiliar voice. "WE'RE AURORS!"
Dracena stopped.
"My father!"
"We have to move!"
"My father!"
An auror hauled her upright. Her injured leg nearly folded. Dracena screamed. He caught her around the waist.
"Can you walk?"
"Yes." She lied.
Behind them, the room had become chaos again. Spells flashed through absolute darkness.
Red.
Green.
Blue.
Dracena twisted around. "FATHER!"
No answer. She tried to pull away. The Auror held her.
"He's back there!"
"We can't stay!"
"LUCIUS!"
Nothing.
Dracena stumbled. Her hand struck the wall. She pushed herself forward.
One step.
Another.
Her entire body hurt.
Her face was wet.
Blood or tears. Probably both.
Behind her came another explosion. The floor shook. Dracena turned one last time.
Darkness. Only darkness.
She didn't know whether her father's spell had landed. She didn't know whether Voldemort's had. She didn't know whether Lucius Malfoy was alive.
I don't know.
Harry's voice came back to her.
"We don't lie about not knowing."
Dracena limped into the darkness with the aurors.
And for once, not knowing was unbearable.