Chapter 1
Lavina counted the tiles on the floor as she was dragged in front of the Dark Lord. Her eyes glanced around the room as her body levitated above the table. Eventually her gaze met a familiar one, that of Draco Malfoy. His expression was hard to read especially while she was upside down.
"Have you considered my suggestion?" asked Voldemort. It took Lavina's jumbled mind a moment to realize he was speaking to her. She dragged her eyes from Draco's cold stare and moved her head to look at the direction the voice was coming from.
"The Dark Lord asked you a question, you dirty witch!" spoke another voice. She couldn't be bothered to follow the conversation with her head. Her body ached, and it hurt to turn her neck.
"I think she needs another round of the Cruciatus Curse. Maybe that will influence her to obey," said another voice. Voldemorts inner circle of Death Eaters sat around the table, eager to witness some violence and torture.
"I must find out the Order's next move!" Voldemort hissed, slamming his gray hand on the marble table. "One of you better discover a way around this little witch's mind so that we may use her gift." The Dark Lord's cold gaze skimmed around the group. "None of you? None of you have any ideas on how to get her to comply?" Voldemort scoffed.
A leathery man that Lavina recognized as Corban Yaxley timidly offered a suggestion. "I say we just hit her with a few more minutes of the Cruciatus Curse, that will convince her,"
"You Imbecile," Draco finally spoke. "Her minds already scrambled from the last round. Any more and she'd be completely dumb." he spat. "Dont you remember what Bella did to those filthy Blood Traitor LongBottoms? Too much use of the Crucatus curse and the witch or wizard goes completely insane. She'd be useless,"
"Why don't you give it a go, then Draco. Since you seem to be an expert," Yaxley teased.
"Enough!" Voldemort exclaimed. "Perhaps Yaxley's right," he added, earning a triumphant smirk from Yaxley. "I shall entrust my little Diviner to you, young Malfoy. If anyone can figure this out, it would be you, my most talented Leglimens." The smile on Yaxley's face was wiped clean off.
With a snap of Voldemort's decaying fingers, Lavina's nearly limp body was dropped in Draco's lap. "As you wish, my Lord." Draco grumbled. Lavina's strained gaze settled on the curl of disgust on Draco's lip before vision blacked out.
When she awoke, she expected to feel the cold concrete floor of the cell she was being held in. Instead, her fingers twitched around a soft comforter, chilled by the cool temperature of the room. Her head pounded as she squinted an eye open to determine her surroundings. An involuntary groan escaped her lips as sunlight hit her eyes when she turned her head. She took a moment to adjust her vision before sitting up.
The room was quite grand. Well, for someone who was being held prisoner anyways. A large bed sat in the center of the large room; velvet curtains framed the bed, matching the color of the luxurious bedding. The furniture in the room was in pristine condition considering their obvious age. She climbed off the large bed to get a closer look at the room's contents. She made her way to the window, soon discovering she could open it. she leaned out to smell the fresh morning air when she was startled by the door of her room opening without a knock.
Draco Malfoy appeared in the doorway. "I wouldn't jump if I were you. I've charmed the whole manor. You cant escape. Not by aparating, not even by death." he drawled.
She swallowed thickly. "Where am I?" She didn't want to say his name. "I've seen this place before, perhaps in a dream."
"Malfoy Manor. My home." he chuckled cruelly, "You had a vision of this and you still managed to get captured? Good going." he shook his head. "I've been instructed to hold you in my custody while we figure out a way to use your Divination skills to aid the Dark Lord." he explained.
Lavina's jaw twitched as she turned back to the window. "That's not really how it works." she mumbled, her voice barely a whisper.
"Still a quiet little thing, aren't you? After all these years," Draco stepped closer to inspect her. His cold, large hand reached up to grip her chin, turning her face back towards him so that he may study her features. "I don't remember you having this in school," he murmured, thumbing the little scar on Lavina's chin. "This a war injury or something?"
"Not really." she managed to respond softly. She did not want to divulge any more information than she had to.
Draco roughly let go of her face before stepping past her to close the window.
"Your meals will be brought to your room. You'll have an hour a day to roam the garden accompanied by a House elf. You will not be allowed out unless you are accompanied. There are many wards keeping you from escaping and from hurting yourself, so do not try anything. Do you understand, Lavina?"
Her ears perked up at the mention of her name. "Yes," she exhaled, taking in this new information.
"I'm giving you many perks, but do not forget that you are my prisoner. Do you understand Lavina?" he asked again.
"yes," she repeated.
"Lastly, I've been instructed to have a weekly Leglimency session with you. The sessions will be weekly as to give you some time to recover and recoup." he picked up an apple from her table, tossing it up in the air casually before catching it and taking a bite. "My methods have been known to be a bit draining." he smirked. "Do try your best and comply. Let's not make this any harder than it has to be, yeah?"
She sighed, still working through her newfound situation, giving a small nod. She studied him, his demeanor had definitely changed since Hogwarts. Of course he was still entitled and smug, but there was a new, confident, self assured air about the way he now carried himself. "Good." Draco took another bite from the apple. "you weren't going to eat this were you? People don't usually eat for a while after they've undergone half as much ...interrogating as you've had." he didn't want to say tortured.
Lavina shook her head.
"Right. Well... I've got important things to do, so make yourself at home," he teased sarcastically before disappearing through the same doorway he appeared in. Lavina was left reeling from the whole interaction, pacing the bedroom, stopping only to shut the door once she realized Draco had left it open.Later that day, just as Draco promised, a house elf appeared to take Lavina out for her hour.
It went on like this for days. She'd spend hours alone in her room and she'd get one hour a day to wander the grounds. After about a week of this monotonous routine, she hadn't noticed her time was up, wandering thoughtlessly through the gardens. She was pulled from her thoughts by a cold hand yanking her away from the large fountain at the center of the grounds.
"Already pushing my limits, aren't you, Rickwood!" Draco seethed. "I said you had an hour outside, so why is it that I find you wandering like a patient in a nuthouse, half an hour after you were supposed to be back in your room for our session? Get your blundering arse back up there, now." he muttered a few more insults she was glad she didn't hear.
Back in her room, he tossed her onto the bed. "You know damn well why I have your curfews set. If you don't abide by them, I will lock you in here and never let you out." he ground out.
Lavina's courage plucked up to respond. "Yeah, I'm your prisoner, what you say goes," she grumbled.
"Then why do you insist on testing me?!" he sneered, a growl rising in the back of his throat as he reached out and grabbed her chin, tipping her head back sharply. His expression was pure irritation.
Lavina swallowed back a response, unable to hold a whimper in the back of her throat. Draco's scowl deepened the moment her whimper reached his ear. An unfamiliar feeling seeped into the pit of his belly in response to the noise she made. With his free hand, his cold fingers traced over the pulse point on her neck. "You knew you weren't supposed to be out there," the words rolled out lowly.
The witches eyes roved over his slight change in expression. "I-I just lost track of time," she admitted, "I got lost in the garden. It's very beautiful. Was it your mother's doing?" Lavina new very well that honeyed words go a long way with this sort of crowd.
Draco blinked in shock at the mention of his late mother. His expression faltered for a moment before his scowl returned. He let go of her chin to run a hand over the back of his neck. "Yes, my mother designed the garden." He glowered.
"Hmm," she hummed, " I always thought she had good taste."
Draco's brows twitched once he realized what she was doing. "No excuse for you to be out there past the hour. Don't change the subject, sneaky little git." he scoffed. Her compliment did little to smooth his frayed control, as he wasn't in the mood to be soothed so easily. His jaw ticked with irritation. "You've got an ability to enrage me with such little effort," he reached up to grip the side of her head with one hand, pressing the tip of his wand into her temple on the opposite side. Her vision blurred as a choking gasp ripped through her lungs. Without warning, Draco had begun the leglimency session.