All Will Be Well

Draco swallowed before he entered the dining room for breakfast. He was dressed in his dress robes. He was five minutes early. Early enough that he should not be the last one there, but not so early that he should be the first one. He hoped. Before he could chicken out, he took a breath and entered. He almost breathed an audible sigh of relief when he saw that only his mother and a few other Death Eaters were there. Yaxley, and Pettigrew. 

Pettigrew disgusted him. He was small and whiny, and a pathetic excuse for a man. It made sense that his animal form was a rat. His face made Draco want to kick him. Draco went to his spot next to his mother and sat gracefully. 

"Good morning Mother," he greeted first. 

"Draco," she inclined her head and then looked pointedly at the other men. 

"Yaxley, Pettigrew," he greeted as was required. Neither of them responded with more than a slight tilt of their head. He let it brush over him. He was nothing to them. He would have to prove himself. Silence fell over the room as they all sat stiffly. 

After a few minutes the room grew colder, and they each sat up straighter. Draco felt like his heart might stop when the Dark Lord swept in. Draco stood with the rest of the room and bowed his head. The man didn't speak. When he sat, the others followed suit. Food appeared on the table. 

"Good morning my lord," Yaxley greeted. The rest of them repeated it in turn. Draco kept his voice from shaking. 

The Dark Lord didn't respond to any of them but looked up when Draco spoke. 

"Ah," he said, "The Malfoy heir is back from school." The 's' was hissed, and Draco felt ice trickle down his spine. He nodded politely. 

"Perhaps you can make up for your father's recent... mistakes," the Dark Lord said. Draco felt like he might die under his gaze alone. 

"I plan to," Draco said confidently and steadily, hiding how he felt. 

"Good." 

Before anything else could be said, Bella bounded into the room. She knelt first by the Dark Lord's feet and kissed his shoes before she straightened. She squealed when she saw Draco and scurried around the table to him. "Oh Draco! You're home!" She swept him up in a tight and chaotic hug. 

"Cissy, he's so grown," she crooned. 

"Bella," the Dark Lord warned. 

"So sorry my Lord," she said, and backed off, taking her seat on the other side of Narcissa, closest to the Dark Lord. "I'm just so pleased." 

They began to eat without any further conversation. Draco picked at his plate of fruit, feeling like his stomach was completely closed. Internally, he was berating himself. He would have to get used to this environment if he was going to be successful this summer. These were his people. He would show he belonged, despite his father's mistakes. And this was his home, he was going to have get comfortable. 

When the Dark Lord was done eating, he started grilling Yaxley on the reports from the Ministry. Draco didn't understand most of what they were talking about but tried his best to pay attention, keeping his head down. His attention peaked when he heard the mention of Azkaban. 

"They do not believe we will be ready for an escape attempt until August," Yaxley stated. The Dark Lord laughed. 

"We will be ready in just a few weeks," he shook his head, "Good. Pettigrew, report."

"Uh, well, I-I reached out to the werewolves," he started. 

"Don't care, what did you learn from Diagon?" the Dark Lord interrupted. 

"Of course s-sir," Pettigrew ducked his head, "I learned um, well, unfortunately not as much as we had hoped b-but-" 

"Go back today, and come back with better." 

"Yes sir."

Draco swallowed when the red eyes turned back to him. 

"Draco, you will start shadowing your aunt, she will teach you what I want," the Dark Lord instructed, "Do pay attention, your family cannot afford anymore of my disappointment."

Draco nodded firmly and resisted defending his family name. It took everything in him to allow someone to criticize them in that way. The Dark Lord seemed pleased with that. That apparently concluded all of his morning business and he stood. The rest of them stood with him and waited until he left the room. 

Pettigrew scurried out after him, and Yaxley followed more confidently. When they were gone, the sisters sat back down and Draco followed suit. Suddenly he had more room to eat, so he finished his plate. 

"So Draco, we currently are out of test subjects," Bella said seriously, "So we'll have to start with a more theoretical approach until he gives me another one."

Draco wished he hadn't eaten anymore as his stomach turned. Test subjects mean people. Draco knew what Bella did to people. He had hoped he could get away with avoiding that part of the job for a little longer but he realized quickly that it was exactly what they wanted from him. 

"Bella, Draco is just a boy," Narcissa protested softly. 

"He's sixteen." 

"He's a boy," Narcissa reiterated, "He won't even be of age for another year."

"Cissy," Bella whined, "You know the Dark Lord intends him to take the mark after we break Azkaban again."

"Does he?" Narcissa asked calmly, "I haven't been informed."

"Don't play dumb sister, it doesn't suit you," Bella jeered, "Besides Draco can't wait to take the mark, can he?"

Draco felt sick. He thought he had more time. He hadn't realized that this was coming now. He felt young all of a sudden. He was still in school. This was supposed to happen when he graduated in two years. He was supposed to be more prepared. 

"Er, yes, I didn't know I was allowed," he said, covering his hesitation with confusion.

"Oh you're a special case," Bella giggled, "He's very excited about his plans for you."

Then she sat up and jumped out of her seat. She looked around suspiciously with her wand in her hand. Then, apparently, satisfied, she relaxed and smiled again. 

"You can meet me in the library this afternoon," Then she pranced out of the room without another word. Draco looked at his mother who was looking at her plate. 

"Mother?" Draco asked. His mother gave a very quick shake of her head, signaling him to be quiet. Inwardly, he pleaded with her to at least meet his eyes. 

"I will speak to Lucius when he gets home," she said, finally looking up, "Until then, do as you're told." She must have seen something in Draco's eyes, so she reached out and took his hand. "All will be well."

Draco nodded choppily. 

"Now, go, and prepare yourself for your lessons," she instructed. Draco nodded and stood. He kissed her head gently before he left. He climbed the stairs back to his room, hoping to avoid any of their guests. As he walked down his long hallway, movement by the end made his steps slow. It was the girl again, standing near the floor-to-ceiling arched window next to his room. 

He approached, not speaking. She kept her head down, and stood still. 

"What are you doing?" Draco asked. It was unnerving, the way she almost blended into the shadows. Additionally, there was never anyone else in this part of the Manor unless they were coming with Draco at his invitation. Even his parents respected his space here for the most part. 

"I apologize," she almost whispered. Draco had to lean closer to hear her, "Your mother said that I should stay on this floor, or the fourth."

"Did she?" Draco questioned. He wanted the girl to look up. Her light brown hair fell over her face, making it hard to see her features. Her robes were grey and oversized, clearly meant for a maid. She only nodded, keeping her eyes down. 

"Alright," Draco sighed. He awkwardly stood for a minute before entering his room. 

Amira waited until the door was shut before breathing out a sigh of relief. She had been surprised by the Malfoy heir. Normally she was much more alert, but she had let her guard down when she had been looking out over the grounds. Now that she didn't have chores to do, she felt a bit lost. 

Since she could remember, her days had been filled with chores and tasks. She made meals, cleaned, organized, and did any task that her uncle requested of her. He had fired his house elves when she had been old enough to take care of the house on her own. 

When she was really young, she vaguely remembered tutors coming to try to force magic out of her. They always failed, and she had always been beaten within an inch of her life afterwards. That wasn't uncommon, the beatings, but still, there had been a special amount of ferocity that her uncle had before he completely lost hope that she had any magic. Now, his beatings and punishments were those of disgust and shame, instead of disappointment. 

Now, she had been relieved of any chores due to Narcissa Malfoy. She was also remarkably not sore. Her uncle had paid her basically no attention since they had moved into the Manor a few weeks ago. He'd only taken her twice, and it had been quick. She didn't know if he felt more uncomfortable, if he was too busy, or if he was simply too stressed to take part in his usual activities with his Master living in the same house.

Those specific activities had started when she was around eleven years old. Until then, she had been left mainly to herself, given chores, and regular punishments. A hit, a kick, an object thrown. Sometimes a full spanking or beating. 

Then it had all changed. One day, her uncle had come into the bathroom when she was showering and looked at her with a weird gleam in his eye that she had come to be familiar with. She had been embarrassed, and ashamed to be naked in front of him. He hadn’t done anything but watch and then leave. 

After that, he would call her into his room, and make her simply change her clothes. Strip all of the way down, wait a few moments, and then dress. 

Soon, he progressed to closely inspecting her, making those long moments without clothes even longer. Eventually, he started touching her. And then himself. And then before she knew it, she was being forced to touch him. 

She didn’t know what it had meant. She didn’t know why it was bad, but she knew she hated it. She hated the way he looked, the way he acted, the way he treated her, especially in those moments. It only grew worse when he would make her do something else. Use her mouth, or other parts of her body. 

He waited until she had gotten her first period at 13 to fully take her. It had been the absolute worst day of her life. He had pinned her down and forced himself on her. The pain was awful. 

Since then, it was routine. He called for her in the morning, and at night. Sometimes, during the day as well. When the little bracelet burned on her wrist, she knew it was time. She learned how to make it as painless as possible for herself. It was never fully pain free, that would be impossible, considering Yaxley’s sadistic tendencies. He liked to hit her, pull her hair, and do it as hard and rough as he could. But she learned what he liked, and that seemed to please him, and made it only just slightly more bearable. 

She often escaped to another part of her mind during the ordeal. If he caught her doing that though, he made it worse. He liked to hear her cry out in pain. 

When she was fourteen, he started to bring friends. It had only happened a few times, but when they had been involved, it had been a thousand times worse. There weren’t even words to describe how painful, shameful, and horrible the experiences had been. 

Sometimes, Amira thought about trying to escape. Run away. Or end her life. She spent a lot of time thinking about that. Her bracelet was impossible for her to take off, and her uncle boasted about the tracking charm in it, which made it very difficult to actually consider running away. And for some reason, even though she fantasized about it almost daily, she wasn’t ready to take the final step and end her life. 

For now she was stuck. 

"Oh Draco! You're here!" Bella squealed as soon as she saw Draco entering the library. Draco pushed down his nerves. It was only theoretical today, he reminded himself. 

"I am." He nodded. He took the seat she offered. 

"Now," her face dropped frighteningly fast into a serious expression, "I wanted to start with the fun stuff, but there's something more important we must discuss first."

Draco waited patiently with a raised brow. He hoped he looked calm and collected. 

"You need to learn to guard your mind," Bella said. She seemed more sane than he had ever seen her. 

"My mind?" 

"Occlumency, my dear." she explained, "Your mother wishes for me to teach you."

"My mother?" Draco asked, "I thought we were here at the Dark Lord's request."

"You are, but this is important too, especially for him," Bella whispered looking around. "He's out right now. We will only speak of this when he isn't here. Not yet."

Draco had never been more confused. Here was the most devoted follower keeping secrets from her lord. 

"Why?" he asked slowly. 

"He wouldn't want his followers learning to guard their minds from him," Bella explained, "Not that most of them could."

"So why are we?" Draco questioned carefully. 

"He can... get angry," Bella said sitting back, "When he sees something he doesn't understand, and recently, he has a tendency to punish first, ask later."

Draco didn't speak and waited for her to continue. It felt illegal to speak like this. 

"Now, I wouldn't be teaching you if you weren't family because I believe that my Lord has a right to see every inch of any mind he wishes, I do not question him," Bella said, insane gleam slightly returning to her eyes, "However, I want you to succeed. Besides, there's others who will be able to see inside your mind who should not, if you do not learn to protect it."

"Like who?" Draco racked his mind for who else would have the capability to read minds, and who would want to. 

"Dumbledore, Snape, maybe some aurors," Bella said flippantly, "We don't trust them."

"We don't trust Snape?" Draco asked. He already felt that way of course, but he thought he was alone in it. 

"Well I don't. He does. And so does your mother for whatever reason." Bella said, as always, not specifying who ‘he’ was, "I don't question my lord but I don't agree with him there."

"Ok... how do we start?" Draco was eager to learn to defend his mind now. He knew he had thoughts that he could get killed for. It terrified him that he'd been walking around in front of at least three men who could see in his head. 

"Well, first, I'm going to show you what it feels like when someone is in your head," Bella said, taking out her wand. Draco's heart pounded in his chest. He trusted that she cared about him, but he knew what that wand normally did to its victims. She murmured a spell he didn't recognize, and suddenly, Draco was in his head. He was seeing his thoughts and memories, but he couldn't control them. They were being pushed around by someone on the outside. Someone was searching for something, and they were bringing up memories left and right. Draco hated it. He tried to stop it and failed. He willed as hard as he could, and he felt the presence falter, and then completely withdraw. 

He blinked and saw Bella looking at him with pride. 

"Very good Draco," she praised. 

"Did I push you out?" he asked, rubbing his head where a headache was forming. 

She laughed maniacally, "Oh no dear, but you found me, and you told me no."

"I told you no?"

"You made it clear I wasn't welcome there. It takes a lot more work than that to actually force me out. Much less anyone like the Dark Lord," Bella explained, "Did it hurt?"

"No, it was just uncomfortable," Draco answered. 

"It will hurt if the Dark Lord ever decides to rip through your mind, and there will be nothing you can do to stop him," Bella explained. 

"So what are we doing then?" Draco asked helplessly. If he couldn't stop the Dark Lord from seeing his thoughts, what was the point of all of this?

"We are going to prevent him from wanting to get in." Bella said confidently, "We're going to put up a wall, one that would stop almost anyone else from getting in. And then, for people like him, or Dumbledore, we need an extra step. We need to put up some specific thoughts and memories in front of the wall, so it looks like we aren't guarding at all."

"So... " Draco tried to understand. 

"We need to make it look like we are not occluding," Bella said, "Your mental wall needs to be realistically painted to look like your mind."

"That sounds complicated," Draco complained. 

"Well you've got to do it," Bella snapped, "If he gets the sense that you're occluding from him, you're dead."

Draco's stomach clenched into the familiar knot that it had been in for the past few days.

"Oh... and if he asks you how the Occlumency is going, you don't do that," Bella said, "Then, you show him a blank wall, in front of those specific memories, in front of the real wall."

Draco just blinked at her. He thought this was all supposed to be a secret from the Dark Lord. Sometimes Bella was hard to follow. 

"You have to have three defenses," She said slowly like he was dumb, "Your real wall, and then the fake thoughts, and then fake wall that he's gonna break through."

"Is that even possible??" Draco exclaimed. 

"Yes," Bella said, "All of his closest advisors that have any brains have mastered it I'm sure. I know for sure your mother and father, me, Severus, and the rest of the Lestranges can do it. And you will do it."

She slid a book across the table. 

"You start with this," she commanded, "At the end of each chapter, do the exercises until they're perfect. When you're done with the book... come find me."

"All today?" he asked. 

"No, no, you could not do that in a day," she giggled, "You'll probably take a week or two, if you're in here all day, every day."

"Ok," Draco said, honestly relieved that he had a task to keep him secluded for at least that long. 

"Don't worry though, if I get anything fun I'll come get you," she sang, insanity fully returning to her eyes. She giggled again and then pranced out of the library. Draco waited until she was completely gone and then sighed, and put his head in his hands. 

He was in so far over his head. He was supposed to be a kid on summer break, hanging out with his friends, talking to girls, drinking, and being unproductive. Now he had to learn to guard his mind three times over in order to stay alive. And he didn't have much time. 

He sat up and flipped open the dusty book. It took him a while before he could really focus on what he was reading, but when he did, he found himself being drawn in. He read the first chapter within two hours and when he got to the exercises, he found that they were similar to meditating. It wasn't bad. It prompted him to do another. Draco had always been a good student. He loved to learn. He liked to read. He was just behind Granger in their class. The only reason for that was because he didn't dare let anyone see him trying the way she did. He had to hide his studying and work ethic. He found peace in losing himself in books and learning. Before long it was late into the night. Around seven, his mother had sent up a note that said dinner was to be canceled again. 

He broke out of his trance when a loud scream ripped through the air. He sighed and shut the book. He got up and took it with him, trudging to his room before Bella could come find him. He didn't want to be involved with whatever was happening in their dining room tonight. Besides, the mental exercises had left him completely exhausted. 

The screaming ended quickly and he was able to fall into a deep sleep.