Snake Den
Amira groaned as she woke up. She rolled over and looked for Draco before remembering that he wasn't there. He was at school, and she was at the Manor. She felt awful. Her head pounded and she was sore. She felt like she was going to be sick if she moved too fast. She sat up and drank a sip of water from the bedside table, and noted her shaking hands.
There was sun already coming through the windows.
A knock at the door startled her.
"Come in?" she croaked.
The door swung open slowly. She was relieved to see that it was just Narcissa.
"Hello dear," she greeted. She had a mug in her hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Rough," she admitted.
"I'm not surprised," Narcissa said.
"What happened?" Amira asked, racking her brain. She remembered being called for the attack, preparing, and going. She remembered being horrified, but thankful that her orders mostly included keeping away any aurors that showed up. She'd watched as the Death Eaters raided the Alley and set things on fire. When the aurors had shown up, she'd launched into battle. She had the upper hand. They didn't know her, they didn't know what to expect. And they were really no match for her. If it hadn't been so serious, it would have been almost fun. She tried not to think about the aurors that she defeated who didn't stand back up again.
Soon, her memories grew hazy. She recognized that she'd begun to feel that euphoria that she did when her magic was used too much. But she hadn't stopped. Bellatrix had encouraged her to keep going. When there were no more aurors left, she vaguely remembered setting fires to buildings, and then she didn't remember anything else.
"You finished the raid, the aurors were gone, and they'd done all they wanted to," Narcissa said, "But you didn't want to stop."
"Oh no," she breathed.
"Bellatrix tried to stop you," Narcissa said, "But she was tired, and she can't beat you. You wouldn't listen."
Amira swallowed.
"They called for the Dark Lord," she said, "I don't know what he did but he managed to stun you and bring you back."
Amira nodded.
"As soon as you got back here, you woke up," she said, "I guess the stunning didn't last very long."
"What happened?" Amira asked, dreading the answer.
"You were completely out of it, that was obvious," Narcissa said, "You were trying to use magic, for no apparent reason. You weren't hurting anyone but you wouldn't stop and it was obvious that you were magically exhausted. The Dark Lord ordered you to stop, but you didn't. He stunned you again, and I gave you a sleeping draught."
"Oh," Amira whispered, "I'm sorry."
'"It's not your fault," Narcissa assured her, "They pushed you. They knew this could happen. I think you scared them though, I don't think they'll push quite so much again."
"That's so embarrassing," she whispered.
"No," Narcissa said, "It's not. Besides, the only ones who saw it was myself, Lucius, the Dark Lord, and Bella. Now, this is a nice concoction of a potion to help you."
Amira took and drank it obediently. It tasted awful.
"Get dressed, the Dark Lord wants to speak to you," Narcissa commanded. "I'll have food downstairs."
With that Narcissa left. Amira remembered that she needed to talk to her about the new plan for escape. She stood on shaky legs and forced herself to put her formal clothes on. She didn't bother with makeup and just tied her hair into a loose braid, as her hands were too shaky for anything else. Her face was pale and there were deep circles under her eyes.
She trudged downstairs to the Dark Lord's study.
"Ah, Amira, our new celebrity," the Dark Lord greeted. Amira was surprised by the amount of people in the room. Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Yaxley, Severus and Pettigrew were all there. There was an open seat that Lucius gestured for her to take. She sat down, winded from the walk. "You are experiencing magical exhaustion."
She nodded slowly and took Narcissa's offered cup of tea with shaking hands.
"You did wonderfully last night," Bellatrix squealed.
"Yes, you've made quite the impression," the Dark Lord said, "Severus, report."
"Dumbledore knew of her last night, but not who she was. He seemed concerned last night with the reports, but didn't seem surprised. This morning he left breakfast and called me to his office to ask me if I knew. I had told him I didn't know her last name but I had known of her, and that I had been forced to keep her existence a secret." Severus explained, "He was furious this morning, and shaken. He is going to see his brother when you called."
"Good," the Dark Lord's eyes gleamed evilly. "I am so pleased with you all."
Then he turned his eyes back to her. "The rest of you may go. Bella stay. Narcissa stay. And Yaxley."
Amira waited patiently for the rest to file out. She didn't look at her uncle.
"Yaxley, I should thank you for a moment for your niece," the Dark Lord said, "She has been of great help. She will do great things for us."
"I'm glad my lord," Yaxley said with a bow.
"We have run into some difficulties with her magic however," the Dark Lord continued, "I'd like you to move back in here."
Amira's blood ran cold.
"You will still keep your distance from her," the Dark Lord said, "But I just want you on standby... if you are needed."
Yaxley nodded, and Amira's heart pounded. She glanced at Narcissa and saw that her face was cold.
Yaxley was dismissed then.
"Now, Amira, let's discuss your antics last night," the Dark Lord continued.
"I apologize for any actions I took last night that were not acceptable," Amira said right away. Her voice was still hoarse.
"Your apology is meaningless," he said waving his hand, "You were not in control."
Amira wasn't sure what he wanted from her.
"Bellatrix let me know that she is partially responsible for encouraging you," he said, "That will not happen again without my order."
"Yes my lord," Bellatrix apologized, "I did not know how serious it would be."
"However," he said, "I am pleased by the outcome. It was simply the aftermath that was unacceptable. I cannot have you running around like a lunatic trying to kill yourself after every battle. And I will not be able to babysit every time either. Unfortunately, I am not sure that anyone else is capable of containing you."
"What will we do then?" Bellatrix said.
"Draco has managed to calm you in those states, has he not?" The Dark Lord asked.
"He has," Amira nodded, "But I don't know that I've ever been that far gone before."
"Hm," the Dark Lord said. "Well, for now, we won't push there again. If we need to, I'll be there. But, you need to think of a better solution."
"Not to interrupt, my lord," Narcissa said, "But we must also think of the effect on her health. If you had raids scheduled multiple days in a row and she was in this state..."
"Yes, good point," the Dark Lord said, "We will push to that point only sparingly. When necessary. Bellatrix, you will watch her to make sure that she doesn't cross that line."
"Yes my lord," Bella agreed.
"How often are you running now?" the Dark Lord asked Amira.
"Three times a day, my lord," Amira answered. She'd had to up it, because her magic was still growing to be more energetic and restless than she could handle. The only way she could keep good control of it was to wear herself out. And that included her biweekly torture sessions.
"You may go," he said to the other women and waited until they left. "We need to figure out how to tire you out without making you stronger."
Amira was surprised he stated it so bluntly.
"Your magic is going to overpower your body soon," he said, "It will break your mind or stop your heart. You do not need to be any stronger."
"Any ideas?" she asked tiredly. She just wanted to sleep, she didn't feel strong.
"Not yet, you will think of something," he said, "Run more if you have to."
She nodded tiredly.
"You are not stronger than I, you are in fact far weaker," he said harshly, "Because your mind and your body have instability."
She stayed silent. She was unsure of what he was trying to say. She wondered if he even knew what he was trying to say.
"Do not get any ideas of... treason," he warned, "I have the means to make you more unstable. And if that happens, you'll go mad."
She nodded, "I understand. I have no desire to cross you."
She was lying through her teeth, but he bought it. He was a fool.
"Good," he said satisfied, his eyes started glittering insanely again. "You may go. Recover, we will be using you again soon."
She stood and left without another word. She trudged up to her room and fell into bed. Just before she fell asleep again, she thought of Draco. She rolled over and reached for the journal. Inside she saw several messages.
How did it go?
Are you alright?
I saw the news, please let me know that you're okay.
She hastily grabbed her quill to write back to him.
I'm sorry Draco, I'm okay. I passed out last night and didn't wake up until late this morning
He immediately responded.
How did it go last night?
She paused before she wrote, I guess it was alright. We were successful. Unfortunately. It was horrible.
I saw a picture, did you do too much? he asked.
Bellatrix pushed me. I completely lost it, yeah, she wrote. Apparently the Dark Lord had to come collect me. He stunned me twice before I would stop.
There was a long pause.
That's frightening, he wrote, How are you feeling today?
Not great, she said, I'm so exhausted.
Then sleep darling, we can talk later, he wrote.
As she was falling asleep, she wrote I love you.
The next few months were incredibly busy for Amira. Once a week, the Dark Lord had her going out on a raid. Then, twice a week, she was called downstairs for "practice" but in reality it was just the Dark Lord casting spells until she passed out. She wasn't getting any better at it.
Her magic continued to grow despite it all. She kept it hidden and to herself. She ran harder, and longer, to keep herself tired out. She kept herself up late at night and ate less food than she should have, all to keep it together. She recognized that if she survived the war, this was going to be a problem. Her only hope was that if she made it to seventeen without losing her mind, her magic would stabilize and even out. She really didn't need anymore.
It was ironic that she'd gone from having no magic for her entire life, to having so much that it threatened her mind and her heart.
She kept in contact with Draco. She knew he was bored. They finished the cabinet by mid March. He had been told that his task needed to be completed the night of the Hogwarts attack. She now knew his task was to kill Dumbledore. Amira recognized that it was insane. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't want to. Luckily, the Dark Lord seemed to know it, and wasn't truly counting on it.
She had a theory that his task was the way to keep him down and discouraged, the same way he was physically hurting her and threatening her with Yaxley. When Draco inevitably failed at his task, he would be in fear of the Dark Lord once again.
Amira had talked to the Malfoys about their plan. It was hard. They had to speak in hidden language. At first, Narcissa had completely refused. Lucius too. They didn't want to leave their Manor and their son. And Narcissa was adamant about not leaving Amira in the manor where Yaxley now resided. But eventually, they saw reason. Amira had needed to confirm that they had their own plan to escape as soon as they saw an opportunity, and that Draco would be in more danger if they stayed.
Lucius had suggested that the two of them leave under the guise of Narcissa having health complications. The plan was scheduled to take place at the end of March, a month before the Hogwarts attack was planned. They hoped that would give the Dark Lord enough time to calm down not to kill Draco on the spot for his parents actions.
Amira was nervous about having so many people aware of her true loyalties now. Severus, and the Malfoys. If any of them spilled, she was dead.
She was in contact with Severus more frequently now as well. She was learning all about the Order. Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Remus Lupin were the three main heads. Remus was on missions trying to contact werewolves and other groups. Kingsley was their in to the Ministry. Moody was their primary defense strategist. As of now, they didn't have many offensive plans. They were playing catch up. She knew that Dumbledore was the main leader, and any talk of actually bringing down the Dark Lord went to him. Apparently, he was finally giving Potter private lessons with the information needed to bring down the Dark Lord.
Amira and Severus agreed that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be enough to bring him down on his own. Potter was a slightly above average school boy. Amira didn't tell Severus, but she wondered if Dumbledore knew about Horcruxes and was telling Potter what he knew. Apparently the entire year, Dumbledore had been going on secret trips. She also knew that he had been cursed by a ring that he had found and destroyed. Severus didn't know the significance of the ring.
The other major piece of information that she'd gained from Severus more recently was that Dumbledore had instructed him to kill him so that Draco could not. He was worried about his soul. Severus did not want to, but he had agreed. There was something bigger too that Severus was keeping from Amira, something that had to do with Potter. But he wouldn't tell her.
Overall, Amira was using the plan to hatch a plan. She needed to find Potter when they escaped. He would know best about Horcruxes. And if she wanted to defeat the Dark Lord, who better to do it with than the Chosen One.
Now, Amira was waiting nervously in her room. The Malfoys had left two days ago. The Dark Lord did not yet know of their betrayal, as he was on a trip to Albania. She was sure his anger would be fierce when it was discovered. She'd decided that the best way to save herself some pain was to tell him herself. She waited until she felt his presence in the Manor before putting on her best acting face and rushing downstairs.
She knocked on the door. It swung open after a moment.
"This better be important," he hissed when she walked in. He took in her face, "What has happened?"
"I'm sorry to tell you this," she said, honestly, "But... the Malfoys, they've left."
"I know that," he said, "They aren't yet returned?"
"No," she said, "They didn't return, and I checked their rooms, their belongings are gone. The house-elves are gone. Most everything in this house of value is gone."
"What?" he roared.
"I've asked Bella and written to Draco," she said hurriedly, flinching at the intensity of his painful magic flares. "Neither of them knew."
She placed a letter on his desk, "This is from Draco, he wishes to seek an audience with you, and requested I deliver this."
"I will kill him," he seethed, "He surely knows that."
"I think he wishes to prove himself," she said, "Despite the risk."
The Dark Lord snarled and with a crack, he was gone. Amira breathed out a sigh of relief. He could not get to Draco right now. And he hadn't hurt her at all. Hopefully, when he returned he'd be calmer.
As she went back upstairs, a grimness settled over her. She'd lost her protectors. Draco was at Hogwarts, and Narcissa was gone. She was truly on her own in the snake den now.