Kapitel 33: Imprisoned
When Rose woke up, she made sure to lay still. It was a trick she had learned from Uncle Harry. She tried to assess her situation before she had to react to it. It was dark, but not complete darkness. She was laying on something made of wood, either a bench or a floor. She didn't feel any restraints, which was a plus. But her robes had been ruffled through. Her spare wand was gone as were a few other items she had kept under her robes, like her mother's letter. She felt the ground move under her. Maybe she was on a boat? That made sense, if she was still with the Death Eaters. But it didn't seem like the boat was moving. There was no sound of an engine and the water was splashing quietly, not as if the boat hit the water at speed. She heard quiet murmurs, but they were far away from her, so it was impossible to say who they were or what was being said. Then she heard someone move slightly, much closer to her. She waited a little longer, then decided she had learned all she could with her eyes closed.
The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Lestrange. He stood there studying her. She didn't like the expression on his face.
The second thing she saw was the metal bars between her and him. That explained the lack of restraints. Of course, the boat from the prison would have a prison cell.
"Good evening" Lestrange said with a grin. "Nice of you to join us at last."
She raised herself up to a sitting position but tried to slide as far away from him as possible on the wooden bench she was placed on. She didn't have to fake being scared.
"You are a strange person," Lestrange said. "I don't understand why you came to Azkaban. Did you miss us that much?"
That was a strange comment. Did that mean Lestrange knew who she was?
"Where am I?" she asked groggily. Lestrange just laughed. "In the middle of the ocean somewhere. I don't have the exact coordinates, but then, that doesn't really matter now, does it?" He held out a wand. Where had he got that? She gulped and tried to shrink further back.
"This is not your wand," he said. "I was, however, sure I had seen it somewhere before. We found it when we searched you. When I discovered your other little secret, I also remembered where I had seen this wand before."
What was he talking about? What was so special about that wand? Then she recognised it. It was Scorpius' wand that she had kept as a backup under her robes. Of course, some of them had seen Scorpius' wand before. And if they had found that… They knew she was a woman. The thought of some of them touching her made her feel sick. What else had they done?
"Just out of curiosity, what was your plan? Were you planning on pretending to want to help us escape again? Or were you there just to watch out for anyone else doing that? You placed yourself in a very dangerous position. I am surprised your mother went along with it. Or have you not told her what you are doing?"
"I…I don't know what you mean."
"Spare me the denials. Once I looked closely, I recognised you, Mrs. Malfoy." Rose cringed. They knew. What would they do now? She was fairly sure it wouldn't be anything good.
"I have to admit, you got the better of me back in London. Not many people have been able to surprise me like that. But I was so focused on your husband not noticing your distress, I forgot to check your little schemes. It was clear that you were searching for a way out, but I was so sure there weren't any. Where did you get the Sleeping Powder? It knocked us out for over a day, so it must have been some strong stuff."
Rose just gave him a cold stare. She was not interested in doing small talk.
"I suppose it doesn't matter." Lestrange admitted. "You don't have it now, and I don't think any of us will want to eat food that you are cooking again."
Rose hadn't expected anything else. She was waiting to hear what they would do now.
"You may be pleased to know," he said "That you did cause us some minor inconvenience. We had not planned on escaping quite so soon. I don't know what gift it is you have that lets you just brush off any attempt at mind control, but we are aware of it now, and I won't let it surprise me again. For now, you can simply stay there, in the cell. It's not a bad one. I've been in it myself, or one like it." He gave her a small grin. "What we will do when we get to shore, I haven't decided yet. You are a liability, but you may be worth keeping anyway. In a way, you should be glad that we discovered your real identity. A random guard that got in the way would probably be dead by now, like your friend is"
Thomas. Oh God, what had she done to him! She might not have been the one to cast the spell, but he was dead because of her. Why had she even gone to Azkaban? She hadn't accomplished anything, except getting herself captured again. She tried to fight back tears. She did not want to show weakness in front of Lestrange.
"You killed him," Lestrange suddenly said. She looked up at him. Had he read her mind?
"That is what Barnsby will say, anyway. You put yourself in the perfect position. What were you doing up there anyway? It wasn't your shift, that was clearly the other boy's job."
"My mother will never believe that." Rose replied, despite her decision to stay quiet. "She knows who I am. She knows I wouldn't do that."
"Ah, but can she be absolutely sure? Does she know about your ability to withstand the Imperius Curse? Can she be absolutely certain that you did not kill him?"
"If she thinks I am under the Imperius Curse, she will check every other guard for it as well. And she would know that I wasn't working alone. How would I be able to open the cell doors for you? I don't have that authorisation. She will get to Barnsby. Your inside man will be gone."
"Perhaps." Lestrange said in a silky tone. But she saw his uncertainty. They played a game with increasingly higher risks. She should be glad that he was uncertain, but she suspected she would be the one paying for it.
"Well, it just means we need to avoid capture this time then. Don't worry about it. This boat is untraceable. And when we do get ashore, it won't be anywhere the Ministry can find us."
That made Rose a bit more hesitant. She resisted the urge to touch her shoulder, to see if she could feel the Tracker there. Had the Death Eaters found those? She doubted it, or Lestrange would have told her. That gave her hope. She didn't know how far the range of the Trackers were, but if her mother could see her in Azkaban, she could definitely see them in the boat out in the sea.
"I wouldn't be too sure. Your track record for staying out of prison isn't very good so far, is it? What will you do differently this time? Clearly, you already missed the whole "don't take hostages" part."
"Easy. We won't land anywhere in Britain. This boat can take us anywhere, so why stay on the one island in the world where we are sure to be hunted?"
Rose gulped. Another country? She hadn't considered that possibility. Would the Trackers function that far away? She supposed it would depend on which country it was.
"So, why are we standing still? Are you worried that the Ministry will find you if you move?"
"As I said, we weren't planning on escaping quite so soon. We are waiting for our land-based contact to be ready. But don't worry. A few days should do it. And we will find something to do to occupy ourselves while we wait."
Rose had no doubt that they would. And she guessed that she probably wouldn't like it.
A door opened at the other side of the cabin. 5 other Death Eaters walked in. She knew them all. It was some of those she herself had put to sleep two weeks ago. She didn't like the look on their faces.
"Now, as I said," Lestrange said with a smirk. "Kevin the guard caused us to have to leave sooner than we planned. A minor inconvenience. But luckily, Barnsby had time to place some wands in the captain's cabin of this boat." They all drew their wands. Rose tried to curl herself into an even smaller ball. She didn't know what would be coming next, but she was very sure that it was not good. It didn't sound like they planned to kill her, but there was a lot they could do without killing.
"Mrs. Malfoy, however, made herself a much larger obstacle. Some of us suggested we should just kill her." Lestrange's predatory eyes locked onto her as every one of the Death Eaters pointed their wands at her. She whimpered in fear. "But that is a bit hasty. And in my opinion, death is an easy way out for you. No, I won't kill you. I won't kill you until you beg me to. Then I might consider it." Rose tried to look away, but she couldn't remove her gaze from his. He meant it. He was really planning on making her beg to die. She was not going to give him that satisfaction. That was her last decision. She would not beg.
Then the first Death Eater raised his wand. She had forgotten how painful the Cruciatus Curse was. She screamed. They all took turns. She screamed and cried. But this time, her screams were not making anyone else feel bad. No one else was forced to watch her being tortured this time. So, she screamed. She had no idea how long it lasted. She zoned out. Albus had been right. When she stopped fighting the pain, it was easier.
When they got tired of it, they left her there in the darkness. Even Lestrange left. For a while, she just lay there, catching her breath from all the screaming and the pain. Then her mind started racing again. Her situation was pretty hopeless. In fact, she was in about as bad a position as she had ever been in. There was no way out. Even if, by some miracle, she found a way out of this cell, she was still on a boat in the middle of the sea. A boat full of Death Eaters, most of whom would like any excuse to kill her. All she could do was to wait for them to get to shore. Maybe she would have a chance to run then. It was a small chance, since she didn't think they would underestimate her again. But she would have to try. Small chances were all she had. She couldn't just give up.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
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Stein