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Most everyone was already in the Slytherin common room by the time Bella and I arrived. Luckily, Tom didn't mention this though. Instead, he tilted his head to the side to stare at us lazily. Raising an eyebrow at Bellatrix, he said, "There you are, Bella! I was counting on you being here today. I also see that you managed to bring your sister along. Good for you."

"Thank you, Master," Bella said with a respectful little bow of her head. The gesture totally sickened me. Since when had Bella started calling Tom "Master"? I didn't like the sound of it one little bit. It seemed like Tom was getting more and more control over Bella. And really, if you thought about it, he was getting more control over all of us.

"Sit down anywhere you'd like," Tom ordered us with his slitted eyes gazing right into mine. "We're just waiting for Avery here. I don't know why he's so late. He's probably doing detention for McGonagall again or something." Needing to get away from Tom's painful stare, I ducked behind a chair and let my eyes wander around the room.

I save Severus sitting by the fire with his dark hair in his eyes and his long legs crossed over one another. He looked deep in thought and I had a feeling his mind was on Lily Evans perhaps and not on the task at hand. Across the room sat Walden. He was watching me very closely. However, when I glanced in his direction, he instantly looked away. That was good I supposed. Maybe Lucius had scared him away from me earlier. And finally, sitting down on one side of the battered old sofa, was Lucius.

Lucius was lazily flicking his wand from side to side and was lounging against the back of the sofa. As if he felt my stare, he turned and looked over at me. A thin smile appeared on his lips and he gestured to the spot on the sofa next to him with a slight nod of his head. So glad to actually feel wanted, I hurried across the room and sat down in the empty spot next to Lucius.

Well, okay, maybe I was sitting more in Lucius' spot than mine. Our thighs were touching and I was sitting far closer to him than casual friends sit together. But Lucius and I were more than just friends, so it was okay for us to sit this close together, right? Wrong. Everyone was looking at us with obvious questioning looks in their eyes. One person in particular was giving us a very calculating stare. That person was Tom. I gulped and waited to see what he would do, but luckily, the door burst open at that moment and Avery came tromping in with his hair all messed up and looking like he had run all the way here.

"So sorry that I'm late!" Avery gasped as he tumbled into the room and closed the door behind him with a loud bang. "I had dentention with McGonagall and the woman wouldn't let me out early. What a bitch." Avery ran across the room and sank down on the spot on my other side on the couch.

"It's alright, Avery," Tom stated in an unreadable tone. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his head as he stared from Avery to Lucius and then to me. Tom continued onwards, "Just try to make sure you stay out of trouble next time. It wouldn't bode well for McGonagall to think we're up to anything now, would it?"

"No, of course not," Avery agreed in a breathless voice, "And of course, Master. I won't get into detention again." Oh god, there it was again! Not only was Bella calling Tom "Master", but now Avery was too. Feeling a little bit more than unsettled, I gave Lucius an uneasy glance out of the corner of my eye. Lucius stared back at me with a calming look and entwined his fingers in mine.

For some reason, having Lucius' hand on mine seemed to give me extra strength and I immediately felt prepared for anything and everything. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last too long. As a matter of fact, it disappeared as soon as Tom started speaking again...which was right now. Tom started out, "I have a surprise for you today. You remember how we've been working on the Cruciatus Curse. You got a taste of how it works just a few weeks ago. Today, you're going to get a real taste of it."

All eyes were on Tom. Some stared at him with intrigue, some looked him with puzzlement, and yet others (like me) looked at him with sheer terror. Unconsciously, I found myself sliding closer to Lucius on the couch. If I kept this up, I would probably end up sitting on his lap in about two minutes here.

Thin lips curling into a smile, Tom went on, "Last time, you practiced the Cruciatus Curse on an owl. Today, I have something more for you. I have taken a muggle into the vicinity for us to practice on. Let's see how much you can make him scream now, shall we? Don't worry; I already put up spells so that nobody outside of this room and hear what is going on. Now which ones of you would like to go first? Unfortunately, I don't know how long the boy will last, so you may not all get a chance to try the curse out on him."

For the first time today, I suddenly noticed a small boy cowering in the corner of the room. He had light brown hair, big baby eyes, and a chubby face. I assumed he was about the age of six or seven, but I couldn't be sure. I had never been all that good at estimating ages. Tom made a summoning motion with his hand and the trembling boy slowly came to his side.

At this point, I was kind of beyond shock. What in the world was happening? Was Tom really going to torture this young, innocent child? Nobody could do that! They just couldn't! It was an evil beyond words. I shot Lucius a worried glance and held his hand so hard that my fingernails bit into the skin of his hand and he winced.

Before I could try to stop this felony, Bellatrix had her hand waving back and forth excitedly in the air and was giving Tom one of those big, crazy grins of hers, "I'll go first! Can I?" Not surprisingly enough, Bellatrix had chosen to sit in the spot closest to Tom and was looking at him with anticipation written all over her face.

A deathly smile dawned on Tom's face as well as he watched Bella and replied, "Sure, my dear. Of course you may have the first try. I owe it to you. After all, you were indeed the one who helped me get this boy into the castle without detection. I must thank you for that. Those who are most loyal to me will always be rewarded. All of you would do well to remember that."

Tom's words flowed in and out of my head without me really listening to them. However, just at the last moment, something he had said caught my attention. He had said that Bella had helped get the little boy into the castle. Could it be true? Had my sister actually helped kidnap this innocent child so he could be torture by the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters?

Not sure I could believe my sister was quite that evil, I just kind of stared at her with an open mouth and widened eyes. Bellatrix had already leapt to her feet and had hurried across the room so she was standing about two yards away from the boy with her wand pointed somewhere at his heart. I had a sudden impulse to get up and yank Bella's wand out of her hand, but my limbs failed to obey by brain. So instead, I sat still as stone.

A wickedly evil smile crossed Bella's face as she turned and looked at the trembling boy standing before her. His lip was starting to quiver in fear and he looked like he wanted to go run and hide. Bellatrix merely laughed at his fear and mocked him, "What's wrong little boy? Are you scared? Are you looking for your mommy? I hate to break it to you, but you're never gonna see her again!"

At Bella's words, the little boy did actually start crying. Big sobs wracked his small body. Of course, pretty much all the Death Eaters laughed at Bella's taunts. I noticed that the one who laughed the loudest was Walden. God, sometimes I did want to kill him. Now I could relate to Lucius' anger from earlier. Bella continued to taunt the boy and cackle loudly for a few minutes.

Finally, Tom rolled his eyes in an easygoing manner at my sister and said, "Okay, okay, Bella, I think he's had enough for now. Let's not wear him out before we even get a chance to use the curse now. Go ahead and do it. Show me what you've learned about the Cruciatus Curse over all of our previous lessons."

At the Dark Lord's orders, Bella quickly nodded and jabbed her wand at the little boy as she cried, "Crucio!" Red sparks went flying through the air faster than the speed of light and slammed into the little boy's chest. The impact was so powerful that the boy toppled over and landed on his back. For a moment, his eyes went wide and motionless. Then the screaming began.

He screamed and screamed awful, bloodcurdling screams that chilled me to the bone. His little body twisted and writhed upon the ground as he was tortured by none other than my sister. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe my sister was doing this. My sister had never exactly been the evil type. At least, I didn't think she was. Maybe she wasn't always the nicest girl in the world, but she had never been so satanic before. It was like she turned into a whole different person around Tom.

As I watched the boy twist and turn, screams came to my own lips. They were silent screams though and the tears that spilled down my cheeks were unheard by anyone. It was like I was going through torture myself. I couldn't bear to see this innocent child go through such excruciating pain. I wanted to look away, but my eyes refused to obey me and stayed locked on the scene before me.

After what seemed like the longest five minutes in my life, Tom said, "Alright, you've had a fair share, Bella. Good girl, I'm proud of you. You've done well. Who's next? Walden, would you like to give it a try?" Walden. Goddamn him. Of course Walden would say yes. I saw him get up from his seat and hurry over to fix the child with an evil stare.

The poor little boy was now gasping and lying on his back on the floor. He looked near death. When Walden pointed his wand at him, the boy instantly started writhing in agony once more and those awful, horrific screams filled the air. By this time, Lucius had seen the effect this was all having on me. His fingers were instantly on my chin, tilting my head away from the sight before me.

I let Lucius turn my head away from the struggling child, but even though I could no longer see him, I could still hear those screams that would haunt me for days and days. Lucius and I locked gazes and an unsaid message traveled between us. Lucius was telling me that he was sorry I had to see this. I told him that I thought it was the most horrible thing I had ever witnessed in my life.

Feeling weak and light-headed for a number of reasons (basically the gruesome scene before me and the fact that I hadn't bothered to eat anything at all today), I collapsed against Lucius. I pressed my body up against his breast and laid my ear on his heart. I tried to let the steady thumping there relax me and block out the cries and whimpers of the child.

I'm not sure how long Tom let the Death Eaters torture the child for. All I knew was that it was a very long, agonizing time. During the whole thing, I clung to Lucius like the way a little girl clings to her daddy. Lucius comforted me in the best way he could. He kept me pressed up against his chest so no one would hear my sobs.

I pulled away slightly from Lucius when I heard Tom's voice once more, "Nice job, everyone. Bellatrix and Walden, you two did especially well. I think this little kid has had just about everything he can handle. I'll go ahead and finish him off." Without a drop of mercy in his voice, Tom slashed his wand in the air and yelled, "Crucio!"

The little boy fell to the ground, gave two remaining screams, and then dropped to the floor and lay still. His eyes were wide and staring and he moved no more. Tom walked over to the body and kicked it with his nose turned up in disgust, "Definitely dead. I'll take care of him in the morning. You're all dismissed." With that, Tom kicked the corpse into the corner of the room.

Acting as if nothing major had happened, everyone slowly got up from where they were sitting and either started up conversations or headed up to their dormitories. I stared at them all with shock and horror. How could they be so unfeeling? How could they not at all be affected by what they had just seen? I knew that I would be scarred from it for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, I heard small, delicate sobs from behind me. Was someone else crying too? Curious to see who it was, I lifted my head slightly to see who it was. When I saw the figure crying from behind me, I almost gasped in surprise. It was Natasha! I couldn't believe it for a few minutes. What was Nat doing crying? I thought she was cold as stone and had an unmovable heart. Nonetheless, the scene that had just taken place had obviously affected her as much as it had affected me. Maybe I had been too quick to judge Nat. Maybe there was a lot more to the girl than I realized.

I would've gone over and comforted her, but my limbs were heavy, my body was weak, and all I could do to stay upright was to flop against Lucius. He held me up and wrapped both arms around me. I wanted to disappear in those arms and act like I hadn't just seen the horrors that had passed before my eyes. I wanted it all to just go away.

"Lucius? I need to speak to you," a cold, hard voice stated from across the room. I didn't have to look across the room to know that the voice belonged to Tom. Lucius looked torn in two directions as he glanced from me to Tom. Finally, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, "You'll be okay, Cissa. Just pretend none of that happened. I'll be here for you in the morning."

With one last urgent look into my eyes, Lucius slid his lips over my collarbone before releasing me to stride over to Tom. I watched him go before I turned and walked to the Slytherin dormitory with shaky, quivering steps.