Chapter 5

The next day, we left for the Quidditch cup. Excitement was tangible in the air as we set off on the hike to that revered event.

The boy and man waiting for us where we were to deport made my skin crawl. Cedric Diggory's appearance was that of a polished pretty boy, but I knew in my very soul that it was a façade. My every sense screamed it, the sixth more than any. He turned that perfect smile on me the moment we arrived, taking my hands as Arthur launched into unnecessary introductions.

"Laura. How has your summer been?" That voice! I knew it was smoother than cream, but the evil I could detect within his words made it as grating to me as nails on a chalkboard. I hated him with a passion.

Knowing that snatching my hands from his and screaming at him to get the hell away from me wasn't an option, I smiled politely and slipped from his hold carefully as I spoke. "It was very nice, Cedric. And yours?"

His smile, fraught with malicious pleasure, grew. "Enlightening. How is your family, Laura? Well? Safe? Alive?" As horror blossomed at his implication, Harry wrapped an arm around me and stepped closer.

"Diggory." He said by way of greeting, with a curt nod.

"Potter." That terrible smile still lingered. I shivered. He was truly quite terrifying.

"Is there a problem, Diggory? Because I can't say I'll appreciate it if you're upsetting Laura."

"Never! C'mon, we should be leaving…"

The ride through the portkey was not fun. A scream tore itself loose from me when we were flung through space, stuck as if by a cementing charm to a dirty old boot. I landed smashed beneath Cedric and I screamed again. Loudly. He made no move to let me go. Instead, he kissed me, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth. Bile rose in my throat as I struggled blindly. Even his mouth was tainted with evil.

"Let her go!" Fred and George both hit Cedric together in a flying tackle. They pinned him as they had done to me: one holding his hands, the other pinning his torso. "Bastard!" Harry hugged me to his side as Fred began to pound that pretty face.

"Fred! George! Stop that!" they all shifted as Arthur yelled at them and soon, Cedric was landing blows of his own. Ron leapt into the fight as Amos Diggory did the same. The yelling and battling continued. Hermione and Ginny waded into the fray a moment before Arthur ran out of patience, drawing his wand. "Portificus Totalis!"

All of them froze, ramrod straight in a jumbled pile. They looked like a pack of pick-up-sticks, which was a muggle game Harry was fond of. They were released from the spell one at a time, the Diggory's left for last. The Weasley boys shot Cedric mean looks as we headed to our camp ground to set up our tents.

"Fighting before we've ever gotten to the Cup! You've no excuse! At least afterwards you could have claimed adrenaline. You ought to be ashamed, the lot of you!" Arthur railed angrily. The combatants had the good grace to look ashamed. At least, until their father relented with a grin "But you did get in some good shots from what I saw, George." We laughed and chattered all the way through the set up and then headed for the Cup itself.

Our seats were all the way in the top box. I was staring around, using the Omnoculars Harry had bought, when I realized that he was there. I turned slowly, the minute I felt his presence. Draco looked back at me. Lucius and Narcissa stood behind him.

"Laura. How is poverty agreeing with you?" Lucius said, smiling coldly. At the sound of that silken, menacing voice, all my childhood horror surged back full force. I was shaking, terrified, as he spoke briefly to Arthur, and moved to sit behind us. Draco sat directly to my right, one seat back, and leaned in to speak to me. I turned away, but not before I saw the whip slender girl who rushed around to sit in the seat behind him, her head bowed. He had a new maid. I found myself wondering, just for a moment, if I had ever really been that scared, that desperate to please. It took only that moment before I answered my own question. Yes. Irrevocably yes.

"How are you, Laura?" He ventured. I didn't answer. I had no desire to speak to him. In the three years since I had left his house, I had learned that talking with Draco just confused my feelings. It caused me to revert almost completely the person I had been… to a pretty shadow with no substance and no clue. "Don't do this again, Laura. Talk to me. I want you to come home. These people can't take care of you, I know they can't. You need—"

"Don't you dare presume to tell me what I need! My home is with Harry!" I burst out, finally turning to him. I didn't care that several people in the box was watching us now. I was angry. "Leave me alone, Malfoy!"

Gray eyes burning, he reached out to cup his hand around my cheek. "You used to call me Draco."

"You weren't a jerk then."

"You loved me then." He countered. Our gazes caught and held. Seconds, hours, days, a year… no, a million of them, we spent staring at each other. Was it true? Had I loved Draco once? It was me who jerked my eyes away first, and pushed his warm hand from my face.

"I don't know love." I whispered. "I've never known love."

"Laura—"

"Leave her alone, Malfoy! You aren't allowed to beat up on her and take advantage of her submissiveness anymore!" Hermione snarled.

"Shut your mouth, you little mud---" at my stricken gasp, he stopped and looked contrite. "I didn't mean that…"

"You did! Stop it!" I snapped the words at him when he reached out to touch me again. Every one in the box was staring at us now. Lucius eyes shot a promise of violence at us both. To me it meant nothing. He couldn't touch me because I wasn't his to control any more. For Draco, it would mean a beating when he got home. That new maid would be cleaning blood off the floors in the Malfoy mansion that night. Draco's eyes held pure fear for one eternal moment before he dropped his gaze and sat back in his seat. Ludo Bagman stared at us for a moment more before he boomed out the introduction of the Bulgarian mascots.

The game seemed to go on forever and I pretended to enjoy it along with everyone else. Ireland eventually won, despite some impressive moves from the handsome Viktor Krum. The celebration began almost immediately for the Irish supporters and lasted late into the night. I entertained our group by using my own special brand of elvish magic, legal though I was underage, to send glaring green shamrocks shimmering around the camp grounds. Small children ran after them, shrieking with joy. A good time was had by all, and soon I was taking requests. The happiness of others lightened my mood, but did nothing to destroy the prickly sense of foreboding that was tickling my spine as I eventually went to bed.

I woke in the dark to frantic cries outside the tent. I rolled out of bed quickly, and pulled on real clothes before rushing from the tent. Chaos met my stunned gaze outside. Fire, trampled tents, people running and screaming through the night.

"Harry?" I went into the boys' tent, calling desperately. No one was there. My tent had been empty as well. I was completely alone. When I rushed back outside, I saw them. There were people on the air, floating as if held by invisible strings, a line of masked people under them, grotesque skulls leering from where their faces should have been. No, it couldn't be…

"Death Eaters! Run for your lives, they'll kill us all!" At the terrified scream, I began to run in the opposite direction. I had to find Harry, help him, and the others. They couldn't use magic, but I could. I had to protect them—

"Crucio!"

I fell to the ground as horrible, mind-numbing pain shot through my entire body. I tried to scream, but my voice was paralyzed. It felt as if someone was trying to peel off my skin, fry what was under it and break every bone in my body all at once. I prayed for death, soon, please, soon…

The agony stopped as abruptly as it had begun and I curled up on the blessedly cool ground. Was I dead now? Had I somehow slipped from my mortal casing due to the horrible and excruciating torture that had wracked my small frame?

"That hurt, didn't it, Little Laura? Tsk, tsk. It was terribly mean to blindside you that way… Do you know where we are?" A crooning soft voice spoke out of the darkness. A voice I knew. A voice I feared. I didn't answer. "We're deep in the woods, far from everyone. I wanted to make you scream for fighting me earlier. You didn't scream for me, Laura, so let's try it again, shall we?"

"Please, Cedric, no!"

"Crucio!" The pain began anew, and this time, I did scream, screamed from the depths of my very soul. He stopped sooner the second time and I sank to the ground in a fetal position, weeping." Oh yes. That's so much better." He cooed, leaning to touch my face almost gently. "Sweet pain. It's worse for someone as tiny as you, isn't it? Poor thing. I wonder how long it'll take before you go mad, Laura. Neville Longbottom's parents… they went for hours, both of them. I was only three at the time, mind you, but my father and I were there and I remember it like it was yesterday. He bellowed like a bear, trying to get lose of the chains they put him in every single time they hurt her, until she was this empty shell of a person. Then they did him. I've wanted to try it since that day. Do you think we ought to go again? And again? You'd better speak up, Laura. Because if I don't hear you, I'll have to assume you want some more."

"No! NO! Please, Cedric, no more! I'm sorry, I'll do anything!" My screams were frantic as he lowered his wand directly over his belly button. "Please! Please! Not—"

"Again? My, my, Laura. I never knew you had such an affinity for pain. Here you are then. Crucio!" My body was arching up off the ground from the currents of agony washing through me. But after several endless moments, a sudden calm gripped me. Yes, it hurt. Oh, Mother of Merlin, did it hurt! But I'd die soon. Surely no one could withstand such things for long… Then the pain stopped.

"Uh-oh. Are you losing it already, Laura? That last one was only four minutes and you're already stopped screaming. Mrs. Longbottom gave us six hours. I'll let you have a few minutes to recoup, then we'll try some more."

I drifted in my own head for an undefined amount of time. Harry will miss me… I hope he's okay, where ever he is right now… Stupid Ginny, she'll take him when I'm gone…

A shout from nearby pulled me into my right mind. "Harry?" I muttered, disoriented. Was I dreaming him in my death throes? Cedric laughed.

"Potter's no where near here, my sweet. No one is."

"Diggory. What're you doing?" A voice spoke in the dark and I stirred.

"Draco?"

" I was just having a little fun with your old servant, Malfoy. Care to give it a spin? She has the sweetest of screams, does little Laura." Cedric laughed again. "The Dark Lord will, of course, have first shot at her body when I'm finished with her. I assume you know what's been planned?"

"Of course I know. My father was always loyal, you idiot. And you're finished now. Give her to me."

"Aw… Do you still love her, Malfoy?" Cedric taunted. "Crucio." I screamed again as pain hit me anew, inside my body this time. I was going to die for sure this time, explode…

"You're killing her! Stop it!" Draco bellowed.

"Not until she breaks!"

"Damn you! Immobulus!" The horror stopped as my torturer froze under the spell. Draco rushed to my side, scooped me up and began to run. "You're bleeding… Jesus, Joseph and Merlin, you're bleeding! Laura, baby, I need you to talk to me now. Your body tried to shut itself down from the inside out to stop the pain. Don't fall asleep on me."

"I think I need to sleep. I'll feel better with a little rest…" My stomach was cramping badly and blood trickled in a steady stream from my nose as my head dropped against his chest.

"No! Stay awake!" There was desperation in the snapped order but my eyes remained open nonetheless. "Come on, baby, just stay with me a little bit longer. We're almost to the Weasleys' tent. Somebody shot up the Dark Mark and all those Death Eaters ran. Please, please, let somebody be here!" As he made that final half-plea, he rushed into the boys tent.

"Laura! Malfoy, you little shit! What've you done to her?" Harry yelled.

"I didn't do this! I'd never do this to her! This is Diggory's work! We have to get her a doctor, a nursing wizard or something. She's been tortured. Her body is trying to die to escape the pain she was going through."

I was floating again. Pain free, worry free. Harry looked so upset, so I smiled.

"Oh, don't be upset again, Harry. It doesn't hurt any more, I promise." Then I frowned. "Are you in pain? Maybe we should get Madam Pomfry…"

"We're not at Hogwarts, Laura." Fred said gently as Draco laid me on the bed nearest the door.

"But Harry is hurt!"

"No, baby, not me… Bill, can't you do something?" There was desperation in Harry's voice too. I found it hilarious, was giggling as Bill loomed over me, a bed sheet wrapped around his wand arm. He gave me a gentle smile.

"How about you tell me what doesn't feel so good right now, Laura?" he said.

"Oh, hello, Bill, darling… My lad with the gorgeous long hair…" I laughed. "My tummy aches a bit and I have a head ache. But I'm okay, really. The cup was fun, wasn't it Do you suppose someone might have saved those flying people? I saw them, y'know. The little girl was spinning 'round and 'round and--- bloody hell!"

Bill's wand touched right over my heart and between my eyes. Flames erupted within me and I screamed. It was almost as bad as being tortured.

"Why are you hurting her?" Harry snarled. "Stop it!"

"Don't touch her!" Bill commanded sharply, glaring right back at Harry. "She was fading fast and the damage repair had to be painful to keep her anchored here. Do you want her to die?" Harry shook his head. "Then leave her alone until it's finished." For several minutes, the only sound to be heard in the tent was my gasped, sobbing breaths. Finally, I lay still on that bed, crying and shaking. Harry cuddled me close, his lips to my temple.

"Oh, baby… It's okay now. I've got you. How the hell did this happen?" He snarled the last at Draco, and then began to tenderly wipe the blood from my face with a warm, wet towel.

"I heard someone screaming in the woods, and saw the light from the same spell flashing over and over again after you three passed me. I went to investigate. Diggory was using an Unforgivable Curse on her, but I'll bet anything that we have only mine and Laura's word on it because he won't have used his own wand. He just kept… hurting her. She begged him not to. I'll have nightmares about it until the day that I die. No, no, please Cedric, no more. I'll do anything. Please, please, please! Not again! Then he'd do it again. I didn't know if it was her, and if it wasn't, I certainly wasn't going to ride to some woman's rescue. God, he stood there and made her scream for five full minutes straight. I'm sorry, Laura." He would have touched me then, but Harry hissed, drawing back. I was still crying. Bill spoke again.

"We'll have to go after Diggory, Dad. If the little bastard is running around using illegal curses, he must have lost it and might hurt someone else."

"Yes, Father, I'll go as well."

"Me, three." Charlie said resolutely.

"We're going as well." Fred and George insisted.

"No you're not. You two can't use magic outside of school yet… So stay here and guard the others. Malfoy, you stay here as well. I know your father probably taught you some spells to kill and maim. Use them if anyone off color comes in here, and you have Ministry authorization, all of you. But don't go looking for trouble! Understood?" Arthur ordered. We all nodded.

"Is there anything Laura will need, Bill?" Harry asked.

"No. But try to Keep her awake if you can, until real doctor comes by. She can doze off, but don't let her go all the way out. We'll give whatever doctor we find a note or something to show he's from us."

Bill, Percy, Charlie and Mr. Weasley left us alone in the tent. I couldn't bear the silence for long and eventually, I used magic to make soft music play. Harry continued to cuddle me and soon the sound had everyone but Draco relaxed. He was agitated, and it made me feel the same. He paced the tent stiffly.

"Draco." I finally spoke. He turned, knelt beside the bed that Harry and I lay on.

"Yes, Laura? What do you need?" he asked.

"Nothing. Please calm down. You're upset and I can fell it. Don't worry anymore. You found me. You saved me. I'm safe." I assured him.

"I… I know. But I keep hearing your screams in my head. Pleading. Begging him not to hurt you, and then him doing it anyway just to make you scream. Everybody here was out of these tents except for you, Laura. If the Death Eaters had come this way, you'd be even worse off, because I know that Diggory promised you to the Dark Lord. I… I'm just scared of the thought of you being hurt. I don't' mean to upset you." He explained.

"Ginny was supposed to wake you, Laura." Hermione said. "I ran straight to Ron after she woke up and said she'd—"

In a moment of startling clarity, we all knew. And her brothers all growled her name, threateningly, in complete unison. "Ginevra!"

"She—She didn't get up! I tried!" she protested.

"You left her because I like her better, didn't you, Ginny?" Harry said.

"Harry—"

"Didn't you?" He demanded. "She burst into guilty tears. "It was a wasted effort. I could never trust a girl who would leave someone to die over a boy." She fled, crying noisily.

"Of all the nerve!" Ron muttered. "My own sister!"

Soon after, the doctor came. He checked me over, declared me fit and urged me to rest. It was suggested I not sleep alone, so we all ended up bunking together in the boys' tent. Hermione and Ron shared a bed. I slept in Harry's arms. Draco kissed me goodbye and left the tent when the other Weasleys returned Ginny in tow. They opted to take shifts sitting up as guard through the night. I feel into a nightmare, wrapped in Harry's warm embrace. I relived the torture over and over. I woke up before sun rise, screaming from the phantom pain still gripping me. Harry had to pin me in order to keep me in the bed, stopping my flailing arms.

"What can I do?" I heard him implore Bill helplessly through the layers of my waking nightmare. No reply came, but I heard Harry speak again. "Laura… baby, it's okay. I've got you, I'm here, and everything is fine." His voice was loud. He was demanding that I hear him. He rocked me in his arms.

"It hurts!" I gasped. "He's doing it again!"

"No, he's not. He's not hurting you. Diggory's gone now. He can't touch you." He soothed. In some plain of my mind, I was grateful to Harry. Even after the fiasco the day before, he was still treating me gently, still caring for me as if nothing had changed.

"Promise?" the whimpered word made me sound and feel weak, and I hated it.

"I promise you." He stroked my short hair, smiling at me. "Can you go back to sleep now?"

"No. No, we're going to go home now." Arthur was awake. Everyone was. "Your mother is probably in a panic… Everybody pack up. We'll beat the morning rush." The silence rang throughout the camp site as we prepared to leave.

It was noon when we reached the Burrow. Molly started to mother me, but I flinched as she came bustling up to me and she stopped, her lower lip trembling ominously.

"Poor thing…You go on inside." She urged tearfully. The dam burst, and she proceeded to weep all over her brood. "Laura's all over the Prophet, her and those poor muggles. Diggory has an alibi and they've got no evidence to connect him other than her and the Malfoy boy's word. They're saying that she was blinded by pain and that the boy was so distressed by seeing Laura tortured that he applied her identification to what he saw." She said.

Her news hit me like a thunderbolt. He wasn't going to Azkaban for hurting me. He'd gotten away with it. The Weasleys' faces ranged from horror to fury to indignation. A hysterical giggle burst from my lips before I sank to the sun warmed grass in a dead faint.