Sometimes its hard to just keep going.

Cassie groaned softly, her eyes fluttering open. They darted around trying to work out where the hell she was. All she remembered was walking down a hallway and then nothing. Darkness. Where she was now was still fairly dark, all she could see was faint shadows which really didn't show anything. The ground was hard, cold and rough and her arms were tied rather firmly behind her back. Cassie groaned again, her head was throbbing and her body was sore from lying how she had been. She blinked a few times, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, which really didn't do much. She supposed that there was nothing actually in the room to see.

With some difficultly, Cassie sat up. She just had to roll onto her back and then rock herself forward. Sitting up was margionally more comfortable then lying down had been. She sighed glancing around, wondering where on earth she was, how she had gotten there and why. Her first guess was the Carrows had something to do with it, but she really had no idea. Cassie did not like having no idea, it irritated her.

"Ow," She muttered trying to pull on her arms. She didn't like having them bound in rope, it made her feel more vunerable. Specially because her arms were her most used thing when defending herself. Nothing like whacking people in the face.

Lyssa sighed lightly as the train pulled up to the station in London, letting students off for the winter holidays. She trekked with Draco through the corridors and out onto the platform. They met up with their mother, who was waiting for them, and were soon at the Manor.

As soon as Lyssa had walked through the door Lucius came out of a room just off the entrance hall, looking directly at her. He looked more stoic than normal, but that was just something he did when he didn't want to show his emotions outwardly; he overdid the stoic. He silently motioned his head to the room he had just exited.

Lyssa just looked at him for a moment as he walked off and Narcissa and Draco did as well. She continued to stand in the hallway for a moment, before walking to the door and entering.

Inside the room was dark, with only a dull fire for light. Lyssa could see something moving slowly in the corner of the room, just outside the fire's glow. She prayed that it was not Voldemort's snake, since that thing freaked her out. Then she saw him, sitting in a high-backed armchair.

She observed him silently, not wanting to do or say anything to set him off. That wouldn't be a pleasant thing to do. A moment later, he turned to her.

Cassie did not like headaches, they made it hard for her to concerntrate. Not that she had anything to concerntrate on. There was nothing to do but speculate on where the hell she was and various other questions that were spirialing around her mind. The door swung open and light flooded part of the room, dimly lighting it up. Cassie glanced around, as she supposed that room was empty and then turned to face whoever was at the door. Who it was, Cassie was pretty certain she had never seen in her life.

The guy grabbed her by the arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. Cassie growled and tried to pull her arm away but the person had a very firm hold. She tried kicking, which did not work and wished she had her hands free so she could punch. Cassie had a pretty hard punch. Struggling all the while the Gryffindor was dragged to the door of the cellar and out of it. "Get off," She exclaimed trying to worm her way out of the grasp. Which again, had no use.

Getting pulled through the house Cassie recognised it. Her eyes widened. "Malfoy Manor," She whispered and sent a nervous glance at the person pulling her, who she supposed was a Death Eater. She was too surprised to struggle the rest of the way but regained her wits as she was pushed into a room that she faintly recognised.

Cassie gulped glancing around the room quickly. She spotted a few things she didn't like. Including Lyssa and Voldemort. Cassie shivered slightly, nervously. She glanced at the Dark Lord and the hair on her body stood up. Cassie quickly glanced down at her feet. She felt small and weak and Cassie did not like feeling like that. She looked at her sneakers for a few seconds before glancing back up, she adverted her eyes from Voldemort and stared at Lyssa, straight in the eye. Trying to keep her apprehension from showing on her face.

Again Cassie wondered why on earth she was there, there was obviously a reason that she was standing in front of the Dark Lord. And that Lyssa was standing beside him. But Cassie had no idea and truth be told she wasn't too sure if she wanted to know.

Voldemort talked to Lyssa for a length of time, asking a short question here and there. She answered as respectfully as she could make herself. After a while, he called one of the Death Eaters into the room and told them to go get the prisoner from the cellar. The Death Eater nodded silently and departed from the room.

Lyssa stood there, looking around the room slightly, wondering what would happen next. And then Cassie got pulled into the room. For a short moment, Lyssa's heartbeat quickened in worry, before settling back down.

She was sure she had some confusion on her face. Just what was about to happen? The air was tense and a silence held over everyone for a moment. Lyssa ended up just looking at Cassie, who was looking back.

Still confused, Lyssa frowned. And then Voldemort spoke. "Prove your loyalty to me," he said to Lyssa, "by harming her," he motioned at Cassie.

Lyssa's eyes quickly averted to him, slightly wider than normal. "I have to what? How?" she said, completely dropping the respectful persona she'd taken on earlier.

Cassie's eyes widened at what Voldemort said. She was still finding it weird to be standing in front of him and rather wished she was someplace else. Someplace else that was far away. Where her heart wasn't pounding hard. She swallowed again and breathed deeply trying to calm her breathing which was becoming rapid. Cassie glanced at Lyssa, who was looking at Voldemort with a look of disbelief or something along those lines.

So that was why she was brought here, Cassie thought dryly, so that Lyssa could prove her loyalty. Which hurting her would do, because anyone that knew Lyssa would have known that the two of them had been freinds since they met eachother and hurting Cassie would prove to Voldemort that she was on her side.

Cassie felt sick, though having not eaten for a while might have had something to do with it. She wondered how long she had been unconious, if her family had been alerted to her disapearance. What was happening back at Hogwarts. Her stomache clenched as she looked at Lyssa and wondered what she was going to do. Surely she wasn't going to hurt her..was she? Cassie didn't want to believe it but a small part of her said that Lyssa would.

Voldemort looked at Lyssa, not repeating himself. That was just so unfit for him to do, especially for a teenager. But he did decide to answer her how. "Be creative," he said, returning to his chair.

Lyssa frowned for a moment, looking back at Cassie who looked nervous and like she'd rather be anywhere else than where she was. Slowly, Lyssa reached for her wand, which was conveniently in her pocket, like usual.

She thought for a moment, then decided on a spell. Raising her wand, slightly to her surprise -for she had not expected to be able to; she wasn't one to hurt people- she went over the spell in her mind for a short moment. Then she opened her mouth and uttered it. "Peitschen."

Cassie stopped herself from crying out as what felt like invisable whips lashed across her face, her face stung painfully and Cassie could feel blood trickling down her face but with her arms bound behind her back she couldn't wipe it off her face. Cassie shut her eyes trying to calm herself down, deep breaths to slow down her breathing. She opened her eyes and looked at Lyssa. Ignoring the other presences in the room, they didn't matter to her. She really couldn't believe it, they had had a falling out yeah, but they had been best freinds for years and the fact that she would just hex her hurt Cassie more then the actual spell had. She hissed, her sadness turning into anger. She wanted to shout and rage and hit something. Cassie scowled.

Lyssa looked immediately from Cassie to where Voldemort was sitting, unable to look at the other Gryffindor in the room. He just nodded at her. Then Lyssa looked away from him, looking back at Cassie who had a few bleeding cuts on her face now. Lyssa's heart thumped loudly in her chest for a moment, but there was nothing she could do about it now. So, instead, she stood there, looking at Cassie and acting like what had just happened didn't mean a thing to her. It barely did anyway, so it wasn't hard. This had just effectively severed anything they had, she would bet anything on it.

Blood trickled onto Cassie's shirt, staining it. Cassie watched the stain for a moment swallowing back tears, Cassie was tough. She could deal with the sting on her face and the throb pounding loudly in her head, she was fine with physical damage. Most of the time. But what she couldn't handle was emotional pain. Cassie blinked and a few tears unwillingly rolled down her face, joining the stain of blood on her shirt. She didn't want to cry, it made her feel weak.

Some death Eater, the same one from earlier, grabbed Cassie on the upper-arm and dragged Cassie out of the room, Cassie lost her footing a few times as the Death Eater was bigger then her and took larger strides that Cassie couldn't keep up with. She was thrown roughly into the cellar, landing painfully and was soon enclosed by Darkness again. Cassie made a noise, halfway between and groan and a hiss.

Lyssa was dismissed from the room after Cassie was gone and well out of sight. She trudged up the stairs to her room. That was not the first thing she had wanted to do upon getting home for the holidays. She fell back on her bed with a soft sigh to herself, looking up at the ceiling, thoughts flying through her head.

A few days later, Lyssa was walking through the Manor when she heard a few noises that sounded like voices. Thinking it best to investigate, Lyssa walked in the direction it was coming from. She opened a door to a room and spotted a few people -including Bellatrix- in the room, as well as Cassie, who looked like she was having one hell of a rough time.

Lyssa looked at the group for a few moments, but not saying a word or doing anything about it.

Cassie panted as she lay on the floor, staring at the feet of the Death Eaters who were tormenting her. They had no reason to, were just doing it for the fun of it. They shouted at her, taunting her, making fun of her as she lay defenless on the floor in front of them. Not having the stregth to stand straight. Cassie hurt all over, feeling as if someone had dropped a frige with spikes on top of her. She hurt in places she didn't even know that it was possible to hurt in and was covered in blood. She kept her mouth shut as pain wracked her body, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of hearing her cry out. Cassie saw another pair of feet enter the room and glancing up for a moment she saw that it was Lyssa. A sharp sting seared across her face and the next moment across her leg. Cassie waited, wondering if Lyssa was going to do anything or just stand there. Cassie writhed as pain errupted in her back and guessed that Lyssa wasn't going to do anything, just watch.

Lyssa stood there for a few moments more, continuing to watch. When things looked like they were about to get out of hand to the point of permanent damage she stepped farther in the room and cleared her throat. Everyone turned to her. "I suggest you all stop, lest you kill her by mistake. Since, I doubt that you have permission from Voldemort to do so."

She heard her auntie Bella hiss from across the room. "You shouldn't speak his name, you are nowhere near worthy enough."

"I don't care," Lyssa replied calmly. "The point being, unless you have permission you'd better stop."

"And just who are you to boss us around?"one of the other Death Eaters asked.

"I'm a Malfoy, this is my damn house as much as it's Lucius'."

Cassie couldn't concerntrate on anything but the pain at that point. She had a high tolerance for it but sometimes it just became too much. At that point she couldn't stop herself from crying softly into the ground, her tears blurring her vision. She was relieved when new spells stop being fired at her, she wasn't that sure how much of it she could take. Cassie just wanted to disapear, she had never really wanted to more then just then. Disapear and forget about the pain that filled her body. She spluttered for a moment, choking on her own tears.

The Death Eaters frowned at Lyssa, but they did indeed stop, sauntering from the room all the while glaring at her for stopping their fun. As the last one walked out, Lyssa looked at Cassie who looked about half-dead on the ground, and then realized it was her responsibility to care for her now, since she was the only person left in the room. Or at the very least get her back to the cellar. Lyssa sighed and took a few more steps into the room, looking at the other Gryffindor.

Cassie dimly noticed that the Death Eaters had left the room, she could no longer hear any conversation but sensed that someone else was in the room. Which she supposed was Lyssa. Cassie wincing the whole while rolled over so she was facing the door again and Lyssa. She attempted to prop herself up on her arms which lasted all of half a second before they gave way. Cassie groaned quietly.

Lyssa found herself unsure what to do. She didn't know a thing about helping hurt people. That was Cassie's forte. She frowned when Cassie made a noise of discomfort/pain. "Stop moving around you idiot," she said. "You'll just make it worse." Hell if that was a lie or not; she didn't know, but moving when hurt just seemed like a bad idea to be doing.

Cassie hissed at Lyssa. "Not an idiot," She mumbled softly though unsure if Lyssa heard it. She just wanted Lyssa to go away and leave her. She was perfectly fine lying on the floor, if anything it was more comfortable then the floor in the cellar. Though the only problem being that someone could just walk in and finish what the other Death Eaters had started. Cassie coughed, which in turn caused her head to spin.

Lyssa just sort of shrugged at Cassie's mumbling. Then she sighed. "I should just leave you laying here, but then Voldemort will have my head, since it would be my fault if you died now, so..." She sighed again, frowning. Then Lyssa ran a hand through her hair, just standing there. She didn't know what to do short of levitating Cassie back to the cellar, but that would get blood all in the halls and such. Bothersome...

Lyssa decided to do something, Cassie wasn't quite sure what as she drifted out of conciousness. Returning later lying face down on the cold cellar floor. Her body still ached and Cassie was pretty sure almost every part of her skin was cloaked in a layer of blood. A few days passed and Cassie was left alone, except from some Death Eater coming in in the morning and giving her something that she supposed to be food but tasted worse than a mouthful of dirt would. She despertetly wanted a bath, to just relax and wash the blood and dirt off her but like that was going to happen.

Lyssa finished up the situation with Cassie at last, then retreated upstairs to her room, having gotten a tad bit of Cassie's blood on her in the process. She desperately needed to wash it off. A few more days passed, and they were mostly quiet, for which Lyssa was thankful. Then about the fifth or sixth day after the incident, Lyssa heard a noise downstairs. She wandered down and followed the noise. As she did so she saw what looked like the rest of Cassie's family being roughly handled by Death Eaters.

Cassie glanced up as the door swung open, semi lighting up the room. Her eyes widened as her family was shoved into the room before the door slammed shut. She sat there, frozen for a few moments watching Lizzie swear loudly and kick the door. Which succeding in nothing but causing her to hop around the room for a little while. Cassie hadn't been noticed yet, her parents were talking quietly to themselves and Lizzie was still cussing her head off. Lizzie stopped and glanced around the room. She blinked spotting Cassie. "Cassie?" She exclaimed walking over. "What on earth happened to you?"

The use of her name, got Sam's attension and her head snapped up, she hurried over to Cassie, -Cassie noted dimly that their hands weren't bound- and hugged her. "Cassie," She crooned hugging her. "I'm sorry." "it's not your fault mum," Cassie said bitterly. Bloody Lyssa, stupid Malfoy. "Where are we?" Lizzie asked sitting down next to her sister and watching her worringly. "Malfoy Manor," Cassie said softly, anger bubbling inside of her. They'd bloody brought her family into the mess. She leaned her head against her mother's shoulder hoping though knowing that it was useless that her family wouldn't get hurt.

~FILLER POST!~

Not that long later a bunch of Death Eaters came to grab them from the cellar. Lizzie kicked one on the shin as hard as she could and yelled at it at the top of her lunges which the Death Eater ignored, grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her out of the room, the rest of the family getting pulled along as well. "I can walk you know," Sam hissed irritated but unlike both of her children didn't squirm and try to get loose. She had a dark glint in her eye though Cassie could tell she was worried. Sam was the only one who really understood the danger of the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Lizzie didn't stop shouting, she acually seemed to be enjoying shouting insults and everything else at the top of her lunges.

Lyssa was in the dining room, talking with Draco when she heard some yelling. Draco said he wasn't moving, because he was eating, so Lyssa got up to discover it alone. The voice sounded familiar, but for some reason she couldn't place it. She walked out into the hallway and noticed Cassie and her family. They all got yanked into a room, and letting her nature curiosity take over, Lyssa followed behind them.

Lizzie glanced around the room and looked at a few people, she glanced at Voldemort and then raised an eyebrow, probably thinking something along the lines of the fact that he looked rather comical. Cassie noticed Lyssa slink into the room, probably wondering what was going to happen. The Death Eaters let go of the Evans Family and Cassie warily glanced at Voldemort. Wondering what he was going to do. Which wouldn't be pleasent. Her stomache clenched anxiously.