"Skirmish: cont'd"

Rubbing her thumb over the scarring on her palm, that pain felt almost irrelevant to what the girl on the floor had just experienced.

Bellatrix was now interrogating a goblin who undoubtedly had worked at Gringotts before being snatched but she could hardly hear what she was saying. Circi's ears were ringing, her face stained with tears, and she had the overwhelming feeling of wanting to go home. And, as much as she told herself that this was home. She couldn't bear it much longer. Hugging her knees, she pressed her forehead against them and shut her eyes, beginning to count in her head.

Narcissa had moved now, standing by the staircase and Circi wondered if she was the one to have retrieved the goblin. Draco was near her, clearly trying to keep himself together and not look at Hermione. But Lucius stuck by Circi, his cane in hand as he observed everything that was happening. His composure sent a chill down her spine and she had to look away.

She forced herself to look up when spells started being cast. Ron had disarmed Bellatrix and, when she had just grasped that a duel was about to commence, Harry had stupefied Lucius before he could draw the wand he'd replaced in his cane.

Circi couldn't help but yell in surprise when the spell hit him and he was soon airborne and landing in the background with a thud.

She was tempted to go to him but the duel that commenced between Draco, Narcissa, Ron and Harry caught her attention. And then Bellatrix called for them to stop. The room was silent when everyone noticed the knife at Hermione's throat, completely under Bellatrix's mercy.

There was a certain hopelessness in seeing Hermione of all people looking so weak and helpless. It made Circi wonder how she could have ever hoped to stand up to these people.

"Drop your wands!" Bellatrix ordered. "I said drop them," she repeated when the boys hesitated, to which they obeyed immediately. As Draco gathered the wands from the floor, Bellatrix dragged Hermione closer to them, observing as the stinging jinx faded from Harry's face. "Well, well, well, look what we have here." Hermione gasped when the knife shifted against her throat. "It's Harry Potter, all bright, shiny and new again. Just in time for the Dark Lord. Call him." Bellatrix smiled as everyone looked at Draco. "Call him!" Lucius, looking particularly dishelvelved and limping, took note of Draco's hesitation and stepped forward.

He looked down his nose at Harry and unrolled his sleeve, revealing the dark mark, and held his hand out.

Just then, a small tinkling sound interrupted them, followed by a squeak and a creak. Everyone looked up to see a house elf wearing fur-lined boots and a pillow-case dress clinging to the chain of the chandelier hanging directly above Bellatrix and unscrewing the bolt that kept it elevated.

For a moment, everyone watched and listened and, then, the chandelier fell. A great wrought-iron chandelier with glass embellishments descended towards Bellatrix, who pushed Hermione forwards as she yelled and stumbled backwards.

As the chandelier smashed, Circi couldn't help her scream as she curled further into the chair, clinging to her wand as if she could think straight enough to use it.

Draco fell into the chair on the other side of the fireplace, his face contorted in fear as he looked at the chandelier, only to whimper as he fought with Harry to keep the wands in his hand. He lost the tussle and watched Harry go in defeat, his face crumbling like a toddler on the verge of a breakdown. Lucius tried to summon Voldemort again but was stupefied and sent flying again.

"Stupid elf," Bellatrix yelled, having now regained her composure and advancing on them with her wand, "you could have killed me!"

"Dobby never meant to kill!" The elf called, and Circi vaguely recognised him from her earlier years. Yes, he was the elf that had left them in her first year, she remembered her father's fury after being tricked into offering him clothes. "Dobby only meant to maim or seriously injure."

Narcissa flourished her wand but Dobby clicked his fingers and her wand left her hand and flew to his. Gasping in shock, Narcissa gaped at the elf, visibly shaking at the assault.

"How dare you take a witch's wand!" Bellatrix shrieked, which only made Circi curl in around her wand, her head spinning as she pushed her hands against her ears. "How dare you defy your masters!"

Dobby clutched the wand, lowering his hand in determination. "Dobby has no master," he declared, "Dobby is a free elf!"

In any other circumstance Circi would have felt a sense of triumph or joy at his words, instead she felt very little as she watched the elf click his fingers to apparate them all away. Bellatrix had thrown her knife towards them and, as the group twisted into smoke, the portal they made swallowed the knife and silence ensued as everyone recovered from what had just happened.

Content she had done harm if she couldn't have kept Harry Potter, Bellatrix left the room. She huffed but whether there was triumph there, Circi couldn't tell. Her heart was too busy trying to beat out of her chest and, despite everything being done, she kept her hands over her ears as she cried.

Narcissa rushed to Lucius, who couldn't have been faring well after being tossed onto his back many times. But, when Draco scrambled to check if Circi was okay, even the smallest touch burned her. She screamed and twisted away from him while he tried to pry her hands from her ears.

"Circ- Circini!" He was yelling now, forcing her to look at him and gripping her wrists as though she was about to disappear. There was an apology in those teary blue eyes of his but he would never say it for he felt too sorry for himself right now.

"Why would you bring me here?" She cried, hugging her legs as her body rocked on the seat. "Why?" Draco couldn't say much to her, he stared at her puffy face, the few pieces of shattered glass that had scattered around the seat. He was pulled away by Narcissa, calling him to help clean up as she held Lucius' wand.

Circi pressed her face against the wing of the chair, staring into space ahead of her as the tears started to fall silently. She could hear the chandelier beginning to fix itself under Narcissa's spell, and that there was a hushed conversation happening between the mother and son. A shadow passed over her and Lucius crouched down beside the chair, using the arm as a support. His face contorted in pain and he fell back and sat down.

He looked at her, weak eyes, a deep-set scowl and remnants of his wounded pride scattered across his face.

"Don't you see?" Circi said quietly, looking down at her wand as she passed it between her hands. "You can't keep me here." She looked up, feeling herself getting choked up. "Please, father." Her voice cracked as she choked out a sob.

He didn't seem to be able to speak, only nodded and reached up to squeeze her hands tightly.

His hands were warmer than she expected. He had always been warm to the touch, she remembered. Before Hogwarts, before the Dark Lord was even rumoured to return and Harry Potter was a legend she was told at bedtime, it was a hug from her father which had never failed to calm her or comfort her. He'd never been one to show much affection in the company of others but she knew well enough that he'd make up for it the second they were behind the manor walls.

She missed that version of Lucius. The one she called 'Dad' instead of 'Father' as though their money required a more formal address. The one who was unafraid to talk to her or hug her.

"Come," Lucius said, struggling to his feet and pulling her up as well. He half-guided her up the stairs and back to her bedroom, he also used her as a support most of the way as well. She stood in the doorway, tapping her wand absent-mindedly against her palm as he closed all of her books, rolled her parchment up and stacked it neatly on her dresser before sitting on the bed. He patted the mattress beside him.

They sat nearly shoulder to shoulder and neither said anything to the other. The silence made Circi uncomfortable and she kicked off her shoes to pull her feet up and sit cross-legged on the bed. This also meant that she was sitting further away from him.

"I don't know who you are, anymore," he admitted, glancing over his shoulder at her and readjusting his posture, "I look at you and you're still nine years old and scraping your knee on the driveway because you haven't quite grown into your feet." He looked at her again and, suddenly, his pride had washed away and Circi saw how tired he really was. How old he had become. "I realise that you're fifteen. And you might feel like you know everything and you're old enough to handle this stuff, but you're still my baby." He hung his head and Circi bit back a quip about Draco being her age when they made him become involved. "I haven't prepared you for what's about to happen at all," he admitted. For a moment, his voice cracked but he covered it with a cough, "I thought I could keep you from it but I can't." He looked at her properly now. Her face was pale and puffy, splotched with red tear stains and snot dribbling from her nose even though she sniffed regularly.

Even now, she may be his height, she may look old enough to no longer have the trace on her like Draco, but her snotty nose and teary eyes was the same nose he wiped for ten years and the same tears he wiped away whenever she had nightmares.

Producing a handkerchief from his pocket, he beckoned her closer and, for once in a long time, she did scoot closer and allow him to wipe her nose.

"I can't keep you here if I want to keep you, so," he folded the handkerchief and put it back into his pocket, taking a deep breath and turning to face her, "you can return to Hogwarts with Draco, if you want. But I cannot protect you there-" He fell back, catching himself quickly as Circi threw her arms around his neck.

There was part of her that was reeling from the interaction. So much that she couldn't forgive him for, that made him undeserving of her hugs, but it was so hard to ignore someone who had been the most important person in your life for over a decade. When he finally hugged her back, she buried her face into his hair despite the dirt in it because he was still him. He still smelled like he used to and she realised that she hadn't hugged him in four years.

Squeezing tighter, she let herself be in that moment. She shut her eyes and tried to block out everything he had done to hurt her just for a split second of enjoyment because, unfortunately, he would know her better than anyone else. Even better than Draco. And it was this knowledge which made him hold on tight, as if he might lose her at any second.

Which, at this point, was entirely possible.