Hole

The time was nearing for the first of the prisoners to be thrown to the werewolves and Draco knew he should be there, but he found that despite the fascinating nature of the display he was unaccountably reluctant to go. It was utterly ridiculous to be worried about one prisoner. If he died before time, at least Potter wouldn't go hunting for him. He was surly, uncouth, and completely worthless, despite his pure blood. Of course Draco was going.



The artificial moon had already been suspended above the pit as he arrived. The three werewolves were beginning to transform, and MacNair brought the barriers between them down as they whimpered and howled at the change. When they rose, they were as terrifying a sight as Draco had ever seen, the Dark Lord not excepted. Fenrir rose first, leaping with unbelievable speed onto the black stone on which he had been sunbathing earlier. From there he sprang high in the air, aiming for the top of the pit. His fangs were bare inches from Draco's face when he bounced off the barrier, twisting to land on his feet.



The other werewolves joined in, howling with rage as they leaped and snapped, maddened by the close presence of so many unattainable prey. At the first leap, many of the spectators had leapt back in fright, but as the werewolves continued to leap and growl they pressed back against the barrier, enjoying the thrill of it. When the first prisoner was brought in the crowd gave out a palpable air of expectation.



The execution was swift and brutal. Draco didn't know the man at all, but his death was quick, if savage, his throat ripped out in seconds, and the body dismembered soon after. The watching crowd screamed encouragingly.



As the werewolves crouched low to worry at the tattered remnants of the corpse, the female wrenching an arm off and dragging it under the fern she had favoured earlier, Draco saw the head guard approach Lucius. Surprisingly, Lucius turned and gave him all his attention, a danger signal if Draco had ever seen one. When they quickly left the area Draco followed, catching up with them as they stopped on the lawn just south of the maze. Lucius nodded brusquely to him as he arrived, saying, "There's been an attempted break-in. Sturgess has prisoners."



"How many?" Draco asked.



"Five," the guard replied. "Two on this side of the Manor and three up the north end."



"Are you sure that's all?" he probed further. "Why two parties of different size?"



His father's gaze held approval as he gestured for Draco to follow them. "We are just about to interrogate them," he said. "Did you recognise any of them, Sturgess?"



Sturgess hadn't, and neither did Draco or Lucius when they saw them. It meant nothing, of course; they would have to check again when an hour had passed. In the meantime Lucius tipped a few drops of Veritaserum down the leader's throat. He blurted out a boring story about disrupting the Ball and rescuing prisoners. Draco's mind was working furiously. This could work to his advantage, but only under certain circumstances. He turned to his father, looking bored. "I'd better get back to the Ball," he said as idly as he could. "Shall I tell Mother where you are?"



His father's level gaze was cool. "No Draco, I think you should stay and finish the interrogation. Let me know if there is any information of immediate significance. And be sure to thoroughly question every prisoner."



Draco's face fell, and his voice was close to the whine of his childhood as he began, "But I'll miss..." He dropped into silence as his father merely arched an eyebrow at his tone.



"Ormsby is not going to be pleased with you tomorrow, Draco. Consider this your punishment."



"She was panting for it," Draco said dismissively.



"Interrogate the prisoners and send Sturgess if there is any urgent information," Lucius drawled. "And Draco?"



Draco's sullen gaze lifted to his father's chilly face.



"Do not fail to attend the execution at dawn."



Draco forced out a nod. Whatever his parents suspected, it was evident that they had not discovered his actions up to this point.



* * *



Draco was not entirely surprised to find that when the polyjuice wore off one of his prisoners was the Weaselette. Now there was another prisoner that Potter would risk anything for. He left her interrogation to last, forcing veritaserum with a bead chaser down the throat of every prisoner in turn. Some of them he thought were vaguely familiar, and their names brought younger faces to mind, but it didn't really matter. They all repeated the same plot, but careful questioning disclosed that they were a splinter group: the main rebel leaders had refused to attack the Ball as strategically unimportant. All of them were unaware of any execution to be held at the ball.



"Right," said Draco briskly after the fourth interrogation, "Take that lot and secure them in the dungeons."



Sturgess looked at the girl in the corner.



"I have special plans for her," Draco informed him cheerfully.



"Then I'm staying," Sturgess said. "Orders."



Draco nodded and waited until the rest of the prisoners had been taken away. Sturgess stood by the door, quietly watching as Draco dragged the Weasley girl over to the interrogation table and gave her veritaserum. The girl was so pale that her freckles stood out like a sprinkling of raisins on porridge. What did Potter see in her?



For the sake of consistency he asked her the same questions as he had asked all the rest of the rebels, getting the same dull answers: unfair, abuse, regressive patriarchal... blah blah blah... actually, he didn't think he had heard 'patriarchal' before, but the other prisoners were all male, so that wasn't surprising.



When he got to the questions about executions he deviated from the script, though. "Do you know who is being executed at the Ball in..." he checked the time, "...less than three hours?"



"No!" she spat furiously.



He smiled evilly before leaning over to murmur sweetly in her ear, "Harry Potter." His hand swept the hair away from her ear, clearing a space for him to lick from her earlobe down her neck to her collarbone as she froze at the words. Draco straightened and looked her in the eye. "Ah yes, your family was rather attached to Potter, weren't they? And your brother is also to be executed this evening."



Her eyes were wild as she choked out, "Which one?"



He pretended to consider the question. "Mmmm. The one that used to hang around with Potter, I think. I'm not sure what time - there are another 3 of them to be executed in no particular order before Potter's turn.



"I could arrange for you to see them if you like? They won't recognise you, due to the slavery spells that have been put on them, and you won't remember them for long after the same spells are put on you, but still..."



He made the question more explicit, running a finger down between her breasts as he spoke. "Would you like me to arrange that, Ginevra?"



"Yes," she replied faintly. Perhaps the veritaserum was wearing off. No matter, the remainder of the interrogation was purely for Draco's own purposes, and this was going to be a pleasure.



"Your brother has already given me a blow-job tonight, Weasley, so if you want me to arrange something so special for you, you had better up the ante, don't you think?"



Her eyes signalled her revulsion and she was as still as stone.



"Let me make this clear to you, Weasley. Once the slavery spells are cast on you, you will do whatever I want whenever I want. I will have you in my bed as often as I choose, but I like a little spice of hate, so I want to have you before the spells are cast, to... enjoy the full experience.



"If you want to see your brother and your lover before they die you will strip and open yourself willingly to me right there on that table. You have until the count of ten - and the longer you delay the more likely it is that your brother will have been executed before we get there."




* * *



AUTHOR'S NOTE: The next chapter will have some serious het in it. If you are squicked don't read it and if anyone asks for it I will give a short summary at the beginning of the following chapter.