That night, Draco dreamed of Tria.
It was their third year. Tria had gotten angry with him for insulting the Weasley family, and before he knew it, he had flying bat-like creatures all over his face. A Bat-Bogey Hex. God, she was fast. He hadn’t even seen it coming.
By the time, he had performed the counter-curse, they were long gone, and Draco was left with that cold feeling of loss that always accompanied Tria being angry at him.
The dream changed…
“So,” said Tria, probing him with those electric blue eyes of hers. “Favorite food.”
“Lobster.”
“Ick. I hate lobster.”
“How can you? It’s a delicacy? What’s yours?”
“Peanut butter, but Nutella if I can get my hands on it.”
“Favorite class.”
“Charms.”
“Defense.”
“Would love it, but far too inconsistent.”
“Favorite memory.”
“Punching you in the face.”
“No, really.”
“Really! I treasure that memory!”
“Well, for your information, mine is our first kiss.”
“Oh, Draco, that’s so romantic! But mine is still punching you in the face.”
“Nice to know I’m appreciated.”
But that was Tria’s humor. And this banter was exactly the conversation she loved.
It was their sixth year. Late January, and they had already been going together for two years, defying all odds and the expectations of their classmates. They were sitting on the floor of the Room of Requirement, facing each other.
“My turn,” Tria declared. “Favorite animal.”
“Griffin.”
“Unicorn.
“Obviously. Favorite pet.”
“My cat. Duh.”
“General animal, not specific.”
“Cat. Big white fluffy fat ones. Just like Tinker Bell.” She was referring to her own cat, which was indeed fat, white, and fluffy.
“Phoenix. They’re loyal.”
“Hmm. Dream job.”
“Work for the Ministry, not sure where.”
“Princess.”
“What?”
“I want to be a Princess.”
“So, hypothetical situation. A handsome Prince came and asked for your hand in marriage. I exist, and we’re together, so you love me, but you absolutely hate this Prince. But you’d get to be a Princess. What do you do?”
Tria considered. “Tough one. Very, very, tough.” After a moment more consideration, she spoke again. “Okay. Here’s what I do. Marry the Prince. Have at least one of his children, therefore cementing my place as Princess forever. Murder my husband and marry you. There. Now I’m married to you, you have step children, we would have children, and I’m a Princess.”
“And a murderer,” Draco pointed out.
“Fine. And a murderer. But my life is perfect!”
And Draco was laughing, something that only Tria could bring out in him these days.
And the scene shifted again…
Tria was sitting at a piano in the music room in her house. Her right arm was in a sling. Her jaw was clenched angrily as she stared at the keys beneath her. Draco went and took a seat next to her.
“I can’t play,” she said through clenched teeth. She looked up at him beseechingly. “What am I without my music?”
The dream changed a final time…
"They say they've got Potter." Narcissa Malfoy's voice was cold, devoid of emotion. "Draco, come here." But Draco's heart had stopped on the word 'Potter'. She'd be with him. She was loyal to a fault, and would obviously be with Potter. So would Weasley and Granger, of course. Did he dare think her name?
Tria.
Tria.
Oh, god, Rosie.
How could he protect her? Play stupid? Say it wasn't her? Wasn't them? His mother led him to the drawing room and he saw them.
It was Potter and his friends, there was no doubt. Harry's face was swelled and distorted, but Draco knew him well enough to see that it was him. Weasley and Granger were thin and pale, looking terrified. And Tria...
She was thinner than he remembered, though she had always been tiny. She was looking down, and her hair, now even longer, was covering her face. But it was her. It was her. He almost choked with seeing her again. His vision blurred, and he felt his knees buckling.
"Well, boy?" the huge werewolf, Greyback, had spoken. Draco hated him. He had ever since he had come to Hogwarts that night last June. And now he was here, where she was. If he touched her....
"Well, Draco," came Lucius Malfoy's voice from behind. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"
"I can't - I can't be sure," he stammered, surprised that he was able to make any sound at all. He could not take his eyes off of Tria.
"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!" Lucius insisted,, his voice betraying his excitement. "If we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv -" But the werewolf interjected.
"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Of course not, of course not!"
She looked up.
Draco looked into her eyes and a rush of memories came back to him. He saw in her eyes pain and hurt, but most of all love.
"Wait," Narcissa said. "Isn't this that little blonde girl? What’s-her-name…Tulip Something? No, it’s Tria! Tria Summers! Yes, yes, I'm quite sure it’s her."
Draco saw Tria panic. She knew that she was going to betray her friends. So she did exactly what he expected her to do. She gave herself up to save her friends.
"Yes, I'm Tria," she said. "But this isn't Harry Potter. I left those three ages ago. I don't know where they are now. But these aren't them."
Draco cursed mentally. Why did she have to be so goddamn loyal and self-sacrificing? He loved her for it, but he wished that for once in her life she would put herself first.
"Hmmm," said Narcissa. "Well...considering that...."
"Let her go," said Draco, his voice the strongest yet. "Unchain her. Now."
"You heard him," Lucius hissed. "Untie her." Tria was untied, and Narcissa led her over to Draco.
He could almost physically feel the weight coming off from his shoulders as he pulled her into his arms. She gave him a look that was both relieved and terrified at the same time.
"Now, what did you do to him?" Lucius demanded of the werewolf. "How did he get into this state?"
"That wasn't us."
"Looks more like a stinging jinx to me." A pause. "There's something there," Lucius continued. "It could be the scar, stretched tight....Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"
Reluctantly, Draco went over and looked. He knew he could freely give them away and no harm would come to Tria, but it would hurt her if he was the one who confirmed that it was Potter.
"I don't know," he said, and returned to where Tria and his mother stood together.
"We had better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa said. "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord....They say this wand is his, but it does not resemble Ollivander's description....If we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for nothing....Remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?"
"What about the Mudblood, then?" Greyback turned the prisoners forcefully so that the Death Eaters in the room could get a look at Granger.
As they discussed whether or not that the other two were Weasley and Granger, Draco focused on Tria.
She was watching the proceedings with fear in her eyes. She was more gaunt than before, and her hair was more ragged and ungroomed. She had changed drastically. Her former air of bubbliness, happiness, and humor was gone, replaced with someone Draco didn't know. A warrior.
"What's this?" came a voice from the doorway. Tria froze. "What's happening, Cissy?"
"Not her," Tria whispered, turning to him with a look of sheer desperation in her eyes. "Draco, please don't let anything happen to them. Please"
"I can't stop her," Draco whispered. "But you're safe, and that's all that matters." He kissed her forehead.
She turned to see Bellatrix Lestrange looking at Hermione and saying, "But surely this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"
"No," Tria whispered. "Oh, God, no."
"Yes, yes, it's Granger!" Lucius was saying jubilantly. "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"
"Potter?" Bellatrix cried. "Are you sure? Well, then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She looked around. "But where is the blonde?"
"Here," said Tria, in a voice Draco had never heard her use before. One that was as cold and deadly as ice. "And I do have a name, you know."
Bellatrix's eyes flared in anger, but she calmed herself. They began a squabble over who would call the Dark Lord, before Bellatrix gave a shriek.
"STOP! Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"
Draco looked at Tria, who seemed terrified. But not for herself. For Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Commands were given. The snatchers were stunned and disposed of, and the prisoners were to be taken to the cellar.
"Wait," came Bellatrix's voice, now soft. "All except...except for the Mudblood."
Tria let out a scream that turned Draco's blood to ice, as though it was her that Bellatrix wanted. "NO! Take me! Me!" Weasley was also crying out in protest, but Draco just hugged Tria closer as Bellatrix snarled something to Weasley.
"It'll be fine," he whispered. "You'll be fine."
"But she won't be," Tria whispered. Potter and Weasley were being taken to the cellar and Granger was being thrown onto her knees in front of Bellatrix.
"Now," she said in a sickly sweet voice. "Let's see what Little Miss Mudblood has to tell us. CRUCIO!"
And though Granger's screams were hard for Draco to hear, it was even more painful to hear Tria scream for her friend. He hated her in pain, but loved her all the more for feeling her friend's.
"Ahh," said Bellatrix. "We have a stubborn one."
"Not stubborn," Tria whispered. "Brave." Hermione's screams rang through the room again, followed almost immediately by Tria's.
"You lying, filthy Mudblood and I know it!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"
Hermione's answer faded to Draco's ears, and he thought of nothing but Tria, and how she was screaming and writhing in his arms.
"It's a fake!" Hermione finally screamed. She proceeded to try to convince Bellatrix that the sword was a fake. Tria relaxed, and leaned into Draco more. Bellatrix suddenly spun around and pointed her wand straight at Tria. Draco instantly pulled her tight to him, glaring at his aunt. If she hurt her....
"Is she telling the truth?" Bellatrix demanded. Tria looked her straight in the eye.
"Yes," she said. "The sword is a fake."
"Hmm," said Bellatrix. The goblin was fetched, and while Bellatrix was distracted, Tria wormed her way out of Draco's arms, trying to get to Hermione. Draco caught her wrist at the last second and shook his head; going to her would be the wrong thing to do. But Tria glared at him in a way he knew. She was about to get her way.
She twisted his arm. He let out a gasp of pain and his vision blurred. When he focused again, she was kneeling by Hermione's side, stroking her hair and whispering what he assumed were words of comfort. He doubted that even Voldemort himself could have stopped her at that moment from reaching Hermione.
"Good." Bellatrix was speaking again. She seemed convinced that the sword was indeed a fake, and the tension was gone from her face. She slashed the goblin's face and kicked him aside. "I think," she said softly, turning to face Hermione, "that we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you wish."
Tria from her position at Hermione's head, standing protectively over the whimpering girl. Her eyes were angry slits, she looked more furious and more dangerous than Draco had ever seen her. When she spoke, her voice was low and dangerous, and she spoke slowly and clearly. He wondered how his aunt managed to not be afraid of this tiny warrior queen.
"Over my dead body."
"NOOOOOOOOO!" came a shout from the cellar. Draco turned to see Weasley and Potter running up. Pandemonium ensued, but Draco's only thought was to save Tria. She was casting a spell at his mother, but he didn't even care.
"STOP OR HE DIES!" Bellatrix shrieked suddenly. The battle stopped, and they turned to see Bellatrix supporting Hermione, a knife against her throat. "Drop you wands," she hissed. "Drop them, or we'll see how filthy her blood is." A thin trickle of blood appeared on Hermione's neck, and the wand that Potter had passed to Tria clattered to the floor, followed by Potter and Weasley's.
“Now,” Bellatrix purred, “Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight.”
Tria let out an angry hiss, like a cat. She glared at Bellatrix, not daring to move for fear of Hermione's death.
If looks could kill, Draco thought, both afraid of and admiring the fearsome expression on Tria's face. There was a strange creaking noise from above. Draco looked up just in time to see the chandelier begin falling to the ground. There were screams. He lunged towards Tria, trying to protect her, but they both got hit in the face by glass shards. He heard her cry out in pain, and instantly hated himself for being unable to prevent it.
When the dust settle, he whispered to her, "Are you alright?" She whimpered, covering the left side of her face.
"Dobby!" his mother's voice cried. "You! You dropped the chandelier-?"
"You must not hurt Harry Potter!" Dobby's voice cut through the din.
"Kill him, Cissy!" Bellatrix screamed.
"Wait!" Tria cried out, hoarse. "Wait! I'll stay! I'll stay!"
What? Draco turned to her utterly confused. She was standing up. He helped her. The left side of her face was entirely covered in blood and it was dripping onto her shoulder, but she held herself high.
"I'll stay. Let them go. All of them." Her voice was hoarse, but strong.
"No!" Potter shouted. "Tria, don't do this!"
"Shut it."
"And why," Bellatrix hissed. "Should we accept that offer when we can have all of you?"
"Because we're about to escape," Tria said. She began to move towards her friends. "Why lose all when you can have the second most valuable one?"
"She has a point," Narcissa said. "Bella, what if we accept? We must have something to offer the Dark Lord!"
"Why not me?" said Tria. "I may not be Harry Potter, but I'm worth far more than Ron or Hermione or Dobby." Draco saw her shoot them apologetic looks. Typical of her.
"Tria, you don't have to do this," Weasley begged.
"Very well. But we kill the elf," said Bellatrix.
"Out of the question. They all live," Tria countered.
Bellatrix looked miffed. "Fine." Potter, Weasley, Granger, and the elf all stood together, preparing to Disapparate. But half a second before they turned, Bellatrix threw her knife.
It disappeared with them.
Tria's screams echoed throughout the room as Granger's had.
"YOU PROMISED! YOU SWORE YOU WOULDN'T HURT THEM!" she shrieked.
"No, I didn't," Bellatrix smiled. "Should've had me swear it, dearie."
Tria fell against Draco, her bloodied face staining his shirt. But he didn't care. He wiped away the blood to see a matrix of deep cuts on the left side of her face. The side he hadn't protected.
"Oh, Rosie," he whispered.
"It's nothing," she said. "Nothing." Narcissa came over and examined her face.
"That's not nothing," she said matter-of-factly. "Come. Quickly. We must get you too cleaned up before-."
"Before what, Narcissa?"
The high voice sent ice through Draco's veins, just like it always had. He knew now that he would be utterly powerless if he decided to kill her.
His parents and aunt were now trying to put how things had gone in a way that made the event seem like a victory.
"What do you mean, he escaped?" Voldemort hissed, and Draco sensed the barely controlled fury in his voice.
“Yes, but the Summers girl offered herself in exchange for the safe release of her friends,”Bellatrix explained pleadingly.
"Did you now?" Voldemort circled Tria like a hawk; she stood perfectly still, pale and determined, blood running down her face and robes. He stopped to face her.
"I should like to clean up,” Tria said. Was it Draco’s imagination, or was she swaying on her feet? “And I’m assuming I’ll get decent living quarters?”
But before Voldemort could answer, Tria fainted of blood loss.
It was their third year. Tria had gotten angry with him for insulting the Weasley family, and before he knew it, he had flying bat-like creatures all over his face. A Bat-Bogey Hex. God, she was fast. He hadn’t even seen it coming.
By the time, he had performed the counter-curse, they were long gone, and Draco was left with that cold feeling of loss that always accompanied Tria being angry at him.
The dream changed…
“So,” said Tria, probing him with those electric blue eyes of hers. “Favorite food.”
“Lobster.”
“Ick. I hate lobster.”
“How can you? It’s a delicacy? What’s yours?”
“Peanut butter, but Nutella if I can get my hands on it.”
“Favorite class.”
“Charms.”
“Defense.”
“Would love it, but far too inconsistent.”
“Favorite memory.”
“Punching you in the face.”
“No, really.”
“Really! I treasure that memory!”
“Well, for your information, mine is our first kiss.”
“Oh, Draco, that’s so romantic! But mine is still punching you in the face.”
“Nice to know I’m appreciated.”
But that was Tria’s humor. And this banter was exactly the conversation she loved.
It was their sixth year. Late January, and they had already been going together for two years, defying all odds and the expectations of their classmates. They were sitting on the floor of the Room of Requirement, facing each other.
“My turn,” Tria declared. “Favorite animal.”
“Griffin.”
“Unicorn.
“Obviously. Favorite pet.”
“My cat. Duh.”
“General animal, not specific.”
“Cat. Big white fluffy fat ones. Just like Tinker Bell.” She was referring to her own cat, which was indeed fat, white, and fluffy.
“Phoenix. They’re loyal.”
“Hmm. Dream job.”
“Work for the Ministry, not sure where.”
“Princess.”
“What?”
“I want to be a Princess.”
“So, hypothetical situation. A handsome Prince came and asked for your hand in marriage. I exist, and we’re together, so you love me, but you absolutely hate this Prince. But you’d get to be a Princess. What do you do?”
Tria considered. “Tough one. Very, very, tough.” After a moment more consideration, she spoke again. “Okay. Here’s what I do. Marry the Prince. Have at least one of his children, therefore cementing my place as Princess forever. Murder my husband and marry you. There. Now I’m married to you, you have step children, we would have children, and I’m a Princess.”
“And a murderer,” Draco pointed out.
“Fine. And a murderer. But my life is perfect!”
And Draco was laughing, something that only Tria could bring out in him these days.
And the scene shifted again…
Tria was sitting at a piano in the music room in her house. Her right arm was in a sling. Her jaw was clenched angrily as she stared at the keys beneath her. Draco went and took a seat next to her.
“I can’t play,” she said through clenched teeth. She looked up at him beseechingly. “What am I without my music?”
The dream changed a final time…
"They say they've got Potter." Narcissa Malfoy's voice was cold, devoid of emotion. "Draco, come here." But Draco's heart had stopped on the word 'Potter'. She'd be with him. She was loyal to a fault, and would obviously be with Potter. So would Weasley and Granger, of course. Did he dare think her name?
Tria.
Tria.
Oh, god, Rosie.
How could he protect her? Play stupid? Say it wasn't her? Wasn't them? His mother led him to the drawing room and he saw them.
It was Potter and his friends, there was no doubt. Harry's face was swelled and distorted, but Draco knew him well enough to see that it was him. Weasley and Granger were thin and pale, looking terrified. And Tria...
She was thinner than he remembered, though she had always been tiny. She was looking down, and her hair, now even longer, was covering her face. But it was her. It was her. He almost choked with seeing her again. His vision blurred, and he felt his knees buckling.
"Well, boy?" the huge werewolf, Greyback, had spoken. Draco hated him. He had ever since he had come to Hogwarts that night last June. And now he was here, where she was. If he touched her....
"Well, Draco," came Lucius Malfoy's voice from behind. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"
"I can't - I can't be sure," he stammered, surprised that he was able to make any sound at all. He could not take his eyes off of Tria.
"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!" Lucius insisted,, his voice betraying his excitement. "If we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv -" But the werewolf interjected.
"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Of course not, of course not!"
She looked up.
Draco looked into her eyes and a rush of memories came back to him. He saw in her eyes pain and hurt, but most of all love.
"Wait," Narcissa said. "Isn't this that little blonde girl? What’s-her-name…Tulip Something? No, it’s Tria! Tria Summers! Yes, yes, I'm quite sure it’s her."
Draco saw Tria panic. She knew that she was going to betray her friends. So she did exactly what he expected her to do. She gave herself up to save her friends.
"Yes, I'm Tria," she said. "But this isn't Harry Potter. I left those three ages ago. I don't know where they are now. But these aren't them."
Draco cursed mentally. Why did she have to be so goddamn loyal and self-sacrificing? He loved her for it, but he wished that for once in her life she would put herself first.
"Hmmm," said Narcissa. "Well...considering that...."
"Let her go," said Draco, his voice the strongest yet. "Unchain her. Now."
"You heard him," Lucius hissed. "Untie her." Tria was untied, and Narcissa led her over to Draco.
He could almost physically feel the weight coming off from his shoulders as he pulled her into his arms. She gave him a look that was both relieved and terrified at the same time.
"Now, what did you do to him?" Lucius demanded of the werewolf. "How did he get into this state?"
"That wasn't us."
"Looks more like a stinging jinx to me." A pause. "There's something there," Lucius continued. "It could be the scar, stretched tight....Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"
Reluctantly, Draco went over and looked. He knew he could freely give them away and no harm would come to Tria, but it would hurt her if he was the one who confirmed that it was Potter.
"I don't know," he said, and returned to where Tria and his mother stood together.
"We had better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa said. "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord....They say this wand is his, but it does not resemble Ollivander's description....If we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for nothing....Remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?"
"What about the Mudblood, then?" Greyback turned the prisoners forcefully so that the Death Eaters in the room could get a look at Granger.
As they discussed whether or not that the other two were Weasley and Granger, Draco focused on Tria.
She was watching the proceedings with fear in her eyes. She was more gaunt than before, and her hair was more ragged and ungroomed. She had changed drastically. Her former air of bubbliness, happiness, and humor was gone, replaced with someone Draco didn't know. A warrior.
"What's this?" came a voice from the doorway. Tria froze. "What's happening, Cissy?"
"Not her," Tria whispered, turning to him with a look of sheer desperation in her eyes. "Draco, please don't let anything happen to them. Please"
"I can't stop her," Draco whispered. "But you're safe, and that's all that matters." He kissed her forehead.
She turned to see Bellatrix Lestrange looking at Hermione and saying, "But surely this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"
"No," Tria whispered. "Oh, God, no."
"Yes, yes, it's Granger!" Lucius was saying jubilantly. "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"
"Potter?" Bellatrix cried. "Are you sure? Well, then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She looked around. "But where is the blonde?"
"Here," said Tria, in a voice Draco had never heard her use before. One that was as cold and deadly as ice. "And I do have a name, you know."
Bellatrix's eyes flared in anger, but she calmed herself. They began a squabble over who would call the Dark Lord, before Bellatrix gave a shriek.
"STOP! Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"
Draco looked at Tria, who seemed terrified. But not for herself. For Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Commands were given. The snatchers were stunned and disposed of, and the prisoners were to be taken to the cellar.
"Wait," came Bellatrix's voice, now soft. "All except...except for the Mudblood."
Tria let out a scream that turned Draco's blood to ice, as though it was her that Bellatrix wanted. "NO! Take me! Me!" Weasley was also crying out in protest, but Draco just hugged Tria closer as Bellatrix snarled something to Weasley.
"It'll be fine," he whispered. "You'll be fine."
"But she won't be," Tria whispered. Potter and Weasley were being taken to the cellar and Granger was being thrown onto her knees in front of Bellatrix.
"Now," she said in a sickly sweet voice. "Let's see what Little Miss Mudblood has to tell us. CRUCIO!"
And though Granger's screams were hard for Draco to hear, it was even more painful to hear Tria scream for her friend. He hated her in pain, but loved her all the more for feeling her friend's.
"Ahh," said Bellatrix. "We have a stubborn one."
"Not stubborn," Tria whispered. "Brave." Hermione's screams rang through the room again, followed almost immediately by Tria's.
"You lying, filthy Mudblood and I know it!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"
Hermione's answer faded to Draco's ears, and he thought of nothing but Tria, and how she was screaming and writhing in his arms.
"It's a fake!" Hermione finally screamed. She proceeded to try to convince Bellatrix that the sword was a fake. Tria relaxed, and leaned into Draco more. Bellatrix suddenly spun around and pointed her wand straight at Tria. Draco instantly pulled her tight to him, glaring at his aunt. If she hurt her....
"Is she telling the truth?" Bellatrix demanded. Tria looked her straight in the eye.
"Yes," she said. "The sword is a fake."
"Hmm," said Bellatrix. The goblin was fetched, and while Bellatrix was distracted, Tria wormed her way out of Draco's arms, trying to get to Hermione. Draco caught her wrist at the last second and shook his head; going to her would be the wrong thing to do. But Tria glared at him in a way he knew. She was about to get her way.
She twisted his arm. He let out a gasp of pain and his vision blurred. When he focused again, she was kneeling by Hermione's side, stroking her hair and whispering what he assumed were words of comfort. He doubted that even Voldemort himself could have stopped her at that moment from reaching Hermione.
"Good." Bellatrix was speaking again. She seemed convinced that the sword was indeed a fake, and the tension was gone from her face. She slashed the goblin's face and kicked him aside. "I think," she said softly, turning to face Hermione, "that we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you wish."
Tria from her position at Hermione's head, standing protectively over the whimpering girl. Her eyes were angry slits, she looked more furious and more dangerous than Draco had ever seen her. When she spoke, her voice was low and dangerous, and she spoke slowly and clearly. He wondered how his aunt managed to not be afraid of this tiny warrior queen.
"Over my dead body."
"NOOOOOOOOO!" came a shout from the cellar. Draco turned to see Weasley and Potter running up. Pandemonium ensued, but Draco's only thought was to save Tria. She was casting a spell at his mother, but he didn't even care.
"STOP OR HE DIES!" Bellatrix shrieked suddenly. The battle stopped, and they turned to see Bellatrix supporting Hermione, a knife against her throat. "Drop you wands," she hissed. "Drop them, or we'll see how filthy her blood is." A thin trickle of blood appeared on Hermione's neck, and the wand that Potter had passed to Tria clattered to the floor, followed by Potter and Weasley's.
“Now,” Bellatrix purred, “Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight.”
Tria let out an angry hiss, like a cat. She glared at Bellatrix, not daring to move for fear of Hermione's death.
If looks could kill, Draco thought, both afraid of and admiring the fearsome expression on Tria's face. There was a strange creaking noise from above. Draco looked up just in time to see the chandelier begin falling to the ground. There were screams. He lunged towards Tria, trying to protect her, but they both got hit in the face by glass shards. He heard her cry out in pain, and instantly hated himself for being unable to prevent it.
When the dust settle, he whispered to her, "Are you alright?" She whimpered, covering the left side of her face.
"Dobby!" his mother's voice cried. "You! You dropped the chandelier-?"
"You must not hurt Harry Potter!" Dobby's voice cut through the din.
"Kill him, Cissy!" Bellatrix screamed.
"Wait!" Tria cried out, hoarse. "Wait! I'll stay! I'll stay!"
What? Draco turned to her utterly confused. She was standing up. He helped her. The left side of her face was entirely covered in blood and it was dripping onto her shoulder, but she held herself high.
"I'll stay. Let them go. All of them." Her voice was hoarse, but strong.
"No!" Potter shouted. "Tria, don't do this!"
"Shut it."
"And why," Bellatrix hissed. "Should we accept that offer when we can have all of you?"
"Because we're about to escape," Tria said. She began to move towards her friends. "Why lose all when you can have the second most valuable one?"
"She has a point," Narcissa said. "Bella, what if we accept? We must have something to offer the Dark Lord!"
"Why not me?" said Tria. "I may not be Harry Potter, but I'm worth far more than Ron or Hermione or Dobby." Draco saw her shoot them apologetic looks. Typical of her.
"Tria, you don't have to do this," Weasley begged.
"Very well. But we kill the elf," said Bellatrix.
"Out of the question. They all live," Tria countered.
Bellatrix looked miffed. "Fine." Potter, Weasley, Granger, and the elf all stood together, preparing to Disapparate. But half a second before they turned, Bellatrix threw her knife.
It disappeared with them.
Tria's screams echoed throughout the room as Granger's had.
"YOU PROMISED! YOU SWORE YOU WOULDN'T HURT THEM!" she shrieked.
"No, I didn't," Bellatrix smiled. "Should've had me swear it, dearie."
Tria fell against Draco, her bloodied face staining his shirt. But he didn't care. He wiped away the blood to see a matrix of deep cuts on the left side of her face. The side he hadn't protected.
"Oh, Rosie," he whispered.
"It's nothing," she said. "Nothing." Narcissa came over and examined her face.
"That's not nothing," she said matter-of-factly. "Come. Quickly. We must get you too cleaned up before-."
"Before what, Narcissa?"
The high voice sent ice through Draco's veins, just like it always had. He knew now that he would be utterly powerless if he decided to kill her.
His parents and aunt were now trying to put how things had gone in a way that made the event seem like a victory.
"What do you mean, he escaped?" Voldemort hissed, and Draco sensed the barely controlled fury in his voice.
“Yes, but the Summers girl offered herself in exchange for the safe release of her friends,”Bellatrix explained pleadingly.
"Did you now?" Voldemort circled Tria like a hawk; she stood perfectly still, pale and determined, blood running down her face and robes. He stopped to face her.
"I should like to clean up,” Tria said. Was it Draco’s imagination, or was she swaying on her feet? “And I’m assuming I’ll get decent living quarters?”
But before Voldemort could answer, Tria fainted of blood loss.