I was right about Mother's 'extra tutoring'; it was torture. Quite literally. I knew the scars it had given me would remain forever, a constant reminder to me - disobey my father and face the consequences. I pulled up the sleeve of my left arm and read, for what must've been the hundredth time, the words Mother had carved with her knife.

Property of Lord Voldemort

How dare they treat their daughter like this? How dare they expect me to silently let this happen?

These thoughts, and the accompanying wave of anger that crashed over me, took me by surprise.

"Stop it! Stop being so pathetic!" I quietly scolded myself, tugging my sleeve back down and starting to pace my 'room'. "Emotions are a weakness. Weaknesses get you hurt, and they just prove that Mother and Father are right about you." I took a deep breath. "You're weak, you're pathetic, you're worthless, and you're scum. Now stop acting so entitled, and be grateful your life is this good, because it could be so much worse!"

I stopped suddenly as I heard footsteps, far away at first, but getting closer by the second. Soon after, the door to my cell opened, and Lucius Malfoy came in.

"The Dark Lord wants to see you," he said, sneering. "Come. Now."

I gave a terse nod, not trusting myself to speak while all that anger was bubbling under my emotionless mask. Then, I followed Lucius out of my 'room' and up the staircase to the meeting room, hoping that whatever Father wanted to see me about wouldn't lead to more pain.

Father was waiting impatiently for me, with my tutor stood off to one side. My heart seemed to drop all the way down to my stomach as I realised what this would probably be about.

"That will be all, Lucius. Go now."

"Yes, My Lord."

As Lucius bowed and left the room, Father turned to me and said, "Ivory, your tutor tells me that as well as missing your lessons, you haven't been doing your work. Why is this?"

I barely suppressed a shudder at the coldness of his voice.

"I - I already know what he's teaching me, Father," I said, hesitating on the first word as I tried to keep my anger in check.

Father turned to my tutor, a dangerous look on his face. "Atherton, perhaps you would like to explain why you are not teaching my daughter new things, as I instructed," he said, his quiet voice cloaked in venom.

My tutor floundered for a moment, then stammered, "Sh-she's really q-quite - really quite... brilliant, My - My Lord. Her c-capacity to - to learn highly ad-advanced spells, it's - it's truly remarkable-"

"You are saying, then," Father interrupted smoothly, "that you did not believe the heir of the Dark Lord would be powerful?"

"No, I-I-I didn't - I was only - I-I simply meant that for - for s-someone of her - her age-"

"Ivory," Father interrupted again, turning to me, "have you learned anything new while Atherton has been your tutor?"

I hesitated, quickly working out all the possible outcomes to any answer I might give him, then carefully said, "No, Father."

"Is that so?" Father turned back to my tutor, wand in hand. "In that case, Atherton, I no longer need your services. Avada kedavra!"

I tried to close my eyes before it happened, but I was too late; I watched as my tutor's lifeless body crumpled and fell to the floor, and all because I couldn't keep my mouth shut, because I was selfish and wanted to save myself from more pain.

"Until new arrangements for your schooling have been made, you will be taught by Lucius," Father said, his voice almost eerily calm. "If you fail to complete any part of your lessons, your extra tutoring with Bella will become a regular thing. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Father."

"Your first lesson will be in a few minutes. Go back to your room and wait."

I turned and left, walking quickly back to my 'room' as I struggled to get my anger under control. I slammed the heavy iron door shut, locking it using wandless magic.

"Get it together," I hissed at myself, starting to pace the short perimeter of the cell. "Lucius will be here any minute, and you cannot be weak enough to show him any emotion."

Footsteps sounded above me, making me stop in my tracks and listen. It was a natural instinct by now for me to use this sound to identify anyone nearby, as well as where they were headed and what general mood they were in. In this case, the answers were Lucius Malfoy, down to my cell, and not a good one.

I quickly and soundlessly unlocked the door using more wandless magic, moving back into the corner of the room just in time. The door flew open, and Lucius swept in, pointing his wand at me. I watched him silently, still desperately trying to control my anger; I'd put my calm, emotionless mask back over it, but it was still bubbling just below the surface.

"During these lessons, I am going to teach you spells the Dark Lord believes you should know," Lucius said. "If you fail to perform a spell that I tell you to within the lesson, both wandlessly and nonverbally, the Dark Lord has given me permission to use the Cruciatus Curse on you."

"But-"

"I don't remember asking for your input," he said silkily.

I fell silent again, biting my tongue to stop myself saying something I knew I'd regret.

Lucius sneered, then continued in the same silky voice, "Now, the Dark Lord wishes for you to become more proficient in Shield Charms, so I am going to shoot some spells at you, and you are going to deflect them."

There was a look in his eyes as he said this that I really didn't like, but I just gave a terse nod and tried to ignore it.

Not even a moment later, he rapidly shot five different spells at me in quick succession, each more powerful than the last. Caught off guard, I was a fraction of a second too slow at getting my Shield Charm up; the spells all hit me, sending me flying backwards into the wall. I gave a quiet cry of pain, my vision going blurred for a moment.

"Pathetic," Lucius said, sneering once more. "Get up and do it again, but properly this time."

That was the last straw. Clenching my fists and using a spell to alleviate some of the pain, I quickly pushed myself back up to my feet.

"What if I don't want to?" I asked, my voice steely.

The anger and hatred I'd tried so hard to hide was now surging through me, driving all rational thought out of my head. I didn't care that I was showing weakness, and I didn't care that I would be punished for this. All I cared about was letting my anger out in any way possible.

"You don't get a say in the matter," Lucius practically spat. "You will listen, and you will obey."

"And what if I don't?" I shot back.

Lucius raised his wand again, but this time I was faster. An invisible shield flew from my fingertips, bouncing his spells back towards him with frightening speed. I followed these with spells of my own, my anger making them far more powerful than they would usually be; Lucius just barely blocked some, and had to dive out of the way of others, calling for assistance as he did so.

Death Eaters crowded into my 'room', all of them shooting spells at me, all of them using far Darker magic than I was. Panicking now, I desperately tried to block them all, but I was easily overpowered; their spells sent me flying backwards again, slamming me into the wall with far more force than last time. I didn't even have time to scream before my body gave into the pain, sending me into darkness.