Mother pulled me into the meeting room, where my father was waiting impatiently, then turned and left again.

"Ivory," Father said, his voice cold.

The usual fear I felt in his presence was replaced by red-hot anger as I thought of what he'd done to Adrienne, but I kept a calm face. If he found out I knew about it, he'd remove the memories again, I was sure — and I didn't want to forget my sister for a second time. Father seemed to realise I was angry, as his eyes narrowed, and he took his wand from his pocket.

"Wormtail told me the strangest story the other day," he said softly. "Do you know what it was?"

I shook my head, though I felt certain I knew.

"He told me you were helping Sirius Black, as well as a half-breed, a blood-traitor, a Mudblood, and Harry Potter," Father said, and although he sounded completely calm, I could see the anger in his eyes. "And do you know what else?"

I shook my head again, fear coursing through me.

"He told me that the half-breed already knew what had really happened twelve years ago."

"I don't understand, Father," I said, trying to think of why he'd be mentioning it.

"It had to get the information from somewhere," he said, in a dangerously low voice. "Someone must have told it..."

My anger only increased at the fact Father was saying 'it' rather than 'he', as if Lupin wasn't at all human just because of his Lycanthropy.

Don't react... you're in a bad enough situation as it is; you don't want to make it any worse.

"You were the only one who could have told it," Father hissed, and I took a step backwards.

"I—" My chest seemed to tighten as I tried to speak, and I swallowed anxiously, before trying again. "I — I didn't tell him anything, Father."

"Don't lie to me." His voice was becoming more and more venomous every time he spoke. "Crucio!"

The force of the curse threw me to the floor, but, unlike normal, I managed not to scream. I just lay there, shaking slightly from the power going through my body, trying to stop the tears from escaping.

"I warned you, Ivory," Father said calmly, making the curse stronger, "that if you told anyone, I would put you through so much pain that you would beg for death." He increased the power of the curse again, and I gave a quiet whimper. "And I never go back on my word."

I couldn't help but let out a scream as he made the curse even stronger — my head felt like it was going to split open from the power, my body felt as though it was being cut with a thousand red-hot knives, and my vision was becoming increasingly blurry from both tears and pain. I struggled to stay conscious, dreading what might happen if I showed weakness by passing out.

And then, the pain stopped. I blinked a few times, trying to clear up my vision, though it only half worked. I could just about see Father raise his wand again, and I braced myself for the pain that I was sure would hit in a few seconds. Sure enough—

"Diffindo!"

I felt a deep cut appear on my arm, and my eyes flickered out of focus again.

"Father — please..." My voice was barely a whisper, but I could still hear how pathetic I sounded. How weak. How scared. Scared that maybe this time, he was actually going to kill me — that maybe this would be the time I finally lost my fight for survival. I thought of what might happen to me if he did kill me. Would I come back as a ghost? Would I go on, to wherever on might be? Would I get to see Adrienne again?

The last thought made my heart skip a beat. If I died, I could see Adrienne again. My sister. I could talk to her... tell her I was sorry I didn't do more to stop her getting hurt...

I was pulled suddenly from my thoughts as more cuts appeared, making me cry out. I wasn't even trying to stop the tears from falling anymore; I needed my energy for more important things — specifically, staying awake. As easy as it sounds, however, that simple task was becoming near impossible to do. My head was pounding, and every shallow breath I took was an immense effort as I struggled to just stay alive.

Suddenly, despite the fact everything around me had become a mess of noise and blurred colour, I was sure I heard a yell. No, lots of yells. Then there were lights — bright lights, flashing outside the door, making my head spin as I tried to process it all. And then another cut appeared on my body; I gave a quiet cry, and the pain became too much.

I was finally consumed by the blackness, my mother's maniacal laugh ringing in my ears.