Out of the Depths, I Call to You, O Lord

Out of the Depths, I Call to You, O Lord

The wood splinters before your eyes. You know they are there. How you will fight them, I do not know, but you slowly, deliberately take your wand out, its polished surface catching the moonlight. You hear your son crying upstairs. I know you want to rush to him, to cradle his soft head in the crook of your arm, to whisper, "Daddy's here, Neville. Don't cry." But you cannot, for the front door is already gone. There is no choice for you anymore.

"Man!" hisses one of the hooded voices from the door. "Are you the Auror Frank Longbottom?" You only nod in the cloaked face of death, your wand brandished and ready. "Is it true that you hold information about the whereabouts of the Dark Lord?"

Your voice is loud and defiant in the night. I crouch on the steps, watching the utter stillness of the scene. "I know no such information," you tell them. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is no business of mine."

"But you are an Auror," comes another voice, this one deep and female.

"I tell you that I don't have such information."

"You must." One of the Death Eaters walks forward with a wand pointed straight at your heart. "You and your ruddy Ministry know everything. Crucio!"

Except that it is not one incantation you hear but four, and it is not one hammering of pain that you feel but four. Your body sinks to the ground, your hands tug at your hair, pulling then releasing, pulling then releasing, your back arches, and your limbs beat and shake, your mouth spewing shriek after shriek of colorless agony. Your wand lies beside you, forgotten.

All is still. Your tender mouth remains contorted. "Now, tell us. Where is the Dark Lord?"

"I - I do not know," you gasp, fingers clawing against the floor.

"You lie, Auror. Crucio!" You haven't even the energy to scream now. "Tell us now!"

You stare at the Death Eater. "No."

"Playing hard-to-get? If you do not bend, you shall surely break. Cru - "

"Stop!"

Your eyes pivot in my direction, their whites glaring against the darkness of the house. You gaze off in my direction, and you know, as well as I, that I will be joining you soon.

"Ah, Mrs. Longbottom, the Auror's wife."

You watch as I rise to my feet, but to you, my face is nothing but a blur. "Leave this house now. We know nothing that would help you in any way."

"Come down here!"

I assure you, we know nothing - "

A Death Eater steps over your body as he storms up the stairs to where I stand. You feel the coldness as his fingers grip my wrist, tugging me back to his comrades - and to you. You can still sense me, however vaguely, and you cling to me in the only way you possibly can.

"Now, reveal everything to us."

"I will not reveal anything to you that I do not know. Seek your information elsewhere." You tug on the hem of my robes, urging me to save what I can, but you know that my end is near. "Death Eaters, my husband and I have nothing for you here. You have come to the wrong place."

"No, dear Mrs. Longbottom. It is you who are making the wrong decision in not telling us what you know."

"If I must say it one thousand times, I will. I know nothing."

"I am sick of all of your lies, you stupid woman. Crucio!"

You shiver at the vibration of my fallen body, and you, too, are struck again with pain so painful it is almost bliss. Grasping onto what remains of your sanity, you slip your hand into mine. Your eyes turn in my direction. When you look at me, you can almost see past my wrinkles and the premature gray hair the past few years have wrought. When you look at me, you see a young springy girl of years long past, holding your hand as you are doing now.

And then when you look at me, you see nothing.