As the invisible spell reached Draco, the boy convulsed, his features twisting in a horrible mixture of pain and disgust. Draco screamed, falling to the rug, his hands scrabbling against his legs and arms, moving frantically as though to rip snakes away from his body, over and over.
"He even sees them, I suspect," said Lucius in tones of pure enjoyment. "Pity you can't, eh?"
Lucius turned toward Harry just in time to see the youth lunge from his chair, hands outstretched to tear the wand from his grasp and toss it to his brother.
Unfortunately, Harry was still exhausted. His muscles trembled, uncoordinated after the strain of the wild magic he'd done earlier. He lunged awkwardly for his wand, intending to toss it to Draco, but Lucius quickly yanked it out of reach, his other hand delivering a blow that glanced off the side of Harry's head.
In Harry's weakened state, though, even a mild blow was enough to send him reeling to the floor.
Lucius growled, then sent a series of stinging hexes at him as he lay there. The pain so fierce it was almost crippling, Harry gasped to gain his breath.
And all the while, he could hear Draco screaming.
Another wave of the wand, and Harry was thrust back into the chair. Its wooden arms curled inward, towards his lap, tightening against him until he could barely even shift from side to side. Even his arms were caught, held by the wrist at odd angles.
The more he struggled, the more the chair contracted.
"So, your brother's pain gave you the impetus to break free of my Imperius. How like a Gryffindor. So pathetically noble."
"You're sick! Stop it! Let him go!"
"I think not. I think your pathetic little stunt has just earned him even more pain. Gibby. Mordesco again."
Draco's screams took on a higher pitch as he writhed and twisted on the floor, trying to get away from the phantom snakes attacking him.
"Stop it! Stop it now!" Harry shouted. God, where was his wild magic? It ought to be flowing by now. He was angry enough...
Angry enough. Was that Draco's plan, then, to let himself be tortured until Harry's wild magic snapped free?
"No!" yelled Harry, trying to stop him. It wasn't going to work; he could tell! He couldn't make his wild magic lash out, not even to save Draco.
"Oh, so you'll talk, will you?" crooned Lucius. "To help your dear brother?"
"Yes!" screamed Harry, though of course he had no intention of telling Lucius anything useful.
"That will do for now, Gibby." Lucius drew a handkerchief from his pocket and wafted it over to Draco. "Wipe your face. You look a mess."
Draco sat up on the rug, his hand shaking so much he could barely lift the handkerchief.
Lucius took a step back and brandished his wand in a way that encompassed Harry and Draco both. "Well? Talk, Potter. Or it will be Cruciatus next, for Draco."
"I can do wild magic," said Harry. No harm in revealing that, right? Lucius knew it anyway. He'd want details, though, so Harry forced himself to go on. "It's the same as accidental magic. My uncle told you I could always do strange things without meaning to. It's just more of the same."
Draco sat up more, sitting cross-legged, panting, his head hung over his knees. He looked like he was struggling not to sick up.
"Your wild magic as I have witnessed it, is hardly more of the same," said Lucius, sneering. "It's bizarrely strong. What changed it?"
"You did, with all those needles!" spat Harry. Maybe it would make Lucius think twice about repeating the same tortures. "But don't ask me how. You think any of us understand the things that happen to me?" He barked a laugh. "I've always been, what's that word, an amonaly."
"Anomaly." Lucius' stare seemed to pierce right through him. "There's more, though, isn't there?"
"No, there's nothing more," Harry insisted, clenching his hands as he hid his true thoughts inside the fire. "Nothing you don't already know."
"Oh, but I think there is. Since nothing is in fact precisely what you've told me." Lucius' lips curled in a grim smile. "So, what would make Draco suffer the most, Harry? Cruciatus, or yet more bites? Perhaps both at once. Gibby--"
"No!" screamed Draco, shaking his head wildly as he jumped up, uncoordinated. Sweat had plastered his hair to his head. "No, no more, Father! I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Anything!"
"Ah. At last." As Lucius flicked the wand again, Draco stopped trembling. "There. The truth then, Draco. The whole truth."
But Draco didn't say a word. His eyes still screamed panic, but apart from that, he had a cagey look on his face as he stared at Lucius. "The truth... yes. I will tell you, fine. But... not until I know I won't just end up dead tonight, eh, Father?"
"I told you, the Dark Lord will welcome you back if you are truly penitent--"
"Bugger the Dark Lord!" snarled Draco, fists clenched. "I can tell when you're lying, too, you know. The only reason you want to take me to a meeting is so he can kill me himself. After the requisite torture, of course. And if that's to be my fate, I'd just as soon not provide you with the satisfaction of seeing me turn on Harry."
Lucius raised an eyebrow and gave a cool, calculated laugh. "Draco, you have done exceedingly wicked things this year, and disappointed me more than I can say. But you have been punished for all that, already. It isn't my intention that the Dark Lord kill you."
"Yeah, right. And the moon really is made of green cheese. I'm not exactly falling all over myself to believe in your good will towards me, Father. Want to guess why?" Draco yanked his robes and shirt down a bit from his neck to show a row of bite marks.
"You have picked up very vulgar manners." Lucius paused. "Very well then, Draco. You doubt my word, and in the circumstances I suppose I can hardly fault you. What would convince you, then?"
"Nothing." Draco shifted on his feet. "Even if you took an Unbreakable Vow not to let the Dark Lord hurt me, you couldn't really stop him, could you? I'm dead if I go anywhere near him, and I know it."
"Perhaps then... you needn't go near him, after all," said Lucius slowly. "Tell me something truly, Draco. Do you want to serve him?"
"No."
"Best I don't present you, then. You'd probably only endanger the family name, yet again. Disgrace that you are... What if I were to let you simply leave?"
Draco stared. "Come again?"
"You heard me." Lucius smiled, the expression thin. "Is an Unbreakable Vow surety enough for you? I will promise not to take you before the Dark Lord, ever. Or encourage him, in any way, to come after you. But, I will need a vow from you, as well."
"It's a trick, Draco!" shouted Harry.
"Silencio," said Lucius calmly.
"What vow?" asked Draco, his tone suspicious... but intrigued.
"Tell me everything you know about Harry Potter."
Draco curled a lip. "Don't you think the terms are a bit vague? The vow would kill me if I forgot to mention what flavour of toothpaste he prefers!"
Lucius smiled. "Perhaps you could vow to tell me whatever I ask in the next... ten minutes?"
Draco narrowed his eyes, clearly thinking that one through. He opened his mouth to reply, but Lucius interrupted him.
"Oh, and I shall need one more thing from you. Surely you remember. Or were you so busy fending off the snakes that you couldn't attend to what I told you while you were in the pit?"
Draco blew out a breath. "That's asking ... a lot. He's my brother."