The Lioness, The Warden and The Will to Survive Ch 3
The tingling sensation in her foot prompted Emma to shift her position ever so slightly. As she moved her shoe skidded on the rough bark of the tree that she was currently crouching in. A few twigs broke free and fell to the soft grassy earth below. Emma stilled and held her breath, stifling a giggle as Ruby and Graham raced past her, completely unaware of their fellow Gryffindor hidden above them.
When Emma couldn't hear their rowdy stomps against the ground anymore she let out a breath and settled herself into a more comfortable position on her stomach. Both arms wrapped around a think branch with one leg wrapped around the trunk of the tree and the second balancing on another branch. The blonde almost immediately grew bored, but she was too stubborn to give up the game. Emma's determination to win strengthened and she lifted herself up to peer through some leaves to see if her classmates were still looking for her.
Then Emma heard someone approaching from her other side, she twisted around and ducked but was sure to make no noise as another student, one that was thankfully not playing the game, approached. Emma couldn't see her face but she could tell she was wearing a light blue sun dress. The girl strolled near Emma and her tree and then proceeded to make herself at home under the shade provided. The girl sat at the base of the trunk and began reading. 'Ugh, who reads on a Saturday?' Emma thought to herself.
Emma made a split second decision and called down to the girl, “Hey, you can't sit there you're going to give me away.”
“What? Hello?” The girl's shoulders went from relaxed to stiff as she looked left, right and then up revealing her face to the blonde.
Emma was thankful for the thick leaves that hid her because she could feel the heat in her cheeks, “Oh hey Regina!”
Regina squinted up at her from below and Emma caught the briefest hint of recognition on her face, “Emma?”
“Yeah, I'm up here, but don't look!” The younger girl pleaded as she looked around to make sure her fiends weren't nearby. “Just pretend to read your book or something.”
“I came here to actually read my book.” To Emma, the older girl sounded more amused than annoyed, “Why are you- Oh, kitten stuck in a tree? This suddenly makes perfect sense! Were you chased by a hound of some sort?” Regina chuckled, she had her head buried in her book so that no one would see her lips moving as she spoke.
“Ha. Ha. I'm not stuck. My mates wanted to play Hide and Seek.” Emma explained.
“What's that?” Regina asked.
Emma felt an ant crawling across her forearm and squished it with her other hand. In retrospect she should have picked a tree with less bugs and insects because she'd been on a killing spree since she first found this 'perfect' hiding spot, “It's a muggle game, one person hides and everyone else looks for them.”
The Ravenclaw tilted her head as she turned an unread page, “It seems like it'd be over rather quickly. If it were the other way around I believe the game would last much longer and be more entertaining.”
“Maybe,” The Gryffindor shrugged and leaned up on an elbow so the branch wasn't pressed against her ribcage, “but see I'm very good at hiding but I'm even better at finding people. That's why I'm the one that has to hide.”
Regina smiled up at Emma, “I see, but you excel the most with bragging.”
“Come on, Regina! If you keep looking up here they're going to find me.” Emma dropped a small stick and it landed in the open book on Regina's lap.
Regina's smile turned into a pout, “Do you want me to leave?” she offered as she fiddled with the stick.
Emma didn't have to think about her answer, “No, you can stay! But you have to be discreet! You know, elusive and stuff.”
“That's a pretty big word for a Gryffindor.” Regina teased.
“That's a pretty low neckline for a Ravenclaw.” Emma shot back. She giggled as the brunette gasped and her hands flew up to cover her mildly exposed chest. “Seriously I could see your bra!” Emma continued.
The Chaser glared up at the young blonde and stood, hands still at her breasts. Emma was about to apologize when she noticed the menacing grin on Regina's face, “Hey, everyone!” Emma's jaw dropped and her heart beat sped up, she shook her head but it was useless, “I found Emma, she's in this tree!”
“Awww, really?” Emma complained as she scampered down the trunk of the tree in haste, “It was a joke!” She called over her shoulder to a laughing Regina as Graham and Ruby chased her like a pair of hunting dogs towards the lake.
It hadn't been too difficult convincing Antonin Dolohov to answer Golds request in her place. It was a balancing act, she had to get him jealous enough of her to want the mission but also stay on his good side so that he'd put her in his place as Warden when he left. In the end Regina’s strategy to appeal to Dolohovs sense of entitlement had worked splendidly.
As the new Warden Regina would be able to oversee the interrogation procedures of any captives brought into her dungeons. Her new station afforded her less privacy though, there were always higher ranking Death Eaters coming and going throughout the week, every one of them requesting an audience with her. It made it harder for her to get messages out to The Order or to her comrade in espionage, Ruby Lucas, and she had a sneaking suspicion that her owl was being followed.
Though her biggest threat to being found out was locked up in the western corridor. Regina had reassigned almost all guards and prisoners out of that area just in case the fool decided to get impatient, as Gryffindors were known to do, and start shouting her real name just to prove a point. Even though Regina doubted that Emma actually knew who she was, she had decided to plan to prevent the worst from happening. The only guards near Emma had to believe the blonde was also lying, which left a thin skeleton crew. Still too many people to be safe.
Regina stormed into Emma's cell, mask shielding her face as always, and spotted Emma sitting on the wooden bench kicking at an empty bowl and glaring up at her. Regina had to remind herself not to yell because she was at least seven kinds of irritated and four of those irksome reasons were all Emma Swan. She took a deep calming breath and wordlessly commanded the chains to take hold of Emma's wrists. Emma wasn't using her hands anyway, which was the entire reason why Regina had to come down here in the first place. “The guards tell me you aren't eating.” She whispered when she'd approached the chained and disgruntled woman.
Emma grunted, “So?”
“So,” Regina mocked, “you don't get to starve yourself to death. I am the Warden of this dungeon and you die on my terms, not yours.” She pointed her wand toward the door and spelled it open before she Wingardium Leviosa charmed in a tray with a new bowl of stew. “Eat.” She ordered.
Emma, being Emma, of course ignored the food and stared back at her captor like she was trying to decipher some hidden meaning behind the words of a Death Eater. “You're the Warden? Hmm, The Whispering Warden.” Regina felt like she should have seen this nickname coming, she shoved a spoon into Emma's hand as the Gryffindor continued, “You sound like a Stephen King novel.”
“Finish your plate.” Regina tried to ignore how much she sounded like her mother chastising her nine-year-old self. While Emma prodded at a chunk of meat in the stew Regina took the time to lean against the rough stone wall and assess her captive, arms folded across her stomach. Emma looked frailer than when she'd first arrived a week ago, pale too, at least the swelling and bruising around Emma's eye had gone down.
Emma peered warily at a steamed carrot, “What did you put in it? I already told you truth serums don't work on me.” Regina almost laughed at that, even if she did believe Emma's claims to be immune to Veritaserum she couldn't take the risk on the miniscule chance that Severus Snape had let it slip who she was. Her former Professor was the only Order member who knew her identity and she liked to keep it that way.
“Then you have nothing to worry about do you?” Emma didn't budge but Regina could tell she found the aroma wafting from the ceramic bowl to be tantalizing, “If I wanted to kill you I'd just do it like this.” The Warden's wand pressed against the center of her captive's chest.
The Gryffindor shook her head as if she wasn't one phrase from certain death, “I'll eat when you tell me what the hell happened to Luna. Is she alive or not?”
“Wouldn't you like to know.” Regina answered petulantly, in truth Luna had been transferred to the Malfoy's Manor. Regina had fought the decision for three days and put off actually sending Luna for as long as she could without looking suspicious under the guise of being too short staffed at the moment to spare guards for a transport mission. In the end Bellatrix Lestrange herself had come to escort the girl away, that was one visitor that Regina would like to avoid at all costs.
“Tell me.” Emma said. Her green eyes flashed with determination but she was so weak from malnutrition that it almost came out as a plea. Almost.
Regina relented only slightly, “I tell you and you'll eat?”
“Yes.” There was undeniable promise in her voice now.
“She's alive.”
Emma looked at her with a hard gaze that bore through the mask and for a second Regina almost forgot she was wearing it. She felt so exposed and loathed every second of it. Then Emma turned back to her meal and began eating, chains clanking softly against the wooden bench.
Regina blinked, surprised at how disconcerting that was. “You believe me? Just like that?”
“I can tell when people are lying.” Emma said around mouthfuls of beef, potato, and carrot.
“Another superpower?” Regina replied dryly and scowled at Emma. Despite the fact that the blonde couldn't see it the action made Regina feel better, like she still had the anger towards the lioness that she did when she'd first entered the dungeons.
Emma grinned but it held none of the warmth that it did years ago, “Yup! It's how I know you're lying about Madame Regal.” Regina forced her breathing to stay even, “You know she's real too.”