Entry tags:

! log, 1998-april, character: cambina bulstrode, x-character: gwenog jones

WHO: Cambina Bulstrode & Gwenog Jones
WHAT: Bina questions Gwen about her kidnapping.
WHEN: Thursday
WHERE: St. Mungo’s.
RATING: Moderate - mentions of torture
STATUS: Completed in gdocs

Gwen was not looking forward to this at all. She had slept horribly, and was emotionally exhausted from everything. The idea of talking about her kidnapping, being questioned? It just seemed so far out of the realm of things she could do right now. But she also knew that there was no putting it off, not indefinitely. She just had to do it; get it over with. Bina had planned to come in the afternoon, and Gwen almost wished she had asked her to come earlier so that it could be over with quicker. The waiting was driving her nuts.

Sitting up just slightly now, she thought about what happened. It wasn’t any clearer, how she escaped. Gwen was so far past gone at that point, everything was fuzzy. She just knew that Peter knew how to find her, and got her out without the DE who took her knowing. And then he took her to Bina. Peter Pettigrew had saved Gwenog Jones’ life. And he didn’t want credit for it. She knew if he took it, things could possibly get better for him, alter the way some people looked at him… but given his connection to the DEs, Gwen was sure it would just put him in more danger. If she hadn’t already had a constant headache, she would have gotten one just from thinking about it all.

Glancing at the small clock on the table, she quietly waited for Bina, trying to turn her mind off for just a few more minutes before she had to hash out all the details of her kidnapping and subsequent torture.

---

Apart from the four hours at Will's Monday night and some cat naps here and there, Bina hadn't slept since she first realized her friend was missing. And now that she was safe… Bina just wanted to catch the bastard that did this. The fact that it was someone who had been active in the first war only upset her more. They would find him, she would make certain of that. A little makeup covered the worst of the shadows under her eyes as she stopped in the loo of St. Mungo's to check herself over. Once Rhett had taken over guard duty, she'd avoided dropping by, claiming she didn't want to overwhelm Gwen. There would be family, and them. Bina had meant what she said to Fabian, she wasn't Gwen's gatekeeper, but she couldn't help holding both Fabian and Peter partly responsible. If Gwen hadn't gotten involved with them, maybe none of this would have happened. But she couldn't go in there with that running through her head. Bina wanted Gwen to be happy, even with them. Gwen had always been upfront about her desire to find a nice guy to date and settle down with, so she had nothing to complain about. Although Bina wasn't sure ex-cons qualified as nice guys, she intended to keep her mouth shut about Gwen's choice in partners.

Satisfied that she had her thoughts under control, she headed towards Gwen's room, nodding at the Auror posted outside. Knocking on the door, she pushed it open. "Gwen? Feeling up to visitors? I brought gifts.."
-----------------------

Except no one knew she was dating Peter Pettigrew except for Fabian and Gwen. And she hadn’t even told either of them that she was dating Peter, that had sort of gotten figured out on its own during the last few days. Gwen knew that Bina wouldn’t let it go - that Fabian, because he was a vigilante was somehow a bad guy despite the fact that he was working essentially on the same side as she was, and Peter… well. A lot of people had a lot of negative things to think about Peter, but they didn’t really know him. They just knew of what he did when he was young during the first war, and that was that. They wrote him off.

But Peter had saved her life. Saved her life in the face of getting caught by the Death Eaters who also hated him, and got her out of there. Of course, she couldn’t tell Bina that. Peter had specifically asked her not to tell anyone. But there it was. Another reason she knew Peter wasn’t as bad as everyone thought, only she had no way to convince anyone else of it.

If she hadn’t been expecting Bina, the knock on the door might have startled her. She was quite jumpy lately, finding even the smallest things woke her up in a fright, thinking she was back there, with whoever it was that took her. But she knew Bina was coming, and Gwen had been staring down the clock and the door for the last fifteen minutes straight. When Bina’s voice floated through the doorway, Gwen’s initial distress over the whole questioning dissipated, just a little. “Come on in.” She called out, waving her hand slightly even though Bina couldn’t see it.

---

Bina gave Gwen a smile, hoping her weariness didn't show as she came in, setting a vase of flowers on the table and dumping an armful of chocolate and magazines on the bed next to Gwen. "I figured you needed something to keep you entertained. And chocolate never hurts. The healers said it was okay." She shrugged sheepishly.

Reaching inside her dragonhide jacket, she retrieved Gwen's wand and handed it over. "I managed to free it it from evidence." Gwen didn't need to know the how's and why's of it, she just needed her wand back. And Bina had no intention of worrying Gwen more than necessary. (Some amount probably couldn't be avoided.)

"So? How's the food? I hear it's better than what they serve at the Ministry? Any cute healers? Did I tell you that Rhett jumped at the chance to be on guard duty? I think he's just trying to get out of paperwork."

“Thank you, Bina. I’ve been relentlessly bored in here.” She admitted, laughing just a little. It was forced, but not entirely. She had been bored, when there was no one visiting her. Whenever she thought she didn’t want visitors because they were so exhausting, she found herself wishing someone would come round again. She didn’t like to be on her own, particularly with nothing to do but stare at the pictures on the walls and remember what had happened to her, why she was there.

“The food is only slightly better than what they serve at the Ministry, but it’s still disgusting. There are several cute healers, but I only see them pass by sometimes, for some reason no one has assigned me a cute healer, which I sincerely dislike.” She was trying to be funny, trying to joke. It made her feel more normal. Besides, maybe a cute nurse would have taken her mind off of things. “Rhett’s always trying to get out of paperwork.” She said with a bit of a smirk, wondering why he really did want to guard her, though. Seemed like an endlessly dull job.

She finally looked down at her wand, picking it up and inspecting it. She had been worried that it was messed up somehow - that he broke it, cursed it, something. “You checked it? There’s nothing wrong with it?” She asked, perhaps the slightest bit of paranoia seeping through.

"Thoroughly checked and inspected and released from evidence," Bina reassured her. She'd pulled an all nighter working on it and other bits of the investigation, but she'd had colleagues double check the wand per protocol before releasing it from evidence. "Not an hour past."

She gave Gwen a smirk. "Do I need to intimidate someone? Get them to assign you a cute healer? I can probably do that, you know." Given the various other rules and protocols Bina had bent (not broken per se) the past few days, what was one or two more?

Knowing that her wand was perfectly safe, she held it close and didn’t let go. She had felt very… naked and unhelpful without her wand, it was like being in front of a crowd needing to give a speech but not knowing what the topic is and also not wearing any clothes. It made her skin crawl to be without it.

“I do love a good, hot nurse.” She said, smirking at Bina before she scooted the best she could to sit up. It was enough small talk - they could get back to it after, as she knew they would. But for now, she just wanted to get it done with. “Okay, okay. Ask me what you need to ask. I just want to get it over with, okay? I’m ready.”

Bina settled down in the chair, pulling out her notebook and the standard ministry issued dictaquill. Taking a deep breath, she took one last glance at Gwen before going into her official Auror capacity. "Auror Cambina Bulstrode. Interview with subject Gwenog Jones, Case number 643218. Location, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies. Can you tell me what you remember of your abduction?"

Okay. This was it. Bina went professional mode and was ready to take notes on what she said, and Gwen took a deep breath. Just say what she remembered. That was easy enough, even if she didn’t want to talk about it. At least it was something she could answer. “I was asleep, on my couch. I had my journal with me, I was warding Peter. I fell asleep around… eight or nine, I don’t know. I’m not sure how long I was asleep, but I woke up because a lamp fell over and crashed. When I looked to see the lamp, I saw a Death Eater standing there, next to it. I warded Peter ‘HELP!’ before I jumped up and used a shield charm on myself.” She started, hesitating just slightly. The next had been such a jumble, she was trying to get it straight.

“I threw a reductor curse at him, to throw him back, and summoned my broom. I was planning on using the rooftop window in my apartment to fly away. He shielded my curse and used it back on my broom so it exploded.” And yes, she was still bitter about that. “I threw a stinging hex at him, which hit, and he just sort of… took it. Like there was no reaction. He talks a lot, he kept saying things like it was a game. A joke to him. He blew the door off as I ran for it, then he hit the stairs with a Reductor curse and I fell half a story down. It broke my ankle. I still tried to run, but then he hit the ground and I sort of fell into a little hole and before I could get up he - “ She had to stop. Taking a moment, she regained her composure and went on.

“He used the cruciatus on me. I dropped my wand, and he took it. He grabbed me and apparated me to… I don’t know where. It was a dark room, I couldn’t see any windows. He tied me to a chair with rope, magically. And… that’s where I was the next two days, I think. He just kept me there, to… torture me.”

---

Bina sat there, willing herself not to react, though her hand tightened on the notebook, knuckles going white. She was going to get this bastard and give him a taste of his own medicine. She took a moment to calm herself down before continuing. Mouthing "I'm sorry" to Gwen, she took a breath and continued.

"A few clarifying questions, Miss Jones. Whom were you warding at the time of the attack - Peter …? We need as much information as possible. When you say there was a Death Eater standing there, can you describe him? What was he wearing? How tall was he?"

--

“I was warding Peter Pettigrew, with whom I’ve been involved with for several months.” She clarified, looking away from Bina. She knew how Bina was going to feel about it, and she didn’t want to think about that now. Didn’t want to see how her friend reacted. “I can’t really describe him. I know it was a Death Eater because he wore the Death Eaters mask and garb, you know. He was… well I think he might have been somewhat thin, not a bulky sort of fellow, and maybe… he wasn’t that tall. 5’9”? Not short, but not quite 6 feet either.”

---

To her credit, Bina didn't react in the slightest at the statement. She'd already gotten her reactions out of her system and was committed to being happy for Gwen, no matter the cost.

"When did this happen?" she asked, making sure they got the date on record. "How did you get away from him?"
---

Sunday, April 19th. Late, I’m not really sure what time.” She knew she had fallen asleep around eight or nine, but did not know how long she had been asleep before the DE had broken into her home. She hesitated now, because she knew she had to lie about how she escaped.

“I’m not sure, to be honest. I - “ She wasn’t being honest, but she had to make it seem like she was. “didn’t have my wand, so I can’t be positive of anything because it doesn’t make sense to me. I must have Apparated after breaking free of the ropes. I was just… about to give up, you know. Just let him kill me. And I guess I had one last bit of fight in me. I wriggled out of the ropes and Apparated to Peter Pettigrew’s.”

---

It wasn't a good lie and for a moment Bina wished she could have helped Gwen come up with a better one. "And what happened then?" she asked quietly, keeping her eyes on her notebook.

---

“He took me to you.” She replied quietly, looking down at her hands. She barely remembered any of it, she had been so out of it at that point. But she remembered the way Bina touched her face, calmed her, shushed her. “Peter apparated me to your, that being, Cambina Bulstrode’s home, who then apparated me here, to St. Mungos.” There. That hadn’t been so bad. She didn’t even have to go into all the horrid details, just… a summary. “Is that all?” She asked, hopeful.

---

"For now, yes. Someone from the department will contact you if we need further clarification." Bina tapped the dictaquill to stop recording and closed the notebook, tucking both back inside her jacket. "Sorry about that. At least the worst is over, right?" She gave Gwen a hopeful smile, praying to the gods that Gwen wouldn't be plagued by as many nightmares this time. All she wanted was her friends happiness. "Someone from the department will probably want to talk to Peter though," she warned with an apologetic look. "You mentioned him twice..."

---

“Clarification of what? I told you everything.” She didn’t know what was unclarified - though she assumed it was her grand escape. How could she lie about it? She had to miraculously have escaped on her own somehow, wandless, because Peter couldn’t be involved. Even though he knew who did this to her. It was all a big mess. And then Bina wanted to question Peter and she frowned, looking mildly angry. “You promised, Bina.” Just the other day, Gwen had made Bina promise not to harass him.

“Mentioning him twice - what, that I was contacting him on the journals we all use because he’s my boyfriend and that’s usually what people do, and that I went to him first? Again, because he’s my boyfriend and that’s what people usually do. I don’t see why that means he’ll be questioned.” She felt like she were in trouble somehow, like she was being punished. But she was the victim here, and Peter had saved her, and Gwen told them it wasn’t him. What else did they need to be put on trial for?

She half felt like kicking Bina out, and the other half felt like crying. Again. That’s kind of all she did now a days. “Why am I being put on trial here?”

---

Bina didn't say anything for a moment, just stared at her lap. Sometimes she felt like she'd lost Gwen already. "I know. And I'm not going to follow up with him. I'm going to have to be questioned as well by one of my colleagues, as it is since you were brought to me and I brought you here." Hopefully it was someone to whom she could omit details of what she knew. And not someone who would see through her. She sighed. "The Aurors are going to want to question anyone who might know anything - that includes family, friends, etc. Don't you want to catch the bastard who did this to you?"

Bina reached out and squeezed Gwen's hand, not sure if she was over stepping her bounds or not. "No one's putting you on trial, Gwen, we just want to catch this guy. And to do that, we need as much information as possible."

Bina pulled her hand back and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. "Look, Gwen, Fabian and Peter aren't who I would have chosen to date. But as long as you're happy, I'm happy for you, and I won't do anything to stand in the way of your happiness. You should know that. No matter what." I won't get in the way, was left unsaid. Her mother and uncle might say what they would, but there was a reason Bina tried to keep things casual. To prevent from feeling like this. Feelings were dangerous and just ended up with people getting hurt."

----

“You don’t know them. You’re judging them based purely on their past actions. Fabian and Peter are both incredible people, who have been amazing to me.” Peter single handedly saved her from the Death Eater who took her, and Gwen wished more than anything right now that she could tell Bina that. But she had promised Peter, and she wouldn’t break his trust like that. It frustrated her to no end, but there it was.

“I - well, I’m obviously not happy right now, but I am happy with them, and with whichever one I end up with…” Which was still bothering her, but overshadowed by recent events. Right now she didn’t even want to think about anything, there were a lot of other more important things to worry and think about than which boyfriend she was going to keep.

“I just want to get out of here. I want to go…” Well, not home. She couldn’t go home. Her perfect, amazing flat was ruined and she couldn’t set foot in there again. It was still bothering her. “Everything has been turned upside down… I can hardly think straight anymore. I want this all to be over.”

---

Bina bit the inside of her cheek. Here was her best friend, defending vigilantes to her.

"No, I don't," she said softly, fighting the lump in her throat. "But I meant what I said. I won't say anything against them. All I want is your happiness. That's all I've ever wanted, lo- Gwen. That's all."

Bina shoved her hands in her pockets and got to her feet. "I.. I should get going, let you rest. I'll let you know if we find anything out."

----

“Do you have to go?” Gwen felt terrible, causing all this turmoil. Fabian had looked so upset, and Peter was obviously upset, her sister couldn’t come visit her because it was too hard, MG had been worried… It was all so terrible. She’d never been through anything like this before and she didn’t even know what to do. It was like she wanted to fix it, even though she was the victim here, even though she had been taken and tortured. She just wanted to forget anything had ever happened, go back to normal.

“I’m sorry, love. I just… I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know how to think.”

---

"Don't. Don't apologise, Gwen. It's not your fault, none of this is your fault." Bina swallowed. She wouldn't cry, not in front of Gwen. After all, it was Bina's fault more than Gwen. For not protecting her friend, for not finding her in time before she'd been tortured. Bina had failed in her duty as an Auror. One of the people she most wanted to protect and she'd failed. It wasn't Gwen's fault everyone fell in love with her.

"All you need to do now is rest. And get better."

---

“I feel like it is. I don’t know why, I just feel so guilty and scared all the time.” Gwen felt so much shame, but she didn’t know what else to do about it. She just cried, broke into fresh tears and covered her face with her hand, hiding herself away from her best friend. “I’m so sorry.”

---

Sweet stinking Salazar. "Oh love," Bina said, her voice breaking slightly as she sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Gwen towards her, wrapping her arms around her, doing what she could to comfort her. "There's nothing for you to be guilty about. As for scared, we're all a little scared. But that's what we're here for. Your friends and family. Peter, Fabian, McGonagall, me. We're all going to protect you, love. I promise."

----

"But even still - even with all of you, I was still taken. For two days, taken and tortured for hours. How do I even start to get past this?" She was sobbing again - something she did a lot lately. She pulled Bina closer, ignoring the pain she still felt all over. There were no words left, Gwen couldn't say anything else, she just cried, face pressed into her friends neck.

---

It was like salt in the wounds. A reminder of her failures both as an Auror and as a friend. All she could do right now was wrap her arms around Gwen and hold her tight, rubbing a hand over her back. She pressed her lips to Gwen's head. "One day at a time, love. That's all any of us can do."

---