Analise was right, Hawke in fact had no knowledge whatsoever of the nature of a Death Eater's heart . . . aside from what he'd seen within the man's head. Or perhaps her words belied some other meaning that Hawke couldn't possibly fathom without collecting more pieces? He didn't think on her words long, as in the next moment her smile wavered into something darker, a demeanor that nurtured the beginnings of fear within a man who claimed to be afraid of nothing.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000"><i>His mother's lifeless body. A funeral. Theo's corpse lying in a coffin. The faces of meaningless lovers from his past, all dead. The bodies of childhood friends, lying among the rubble of the Battle of Hogwarts. Leaving Hawke . . . Alone. Completely alone. </i></span>Perhaps he was afraid of<i>something,</i>but nothing this woman could do to him. Right? As long as he kept his brother's existence a secret.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#59b300">"One flick of my wand, and it would be the destruction of you." </span>Then he found the tip of ash in his face, heart thumping wildly in his chest.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#59b300"> '<i>Avada Kadavra!</i>' </span>A flash of green overtook his existence for a brief moment, and Hawke swore his pulse stopped as his life flashed before his eyes. Then suddenly he found the scene just as it was before . . . tied to a bed, Analise grinning down at him with her wand at the ready.<i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">Mind games . . .</span></i><br/><br/>Regardless . . . perhaps he needed to maintain the facade that he could be useful to this woman. But for what? Hours, days,<i>weeks</i>of agony? Tortured into madness?<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#59b300">"So perhaps you could loosen those lips, like you do for Albion."</span>He hadn't been lying when he'd said he knew very little of Albi, and yet he knew him better than any other now that their minds had mingled. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. Perhaps the link might provide him the secrets he needed to survive this. He forced his way across the bridge for a moment, testing it's strength at a distance, ensuring it was a reliable method of information before withdrawing.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#59b300">". . . we could try one of my favorite methods of retrieving information." </span>Dread settled in his stomach. If given the decision between living, with his sanity intact, and throwing a Death Eater under the proverbial bus, Hawke's choice was quite easy. He'd choose himself. Every. Single. Time.<br/><br/>But before he could answer, Analise had slipped out of the room.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"Maybe if you were a little more <i>fucking </i>specific . . . "</span>he growled after her under his breath, wondering what kind of secrets she so desperately wanted from her son. The blond was distracted from his thoughts as his eyes followed the small cat as it weaved itself around the door frame. "You," he spat.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"Come to see the show?" </span>And just as quickly as she'd entered, the animagus had left, leaving Hawke with a great deal of food for thought as his captor returned.<br/><br/>Rosa's words, what had they meant? Was she working with the Ministry? Could he even trust her, the woman who'd held him at wand-point mere hours ago? And even if he could, how long would he have to last before rescue came for him? As strong as he was, as he eyed the bottle of verituserum, he knew his Occlumency wouldn't be enough to keep this woman out of his head for long. And as soon as she discovered he was an Auror he doubted his usefulness would help him any. She was bound to find the link sooner or later and Hawke did not fancy the idea of being used as a transit between two minds. It could destroy him.<br/><br/>But still . . . defiance was in his nature and giving in was not. So, blindly leaving his faith in the words of a cat, Hawke changed his mind. Hopefully for the better.<br/><br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"Work with you?" </span>He echoed the woman's laughter right back at her. As much as he might like to hear whatever tidbits Analise had to share, as much as his palms shook at the knowledge of what was to come.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"Maybe if you'd asked nicely rather than whisking me away and tying me to a bed without buying me a drink first. So as magnificent as getting along sounds, I'm afraid I'm not a team player." </span>He left out the fact that he'd been perfectly willing to share secrets with her five minutes ago.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"So you won't be hearing any secrets from me. Not mine. Not Albi's." </span>He swallowed, courage wavering as he imagined this woman ripping through his mind like shrapnel. This was going to be one of the hardest battles of his life.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"I don't sing very well either, actually, so really I'm sparing you a great deal of agony." </span>Stalling at this point, he closed to his mind to the world, sealing his memories within the strongest vault he could muster.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"And as for the serum, I must insist that you mix up a nice chaser for me, as I've never liked the taste," </span>he continued behind a facade of nonchalance as he contemplated leaving the link open . . . because some malicious thread within him wanted Albiorix to feel every single nerve screaming just as Hawke would soon, as this was the bastard's fault. But he sealed that off as well, temporarily severing the connection in order to protect his own sanity. How long it would last, he couldn't know.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#b30000">"So . . . come on then. Let's see if you can back up all that talk." </span>Though his words were more for himself.