So, this is sort of a “series” (for lack of a better word) that I’m doing about how Kate got some of her scars. This might be kind of a lame idea, but at the moment, it’s almost 1 am, and I’m feeling like doing some bonding with my character.

Scar: The scar and bump on Kate’s lip

Kate woke up to the sound of screams. That was hardly unusual. Her parents, both widely respected (in some circles, anyway) Death Eaters, enjoyed torturing innocent people, and had no qualms about kidnapping people and bringing them home for a bit of sport.

She cringed. Kate hated her parents way of life. Going around doing the bidding of an evil man hell-bent on world domination, hurting innocent people, causing chaos, being cruel just for the sake of it….. Kate had already decided what she wanted to be when she grew up. An Auror. A dark wizard catcher. Her parents had made her life and countless others lives miserable for years, and Kate couldn’t wait until she was old enough to try and fight back for real, so that she could help capture and imprison people like her parents, who had no business being on the loose in society.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped. This was hardly a relief to Kate, seeing as it didn’t necessarily mean her parents had stopped torturing the poor soul. It could also mean they’d killed the victim, silenced them with another spell, or caused them so much pain they couldn’t even scream anymore. Kate sincerely hoped it wasn’t any of those three options.

Kate’s door swung open with a bang. Her mother Tanya smiled at her in what was probably supposed to be a cheerful, nice sort of smile, but to Kate, it looked more like the smile of some hungry animal that had just cornered a particularly juicy piece of prey.

It was the first day of Summer vacation after Kate’s first year at school, and her parents had insisted on sending her to Durmstrang. Kate honestly hadn’t been able to decide what was worse-living with her parents, or going to Durmstrang.
Kate’s parents had been off on some secret mission for the Dark Lord, and had been unable to meet her upon her return home, but were now back. Judging from the screaming downstairs and her mother’s wide smile, Kate surmised that the mission had been a success.
“Welcome home, Kate”, said Tanya. She smirked at her daughter. “I trust your first year was……..educational?”

Kate shuddered. “Sure”, she muttered. Because Kate had questioned the school’s teachings of Dark Magic, and had tried to resist certain lessons, she’d been punished, and most severely. She’d ended up spending a good part of the year in the school’s cold, dank dungeons, and her parents had surely been informed of that.
Kate was actually almost glad to be home now. Almost…..

“Get up!”, Tanya snapped. “Seeing as you wasted most of your schooling, your father and I must pick up the slack, as well as teaching you some things that they wouldn’t even go near at that soft school!”

Kate reluctantly got up. Her parents, for years, had made it clear that they expected her to follow in their footsteps and join the Death Eaters. Kate was repulsed by the idea. Her parents never seemed to listen when she tried to say that she wasn’t interested. But she would never dare tell them that she wanted to be an auror. That would have been just foolish.

Igor Smirnov, Kate’s father, was waiting downstairs. “Welcome home, Kate”, he said gruffly, giving her a rough hug. Kate winced in pain, and forced a smile.

“You have a lot to learn”, he said, looking at her forcefully. “That school of yours doesn’t even begin to cover the important things. You’re lucky you have us to teach you this early. It’ll give you a huge advantage when you’re joining the Dark Lord”

Kate tried to protest. “I don’t really want…..I mean, I don’t really think I’m going to be a Death Eater”, she said, choosing her words carefully.

“Nonesense!”, said Tanya. “Of course you will be”
“Don’t even THINK about disgracing this family!”, snapped Igor. “For generations, we’ve been practitioners of Dark Magic, dedicated to preserving the Pure-blood way, and it would be a huge embarrassment if our only daughter did not follow in our footsteps!”

Tanya grabbed Kate by the arm and began dragging her towards the basement steps. Kate winced and tried to loosen her mothers grip, but it was no use. Igor followed them chuckling.
Tanya shoved Kate down the last few steps of the basement, and Kate fell hard, landing on her knees. Her mother only laughed, and turned on the lights. Igor joined them at the bottom.

Kate picked herself up slowly, then gasped in horror. In the middle of the room, a man was tied to a chair. He had a gag tied around his mouth, and he was slumped over, bleeding from several wounds on his face and arms.

Tanya laughed nastily. “This filthy mudblood tried to stand against us! Now it is our duty to teach him what happens to all who oppose the Dark Lord!”

“Today, we will be teaching you a very important spell-the Cruciatus Curse”, said Igor, turning Kate around and looking into her face.
“As you well know, it causes terrible pain to the victim”, continued Tanya, slowly drawing her wand.

Kate’s eyes widened in horror.
Oh please no….,
“The incantation is simple….Crucio”, said Igor, taking out his own wand and grinning evilly.

“But you have to mean it, Kate…..you have to [want to cause pain…..to relish in the screams of your victim……to watch their agony, to enjoy it”, said Tanya in a low voice with an undercurrent of excitement. She circled Kate as she spoke.

“We’ve already warmed him up for you”, Igor snickered, flicking his wand. The gag fell away from the poor mans mouth. Kate was instantly reminded of the screams she’d heard that morning. She didn’t move.

“Crucio him. NOW!”, said Tanya coldly, glaring at Kate.

Kate reluctantly drew her wand. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. The man sitting on the chair looked at Kate. His eyes were pleading, and he seemed to understand and sense Kate’s reluctance. She looked pleadingly at her parents.

“Perhaps she needs a demonstration”, suggested Igor cruelly, stepping forward. “CRUCIO!”

The bound man began to scream and writhe in pain. The movement caused the chair he was tied to tip over, and he crashed to the floor.
Kate’s face drained of all color. Her mouth dropped open in horror, and she covered it with her free hand. The screaming grew louder. The room seemed to spin around her, and Kate fell to the floor, dropping her wand and clapping her hands to her ears, and screwing her eyes shut.
Kate hardly registered when the screams stopped. Someone grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet she leaned against the wall shakily. She felt wetness on her face. She hadn’t even realized she’d begun sobbing.

“Pathetic!”, yelled Tanya, moving her face closer to Kate’s. “Sniveling, pathetic fool! How do you think you’ll make it as a Death Eater if you break down like a baby and can’t even Crucio people! Stop crying!”, she slapped Kate across the face, and Kate stumbled backwards into the wall.

“He deserves it, Katherina!”, growled Igor, using Kate’s full name, something he rarely did. “He’s a pathetic mudblood! Born to filthy, disgusting muggles, who tried to oppose the rule of the Dark Lord. He is a danger to us!”

“I d-don’t want to be a Death Eater!”, sobbed Kate, sniffing.

“Yes you do!”, yelled Igor angrily, slapping Kate again.

“Torture is a beautiful thing!”, snapped Tanya. “The screaming, knowing that someone is completely at your mercy, watching the light leave their eyes, watching them writhe in pain. You MUST understand this!”. She grabbed Kate and pulled her forward. “Do it! NOW!”

Kate stared in horror at the man. Igor picked up her wand and put it in her hand.

“You MUST be a Death Eater. And you MUST learn the art of torture. And I must say, it’s a damned good thing you’re starting to learn it now!”, snapped Igor.

Kate began hyperventilating. She glanced toward the steps, but knew running would be pointless. She had nowhere to go. And they would find her anyways.

“C-Crucio”, she whimpered weakly, as more tears streamed down her face. Her wand jerked feebly in her hand, but nothing happened.

“AWFUL!”, yelled Tanya, yanking Kate forward by the hair. “THAT WAS PITIFUL!”, she yelled, her face inches from Kate’s. Kate cowered back, and then Igor grabbed her forcefully by the arm and yanked her closer to the tied-up man.

“You need to MEAN it!”, he yelled again, shaking Kate. “You have to WANT it, to FEEL it! And at least don’t whimper it like a pathetic fool!”

“No……no, I can’t”, Kate shrank back. “Please, please, no!”, she cried, losing it. She wanted out. Out of the basement, out of the house, out of this life.

Kate could practically feel their anger coursing through the room, surrounding her.
She shut her eyes.

Igor growled in anger. “You DARE disobey us, you-you DARE-LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M SPEAKING TO YOU!”, he yelled, his face red and his eyes bulging.

Tanya raked her nails down Kate’s arm, and Kate shrieked in pain.

Kate was terrified. She didn’t know what her parents would do to her.

“Ungrateful little brat!”, yelled Igor, drawing his hand up.

Kate saw his fist flying at her, as though in slow motion, then felt pain explode through her face. She stumbled back, against the wall. The room spun again, and Kate saw stars, flying around her head. She fell dizzily to the ground, where she spat out a mouthful of blood. Her face throbbed in pain, and Kate was seeing double. She slumped onto her back, not even aware of the movement. Dark clouds pulsed at the edges of her vision. She heard voices above her, but they sounded like they were coming from the end of a long tunnel. Then the dark clouds covered her eyes, and Kate welcomed unconsciousness.

When Kate woke up, she was still on the floor of the basement. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the man who’d been tied to the chair was gone, along with her parents. She didn’t even want to think about what had happened to the man.

Her head throbbed, and the room seemed to tilt around her. Pain like fire coursed through the side of Kate’s face, especially her lip. She tasted blood, and dimly realized that blood was still flowing freely from her lip. With her tongue, she could feel a long, deep cut that began on her lip, and continued into her mouth. Kate spit out another mouthful of blood, and felt more tears rolling down her cheeks.

She struggled to pick herself up off the floor. Dizzily, she managed to stumble up the stairs and up to her room, where she collapsed on the bed, her head spinning. Her heart pounded, and she felt nauseous. Her last conscious thought was that even death seemed like it would be a relief now.

When Kate woke up again, her mouth had stopped bleeding, though she could still taste blood and feel the huge cut. Her parents were nowhere to be seen. At least her head had stopped spinning, though it still ached.
Kate slowly stood up, and headed to her bathroom. She gasped upon seeing her reflection in the mirror. She had a black eye, bruises on her cheeks, a swollen, cut lip, and blood all over her face. She gingerly began washing the dried blood off her face, wincing as she touched the bruises. Tears were flowing freely now. And they claim they love me!, she thought furiously. She had always known how cruel her parents were, but this was the first time she’d witnessed it firsthand, when they’d tortured the helpless man. Kate knew she never wanted to end up like them.

As the days and weeks passed, Kate’s bruises slowly faded, but the scar on her lip didn’t. Her upper lip now had a light colored bump on the right side, and a scar that ran from the lip to the inside of Kate’s mouth. She could feel the slightly raised scar with her tongue, and every time she felt it, rage welled up in her again.

Never, she vowed, I will never be like them. Never……