Rufus Ignitus looked up from his table. It was 3 a.m. and a dark moonless night wrapped around Azkaban. Inside their cells all the prisoners were fast asleep. All except one. Lucius Malfoy was standing by the window, looking at the sky.
When wizards had first replaced dementors to guard the prison, Rufus had been terrified. He had expected the Dark Lord to appear any moment, freeing his followers and leaving him and his coworkers dead. And , judging from the amount of disorders that had raised during the first weeks, the Deatheaters had thought the same way. Time had prooven them wrong. More than a year had passed and there was still no sign of the Dark Lord. This seemed to have affected the inmates more than the loss of their freedom. At first they had refused to accept it. They had kept waiting for months and months, refusing to sleep. Then, after realization had finally sunken into them, they had slowly fallen into a catatonic state. They had gradually become very quiet and no matter how much the guards feeded them, they had become more and more thin and weak every day.And one by one they had started dying in their sleep. Lucius Malfoy appearently had been the only one to escape that fate. But during the last weeks he had appeared more and more tired and , even if he kept asking for food, he had started loosing weight. Rufus kind of pitied him. He had hated Lucius Malfoy at first but now he felt sorry for him. Things had changed the first time Lucius had asked for extra food. "This is not a restaurant Malfoy" Rufus had answered. Malfoy had sighed " It's not for me, it's for my boy". Rufus had thought Lucius had finally lost his mind but then he had realized that Lucius was too aware of what was going on. He knew perfectly well that his time had come. He was only trying to hold on until he could see his son once more.From that day they had become friends. He spent all his spare time outside Lucius's cell, helping him with his fight for life. Not that there was much he could do anyway.
Rufus sighed and slowly rose from his chair.He stopped outside Lucius's cell.
"Lucius" he whispered Lucius turned around "Yeah"
"It's really late.Why don't you try and sleep for a while"
Lucius shook his head: "There was a place"
"A...a place"
"Yes, a small village. After the Dark Lord's defeat, we all left our homes and went living there. It was a beautiful village. Everything was peaceful there and the people were so...human. They were non-magical people but they seemed to know everything about magical world. We told them our stories. We did not lie to them. And they let us stay. They helped us go through what we had done. They made us feel like we could still be the good ones. While I lived there, I began to wonder why I had followed the Dark Lord in the first place. I could have stayed there forever"
"And why did you leave"
"The Aurors found us. And everything was over. They took us away"
"You were cleared. Why didn't you go back after that"
"Because I had someone to revenge. They took something from me. I could not just forget about it"
"Lucius what do you mean"
Lucius shook his head: "I can't talk about this. Just remember this Rufus :never try to prevent wickedness. It'll just make you a killer"
Rufus nodded. He couldn't understand what Lucius was talking about but he could see the man was pained and he didn't want to hurt him anymore by asking questions.
"I wish you could go back to your village" He simply said "I wish the same" Lucius whispered. And for the first thime since he was there, Rufus saw Lucius's face tear-stained.
What happened after that, Rufus was never able to tell. A golden light invaded the cell and Rufus suddenly felt like everything wrong that had happened to him had been cancelled. He felt happy and peaceful. And then all of a sudden the light disappeared and he was standing in Azkaban again. He looked at the cell in front of him. It was empty.
When wizards had first replaced dementors to guard the prison, Rufus had been terrified. He had expected the Dark Lord to appear any moment, freeing his followers and leaving him and his coworkers dead. And , judging from the amount of disorders that had raised during the first weeks, the Deatheaters had thought the same way. Time had prooven them wrong. More than a year had passed and there was still no sign of the Dark Lord. This seemed to have affected the inmates more than the loss of their freedom. At first they had refused to accept it. They had kept waiting for months and months, refusing to sleep. Then, after realization had finally sunken into them, they had slowly fallen into a catatonic state. They had gradually become very quiet and no matter how much the guards feeded them, they had become more and more thin and weak every day.And one by one they had started dying in their sleep. Lucius Malfoy appearently had been the only one to escape that fate. But during the last weeks he had appeared more and more tired and , even if he kept asking for food, he had started loosing weight. Rufus kind of pitied him. He had hated Lucius Malfoy at first but now he felt sorry for him. Things had changed the first time Lucius had asked for extra food. "This is not a restaurant Malfoy" Rufus had answered. Malfoy had sighed " It's not for me, it's for my boy". Rufus had thought Lucius had finally lost his mind but then he had realized that Lucius was too aware of what was going on. He knew perfectly well that his time had come. He was only trying to hold on until he could see his son once more.From that day they had become friends. He spent all his spare time outside Lucius's cell, helping him with his fight for life. Not that there was much he could do anyway.
Rufus sighed and slowly rose from his chair.He stopped outside Lucius's cell.
"Lucius" he whispered Lucius turned around "Yeah"
"It's really late.Why don't you try and sleep for a while"
Lucius shook his head: "There was a place"
"A...a place"
"Yes, a small village. After the Dark Lord's defeat, we all left our homes and went living there. It was a beautiful village. Everything was peaceful there and the people were so...human. They were non-magical people but they seemed to know everything about magical world. We told them our stories. We did not lie to them. And they let us stay. They helped us go through what we had done. They made us feel like we could still be the good ones. While I lived there, I began to wonder why I had followed the Dark Lord in the first place. I could have stayed there forever"
"And why did you leave"
"The Aurors found us. And everything was over. They took us away"
"You were cleared. Why didn't you go back after that"
"Because I had someone to revenge. They took something from me. I could not just forget about it"
"Lucius what do you mean"
Lucius shook his head: "I can't talk about this. Just remember this Rufus :never try to prevent wickedness. It'll just make you a killer"
Rufus nodded. He couldn't understand what Lucius was talking about but he could see the man was pained and he didn't want to hurt him anymore by asking questions.
"I wish you could go back to your village" He simply said "I wish the same" Lucius whispered. And for the first thime since he was there, Rufus saw Lucius's face tear-stained.
What happened after that, Rufus was never able to tell. A golden light invaded the cell and Rufus suddenly felt like everything wrong that had happened to him had been cancelled. He felt happy and peaceful. And then all of a sudden the light disappeared and he was standing in Azkaban again. He looked at the cell in front of him. It was empty.