THE END OF REALITY
Ship: HG/DM
Chapter One: A Prisoners Testament
There's something terrible, practically forbidden, when the idea of a child's death enters common conversation. It could be the headlines on the Daily Prophet, spread over every page, and still people will only talk in hushed whispers about it. It's a child; even the nastiest gossiper's lips become tight when someone asks. It's not like the death of an older man, mugged in knock turn alley. It's not like the Dark Lords raid on a small town close to Yorkshire.
Children have a potential, even their smallest actions can change the world. They could grow up to be the best of us all, saviors… Or they could grow up twisted, and cause the end of what we all know. But either way, they have potential, and somehow, ending that future… It simply wasn't allowed in society. The darkest circles of hell were reserved for people who killed a child.
They were innocent, they had no side. They didn't do anything terrible, they were like the angels that god had given to grace this earth for a few years; even the teenagers that you heard most parents go on and on about, they still had that same sphere around them as the children. Innocent and in a world that seems like it can't hurt them, they were what most people would die to protect.
But there was one person who wanted to kill a child. Not just any child, a baby. Young, still with the round cheeks and the doe eyes attributed to babies. He wasn't even a year old and he was the target of one mans dark crusade. What kind of monster would want to kill an innocent baby, you ask? Well his name was Tom Riddle, and he saw himself on a crusade to rid the world of the scum known as Muggles.
You probably don't even know what that word means, but to put it short there are things such as wizards. Some wizards have been in families made of wizards since the beginning of time. But occasionally a wizard will marry a non-wizard, also called a Muggle. The children of such bonds were called half-bloods. And then, every once in a while, two Muggles would bear a child that was a wizard. And these, to purebloods, were dirty people who didn't deserve to have the gift of wizardry. Mudbloods they were called; a dirty word for believed dirty people.
And Riddle, he saw himself on a quest to rid the world of the Muggles, and Mudbloods, anyone who was unworthy of being a wizard. But then again, why did one baby have to be drawn into this Dark Crusade? What did he have to do with this? I'm not even sure if I know. It's still a half mystery to me.
At his birth someone made a prediction, Trelawny. Just a few short words, and his life had been put in permanent danger. I never put much stock in people trying to tell the future, people thought she was right though, the prediction came true. But what I would like to ask those people is, did the prediction come true, or did the prediction cause his future to change? Without it he probably would have been just a regular kid, with a bike and a broom and a nice family. He would have grown up to go to Hogwarts, a wizarding school, and then get married to a witch and live a long happy life.
Riddle didn't care about those details though; he became obsessed with the death of this child, this baby. He used a friend of the parents to find the house. And once he found it he went in and killed the parents quickly. It took only a moment or two and all that showed the passing of their lives was a sinister whisper and two green flashes. And then he walked over to the crib where baby Potter was resting.
"Harry, little Harry. A child like you would have no chance against one as powerful as me. How that fool Trelawny could think you would beat me?" He scoffed a cold laugh echoing through the silent house. Harry looked up at him with huge green eyes, his stomach growled hungrily and he started to cry out for his mother and her milk. No one heard his screams though, and Riddle soon became annoyed with the continuing noise. He raised his wand and whispered the curse that would end the child's life, a sickening grin on his thin, snakelike face.
But something went wrong that night. Instead of the life that was supposed to be taken, another one was given. The child's life was put on a different course completely, one that no one would ever voluntarily choose unless they were insane. Voldemort fled from the house, what was left of him anyway, and the baby was rescued by a very large man by the name of Hagrid. And that was beginning of one of the biggest wars the wizarding world had ever seen. Not a single wizard house had gone un-ravaged, and for a few months the war had even transferred to the Muggle world massacres happening all over England.
Harry grew up to be a great man, though many still treated him like a boy. At seventeen he was everything the wizarding world could ever hope for in a hero. He was strong, courageous, determined, and would give anything to restore peace to the wizarding world. But not everything actually, through the entire war he never killed a single person. He never used an unforgivable curse; he told me so just the night before. Even when Voldemort was an inch from him and he had his wand ready for it, he still didn't kill him.
At first I was angry, I wish he had. But I had a long time to think about it, and now I think he still did the right thing. I would hate to see Harry turned a murder. After everything that had happened to him, more guilt was the last thing he needed. He gave everything to the wizarding world that he ever had, and still they expected more form him. They still expected him to give everything to them, his life, his love, his soul. He was born to protect them; at least that's the way they saw it. Soon he was turned to their way of thinking, and he nearly worked himself to death looking for Riddle. It nearly killed me to watch him like that. Turned into a possessed man with the one goal of doing what he felt was right.
It strange what kinds of thoughts enter your head when you think you're going to die. Or maybe I didn't think I was going to die. No I wasn't going to die, not yet. They were going to have fun with me first. The little mudblood bookworm had been caught, being foolish, of course. I heard another scream from whatever dark hole they had shoved me in, and a brief flash of images of people I knew flashed threw my brain. I wondered if it was anyone I knew. The scream echoed around me and I clawed at the stone to my side. I heard another scream and knew that Riddle had someone else up there, someone probably whimpering on the floor begging for mercy.
I was never sorry about my decision on which side I chose. I still thought I had joined the right side. Even now, soaked through and shivering in some dark corner in the dungeons of Malfoy manner, I knew I would always stand beside him. Nothing the Malfoys or any other minion of Riddle would ever make me change my mind, no matter what they did to me. I would always stay faithful to him, our bond was stronger than blood. Ron, Harry and Me, I knew even death couldn't keep us apart. That may sound sappy like some weird love story to you, but we weren't like that with each other. Sure everyone thought me and Ron quarreled like lovers, but we didn't. I was simply a younger sister to him and we fought, much like he and Ginny would.
Ginny. I wondered if she was still alive. Some small part of me saw her living through this, marrying Harry. I saw a vision of the two of them in a white picket fenced house with a mass of kids running around them laughing and playing; the two youngest pulling on each others hair and squalling. A sob escaped my thought as the image was swallowed up by darkness.
Ron wasn't in the picture; he never could be the uncle that I knew he wanted to be. He would have been perfect at the job, but he had been killed a week ago. He had been tortured for hours first, and when we got there to save him, he was only a few minutes away from death. He never told them anything though. He had stayed silent till the end, not willing to give the wankers the satisfaction of his screams. I saw the deep bite marks in his cheeks and lips where he would have bitten to stop the screams brought on by the cruciatous curse.
I had watched as his blue eyes had faded, and lost their fire. I had screamed and beet his chest begging for him to come back, for him to not fucking leave me, leave us. I called him a wanker and a multitude of other insults. I was vaguely aware of harry crying silently in the background while Remus had walked forward and had wrapped his arms around me as I screamed.
After that, I wasn't sure if we'd win. Harry seemed to shut down, his green eyes turning black, with the guilt that I knew was coursing through his system like some slow poison. That's what had pushed me to come here alone. I was blinded by the hate coursing through my system. I knew that Harry was suffering even more after Riddle's latest move. The looks of pain I had seen over the years on Harry's face switched threw my mind like a slideshow in fast forward. Some of guilt, some of fear, some of anger, some of agonizingly slow pain as he heard of another death, another attack. One more thing he never had a chance of stopping.
And I had used those to guide me to the Malfoy estate, and I had entered the house, silently. I had entered the chamber of Lucius Malfoy. And while he lay in bed I raised my wand to kill him. He was the one, the one who had laughed as Ron faded away, before he apparated out. Like the coward I knew he was beneath his Death Eaters' mask. I was ready to kill him, but then his wife had come in. Narcissa had stared at me, her eyes cold and calculating. And in slow motion she walked forward to stand in front of my wand arm.
"I can't let you kill him," She said defiantly crossing her arms and standing as stiff as a board.
"Get out of the way. Don't be a fool Narcissa! He deserves to die." I whispered as loud as I dared with Lucius only a foot away.
"No! I won't let you! I love him, and I can't let you kill him!" I froze at Mrs. Malfoys confession. I knew now, that I was as good as dead. I couldn't do it, couldn't kill the man, with his loving wife standing in front of him, ready to die for him. I sighed and lowered my wand looking down at the floor defeated.
"He doesn't deserve you. He doesn't deserve someone who loves him." Narcissa sighed, now content with the fact her husband wouldn't die. She jumped though as she heard a gasp behind her. Narcissa turned and smiled as she saw Lucius starring at me.
"Look who I caught Lucius." She purred pulling the wand out of my hand and sitting beside him on the bed. She looked at him adoringly and handed him my wand. I blanched as I saw the look of servitude on her face. How could she so willingly follow a monster like that?
He stood up quickly pulling on robes, grinning the whole time. I stood frozen at the spot, my eyes never leaving Narcissa. I couldn't understand, I don't think I ever would. But then he came over and stunned me, and suddenly my world had gone black… And then I was here. I don't know how long I had been here, less than a day for sure. But then again, it was impossible to be sure in this constant dark.
It had been at least a few hours that was probably why my brain had gone on the trip down memory lane; it had nothing else to think about anymore. Just when I thought I would go mad from this insane stillness of this little hole I heard a click and then light flooded the area and I shut my eyes tight to ward off the assault. I heard a sick laugh before the light was blocked out by someone's body. I looked up into the black beady eyes of Belatrix Lestrange.
"Oh what a good catch Lucius. The master'll be pleased." She said grinning and looking me over. "You'll be screaming for mercy mudblood." She cackled throwing her head back. I sighed tiredly, shaking my head quite bored with her already.
"The only reason I would scream for mercy Bella would be because I had to look at your ugly mug. Now why don't you do us both a favor and get the fuck out of my face?" My voice had turned acidic toward the end and Belatrix looked surprised that I wasn't already on my knees pleading to be let go.
"Noble words for a prisoner Mudblood. I'm sure you wont be so noble come tomorrow." Said Lucius stepping out from behind Belatrix.
"Oi, don't you look all posh Malfoy. Proud of yourself for catching an unarmed woman who just happened to have snuck into your bedroom when you were asleep? Honestly if I wanted it, you and your wife would be dead, and I would be gone. And trust me, I doubt Tom would have wept long over your loss. Your space would be filled quickly Mr. Malfoy, you are not all that special." I said standing up easily, not actually being hurt before this I wasn't actually that put out. Just simply without a wand is all.
Lucius stepped forward quickly and slapped me across the face. My head was shoved back colliding with the wall with a crack. "How dare you speak the Dark Lord's name?!"
"Calm yourself Lucius. The Dark Lord would not want her damaged. He wants to have fun with her, remember?" Belatrix smirked looking down condescendingly at me, but after that unconsciousness took over and everything turned black.