I got the writing bug! This is a first attempt at a more serious story so hope I can pull it off.
Prologue
12 April 1996 - Present
Tears leaked down her face and she made no move to wipe them away. She just stared. Her dark brown eyes seemed to bore right into his soul and the hand clutching his wand trembled. His voice was no better.
"You know I have no choice," he rasped. Why wouldn't his damn hand stop shaking?
"There is always a choice, Father," she whispered sounding so much stronger than he, despite her tears. "I've made mine, and in turn you have made yours. That's how the universe works."
The wand pointed at her heart wavered slightly.
"How can you be so calm?" he whispered. Tears were now swimming in his own eyes and he furiously tried to blink them back. "You're about to die…"
"I know," was the simple reply. "I've always known, Father. There could be no other alternative than this moment."
A sob left his mouth at her words. If the other Death Eaters could see him now… the weak emotional man standing in the gardens of the Yaxley family home was a far cry from the frightening sadist they knew, the man who seemed to take a perverse joy in the tortured screams of his victims. This man was vulnerable, pathetic. A soft breeze blew through the trees around them, making him shiver and clutch his wand ever tighter. He had killed exactly 43 people in his service to the Dark Lord. Number 44 would be exactly the same, he tried to tell himself.
"Father."
Her voice dragged him back to the scene before him and he was shocked to see a soft smile playing at the corners of her lips.
"It's time."