Ok, i'm sorry I havn't posted earlier but I've just finished this chapter (it's the longest one I've done)
Just before the chapter starts, I'd like to place the story a bit. All is going as in the book (well, kind of because obviously Hermione isn't supposed to be adopted or anything^^). She is entering her sixth year and Bellatrix killed Sirius at the ministry, Voldemort escaped… Nothing's changed, it's all as in the book.
I forgot to explain all of this a the beginning, sorry .
Here's Chapter 3, enjoy!
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Chapter 3
'Children, may I present you our friends of long date, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, their son, Draco, and your godmother Hermione, Bellatrix Lestrange.'
Hermione stared at them blankly. She was dreaming right? Or rather having a nightmare, there was no other way this could be true.
Lila stepped forwards
'Good evening, I am Lila.'
Then it was Leo's turn. He greeted them quite the same way. Hermione pasted a big ironic fake smile on her face thinking of every nice thing she could think of, forgetting she was facing murderers.
'Good evening Mr. Malefoy' she turned to his wife 'Mrs. Malefoy', to their son and took a discreet breath 'Draco' ouch, that was really weird, but the look of shock on his face! Ha, that was worth it. She briefly closed her eyes and turned towards the woman that had tortured Neville's parents to madness, killed Sirius under her eyes not even a month ago and so many other persons 'Good evening Bellatrix, I am…' she could not say pleased, the word would not come out. Would it be rude to say surprised? It would be rude not to say anything. '… I am surprised to learn you are my godmother.' She gave another smile and backed up for Keith and Feather to great their guests. She saw her mother smile at her in a reassuring way but missed Bellatrix's murderous glare.
After the greetings they headed towards the dining room. It was a very wide room, the kind of old-fashioned one she had seen in movies featuring the 16th century. Big windows with a golden frame gave a view on the lake while flying candles illuminated the room. A big table sat in the middle of the room, waiting for the guests to take place. A pure white cloth embroidered with gold covered the table. Eleven cutlery had been placed, eleven chairs pulled back to greet them.
Alrick headed to the top of the table being the house holder, Adora taking place on his right and Lucius on his left. Hermione made sure she was sitting between Leo and Lila but unfortunately, Draco was placed face to her. The adults spoke of business, waiting for the dinner to be served before starting all the explanation they had to give.
The first course appeared, followed by the second half an hour later and Hermione suddenly got scared. How many courses would there be? They would never be finished if each one lasted half an hour!
It had now been forty minutes since they'd sat down and none of the children had spoken to each other, staying silent. Finally, not bearing this silent, Leo broke it.
"So Draco, you are attending Hogwarts?" The later one looked up, surprised to hear someone talk to him.
"That's right" he answered carefully, wondering how much the Granger girl had told her brother about him.
"Do you two know each other well?" Leo asked, looking at his twin and the boy facing her.
"We've…" she glanced up at him "We've met a few times, but Mal… Draco here is in Slytherin and I, in Gryffindor."
Draco swallowed.
"Granger, I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me like that." That made her smile.
"Of course Draco, but then my name isn't Granger anymore. I'm a Sangaur Malefoy. And I'm a pure-blood" she ended in a whisper. He gave her a dirty look
"You'll always stay Granger for me" She smiled, seeing he didn't dare say more with his parents so close. Lila tried to change subject.
"So… How do you know in which house you should go?" Draco quickly looked at her
"Are you entering Hogwarts next year?" He asked
"Yes, and Leo and Keith are too."
"Everybody kno…" Hermione cut him off
"You get sorted by a hat. It's called the sorting hat, you put it on your head and it sorts you in the house he thinks is best for you."
"I was speaking Granger!" Draco obviously wasn't very happy about her cutting him off. Hermione took a very sweet voice
"Really Draco? I'm sorry, what you say isn't usually interesting so I thought I might as well cut it out."
He opened his mouth to answer but was cut off –once again- by his mother this time who obviously hadn't heard a word of their conversation
"So Hermione, how does it feel being back here, in your real home?" She asked her with a smile. That was a tricky question; Hermione didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings
"Well… I… I don't really remember here actually." She said carefully, but she hastily added "but I'm delighted to be here now! I already love this place!"
Lucius entered the conversation too
"It's good to know Draco will have good friends this year." The Draco in question opened his mouth again in furor but was, once again, cut off by his father "I mean, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson are nice but you deserve better Draco, don't you?" The little color he usually had had totally left now. He could not contradict his father, not in front of so many persons!
"Yes, you are right Father." He answered.
By that time, desert was on its way. Nobody was very hungry anymore and they quickly headed to another room.
It was a cozy little living room. Not the one facing the entry hall but one on the other side of the castle. A door led outside for summer evenings like that one. A fire place had been carved in one of the walls and red sofas were all around the wooden table. Tea had been served on the little table and all of the guests sat down, waiting for what was about to come. Alrick spoke first
"Dinner is now over; I guess it is time for us to tell you the truth Lila, Leo, Hermione." He looked at his wife and she squeezed his hand, smiling. She then turned and started talking.
"Your father and I were both at Hogwarts together. He was in Slytherin and I in Ravenclaw. He was a jerk. Arrogant, proud, mean! He didn't have to work much to get good grades and broke all of the school rules. I cordially hated him and he felt exactly the same way for me." Alrick laughed
"She spent her time working, never left the library, and told me off every single time I saw her. I don't know how many points she took from me when she was prefect, but we finished last for the cup that year!"
Hermione felt a bit uneasy with that description and she saw Malefoy looking at her and smirking.
"Anyway, we left school still hating each other and went on with our lives. You have to understand, what I am about to tell you is not the part of my life I am the proudest about! Please do not judge me for what I did, I was a young boy and had no other example than what I saw every day! I thought what I was doing was normal but it wasn't. Please, do not judge, especially you Hermione." She stood a little straighter in her chair hoping very hard what she was about to hear wasn't what she thought it would be.
"so… I left school and…" he couldn't say it, couldn't bare his kids to hear about that side of him. He closed his eyes "and I enrolled as a death-eater."
There was a big silence. Hermione had become as white as a corpse, her brother and sister had frozen. Feather broke the silence.
"What is a death-eater?" she asked in a whisper. Hermione turned to her
"It's a very mean person. A murderer. They torture you" she looked at Bellatrix and if looks could kill, there wouldn't have been anything left of Bellatrix, or Hermione for that matter, to burry "and kill you just to have fun. To feel powerful "She accentuated the last word and glared at Lucius Malefoy. She then turned back to her father "But obviously you haven't stayed a death-eater have you? Is that why you fled?"
He turned to look at her and briefly smiled, happy to see she was willing to understand.
"I got scared, I hated myself, hated everything I did each day, and one day He asked me to torture a whole muggle family. The woman was pregnant and she gave birth while I tortured her. It killed her of course and… The baby died too. He was so small, looked so harmless! And I had just killed a new-born baby! Just… just a baby! He could fit in one of my hands alone! That was it; I couldn't bare it anymore. Couldn't bare ripping my soul apart every time. Couldn't bear to hurt others when they hadn't done anything to me! I couldn't bear to sacrifice my life for a madman. You don't live forever and who knows what there is after death? Nobody does, you can guess but you can't be sure! If you aren't happy when you are down here, then maybe you've just passed beside something! So I left. I went to the order. The thing is, I didn't know where they were and couldn't ask anybody in the street, I mean, I was a death-eater 'Hi, yes, I tortured your family, could you tell me where is the resistance? No, I'm good now, I can't prove it to you because I'm still pretending I'm mean just so that I don't get killed but you have to believe me! I'll probably have to kill you after that too just so that nobody suspects anything.' So I went to the only person I remembered that could be in the order. Adora." That time he looked at her and smiled in a sad sort of way. She continued the story.
"It was the middle of the night. I'd just come back from a shift at the hospital and it was raining so hard you couldn't see the tip of your fingers if you put your arm out. I was about to go to bed when somebody knocked on my door. I went to open and… what a surprise it was to see my arch enemy facing me!"
Alrick laughed
"She wouldn't let me in! I stayed hours under the cold rain, drenched to the bone, trying to persuade her to let me in…"
"I was really tired, he wouldn't leave and my eyes were slowly closing by themselves. Finally, I asked him to hand his wand over. He gave it to me without a hesitation."
"She sighted and, after a few more minutes of deliberating, she let me in. She told me she'd been working all day and part of the night and that I could sleep on the couch."
"I put spells all around the flat to prevent him from doing dome tricky thing during the night and sent an owl to Dumbledore to tell him a death-eather was sleeping on my couch. Next thing I knew, I was in my bed, fast asleep."
"Can you believe it? She left me alone on that very uncomfortable couch, curses binding me to it, and I was still soaking wet! And bloody cold! No wonder I got sick.
When I woke up next morning my nose was so plugged I could hardly speak. I was a bit warmer thought and when I saw the old man, the one everybody said would overthrow the Dark Lord, I knew it was due to him that I hadn't died of cold. Then Adora came out of her kitchen, holding a mug in her hand. She'd just gotten out of bed and her eyes were still a bit puffy, her hair untidy, and suddenly, a thought came out of nowhere, how had I never realized how pretty she was?
'I know he is your enemy Adora, but you shouldn't have left him like this, all wet in this cold room! He's now got a serious cold!' was saying Dumbledore, faintly frowning.
'I'm sorry, I was just so tired last night when he arrived, I didn't think about his human fragile side' she answered him, not sounding sorry at all and glaring at me. She didn't wait for an answer before adding 'I have got to go to work now sir is it safe to leave you here with him?'
'Of course' he told her 'I perfectly understand you must go. Do not worry for me, you may hand me his wand over and I will take care of everything.' She took my beautiful precious wand out of one of her pockets and handed it over to the old man. Seeing how I was looking at it, he told me not to worry
'We will discuss it at the end of our little talk Alrick.' He told me as my host turned to get ready.
A few minutes later she was coming back, her hair now perfectly tied up in a strict bun, a travelling cloak resting on her frail shoulders. She saluted the professor, gave me a dirty look, and left for whatever her job was. A heavy silence fell on the now almost empty flat. It was broken by Dumbledore
'Alrick… Alrick, Alrick, Alrick' he repeated my name in a sad way 'what have you done Alrick?' he asked me 'burnt your fingers have you? Realized you have made a bad decision?' I looked up in his piercing blue eyes
'Both' I answered before giving a mighty sneeze. How embarrassing! But at least my nose wasn't so plugged anymore, I could speak normally
'You know, I think she left you outside for so long and then soaking wet all night on purpose.' He told me thoughtfully
'I have absolutely no doubt about that' I told him in a sour voice before sneezing once more. After having blown my nose rather loudly, I listened to what the old man had to say.
'Why did you want to see me Alrick?' he asked
'I don't really know anymore. It seems stupid for me to have come to you now.' I blurted out, not really realizing I was telling the truth for the first time in my life. 'I know I've made the wrong choice and I don't want to hurt people anymore.' I added after a second of thought. Dumbledore looked at me with those famous piercing blue eyes
'And why do you think I would want to help you and your conscience?' he asked 'what does your wrecked soul matter to me do you think?'
'I have absolutely no idea about why you would want to have anything to do with me, all I know is that you came to listen to me and you are my best hope.'
'Your best hope? Do you still hope? That is a good news. And can you love? Can you be scared Alrick? Because if you can still feel, than maybe everything isn't lost after all! Do not say anything now' he told me as I opened my mouth to answer him 'You will stay here for a week, I think it will give you enough time to recover from everything. In a week I will come back to see you and we will discuss your future. Now, in what concerns your wand, what do you think I should do about it?
Give it back to me! My mind was yelling, but I knew it wasn't the answer he was waiting for.
'Well… I would really like it back but… As much as I hate saying this, it would probably be safer if you kept it. I mean, nothing proves you I'm telling the truth so I think you will trust me better if you know I am willingly letting you keep it hostage.' I told him in what I hoped was a smart tone. 'As long as you don't harm it of course.' I hastily added. A smile appeared on his face.
'You are very wise Alrick. I will then give your wand to Adora to keep.' My heart raced at that news
'What? No! She'll just snap it in two!' I freaked out, but the old man, oblivious to my distress, merely laughed
'Do not worry; I will make sure she doesn't.' He got up and headed towards the door 'Goodbye now Alrick' he said, and he disappeared with my wand, magically locking the door behind him with a spell I didn't know. Much more complex than Alohomora I was sure.
I slumped back into the uncomfortable couch. I had a horrible head-ache, a sore throat and a running nose, I was alone in a flat I couldn't leave, what more in my arch enemy's flat, without my wand and with a death-penalty hanging over my head as surely as the sky was now blue outside.
'See you in a week' I muttered 'Yeah, sure, she'll probably have killed me by that time, and if she hasn't, they will have discovered I've chickened out and the Dark Lord will have ordered them to finish me off…' and just because I was tired and in a bad mood, I went to rest in a real bed –hers- with –did I already mention it? A running nose."
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"When I left that morning, I had a horrible feeling I was going to see him for some time. I tried to reason myself by thinking that it was only until professor Dumbledore was finished talking with him, but still that dread full feeling wouldn't leave.
When I saw the professor arriving during my lunch break with a twinkle in his eyes, I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad news he was bringing.
'You surely had you revenge on all of those years of quarrel' he told me 'the poor guy's got his nose so plugged up he can barely speak! Anyways, we have had our little talk; he will be staying at you flat for a week. Please do not argue Adora' he added, holding a hand up as I opened my mouth in outrage 'he agreed that I give you his wand to take care of. I trust you not to do anything stupid with it.' He stared at me very seriously and I stayed silent. 'I must leave but before I go, do I have your word you will take good care of him?'
'Certainly not!' I answered. He seemed to take that as an assessment.
'Good, I will then be back in a week!' He was about to leave but I called after him
'Professor!' He turned around and gave me a quizzical look
'How do you expect us to live together for a whole week without killing each other?' His eyes twinkled once more
'Adora, you both need to learn how to love.' And he disaparated on these words."
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"'GET OUT OF MY BED!' was the first thing I heard when I woke up. Damn it, that girl knew how to make an entrance! I just groaned, fighting my horrible head-ache. 'OUT!' she repeated, opening the curtains to let the setting sun in. I groaned even louder while she left the room. I lingered on the idea of staying in her very comfortable bed, but decided against it. Better not give her another reason to yell after me right away, there would probably be plenty of opportunities in the next week…
When I entered the kitchen, I didn't regret getting up. My stomach was now as painful as my head as it yarned to eat. I sat down and we ate dinner in silence
'So… where were you today?' I asked her, trying to be friendly. She looked up seeming a bit annoyed but not too angry. Good.
'At work.'
'Uhu'
'I'm a nurse at St-Mango's' She added
'You know what? It doesn't even surprise me you became a nurse! You always liked taking care of people at Hogwarts.' Especially of my business I added to myself. She looked suspiciously up at me, surprised by my sudden friendliness. Luckily she couldn't read my mind!
'Why are you looking like that at me?' I asked her in a very innocent voice.
'You're weird! What happened to you? Bumped your head our something?' I frowned
'Listen, if I want to live more than a week, I'll have to be nice with. Once I'll get out of here I'll get killed so I'd rather have a pleasant week.
'Right. Anyways, I'll transfigure the couch into a bed and light a fire.' She said, clearing the table off.
'Nice change of subject.' I muttered. She slammed three little bottle on the table, giving me a ferocious glare.
'You have to drink these. The red one is for your head ache, the purple one, for your throat, and the yellow one is for your nose. You need to sleep as much as possible because you look like you haven't slept for a week or so and I'll take your temperature again tomorrow morning. If you need anything… you know where I'm sleeping right?'
I nodded and got up, following her into the living room. It wasn't very big, on my left was the entrance and on my right, a very small corridor led to two rooms, hers and the bathroom. A big red couch had been pushed against one of the walls, facing a library and a desk sitting right under a window. Beside the couch was the a chimney.
In a flick of her wand, Adora changed the couch into a miserable little wooden bed. A pile of rough red covers were folded on the end of the bed and there weren't any pillow. I stared at her in disbelief.
'What, exactly, is this?' I asked her in a strained voice, trying very hard not to let my anger out.
'This? Well I thought it was obvious, it's your bed Sangaur.' She answered in an innocent voice.
'How can you call this thing a bed? Even my house-elves have better places to sleep in!'
'Well I'm happy your slaves have a place they can sleep in!' she stormed 'it's the least you can do for them! Honestly, what did you expect, pillows embroidered with gold? Well sorry Sangaur, but you're not in a five star hotel! And I'll tell you what, this is what you deserve!' God she was annoying! And very pretty. But mostly annoying. This time when I answered, I couldn't help my voice from being mendacious.
'What I deserve?' I asked in a whisper 'What I deserve?' I almost yelled, my temper rising in a very dangerous way. She didn't even flinch. Maybe she was suicidal?
'Yes, this is what you deserve. If you hadn't been so stupid and smug and full of yourself, you wouldn't be in this situation.'
Full of myself? Who was she kidding? And that from the witch who considered herself as the best. Nobody could possibly be smugger than her and for the stupid part, well even a hamster would have understood that, when I was in this mood, better disappear for some time! My hand flew to my wand pocket just feel it empty. My heart actually stopped beating for a few seconds before I remembered she had it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself down.
'Right' I said 'Let's not start arguing right away, it won't do us any good.' She stayed silent so I took that as an approval for my words. 'Now, I know I've done stupid things, which is why I am here by the way, but everybody has. Maybe not as I but still, 'l'erreur est humaine' as they say in French.'
'Oh, because you speak French now?' She asked in a half surprised, half sarcastic tone.
'Of course, I have family there.'
'Ah yes, the big Sangaur and Aureavis clan… Have they decided on which side they're on yet, or do they think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is England's problem?' She said sarcastic again.
'Why do you always have to be so mean?' I asked her
'Mean? I'm absolutely not mean'
Uhoh, anger was back again. Better calm the game down I thought
'Anyway, this isn't exactly the subject'
'And what is the subject?' She asked a fierce look on her face
'That thing you call bed. Change it. Please' She studied me for a second and then turned away
'Do it yourself!' she shrugged
'Wait!' I called after her 'In case you've forgotten, you've got my wand!'"
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"He was god so annoying! Merlin, why did he have to come here of all place on earth? I started leaving the room when
'Wait! In case you've forgotten, you've got my wand!'
I turned around. Yes, I had forgotten that precious piece of information. I looked at his tiny little piece of wood that was supposed to be his bed for the night and, even thought I'd fought all evening to keep a fierce look on, I couldn't resist it, and a smile crept on my face. The great Alrick Sangaur, the noble Slytherin, the famous boy every girl seemed too fancy despite his cold features, his proud manners and his interest in the dark arts, was about to sleep in a cardboard bed! That surely wasn't something that happened every day!
'Maybe if you keep on behaving as well as tonight, I'll change it tomorrow' I told him. The look on his face after that was very… entertaining. I could see he was trying very, very hard to keep a calm mask on but his eyes were burning with rage and annoyance. 'Ok, I'll put a pillow and a thicker mattress, but that's just because you're sick.' I finally conceded, taking another look at the bed. 'Now good night!' I told him, and I finally left the room.
That night I couldn't sleep. I kept on thinking of him. He had changed so much! His face had always been cold and proud, but it now seemed like it'd been drained of all happiness, of all life. It was as still as a block of ice, his eyes alone gave an impression of life, but what a life! They had lost all of their brightness. At 21 years old, he had clearly seen, and probably done, too much. Ha had seen that part of the world nobody wishes to face, the evil part.
An yet, he had made so much efforts tonight, I knew it. He had tried to calm everything down, bury our past hatred, and every spike I sent at him he ignored. I knew he was only trying to save his life, but it still felt weird to hear him talk to me in such a civilized manner!
But it didn't change everything he'd done, I reminded myself. He had killed and tortured and the order had information that he would be the Dark Lord's right-hand Death Eater if it wasn't for Bellatrix Lestrange.
It was well past midnight and I still couldn't sleep my head so full with questions. I got up and went to have a glass of water in the kitchen. When I passed the living room I heard a moan. It was quite faint at first but it grew louder and soon changed into anguished cries. They weren't coherent words but tormented yells.
'No!' he was saying in a loud voice 'No, NO, no… NO!' I was fascinated by this man crying in agony, my heart and head were telling me to go help him, stop all this, wake him up from his nightmare, but I couldn't move, standing there in awe
'Monster…' he was now whispering '… I'm sorry… so sorry…' He then fell silent. I waited for a few seconds but he seemed to have calmed down, so I left. The second I was out of the room he started screaming again.
'Don't!' I turned around 'Don't!' he said in a hoarse voice 'Don't! Aaaaaaaaah' he gave a long shriek of pain. That made my muscles sprang into action and in no time I was on him, trying to wake him up, a wet cloth conjured in one of my hands whipping the sweat from his forehead
'There… it's ok… wake up now, you have to wake up!' he gradually calmed down and his cries turned back into moans. His eyelids fluttered and he looked at me in a kind of dazed transe. 'It's al right… Everything is all right, don't worry, you're safe here…' I kept on whispering, brushing some hair off his face? He smiled in a peaceful sort of way
'I know I am' he said, taking hold of my hand, and he went back to a dreamless sleep.
Next morning I was woken up by a few rays of sunshine. Why was I so uncomfortable? I was kneeling on the wooden floor of my living-room, my head resting on a hard bed and my hand holding someone else's. I remembered now. Alrick's crises, I'd stayed to help him and fallen asleep, not daring to remove my hand from his, too scared his nightmares would come back. I slowly opened my eyes to find him staring at me in wonder.
'I'm sorry I kept you here all night' He finally said in a hoarse voice. I smiled and squeezed his surprisingly warm hand
'It's ok, don't worry. Would you like me to make pancakes for breakfast?' I asked him. He stared at me and finally smiled
'sure' He got up and we went to the kitchen. Only there did he let go of my hand.
'So is your cold better?' I asked him, feeling his gaze on my back.
'I don't know if the temperature went down but I feel much better.'
'I'll check' I said, turning towards him. I hesitated for a second before laying my hand on his forehead, his eyes pouring into mine. He had absolutely no temperature and was as cool as ever. Somewhere in my head, an alarm went on 'too close, too close' it wined. I started withdrawing my hand but he held it back and did something I never dreamed he would do. He kissed me. And I kissed him back. It was soft but firm and when we pulled apart, I could see he was a bit confused about why he'd done that. We stared at each other and finally I broke the silence
'You're cold's gone I think' he smiled 'I'll make pancakes' I added and turned back towards the stove.
The week went on quite well, I left during the day for work and brought him news back while he stayed locked up in the apartment – reading and sleeping mostly. We didn't kiss again but talked a lot and I discovered a totally new man than the one I thought I knew.
'Who are you?' I asked him one night after he'd told me he liked muggle classical music
'I've yet to find out' he answered in an enigmatic way
Soon the week was over and Dumbledore was back sitting on my couch. I went out to let them speak alone and when I came back an hour later, Alrick was ready to leave.
'I guess this is goodbye then' I said, trying to put a smile on
'I guess this is goodbye then' he answered and he hugged me."
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"I was glad she didn't ask me if I was going back. I wouldn't have been able to tell her, see the look on her face… I'd come to like her in the past week. A lot. Probably too much.
I hugged her. I was going to miss her so much! I clanged to her like I would clang onto life, not wanting to let her go. Indescribable joy overwhelmed on me when I felt her nails digging into my back. She didn't want to let go either, and just that second I would have gladly forgotten everything and left far away from all of this, just her and me. But Dumbledore cleared his throat, breaking this moment.
'You need to go now Alrick' I looked up. He was right. I had to go. I gently kissed Adora in the corner of her mouth and felt her shiver. I smiled and left without a word. I faintly heard Dumbledore saying goodbye and then he was by my side.
'Ready?' he asked
'Yes' I lied.
And we disapparated"
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"One week.
One single week since he had left and it felt like a whole year. I missed him so much, it was like a huge piece of my heart was missing. Every morning I woke up, hoping to see him, every night I stayed up, wishing he would come an knock on my door, but nothing happened. The days went on and on without me noticing them. I was now as everybody else in the street, sad and gloomy. My best friend Ava would try to cheer up but it didn't work. In a week, my worst enemy had become the man I loved –because there was no doubt about that, I now loved him. What was wrong with me?
I usually worked late every night and now did extra hours. One night, it was about one in the morning, I finally met with him again.
I was so tired because of my late shifts and didn't dare apparate in my flat, fearing I would get splinched. So I left by foot, not really knowing where I was going, just walking in the cool air of the night. There wasn't anybody in the street, our times not being very safe at night, so when two persons apparated at the end of the street, I immediately snapped out of my torpor.
They were two Death Eaters and didn't seem to have noticed me. I quickly changed my white uniform into something black and silently followed them as they started walking.
'I don't know what happened to Sangaur' was saying the tallest man 'I mean, he disappeared for a whole week and now he's back, the Dark Lord didn't even punish him! Just a few curses when two weeks ago he'd killed half of the house-elves of the manor!'
'People say he got freaked out after killing that muggle family.' The largest one was speaking now
'Careful 'bout what you say! You know what happened to Emerick!' The plump Death Eater shivered
'Is he still stuck in that cupboard?' he asked, a hint of fear in his voice
''Course, Sangaur put spells all around it so that anyone who approaches it swells up and becomes bright pink. No one's going to try and rescue him!'
'Yeah well, at least he's lucky; he can live in his own house.'
'Yeah, I'd do almost anything to go sleep in my own bed, but hey, this is what you get when you're a favorite!'
I stopped following them then. I knew where his house was. I knew where he was. I didn't care if he'd gone back again; all I wanted was to see him again.
I was now fully awake and disapparated in Lowelia, a wizard's little town. I quickly found his house (the biggest and prettiest of all) and… I just stood there. I was so close to him but should I ring the bell? Shouldn't I just forget him? Go back to my life and not mingle with the Dark side? I didn't have time to answer all of these questions, the door opened.
'Who's there?' asked a cold dangerous voice.
'It's only me' His cold and cruel mask fell at once
'Adora! What are you doing here?' he asked checking there wasn't anybody 'you shouldn't be here, it's dangerous.'
'I know, I'm a big girl. I wanted to see you again.' He still hadn't looked at me 'I missed you!' I added to make him understand. Finally his eyes met mine. He gave a big sight
'You shouldn't have come here' he said 'it's too dangerous.' A few seconds past before he added 'but I missed you too.' I smiled at that. 'Come in' he told me, showing me the way to his living-room. He conjured a bottle of Firewisky and two glasses and I sat down. I couldn't see much of the room, it wasn't very well lit, but I could see everything was expensive stuff. He sat down next to me and served us both a glass.
'So, you missed you, did you?' He asked with a cocky smile. I frowned
'Something tells me I'm going to regret telling you that' he laughed, an arm around my shoulders, his glass empty. He refilled it.
'How much did you miss me?' he asked in a whisper, his face now inches from mine, my eyes locked in his. I was mesmerized but somewhere, that same stupid alarm went on again.
'You are a bit close Alrick' I whispered back. I felt a bit uncomfortable but he merely smiled and pulled away. There was a heavy silence before he spoke again.
'I went back' he said
'I know. I heard two Death Eaters talking about you. That's how I knew you were here.' He had an annoyed look now
'You heard them talk about me? In the street? Merlin, how stupid can they be! I'm sure it was Crabbe and Goyle, they're as thick as… as…'
'A piece of wood?' I proposed. He laughed
'Worse! What were they saying anyways?'
'Well they were surprised about the fact that He didn't kill you when you came back.' This reminded me of the few spells he'd apparently got 'Are you ok by the way? If I understood what they said well, you did get a bit hurt didn't you?' He gave me a sweet smile
'Don't worry, I'm used to it. What else?'
'Well they were complaining about you being able to sleep in your own home when they weren't allowed to –which is how I found you- and the tallest one said something like 'Be careful about what you say, you know what happened to Emerick'' That made Alrick laugh really hard, he couldn't stop and he stated hiccoughing.
'Oh my god, poor Emerick' He said, still laughing a bit after a while
'What happened to him?' I asked, curious.
'He just go a bit annoying so I started chasing him, wanting to jinx him, and as I said, they aren't very brilliant. He went and locked himself up in a cupboard, but he can't open the door anymore and I was a bit angry that day so I put a spell so that nobody can open the door without becoming huge and pink. Didn't think it would scare them so much, but at least they leave me alone now!' It was my turn to laugh
'God, you really are unbelievable Alrick!'
Once we'd both calmed down we sat in a peaceful silence; I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.
'You know, I really did miss you.' He whispered in the silence after a while. I opened my eyes. He was staring at me with such tenderness in his eyes my heart just melted 'I've never felt so good with someone before.' He continued 'And… Well I think I've… I think I've fallen for you' he finished in a murmur. Our heads had drawn closer to one another without us really realizing it and for the second time that evening I found my face inches from his. But this time, I didn't withdraw.
'I love you too' I whispered back to him, and my lips crashed on his…
I won't tell you what we did that night, nor the following days, all I'll say is we continued seeing each other without anybody –apart for Ava, she knew me too well- knowing for four months. We got married in March 1979, Ava being our only guest and witness. One year later, Lila was born. It was the most beautiful day of our short lives and she gave us the strength and will to continue fighting against the Dark Lord, me by healing the wounded and working for the order, Alrick by being a spy. We named our little girl Lila because flowers have the scent of liberty, freedom, happiness. It reminds you of the summer days at your grand-parents' house. Also because the bouquet Alrick brought me after her birth was a lilac bouquet.
So our lives went on, I was taking care of our little girl and Alrick dropped by as often as he could without arousing suspicion. In 1981, after nine other tiring months of pregnancies, Hermione and Leo were born. They were twins, the most beautiful twins in the world. We named our girl after an aunt of ancient times and our son after another great-great uncle. Now we had three children, it was becoming more and more difficult for me to take care of them on my own, I was exhausted and even though Ava tried to help me at first, she then got married too and had a little girl of her own. Alrick tried to stop by more often, he wanted to see his children too and felt frustrated he could only see them once in a while. After ten months of it, what was bound to happen happened. Bellatrix Lestrange discovered about our bond.
I was cooking dinner that day, Lila and Alex were sleeping but Hermione knew her father would arrive soon enough and wouldn't go to bed; I'd let her on the couch to play calmly and –believe it or not- she was reading one of my books, looking at the images. Somebody knocked at the door and I went to open, thinking it was Alrick. Imagine the surprise when I saw Bellatrix Lestrange standing on my door step, her wand aiming at my heart.
'Well hello Adora' she said, a crazy smile on her lips, and she pushed me aside, entering my flat. Hermione had got up
'Papa!' she cried before stopping dead, she might be a little child, barely a year old, but she was very brilliant, she already knew how to speak, walk and she knew this wasn't a very nice lady she was facing. Bellatrix rounded on me, her wand now pointing towards my daughter. She didn't seem happy at all.
'Tell me Adora, does Alrick come here often?'
'Alrick? Alrick who?' I asked, petrified, my eyes fixed on the wand. The mad woman gave a big crazy laugh
'Alrick Sangaur, Mrs. Sangaur. Does your husband come here often?' She knew. I didn't know how but she knew. 'Tell me Adora, or you might regret it' she urged me one. She had caught hold of Hermione's neck and her wand was now pressed against my daughter's throat.
'No. He never comes here.' I said my voice as steady as I could manage it to be.
'Cruci-' started yelling Bellatrix as I watched in horror but she was caught off guard by my daughter's piercing cry which sent her hurling across the room and a second later, Alrick was in the door way, yelling Expelliarmus. He had been coming up and heard his daughter's cry.
'Well, well… Alrick, perfect little father are you?' sneered the witch on the floor. He stayed still as marble, just staring at her as Hermione came running towards me and I held her close to my heart.
'You won't say a word Bellatrix' said Alrick in an icy voice. She gave a bark
'And why wouldn't I? Marrying a blood traitor is even worse than marrying a mudblood, especially when you've been hiding all of these years! Oh no, the Dark Lord won't be very happy, will he?' and she burst into crazy laugher once more, but she quickly stopped as Alrick picked her up the floor by the collar of her robes, jabbing his wand in her face.
'You will do as I said Lestrange, you will shut your mouth because I promise you, if ever something happens to them, I'll make you pay such a dear price you will wish you were never born.' They looked at each other, for a long time before she hissed
'What will you give me in exchange?'
'What do you want?' asked Alrick. Bellatrix looked around
'Her' she said, pointing at Hermione. Alrick's voice was ice-cold when he answered
'I am not giving my daughter away; did you really think just one second I would?'
'I want to be her godmother than.' She said sternly.
'Why her?' Alrick asked 'You could be godmother to thousands of little girls if you wanted to.'
'How old is she?' she asked
'Ten months old' answered Alrick
'Well she is ten months old, can walk, speak and has just sent me hurling across this room. Your daughter is talented. I want to be her godmother.' Alrick stared at her in a deadly way for a few more seconds before addressing me.
'Adora, do you agree?' he asked
'If she promises not to say a word.' I answered. It was the only way we had to ensure our security.
'As you wish. Could you please come and conjure an unbreakable vow please?' I put my daughter on the couch once more, took my wand out and started the spell.
'Do you, Bellatrix Lestrange, promise not to say a word about our family to anyone?' She sent a deadly glare at Alrick
'I do' she finally spoke
'Do you, Alrick Sangaur, promise to make Bellatrix Lestrange Hermione Sangaur's godmother?' The words were barely a whisper
'I do'
They both stood up.
'Hermione' called Alrick in a very soft voice. She peered around the sofa and slowly started walking towards him, making a big detour so as to be as far as possible from Bellatrix. She ran into his arms and he gave a wide smile. 'Hermione' he whispered again 'I want you to meet your godmother, Bellatrix Lestrange.' As soon as he said her name, the little girl hid her face into her father's shoulder. I saw a wide smile spread across Bellatrix's face this time.
'I will go Alrick; see you in two hours at the meeting with the Dark Lord.' And so she left.
We continued living as always but two months later, trouble was back. It came on a Sunday afternoon when Alrick apparated in my flat with a look on his face I'd never seen before. Fear.
'We have to leave Adora' was the first thing he said as he saw me. 'Gather all of their stuff up, we're fleeing. He knows Adora, he knows we're married and he's coming after us.'
One minute later, the kids' stuff was ready in three little bags, mine in a larger one. In no more time than it takes to say flee far, far away, we were all gone."
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"Our first stop was in Sweden.
I'd gone there a few times with my family and didn't think they would find us there. But they did. It was the middle of the night when loud bangs woke us all up. Three Death Eaters had erupted into the house and were sending killing curses to us. One of them barely missed Adora's head; the furniture was exploding all around us. It didn't seem real, just like in a dream. The kids were screaming in the room beside. I was lucky my wife was there. Adora finally realized what was happening, she ran to get the kids, ran back with all three of them clutched in her arms, took hold of my hand, and whoosh… We were gone.
I laid there, on the floor of an unknown forest. Lila and the twins had calmed down but they were still whimpering some times.
'Alrick?' called Adora's gentle voice 'Alrick? Are you ok? Are you hurt darling?' I groaned
'What have I done Adora?' I asked, sitting up to face her 'What have I led you into?' she didn't seem to understand at first but then comprehension dawned on her face as I continued. 'I'll go and see them tomorrow. I'll give myself up and you can all live happily. I'll leave tomorrow and they'll stop trying killing you.'
I'll never forget the slap I got after that.
'You listen to me Alrick Sangaur.' She roared 'You are not going anywhere! Do you even believe what you are saying? Do you really think they'll let us alone after that? Even if He orders it, Bellatrix will come and kill us. Haven't you understood she wants to raise Hermione as her own daughter and make her the most powerful Death Eater of all time? So wither you like it or not, dear husband, you are not leaving me alone with all three of them. Don't you dare try and escape again with such a pathetic excuse! Was I clear enough?'
If you don't understand why I stayed with them after that even with all that happened to us, than obviously you've never seen an angry Adora.
I didn't sleep for the rest of our short night and the next day, we were heading towards a small village down the hill. We hadn't been walking for half an hour than Death eaters found us again. They were waiting for us and the second we came out of the forest, we were surrounded by killing spells once more. We tried to disapparate but couldn't. I laughed.
'Well hello Emerick' I said to the short figure leading the small group of five Death eaters 'I'm amazed you're still facing me, not going to run into another cupboard are you?' He didn't seem to like what I said and attacked even harder, but as I said, Death Eaters aren't always very smart and a few flicks of my wand later, he was changed into a porcupine. Adora was getting along quite well. She had cast a protective spell around the children and killing curses rebounded against the bubble without harming them. Reassured I joined her. She was now facing two Death Eaters, the two other ones already lying on the ground, one stupefied, the second one giggling without being able to stop, two extra legs growing. In one more minute, the two last hooded figures were down too. We stood there, panting, not saying a word.
'We should leave' finally said Adora. I agreed and went to pick Lila and Leo up. As Adora took Hermione in her arms, a black figure immerged from a bush just beside the place where the battle had happen. My wand immediately darted out of my pocket and the intruder held his hands up.
'Calm down, please, calm down, I don't want to do you any harm' he assured us, showing us his empty hands. I let my hand drop.
'Who are you? What do you want with us?' asked Adora, but the stranger didn't seem interested in her questions. He was man of about thirty, maybe more. His hair were filthy and he hadn't shaven for some time. He was obviously on the run too. His eyes were dark and a strange light shined in them. It wouldn't have been possible to tell which color were his clothe but I was sure they were muggle ones. The only thing proving he was a wizard was his wand, sticking out of one of his jean pockets.
'Good job done with those' he said nodding towards the figures sprawled on the ground
'Thank you' said Adora, and she turned towards me 'We should be going now.' We were about to disappear again but the man called after us
'Wait!' He said 'where are you going?'
'We don't know yet' I answered him
'Can I come with you?' he asked. Adora and I glanced at each other 'Please? I haven't met any other wizard for so long. I'm fleeing the horrible dark man harassing England too. Plus I could be of some use to you; one day will come when you won't be able to take care of your children while you're fighting those ravens.'
'He has a point' agreed Adora
'Sure' I said 'Come with us.' He beamed
'My name is Harold' he said, holding a hand out.
'Alrick' I greeted him, and we left.
So for three weeks we fled. Every day or so we encountered Death Eaters and every day or so, we defeated them. It wasn't before Bellatrix got mixed up in it that we thought of separating ourselves. Of course we knew this had to stop, you couldn't possibly grow like this, but it didn't stop, and one day Bellatrix Lestrange was in the group of Death Eaters attacking us. I knew it was her because, just like Emerick loved anti-disapparating spells, she loves the Crucio spell. And she used it on you, Lila.
As always we were fighting and even thought we were only three against ten, we were three strong wizards against dumb wizards, some of them imperiused, some of them thick as wood –like Crabbe and Goyle for instance. We'd put the usual protective spell on all three children and weren't watching you, concentrating on the battle. That's when I heard a loud piercing shriek of pain. I turned around and what I saw was the most horrible thing ever. Bellatrix was holding my precious daughter, my little Lila, by the skin of her neck and just as I aimed a spell at her she ducked it.
'Crucio' she said with a gleeful smile. And there you were Lila, squirming in agony, big fat tears streaming down your face, and beside you that mad woman was still holding you up by the neck, a big smile on her lips, laughing with pure madness. An innocent child held up by the devil. My child being tortured. And as I ran forward to try and help you, she just laughed even harder, expelling me on the other side of the battle field. I saw Leo try to help his sister, grabbing the witch's leg but she just kicked him away. If it hadn't been for Harold, I don't know what would have happened to you. He crept behind her and with a big branch, he knocked her out. Quick and clean. Adora, who had been fighting at that time, turned around and her foot smashed into the woman's face. She took Lila in her arms and we left, all six of us, towards a new destination."
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"That evening wasn't a very joyful one. Lila kept on waking up, shaking from her nightmares, Leo had a big bruise where she had hit him and Hermione was sobbing in her sleep. Alrick, Harold and I stayed up all night.
'We can't keep on like that' I said after a while.
'What should we do then?' asked Alrick
'I don't know. I don't like being threatened every day, but I can live with it. The children won't. If the Death eaters don't kill them, they'll get sick. They'll hurt themselves. Plus you can't bring a kid up while running away.' There was a silence after what I'd say.
'There might be a solution' said Harold, hesitating 'but you won't like it.'
'Go on' told him Alrick
'Well… You could leave your kids to a family to take care of until you get rid of the threat hanging over your head and then you can go and get them back.'
'You mean… ask people to adopt them?' I asked, uncertain
'Yes' said Harold 'but just for some time, just until you aren't threatened anymore.'
Alrick didn't say anything but I could see he was even whiter than usual. He was so proud of his children and loved them so much; he would never want to get rid of them.
The next morning a sudden breeze had gotten up and just as I had predicted, the kids had gotten a cold. They had grown at an impressive pace, Lila was barely two and the twins not even one, but none of them complained, they didn't cry often and there were times when they even walked beside us. They seemed more like they were three or four than two and one.
We were now in Norway, in a deserted place. From far away we saw the big castle with steam coming out the chimney. It was raining and we were all very tired so we headed there. The owners, Sir Bardstown and his wife, welcomed us in their big castle. They had very aristocratic manners and liked Alrick right away because of that. They had always wanted a little girl they told us, and they were in adoration in front of Lila.
Alrick and I talked a lot about it and after a few arguments more or less violent (including one when Alrick blew the whole room up) we finally agreed with each other. We would ask this muggle family if they wanted to adopt our daughter. Harold, who was fed up of having to run away all the time, would stay and be her preceptor. He would teach her magic and muggle subjects like Norwegian, English and Math and protect her if needed. He would also wright to us so that we could still keep in touch with her, but he was never to tell her about us. If ever we died, then she wouldn't be tormented by parents she didn't remember. The Duck and the Duchess of Bardstown were very surprised and a bit horrified about our demand, but remembering the state we were in when we arrived, they accepted in adopting our daughter. A small week had passed without any sign of the Death Eaters. We left on a sunny morning, a whole in our heart. Lila was still sleeping and Hermione and Leo didn't understand why we were leaving her and Harold behind. We went on. Three days later we were in a pub in Germany. We had had only one little encounter with the hooded figures but gotten rid of them very easily. A grubby wizard accosted us.
''You English?' he asked. We merely nodded 'Fleeing hey? We saw some like you a week ago.'
We didn't answer as I whipped the hot chocolate off Hermione's mouth.
'They put rewards for you in the village beside' the wizard whispered to us. My head snapped up. 'But you're supposed to be accompanied by a third child and another wizard.'
Leo slipped out of my clutch and walked up to the man, taking hold of his leg
'Well hello little buddy!' he beamed down at my son. He took him onto his laps. 'What happened to the little girl and the man with you?' he asked us
'They stayed behind' told him Alrick shortly.
'What a hard decision it must have been. Leaving you own child with someone else. Not knowing if you'll ever see her again.' I saw Alrick's hands tighten up as the man continued speaking 'I'm leaving for Australia soon, much less trouble there. I really like your son by the way, he's very cute. I had a son before, but he died when they attacked our village a year ago. My wife was devastated.' My heart tightened. Poor man, he seemed nice. He invited us to stay at his place for the evening. We didn't have a place where to sleep so we accepted his offer. The next day we were about to leave when a big group of Death Eaters accosted us, once more. They were about thirty and we definitely didn't have a chance of winning. We were surrounded by them and prepared to die. I was glad we had left Lila with the Bardstown. She would be safe at least.
'I'll be back, just cover me please' I whispered to Alrick, and with Leo in my arms, I ran through the crowd of Death Eaters and disappeared to the grubby man's house. He was quite surprised to see me irrupting in his house, out of breath.
'Still leaving for Australia?' I asked him
'Yes, yes of course but what's the matter?' I trusted Leo in his arms.
'Take him with you. You'll take good care of him, won't you?' I asked him
'Of course but why give it to me? He's your son; you shouldn't be giving him away!'
Alrick arrived on those words
'Wizards in the pub came to help me' he explained, holding his daughter close to his chest 'I figured you would be here.'
He didn't look mad, just sad. He had gotten used to the idea.
'But… what happened to you? Why are you giving your children away? You shouldn't!' the man was saying 'especially not to strangers!' Alrick rounded on him
'What do you think? That I like abandoning them? That it's my favorite hobby maybe? Of course it tears my heart to pieces, but I'd rather they were safe than being egotistical and seeing them tortured before my eyes. I don't want them to die, can't you understand that?' They stared at each other for some time and finally, the grubby man answered.
'I will take your son, but it is only for his own good. And I will be expecting you to come and get him once all of this is over. You are his parents, you should be raising him. I'm only keeping him safe.'
'Of course we will come and get him back.' I assured him
'Do you agree to perform an unbreakable vow?' asked Alrick 'We left a friend with Lila to make sure she was safe, we don't know you.' The man merely held his hand up and Alrick grabbed it.
'My name is Igor Sumrall' he told me and I performed another unbreakable vow."
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"'We're going back to England' was the first thing I told Adora when we left Igor and Leo. She looked at me with a questioning look and I explained myself
'Lestrange wants Hermione most. She'll expect us to have given her to people on the other side of the planet, as far away from her as possible, not under her nose in her own country!'
'You are right' she agreed 'but then, we'll give her to muggles. I know you don't like that idea, and it's exactly why we're going to do it. She'll expect you to give your daughter to powerful wizards to keep her safe, not ordinary people.'
And so we left to England. There we found the Grangers. They seemed very nice and wanted a child. They would no doubt take good care of her. We couldn't tell them we were wizards so no unbreakable vow was performed and no wizards stayed to take care of her. She was now on her own. It was hard to persuade them to take Hermione, but they finally agreed and we left. We were relieved to have abandoned our children because more than once we made narrow escapes and if they had been there, they would probably have left their lives.
During one more month we fled all over Europe, the Dark Lord's people trailing behind us, waiting for us at every corner. And then we heard about it. The Dark Lord's fall. He was dead they said. Had disappeared. The that threatened our lives was gone, killed by a little boy of barely one. Harry Potter was his name. I didn't know Potter very well but his wife, Lily Evans, had been a friend of Adora's. Whatever, we could now go back and find our children, we could live a normal life, be happy again! But that was counting without the ministry. They were looking for Death Eaters. I was in the top ten of their wanted list. How ironic. Tracked by all of them. Would I never be alone? So once more we fled, but this time they were Aurors. After another six months of that tiring escape, we settled down with Adora. We became muggles. We didn't use our wands again; we lived just like the non-magical people.
We bought a little house in the Alpes in 1983. Adora became a doctor in the muggle hospitals, I became a business man.
In 1986, Keith was born. The ministry was still looking for me. Not as much as before, but it still wasn't safe to go back. Harold was keeping us updated with Lila. She was becoming a wonderful little girl. She had a very calm temper he said, and she loved learning. Everything fascinated her. She got along quite well with her adoptive parents, but she knew deep down they weren't her real parents. She had asked him if she had been adopted. Igor had sent us a howler when we told him we couldn't come and get Leo because of the ministry threat, but I think he was very happy with our son. He occasionally sent us letters telling us about him. Apparently he liked joking a lot and loved the sea. Books weren't really what he liked most, but he was intelligent. He liked experimenting things better than reading about them in books. Hermione was the only one we didn't hear about.
In 1989, Feather was born. We were talking about coming back to England and Adora went there. She watched Hermione for a whole day. She seemed to be happy. She still loved reading. She didn't perform magic but it was probably hidden deep in her. Adora brought a Daily Prophet back. Everything seemed back to normal. Except for the last page of the paper. It was a page with pictures of wanted Death Eaters. I had the biggest picture on it. So we stayed in the Alpes.
In 1991, Hermione entered Hogwarts. We had no way of knowing how it went and all we could do was hope everything had gone well and that she enjoyed herself there.
In 1994, we thought about coming back again. It took until 1995 for us to go back to England. As soon as we got there, we went straight back to the Alpes. The Dark Lord was back. My mark had burnt me like never before. That boy they called liar was right. Harry Potter was telling the truth. After a bit more of arguing. Another year to be exact, we finally decided to go back to our home land. It was time to face the truth. We would always be wanted; we might as well choose our side and fight for it."
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"We got in touch with Dumbledore. He welcomed us back and told us all about you, Hermione. How smart you were, what wonderful friends you had and all you'd been through. You didn't seem to remember anything about you past life, which was a good thing. You didn't need to remember those horrible days. We went back to my family's manor with Keith and Feather. We sent letters to all of your guardians. Lila arrived first with Harold. She was a beautiful young lady. She had grown up so much and we'd missed all of it! But we promised ourselves we would make up to all this wasted time. Harold left shortly afterwards.
Then came Igor and Leo. We would never have recognized him. He was now a teenager, he had fair hair and his skin was tanned by the Australian sun. He had laughing blue eyes and I never regretted having left him with Igor. This happy light would probably never been there otherwise.
And finally, you arrived Hermione. Accomplished lady too, you immediately got along with everyone. You have the same bushy hair as the aunt we named you after.
Now you know everything. We are very happy to be all together again and I can't begin to tell you how much we missed you all."
x
There was a silence in the room as Adora finished this long story. And suddenly, Lila got up.
'I love you too, mum, dad' she said, hugging them both. Hermione and Leo got up too and joined her.
'Yes, don't worry, you did the right thing' they reassured them. There was a big family embrace as they all hugged each other. After some time, Alrick looked significantly up at Adora and she nodded.
'Would you all like to go for a walk?' she asked them. All the children got up.
'Wait!' said Hermione while she was in the corridor 'I forgot to take a sweater. You go on, I'll be back in a second' she told them, running up to her room. As she came back down, she heard something she shouldn't have heard.
'Explain yourself, Alrick, what was all that about?' was saying Bellatrix's voice
'Yes' was saying Lucius 'what is that story about you helping the order?'
'What do you know about my daughter Lucius?' was asking Alrick
'Well… I always considered her as a mudblood. She is best friends with the blood traitors and the stupid Potter boy. And Draco tells me she is the best witch Hogwarts has had in a hundred years.'
'Right. And you Bellatrix?'
'I don't know mudbloods. I take no interest in them.' Came Bellatrix's sharp voice
'Well I'll tell you what that story was all about. The Dark Lord sent me as a spy in the order. I took the initiative actually, and even though he didn't like me thinking of it first, he had to admit it was a good idea. I married Adora and even had children with her. What better proof? I told the order I would be a spy for them. The Dark Lord put all that chasing business to prove to the order I was on their side. It just went a bit too far, thanks to you Bella.' Hermione could feel the accusation in his tone.
'Well how was I supposed to know you weren't a real enemy?' she defended herself
'Whatever, what is done is done. I have come back now, my credibility is at its highest point with the order and my daughter is best friends with the one you call stupid Potter boy. I am the Dark Lord's best chance of defeating him now, but the order has to believe I am still on their side. Do you understand now?' Nobody said anything. Hermione slowly backed up, horrified. Finally she ran out of the doors and joined the rest of the troop.
'Are you ok?' asked her brother 'you look like you've just seen a ghost. Or worst, like you've been facing a three headed Dragon.' She briefly smiled
'I'm ok, don't worry. Just a bit tired.'
But deep inside, she had a horrible thought
My father is a Death Eater
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OK, there you are, the end of my third chapter ^^ did you like it? I hope so!
I don't like the end so much, I think I was getting a bit tired and my english isn't very good . There shouldn't be any mistakes, but if ever you see one, tell me!
I'll try to wright fast but I'll be going back to school and all so don't be to eager, it might take some time!