A/N: Sorry this this update took longer than usual. I had finals that I was dealing with but they're all done now! C'est pff! Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's not as action-packed as others but ah well, c'est la vie, we shall let little Fatin have a rest. Muchas gracías for the reviews!
Fatin woke up in her emerald-colored bedroom. Everything was as it should be, her Dark Arts books were in the spiraling black bookcase across from the end of her bed and the dark armoire that held all of Fatin's clothes was laying out her clothes for the day. Another plain black dress to wear; on special occasions, like her birthday, it would pick out an elegant green one. Fatin had a closet whose emerald green door blended with the emerald and black diamond wallpaper, but she didn't really have anything to put in it. The only thing that had changed in the room was Fatin. She stared blankly at the walls, unable to think or care about anything.
Never-the-less, Fatin got out of bed, pulled on her dress, and stepped into her black slippers. She numbly thought about getting some breakfast as her stomach rumbled. I must've been out for a while, Fatin thought, her forehead creasing. She opened the door to her room and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. When she opened the door to the kitchen she saw her parents sitting at the ornate dining table that had never been used before.
Fatin dully stared at them and thought that this was a rare sight, both of them at the house and not rushing around doing other work things. It seemed as if she was the topic of their conversation, because both of their heads turned towards her when she walked in. They were even sitting, hands folded in front of them, across from each other. They left one chair in between them.
"Fatin, please take a seat," her father said, his eyes seemingly aged with dark circles under them. Fatin's mother also looked tired and her eyes were red around the edges. But at that point Fatin didn't have the energy to care.
She took the seat in between them, but folded her arms across her chest and pointedly stared at the table. Roselda started to reach for her hand, but she pulled back before she was halfway there.
"Fatin," she said, "Your father and I are…are…"
"So proud of you." Vellius said, finishing her sentence for her.
"Yes," Fatin's mother said, giving a grateful nod to her father. "We are so proud that you passed D.E.A.T.H. camp. And we were wondering…" She trailed off again, staring at Fatin with a worried look on her face.
"We were wondering what happened while you were at Death Camp," Vellius intervened again.
Fatin looked up at them, for the first time meeting their eyes. They both looked really worried at that moment. Fatin was rendered speechless at that moment, shocked that they didn't know what had happened. This didn't faze her for long, however, and her eyes narrowed at sight of her parents' anxious eyes. They had been the ones to send her to D.E.A.T.H. camp in the first place.
"Well, whatever happened, you passed. Your Professors were also quite impressed with you; they told us so when they delivered you here a couple of days ago. They said you were one of two students to pass the final test. The other person was some boy named Theodore Nott. "
Fatin was out for a couple of days. That didn't surprise her, given how little she had slept the past few days at camp. Fatin couldn't care less how the Professors thought she did. The only thing that mattered was that she was done and guaranteed a place in the Dark Lord's army.
"I've done enough, haven't I, so that I just have to make it through Durmstrang to be in the Dark Lord's army?" Fatin asked slowly, disbelief riddling at her soul when her father spoke next.
"Actually, Fatin…That's what we need to talk about. There is one thing that you have to do for the Dark Lord."
"What?" Fatin said quietly, her words passing through her lips like a snake's hiss. She had thought that she was done with surprises.
"You know of the Potter boy, right? The Dark Lord has asked that you get close to him, just so that if the Dark Lord needs information on him, you could provide it. And, if the time comes, you could also lead Potter to the Dark Lord." Vellius had a wary look on his face as he said this, but his tone was serious.
For a second Fatin thought of Heather and how she had been completely nice at first, but had then turned at the first sign of danger. Fatin didn't want or need to use such an underhanded method.
"I don't want to do that. I could just as easily kill him myself." Fatin calmly stared into her parents' eyes, trying not to show how this task reminded her of the incident that had occurred only two days before.
My father frowned slightly at this, saying "You have to, Fatin. This was a direct order from the Dark Lord himself and you know very well what happens to the people that don't follow his orders."
"This means that you will be attending Hogwarts instead of Durmstrang," Fatin's mother added. "Severus has agreed to watch over you during that time, to make sure that nothing happens while you are there."
What could possibly happen that hadn't already? Fatin thought. She supposed that it didn't matter anymore where she went. She was no longer attached to anything in that world. She had to keep in mind everything she'd already done so far to become one of the Dark Lord's servants. That was her only purpose in life, the only place where she would belong.
"I understand, is that all?" Fatin said. For a second she wondered whether or not they could think of something else that could surprise her.
"Yes, that is all." Vellius said while Fatin got up from her chair. "Oh, and from now you may do as you please until school begins."
So Fatin just had to wait until she could leave for Hogwarts. But until then, she was wary of the way that her parents were acting. After Heather's betrayal, Fatin would be careful not to let anyone get too close to her.
Roselda walked into her bedroom and closed the door. "I'm worried about her, Vellius."
Her husband looked up from the Daily Prophet he had been reading and looked at her. "I understand, Roselda, and I am also worried but it is beyond our ability to help her."
"But she's been walking around this house as if a dementor has sucked out her soul for six months, Vellius. She barely acknowledges Severus' presence when he comes over, and he too is perplexed by her lack of…well…life. " She said all of this, starting to tear up.
Vellius put down his paper and grasped her hand, pulling her to sit down beside him on the couch. "I know…but don't cry, Roselda. It's hard enough to watch Fatin like this without being able to do anything. " He cradled her with his chin resting on her head, stroking her beautiful blonde hair and wondering how their simple life had gone so wrong. She sniffled quietly and wiped at her eyes. When she looked back into Vellius' eyes, however, she was glaring.
"It's not fair, Vellius. We were true followers of the Dark Lord, weren't we?" He nodded slowly, trying to understand where this was leading. "Then why did he do this to us? He doesn't care if our whole family is torn apart just for his purposes…"
Vellius just stared at her in shock, because he realized that he had been thinking the same thing for the past six months. "I…don't know. But Roselda we only have four months left before we can finally be free of the deal. We've already broken a few rules by taking the shield spell from around the house."
"But that doesn't matter! You see it, don't you, Vellius? How she looks right through us? She might not have 'liked' us before, but now…now, she ignores our very existence. When I touched her hand-"
"Roselda! You know that's not allowed!" Vellius said angrily. "What if Severus found out, and took her away?"
Roselda stood up from the couch, throwing off Vellius' arm to stand with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed into a thin line. "What would it matter, Vellius? We've already lost her! Whenever I try to connect with her it's almost as if I can see pain flash through her eyes! That is, before they return to the cold void that we've become accustomed to seeing. Be it in two, four, or twelve months it makes no difference! She won't accept our love after so long, especially after we sent her to that place. Whatever happened in there, Vellius, is our fault. We chose this life, not her. And now she's paying for it." Roselda was breathing hard at this point, but had started to calm down about halfway through her diatribe.
Vellius had just silently listened throughout her whole speech, his face dissolving into a hurt, saddened expression. Only in front of Roselda did Vellius ever make himself readable, even vulnerable. It was not Vellius' fault, Roselda soon realized. They had both signed up to serve the Dark Lord and had both committed their daughter to his service when they did. She resumed her place seated next to him and hid her head against his shoulder.
She barely made a sound as she mumbled, "What can we do?"
He seemed to contemplate it for a moment, and then replied softly, "We could…invite someone over that is her age, maybe even someone from the D.E.A.T.H. camp."
Roselda thought this over apprehensively. "How would that help? Wouldn't that just…remind her of whatever happened?"
"She obviously isn't coping with it as she is now, so don't you think that anything would be better than the way it is? Perhaps even the two could help each other, sympathize where we can't."
"I guess…so…but what about the rules? Severus may have overlooked everything else, but…"
"I will talk to Severus before we go any further. Do we know anyone who would be willing to let their child come over once or twice a week?" Vellius wondered, staring into his wife's deep blue eyes.
"I'm…not sure," she said, standing up. "I'll check our D.E. Warlocks & Witches book to see if a name pops out." Roselda picked up her wand and muttered, "Accio Warlocks&Witches book!" Immediately, a couple of books appeared before her. She picked up the slender black one with a curious, ornate flower inscribed in dark green on the front and immediately began to flip through it. The other rather larger, bright green book with Durmstrang inscribed on the front went back out of the room at a lazy wave of her wand.
Meanwhile, Vellius picked up the paper and pretended to begin reading again. Instead he was thinking on what his wife had said. Fatin couldn't possibly believe them when they write her that first week when she is at Hogwarts, asking her to believe that they had loved her the whole time. The Dark Lord had thoroughly trapped them in his plans.
"Ah! The Malfoys! Their son…Draco, right? I believe he was in D.E.A.T.H. camp." Roselda said, grabbing a piece of parchment.
"Yes, the Malfoys will be fine I suppose. Even though they are a slippery sort, they seem to care just as much about Draco as we do about Fatin so it should be alright. Ask them if Draco could come by three days a week, at least at first. They know that we're closer to the Dark Lord so they should want their son to be close to Fatin." Vellius said, slightly shaking his head at the thought of their greediness.
Roselda finished writing the letter and went to find their owl, tying the parcel to its leg with specific orders to get it to the Malfoys as quickly and safely as possible. The next day their owl returned with the Malfoy's reply, stating that their son Draco would come for his first visit the day after.
Fatin had spent the past six months thinking about her life and what lay ahead. Mostly she just walked about in a daze, not thinking about anything at all. Sometimes she would leave the house at night with a candle and walk down to the neighborhood park when Roselda and Vellius were asleep. Fatin avoided them, and recoiled when Roselda tried to connect with her. Whenever Roselda touched Fatin's hand she would think for a moment that it was Heather and her feelings from D.E.A.T.H camp would come flooding back. That is, until she realized where she was and why that wasn't possible.
Fatin got out of bed, wondering why she should even bother to eat breakfast that morning. She heard the doorbell ring, and slowly continued to get ready for the waste of another day, certain it was just Snape. Even seeing him wasn't worth anything anymore to Fatin. She could no longer be enchanted by his stories of the wonderful life at Hogwarts, even when she was going to be there in four months. Nevertheless, Snape had always been forward with Fatin about life and hadn't betrayed her yet, so she continued to sit with him for a couple of hours a week and drink some butterbeer. It seemed to make the time go faster for her, at least.
"Fatin!" Roselda yelled, with the sickeningly sweet voice that she had taken to using. Fatin kicked her armoire childishly, and felt a sharp pain in her big toe. "Bollocks!" she whispered angrily. Then she put on her slippers and walked down the hallway, through the kitchen and to the front door. There she saw Roselda and Vellius standing with a blonde couple, in between which stood Draco Malfoy.
"What is this?" Fatin asked angrily, surprising who she supposed were Draco's parents. They turned to give her a couple of slimy smiles. Draco didn't look at Fatin; he seemed to be resolutely pouting in the opposite direction.
"Fatin, the Malfoys have brought dear Draco here over to play. We thought it'd be a good idea for you two to get to know each other since you'd be going to Hogwarts together in September," said Fatin's mother, smiling sweetly at her. Roselda's excessive sweetness made Fatin feel sick to her stomach.
"Play?!" Fatin said quietly, glaring around at the motley group, "you want us to play together? Do you think we played at D.E.A.T.H. camp? And what in the world would make you think I would want to play with him?" Draco was offended by this last question, but he looked Fatin in the eyes and nodded his approval. His parents, however, seemed shocked at Fatin's disrespect.
"I am certainly glad that you at least have an opinion on the subject, Fatin, but you will do well to remember that while you are living under my roof you shall follow my rules. Now take Draco here to the park while the parents discuss a few things." Vellius' tone of voice left no room for argument.
"Fine," Fatin dully replied, immediately walking to the door and wrenching it open. She didn't look around to see if Draco followed, but heard the door slam behind him. Soon he was matching Fatin's pace. Fatin and Draco were almost the same height, Draco being only slightly taller than Fatin was. The two walked in silence for a couple of blocks, Fatin staring dully ahead while Draco looked around the neighborhood disdainfully.
"You know, it's not like I'm happy about this either," he said quietly.
"Then why didn't you oppose your parents?" Fatin asked sharply.
"It's not like I didn't try, really, but they threatened to send me to Beauxbatons if I didn't come. Plus they've been really angry about the whole D.E.A.T.H. camp thing…" He trailed off, and Fatin imagined he was thinking about that horrible place. She remembered then that he had failed the test.
They had reached the park by then, so Fatin went and took a seat on the swing set, propelling herself back and forth in a controlled chaos of motion.
"Did you tell your parents about… what happened?" Fatin asked, unable to enumerate the events of that evening.
"I couldn't…you know? Of course it doesn't matter what happened there because my father assured me that he has the means to get me into the Death Eaters anyways." Draco had finished with one of his usual snide, snobby remarks that would usually annoy Fatin. Instead she focused on his first statement. He had obviously been through the same pain that she had, that much was clear to her. No matter how much his personality rubbed her the wrong way it was nice to finally know that someone else understood.
"I don't blame you for… failing." Fatin said, hesitating to delve too deeply into what she was saying. She swung higher to avoid his stare.
"But….I failed," He said, sitting on the swing but merely staring down at the pebbles on the ground. "I wasted the best chance I had to get a spot as a Death Eater."
"Hmmmm," Fatin mumbled, not certain of how to reply.
The two left the conversation there and spent the next couple of hours trying to see who could jump the farthest from the swing. Fatin even smiled despite herself when Draco got himself entangled in the swing. He had tried to keep himself from falling when he had jumped from too high up.
Fatin decided that perhaps these visits wouldn't be so bad, even though Draco's personality was tough to bear at best. When the sun started to go down she got nervous about it getting dark. So Fatin stood up from where she was examining hers and Draco's last jump marks and turned to him.
"Let's go, I bet our stupid parents are done discussing things by now."
Draco got up off his swing but sneered, saying, "Your parents may be stupid but my parents are top ministry officials so you should watch what you say."
He's still an annoying git, no matter what, Fatin thought. "Whatever you say, failure-face, let's just get going before it gets too dark."
"Who're you calling a failure-face? I'll let you know that my father will be hearing about this if you say another word like that." Fatin rolled her eyes, starting the long walk back to her house. "Why're you in such a rush, anyways? Scared of the dark are you?" his sneer grew as he thought through this.
Fatin slowly turned and looked the little imp right in the eyes. "No I am not. I'm just worried that a dementor might smell your bratty, happy self and come out. Understand?"
"A…a dementor? Well, I suppose you're right, our parents will be looking for us." He began to walk past Fatin, nonchalantly flipping his hand in the air. Fatin ran to catch up with him and then the two of them walked slowly back to her house.
When they finally made it back to Fatin's front door Malfoy's parents were waiting inside to take him home, so Fatin walked right back into the house, ignoring her parents and heading straight back into her room to continue waiting for school to start.