Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Written for Assignment 5; Linage Studies, Task 4 - Write about Morfin Gaunt
Other Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count - 742
Warning - Insanity, character death.
They Can't Take That Away
You watch her through suspicious eyes. She's up to no good and you know it, though so far, you've been unable to prove it. She's enamoured with the Muggle, you see her watch him when he passes on his horse.
The whispers tell you that she wants to go to him. They tell you that she wants to leave, wants to abandon the family home for a life with the worthless man, just because he's pretty.
Just like your mother did.
You know Merope is just like your mother, know that all women are the same. They can't be trusted. Your father made sure you grew up with that knowledge, that women will do naught but cause pain.
You take a swig from the bottle of firewhisky, snatch it from the table before she can move it as she cleans. She flinches from your hand and you feel a shiver of satisfaction. Keep her scared, keep her helpless, and she'll never be able to abandon you.
…
Morfin cackled loudly, his wand still in his hand. "Not so pretty, covered in boils, is he?"
Merope whimpered as the parseltongue slipped from Morfin's lips, but he paid her no mind. It was their given right to speak the language of the snake, and she should be stronger, should be proud of their heritage.
"Even if he weren't a worthless Muggle, he wouldn't want you," he taunted cruelly. "You're a mess, Merope. A mess!"
…
You sit in your cell in Azkaban, huddled in the corner beneath a threadbare blanket. Your voice is too hoarse to scream anymore, has been for months. Each time the dementors visit your cell, you're forced to watch your mother leave, a bag in her hand.
She didn't even look back when you banged against your window.
You've never known why she left but you hate her for it.
It was then that your father begun your lessons. It was then that he explained to you the many sins of women, the pain they caused and the devastation they left in their wake when they inevitably left.
You hung on his words, because they made sense. Why else would your mother have left you, if not because she was wired that way?
…
Morfin fought against the hands on his arms. He was weak, the years in Azkaban sapping whatever strength he'd had in his frame, but he still fought.
"Get off me!" he hissed, not realising he was speaking parseltongue and pulling away when the hands holding him flinched off him.
"Sign of the devil that," a voice murmured, followed by two more voicing their agreement. "I don't understand why we're not just leaving him here to rot."
"S'the law. He got sentenced to three years, he's served 'em."
Morfin blinked up at his attackers, his mind slow to comprehend their words. He was going home.
…
You returned to an empty house.
They told you of your father's death, of Merope's, but you're still somehow surprised to see the house empty. It's yours now, and yours alone.
You rattle around the rooms restlessly. There's nobody there for you to talk to, nobody there to release your anger on, nobody there at all.
You sink into a haze of alcohol and insanity and don't surface for a very long time. It's easier that way. In your mind, at least you're not alone. The whispers keep you company.
…
The Aurors arrived in force, and Morfin waited at the door for them, whisky bottle swinging from his hand.
"Morfin Gaunt, you're under arrest for the murder of a family of Muggles!"
"I did it," he cackled. "I did it, and I'd do it again!"
He fired spells at the approaching Aurors until they overpowered him, and then he went with them, cackling all the way.
"It felt so good," he told them later, when they questioned him. "Worthless pieces of shit ruined my life, so I took theirs!"
…
You're on the cusp of death already when they come to your cell. In a rare moment of lucidity, they tell you that you're innocent of the crimes they imprisoned you for.
You don't believe them of course. It's a trick, it has to be, because you remember attacking those muggles. You remember killing them.
It's vivid and bright in your mind, so you know you did it. It's the last memory you have.
They can't take that from you.
Written for;
Assorted Appreciation - 10. Write about being abandoned by a parent
Em's Emporium - 2. Someone going insane
Liza's Lodes - 1. Write about someone restless
Bex's Basement - 9. Taunting someone
Alphabetti Spaghetti - P - Parseltongue
Around the World - Bastets - Enamoured
Mythology - 1. Being abandoned
Pop Figure - Valkyrie - 2. Firewhisky
Women's History - 13. Someone insane
365. 47. Snatch
1000. 892. Gaunt Family