Chapter seven
1989
On a very ordinary day, July the 5th to be exact, Aquarius had received his Hogwarts letter and much had changed in the two years since the twins had received theirs. Aquarius was getting on more than well in ballet and his ballet teacher had once mentioned he should apply for the Royal Ballet School. Of course he couldn't but it was nice to know his ballet teacher knew of his capability. He was now a less gaunt, bruised skinny child and without the fear of his elder siblings he had a lightened face and had grown a good deal taller. Aquarius had tried to convince Iris that it was better when it was just the two of them, however Iris did not see it that way, while Aquarius grew healthier, and Iris's health went in the opposite direction. She became more withdrawn and her appearance became more unkempt, her hair, probably her most notable feature, was a wild mass of curls and gave her a disorganised look. She had grown taller, but her face had become narrower, losing the innocent roundness to her cheeks.
Aquarius was not a demanding child, so he did not rush to make his guardians take him to Diagon alley and in fact since the incident two years back, rarely did they go. It was in times like this when he thought about his younger sister. She was wild and out of control, she was a joker in a pack of cards. Sometimes you would not know what she would do next, one day she would wake up and decide to spend the whole day in the woods with dead animals at her feet for no apparent reason and other days she would spend curled up in the library with pages ripped from books, she would sometimes collage them together and create cryptic messages and other days she would bang on the piano until the keys were broken. The Malfoys did not question this as they did not care for her and rather felt the problem should be given to Bellatrix when she escaped.
Sometimes Aquarius saw her as the five year old she was before she went downhill (in his opinion) and then in darker thoughts he proclaimed he would always see her as the lost five year old too frightened to cry.
In a way they were all with their very own fears.
The little boy Ceph, had long since deserted what remained and the figure now was nothing from the lightest of his days and what remained was a teenager that held the brutality of a brutal man. He was uncaring and fuelled with anger.
The prim and proper Lacerta blocked the world out, she tided all the things that made up the kindest person into a small undisturbed part of the brain and what she unleashed was a girl quite devoid of laughter and emotion.
The determined Estella grew more determined and became a destruction upon her former self, she was curious but no more curious than she was allowed to be, but day by day, bit by bit, she lost fragments of her humanity, parts of her soul and while her soul was still whole, it was as if it was broken into a million pieces.
Of course this is what they become eventually, with the sick devotion that fuelled them, with the instincts of a mindless slave they devolved into nothing more than walking dolls.
However this is what they end up to be like, this is what you would see in any of the history books and ask any historian they would say that and nothing more.
Of course they were much more than that and did they laugh? Smile? Love even? I don't know.
Of course, Iris had profound respect for all of her siblings and deep inside of her she reserved a special part of her for her brother, Aquarius. She knew Aquarius was different; she just didn't want Aquarius to get hurt, from Mother, Father, Cepheus, Estella and even herself.
Aquarius himself was wary of Iris and became more wary after the incident in the garden. I would tell you about the day itself.
You see a day is a chance to do something new, maybe change. Each day is a new beginning and a new chance to take. Aquarius knew he didn't have long before he would be off to Hogwarts and with a new outlook for a new day, he stamped down his fears and went to find his sister in the manor Gardens, except, all days hold reminiscence from the day before.
The incident with the muggle girl had stayed with Aquarius, picking at his conscience and after much deliberation, how he could believe a nameless muggle over his sweet and kind sister, true he had to repeat this sentence a few times for it to sink in, but once it had, nothing would convince his sister was a murderer.
Iris Kneeled at the very boarder of the Malfoy property staring at something on the ground and it was only as Aquarius got closer, he saw a fox, it was small and skinny and it twitched every once in a while, the feeble and instable body not able to do much.
At first the boy could do not much else but just stare and he could not forge his brain to draw together conclusions. It was then when he realised it was his sister, she was doing it all. It was then when the realization hit him- his sister needed help.
"STOP!" he ran at the nine year old girl. "Iris, stop it, this isn't you..."
The dazed look that she held on her features had left her and she shook her head and started to sob. "H-how can something so beautiful, create something so disastrous..." she sobbed.
Hugging her tight, Aquarius buried his face in her curls, what did it matter if she was different, at least she felt remorse, little Iris will always be his little sister.
"it's okay, you must never do that again, despite what anyone tells you to do, you're your own person and don't ever let anyone try to bend you" licking his lips and breathing rapidly, he continued "you must never give in, once you do, it's all over...I love you Iris and I can't lose you this way" said her brother.
She nodded numbly and so the two siblings sat and both wept, trapped in their own special memories of the beloved Malfoy attic and how they clung to each other in the cruel world they were thrust into.
But just like everybody else she loved, her brother left her, left her for Hogwarts.
Dear Diary,
So he has left me. Why should I even care, everyone I know and love has done the same – except he was different, he loved and understood what it is to be someone not like us. Personally I can't wait to go where he is going – Hogwarts. I am writing to you more and more as the days pass by, I can feel no other connection to anyone else in this manor, not even the attic. Of course the ballet clothes and the shoes and the bar and mirrors stay there but with no one to tend to it, it grows dusty again. It doesn't seem magical without my brother – of course he still dances and sometimes I wonder if I am not the only one who knows, I see my siblings during holidays sneer at him, mind you they have always been like that to him. Of course I have Draco and I suppose Pansy, is what you would call a friend... still, I ought not to worry about being abandoned, for it won't be long till I am with my siblings and we will be together once more, my brother and I...
Stopping what she was doing, she looked at the window to where a black eagle was waiting for her – Aquarius's eagle. Taking the letter the eagle was carrying, she opened it to reveal the following:
Iris,
This will be short and only for you. I have not made slytherine – I don't care what the others think of me, but I care about you, don't see me as a traitor, an enemy and I will never abandon you. I have been sorted into Gryffindor and I have friends, Fred and George. I am happy. You would love it here sister, you would love the potions we make, personally I can't wait to take care of magical creatures.
I have already played a few pranks myself, especially on Percy – Fred and George's brother. I have spoken to them about you – I have said you are mostly quiet, they don't believe me, after what happened in Diagon alley they say their brother Ron will be in your year, I hope you become friends.
Much love, Aquarius.
Picking up her quill, she began to write again.
...I was wrong, he has abandoned me, but I will not abandon him yet, although we may not be together in Hogwarts, he is still my brother. I come to think about my gift, my beautiful and tragic gift, to have the ability to inflict pain upon others, with only mere thought. I have discontinued practising it so. I want to get better; I don't want to be like Ceph and Estella – and giving up the gift me and my sister have is the only way...
At the window came another eagle, this one grey and gaze piercing and carrying two letters in its beak. Setting down her quill, Iris collected the letters.
Iris,
Don't let that blood traitor influence you, I have been told the company he chooses – I want you not to listen to him and I want you to keep to the right path, we Lestranges are strong and we will be strong, you are a good child and have always chosen the better path, do not feel that your loyalties should change – think how disappointed Mother and Father will be.
Cepheus.
Iris began to write once more,
...But to get better, I will disappoint Mother and Father, all my life, I have wanted to make them happy but I have come to realise, I can't even remember what my Mother is like, the sound of her voice, the way she wears her hair, her smile and laugh, are all attributes I forget. I have two courses of action to take – I can play neutral for a while, then fight for freedom with my brother or I can tell auntie and uncle the news and play the snake. Each with their advantages and disadvantages each will lead to a path, a path I don't know, but a path I must take...
Opening the other letter, she read on.
Iris,
Practise your gift and work hard, tell but no one of what we can do, only must the dark lord be the first to know. Follow me and Ceph, but remember, Ceph is dangerous, he will use us and so we must become allies. As for our other brother, he is not worthy of that title and should be disowned. I beg you not to interact with him no more.
Estella.
Writing for the last time in this period, Iris begins to transpire what she will do.
...I have made up my mind, the path of my mother I will take, of course I plan to stay neutral for as long as I can, to stop arising suspicions. But now the path is taken, to destruction or power, I have made my grave or throne and I shall reside upon it, till the power of time prevails.
Pinning the letters to the diary page, she began to reply to the letters received.
