Disclaimer: See the first chapter.

Background: See the first chapter.

Summary: In the dark times when the Dark Lord returned to power, he searched for new followers and wished to regain what had been lost. But did all of his Death Eaters join him of free will? Iris Halither looks back and tells her tale, and discovers a horrible truth about herself...

Note: The story is divided into chapters, the chapters shaped into parts. One part is seven chapters, no matter the lengths of those. Some chapters are short, some are long. That's how they were written.

-

The Tale of a Death Eater
Part II: Seeing the Foreseen
Chapter 10

-

I groaned as I woke, feeling the half of my face numbed by cold. I lay on my side, my face pressed against the freezing stone-floor. A thin layer of ice covered the cell as the window had no glass and the air was clear and frosty, my breath coming in small clouds.

I sat up and yawned. My entire body was aching from bad sleep, and I rolled my shoulders to get rid of the pain in my neck. I looked into Malfoy's cell and found him sound asleep. He was used to the conditions by then, I suppose.

Huddling up in a pitiful bundle in a corner, I listened to the distant sounds of the ocean below the precipitous cliffs. It was a long time since I had heard the crashing waves of the sea. In Azkaban, it was constant. But you had to listen carefully.

No one else seemed to be awake. I guessed it was early. There was practically no light in the little cell at all and looking upwards, I saw the sky was close to black. Sitting there in the quiet, I wondered when my trial would be. It couldn't be long. Would they tell me when? Why hadn't they said anything yet?

Lucius Malfoy stirred and turned towards me. "Daydreaming, Halither?" he smirked.

Glaring, I turned my back towards him. "Don't patronise me, Malfoy..."

"What would you be worrying your little head about, hmm? Family...? Friends...? Not that I would expect you to have any--"

"Just leave me alone, would you?" I snapped, shooting him a glance over my shoulder.

"I don't have anything better to do, do I? You can talk to me. After all... we're colleagues..."

I picked at one of my nails, finding all of them short and chipped after months of nervous biting. "Do you know how long it is before you're trialled?" I asked after some time's silence.

"Trialled?" Of that he chuckled, wearing a better-knowing smile. "You really think they're going to trial you? A Death Eater?"

"I... They said they would," I whispered.

"The Ministry won't bother with a mere Death Eater. Now that the Dark Lord is back they have more at hands. They're probably thrilled to have caught you! I can almost hear them bragging to the Daily Prophet back in London... They won't spend precious time on you, Halither. Not a Death Eater. The Dark Mark is enough for a lifetime sentence these days. They won't listen to explanations, I bet you..."

The hair at the back of my neck stood at end, sending a disgusting feeling through me. "But they said I would have a trial," I repeated.

"Routine. They're probably paid to say that to every prisoner that comes here. They didn't tell you when, now did they?" The conversation ended there. I said nothing more. He let me be.

Lies. Hollow lies. Spawn of Merwyn the Malicious. All lies.

The little hope I had left soon abandoned me after that. I felt helpless, hopeless. I was completely convinced I would stay in Azkaban Prison till the end of my days, die there, amongst the rotting corpses that truly belonged inside the stonewalls. Not me. It wasn't meant for me. It wasn't right for me to be thrown in a madman's cave like that. Unjust. That's what it was.

-

So the days went by at an achingly slow pace. I could barely stomach the horrid taste of the porridge we were served in Azkaban, and it didn't smell very nice either. After such a meal, on a day like any other, Malfoy motioned for me to come closer...

"Be ready," he said.

"Ready? Ready for what?"

"Word has spread. Something is about to happen. And if you use your smarts, there is a chance for escape," he said through clenched teeth. "But be quiet about it..."

Crawling back to my usual corner I lowered my gaze, frowning. Escape? Was the Dark Lord sending help? But why would he care...? Although, to get more power he needed more servants. And there were many desperate and loyal men and women in Azkaban, wanting nothing more than to return to his side.

All I could do was to wait for whatever would come. Then I could seize my chance...

-

It was on the blackest of nights it happened. The sound of battle bounced against the walls, stirring commotion amongst the prisoners, startling me awake. Lucius Malfoy was standing up, his hands clutched around the bars of his cell-door. "What's happening?" I hissed, standing up with some difficulties, my legs terribly stiff.

"The Aurors are gathered in a higher part of the fort. Someone's here," he said with a devilish smile. His eyes were flicking over the ceiling, eyeing the dust particles that fell from the ancient stone.

I too looked upwards with a more hesitating eye. My thundering heart was nearly suffocating me as running steps were heard from the stair to the right. I moved closer to my cell-door as the manic laughter of a woman reached my ears.

"Well if isn't my dear brother-in-law," a shrill female-voice wheezed and the woman came to a halt in front of Malfoy's cell.

"What brings you to this humble place, Bella?" Malfoy sneered.

"Collecting a few friends for old times' sake," said Bella wide-eyed and smiling. "But now that I'm here I might as well give my sister a little rest!" She thrust a wand in his hand. "Serve yourself," she said and then continued on her way, snickering as she did.

Before I had time to register exactly what had happened, Malfoy had blown his cell-door off its hinges and looked towards me as he stepped over it. "Need help?" he asked, of course, with a smirk.

"Want to take a guess?" I sneered.

"No need to get an attitude, do you need help or what?"

"You're the one with the attitude! Now would you mind? The Aurors will be here any minute!"

"Thought so..."

I stepped back and covered my face as he used the Reductor Curse to blast a hole into my cell. I coughed from the smoke and stumbled out, blinking rapidly. "Where are you going?" I called as Malfoy moved past other cells, towards the stair at the opposite end.

"Out of here," he said, "now are you coming or not?"

-

I stayed close to Malfoy, being without wand. Though, again I must say it would have done me no good even if I had had one.

Everything was chaos. The air was filled with dust and there were holes in both floors and walls. On our way through the prison, I saw many more out-breaking prisoners than Aurors. It was a terrifying sight.

"What are you doing?" I hissed and stopped as Malfoy came to a halt.

He wasn't looking at me, but raised his wand. "Morsmordre!"

I watched as the Dark Mark cast its green glow on the walls. It rose and levitated through a hole in the ceiling, slowly rising to the sky and nesting amongst the clouds. This seemed to excite the corrupt minds of the prisoners in a way beyond my understanding. Malfoy smiled with an awkward pride and satisfaction and continued down the corridors.

We reached a tortuous stair which led upwards, and I followed close behind Malfoy as he ran towards the upper floors. "Do you have... a plan?" I panted, forcing my legs to keep moving.

"Yes," he said shortly.

"Well... that's a good thing, then..." I stopped gratefully at the top of the stair, glancing at the door in front of us. Malfoy eyed it suspiciously and wasted no time opening it, but simply blew it up.

"Is that a Malfoy way of being discreet?" I said and peered nervously down the stair.

"It was locked," he smarted and shrugged, proceeding to step high over the rubble and pieces of wood. "Ah... now we are getting somewhere..."

I looked around to see we had reached one of the highest parts of the fort. Walking closer to one of the walls, I looked down and quickly stepped back. The only way down was by jumping over the wall, which ended in steep and rocky cliffs.

"What is your plan, again?" I asked, my voice turning high-pitched.

"You cannot Apparate or Disapparate inside the walls of Azkaban. But outside..."

"You want to use Apparition? Up here? Isn't that dangerous?! I mean, couldn't you end up in the middle of the bloody sky somewhere and fall to your bloody death--"

"Not if you know exactly where to go and stay focused and concentrated. Don't you remember the D's? Destination, determination and deliberation?" he smirked.

"It's not funny! And no, sorry, I can't say I recall the exact words! And I never passed Apparition! I splinched every time!" I screeched.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. Yes, he rolled his damned eyes. "Then I suppose you want a lift, Miss Halither?"

"If you'd be so kind, Mr. Malfoy," I said, grinding my teeth. Suddenly, I was falling through the air. I screamed, realising he had pushed me. Looking down, panic overtook my entire body as I saw the cliffs, the rocks and the black water coming closer.

"Want help?!" came Malfoy's voice above my screaming. He was there, falling beside me.

"What's wrong with you?! DO SOMETHING! Apparate, Disapparate, do whatever! JUST DO SOMETHING, DAMN IT! We're goin' to die!"

"That's not a very nice way to ask for help, now is it?!"

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE, YOU PRICK! BLOODY APPARATE!"

"Now that you're being so polite...!"

I continued to scream.

Down...

Down...

And the water kept coming closer. I could feel the rocks piercing my skin, the water ripping me apart any moment. And I continued to scream. Then, as the water surface was less than two feet away, arms pulled me close and the water, the rocks, the cliffs, the walls of Azkaban Prison, the Dark Mark... everything was gone...