Summer is a season most abhorred. Death Eater gatherings, mudblood lynching, and a stack of muddle work. But of course, since Dumbledore's 'death' it won't be only my summers that are afflicited with these sordid affairs. I'm forced to wallow in a hole with a sniveling rat of a man, a pompous bastard fresh from Azkaban and his distorted offspring. I would have loved to watch Malfoy rot away in his cell. That would be a joy most welcomed in this black hole that is Summer.
The most recent task at hand had come to begin; rid this world of an insufferable know-it-all and Harry Potter's good friend. In my Shakespearean Macbeth mood, I grabbed my mask and the stiff black robes. Granger's magic had been traced and now it was up to the clean up crew, the outcasts that somehow still belonged to the inner circle, to have their fun but hurry and be done. Truly sordid, this affair.
I never wished to harm my students, former or not, but I knew when I accepted this role as a double agent that I'd be damned to think I would escape this task. Damn this war that I helped start. My search for power has really made a mess of things and my conscience wouldn't let me run.
But this was a mockery, this paradox, to all mens' consciences. If my reality is to kill this young girl tonight - and she is not the last nor even the first innocent blood I've spilled- in order to save lives, then what good have I done in lessening the world's tragedy?
Fully clothed in our Death Eater garb, our ceremonial robes of destruction, Pettigrew, the Malfoys and I apparated to the pinpointed location, a muggle suburb. We popped quietly, one after another, to the quaint park. Disgusting really, in all it's serene perfection. I'm sure this place had never seen so much violence as a squabble in the sand box. This lowly band of pesudo comrades would ruin it all that very night.
I would ruin it.
We ended up facing the backsides of two girls. Any dunderhead could observe the one on the left was the object of our mission. I silently prayed the others would tire of their game early and bring her fate quick. If only I could slip a drop of some powerful numbing agent, or better yet, a deadly poison to her. What good is the power to stopper death if one couldn't put it to use, if one couldn't stop an innocent from feeling pain.
I couldn't hear what the two girls were conversing about, but they seemed so deep within a world known to them alone, they did not notice us appearing behind them. A fury boiled in my veins from seeing the second girl. She would not escape. The blood of two innocents would come to cover my hands in one night. Though there have been more at once, taking even one life sickens me.
Pettigrew set about scurrying around to cast a new charm. It would build invisible walls around the area needing to be concealed, sound proof and unescapable. They would not come down without a signal from the caster. It was designed by the Dark Lord for this very purpose. Mrs. Granger would be trapped like the rodent she resembled and all her screams would never reach the outside world, nor would anyone outside the walls even be aware of the brutality inside.
But I would hear it all. I would see it all. I would relive it all.
So entwined in my thoughts was I that I hardly noted that the young Malfoy brat was speaking to the girls, letting them know of their danger. The words escaping his lips didn't register, but I watched as Mrs. Granger jumped from the swing whilst grabbing the arm of the little girl beside her.
"Stay behind me, Gi," she whispered, but I could read the words on her lips as she never took her eyes off of Malfoy.
The little girl, presumably Gi peaked out from behind Mrs. Granger's legs, looking timidly at me and then the two Malfoys. Her eyes were the same magnificent brown as the older girl's. Even with the difference in hair and nose, there was no mistaking it; they must have been sisters.
With a quick flick from Lucius's wrist, the wand Mrs. Granger had been trying to find flew from her back pocket and landed in his hand. I didn't dare glance towards his face. The look of triumph and hunger in his eyes that I knew was there would have caused me to lunge at him. He was as twisted as the Dark Lord himself.
"What do you want?" The fear was masked well with the anger in her voice as she spoke, but the fear was very much there.
Lucius smiled as he said in his mocking growl, meant to be a purr, "Where are your manners, mudblood? You haven't introduced us to your little friend."
"Stay away from her, you bastard!" The terror the gripped her voice was apparent as she shouted, "Gi, run!"
She pushed the little girl away from her, in the direction of the neighborhood.
I secretly prayed that Pettigrew was having trouble with the incantation and had not finished constructing the walls and that this little girl had a chance. It seems I really was damned. The gods above mocked me as Pettigrew reappeared, signaling that not only did these girls have no escape but he grabbed Gi around the waist and yanked her off the ground. Mrs. Granger bolted at him and managed to leave a gash across his face before Draco restrained her.
With quick assessment skills, Gi began to flail about, kicking and screaming when she noted that her older sibling did not like us. I'm sure the girl was too naive to anticipate the suffering ahead and so there was no fear or anger in her motions, just the want to escape the enemies of her sister.
"Leave her alone!" Mrs. Granger kicked and wrenched her body around, trying to break Draco's grasp on her.
The young Malfoy was having trouble obtaining his wand to wield against her, but he soon found his hands free as Malfoy senior charmed the chains on the swing set to snake around her wrists and ankles, binding her almost completely. Not completely enough though, as she was able to get a quick kick to Draco's shin. He grimaced in pain and I would have laughed if it wouldn't have earned me a slow and painful death.
"Well, mudblood," Pettigrew said with difficultly as he wrestled the savage being in his arms, "Seems you care a bit about this piece of dirt. Lets show our mudblood friend how nicely we can take care of this little brat."
Once he was done with his cliche and pitiful speech, Pettigrew dropped the girl on the ground. Immediately she picked herself up and ran towards her struggling sister.
"No! Turn around and run! Gi! Run!"
Her sister's pleas didn't phase the girl as she continued to sprint to her. I shivered involuntarily as I watched Lucius raise his wand and take aim. The curse slipped from his lips with a disgusting ease and left the little girl screaming, eyes wide as dropped to the ground. Her sister pulled against her restraints, trying desperately to get to the little girl.
"No!" Mrs. Granger screamed as tears started to form in her eyes, "Genève! Stop this!"
The little girl continued to convulse on the ground even after Lucius had lifted the Cruciatus. Mrs. Granger still struggled to be free of her bonds and her persistence was surly hurting her. She was powerless to stop anything though, wrapped in the muggle chains that had likely been apart of many fond memories with her sister. It was the ultimate insult.
Laughing, Draco turned to her and further mocked her, "The little know-it-all can't get free. How sad! And all the while she struggles, the big bad Death Eaters are torturing her sister! So how does it feel? How does it feel to be put in your rightful place?"
To give an emphasis to his words he turned to the younger Granger and yelled, "Crucio!"
The word was said perfectly, but with little ease, proving that he wasn't as skilled in being a bastard as his father.
It went on for a quarter of an hour, the spell being shouted at her from the other three Death Eater's mouths. Gi's face was covered with mud, created when her tears mixed with the dirt. Bile rose up in my throat as the men looked at me expectantly. I said a silent apology as I raised my wand.
"Crucio!"
I held the spell as long as I had to, to keep up the appearance that I enjoyed it. Every second made me want to kill every damn Death Eater, including myself, even more.
Finally, Lucius walked towards the shivering little ball that was once such an innocent little girl. He grabbed her by the neck and easily lifted her.
"Gi! Please! Gi!" Mrs. Granger screamed, struggling against the now bloody chains.
As if some strength was to be found in those cries, Gi began to struggle again with full force. It amazed me how a child who could be no older than six could withstand extended periods of dark magic and still have the strength to fight while being strangled.
I knew what was coming from the lustful look in Malfoy's eyes. The life drifted in and out of her eyes and I knew the pain was still intense. Taking pity, I decided to try to end it quickly for her. It was the least I could do.
"Lucius!" I barked, "End it like a wizard."
"But I was just beginning to enjoy myself, my friend," his eyes blazed with suspicion.
"I don't want to waste anymore time with this muggle brat," I waved a hand in her direction, "We've yet to have any real fun."
I smirked in true Sylterin fashion to seal the deal. The others would believe it, even Mrs. Granger would believe I was truly a heartless bastard. She could never know that I did this for her.
Lucius dropped the girl and she lay still but for the barely noticeable rise and fall of her chest. Mrs. Granger shrieked as he raised his wand.
"Avada Kedavra."
Mrs. Granger's struggles stopped. She dropped her head and would have fallen to the ground had she not been chained. Sickeningly, I found myself intrigued. Most after seeing how easily a life could be taken would have gained a renewed spirit to fight, one that was easily broken, but they wanted to live no less. This little girl's death had instead seemingly left Mrs. Granger broken.