Albus had been standing in the same spot for an hour. Eventually he sat down because his legs started to get sore. He sat there for hours simply contemplating what sort of future they could possibly have now.

Everything had been perfect. Atria had greeted him like a king and they had kissed and they were going to live happily ever after. Amanda didn't seem at all surprised by their relationship and maybe that was a sign that the rest of their friends wouldn't be too weirded out about it.

And then Atria had confessed that her last name was Lestrange and it was her mother committing all these atrocious acts of violence. Albus sighed and wiped a hand down his face. He had been shocked, too shocked for words. He didn't know what to say to her and he didn't want to say the wrong thing.

He wasn't angry persay. Did he wish that she had told him? Yes, but he understood why she hadn't. With everything happening she would be crucified in the wizarding world. And that was what worried him. She had told his father and they were no doubt planning a rescue mission for Rose.

That meant that the entire Ministry would find out about Atria. He now understood why she was so hesitant to commit to him or their future. They couldn't actually arrest her, could they? She came forward willingly, and she was going to help capture her mother. But Albus knew what the Ministry was like. They would need a scapegoat and it could easily be Atria.

He knew without a doubt that she didn't have anything to do with the Death Eaters. She hadn't done anything wrong, except for have sucky family.

Knocking on the door pulled him from his thoughts. Aunt Hermione stepped into the room, her eyes brimmed with red, but a sad smile was on her face.

"Al, honey, we've been looking for you. It's been hours." She came into the room and sat down next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder. "How are you?"

Albus smirked. "Processing. And you?"

Hermione looked down. "I'm relieved we have a lead on Rose. But I'm worried about Atria." Albus's eyebrows rose up in surprise.

"Really?"

Hermione smiled and shook her head. "I was… surprised, as I'm sure you were. It was a difficult thing to hear, but Atria is still the girl we all love. Some of love her more than others, I hear." She said teasingly. As always, Albus was in awe of his Aunt Hermione. At a time like this she was still able to smile and find relief in the the small thing.

"It was an accident." Albus said automatically. He had rehearsed what he would say to his family a million times.

"Everyone is talking about it."

"That's what everyone is focused on?"

Hermione shrugged. "Rose is going to be home in a few hours… and I think we all just need to get our minds off of everything."

Albus sighed, "So they are planning a rescue mission."

Hermione blinked. "Albus, I thought you knew. They've already left." Albus's head shot up in surprise.

"What? Who?"

"A group of Aurors, including Ron and Harry, and also Scorpius and Atria."

Albus jumped up. "What? They've already left." Hermione stood up as well.

"Yes, they're going to Atria's home in Paris. In fact, they're probably already there." Albus darted for the door. "Albus, where are you going?"

"Aren't we going to join them?" Albus asked urgently.

Hermione shook her head. "It's extremely dangerous and honestly… I'm not sure if I want to see that place. The way Atria described it…"

"So we just have to wait here until they get back?"

"Yes."

Albus's shoulders slumped. "I need to talk to Atria when they get back."

Hermione cleared her throat. "I don't know if that's going to be possible, Albus."

"What do you mean?"

Hermione cringed and folded her hands. "Well, Atria's been arrested. The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Mr. Alvarez, is only letting her go on this mission because she has helpful information about Castel Lestrange."

"Arrested for what?" Albus shouted. "She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"He claims she without information and impeded their investigation."

"She came forward when she had useful information." Albus argued.

"I know, but that's not how he sees it."

"This is about her family!" Albus growled.

Hermione frowned. "Albus of course this is about her family. I'm on her side, but how she was raised is bound to lead to some questions. And she hid it from us…"

"Of course she hid it, because now that she's told everyone the Ministry has arrested her. It's about pinning the blame on someone other than themselves." Albus seethed. He was pissed at Atria, but that didn't mean he wanted to her to go to prison.

"Maybe you should go home and get some rest. We'll send for you when they're back." Hermione rubbed his back soothingly. Albus shook his head.

"Where's Amanda?"

"She went home a little while ago." Hermione said knowingly. "James and Lily are still here though. Hugo went to stay with Ron's parents until everything is sorted."

Albus took a deep breath. His temper was rising and he didn't want it to explode.

But it was too late. "Why wouldn't she tell me she was leaving?" He shouted and Aunt Hermione jumped. "There were things that I needed to tell her!"

"You can tell her when they get back."

"If they get back, you mean."

Hermione sighed. "We have to think positively."

"My girlfriend has decided to face the Death Eaters and assuming she survives that, she's going to be sent to Azkaban! I am not capable of thinking positively right now." Albus said louder than her meant to. Aunt Hermione didn't say anything and he felt guilty. He sighed, "I'm sorry, I know you must be upset about Rose."

"I'm upset about Rose and Atria… and a lot of things. This is going to be a trying time for all of us. But we have to hope for the best."

Albus looked at the floor. "I don't want to hope. I don't want to be disappointed when everything goes to hell."

Atria glanced around suspiciously, as they approached the front gate of her the house. She doubted that there were any Death Eaters lurking around, but just in case…

"Where is the house?" Scorpius squinted past the gate.

"Beyond the garden." Atria replied, then turned to the rest of the group. "Speaking of the gardens, look out for the rose bushes. They're enchanted and extremely dangerous."

Ron frowned. "Dangerous how?"

"Well, they have thorns that try to tear apart your skin, creating a thousand cuts that will slowly bleed you to death." She said with a falsely bright tone. Draco looked at Scorpius with a worried look, but the younger boy didn't seem to register how dangerous this was.

Atria looked at Scorpius's face. Hindsight, perhaps she should have seen that Scorpius was in love with Rose. Atria knew he loved her, just like she knew that Rose loved him, but she thought it was also equivalent to Albus's love for Rose and Scorpius's love for Amanda. It had never occurred to her that it would be romantic.

She laughed at the irony considering that was exactly what she and Albus had assumed, that their friends wouldn't suspect it. As it turned out Amanda had suspected it, and Scorpius was dealing with a similar situation with Rose.

"Why are you smiling?" Harry asked, giving Atria a questioning look.

She shook her head, but couldn't stop grinning. "I've had a pretty good life. If you think about all the love you all have given me… I've been luckier in these last few years than most people are in their whole lives." She sighed contently and extended her wand to the gate.

Immediately, a light shot out from her wand and her hand burned. The burning continued up her arm to her heart and she took a breath, calming the warmth of her heart. Coldness swept through her body and then the light died. The gate opened slowly, with heavy creaking sounds and it was all very ominous.

They sky was grey and stormy.

"Let's go." Atria lowered her wand and walked forward, preparing for the imminent attack of fauna.

"This feels… wrong." Scorpius muttered. Atria knew what he meant. There was something dead about the grounds, although everything was alive it seemed grey and impossibly depressing.

Atria continued down the stone path, gripping her wand tightly.

A scream ripped from behind them and Atria turn around and shot a sectumsempra at the plants that were attacking an Auror. It gave them a small reprieve, and Atria raced towards her house.

It was too far away though. Spells and curses were being shot at plants, but it did little to help. Atria felt a particularly painful scrape across her eye from where a torn had dragged through her skin. The was something painful about the muggle way of hurting, the way a simple cut could hurt more than a stunner.

As she took the front steps three at a time, she blasted the large french doors open.

She kept running past the foyer, wary about what happened last time: being swallowed by the floor. She turned around when she heard Harry yelp. Indeed, a black hole had opened up in the floor, as swirling pit of darkness. Atria had gotten a good look at it last time due to the fact that she was busy falling in it.

"What is that?" Draco shouted. Once all the Aurors were inside Atria closed the heavy doors with a flick of her wand. But there was still the problem of the black hole separating her from the rest of the party.

"The foyer likes to swallow people, hold them in the darkness, and then deposit them in a random place in the house." Atria explained and Draco's eyes widened. "It's too big for you to jump across." Atria said.

"Then how are we supposed to-"

The Auror was cut off but a bolt of rope being shot out of Scorpius's wand. It attached to the chandelier and he grabbed onto the rope, took a few steps back and then ran a couple of steps and swung over the black hole. He landed on the edge of where the floor was disappearing into blackness and Atria grabbed him and pulled him forward.

"Well, that's one way to do it." Atria grinned at Scorpius, but he merely looked impatiently at the rest of them.

"Come on!" He urged and looked between them and the corridors, no doubt mapping out a plan to get to Rose quicker.

Draco followed next and Harry went last after all the Aurors. When they were all across the black hole collapsed on itself. "Sure," Ron said, "now it goes away."

"Which way to the dungeon?" Harry said, breathing heavily.

Atria paused, glancing around the house. All the hallways looked different and she sighed, "I don't know the house changed."

"What do you mean?" Scorpius demanded. "You can't find Rose?"

Everyone looked at her expectantly. "I can it's just going to take some time. The house is like an evil version of Hogwarts… lot's of secrets."

"That reminds me… this is not a house." Scorpius said. "This is a fortress. How could you possibly have lived here? If the house changes…"

Atria shrugged and began walked down a corridor off the foyer. She wasn't exactly sure where they would end up, but they had to start somewhere. "I suppose I just got used to it. Or the house got used to us."

For a while they wandered around aimlessly, at one point passing Atria's old bedroom but she didn't say anything. Scorpius walked beside her, clearly agitated that they were so close yet so far.

"What are you going to do when we find them?" Scorpius asked as they passed by rows of doors that Atria was unfamiliar with.

Scor's question made her uncomfortable. "I don't know," she replied honestly. She had been thinking about it and too much of it was up to chance. She didn't know her mother anymore, she couldn't guess what Isis's reaction to her would be.

Atria wanted to believe that she could talk her mother down. She wanted to believe that her mother wouldn't actually hurt her, but she was thinking about the mother she had before her father's death. When she thought about the mom who had forced her to get the Dark Mark, who had done the cruciatus curse on her, the woman who relished in the torture of others… well, Atria gripped her wand more tightly.

She was pulled out her thoughts when a shadowy figure appeared at the end of the corridor. Everyone immediately went into defensive positions.

Sal stepped into the light and Scorpius growled.

"I knew it!" Atria said excitedly, keeping the end of her wand fixed on Sal. He chuckled at her stepped forward and two others came up behind him.

"You always were nosy." Sal sneered. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."

Atria grinned. "Oh, she didn't tell you?" She sang. Sal frowned but didn't take the bait. "How do you think I knew you were a Death Eater? Our situations are bit similar, don't you think? Or didn't my Isis Lestrange tell you she had a daughter?"

"Atria, we don't have time for this!" Ron hissed.

"You go." She snapped without looking away from Sal. "Scorpius, keep looking for Rose. Somewhere there should be an old stone staircase leading down to the dungeon." Scorpius hesitated, but then backed up slowly. The other Aurors prepared for a duel.

"You're lying." Sal said confidently.

"Am I? My mother's a metamorphmagus just like me." Atria changed her hair from blue to black and let her face take its normal shape. She knew she looked like a young Bellatrix Lestrange and Sal saw it too. His eyes widened a fraction despite his clear determination that he wasn't going to show emotion.

"And now you're with them?" Sal said wildly, his eyes ablaze with hatred. "Your mother will hate you."

Atria gritted her teeth. "Her opinion is no longer important to me."

"She's going to kill you." He taunted and Atria inhaled sharply. She didn't have a response to that so instead she flicked her wand and without muttering a word, a blue spark flew out and hit Sal sending him flying back.

"Avada Kevadra!" The other Death Eaters started shouting every curse in the book. Aurors countered their spells and tried to disarm them. Lights and colors were flying and Atria ducked and dodged curses.

She thought about Ron and Scorpius going to face her mother. She had to join them. Atria looked at Harry who was working with Draco to take down one of the Death Eaters. Sal was back in the fight a moment later and was clearly gunning for her.

"Harry, I have to help Scorpius!" She shouted over the explosions.

"Go! We can handle them." He replied and flung a hex at a Death Eater.

Atria took off and she heard Sal roar behind her, but she knew the Aurors would keep him occupied. She had to think, the house was changing probably because of all the new people, but there had to be a way to find the hidden staircase.

Normally it was off the main corridor of the west wing, but the kitchen was normally in the west wing and they had passed the kitchen ten minutes ago while they were in the north wing. Atria figured that was the best place to start. If the west wing and the north wing had been rearranged maybe the dungeon was now below the north wing.

But when she arrived to the main corridor of the north wing, there was no staircase. Atria groaned and thrust her fingers into her now red hair, pacing back and forth. She looked at the grand doors that led to flamboyant rooms and the pictures on the walls. She started down the corridor, thinking maybe it was in the south wing or east wing, because clearly it wasn't in the north wing.

Unless it was changing as she was searching in which case…

Hold on… Atria paused as she saw a painting of a long dark stone passage way. She had never seen that painting before and that wasn't unusual because there were so many, but it was strange to have a random picture of a stone hallway.

Atria's eyes widened, she slowly walked up to the large painting, as if afraid to hope that this was it. She didn't want to get too excited so she slowly reached out and touched the frame. Then she moved pulled the painting forward and it opened like a door.

The air rushed out of her lungs as it revealed a stone staircase at the end of the passageway. Now, she got excited because she heard voices at echoing through the tunnel. She rushed down the stairs, careful not to slips of the stone that was far too steep.

Like always, the entrance to the dungeon was dark but she could see light coming from the far side. Unfortunately the dungeon was so large so couldn't see anything in particular, but she heard Scorpius's voice.

There was some arguing and Atria ran on the tips of her toes. It would be better to get her mother by surprise. No doubt she was using Rose as a bargaining chip… if Rose was still alive. She lit her wand dimly and stayed close to the columns.

She kept her light pointed at the ground, waving it around slowly so that she could see where she was walking. As she got closer she heard two voices, two male voices and they seemed to be getting closer to her. She ducked behind one of the corridors when she heard an unfamiliar voice growl a threat.

She covered her nose, smelling a putrid stench and she noted a body lying against the wall of the dungeon. She wasn't the least bit surprised that the Death Eaters used this place to hold victims.

"Stay back or I'll-" Atria sprung out from behind the stone column, pointing her wand at the unfamiliar voice.

Atria's eyes widened and she saw the man gripping Rose, who was mostly unconscious, by the throat, with a wand held to her head. Scorpius and Ron were cautiously approaching them man, not wanting to startle him considering his leverage, but were clearly angling for a way to get Rose away from him.

And yet, all this faded from Atria's mind. "Daddy?" She whispered hoarsely, vaguely aware that she was smiling brokenly. Her father was alive! Granted her was about to kill Rose, but somehow all she could think about was that her dad was alive and her mother wasn't a killer.

It was irrational and a million thoughts crossed her mind. Like, why had her mom lied to her? She hadn't ever said outright that her father was dead, but it had been implied that she had offed him. Had her father just gotten sick of their family and decided to take off.

Except why was he back now, helping her mother?

"This is your father?" Scorpius choked. Atria hardly paid any attention to him.

"Where have you been? Why did you leave mum and me, but you're back now…" Her thoughts and words were completely scrambled. She had so many questions. "Daddy, let Rose go please!"

Her father looked at her with cold eyes. "Atria, princess, you must see how important this is! I thought better of you than to sink to their level." He case harsh looks at the two other men.

"Atria…" Ron said cautiously.

Atria looked at her father desperately. "Why would mum lie to me about you being dead? Why did you leave us?" She demanded. Her father's face softened.

"I never left you." He looked at her with clear and determined eyes.

Atria's mouth worked. "I thought mum killed you! I thought it drove her crazy, she completely changed after you left!" She shouted and anger boiled in her stomach. But something wasn't right…

Her dad looked at her with pity. "Atria, your mother couldn't have killed me if she tried." He said condescendingly. "And that made her weak. She was weakening you, confusing her priorities." He shook his head and dug his hands into Rose's throat. Scorpius took a step forward unknowingly, ready to pounce.

"I don't… that makes no sense!" Atria shouted, shaking her head frantically. As she did, she caught sight of the corpse. Her breath stopped. "No," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Atria, what…"

She screamed over Scorpius, "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!" Her father had the good sense to look alarmed, because if hadn't been for Rose, Atria would have killed him right there.

Instead, she flicked her wand, too horrified to mutter a curse, but it didn't matter. A gash opened on her father's hand, the one holding his wand. He immediately jerked his hand back and Atria lunged forward, knocking Rose away from him, tackling her father to the floor.

She was vaguely aware of Ron and Scorpius catching Rose, but all she could see was a haze of red around her father. He sent her flying off of him without saying anything and he raised his wand at her, looking frightened. Atria could only imagine how she looked, wild black hair, a look in eyes that would rival the deadliness of Bellatrix Lestrange, and a whole new level of despair.

Suddenly there was nothing to lose. "YOU KILLED MY MOTHER! Sectumsempra! Stupify! Crucio!" She shouted every curse that popped into her head, her actions fueled by rage.

Her father fired back with everything he had.

Scorpius and Ron were pulling Rose towards the exit. Atria concentrated on them leaving for a moment, so that the exit would appear in the stone wall. Scorpius turned back to look at her.

"GO!" She screamed.

"Your mother was weak! Her love was weakening you and I did what what necessary to keep that from happening." Her father shouted, sending silent curses her way. Atria ducked and rolled and sent a storm of fire at her dad.

"So what happened…" Atria screeched. "You pretended to be her?!"

Her father's hair went red and that only enraged Atria more. She wanted nothing to do with this man, no connection.

"I wanted to make you strong!" He hissed and she let out an open mouth sob.

"NO! YOU WANTED ME TO BE LIKE YOU! A killer." She snarled and whipped her wand around created a long whip that was aimed at decapitating her father.

"It looks like I succeeded, then." He said spitefully and flicked his wrist.

A stone bashed against her head, sending her stumbling to the ground. Atria spit blood out of her mouth and climbed to her feet. "Is this what you did to mum? You bashed her head in?" Atria touched her temple which was now bloody.

"SHE WAS ABANDONING ME! ABANDONING WHAT WE BELIEVED IN!" Her father's face was red with fury and his whole body was shaking. Atria laughed devilishly.

"Because you were wrong! BLOOD PURITY MEANS NOTHING!"

"It means everything! Magic should be kept in magical families. Otherwise we will become weak." Her father spat and he raised his wand.

"Do you think I'm weak?" Atria raised her eyebrows, breathing heavily.

Her father frowned. "I taught you to be strong."

"I'm not a pureblood."

He hesitated and then his resolved look came back. "Of course you are!"

"I'm not! Tom Riddle was a half blood and he's my grandfather! Bellatrix is my grandmother and Voldemort is my grandfather. Mum wasn't a pureblood and neither am I!" She seethed and her father roared viciously before letting loose a string of curses.

Atria felt the ground shake beneath her.

Her father's red curse collides with her blue one, she wasn't even sure what she had been think of when she cast the curse, only that her father was going to kill her. But something stronger was fueling Atria… revenge for her mother. She had loved her mum more than anything and he had taken it away from her!

The blue started to encompass the red sparks and her dad gritted his teeth. Atria narrowed her eyes and then flicked her wrist. The curse threw her father against the stone with a ringing crack.

Atria didn't realize for several moments that he was dead. But when she saw his open, lifeless eyes she lowered her wand.

She collapsed to the ground on, silent sobs racking her body. Even her cries sounded hoarse, like wailing whispers, and her head throbbed. Tears were falling from her eyes, but she didn't have the strength to wipe them away.

She looked between her father's body and her mother's corpse, which was mostly hidden by darkness. Atria knew it was a bad idea, but she stood up and went over to where her mother lay. She whispered, "lumos," and then looked at her mum.

Isis Lestrange was almost unrecognizable, except for the black hair that was dry and tangled. She was wearing one of her dresses and her skull was bashed in. Atria closed her eyes and took a deep breathing, trying to…

No, it was too late. She turned to the side and threw up. The gagging made her body tremble so much that she collapsed to the ground again. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there. She wanted to move her mum to a proper grave, but she felt the ground shake again.

Atria realized that the ground was literally shaking and the tunnel was vibrating, like something had exploded above them. She looked at her parents, thinking that their family home was being destroyed. It seemed so appropriate and Atria closed her eyes.

It was fitting that the first time they were all together… this would be the end result. One massive grave.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scorpius and Ron were on either side of Rose, dragging her through the corridors trying to find Harry, Draco, and the other Aurors. They ran into each other trying to escape the mansion.

The ground was shaking, pieces of the ceiling were falling and the house seemed ready to crumble into the ground at any minute. Scorpius was pretty sure this was corridor they had come down after getting past the foyer.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed. The group of Aurors had a prisoner with them, one of the Death Eaters they had been battling before. Harry let out a relieved sigh that quickly turned sour when another quake shook the ground.

"What's happening?" Scorpius shouted over the loud ruckus.

"The house is going to come down we have to get out of here." Harry yelled and they all made for the front door. Scorpius decided it was faster if he just carried Rose, so he scooped her up and started sprinting down the steps and down the path. Everyone raced out of the house and Scorpius saw a side of the house crumble, then the freaking rose bush started attacking attacked.

A funny thought crossed his mind, running for his life. He was protecting his Rose from a bunch of roses. An Auror stumbled, but his father helped the woman up and then kept racing away from the impending explosion. Once they were out of the danger zone, Scorpius turned back.

He watched in horror, at Castel Lestrange collapsed on itself, the ground seemed to be swallowing the entire house. With the realization that Atria hadn't followed him and Ron out, he nearly dropped Rose. Instead he shoved her into the arms of whoever was closest.

"Scorpius!" He father shouted as he started to make a dash back to the house. Smoke and dust was rising from the pile of brick and stone. The mansion was completely razed. His father and an Auror held him back.

"You can't go back!" His father shouted, wrapping an arm around Scorpius's chest.

Scorpius struggled against the hold. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! Atria didn't make it!" The last part was shouted hoarsely and his voice sounded like a dreadful whisper. He breathed heavily as the last standing part of the house fell.

A burst of dust erupted and then… silence.

Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut.

Slowly the hands holding him back disappeared. He opened his eyes and looked for Rose. Her father was now holding her, setting her on the ground so his dad could look at her. He knelt next to her, brushing back pieces of her hair.

Her lips were blue and her cheek was cold. He looked at his father anxiously. "Will she be alright?" His father took her pulse and felt her forehead.

"We need to get her back to St. Mungo's. She's unconscious and it's worrying me that she hasn't woken up, even with all the noise." His father said and Scorpius's heart lurched. He had to tell her how he felt.

He need to tell her… his throat burned and his eyes prickled… he needed to tell her that Atria was sorry and that Atria loved her too. But going to Mungo's… that meant seeing Albus and Amanda, having to explain why Attie wasn't back with them.

Scorpius looked down at Rose. Today should have been a victory; they had taken down the deadliest Death Eater out there, probably dismantled the entire scheme, and had captured one Death Eater to take back for interoggation in case there was something they were missing. Yet, all Scor could think of was that his whole world had been turned upside down.

Atria's mother was dead, likely her father too, and Atria herself…

His vision got blurted and he stood up suddenly, taken a deep breath and blinking rapidly. "We should go." His voice sounded rough and broken.

Ron lifted Rose and they prepared to go back to St. Mungo's.