Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
It was done. Marcus thought as he nursed a glass of Firewhiskey in the common room of Lux Manerium.
Lucius Malfoy had not lasted for long as Ghost, Spirit and Phantom broke through his wards. Ted Tonks was not a specialist in warding and curse-breaking for nothing, after all. He had first made sure that none of the occupants could escape before breaking through Malfoy's wards by using his wife's blood to weaken them. Andromeda may have been disowned as a result of Lucius' manipulations, but they could not erase the Black from her blood.
And so they had broken through and incapacitated half a dozen Death Eaters, most of them escapees from Azkaban and new recruits. Half of them were taken into custody for evaluation while the other half killed on the spot after short duels.
The duel with Lucius Malfoy had taken a lot longer.
Malfoy was a skilled duelist, but they had the advantage of a surprise and Marcus had finished him off with a flesh-eating curse. Narcissa Malfoy had been taken into custody as well and same would be done for their son as the school year ended. There was a chance they could still be redeemed, the boy especially.
If not, they would follow Lucius' path.
Marcus was not happy with himself for how he had acted.
He did not regret it, no. He would never regret taking revenge for his wife and daughter, but he had done just what he had told Sky not to do. He had acted recklessly and rashly, going in to an unknown territory with only Ghost and Spirit as backup. What if there had been more Death Eaters at the Manor? What if Voldemort himself had been there? He could have gotten them all killed.
But he had not been thinking clearly. He had been so affected by Dumbledore's words.
"You failed to protect them, Marcus, didn't you? You let Lucius Malfoy murder them."
Marcus hadn't known Malfoy was the one behind it. He had never been able to find out. And Dumbledore had known all along.
It made Marcus angry. He had always loathed the old coot and now he hated him even more.
"Out of all the stupid things to do!" Sky burst into the room seething with Dora trailing behind him.
Marcus winced knowing he deserved every word that would come out of his son's mouth.
"'You need to think before you act, Sky. This is no time for rash decisions, Sky'" Sky stared at him his emerald eyes blazing. "Isn't that what you said to me?" He spat. "And now you go and off Lucius Malfoy with only Ghost and Spirit at your back?! How could you be so stupid! Do you have any idea what would have happened if you had failed?" He ranted angry tears prickling his eyes.
"I'm sorry Sky." Marcus sighed feeling the pressure on his chest. He had caused his son to worry. "You're right, it was stupid and reckless, but I don't regret that I did it."
"Just... Just tell me why." Sky pleaded suddenly looking exhausted. "What did Lucius Malfoy do so that you decided it was a good idea to forgo all sense and reason and break into his heavily warded Manor to kill him?"
"He killed Marié and Mia." Marcus whispered.
"That's what that bastard Dumbledore told you today." Sky stated understanding dawning on him.
"Yes."
Silence fell between them before Sky sighed and hugged him.
"Just don't ever do anything like that again, Dad." He mumbled into his shoulder and Marcus smiled. It was as if Sky was the father and he the son and not the other way around.
"I promise."
"What exactly happened to your wife and daughter? If you don't mind me asking." Dora said. "And why do you hate Dumbledore so much?" She asked curiously.
"That's quite a long story." Marcus sighed.
"Will you tell it to us?"
Marcus thought it over for a moment before agreeing.
It was time.
"Very well." He said sipping his whiskey before beginning. "I met Dumbledore for the first time in 1955 a couple of months before the duel between him and Grindelwald. I was only five, but I still remember it like it was yesterday – he's not exactly someone you can easily forget. Anyway, my parents and I attended one of these social gatherings that were typical for the time and Dumbledore was there. And he was… well, he was everything he pretends to be now: kind and friendly, passionate about Muggle rights, loved teaching and children. He told us children, stories about Hogwarts and sneaked us candy when our parents weren't around to see." Marcus chuckled.
"Wait a second; this is Dumbledore we're talking about, right?" Dora interrupted.
"Yes. But this was when he still was everything he appears to be now."
"How do you know?" Dora insisted. She wasn't willing to forgive Dumbledore for what he'd done to Sky, no matter what was said about him.
"I have always been good at reading people." Marcus said. "I have always known, even back then, when someone isn't sincere and Dumbledore was."
Folding her arms Dora nodded and told him to continue.
"Anyway, that was my first meeting with him. Of course I heard and read about him during the next years as he became famous for the duel with Grindelwald, but didn't meet him again until I started my Hogwarts years. I noticed right away that there was something different about him. It was like there was this Dark air around him, but it was nowhere near as Dark as it is now. During the years of my Hogwarts' education the air around him got darker and darker and the façade he put up begun to feel fake, but there was really no-one I could have told about my observations as everyone was blinded by his greatness so I just let it go and got on with my own life.
"My parents were killed when I was few months sort of becoming an adult and I was taken in by Charlus and Dorea Potter, who were close friends with my parents. I spent the summer with them and finished my last school year at Hogwarts. I was still mourning the death of my parents and was full of anger against their murderers – who never were caught – by the time I graduated, so Charlus suggested that I take a year off and leave the country to sort my feelings out and see the world and by the time I would come back he would have a job for me should I choose to accept it. I took his advice and left the country travelling around, spending a few weeks in one country before moving to another.
"I had been travelling for nine months when I went to France. That's where I met Marié Debroux. The kindest, most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I fell head over heels in love with her from the first moment I met her and she too was very taken with me. I stayed in France for the rest of my trip and spent every day with her. By the time I had to leave she had helped me overcome my feelings of hate towards my parents' killers and turn it into energy and motivator to apply myself. I loved her more than anything in the world but I had to leave and she couldn't come with me, so we parted ways and I returned to England.
"Charlus was waiting for me and like he'd promised he had a job offer for me. I was introduced to the Department of Mysteries and begun my training. I was very motivated by my anger and used it in my training and six years later I was one of the best agents the DoM had to offer."
"What about Marié?" Dora asked.
"I met Marié again when I was twenty-five. I was injured badly on a mission and was brought to Saint Mungos and when I finally woke up after three days of unconsciousness there she was. I remember thinking I was dead and she was an angel." Marcus chuckled. "Though, in my defense I was pretty high on potions." Marcus said and the others laughed.
"Anyway, she told me she had moved to Britain the year before after her parents were killed and was now working as a healer in the hospital. We talked about everything during my stay there and admitted that our feelings for each other hadn't changed, so we got back together. Less than a year later I asked her to marry me and she said yes.
"Around that time I also found out more about her family. It turned out that Marie was related to Dumbledore. In fact, she was the second daughter of Dumbledore's only daughter."
"What?!" Dora exclaimed. "Dumbledore was her grandfather?"
"Yes. Needless to say that I was shocked, but that didn't change my feelings of her. One can't choose their family after all."
"Did she know that Dumbledore was… going Dark?" Sky asked not looking surprised at learning Dumbledore's connection to him.
"Not per se. She told me that she had met Dumbledore only a few times in her life when she was little. It appears that Dumbledore and her wife had had an arranged marriage because Dumbledore needed a child to continue the Dumbledore line. Marie told me that according to her mum Dumbledore had been a good father and a loving grandfather although he hadn't been home that much because of his job at Hogwarts. After the duel with Grindelwald though, everything had changed. Dumbledore visited his family less and less until it stopped altogether when his wife took a divorce from him a few years later. After that he cut all ties to his family."
"A bit strange how he'd just abandon his family like that." Sky said and Dora agreed.
"But this doesn't explain why you hate him so much." Dora said and Marcus nodded.
"When Voldemort's Era started truly escalating Dumbledore was trying to recruit people against Voldemort to his own order, the Order of Phoenix and I was one of the people who he contacted. And that was how he found out I was married to Marié. I refused to work under him, but he managed to convince Marié to join him. I tried to tell her that it wasn't a good idea, but she insisted that this was her chance to reunite with her grandfather. There was nothing I could do to change her mind so I did the only thing I could and made Dumbledore swear he would protect her.
"In 1981 the Death Eaters were targeting the Order members and Dumbledore insisted that he provide a safe house for Marié and Mia, even though I was against it as our house was protected by ancient charms that not even Dumbledore was able to get through. Charlus had died only weeks before and as his apprentice I had been named the new Head. I was busy working at the DoM and found out only days after their move that Dumbledore had convinced Marié to move away from our house into a safe house that was supposedly protected by blood charms. I went to see her and tried to convince her to come back to the safety of our home, but she trusted her grandfather to keep her and our daughter safe. And that was the last time I ever saw her or my daughter. They were killed two days later." Marcus finished tears in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry Marcus." Dora said tears in her eyes and Sky squeezed his father's shoulder in comfort.
"I never found out who did it despite my investigation." Marcus continued.
"Until today." Sky said, and Marcus nodded.
"Until today." He agreed. "Then before I had time to process the loss of my wife and daughter, the news of Voldemort's supposed demise and your parents' death reached me and I went to investigate. I knew he was not dead and one day would return but I could not continue. In a course of few weeks I had lost everyone important to me and I didn't find it in me to keep fighting. And so I left."
"Thank you for telling us." Dora smiled.
"I should have told you long ago, especially you, son." Marcus looked at him.
"It's fine, Dad." Sky reassured.
"I love you, son."
"I love you too, Dad."
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review and tell me what you think.
- Dalnim