"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" Hermione asked Ron as she looked away from the door that had been slammed in her face.
Ron shrugged as he pulled over his hood and handed Hermione the other cloak. "Caden will be fine here. Like you said, 'Azkaban is no place for children'."
She followed Ron downstairs to the front door where Ginny was waiting for them. Roland's trial would be held tomorrow afternoon. If he was found guilty of any crimes he committed, he would no longer have any visitation rights. Hermione wiped her eyes, thinking about what would happen if he was sent to Azkaban for good. She would never see him again.
It was even horrible the way Caden had acted when she had to break the news to him. Like her, he was upset that his father was being tried, but angry when he heard he would not be able to visit him. It first the argument seemed harmless. He demanded to know why he could not go, but he got worse when she and Ron told him that he was not old enough to go to Azkaban. For a moment, Hermione could have sworn his eyes were blood-red when a plate went whizzing by their heads. Caden ended up yelling that he hated her for not letting him go and used all of his energy into making sure that when the door closed, she could hear it. Unfortunately her face felt it too and she was hurt even further when Caden did not bother to see whether or not she was alright.
Ron watched as the battle in her mind showed on her face and in her eyes. He could tell she was having second thoughts about the trip to Azkaban and was thinking about maybe taking Caden as well. He growled quietly. After that behavior he displayed, why would she want to bring him? That whole argument that had played right before Ron's eyes told him that if Caden could suddenly act that way, why not this Roland? He had not forgotten his first meeting with the man, involving him on top of the only girl he had ever truly loved.
Harry had been the one that brought up the idea for Hermione to go and visit Roland while she still could. Ginny wanted to go to thank him for whatever he had done for her in the past, which was still a mystery to everyone. Though it was his idea, Harry could not go because he was starting his new job today. This left only Ron to make sure everyone got from point A to point B and back again. As much as he objected to even going near Roland, much less going to Azkaban as well, Ron went anyways, for Hermione's sake.
"Are we ready?" Ginny asked them once they were down the stairs. Ron glanced over at Hermione, who nodded. He reluctantly did as well. Ginny smiled and all three of them apparated towards the shore of the North Sea.
It was raining so hard when they arrived that they were soaked to the bone in an instant. The clouds above were dark and heavy, making it appear to be night instead of day. The wind was blowing hard and the waves were crashing loudly against the shore. Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief when she noticed a tiny wooden boat fighting the waves with a little old man wearing a raincoat inside it coming towards them.
"That's what we're riding in?" She yelled over the roar of the wind. Ron, barely noticeable under his hood, nodded grimly.
The old man greeted them and helped them inside the boat. Some how he was able to row them the entire distance to the prison without getting tired or causing anyone to go over board. As the prison's figure came into view, Hermione began to shiver furiously as did everyone else. She could see Ron's breath under his hood.
Ginny thanked the old man and paid him with three galleons. She led Ron and Hermione up to the prison as though she went there every week. Hermione tried to warm herself as they got closer and closer towards the gate. After Lord Voldemort's reign of terror, the dementors were taken back to Azkaban and were under oath that none of them could leave their posts unless order by a majority of the Ministry of Magic. Hermione felt something heavy being placed on her shoulders and looked up to see that Ron had given her his cloak.
"It's not much, but perhaps it'll help," he said to her with a reassuring smile. Hermione returned him, thanking him silently.
They went inside the prison and it was not much better. Hermione felt the familiar feeling of no longer being cheerful ever again as she entered the fortress. Inside, she could hear murmurs from around the corner, the sound of dripping water, and an occasional scream that would make her and Ron jump. Ginny walked up to a nearby dementor, making sure her face was expressionless.
"Where's Roland?" She asked it. The dementor tilted its head under its hood, perhaps wondering who she was looking for.
Ginny kept a straight face and tried again. "Where's the Dark Lord's son?"
The dementor did not respond at first. After a moment, it slowly began to glide down the hall to its left. Hermione and Ron exchanged glances before following Ginny and the dementor. Hermione dared not to look at the prisoners as she passed. She heard them muttering nonsense to her left and her right. She kept her eyes on the stone floor and followed Ron's feet up a staircase and down another hall to her left.
The group suddenly stopped, causing Hermione's head to look up from the ground. The dementor was now pointing to a cell to its right where two other dementors were stationed. Hermione, forgetting that they were there, ran up to the cell. Inside, it was dark and cold and she could barely make anything out.
"Roland?" She whispered, looking around frantically for him. He did not answer or make any sounds of movement. Ron hesitantly crouched down beside her, took a quick look in the cell, and rubbed her back as Hermione kept her eyes on the darkness.
Ginny bit her lip before turning to one of the dementors. "He's not…?"
One of them shook its head under its cloak. "No," it said in a cold, scratchy voice. "This one is still alive."
"Roland?" Hermione tried again and said his name a little louder.
There came a sound of something moving around on the dry hay that had been placed on the floor. Ron's hand left Hermione's back and he glared at the source of the sound. Roland suddenly appeared across from Hermione. He did not smile, probably because of the dementors, but just to see him made Hermione's heart leap. The dementors instantly became tense beside her, but they fought the urge to move.
"Hermione… you're here." Roland said softly and somewhat confused. His vision was a bit blurry, but he knew her voice anywhere. "Caden's not here, is he?"
He was able to make out her head shaking. Roland hesitantly moved towards her and touched her face, feeling how cold she was. He could feel her shivering making him frown.
"You shouldn't have come, Hermione." He told her. "You're as cold as death. I don't want to be sitting here thinking you're sick while I'm stuck here and could do nothing about it."
"Roland, I'm fine," She told him and held his hand in hers. He looked down and was able to make it out. He placed a kiss on her hand and looked into what he assumed was her eyes. His desperately tried to stay awake to see her, even though he was extremely tired from the night before when several Ministry officials, reporters, and for some reason, protesters were yelling at him outside his cell.
Hermione frowned when she noticed his attempts at staying awake. "What happened? Are you alright?"
He gave her a small smile. "I'll be alright. I'm just tired."
Roland's eyes slowly wandered over from Hermione to the two redheads behind her. He could not help but glare at the one with the shorter hair, knowing it was the man who had attacked him the night before and landed him here in Azkaban. If he was not mistaken, the man was glaring back and would occasionally glance over at Hermione with concern. Roland gave him a real warning look at this.
The next redhead was a woman based upon how long her hair was and the style he was able to make out. As his eyes came into focus, Roland inhale sharply when he realized it was the woman he had seen the night before. He had instantly recognized her, even though her face had aged and she looked more like a woman now. She gave him the same smile when he had seen her last.
"I– you…" He started, but could not find any words to say to her.
The woman crouched down next to Hermione and hesitantly looked into his eyes. "I just wanted to thank you for all you did." She said slowly.
Roland did not reply for a moment. He knew deep down what he did was the right thing, but he often regretted it. Upon instinct, Roland traced his scar with his free hand. It caused the woman to look down from him.
"We all know what you did was brave and maybe even hard for you," she continued. "But it really meant a lot to us."
Perhaps it was in his blood, but for a moment Roland glared at her. A little voice entered his mind telling him to tell her that he regretted doing it. It told him that because of them, his face was now scarred forever. But another stronger, louder voice urge him to say,
"You're welcome." He told the woman shortly. She frowned when she heard the rather forced tone in his voice but said nothing. Roland turned his attention back to Hermione and kissed the back of her hand once more, ignoring the confused look on her face.
"Hermione, as much as I love you and want you to stay, you need to leave before you get sick." He told her. When she opened her mouth to protested as did Roland to reply, Ron put his hand on Hermione's shoulder, making Roland growl at him.
"Hermione, we need to get going anyways. The man's waiting for us at the shore." He paused for a moment before hastily adding, "You'll see him tomorrow at the trial."
"I can't believe you choose that brat to do the torture the prisoners!" He stopped in his place when he heard the words 'brat' and 'torture' emerge from the other room. Roland gulped and silently walked over to the slightly opened door and looked inside. He saw the back of his father's chair, Pettigrew, the Lestranges along with Mr. Malfoy gathered together in his father's study.
"Wormtail, would you kindly open the door and let my son in?" came his father's voice.
Roland's eyes widened as he watched Pettigrew approach the door. Roland was frozen in his place to move away and back towards his own room, where he was originally heading. Pettigrew grabbed Roland roughly by the shoulders and dragged him into the room, which looked rather odd seeing a six foot man being pushed around by someone more than a head shorter than him. Roland fixed his robes before looking at his father, wondering what he had to do this time.
His father's voice came once again from behind the chair. "So, boy, as you kindly heard from Bellatrix, you'll be in charge of the prisoners during their time here."
He tilted his head and could not help but wonder why his father all of a sudden chose him to do this sort of job as he had never really done anything of the sort before. Roland glanced at the people around him before quietly asking, "Which group are we talking about here?"
"Rodolphus and Lucius will show you to your assignments." Voldemort told him. Roland looked over at Malfoy and Lestrange with a hint of interest in his eyes. Lucius gave him a disgusted look and left the room without waiting to see if Rodolphus or Roland would follow him. Roland gave his father's chair a doubting look before he left. His eyes caught Bellatrix's, who looked as though she was trying to zap him with her eyes.
Roland walked at a fast pace to catch up with the two older men. He began to calm down once he was beside Rodolphus, who was giving him a good look as they walked.
"So your father thinks you're ready to play with the big boys," Rodolphus started out. "It's about time, huh Roland?"
Roland could not help but glare at the man. He was somewhat ashamed that his father did not think he was worthy enough to take part in some of their missions. Maybe his father asked for him because he finally thought he was good enough. Maybe it was because of the fact that Roland was now 22 and he knew he needed more young blood to add to his army. Or maybe it was because he had recently lost a large amount of death eaters and they need replacing.
"You'll be in charge of everyone in there," Lucius said to him shortly once they arrived at a steel door a few moments later. Roland looked passed him and tried to see if he could see any of the prisoners, but there was no window to look through.
Lucius left without another word and Rodolphus gave Roland a smirk before leaving him to his duties. Roland took a deep breath before using his wand to open the door. He was instantly taken back by what he saw inside. He hesitantly took a step forward as though he could not believe they were real.
About twenty kids, maybe the oldest was a year younger than him, were staring back at him as though he was the bringer of death. Some of them backed away while other glared at him. All of them looked tired, cold, and dirty. Several were whimpering and some were trying to calm each other down. There were ever some kids were looking as though they were going to fight him with their fists and hoped they win. After all, he was only one man, but he did have a wand in his hand.
Roland's eyes fell upon a girl with flaming red hair, who was giving him the most disgusted look he had ever seen. She was with a boy with light brown, almost blonde, hair and was shorter than her, but they looked the same age. The boy was not looking at Roland but rather another body beside him. From what Roland could tell, the boy was in tears.
He took a step back out of the cell. How could he torture those children the way his father wanted him to? Most of them were probably tortured enough just by being here. How did his father get those children anyways? The girl with red hair glared at Roland as he tried to figure out what to do with them.
"If you're here to kill us, do it quick." She told him.
Roland looked up from the floor and at her. "I'm not here to kill you."
"Fine, then torture us quickly." She snapped and crossed her arms. The boy next to her looked at her terrified, as did many of the others, like she had just signed their souls away.
Without thinking Roland shook his head and blurted out, "I'm not going to torture you."
He took a deep breath as he glanced down the hall, seeing if anyone was watching him. He knew he should not do this for his own sake, but he knew his father should not do this as well. Roland hastily went into the cell and slammed the door shut behind him.
Several of the children gasped as he walked by. The boy next to the redhead spoke up first, "What are you doing?" He demanded.
"I can't torture you like this." Roland answered. "I'm letting you go."
He quickly took out his wand and moved towards the back of the cell. Looking back at the kids, he once again took a deep breath and said to them, "If you're ever in a situation where you need to break someone out, here's what you do."
Roland used his wand and tapped the bricks in the center so they made a giant V. The walls trembled and moved out of the way. The children looked at him as though it were April Fool's Day and he was playing with them. None of them believed a death eater would do a thing like this. He looked at the door frantically before quickly trying to usher them out of the cell.
The redhead girl helped the boy next to her lift up another boy. Roland looked at the other boy and took noticed how much he looked like the other boy, perhaps his younger brother. He also took noticed that the younger brother was dead and his heart fell. Even though he had allowed them to escape they still sent him an angry look as they passed him.
Roland waited for a moment, making sure no one knew of the escape before returning the wall back to its normal position and opening the cell's door. He quietly left the hall and continued down another hall that lead towards his room. He was barely inside when he heard a loud voice right in front of him.
"ROLAND!!!" A flash of red light appeared in front of him and Roland's hand flew to his eye as he screamed in pain. It felt as though a knife was trying to cut his face open. But Roland felt no knife. He did, however, feel blood leak through his fingers and a deep wound that went vertically down his right eye. Roland fell down to his bedroom floor and blacked out as he saw his father's cloak walk by him.