This will be the last update for a while... I'm going on holiday.
This chapter is pretty short, compared to what I've written before. However, a lot of thought and work went into this one... I hope it shows.
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Disclaimer: I own many things. Some of them are copies of the Harry Potter books. Does that mean I own Harry Potter? No, silly!
Chapter 3: What Happened
"It was – was very different from what I'd thought. Working for the Dark Lord, I mean. Well, I guess I never thought much about it at all, before. I thought about things I heard from my father, I thought about the power, the respect... but I never thought about actually working for him. About what I'd be doing.
"Well, you remember last year. I had my duty. It was so exciting at first... I'd just joined, just barely begun my service, and I'd already been given an important mission! I was trusted, I had respect! I thought I'd been... well, this will sound really stupid. I thought that I was 'the chosen one'. Stupid, stupid. It wasn't until – well. Anyways, I wasn't supposed to finish. Or even get as close as I did. I learned that, later.
"So, after Dumbledore was... well, that summer,my father came back, and all the people from Azkaban. But things were different. The Dark Lord came to the manor and- well, things were different. We weren't... in good grace. I guess. He was the lord of the manor, we were... tools. Or fools. I sometimes couldn't tell; there was a very thin line between the two.
"Before, I had never really thought about the title which I had been so eager to accept. Death Eater. You know how you sometimes hear a word, and never really think of what it means 'cause you thought that it didn't really mean that, that it was just a – a... Well, like Hogwarts. Did you ever think that was a funny name for a school? I didn't, not until this summer. I... thought about a lot this summer. Anyways, just think. Death... Eater. What does that mean? One who – who savors death, who needs it, who survives on it? I had... never thought of that. It had always been just a title, a title, nothing more... a word for people I respected, people who I thought knew something that I didn't.
"That title became very real. I saw – saw..."
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"...s-sorry, I... d-don't..."
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"I – I saw things. I d-did things. I... spent a lot of time in a room, a n-narrow little room with the Dark Lord and people that had made mistakes and made him angry people like me and I did things and I-"
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"I- I went b-back to Hogwarts. I didn't have to. I did. I just needed to – to get out of the manor. But then I c-couldn't look at Professor Snape, and I couldn't talk to anyone who knew about... I couldn't talk. And I never got letters from home. Not once. Mother had always... Well, I didn't know what was happening, if something was wrong, if they were... The newspapers said nothing. I couldn't take it anymore, so I went home for Easter. I didn't plan on going back to school afterwards.
"It was very quiet. He – the Dark Lord – was gone. I didn't know where. I didn't care, as long as he was gone... it was just m-mother and father and me, and Aunt Bella, and that was all. Oh, and Wormtail. And... well. I guess it felt like it was just us. But it was so wonderful, they were both alright, and I had been so worried... it was so wonderful.
"Then you showed up.
"I just wanted you all to disappear. Of course I recognized you, by the way. Please. But it was all wrong, I was happy, and then you all were dragged in, and suddenly Fenrir Greyback and the others were there... and they were going to call the Dark Lord... I couldn't take that. I just couldn't.
"But I couldn't lie, either. I am... decent at occlumency. Good enough to... not tell the truth. But I'm not- not like Professor Snape or Aunt Bella, or anything! I can't... I did what I could. It didn't really matter, anyways. After Aunt Bella saw the sword, I mean, it didn't matter.
"After that... well, when I saw you, uh, Granger, where I had seen... I don't know! It just seemed like... like everything was all wrong, like it was when that p-professor was hanging there above the – the... oh, I don't know! I put my hands in my pockets and well, I guess I hadn't cleaned them for a while, 'cause there was some leftover darkness powder in them. (I don't wear these trousers often, see.) I – I didn't think, I just wanted it all to stop! I threw the powder and... oh, I can't even remember! But you were there, I guess, so... anyway.
"I just remember suddenly being there, standing before a window, hearing shattering glass, watching shards of it glinting as they fell. Watching you all fly out, escape. And I realized – I-I knew... my family... knew that the Dark Lord would – my father, my m-mo-"
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"I thought if I stayed, I could... explain. Could fix it. Or, I didn't really think that, but I needed that, I just needed it to all... go. Just go. So I left. I ran... I'm not some stupid hero! I just, I – I... Well, I met Aunt Bella, down on the floor below the attic. She was... mad. Yeah. She pulled her wand before I – before I could even open my mouth to explain... so I ran. Again. I heard her screaming behind me, so I panicked and disapparated, not really caring where I landed... I ended up outside.
"I saw you all, on the grounds, looking clueless. I... I don't know why, but I helped you again, as I'm sure you remember. Then I went back... I told myself I was going back to stay, but I knew that was a lie, that I'd n-never be back, not really... So I changed into something warmer, before flying out to join you.
"And here I am. Here I f-freakin' am. And if you need any more help, I guess I'll freakin' give it to you. What other choice do I have? I can't go back. I can't g- I'll help you, if you want me. It's all I can do, now. If I help you end this lousy war, help you put the Dark Lord back in – back in his place, then it'll all just go back to normal, won't it? I'll be able to go home again, won't I? Father and Mother, they have no great love for the Dark Lord. Not... not anymore. I don't either. So, yeah. I'll help. And you can trust me to be loyal and all that crap... I just want this all to be over. To just... end. I want... I want this over as much as you do, so count me in.
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ThisBirdTooHasFlown speaking: If there is something that you'd like to see happen in the story, please drop a review. I know, pretty much, how it's all going to come together, but I'm open for suggestions all the same. Also, review if you:
a) like the way the story's going
b) dislike the way the story's going
c) notice inconsistancies and mistakes.
I want to make the best story possible, but I'm a bad judge of my own work. A little biased, see? So all help is appriciated!