Hiya guys, I would have written my next chapter sooner it's just I have been in London for the last couple of days, I did the Harry Potter Warner brothers studio tour and it was amazing! Anyway, thank you so much to my reviewers for my last chapter and to those of you who have also reviewed so far throughout my story it really means a lot and helps me to know that I should keep this story going so thank you. Just to warn you this chapter does have a few swear words used. As always please enjoy, thank you and if you have any feedback please review, thank you!
Chapter thirty-four: Castor's POV
The snake slithered slowly out of the skull etched in the night sky far above in the whistling wind and murky, nightshade sky above the house I called my home. The house that had moments before seen bloodshed, the house that now contained a widow who would soon be grieving and the suspected killer of her late husband: me. I shivered dangerously, clambering and crawling over to the very still, tattered remains of Edward Tonks. My hand fell to the tuffs of silky blonde hair protruding out from his head, my hands fell away sticky with his blood, the blood that had been shed by one of my father's various cutting curses. His eyes were dead, his lips lifted slightly into a triumphant smile, he really wasn't afraid to die. My heart beat fiercely against my chest as I stared at the corpse of the man who had raised me and protected me, the man that I could always turn to, who I respected and loved and cherished, the man who was my uncle but had always been more like a father to me.
The light clicked on upstairs and before I could do anything the pounding of feet on the stairs began to boom like the thudding of a war drum, as my fate rushed to meet me.
"Ted? Ted honey? Cas? Castor are you alright?" I scrambled away from his dead body, my eyes wide, my heart in my mouth, preparing for whatever was to come next. The door creaked open, seeming to take forever as my breathing became raggedy and jagged. In a flood of light I saw her, my aunt's eyes widened considerably, just as mine had done at the thought of her discovering her husband's dead body.
"Ted," her voice cracked half way through her husband's name, her knees shook as she fell to the ground beside him, clutching him tightly, "Ted," each word was a stab in the chest, a wound that was growing bigger and bigger. She seemed to have forgotten about me for the moment, the revelation that her husband had been brutally murdered had taken her over fully as I sat silently watching the scene unfold. Her eyes fell to the window in front of Ted's body and she saw the dark mark sign looming above the house, a bad omen, the sign of death. The scream that fell from her mouth, tumbling was high and shrill as her wand was clasped in her hand. "SHE DID THIS TO YOU DIDN'T SHE? MY OWN SISTER! I BET SHE LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT! THAT… THAT BITCH!" Between the mess of hair which had fallen lankly across my aunts face I could just make out the waterfall of tears streaming down her face as her voice verged on hysterical, I didn't blame her, if I was in her shoes I would feel the same. "She used to be so… so nice, she was my big sister… she'd always protect me… she-," my foot moved, scratching against the wooden floorboards.
In one swift movement her eyes had gone from staring at the dark, moody sky outside to me, the petrified boy doing his upmost to hide away in the corner, shivering with fright. My hands covered in Uncle Ted's blood. I had to admit it didn't look good, not in the slightest, I would suspect myself if I didn't already know the horrifying truth.
She scrambled up, her wand in hand, pointed straight at me, fresh tears glistening like dew drops in her eyes, "C-Castor… Castor… please… you killed him… you killed your own uncle," it was a statement I realized as my stomach plummeted, a statement not a question, "She can't bring you happiness Castor." I frowned as she continued, "Bellatrix, I know you want your mother but she's not really your mother. She can't care for you, love you, she's insane… she's a monster and she'll be going to Azkaban or she'll be dead. I never thought you'd be stupid enough to join the Death Eater's, I hoped we'd raised you better than that… stronger than that but I guess my sister's false promises proved too much for you. I'm sorry, the last thing I want to do is see you get hurt even further you foolish boy but you have to go to Azkaban now, you have to pay for this," her voice continued to crack and I could see in her eyes that it hurt her just as much that her husband was dead as it did the idea that I had killed him. That I had betrayed her, betrayed someone I loved and held so dearly for her mad monstrous bitch of a sister. For my mother who couldn't be my mother no matter how much I wanted her to be because she wasn't capable of caring for me because she was a Death Eater, a killer.
"Aunty Andy! You've got to listen to me… I promise, I didn't kill-," the simple shake of her head was enough to bring me to breaking point as she stopped my flow of words.
"Please, Cas, don't make it harder than it already is. I don't want to hurt you," in one swift spell she sealed my fate, I didn't blame her still, in the truth that she believed, I sure as hell deserved to pay and to think that she was being so polite, so calm as she spoke to me, the person she believed had just killed her husband. My aunt was an incredible woman. In that one spell she had summoned the aurors, "They'll be here any second Castor. Please don't fight this, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you." The words Sirius had uttered to my mother before her fate was sealed and now the same words were being said to me. Like a light switch turning on in my brain at those words I sprung into action, I didn't want to die or be cooped up in Azkaban like Sirius for a crime I didn't commit. I knew full well there would be no chance of the truth serum being used to me, not when the ministry and corrupt, not when that cost money, not when Fudge was scared and wished to be seen to be doing a good job of cleaning up the Death Eater's and keeping us all safe, not when I had the dark mark burning on my forearm.
On my feet I began to back away, I would prove it to my aunt eventually I knew, that I was innocent. That I loved her and Uncle Ted and my cousin the same as I always had, that I wasn't a Death Eater.
"Cas, please… I don't want to hurt you!" I could almost see her heart ripping into pieces as she pointed her wand straight at me, I continued to back away, edging closer to the door. "Castor!" She yelled her hand shaking as I turned and ran, no spells were fired, my aunt couldn't do it and I hoped that it was because in some part of her mind she knew that I was innocent. That I hadn't killed Uncle Ted. I sighed, I was still dressed in my pajamas, the crusted blood from my busted nose staining my upper lip and face, I pushed my glasses higher up on my nose. What the hell was I going to do now? As of this moment… I was a fugitive.
I continued to run, as fast as my legs would carry me, fighting against the burning pain spreading through me, then there was the faint clicking of shoes behind me, whirling round like a rabbit in the headlights I found a cloaked figure greeting me.
"Castor! You really do look a real mess!" The voice of my mother sighed as internally I groaned, she licked her finger, trying to wipe some of the blood off before pulling out her own wand and casting a spell unknown to me as I felt a painful jolt as my nose clicked back into place, fixed. "Did you not think to wipe the blood off your face? Did my little sister really teach you nothing of pureblood etiquette?" I rejected the urge to roll my eyes due to the sheer crisis at hand.
"Oh sorry mother! Maybe I was preoccupied with the fact that… oh I don't know? BY TOMORROW THE WHOLE OF WIZARDING BLOODY BRIATIAN IS GOING TO THINK I KILLED TED TONKS! THE FACT I WILL BE ON A WANTED LIST WITH MY FACE PLASTERED EVERYWHERE! THE FACT I JUST HAD TO WATCH MY POOR AUNT GRIEVE OVER THE MANGLED BODY OF HER DEAD HUSBAND!" I seethed, breathing heavily.
"Merlin's beard, I was only asking, if I didn't know better I would think you were suffering from bad PMS," she sighed at me, looking vaguely at her nails.
"What are you doing here anyway? How did you find me? If anyone sees you, you'll be locked away for good!" I whispered, my eyes darting around nervously at the thought.
"Actually, you found me, the dark lord told us to split up to evade any resistance we might encounter and then I happened to stumble upon you after I apparated so I hurried up my pace to catch you," lucky me I thought sarcastically, "And it doesn't matter much. A few aurors come looking for me a few killing curses should do the trick." I gawped at her as she smiled at me, "The sky looks nice tonight."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I yelled at her, my arms flailing about.
"No I'm Bella-," she began but I growled and her face fell at the thought of her cousin but she quickly brushed it off, pretending as though she hadn't felt any emotion at his name. "Well my son, now that you are officially part of the most wanted club, you'll need to go into hiding."
"Mum I'm going to prove my innocence to everyone! Prove that my bastard of a father did it! I don't need help from you, someone who helped get me into this mess!" I growled.
Hair fell in front of her eyes, "I know… you were brave, I was proud of you… you didn't give into the demands that were set, you didn't want to kill Ted." I was surprised, thinking she would be upset I hadn't killed him, calling me weak, calling me a traitor for wanting to save a 'mudblood'. "I can see you are loyal and I know that my sister and her husband have raised you… well," she sighed at this, at complimenting what she believed to be a traitor and a mudblood, "It is clear you really loved and love them. I'm sorry that we, that I have now taken them away from you. I'm sorry to have gotten you into this situation but you need to trust me now, you have to stay low for a while. Then maybe you can try and settle the truth."
I bit my lip, feeling the shivers running through me begin to become bad again, "Mum I." I had no words for her on what she had just said, that she was proud of me, "So you wouldn't care… dad going to Azkaban?"
"No, I've never… I've never loved your father, much rather him than you," she looked at me, straight in the eye, "I did want you to join the Death Eater's, to be a true pureblood but… I care about you getting hurt more. Azkaban, death… I don't want either of those for you. I'm proud that you have the dark mark on your arm, even if you didn't choose it but I don't want you to go away for it, even if my lord planned for you to be the pawn for that attack," I sighed, she still wanted the Death Eater life for me, just not the risks. I could work on her views though, I hoped, still she was rather stubborn.
I groaned, my head overflowing with thoughts, "Get me to safety then?" I whispered nervously. She nodded grasping my hand as I prepared to take a wild stab into the unknown. As I prepared to dance with fate. I grasped my locket, thinking of my friends, if anything I had to find a way to make them understand, the chance of them listening after tomorrow though was very slim.
Okay thank you guys, I hope you enjoyed, please review, thanks for reading!