Hiya guys! I know that I left Fudge in charge for a little longer than is cannon but that is soon to be changed with Rufus becoming the minister! Okay thanks guys once again for reading! Please review!
Chapter thirty-five: Castor's POV
The night was cold and dark as I found myself in front of a large, looming building which oozed negativity and darkness. I sighed, I would miss Sirius's will reading now, with me being on the run, I let out a deep sigh and my mother noticed, raising one of her dark eyebrows at me.
"I know, I know it doesn't have much on the Black family estates but if you could restrain your distain for the moment Castor I would be rather pleased," she said as I realized that we were gazing upon the Lestrange Manor. The same one she had kept me contained in after the battle, I shuddered slightly.
"Won't dad… won't he be home?" I gulped, not wanting my insane father to find me, being with my mother who seemed to be helping me even though I was of the light side, even going as far as betraying her lord by helping me evade Azkaban, was one thing but having my father who wanted me locked up, like the dark lord wanted, find me would not end well.
"Probably not, we've been hiding at Malfoy Manor with my sister and your darling cousin for a while now. As well as going to other places, wherever the dark lord wishes. It's better for us Death Eater's to stay closer together at this time, safety in numbers," my mother whispered quickly before forcibly dragging me forward, her grip a little too tight on my arm, to the front door.
"Mum," I said again as she let out a strangled cry of frustration at my persistent questioning, "You do know that you are pretty much betraying the dark lord don't you… by helping me escape Azkaban… you're going against his wishes…," I whispered, almost afraid she would realize and turn on me. Leaving me to be captured or fend for myself.
She shook her head, "All my life I've served the dark, I am still loyal but my son… you mean more to me than even my powerful master. I don't wish to displease him but when he threatens to harm my only child, there's no way I'm allowing you to go to that hell that I had suffer in for fifteen years," she shuddering thinking about it, her eyes growing wide at the thought of dementors and their torturous ways. I smiled slightly, her maternal instinct reminded me somewhat of Molly Weasly, how she would do anything for her children, even if it betrayed morals that she held and strongly believed in. The door creaked on its hinges as my heavy shoes plodded on the floor while hers clicked, echoing around the room as she gestured for me to follow her up the old winding staircase decked in grand splendor and gothic couture that reminded me of Grimmauld Place. She actually gave a slight smile as she swung open a black door which smacked into the wall to reveal a four poster bed decked in green, Slytherin poster's hung on the wall, banners and different shots of times Slytherin had won matches.
She smirked at my roll of the eyes, "We expected of course for you to be a Slytherin."
I laughed, "Yeah your howler in my first year wasn't the nicest thing to receive." She just shrugged. The house was terribly dusty, the rugs were festering with dirt and the house was hardly open to light, it was clear that it hadn't truly had a good clean for quite a while. I ran my finger along the doorframe, pulling it away in disgust at the thick layer of grime now residing on my finger. My room however, despite dusty was light enough and I smiled, aside from the Slytherin theme it appeared splendid. She left me to change into some smart robes she had acquired which I quiet liked, aside from the fact they were green and made me feel like a stupid stuck up pureblood.
"Did you see any of them then? My memories?" Her raspy voice, the suddenness of her question caught me off guard as I spluttered before attempting to think of an answer in my head. I found myself nodding before closing my eyes.
"I saw your wedding, well you and Sirius talking beforehand," she seemed to shrivel back almost instantly, her hands clutched tightly to her, her eyes wide. The look that I had just seen was quickly dismissed though as she regained her composure, the strong stern manic look back in her violet eyes, a rat scuttled past and in a flash of green light it was dead as she growled deeply and I gulped.
"Your hairs shaggy," she muttered before turning on her heels and whisking herself down the stairs, I scrambled to follow and keep up with her erratic behavior, throwing myself down the stairs after her in all my nervousness. "Now I'm going to have to return to my lord, if he gets suspicious the game is up for both of us. I'm sure you can entertain yourself here for a while, as you saw, there are quite a few rats about, you should practice your torture curse," I chocked, unsure as to whether she was joking or not. "I don't suggest hunting any muggles in the local area yet though Castor, you wish to remain inconspicuous and the ministry would be right over here to investigate."
"I wasn't planning on hurting any muggles mother! By entertain I was hoping you meant a game of jenga! Scrabble even! Not… not that," I said with disgust.
"Jenga? Scrabble?" Her face frowned.
"Muggle inv-," she cut me off with a death glare.
"I know you are friends with mudbloods and that your uncle who you loved so much was one but I will not tolerate them being talked favorably about in this house! At least not now!" She seethed, her hatred for the poor muggleborns and muggles who had done nothing to deserve it coming out strongly, I sighed, she was still a fanatic, loyal to the dark lord I had to remind myself, she just cared about me enough to help me. She turned briskly on her heels and slammed the large front door behind her as I found myself leaning against the wall, clutching my hands together in distress and fear. What the hell was I going to do? I found myself drifting into a deep restless sleep as I was consumed by nightmares, terrifying me as I sweated on the floor of the hallway. It was about midday when I awoke the next day, bathed in my own sweat, still shivering in the middle of the hallway, not cooped up in my bed. Groaning I forced myself to my feet, closing my eyes before standing up, grasping the wall behind me for support.
"You're awake… finnaallly," A tight voice murmured from the stairs as I screamed in surprise, jolting fully awake now.
"Thanks so much for making me nearly piss myself and thank you so much for just leaving me here instead of carrying me to bed or anything mother," I said dryly as she narrowed her heavy eyes at me.
"I'm not your slave," her wand twirled delicately in her fingers as she threw something at me which I soon realized was the daily prophet. My breath caught in my throat, painfully almost as I gazed in fear at the image and words that bestowed the front pages, 'Edward Tonks murdered by his Death Eater nephew Castor Lestrange.' I groaned, they hadn't called me Black, no doubt wanting to make people fear me even more by making it obvious in the title that I was the child of two of the most feared and fanatical Death Eater's who were at this moment on the loose, out for the blood of all those who opposed Voldemort. I shuddered even more when I caught who the interview was from, Tonks, her words stung me but I couldn't blame her, "I never expected my cousin was a Death Eater but it's clear, my mother found him, blood covering his hands, he killed my father. I hope he rots for the rest of his life in Azkaban, able to think over what he's done to someone who cared for him greatly and only ever showed him kindness. For my cousin to be so warped by blood purity to kill my father, someone who he has lived with all his life. It sickens me and I will not stop until I bring Castor before the ministry and hear that he has been sentenced for his horrendous crime. It sickens and disgusts me to think I once loved him and treated him like a little brother," I could almost hear her in my head, saying the words, her voice cracking and stumbling at certain points but in the end a vicious furry unparallel to any I had ever felt coursing through her words, she vowed to bring me to justice.
"Oohh well that doesn't sound good," my mother said sarcastically, smirking at me as I sighed, crumpling the paper together in my hands, squeezing my eyes together tightly in an attempt to stop the tears. Then in one quick moment, my world seemed to come crashing down, there were footsteps just outside the front door, my mother's eyes went wide as she grabbed me, pulling me close to her. "I want you to go down into the basement, stay as quiet as you can and hide Castor. Look around, there should be a secret passageway there, I want you to run and don't you dare stop. I love you." I shuddered but could feel a warm feeling flood over me at her words of love, still terrified and unsure who was entering the house I did as she wished, flinging myself down the cold stone steps into the even colder room, clinging to my body in some failing attempt to keep myself warm as I heard the door click, signaling that whoever it was had now entered the house, I heard my mother's heels as she strove forward to meet the new arrival.
"Bellatrix," a sinister chill ran over my body at the voice of my father. His tone was dark, filled with mystery but it was clear that he was unhappy about something.
"Rodolphus," she replied quickly, her voice sharp and clipped somewhat, it sounded different to how she talked to me, cold, dangerous almost now, as though she knew she was treading on thin ice.
"I'm not stupid woman, I know that you're hiding something," my heart fell down into my stomach, my breathing growing heavy as I felt the sweat pool at the back of my t-shirt. "In fact I think I know exactly what you're hiding. There has been no news on his capture yet, the boy wouldn't have been able to survive a day without help from someone who is skilled in evading aurors such as yourself. He is dead to us Bellatrix, he doesn't want to join the Death Eaters, he's a useless blood traitor and mudblood lover and therefore he should face the fate the dark lord wishes. Where is he?" His last sentence held an air of arrogance and dark malevolence that frightened me to no end.
"I'm not a traitor you bastard!" My mother seethed, then I heard a brutal chilling slap, he'd hit her. I was begging for silence, for anything but this, feeling the hatred for my father rise up in my stomach. I looked around me, knowing that there was no way I could help her, she wouldn't want me to because if I did it would be far worse for the both of us. I looked around me, my fingers scratching the walls in search of a handle or something to open the secret passageway. My hand slapped a panel and a piece of the wall slid back, revealing a dark dingy passage. I tried to ignore and block out the shouts from above as I muttered lumos and began to run as fast as my legs would carry me, unsure of what I would find on the other side. I appeared at a fire place and gulped, this meant the floo network, I just didn't know where to go. "Diagon Alley!" I screamed, not thinking of the consequences, hoping that maybe I could stay out of sight and find a discrete place of residence.
I found myself in the middle of a firefight, flames erupted on either side of the streets as shops went up in flames, aurors were there attempting to stop the Death Eaters who were attacking Diagon Alley. I pulled the hood up on my cloak, knowing I didn't have much choice I entered the fray, firing spells at the masked rouges which faced me, unsure of who was behind them. I hoped that Draco wasn't there, looking back at me, his eyes filled with fear. A spell caught me in the shoulder and I screamed, falling to the floor, clutching my shoulder, my eyes wide as I realized my hood had fallen down, revealing my face, I sighed, on one of the still intact buildings was a wanted poster with my face and name on it and here I was, ready to be captured.
"LEAVE THE BOY TO HIS FATE! WE'VE DONE ENOUGH HERE!" A rusty, strong voice called out to his fellow Death Eater's as they apparated away and I found myself surrounded by aurors. Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, my eyes searched the crowd of aurors for her and then I found her. Her eyes wide, her lips drawn into a tight thin line: my cousin Tonks. She drew her wand and pointed at me as I felt aurors grab me, hoisting me to my feet and taking my wand off me.
"Wait! He was firing spells at the Death Eaters! It… it doesn't make sense… maybe he's not-," I heard Kingsley mutter but someone else snorted and he was silenced, although I did catch Moody nodding in agreement with Kingsley. I gulped, feeling the sleeve of my robes be thrust violently upwards and for the dark mark to be displayed to all, I closed my eyes nervously.
"Guilty as hell," an auror said, glaring at me as I shuddered.
"I assure you all! They put this dark mark on me against my will! Please! If you just let me use the truth serum! I can prove it! I promise!" I screamed, Tonks bowed her head as my lip wavered. They weren't listening to me. I was going to Azkaban… unless… unless there was some way for me to escape. Did I really want to go on the run though, again? Spend my whole life running?
Thanks for reading guys, please review if you can, it only takes a sec and it really means a lot to me. Thanks a bunch!