A/N We're coming to the end of the third year, and I'm not sure whether I'm going to go straight onto year four or if I'm going to go back over the first and second year. As a writer, I feel I've improved over time and my recent writing is a higher standard than what it was at the start. So enjoy this chapter and thank you to everyone who has supported this fic so far. You guys give me more confidence to continue this.

Chapter 26

Walden Macnair, an executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, had been a good friend of Rabastan back in the day. He and Yaxley had also been good friends, and although not as close now they were still mates and Walden would visit Yaxley's to catch up with a friend that wasn't in Azkaban. Reece had sat with the two many times while the men sat with good liquor and recounted the good old days before a lot of their friends were locked up. They weren't pleasant conversations to hear, but as Yaxley had heard Macnair was going to be at Hogwarts he requested that Reece greet him.

Reece made his way outside, wearing his warm leather jacket and scaring away one of the dark crows as he approached the man sharpening his tool of execution. Walden wasn't the most handsome man to lay eyes on, with his old tattoos, rotting teeth and ratty clothes. But Reece took a deep breath and took quicker steps towards the tree, stopping a few feet away and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Mr Macnair." He said in greeting, attempting to keep his tone flat and emotionless. Walden looked up and peered at the boy through the holes in the material covering his face. It took a few moments, as they hadn't seen each other in at least a year or so. But then the penny dropped.

"Reece Lestrange." Macnair chuckled gruffly as he stopped sharpening his large axe for a moment.

"Mr Yaxley sends his regards." Reece said causally, jumping to the conclusion so he could go and meet Malfoy and watch the execution that he couldn't care less about.

"Always the pleasant one, Yaxley." Reece nodded at the words, unsure of what to say. "Already seen Malfoy's kid on his way down there, you going to see this bloody bird get a lashing as well?" Macnair questioned, just as the three Gryffindors walked past, eying the two suspiciously.

"Draco Malfoy was more upset about it than I was." Reece chuckled along with Walden as the three began to cross the bridge, obviously in a rush and not willing to waste time eavesdropping. "Bastard slashed me down the rib though. I hate to be rude but I told Malfoy, Nott and Crabbe I'd meet them there now."

"Its fine, I'll be off down there in a bit. Enjoy the show Lestrange." Macnair grinned, showing his jagged blackening teeth as Reece nodded and slowly made his way casually across the bridge. As he began nearing the other side, Malfoy and the other two came hurtling onto the bridge. Much to Reece's silent amusement.

"Don't say anything Lestrange!" Malfoy hissed as he cupped his hand over his dripping nose.

"Wasn't going to, say is that a nosebleed hex?" Reece asked cheekily as Draco paused, the two of them standing face to face.

"Crabbe, Nott!" He shouted in anger as the two grabbed Reece by either arm, shoving him up against one of the small bits of wood that Lupin had previously leaned against while speaking to Harry. Reece struggled, pushing his shoulders and digging his heels into the ground but it was no use. They moved him to the right slightly, and pushed his upper back over the edge so that his head was hanging over the huge drop below. "I swear sometimes it's as if you're on their side." Draco spat, ignoring his nose and leaning over the side to emphasise his point while Reece was in a helpless position. "Do you want to be a golden child? Is that it?"

"We have to help him."

"Why?"

"Who's there?" Draco yelled, looking at the far end of the bridge. No one seemed to appear, so he turned his attention back to Reece. "Potty already has the no parent's story, so you can't have that one, what a shame." At the mention of family and Draco's dig about how Reece had none currently worth noting, he began to struggle against the grip more viciously. "And you can't have the death eater parent one because Longbottom will go skits, get it skits." Nott and Crabbe began to laugh at the dodgy joke as they pulled Reece back up from the side and shoved him down the middle of the bridge. "Don't give me a reason to push you over, and don't you dare tell anyone that filthy mudblood hit me."

"She hit you?" Reece chuckled under his breath as the three Slytherins ran back to the main school grounds, leaving him on his own on the bridge. "Gotta love Granger." He mumbled as he made his way back out towards Hagrid's hut and the stones. Instead of walking out, Reece sat behind the exit of the bridge and began toying with the black Lestrange ring on his finger. Yaxley had given him it for Christmas during his first year at Hogwarts, and he still wore it, casting charms to expand it as he hands grew over the years. Reece sat, reflecting, thinking about some decent things, thinking about all the bad. That was until Professor Snape flew past for some reason, and he had no clue what possessed him to do it but Reece wanted to know what he was up to. "Professor."

"What do you want boy?" Snape snapped, his urgency showing as he looked to be eager to go in the direction he was heading.

"Potter, Weasley and Granger went that way before. Then Professor Lupin a bit after. Do you want some backup, sir?" Reece asked as he rose from his seat in the grass and made his way towards his head of house.

"I am not going to purposely put a student of mine in harm's way, and especially not using them as you so eloquently put it, backup." The potions professor sneered, showing his clear dislike for one of his own house members.

"With all due respect sir, I won an international duelling tournament, let me at least help you find out what they're up to."

"Come." Snape, deciding that he had no time left to waste allowed Reece to follow him to the willow. And once they had managed to enter the passage, the two were welcomed to the Shrieking Shack by the crazed shouts and yells of Sirius Black. Snape drew his wand first, charging up the stairs with Reece hot on his tail. The two charged in, Severus quickly disarming Black. Reece stood at the door, pointing his wand at Lupin as Snape pointed his at Black. "Vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you." Reece glanced past his DADA professor, noticing Ron with a damaged leg and Harry and Hermione standing out of the way trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Severus-" Lupin started, only to be cut off when Snape pointed his wand at Lupin, leaving Reece to point his at Black.

"I told Dumbledore you were helping a friend into the castle and now here's the proof."

"Brilliant Snape." Black said, stepping forward and giving Reece only what appeared to be a single glance. "You've put your keen mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion. You've even brought a protégé along as well, how fitting." Reece simply glared. "If you'll excuse us, Remus and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

"Give me a reason." Snape begged, stepping forward and putting a wand to Black's throat. "I beg you."

"Sirius don't be a fool." Lupin cut in, moving so that Reece had to follow him with his wand.

"He can't help it. It's a habit." Black chided as Reece took the risk and looked to Granger, hoping that she would give him a non-verbal hint as the men continued to spat with one another. As Snape began to rant about dementors, Reece watched as Harry began sneaking Hermione's wand out of her pocket. He could hex Potter right now, it might have been worth it. But then he could hit Snape, and side with everyone else in the room. What to do, what to do.

"After you." Snape said, gesturing for people in the room to start moving. Just as Potter began stepping forward in hopes of hitting Snape, Reece beat him to it. He turned sharply on the spot and silently with a stern flick of his wand his head of house was sent flying back through old furniture, being knocked out in the process. Everyone in the room simply froze for a moment in shock of what had just transpired.

"You attacked a teacher!" Hermione yelled as Harry stepped forward with the wand, pointing it at Sirius. Reece shrugged and lowered his wand. He wasn't much of a Snape fan anyway.

"Tell me about Peter Pettigrew." Potter commanded.

"He was at school with us." Lupin replied, hardly fazed about the fact that Harry's wand was pointed at him. "We thought he was our friend!"

"Bit dramatic this, fucking hell." As soon as Reece spoke he knew he shouldn't have, Potter quickly went to hit him with a disarming charm but due to his experience Reece was able to whip up a shield and block it. Harry scowled and sent another one Reece's way, and this time Reece chose not to fight back, taking the hit of the spell sending him flying into the open door frame behind him. He hit the old thing with a thud, and hit the ground drowsily as he dazed in and out of the conversation that Lupin was having with Potter. This wasn't exactly the way he envisioned spending his night, but being half conscious and seeing a blurred look of horror on Granger's face was definitely more interesting than the Slytherin common room.

All of a sudden his conscious thought returned, when a small pathetic looking man crashed through the wall beside him. The two men dragged him out, holding him at wand point as he pretended to act natural.

"Remus? Sirius. My old friends!" Reece focused his eyesight on the wretched man, and quickly closed his eyes once again to try and regain some feeling in his body. The spell had been a bloody strong one. Peter tried to make a run for it, but once again Remus and Sirius caught him and pushed him back. "Harry look at you, you look so much like your father. James. We were the best of friends." After chasing Pettigrew around the room he finally ended up in front of Reece, and Peter just stared at him for a few seconds before finally noticing a slight resemblance. "You can't be." Those in the room looked on, even if Peter was a traitor they wanted to know what he was to say about Reece. "Rabastan's son, oh how I remember the Dark Lord congratulating your father. He said you were special, help me please, and I can tell you more." Sirius and Remus pulled him away from the door once again, trapping him under the piano as Harry said that he wanted Pettigrew to go to the dementors.

"Wait." Reece groaned as he pushed himself off of the floor, pointing his wand at the three who were surrounding Pettigrew. "I want my answers. I don't care what I have to do to get them, I deserve them." Peter let out a shrill laugh, and Potter gave Reece a glare as if to tell him to back off.

"When the Dark Lord held you in his arms you would stop crying in an instant, he'd even sit in meetings with you in his arms as Rabastan sat with his brother. You were his prodigy, he said that you could be taught everything he knows." Reece's jaw snapped shut and he felt the need to throw up as he stepped aside, finding out that Lord Voldemort had held him in his arms as a child was not an easy fact to digest.

As some of the others went ahead with Weasley and his damaged leg, Reece stayed behind, trying to dig Professor Snape out of the wood and material that he was out under. When he managed to get him out and wake him up, Snape was not pleased to say the least.

"You insolent boy!" Snape spat, grabbing the collar of his jacket with both hands.

"The Dark Lord actually held me as a child." Reece muttered, doing all he could to push Snape off of him. "Did you know that?" Severus looked at him with a sudden blank expression, but it soon turned to an enraged one once they both heard howling.

Somehow Reece had ended up in the hospital wing. With the three people that he was supposed to detest as well; all because he'd decided to tag along with Snape. He sat on the side of his bed, looking down at his linked hands as Weasley glared at him from across the room and Granger sat with Potter trying to wake him up. He had no injuries worth noting, and sitting in the room was getting pretty fucking ridiculous. Reece got up to leave, but when he tried the door it wouldn't budge. Ronald glared at him still, although a smug look also seemed to be lingering on his features. Hermione gave him a sympathetic glance before going back to Potter, and Reece just stayed by the door waiting for a chance to escape. As Dumbledore opened both doors and swept inside, Reece made a dive through the gap and was halfway down the corridor when Albus called after him.

"The Dark Lord would have been fascinated by your magical aura, mister Lestrange." Dumbledore called from the doorway. "To find a child, secretly being an heir of Slytherin and having power such as that even before your accidental magic kicks in, he must have found you to be an interesting young boy."

"If you know this then why do you let me stay here, at Hogwarts?" Reece questioned, turning back round to see Dumbledore standing in the doorway giving Granger and Potter some sort of instructions. "Aren't you scared I'll end up in arms like that again?"

"Not scared, mister Lestrange. Worried perhaps. But I do believe everyone has a choice, and at the moment you seem to be making the right ones." Dumbledore said as Hermione and Harry dashed past Reece to the hospital wing doors. "You made the right choice in thinking of how to beat that part veela in the tournament. As you can see, I read the Prophet, but I will forever wonder who managed to capture you thoughts so strongly enough not to become mesmerized." Reece's eyes darted to the huge doors that Harry and Hermione had ran through moments before, but it was all Dumbledore needed to confirm his suspicions. "Falling in love is a wonderful thing, mister Lestrange. That is as long as your muggle-born catches you as you fall."

"It's not worth risking my life over Professor." Reece sighed as he rubbed his face with his hands.

"Trying telling me that in a few years, mister Lestrange."