Book 4

Chapter 27

Vesi (Reece's owl) flew back onto Mr Yaxley's property gracefully, swooping down and dropping a small envelope on Reece's lap as he sat outside on a lounger soaking up the rare British sun even though it was getting dark. He sat up – removing the muggle sunglasses that he and Yaxley had argued about – and watched as his tired black owl entered his room through the open window. Tossing the glasses onto the table beside him, Reece took the envelope into his hands and opened it to see a tiny note inside that appeared to be a reply.

Reece

Fate has done itself justice, little brother. I have a surprise for you.

L'amour de Fleur

Reece turned the small bit of paper over, but there was nothing on the back. He read the note again, and having no idea what she was on about dropped the note on the table beside his black sunglasses. Fleur was usually quite a blunt person; she would never dance around the point and would rarely be vague with her words – especially when speaking English. Suddenly a suggestive cough broke Reece from his thoughts, and he turned to see Mr Yaxley standing over him inspecting his letter.

"Still don't like her." Yaxley grunted when he noticed who the mail was from. "Listen boy, I've got some bad news for you. Unfortunately something has come up in the French Ministry and although I tried to stall it, it's just not possible."

"What's happened?" Reece questioned in an irritated tone.

"You don't need to concern yourself with such issues." He snapped back while running his hands through his hair. "What you do need to concern yourself with is your journey to the World Cup, as I can no longer attend."

"There must be a portkey for it in this area, I'll just set off early tomorrow and find that." Reece mumbled, putting his sunglasses back over his fiery, blazed eyes. Yaxley was secretive. He was annoying, uptight and only gave Reece the time of day when he needed company or just required something in general. During one of their arguments over the muggle item, he'd even gone as far as to say that Reece was beginning to become a burden. And Reece wasn't going to forget that any time soon.

"Speak to me properly." Yaxley snapped. "And take that ridiculous thing off your face." He shouted, swiping at Reece's face and knocking the sunglasses right off of his head. Reece looked away, gritting his teeth in anger as Yaxley grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you, you silly boy!" The former death eater grabbed Reece's jaw firmly, roughly pulling his head round so that they were almost eye to eye – Yaxley still being slightly taller. "Now you're going to burn that pathetic muggle item and fix that arrogant attitude while you're at it." Reece glared at his guardian fiercely before pushing the older man off of him. "Do that again and I will draw my wand!" Yaxley bellowed, the tension between the two increasing dramatically every time their eyes locked.

"If you're going to threaten me you might as well just do it." He scowled through gritted teeth, his fists curling as the lines on Yaxley's forehead creased deeper.

"Don't be so rude, you insolent child." Mr Yaxley hissed balefully as he opened his black robe and took out his wand. He pointed it at Reece, stepping forward and almost on his toes. The two were millimetres apart, and Yaxley pressed the tip of his wand under the younger boy's neck, pushing his head back. "The rebellious mask doesn't suit you." He muttered in a venomous tone. "You don't know how tempting it is for me. I could simply cast a spell that will bring back all of your manners in an instant." Reece swallowed, keeping the rest of his body relaxed and attempting not to give off any form of fear. "You need to learn respect son, I'm sorry but I've got no other way." Yaxley stepped back, pointing his wand at Reece's body and looked away. "Crucio." And suddenly the frown on Reece's features had distorted to one of intense pain. He screamed deeply as the red light ate up his bones, piercing him with hundreds and thousands of burning knives. Yaxley continued to look away, not being able to cope with seeing the boy rolling on the grass, crying out in pain.

Reece let out a sob of relief as the spell ceased, and when he opened his eyes Yaxley had disappeared from behind the house. He rolled over, struggling to move due to the fatigue in his bones and muscles. Once he had finally struggled to his feet, Reece picked up his glasses and note and called for Arrow.

"Take me up to my room." He instructed in a cracked voice, his throat too dry to allow his speech to be anything different than broken. Arrow did so silently, and when the two appeared in there Reece collapsed on his bed. "Arrow I want you to get me a bag together, put some clothes in it, some food and drink and anything else you think I might need."

"Of course." She disappeared for a good five minutes, and when she returned Reece was strapping a note to the foot of his owl. "Here sir." Arrow said as she dropped the heavy black duffel bag onto the bed.

"Thank you Arrow." Reece muttered as he stroked Vesi while handing him a treat. "Be good big guy. Make sure she gets the letter and if she tries to send you back to me don't let her. Don't nip her fingers too much but if anyone else goes for you, peck them hard mate." And with that, Vesi flew from the window once again with a small letter attached to his foot. "You know this area well, don't you Arrow?"

"Like the back of my hand." She answered with a tone of confusion while Reece threw the bag over his shoulder, making it look like he was going to a muggle gym. "Why sir?"

"Are there any houses near here? Miles away even?"

"One or two I believe." Arrow replied as her bottom lip began to tremble slightly.

"Is it possible for you to drop me off near one of them?" Reece questioned, kneeling down weakly and taking her frail hands into his own. "I'll come back Arrow, I promise I will. But I need to get away, look at my hands." She did so, noticing that they were shaking for a reason different to hers. "This house isn't healthy for me at the moment."

"I'll miss you." Arrow sobbed as she took the both of them from the bedroom. The two landed in a field, and Reece looked around to notice a tall, terribly constructed house in the distance. "This is the closest I can get you, the house has wards."

"This is perfect Arrow, you should head back before Yaxley realises you've helped me leave." Reece muttered as he rolled up the sleeves of his wrinkled black shirt. Arrow nodded, tears rolling down her face as she disappeared. He began making his way towards the country home, dirtying up his trainers as he trekked through waterlogged areas of the field. Eventually, Reece reached the home. It was now almost pitch black outside, and he couldn't help wondering if someone would actually answer the door. Looking up, he noticed a familiar owl perched on one of the window ledges and was about to make a run for it when the door cracked open. In front of him stood a woman who he presumed to be the Weasley matriarch. She had a no-nonsense expression on her face and her hands were planted firmly on her hips as she looked down at the unexpected guest. Mrs Weasley frowned as she noticed the wrinkled shirt, and even more so when she came to notice how pale the boy was.

"What happened to you? You poor boy." Molly said as she opened the door wider and stepped outside into the cool air. Slowly, she reached out to Reece, placing a motherly hand on his cheek to feel his freezing temperature. He flinched accidently, recalling the way Yaxley had grabbed his jaw about an hour before. Seeing that although Reece tried to hide it, the touch was making him uncomfortable, Mrs Weasley withdrew her hand. "Was it?" She didn't dare ask, in case it set him off. "You have the symptoms of… That curse." Even though he barely moved his head, Molly noticed the small nod. "Oh you poor, poor boy." She said, pulling him into a hug that he didn't return. "Come inside and sit down." Reece followed her inside, ignoring the messiness and homely feeling of the house and sitting down on the sofa. "All the kids are in bed so you'll have to put up with me." Mrs Weasley joked quietly, handing him a warm cup of tea was she sat down beside him. Reece remained quiet and his hands continued to shake, the nerves still chilled from the effects of the curse.

"Thank you." Reece whispered after a long silence between the two of them. "For the tea."

"You're very welcome dear." Mrs Weasley replied. Just as she was about to say something else the two were paused by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Reece began inwardly dreading the thought of someone he knew appearing. Of course this was Ron's house, and he was speaking to his mother. He couldn't be fooled by the red hair. Ginny Weasley, unaware that her mother was not in bed, crept into the kitchen. "I'll be back in a moment." Molly whispered before getting up from her seat and walking round to the kitchen, cutting off her daughter. Ginny paused in front of her, jumping in shock as her mother began scolding her for getting up in the middle of the night. Reece sat sipping his tea as Ginny was sent back up to bed with two glasses of water, and by the time Mrs Weasley had sat back down he felt a lot better than he did previously.

"I should really be setting off." Reece muttered as he put the cup down. "I don't want to intrude." In all honesty he just wanted to leave before Mrs Weasley found out who he was.

"You will do no such thing." Molly said, her motherly tone coming through as Reece stood up. "Now sit down while I get you another cup of tea, you're still pale and I am not letting you leave this house until you are in good health again."

"I don't deserve this. I can't take advantage of your hospitality Mrs Weasley; not when I've sided with Malfoy and been horrible to your children to save my own skin." Reece ranted, picking up his bag that had been placed on the sofa beside him. "I'm sorry, for not telling you who I was straight away. You let me in your house without-"

"Oh be quiet." Molly scolded, making her way over and shoving another cup of tea into his hands. "I would not have let a Lestrange into my house unless I knew that they were different from their family."

"You knew who I was when you first saw me?" Reece questioned in shock while putting his bag back down and taking a seat on the sofa once more.

"I'd guessed." Mrs Weasley smiled slightly. Her motherly appearance and vibe calmed Reece, as he had never had this type of figure in his life before. "And the fact that you haven't turned your nose up at our home shows me that you are indeed different to your family."

"I got cursed by my guardian." Reece blurted out suddenly, unable to bottle it up anymore. "For my apparent rudeness and my sunglasses." He said, removing them from his eyes and tucking them into the open gap in the top of his shirt. "I'm not allowed to have an interest in anything muggle Mrs Weasley, because I'm supposed to be this model pureblood."

"I understand." Molly admitted softly, pulling him into an awkward seated side hug. "You're always welcome in this home, even if some of my family argue different."

"I don't want to cause you any problems Mrs Weasley."

"Nonsense." She cut in almost immediately. It seemed that most Weasleys were strong headed. "We can have a good chat tonight and another one after the kids have gone to Quidditch in a couple of hours." Reece suddenly thought of the bloody World Cup, and even as a beater on the school team he had no interest going. And so they did talk. Reece told her about his relationship with Yaxley and the dynamics of it. He told Molly about how Yaxley acted when he won the tournament and then how the former death eater acted when they were at home. She'd asked how many times he had tortured Reece, and when he replied just once with that specific spell the tension in her back eased substantially. Mrs Weasley had even started to rant on about how this needed to be reported, but Reece quickly shot that suggestion down saying that it was no use although he appreciated her trying to help. It was all fine, talking to Molly Weasley over many cups of tea and some biscuits.

That was until the family began to wake up, readying themselves for the World Cup walk. Arthur Weasley had appeared first after knocking on the doors of the twins, Ginny and Hermione, and Harry and Ron. He'd first been utterly shocked to find that his wife wasn't the only one preparing breakfast for the family, but once Mrs Weasley had explained Reece's situation, Arthur seemed less tense.

"The poor boy's guilty and he's hurting Arthur." She said sternly as she took her husband's plate to the table that he was sitting at.

"It would have still been nice to know that we have a Lestrange in our house though Molly." Mrs Weasley simply sighed and returned to the kitchen to continue cooking more sausages as Reece silently fried a pile of bacon.

"You know, I never get any help in this house." Molly said to him as she sent some more pans over to the sink for them to be scrubbed magically. "Please don't take offense, but I'm surprised you can cook Reece, due to your upbringing."

"Mr Yaxley doesn't know I can." Reece sighed as he flipped the bacon over without the use of magic. "He's away often, always has been. It gets quite boring in that house, and I asked Arrow to teach me."

"You mentioned him as your guardian because of your father but what about your mother?" Molly asked quietly as more footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"I have no idea who she is." He replied as the twins appeared in the kitchen.

"Reece." Said Fred.

"Lestrange." George continued. Mrs Weasley turned around quickly, wielding a dish cloth in one hand and pointing at the two of them sternly.

"How many times have I told you two to stay out of the kitchen while I'm cooking?" She questioned while tapping her foot and planting her hands on her hips. "As you've already made clear we have a guest, and if you want to stick your noses into Reece's business go and ask your father what's going on and leave us to prepare your food." The twins looked at one another and then back at Reece. Reece simply looked at the two of them, waiting for some sort of remark about his presence. But no comment came, and the two quietly went to sit at the table. "So anyway," Molly continued quietly, keeping the conversation between the two of them. "Do you know nothing about her?"

"Yaxley said that she was French. Said that she was pureblood and that my dad must have been head over heels in love with the woman. That's all I know." He mumbled, pouring the bacon out of the pan and onto a plate that Mrs Weasley sent through with wandless magic. "It's just easier this way. If I try and look for her the chances are she'll be dead anyway."

"Reece it may be cold at first, but this home is full of warmth." Mrs Weasley said sympathetically. He nodded, silently understanding that she was talking about love. But that's when he heard the footsteps he hadn't been looking forward to hear. Weasley and Potter came stomping down the stairs closely followed by Hermione and Ginny. Although it was early and everyone was tired, the mood was a good one until the twins mentioned the presence of the conflicted Slytherin.

"You're having a bloody laugh." Ronald retorted rather loudly. The other three remained quiet, and Hermione appeared to be in deep thought. Obviously thinking about the owl that wouldn't leave Ginny's window ledge because it had been instructed not to.

"No he is not, Ronald Weasley." Molly replied sternly, making her way out of the kitchen with Reece flanking her as if he were a lost puppy. "And before you start, Reece is a guest in this house, invited by me. You will treat him like any other guest, and that goes to the rest of you as well."

"Mum how can you let him in here?" Ron shouted angrily. "He's harassed us since first year!" Reece glanced to Hermione as Molly began to yell back at her son. They locked eyes for a moment, and it was as if she could hear his plea for help although he had not intentionally asked.

"At least give him a chance to explain himself Ronald." Hermione cut in once Molly had stopped for a breath. "Even if we don't know what's going on Mrs Weasley does, and if she's helping Lestrange get through whatever's going on, then no one here should be so quick to judge."

"Thank you Hermione." Molly said as she gestured for Reece to go back into the kitchen area, away from her family for now. "We'll have a proper talk about this when you get back from Quidditch."