CHAPTER 88: Life Sentence (Part 3)

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

April 26th, 1996

5:30 p.m.

Amelia had known Rufus Scrimgeour for the better part of her life now. He had started as a rookie only a couple of years after her, and throughout it all he'd been one of the few people who remained by her side. He hadn't retired like Moody, nor had he been killed like so many others as the Death Eaters shook the country. In a way, he'd become as much a part of the job as her own wand. She couldn't imagine continuing in the DMLE without him there as well.

And through it all, Rufus had proven himself to be a competent detective, a rational man, and most of all, a good man. And though the case of Harry Potter hadn't made that statement any less true, it showed her a side of the man she hadn't seen in half a century of knowing him. While normally calm and collected, Harry Potter had managed to get inside Rufus' head so much that she would be lying if she denied he was a little bit biased with his case. Case in point, his sudden barging into her office before Amelia'secretary had a chance to announce him.

"I don't know how that boy did it," he began yelling before the door was fully closed. "But he's behind this. I know he is!"

"Head Auror Scrimgeour," Amelia snapped, and though Rufus at least looked slightly chastised, the fire behind his eyes was far from extinguished. "Explain… calmly."

"Potter was telling the truth," Rufus pulled out a long, black wand, its surface covered in etched runes from various different alphabets. He stared at it in distaste before placing it down on her desk. "This isn't his wand."

"What do you mean this isn't his wand?" Amelia asked carefully, trying not to lose her cool.

"After what Potter told me last night, I sent out for Mister Ollivander. He analysed the wand and confirmed that Potter was telling the truth… this isn't his wand."

"Could he have been lying? Somehow being coerced into saying that."

"He agreed to the use of Veritaserum for his confirmation," Rufus sighed. "It's not his wand, Amelia."

Rufus went quiet as if the words were too much for him.

"Well… whose is it?"

"Sirius Black's."

Amelia gaped, and for a moment, she even forgot how to blink. "That's impossible."

"Ollivander confirmed it. And even before he came by, Savage said the wand looked identical to Black's. It's his, Amelia. There's no other explanation."

"But how could he have Black's wand? That doesn't make any sense."

"He could be the one who stole it," Rufus said, but it was clear even he wasn't convinced by that.

"I doubt a kid barely fourteen years old would have managed to steal Black's wand from under our noses, even if that kid is Harry Potter. Besides, this happened over a year before Potter's wand was supposedly snapped. What updates do you have on that angle? Anything that can confirm it for us?"

"Madam Longbottom has been avoiding me so far. We'll get in touch with her soon enough, but even then I doubt she'll be very forthcoming. I have yet to meet someone itching to confess to a crime of such magnitude. Even if we used Veritaserum on her, it would be no use. And at this point, having her fully confess to the crime or even finding the wand would just help Potter's case."

"If Potter doesn't have a wand-"

"He did it, Amelia," Rufus said, his voice hard and cold. "He's our guy. You've said so yourself."

"That was before I found out the boy's wand was snapped," Amelia retorted. "Without his wand, we'll be laughed out of court. We won't even have a case to get into court. And even if that weren't the case, I'm not so eager to put away someone who might be innocent."

"We already have," Rufus said darkly.

"That's not the same. There was evidence. Plenty of it."

"That evidence was bogus, we both know it-"

"Her magical signature was all over that knife, Rufus," Amelia interjected. "Potter has motive, more than anyone else. But we can't ignore everything else solely on that. Especially when we don't have any evidence for anything, not without his wand."

"When Granger told Potter that she knew about Montague, he didn't react. What other evidence could we need to know that he was behind it all."

"Knowing and proving are two different things, Rufus."

"Amelia-"

"No," she said coldly. "Get him to talk or find me that wand. We have two weeks with him, use that time."

Rufus wasn't happy about it, but he shut his mouth and nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "What of Granger?"

Amelia didn't immediately answer. She'd spent quite a lot of time with the girl over the past two weeks, and even before that Susan had told her pretty much everything about the infamous Hermione Granger. She couldn't ignore her part in all of this, but it was clear the girl was just too nosy for her own good. She was just a kid, and if Amelia had been caught and charged for all the stupid things she did at her age she'd have had it worse than Granger. Hopefully, the couple of weeks she'd spent in the holding cell had fixed that. Hopefully, she'd think twice before doing something stupid like that.

"I'll call her parents tomorrow," Amelia finally said. "Have a sit down with them and Miss Granger. If all goes well, and she agrees not to interfere in DMLE business again, she'll be free to go."

"She knows more than she's letting on," Rufus said. "You were there. You listened to her and Potter talk. There's still so much more that happened that we don't know about. I'm telling you, she knows exactly what we need to crack his case."

"She won't tell us anything. We've had two weeks with her already, and we haven't got anything out of her. And now Potter is proving to be just as hard to crack as her. Our best bet is to continue our surveillance on the girl. That's how we got our last major break. You should know this by now."

"That's an if, Amelia. If we apply the right amount of pressure, she'll crack. I know she will."

"But if she doesn't, then we'll lose the only lead we have. We're not betting everything we have on the fact that you still believe that Granger is the weak link in this whole thing. Not when there's still so many questions we need answers to."

Rufus left shortly after, leaving Amelia to continue working through her mountains of paperwork. Slowly, she lost track of time. So lost in her own mind, someone could have been standing right in front of her and she wouldn't have known. But still, through all of this, there was something scratching her brain the wrong way. Not enough for it to be too distracting, but more like a small nagging feeling that never really settled. It just kept digging and digging until she finally put her quill down.

She knew the feeling. She knew what was causing it. It was the same thing that had been bothering her ever since Rufus brought Potter in. It had only been slightly longer than a day, and yet it felt like he'd been there a full month. And though she'd managed to listen to her inside voice and avoid paying him a visit, convincing herself it wasn't necessary, that it was detrimental, that voice was getting quieter and quieter with each passing minute.

Amelia left her office, making a barely formulated excuse when her secretary asked where she was going, and headed off. She distracted herself from talking to the Aurors, asking for updates on whatever cases she could remember, ignoring how she was slowly inching closer to Potter's interrogation room. But eventually, she couldn't pretend anymore.

"Madam Bones?" Auror Proudfoot asked as she reached the door to the interrogation room.

"Take five, Auror," Amelia said, her tone carrying enough weight that both Aurors posted at the door all but bolted away.

Taking a deep breath, Amelia pushed the door open and stepped inside. It smelled of sweat, though that was to be expected when the subject had stayed there for over a day. And though Amelia had tried to avoid looking at Potter, her eyes inevitably went to his. He was still sitting on the chair Rufus had offered him, his eyes were bloodshot and his hands were chained to the desk. He looked surprised when she walked in, almost a bit scared, and she couldn't help but feel the same way.

She could remember the last time she talked to Harry Potter. It had only been a few days since her niece had passed away, back when she didn't think she'd ever feel anything but pain for the rest of her life. Those following months she'd spent trying to drown those feelings in her work, and though it worked - somewhat - at times, she'd felt the grief from those days a thousand times worse. And looking at Potter, one of the last connections she had to her niece brought it all back.

Hurt. Anger. Betrayal. Loss. Everything surged back up, a muddled mess that would have sent her spiralling if she had allowed it to continue for long. A single glance at the boy, and she had been sent back to the moment when she saw her niece's corpse. There was a reason why she had stayed away. Amelia should have remembered that.

"I don't bite," Potter said once it became clear she wasn't going to say anything. He raised his hands until the chains rung against the desk and he couldn't move them any longer. "Couldn't even if I wanted to."

Amelia swallowed the lump in her throat, and though every instinct wanted for her to leave, she walked over and took the chair opposite the boy.

"After last time, I had hoped I wouldn't see you here again, Mister Potter," she said in a calm voice.

He gave a small snort and said: "That makes two of us." But as he stared at a spot slightly behind her, the smile on his face began to fade as his expression grew weary. Amelia didn't say anything, waiting for the boy to make his move. "I'm sorry I couldn't make the funeral," he eventually said.

"I understand," Amelia replied. "If it were up to me, I would have found a way to avoid it too. Only…"

"You had to be there," he finished for her, and Amelia nodded.

"I miss her," she said, somewhere inside her mind knowing this was the first person she had admitted it to. In some ways, it felt wrong talking about this with the prime suspect in the recent murder spree. But on the other hand, as she looked into his eyes, she could tell he missed her nearly as much as she did. Maybe the only other person who did. "So much."

Potter lowered his gaze, his hand scratching at the desk between them. He opened his mouth a few times as if trying to speak but no sound came out. And after a couple of tries, he finally sighed and hung his head further. The silence between them extended for what felt like an eternity before he finally said anything.

"We can't bring her back. The best we can do is to keep going. Honour her memory as best we can. Do something that would make her proud."

Her heart sank, and the feeling of betrayal began creeping up her insides once more. "Is that what you're doing? Honouring her memory? Making her proud?"

Potter stopped, his face immediately fell and was replaced by a cold facade. A part of her - however small - felt guilty for breaking the moment with the sudden intrusion. But the thought that everything Potter had done over the past few months, he'd done to honour her niece's memory made her feel sick. It drained away any sympathy she may have held for the boy. Whatever connection they may have had.

"Is that why you started killing?" Amelia pressed on. "Why you've been running around the country trying to get your hands on any lowlife you can find. All the torture and murder… just to honour her?" He didn't say anything, and she didn't expect him to. Rufus had made it clear the boy wouldn't break after grilling at him all night. Even bringing up the topic of Susan didn't seem to be enough to do that.

"She would be horrified by what you've become."

Potter didn't answer, instead, he gripped his chains hard enough that Amelia began to worry they would suddenly burst. But even still, she continued. Not because she wanted him to confess to the crime. Not even because she wanted to see him put away. Right now, all she wanted was to satisfy her anger at his insinuations.

"Susan was a kind, beautiful girl. She cared about people. Somehow… she even cared about you. What you're doing isn't making her proud… it isn't honouring her memory. She'd be less insulted if you were to stand before her grave and piss on it."

Potter opened his mouth, but instead of speaking he tugged at the chains even more and shut it so quickly, there was an audible clamp.

"I read your file, you know. I know what you went through. And maybe… Susan could sense it too. Maybe that's why she cared for you. But if you truly believe that you're doing the right thing for Susan here, you're already too messed up to be fixed."

The words fell harsh even as she said them. But that didn't make them less true. As far as she was concerned, Potter could have run around and murdered as many criminals as he wanted before she and Rufus caught up to him. He could have done that and so much more… if that was what he really wanted. If it was his desire. But not like this. Not using her little girl's name to justify his killing spree. To make himself think there was a purpose to all of this. An honourable reason to his bloodlust. She wouldn't let that be Susan's legacy.

Amelia stood up, launching a final glare at Potter. "If you really wanted to honour Susan's memory, you'd confess and admit that you're guilty."

She didn't wait for a response, she knew it wouldn't come. Walking outside and shutting the door behind her, Amelia couldn't help but still feel that nagging itch at the back of her brain. And against her better judgment, she moved to the observation room.

The room was empty, which was only surprising because Rufus had begun to spend all his free time there. The room was small and not meant to be used unless an interrogation was being conducted. The wall facing the interrogation room had been charmed to be transparent from this side such that suspects could be watched without their knowledge.

Amelia stood there, staring at Potter's back. It was almost eerie how calm he was. If she hadn't been there just a second ago, she would have thought that the real Harry Potter had been replaced by a mannequin. For nearly two minutes, his body didn't move an inch. It almost seemed as if he wasn't even breathing. And then suddenly, he exploded. Standing up with such ferocity, the chair was launched back and hit the wall right in front of her. He began pounding at the table, yanking at his chains, swinging them from side to side as he screamed with a primal rage that came up from his very soul. And suddenly, in a moment Amelia missed with how fast it happened, the chains tethering him to the table snapped and the table was blown a few feet backward, toppling to the ground.

Potter was breathing heavily now, his hands shaking, and even from the other room, Amelia could nearly feel the air tightening around her. And she could do nothing but watch as Potter slowly sunk to the ground, his back to the wall right in front of her, his entire body vibrating with fury.

Slytherin Common Room

April 27th, 1996

12:15 a.m.

Over the past couple of months, Theo and Pansy had begun to stay behind in the Common Room after hours so often that most Slytherins were aware of their ritual. It was the only time the two of them had on their own, where they could talk about Harry and a great many other things (behind privacy charms, obviously), without fear of listening ears. Not that other Slytherins hadn't tried to creep up on them, maybe because rumours had begun to spread that the two of them spent their nights snogging - which was not true, thank Merlin. But Pansy had put a system in place to easily catch and put the fear of Harry in them without lifting a finger.

And ever since their most recent meeting with Bedivere, they had only begun to spend more time alone down there. Granted, this was only the second night since the meeting, but the previous night they had stayed there until nearly five in the morning. The two of them had barely had a two-hour nap before their respective dorm mates woke them up. Perhaps in another year, the lack of sleep would have led to them blowing up the dungeons with a poorly brewed potion, or potentially transfiguring a piece of paper into the cursed child of a Hippogriff and a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

But since all their classes were restricted to theory, the worst thing that happened to Theo was falling asleep in the middle of Potions, and being woken up by Snape, who hit him in the head with a slotted spoon. The hit didn't bother him as much as being awoken, sleep-deprived and aching for his bed as he was. Unfortunately, that was not to be. And with Longbottom a ticking time bomb, they couldn't afford to get their beauty sleep in a ticking time bomb.

Nothing ever went their way.

"I think grandfather was wrong," Pansy said suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at this?" She passed him a bunch of messy parchments. The writing was barely legible, with even the words written in a large and bold scrawl in such a hurry Theo couldn't really identify them. He leafed through the pages, trying to make sense of it all. The drawings helped, but not enough to get Pansy's desired reaction. He turned, making a weird face and causing her to huff.

"You're a moron," she told him.

"We can't all be geniuses," he rolled his eyes. "Now what are you on about?"

"Think about everything that's happened this year. All the big events. What do you notice?"

"Well…" Theo paused as he remembered everything. "Well, there was Halloween and the whole cover-up thing. Then the attack at the Three Broomsticks. And Harry's failed emancipation thing."

"Right, yes, but there are more."

"More?"

"Well, there was Harry's escape from the Order of the Phoenix. Then his defeat by Montague, and Dumbledore's departure from Hogwarts."

"Woah, woah," Theo raised his hands to slow Pansy down, looking at her as if she'd grown another head. "What do you mean with those first two? How could you possibly know any of that? We haven't heard anything about Harry or anything that's happened to him recently."

"My grandfather told me," she said simply, as if he took her off-guard with such a nonsense question. "The other day before we left. He told me about it."

"Right…" Theo said, trailing off to avoid any arguments.

"Well… it all correlates. There's a pattern to it all. A method to the madness."

"What are you talking about?"

"Halloween. When Montague tried to induct Harry into the Death Eaters, and when that failed, tried to kill him. Only for Harry to nearly kill him in return-"

"Yes, I was there Pansy. What of it?"

"It was a full moon. Remember what Professor Sinistra told us in our first year? How all these astronomical events are connected to Fate and all of it, and that the full moon is one of the symbols that the wizarding world associates with dark magic and dark wizards in general."

"You think Fate had something to do with this?" Theo asked.

"Not exactly… at least not hands-on. Fate is… tricky, I think. At least from what Grandfather tells me. It's hard to explain. I don't think it was a hands-on decision, more like something that happened because it was meant to happen. And everything that happened next proves it."

"You mean that everything I said happened on full moons?"

"No, idiot," Pansy slapped his shoulder with her parchments. "Samhain. Most people think that's Halloween or a synonym for Halloween. But it isn't. It's its own separate thing. Samhain itself doesn't take place on October thirty-first, but on November first."

"The cover-up," Theo said.

"Precisely. And even if you want to be picky about it, we didn't involve Snape and have our whole plan sorted until well past midnight. Which means Samhain."

"Could just be a coincidence."

"In the old days, Samhain was used to mark the start of what was considered the darker half of the year. Which I'd say is pretty on-brand, what with everything we just mentioned."

"Alright, so maybe not a coincidence," Theo said slowly before a memory surged forward in his mind. "There was a meteor shower on the day of the attack at the Three Broomsticks!" He yelled out. "I remember. I gave my notes to Harry. I had theorised it was because that was the day of the Tracey Davis trial but… could it have been about the attack?"

"With Fate involved, it definitely was. Now look at all the other events. Harry was adopted by the Longbottoms on the Yule session of the Wizengamot. I don't think I need to explain that one. And Harry just happened to escape from the Order of the Phoenix on Imbolc, the day in the Wheel of the Year that marks the beginning of the end of winter."

"So the beginning of spring?" Theo asked, a small grin already threatening to spread across his face.

"The beginning stages of spring, yes, but not spring spring."

"So we could say that was the day that Harry… sprung out from the Order?"

"Yeah, if you're an idiot you could say that," Pansy rolled her eyes once again. It was something she did a lot whenever he tried to be funny. "Then Montague attacked Harry, nearly killing him-"

"Nearly killing him?" Theo shouted, nearly jumping out of his seat.

"Yes, nearly killing him. Keep up, Theo," she shook her head. "That landed around the time of Ostara. The actual beginning of spring."

"I don't see how Harry nearly being murdered fits thematically with that day," Theo grumbled. "My version was so much better."

"Take it up with Fate and tell me how it goes," Pansy gave him a sardonic smile. "The point is that all these major events, they didn't happen on random dates. Now, Grandfather told us that the Dark Lord will make his move in a week, so five days from now-

"Four, actually. It's past midnight."

"That lands on the second of May," Pansy continued after glaring at him.

"…so?"

"So… Beltane doesn't land on the second of May. It lands on the first."

"You think your grandfather's timetable is wrong by a day?"

"Maybe even two," Pansy said. "Look at Samhain. It started on the night of the 31st and continued all the way up to the first. Which means that whatever happens, it could start as soon as the 30th."

"Which cuts our time in half," Theo finished, finally seeing the problem.

"Tracking Longbottom at all times has proved impossible. Harry's still locked up at the DMLE. And with Grandfather busy with finding Yaxley and the Horcruxes, we're out of options."

"Pansy, no."

"Theo."

"We're not kidnapping the bloody Boy Who Lived while there are Aurors all over the castle."

"What other choice do we have?" Pansy asked, as if her solution was the most normal thing in the world.

"Doing anything else that won't get us thrown in a cell right beside Harry's."

"If Longbottom manages to escape Hogwarts and get to the Ministry-"

"Events happen because they are meant to happen," Theo snapped. "You said so yourself. That's how Fate works. Let's say that we kidnap Longbottom, and somehow keep him locked up for two days - just to be sure he doesn't go to the Ministry anytime near Beltane. Harry's still at the DMLE… at the Ministry. And if your grandfather is right, and he's a potential candidate for the prophecy, then Fate will just fuck shit up to make it so that Harry's the one down there. What are we going to do about that? Escape Hogwarts, infiltrate the Ministry, and kidnap Harry too?"

"So we're just supposed to wait here until Fate tells us it's our turn?" Pansy retorted. "For a burning sigil to appear in the sky and tell us exactly what to do?"

"No. But if we're going to help, let's do so in a way where we don't all end up in prison. Azkaban may have been taken over, and the dementors ripped from the Ministry, but that doesn't make a lifetime in jail any more appealing."

A sudden explosion made both teens suddenly jump out of their seats. A flurry of red and orange lights shinning from the path to the boy's dormitory, while two separate voices yelped and screamed.

"For fuck's sake," Pansy shook her head, taking down the privacy bubble around them before stomping over to the flurry of lights. She waved her wand, quickly dispelling everything, leaving only a cloud of fog that encompassed Pansy as she entered the hole, only to come out a few seconds later, dragging Draco Malfoy by the ear.

"Ow! Ow! OW!"

"You were trying to eavesdrop on us?" Theo yelled at him.

"Of course I was trying to eavesdrop on you," Draco scoffed, removing the wrinkles from his clothes and rubbing his ear. "I'm Draco bloody Malfoy. What did you expect?

Theo wanted to punch him, but he didn't get the chance as Pansy came out of the hole again, only dragging Blaise this time.

"Alright, alright! Enough."

"You too?" Theo fumed, before looking at the entrance to the girl's dormitory. Their traps hadn't been tripped there, but the silence coming from that side was too smothering. Theo walked over and launched a stinging curse into the darkness, eliciting a girly scream, just as he'd suspected. "Daphne, get up here before I send Pansy to go get you."

Theo heard Daphne's huff right before she walked up the stairs and into the Common Room. She glowered at him, and he could see the spot in her face where the curse had landed. "Happy?" She asked.

"What were you three idiots doing spying on us?" Pansy asked, looking just as pissed off as he was.

"We weren't spying," Draco whined.

"Bullshit," Pansy spat.

"Alright, fine. We were spying. It's not our fault. We got curious. Theo didn't come back last night until really, really late."

"How the hell do you even know that?" Theo asked.

"You woke up Crabbe, you twat."

Pansy sent a glare at him.

"No, I didn't! I was so quiet."

"Crabbe's a light sleeper."

"How can Crabbe be a light sleeper?" Theo bit out. Crabbe's loud snores had haunted him for nearly five years now.

"It was obvious you two had found out something about Harry," Daphne continued before their petty argument could develop.

"We didn't find out anything about Harry." Theo gritted out.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Then you and Pansy must have had a great snogging session last night-"

"We weren't snogging!" Both Pansy and Theo shrieked out.

"Just tell us what you two found out," Blaise said. "Then we'll leave you alone again."

"Why the hell would we do that?" Pansy asked.

"Uh… because we helped you. Duh." Draco rolled his eyes, as if they were the ones being idiots. "All your plots against Longbottom. We even followed you to fight the creep that one time. I nearly died!"

"No you didn't," Daphne said dryly.

"I could have!"

"Merlin help me, but Draco does have a point," Blaise said. "You've asked us for our help time and time again, and we've done so. The least you could do is share everything you know."

"It's not that simple."

"Yeah," Blaise mocked. "Nothing ever is with the Great Teenage Serial Killer."

"There are some things that we can't tell you."

"Because you don't trust us?" Blaise asked.

"Exactly," Pansy said. "We don't trust you."

"Hey, I said I'd be his slave for life!" Malfoy exclaimed. "Doesn't that entitle me to know everything you morons know?"

"Wow," Theo chuckled. "You're taking that title with a whole lot of pride."

"If it gets me insider information, then yes. Gladly."

"We covered up his bloody murder of Montague," Daphne said defensively. "To this day, we still haven't said anything about it. What more proof of trust do you need from us?"

"You know," Pansy began, not too kindly. "Ever since the start of the term you've been nothing but obsessed with Harry and everything about him. Why do you care so much?"

"Because I'm supposed to be the leader of our year group," she shrugged.

"Oh, honey," Blaise said.

"What! I am. Potter isn't here. That makes me-"

"No, it doesn't," Pansy said coldly.

"Fine," she said bitterly. "I want to know because…" she sighed, looking at the ground in shame. "Because I love him, okay! I care about him and where he is."

"Pfffft," Draco spit out so much saliva, Theo realised his whole hand was wet after wiping his face.

"Yeah, no one's buying that," Blaise said.

"What?" She glared at them "I can't fall in love with someone now?"

"No, you can't," Draco said.

"Besides, no one's falling for Potter any time soon," Blaise added.

Theo didn't say anything. He stared at Daphne as she tried to come up with more excuses. As she rambled and babbled, acting more defensive by the minute. Theo's mind was speeding, going through every recent event, all his interactions with Daphne as they all began falling into place. Her sudden urge to volunteer and help him in trying to figure out where Harry was. All the effort she put into getting the information about what happened to Harry over the winter wreak. The article that exposed Harry as the pub serial killer coming right after Harry had come back to Hogwarts. And when everything finally clicked, he moved so fast, he thought Harry would have almost been proud. Everyone around him began yelling, but he ignored them, only focusing on Daphne, the wall he had pinned her to, and the wand he had to her throat at the moment.

"You're working for Elijah." Theo didn't ask, he didn't need to. He said it. And Daphne was smart enough not to lie to him. At least not directly.

"It's not like that," she said.

Theo felt as everything around him began to fade. His blood felt cold. He couldn't even feel his heart beating anymore. There was only the suffocating anger in his chest, and the urge to press his wand deeper into Daphne's throat.

"Didn't you learn after Graham?" He asked coldly. "What fucking excuse could you have?"

"Theo stop," Blaise's voice broke through as he tried to pull at his shoulder, but Theo remained still.

"I didn't have a choice," she said, her voice strained. "I don't."

"You ruined his life. His reputation. You nearly got him killed. And now…" Theo swallowed the words, not wanting to tell Daphne about Harry's current state as the DMLE's newest prisoner. "You did have a choice."

"Do you think I wanted to help the brother of the man who threatened my sister?" she asked, her words gaining a little strength. "My father forced me. He threatened to kick me out of the family if I didn't help," she spat. "Don't tell me you've never done anything because your father forced you."

There's no other way, son.

Theo blinked, and for a moment, it wasn't Daphne who was on the other side of his wand. It was that man. His face was covered in blood, still shaking uncontrollably after all this time.

"Theo!" Pansy shouted.

Now, repeat after me, okay? One… two…

Theo let go of his hold on Daphne, letting the girl collapse to the ground coughing. The man's screams echoed inside his head. And in them, he could hear Daphne screaming as well. He felt bile rise up his throat. His wand hand shook, and if not for everyone around him, he would have let go of the wand and left it there for a few days.

He'd promised himself that he wouldn't go back to being who he used to be. And here he was. Acting exactly how Blaise had said he had been.

He felt disgusted.

"We always have a choice," Theo said numbly. "I only hope you choose right next time. Harry won't be as forgiving as I am."

That's it for this chapter, thank you all for reading!

Next chapter is the finale of the Life Sentence arc. Be excited!

By the time I'm posting this, I'm ELEVEN chapters ahead, and I have just started writing the second arc of the THREE-ARC FINALE titled Children of Fate! If you are interested in learning how to get early access to them, join my discord server using the following link: discord . gg / jyPfbGqhJT

As always, thank you for reading, favouriting, and commenting! I appreciate all of you! :)