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Voldemort. Salazar Slytherin’s hair. The man who’s colors she wore most of her conscious life. |
"A fool that pushed the boundaries of magic. But instead he created an abomination of himself", he hissed with precision in his words. |
That’s how she felt most of her life. Like an abomination - the best way to describe it. And Astoria knew, everyone around knew – her existence was unnatural. But Voldemort wasn’t like that. He made that his truth, his reality. He chose that. |
"I can’t abandon you. I will have to leave Harry to die, alone. And others. And – ", she stopped and went quiet, biting down the names that almost spilled from her mouth." |
"Abandon them. It will hurt, but time will mend the wounds and the pain will grow tolerable. There will be other opportunities for happiness. You will have children and you can have them with love. There will be no need to burden them with being an Elroy and all the curses this brings". |
"They will kill you", Astoria said it the moment the realization came to her, "I haven’t had the chance to even know you". |
"I am old, Astoria. My life is wasted away already. But I have you, my only child, and I do not wish you to suffer the ways I have. I do not wish you to be an Elroy. Go and enjoy life, be free. I would gladly give my life for that". |
"We cannot escape who we are", she said as her eyes darkened. |
"Yes", he replied casually as he came towards her, "I’ve heard you say that before". |
"How can I leave all of this behind? All of myself, my life – ", |
"But you are so young, life is ahead of you!", Ilay interrupted her with a softness in his voice, "Do not waste it away on a war that has nothing to do with you". |
There was something very hurt inside of him. He was a Dark Eater, yet Astoria never found him to be evil or cruel. Ilay looked sad. Draco warned her once, a constant reminder that there was danger in her father and being around him, but she never detected any signs of aggression in him. |
His cold fingers touched hers. Her body flinched unconscious to the sensation of this coldness. Yet it was nice. Having a father. Having someone care for her. And the possibility of dreams, of living beyond duty. Was this not her deepest secret? A forbidden confession – that she didn’t want this life. |
"Yes", he chuckled, "This is how your grandfather knew I won’t fulfill his ambition. He told me I am always cold, that there is no fire inside of me". |
"There Is no fire inside of me as well", she said bitterly as this was a great failure for her. She knew they all burned, but no flames came to her no matter how much she tried or burned herself. Not in the mind and not in reality. |
"Maybe your magic is changing. Maybe you have the possibility to be different", he said with a beautiful smile on his face. |
"I am afraid", the words came out on their own as her voice trembled, "I know I’m going to die young. I always do". |
"I know", he said as his hand caressed her face, "You are a beautiful girl. Go and have a beautiful life". |
Astoria knew she should feel awkward, but his presence never seemed foreign to her. They weren’t strangers, they had already spent a lifetime together. She knew him from before and the sensation felt familiar. Now he was kind, gentle, softer than her. It only terrified her – the endless possibilities of what was done b... |
"I will think it through. I promise", she said softly as her hands reached for him. He took her in his arms and they stayed like that for a while. |
"Nothing has brought more meaning to my life, than seeing you. When I heard you were alive and who you were, how grown you had become, I cried", he said softly. |
"I wish we could spend more time together". |
"I wish for it as well. This would’ve been a second chance". |
"Can you come again?" |
"I will try", he said drily and Astoria instantly caught the lie, "Go on now, forget me and go", he said as he let her go. |
There was more. She didn’t hear most of it. Only a single word, a command – "Live". |
Time skipped in seconds. Suddenly she was on the ground next to a rock, crying. It was a while and she cried so much. Tears had dried up on her, yet pain remained. |
"He is a good boy", Nicola said quietly as he helped her off the ground, "but naive". |
Harry seethed silently as he sat listening to the inane chatter of the Great Hall. Every so often, he would catch a part of a conversation- "he definitely put his name in!’ Or "I heard from Ernie who heard from Hannah who heard from Neville who heard from Ron that he snuck out in the dead of night so he didn’t have to ... |
Harry grinned at Dobby as they surveyed the Chamber of Secrets. The space had been transformed over the last two days. Together, they had removed the dead Basilisk and cleaned the chamber within an inch of its life. They had explored every nook and cranny of the space, finding nothing but dead rodent skeletons and muck... |
HARRY POTTER LEAVES HOGWARTS, CLAIMS SIRIUS BLACK IS INNOCENT |
By Rita Skeeter |
Yes, Dear Readers, you read that correctly. Harry Potter has left Hogwarts and he claims Sirius Black is innocent. In a public letter sent directly to us here at The Daily Prophet, Harry Potter has sensationally left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and is calling for the Ministerial pardon of Sirius Black. R... |
Dear the Wizarding Public of Great Britain,I did not enter the Triwizard Tournament. You may choose to believe me, you may choose to ignore me. I don’t care anymore. Ever since I learned about Hogwarts, about magic, I felt a sense of belonging that had been missing from my life beforehand. It was at Hogwarts I found fr... |
Harry and Sirius had spoken long into the night and into the next morning. Their voices were hoarse from crying and laughing and crying some more. They had much to catch up on. Harry filled Sirius in on his first three years at Hogwarts, as well his life with the Dursley’s. Sirius had vowed to him that he would never l... |
Feeling lighter having "cleared the air’, and gotten to know each other much better, Harry and Sirius begun to plan. The letter to the Daily Prophet had been one of Sirius’ ideas. He explained that while Harry was still the "Boy Who Lived’ in the public's eye, he could do no wrong. Using the Wizarding public to his adv... |
"Harry Potter, Dobby went to the house like you asked." |
Harry and Sirius had been trying to catch up on the sleep they had lost the night before and woke up with a start. |
"How is it?" Sirius asked, "Filled with Dark magic?" |
Dobby nodded, "And the worst house elf." |
Sirius laughed, "Kreacher, of course. I bet he hasn’t done a bit of cleaning since my Darling Mother died?" |
Dobby shook his head so violently his ears began flapping. |
"I wonder if I can summon Kreacher here?" |
"Worth a shot," Harry shrugged. |
"Kreacher" Sirius said, clearly. |
There was a moments pause before, with the loudest "crack’, the dirtiest house elf Harry had ever seen appeared.With a look of disgust on his wrinkly face, he bowed his head slightly. |
"Master called." |
Sirius’ face echoed the look of disgust on Kreacher's. |
"You disgust me. I’ve heard that you’ve let the house of the Ancient and Noble House of Black fall into disarray. You have one day, with the assistance of Dobby, to clean it up and have it in a condition my Mother would be proud of. I will arrive this time tomorrow. If it is not up to standard, it will mean clothes. Yo... |
Kreacher nodded is disgust and disappeared with another loud "crack.’ |
"Dobby, I’m sorry to send you there, but I need a trustworthy elf to watch over him. He’s always hated me and worshipped my mother, so he’s bound to try and tamper with something." |
"Dobby understands. Dobby will have the House of Black up to standard." |
As Dobby vanished, Sirius sighed heavily. |
"I don’t want to go back there, especially with all the dark magic around the place, but it’s got to be better than sitting here." |
Harry agreed, then yawned loudly. |
"Right, to bed," Sirius said with authority. |
"But we need to plan for the task with the dragon!" He exclaimed, stifling another yawn. |
"And we will. But planning will be much easier with a clear head." |
Harry reluctantly agreed and headed for the bed he transfigured. |
"Where will you sleep?" He asked. |
Instead of answering, Sirius transformed into Padfoot and jumped up on the bed, lying at the foot of it. |
Harry grinned and jumped into bed. |
Tomorrow, they would plan. Today and tonight they would sleep.————————Hermione sat alone at the Gryffindor table, worrying. She hadn’t heard from Harry at all today. She wanted to know if Dobby had managed to track Sirius. She wanted to know if Harry had found a plan to combat the dragon. She needed to make sure he was... |
"Oh Harry," she moaned, looking around at the rest of the Hall. There was silence as every student and teacher begun reading the article, then slowly, chatter broke out. Hermione strained to catch snippets of what people were saying, Harry would want to know. |
"Sirius Black never had a trial! That’s an outrage!" She heard from the Ravenclaw table. |
"You know, maybe he didn’t put his name in the Goblet" She heard from further up the Gryffindor table. |
"He’s dropped out of Hogwarts!" She heard from the staff table. |
"More attention, that’s all he’s after," she heard from the Hufflepuff table and scowled towards the voice. |
Hermione looked up the Gryffindor table at Ron. He was sitting, pale-faced, reading the article. He must have felt her eyes on him, because he looked up and locked eyes with her. His guilt was written all over his face. She smiled at him, slightly. He indicated his head towards the exit and she nodded. She stood up, ta... |
"Did you know about this?" He asked, his voice raised. |
"Don’t yell at me! No, of course I didn’t. As if I’d tell Harry to leave school." |
Ron visibly calmed himself. |
"You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m just shocked." |
Hermione mellowed, "Me too. I hope he’s okay." |
Ron swallowed. "Me too. I mean, he’s obviously alive. I hope he’s with Sirius." |
Hermione struggled to keep her face straight. |
"How he found Sirius, I have no idea." |
"He’s resourceful," Ron said, simply and Hermione had to agree. |
They both turned as the rest of the students began piling out of the Great Hall, still urgently discussing the article. Listening intently, Hermione had to agree that Harry’s drastic and dramatic antics had seemed to have the desired effect. Public opinion was swaying in his favour, and she heard more than one student ... |
"I wonder if I can join The School of Black?" She heard an excited Colin Creevey ask aloud. |
Ron snorted, and Hermione smiled. Maybe things would turn out okay. |
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