Chapter 39
Lucius had thought his life was over when he had been put into that wretched place. All his life, he had heard whispers and rumors about the menace of that place, yet no words could do the wretched place justice.
The dementors were as dreadful a creature as one could think, and their sheer presence drained the energy out of one. It was only the promise of revenge that kept him sane and alive every day, for Lucius made a promise to himself to exact revenge on the mudblood bastard who had put him in this place.
Yes, that was everything to him. His hate. His rage. That was what drove him to endure, for he knew in his heart that their lord would come to his rescue. That soon enough, he would be rewarded for his service, and then he would have his revenge.
So, he waited, and waited, and just as the cold and despair became unbearable, the screeches came first.
"AYYYYYY!" "GAHHHHH!" and the cold and despair that had long clouded his mind began to thin away, as he pushed himself to the edge of his cell, and saw the dementors all gather towards a singular place.
"It's him!" he whispered, his voice shook with relief as he saw the guards fly into the horde of dementors.
"Come back! Come back!"
Yet they were no match for him, as they began to rattle the cages, as the four guards all fell to the ground in the blink of an eye, as the Dark Lord rose through the cloud of darkness and offered them their reward.
"My dear followers..." the Dark Lord's voice was like a soothing balm to their pains and aches, as for the first time in months, Lucius felt hope bubble in his heart.
"I have come for you..."
.
.
.
0000
ALDER EVANS
The break-in at Azkaban marked the start of an open war. There were no more secrets, no more pretences. The gloves were off, and war had begun. Until a week ago, Azkaban had been the most secure prison on Earth, and now it sat empty as Voldemort broke it open and took all of the prisoners with him.
Nearly a hundred witches and wizards, all of them put into Azkaban for the most heinous of crimes, now roamed free along with an army of dementors that was wreaking havoc all across the British Isles.
It was an absolute mess, but one that finally pushed his name and face out of the papers. He had come out of the Hospital a few days ago and was now at Ted's place helping him set it up, as he tried to spend time with Narcissa, who was becoming rather nervous about her future.
"You don't want to go to Hogwarts," he asked, and Narcissa was quiet at his question as she refused to answer immediately.
"I don't know," she answered softly, as Alder came and sat beside her.
"Is it about the Slytherins?" and given her reaction, he was right.
"I don't know how I will live with them?" and the tensions last year had been high enough, and Alder could hardly imagine what things would be like this year, with the world embroiled in open war.
"I have already done my OWLS," she questioned, and Alder did not wish to force her.
"But didn't you want to be a Healer?" and she had mentioned her dream once while they had been walking through Hogsmeade, and her lips thinned.
"We don't always get everything we want in life, do we?" she answered with a quivering voice, and it pained him to see her like that.
"What if you don't have to stay at the dorms with your House?" he questioned, and he was certain that he had read something about this somewhere.
"What?" she asked.
"Yeah, what if I somehow arrange a separate living space for you?" and he already had a few things in mind.
"How will you do that?" she asked, and he shrugged.
"You leave that to me," and they sat on the newly assembled bed, and now the House finally looked like a home as they put up the wallpaper and decorated the walls with some paintings and pictures.
"So I came here with another purpose," and with everything going on, Frank had decided to scale down the wedding, which was set to happen tomorrow. Being an Auror, especially one who had arrested Lucius and his friends, Frank's life was under constant threat, so they had decided to ease up on the celebrations for security purposes.
"What?"
"You know Frank and Alice are getting married tomorrow," and she nodded.
"As it happens, I find myself lacking a date, and everyone's rather succinct in that they want to see the spectacular girl who has swooped me off my feet," and she hit his arm at his antics, as he wiggled his brows.
"So, can I count on you to make an appearance beside this dashing young man?" and she had already met most of the attendees.
"But I don't even have a dress," and he had anticipated these troubles.
"Yes, so it happens I have managed to secure for ourselves a special appointment with Lady Franklin down at Diagon," and she was taken aback by that, and had no other excuse to offer.
He knew that she was nervous. Until now, she had been rather sure of her identity. Until she had simply been Narcissa Black, yet now, in the span of a few months, she had been stripped of that second name and that identity, and now she was trying to find herself a new identity.
It was not easy for her, and he tried to be as supportive as he could while steering her into a new world, free from the prejudices and burdens of her old life.
"Say yes," he encouraged as he held her hands.
"I will be there with you every second, and we will leave the second you say so," he assured her, and just to get the point across.
"Plus, wouldn't you want to be there to see your sister's reaction when Ted proposes to her," and her head snapped up at that.
"Andy, Ted. You can't mea..." and he nodded.
"I helped him pick the ring myself...."
0000
JAMES POTTER
The Summer had been rather exciting for James. A bit more than usual, for he had found himself a rather interesting pen pal in the form of Lily, as they grew closer and closer.
James began to learn a bit more about the usually enthusiastic and energetic girl who had caught his eye on the first day of school. He learned about her fierce loyalty, her love for her family. She also learned to look beyond the usual carefree boy who was rather devoted to his pranks and Quidditch.
Still, James had nearly had a heart attack when he had learned of the attack at the McKinnons, and if it was not for his mother and father, he would have flown off to the place at once.
Yet in the end, Alder had foiled the massive attack and had pushed back the Dark Lord and his forces, dealing them a big blow, which had the Ministry discussing rewarding him with an Order of Phoenix.
The papers were calling him the Dark Lord's Equal, and his OWLS had only added to the praise, for he had tied the Headmaster's record with his scores and had showcased his wit and power during the attack at the McKinnon House.
But that was not all that he had done, for with that had also come the reveal of the presence of three other Animagi within Hogwarts itself. The revelation had been a surprise, and though the Prophet had heaped only praise upon him and his friends, the reaction of his friends had been something else.
"I can't believe we still have two weeks of the Vacations left," Sirius complained as the duo sat at the edge of the party in their finest suits, as the ceremony passed on in front of them.
"I had thought the OWL results would lower their anger," and the results had come out better than they had expected, as both he and Sirius achieved the grades they had sought to apply at the Auror academy in the future.
"I have never seen them this mad," James agreed, for even the result had failed at satiating their rage as both he and Sirius found themselves grounded for all of Summer, and it was only because of the chance of meeting with Lily's parents that they allowed them this opportunity of coming out of their rooms.
"I honestly thought that this was going to be a bit grander," Sirius complained, and James had expected that as well.
"Well, with the war going on, half the guests pulled out, and the Longbottoms uninvited some of the families themselves," and so they had found themselves with this rather small affair, though it felt a bit odd calling a gathering of over a hundred people small.
"Speaking of that, have you seen Alder?" James asked as he pointed to the table at the front.
"There, he is sitting there with your cousin," and that had him sit up at once.
"What!" and James smiled.
"There, he is sitting with Narcissa and her sister," and he had seen Ted frequenting the table a few times, but Sirius had supposedly missed it.
"They did it. Merlin, they did it!" and he did not know what he was talking about.
"What do you mean?" he asked, as Sirius's head snapped towards him.
"Don't you get it? They ran away. They left the House," and it finally dawned on him that no one else from his family was here at the party, and how Narcissa was sitting there with Alder out in the open.
"I heard Aunt Dorea talk about it, but I never thought it would happen for real," and James could hardly believe that the Black family had decided to do this.
"I am going to go and have a chat with them," and Sirius jumped off, leaving him alone as James scanned the room and saw his parents sitting together with Lily's family at the other side.
"Shit," he cursed as he saw her mother's gaze fall onto him, as Lily smiled and greeted his family, and that conspirational smile on her face was enough of a giveaway that he had been caught.
"May I have your attention, everyone?" Ted's voice rang out, and as he took to the stage in his best man suit, he smiled at them all.
"Before we begin with the celebrations here, I have an announcement to make...."
0000
"WHAT!" Bellatrix raged as they were informed about the proceedings of the Longbottom wedding.
"How dare you utter this filth about my family?" and the informant simply backed away in fear as he tried to crush him.
"Silence!" Yet the Dark Lord's words made her still, as he stepped forward, as the informant turned to speak up.
"I speak only the truth, my lord. I saw her there myself, sitting with that Mudblood," and Bellatrix could bear such humiliation no more.
"Silenc..." yet the Dark Lord's patience had long grown too thin, as his wand blurred through the air.
"CRUCIO!" and the screams of Bellatrix once more filled those Halls as the Dark Lord snarled.
"I thought I was clear in my instructions, my dear Bella. You will not interrupt him again," and with that, he withdrew his wand, as the eldest of the Black of House of Black lay there writhing on the ground.
"Speak," the Dark Lord prompted his informant.
"The other one was there as well. Andromeda," and now the entire room gasped once more.
"She sat beside that mudblood the whole time, and then..." and the man seemed to hold back, before he eeked out ragefully.
"And then another one of those mudbloods proposed to her, and she accepted," and whispers now dominated the entire room, as the shame of House Black was revealed to all.
"Lies! Lies!" Bellatrix Lestrange eeked out, yet someone from the crowd stepped forward and silenced Bellatrix.
"I am afraid it is all true indeed," and it was none other than Lucius who had come forward, as he bowed to his father.
"Lucius. Yes, you were promised the younger Black girl, weren't you?" the Dark Lord questioned as if he had not been the one to make this promise.
"Yes, my lord, I was, and I can vouch for the words, for I have long known that the two of them were blood traitors and harbored such sympathies for these animals," and the Dark lord's gaze narrowed.
"You knew of this before," and there was a promise of rage there.
"Not all of it, though I did have my suspicions after I learned that it was Andromeda Black who plotted with those mudbloods earlier in the year to have Lestrange expelled from the school," and Bellatrix could accept it no more.
"NO! LIES! THESE ARE ALL LIES!" and the Dark Lord's wand moved again.
"Crucio!"
"AGHHHHH!" and the girl screamed, as the Dark Lord let out his rage.
"I did not give you permission to speak!" he snarled angrily, and he had never taken this tone with the girl before. Never.
He strode down the hall as he circled the trembling girl.
"I welcomed your family into my own for I thought that they shared my purpose, my goal," he began as he looked at Bellatrix, and yet now I learn that the Blacks have abandoned my side.
"Tell me, what am I to make of this..." and those red orbs cut through the crowd as they landed on a man trying to make himself small within it, yet those red orbs saw all.
"...Cygnus?" and the crowd parted as the Dark Lord walked up to the young scion of House Black.
"Is it really true? Has the House of Black lost faith in our mission?" and the man shook his head, as he bent down on his knee at once.
"No, my lord. House Black remains eager to serve..."
"LIES!" the Dark Lord's voice raged with the thunder outside, as he looked down at his servant.
"Lies! You heard my informant. You heard his words. He speaks of your daughters, does he not! Your daughters who have now turned traitor to their own kin," and Cygnus Black was in a bind as he sat there humiliated and scorned, before he looked up and met his gaze.
"If they are truly set in their ways," he began, as he looked at the Dark Lord.
"Then they are no daughters of mine. They are nothing but traitors!" and the Dark Lord raised a brow.
"Traitors, you say! You do know what we do with such traitors, then don't you..."
0000
As always, you can read ahead and support me through my Patre 0n. Your support and patr 0nage are what make all this possible. So, drop a sub if you can. It would help me out quite a bit.
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a fantastic day!