Death Eaters Daughter

06

He waited, watching the both of us with a knowing glint in his grey eyes, blonde hair tousled as he leant against the pillar. His arms crossed over his chest, the black t-shirt he wore allowing the both of us to see the dark mark that many feared and the denim jeans he wore creating the most casual outfit that I'd ever seen him wear. Which was probably why, when I threw a look at Scorpius, that he merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't think you knew what casual meant," I uttered jokingly, walking up the remainder of the steps and over towards the black table, nearest to where our father still stood.

A small smile grew on his face, although his eyes still held that knowing look within them, "Neither did I," He says, walking over towards the table that I sat at and pulling out a chair for himself.

I watched as Scorpius walked over, eyeing the both of us unsurely as he pulled out his own chair. Noticing the looks Scorpius kept giving us, our fathers grey eyes met Scorpius's equally grey eyes that shone with uncertainty, "You can relax, I'm not mad at you," He said.

I watched as Scorpius released a breath of air that he'd been holding, his 6'1 frame relaxing into the metal chair as he looked towards where I sat, "Even if you told Elysian about the prophecy and the dark lord," Our father said, both mine and Scorpius's eyes snapping towards our father.

"How do you know that?" Scorpius asked, his grey eyes studying every inch of our fathers face.

He shrugged his shoulders lazily, his cool grey stare looking from Scorpius to me, his gaze lingering on me as he answered, "You've always told each other everything, nothing's ever been a secret between the two of you. So, what do you want to know?"

I looked towards Scorpius, silently asking for permission to ask everything that ran through my mind. He nodded his head, urging me to ask all the questions that he knew I had. Tearing my gaze from my brother and back to our father, who had watched our entire exchange with unconcealed curiosity, "Besides the prophecy, why would the dark lord want anything from us?"

He straightened in his seat, grey eyes hardening as he rested his elbows on the black table, "Punishment for everything my father failed to do, for what I failed to do."

I furrowed my eyebrows in thought, trying to piece what he'd said together but only ending up with nothing as I sighed in frustration, "What did you fail to do that would make the dark lord come for us?" I ask.

He swallowed thickly, his eyes filling with years worth of pain, "When I first became a death eater, I had one task and if I didn't do it, he was going to kill me." I watched as he ran his fingers through his hair in discomfort after he'd spoken.

I glanced towards Scorpius uncertain of if I should leave it be or get the answers I wanted, he only nodded his head slowly, urging me to continue but be careful as to not push him too far. I swallowed nervously as I turned back to face our father, "What was your task?"

He lifted his head from where he'd been holding it between his hands, meeting my hesitant gaze with his pain-filled stare, "I had to fix a vanishing cabinet that would allow the death eaters to enter Hogwarts and when I did, I was to be the person to kill Albus Dumbledore," He scoffed as he thought back to the memory, "He was so calm when I found him at the top of the astronomy tower, he even told me that I didn't have to do it and that he understood what I was feeling. He was too calm, to the point that it got on my nerves when he kept saying that I didn't have to do it so I snapped. I pulled up the sleeve of my shirt and showed him the dark mark that had been etched into my skin, he seemed surprised then."

I merely sat there and listened as he got caught up in reliving the past, Scorpius's surprise emanating off of him in waves, "He knew even before I did that I didn't want to kill him but like I'd said to him when he tried to convince me that I didn't have to do it. I didn't have a choice. If I didn't kill him, the dark lord was going to kill me. Severus Snape killed him as Dumbledore asked him to and I could only stand there in shock as I watched his body fall from the top of the astronomy tower," He stopped talking as he met both of our gazes, gauging our reactions to what he'd said.

I couldn't be mad or disgusted, not like many witches and wizards would have been if he'd told them his story. I could only feel surprise and shock as I studied him, bewildered that he'd gone through all of that and was still hated by so many. I knew that he hadn't told anyone the truth, hadn't wanted to relive a past that he so clearly hated but I couldn't help but think what would have become of him if he hadn't been forced into becoming a death eater.

I met his stare as I spoke, meaning every word, "I've said it once before and I'll say it again, that mark," I say, gesturing to the obsidian black ink that was etched into his pale skin, "Does not define who you are, it might be his mark but it was forced upon you. You chose at the time to become a death eater but now, more than ever, I know that it wasn't what you wanted. You became a death eater because you didn't think you had a choice but you do and now that the marks etched into your skin, you see it every day and wish it was never there."

"You're not a monster nor are you a bad person," Scorpius uttered from beside me.

"I am not a good person," He says, looking from Scorpius to me.

I arched an eyebrow doubtfully, "No, you're someone who didn't have a choice," I paused as I watched him open his mouth to disagree with me, "If you're such a bad person then why is your wands core unicorn hair?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Witches or wizards with unicorn hair in their wands are less likely to turn to the Dark Arts which I think explains a lot about you, you said that you didn't want to kill Albus Dumbledore and I think it's because you never were a bad person. You just had to play the part of the bad guy," I say.

"Why are you so convinced that I'm not a bad person?" He asked in astonishment.

"Because I realise now that you didn't send us away in spite nor because you didn't care, you sent us away to protect us because you do care. If you were such a bad person, you wouldn't have cared what happened to us." I saw the moment the words sunk into him, along with the meaning, the truth and the certainty that I said it with.

I saw his eyes begin to lighten, gratitude filling his grey eyes, "Thank you," He uttered softly, a small smile spreading across his face.

We sat there in comfortable silence, a small smile resting across my face as I soaked up the sunlight. Archimedes flying above us happily until he gradually got lower before he made a small arch and landed upon the black metal chair beside me, little clicking sounds emitting from his throat as he gently nibbled my fingers. I was running my fingers along his silky smooth feathers when a hiss of pain tore through our father's throat, my thundery grey eyes snapping towards where he sat, clutching his arm.

"What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, eyeing his forearm that he clutched tightly.

His jaw was clenched in discomfort as he breathed out through his mouth slowly, his eyes meeting my own as he spoke, "It's burning."

"What's burning?" Scorpius asked as he leant forward in his seat.

I met our fathers gaze again, the realisation sinking into place as I looked at the arm he was holding. My eyes widening as I saw the black ink upon the arm he was clutching, the ink swirling and rolling on his arm like it had been awakened. I sucked in a sharp breath of air as I tore my eyes from the mark, meeting the cool grey eyes of our father as he nodded his head curtly, confirming what I'd already pieced together.

I couldn't tear my eyes from his own as I spoke, my gaze dropping to the arm he clutched and the mark that it bore, "His mark, it's burning."

"You can't be serious," Scorpius paused looking between the two of us, "Tell me you're joking," He said as he leant further forward towards the table.

A dry laugh slipped through our father's lips, "I wish she was," He says, pulling his hand away from his forearm.

Revealing the mark in all its glory, the obsidian black ink swirling and rolling on his arm, "What does that mean?" Scorpius asked, dreading the answer to the question that he'd asked.

Hoping that the answer wouldn't be the one that he already knew. I ran my fingers through my dark hair as I spoke, the dread creeping into my veins as I did, "It means that the dark lord has returned."

A/N: thank you for 155 reads and please don't forget to vote <3 Strap in lovelies because it only gets better from here.