my inheritance (g.w x o.c)

chapter thirty-eight: a termintur toast

The next few weeks were utterly miserable. I spent the majority of my time at the Ministry and reading through articles for the Daily Prophet. If he would like them, I passed it. That was my job. That and search for any whiff of Harry, Hermione, and Ron who had all gone missing. If I managed to get a trace of them, I typically ignored it, unless it was so blatantly obvious that the death eaters would catch on. Draco had returned to school so I honestly felt more alone than ever. George's letters stopped coming, and I thought it was all over. Part of me was glad because that was what I needed, but the other part of me really wanted to believe he would hold on until the end of time. I suppose some things never change. While I managed everything from the homefront, Voldemort was in search of Mr. Ollivander to question him about the wands. The night he finally found him, the entire Manor was filled with his screams as Voldemort tortured him for answers he probably didn't even have.

Voldemort insisted we have dinner the evening after he got back to discuss my next steps as Minister. I sat across from him at the table. It had been shortened for our dinner, but still had about three empty seats on each side. We ate in silence for a moment.

"Can I propose a toast?" he asked, raising his glass.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't," I forced a smile, raising the glass.

"To Ms. Larissa Prince, our newest Minister of Magic. The youngest to ever be."

"Thank you," I nodded, taking a sip.

"I'm surprised you didn't want some wine. You really should treat yourself every once in a while."

"I have to stay sharp minded as the new Minister," I pointed out, setting the drink down. "So, what's the next step?"

"I'm glad you asked," he smiled before going through the long thought out plan of my next few steps as Minister. I had long since finished my original drink, and he had it refilled with a wave of his wand, when he commented, "Of course, all of this would've gone down the drain had you decided to keep the baby."

I froze in the middle of getting food on my fork. I looked at him across the table. "A baby? What on earth-"

"Now, Larissa, don't play dumb with me. Truly, it's a waste of both of our time."

"How did you know I was pregnant?" I asked, setting down my fork.

"Lestrange overheard you and that boy's argument," he answered, taking a sip of his drink. "It's very wise of you to choose not to have children. You have much to lose."

"You had children. Did you think that would hold you back?"

"If I had known about them. The moment I found out about them... well," he shrugged.

I furrowed my brow. "Well what?"

"Let's just say they weren't around much longer." My heartbeat faster.

"What do you mean?"

"Your mother had already been corrupted by your father by the time I found out about her. So I did what had to be done. I couldn't let the name I'd created, the name I'd worked so hard for, become tainted by some useless boy who believes in good. You know where that will get you?"

"Dead," I answered the same rant I'd heard a million times. Though this time, anger coursed through my veins at the thought of why my parents weren't here.

"Dead. Exactly," he nodded. "So I just helped him meet his fate a bit sooner."

"You killed him?"

"I did what had to be done. Even in prestigious lines such as Salazar Slytherin and the Prince family, there can be a bad stem, but that doesn't mean there's no hope for the rest of the line. Look at you." God, he was so proud of me, and who he thought I was.