Familial Bonds: Sequel To The Purloined Prince

Twenty

Sebastian

One Month Later...

I was given a month with my family, and then I was told that I had to do the initiation, or risk having missed a 'grand opportunity,' is how Barty Crouch Jr put it. Whatever. I didn't care, I just wanted to kill whatever poor, unfortunate muggle that proved that I was worthy to be inducted into the ranks of the deatheaters. My father prepared me well in advance, but I never dreamed that they would make me kill someone important. Who was this target? None other than the Prime Minister himself.

My father scowled at the orders, especially since he was a part of this initiation. He had tried to argue against this, but the despot would not be moved. We had to assassinate the Prime Minister at a seminar for world peace of all things.

"How did you handle killing on that psycho's orders, dad?" I asked when we arrived back at Hogwarts.

My dad said, "Think of it more like you're killing enemy soldiers than innocent people, Bastian. We're at war, and you have to start thinking that way from now on. Live and fight for your family. Do you understand?"

I hugged him, and said, "Yes, it does. It helps a lot, actually. So, I just go in masked and cloaked, and kill him, outright?"

"That would be the usual plan, yes," My father said, "But it will be dangerous. He will have not just muggle security surrounding him, but also aurors disguised as his usual team."

I paced my father's spacious quarters, and swore under my breath. "It's a godsdamned suicide mission. The psycho wants to test me to see if I can live through this."

Dad nodded, his expression thunderous, "Exactly. Think of it as a passive aggressive way of killing you without dirtying his hands. It's cowardly, but anyone can be killed."

I grinned wolfishly, agreeing, "Yes, anyone. So, what is the plan?"

"We make a grand show of looking fearsome with our masks, and kill the minister before the aurors kill us," Dad said. "Or get shot with muggle bullets. I don't know about you, but I don't wish to die by getting shot. Once was enough in my leg."

I winced at that. "Well, let's get some sleep, and go look fiercesome at this fancy seminar the Prime Minister is hosting, shall we?"

My father grinned, "Yes, let's."

We shook hands on that, and I left to retire to my own quarters. I attended to Gabriel, and had dinner with Hermione. But I never mentioned my mission. From now on, I had to keep that part of my life secret, and apart from my personal life.

I went to bed after writing my wife a letter, and enchanted it to only be able to be opened upon my death. I had no illusions about my chances of survival. The dark lord wanted me dead, and it was something that I knew for a long time. My mother Lily tried to protect me by sending me to live with the Blacks. My father tried to protect me the entire time that I attended Hogwarts, and he was trying to protect me now.

If I was caught, I would spend the rest of my life in Azkaban. But if I made it out of there alive, then I would be highly honored among the deatheaters, and even be granted some level of respect. I didn't care so much about that, just getting the mission done, that was all that mattered to me in the end. I went to sleep that first night, and slept fitfully, because I worried about Hermione and our son. What if they could be in danger from all of this? Who would care for them if I didn't make it. It would have to be Draco or Harry, I trusted no one else with my family's safety.

I later slept easy, and when I awoke the next day, I felt easier in my heart than before, and that was because I had hope, hope for the future. For without hope, I didn't believe that I could get through this, and live to tell the tale. My last thought was for my family, only my family, they were the only ones who mattered, and I promised myself that I would fight for them, or die trying...