Slytherin Heart

28.

Summer was dreadful, and there was a week of it still to go before we went back to Hogwarts for fifth year. I couldn't write to Amy and Rory because it was too risky. I couldn't write to any of my friends for the same reason, which meant I had no idea of what was going on.

Since the mass breakout in Azkaban, things had turned darker and I was scared. The only thing I could cling onto were those words Amy, my true mum had said to me as she cradled me as a baby: "what you are gonna be, Melody, is very, very brave."  Those words and mums voice were the only things keeping me sane.

Bellatrix Lestrange, mothers' older sister and a genuine nutcase was amongst the ten Death Eaters that had escaped from Azkaban. Her distinct, maniacal cackle echoed throughout Malfoy Manor.

"Ally?" She appeared behind me, in my room, her mass of unruly black curls made her look much taller than she was. "You and I are going to have a chat. Girl to girl! Lucius tells me you are good friends with Potter! Don't you want to please your auntie and the Dark Lord?"

"I wish I could tell you that you will be loved. That you'll be safe, and you'll be cared for and protected. But this isn't a time for lies. What you are gonna be, Melody, is very, very brave. But not as brave as they'll have to be because there's someone coming, I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me, he's on his way. There's a man who's never going to let us down, and not even an army can get in the way." With those words from mum clear in my mind I steeled myself. No matter where they were they would come for me, as they had once already.

"What do you want to know?" I ask her nervously.

I lie as much as I could, but it was difficult when I knew Bellatrix wasn't above using any one of the Unforgivable Curse. As long as I played my cards carefully and to the right degree, I could protect myself.

"Good girl," she grinned, speaking to me like I was an infant. "I have a surprise for you!" She led me down to one of the rooms in the Manor that didn't get used often, or at all. "Your first muggle to torture!"

"No," I shake my head at her, but she simply cackles.

"It's easy! I'll show you," and she did. She grabs my wrist and twists me around so I'm pressed against her so that I couldn't look away. She lowers her wands and caresses my face. "Don't you want to bond with your auntie?!"

But I panic, twisting away from her. I throw a spell blindly at her and race up to my room. There was no going back after this. I would have to distance myself from Amy and Rory because I didn't want anything happening to them until all this was over. My trunk was already packed, and I scribbled a note to the Weasley twins. It went with a pop and I had a plan, I just hope the figured it out before I got caught.

"Traitor!" Bellatrix screams, and that was my cue to disappear.

In my haste my robes were getting caught on branches and torn. Bellatrix had sent Greyback after me, I stupify him just as the Ford Anglia appears. The back door opens and I throw myself into the backseat along with my trunk. It wasn't graceful and it wasn't smooth and painless, either.

George hits the invisibility button and we're off. We don't speak until we reach a new location.

Mr and Mrs Weasley rush out into the hallway, and I could tell they were about to yell at the twins, but they move aside so that they could see me. I'd hit a point where I was shaking and I broke down in tears.

"Ally! Goodness! What on Earth has happened?" Mrs Weasley asks.

"Melody," I say. "My name is Melody Pond. I never have been a Malfoy," I tell them first.

Her smile of understanding and acceptance was all I needed. "Alright Melody, tell us what happened."

I do, we all went into a room which had a long dining table, Sirius, Lupin, and a woman I didn't recognise was there. The real Mad Eye Moody, too. The trio, Ginny, as well as the twins were all here. I tell them everything, and that there was no going back for me now. I tell them briefly about my actual parents too, and that it would be safer for them to keep them at a distance, and they all agreed. Mrs Weasley offered me a place with them which I gladly accepted.

Then it was their turn to tell me what all this was, and they tell me about the Order of The Phoenix. Sirius then explained that this was his family home which he offered to the Order as a safe house.

When everyone dispersed, and Mrs Weasley was making dinner. Mr Weasley asked if he might have a word.

"Amos asked that I pass this on to you, Melody. He knew how much Cedric cared for you and thought that this might bring you some comfort," Mr Weasley handed me a small box.

I open the box carefully and inside was a ring. I look at Mr Weasley confused.

"Age is only a number. We're all facing a war that we will all play a part in. This was most likely Cedric's promise to you, or it could mean something else entirely," Mr Weasley says.

Choosing not to read into it when Cedric was not here to tell me himself, I placed the ring on my middle finger. It was a simple band with a small cluster of yellow sapphires. A ring from him, that was all it was, nothing more, no hidden meaning and nothing unsaid that had to be said.

Hermione then came down and said that she would show me where I would be sleeping. The room had three small beds, and Ginny was laid across one of them; Hermione took the one which had a stack of books on it. I had the one closest to the door, my trunk sat at the foot of it.

<•> Author's Note <•>

Updated 28/08/2022