Father's Little Deatheater

The Dreaded Talk

Friday, January 3rd 1992

The second I walk up to the castle gates with Hermione, Atticus bombards us, holding presents in his hands. "Happy Belated Christmas!" He tells us both. I excitedly unwrap my gift which revels a hologram snake lamp, that slithers around me and produces light for writing or studying during the night and a snake earring, which curled and wrapped around the ear.  He also gives me a gift from the twins, which was a hand-knit sweater in my house colours with the letter A on the front. I pull out the note that explains the twins had told their mum about their friend group so she made us a sweater. I notice Hermione has two books in her hand, "I couldn't decide on which one to get you, so I got both." Atticus says shyly. Hermione's brightens, as she pulls Atticus into a hug. "I love it."  She beams.

"This is awesome! Thank you so much!" I thanks him after Hermione pulls away. Atticus takes a step towards me, his arms streached out for a hug. I take a small step back. "Not a hugger. Got it." I say with a small smile. Hermione waves goodbye, and I lean in towards Atticus "Can we go find Alex? I need to tell you guys something," Atticus looks confused for a moment before nodding.  He pulls out the marauders map from his pocket, we franticly look all over the castle, finally finding him in Hagrid's hut. We walk on over. Atticus knocks with flare before entering, "Hi Hagrid," he says then turning to Alex. "Look who's here." he say in a sing-songy way, as I peak inside behind Atticus. "Welcome home." Alex grins, handing me a present after Hagrid ushers us in. I put the poorly wrapped present in my pocket, so I remember to open it later "Would ye two like some tea?" Hagrid asks, with a cheery smile. "It's a fresh po'!" I nod the same time as Atticus. "Thanks Hagrid." Atticus answers. "OH OH OH OH OH ASTERIA!" Alex exclaims. "WATCH THIS!" He transforms into his Animagus form without using his wand, then back with the smuggest of looks on his face. "Is Hermione back yet? I got her a present too." He asks turning red. Atticus nods. "Yes, yes, your little girlfriend is back." I tease him, grinning. "How'd you like your present, by the way?" I add coyly noticing Alex blush even more. "She's not .. I mean.. shut up!" He said embarrassed and flustered. "Oh does young Alexander have a crush, does'e?" Hagrid said with an huge grin. "You all suck" Alex retorts, sitting down to drink more tea. "I don't know why I was excited to see you." Alex adds. Atticus laughs softly sipping his tea. "You love us." Atticus says with a smirk. "I do. And I hate it." Alex laughs back. I clear my throat to get my friends attention. "I need to talk to you both, its urgent." I say strongly. "Should we go somewhere more private or can it be said in front of Hagrid?" Alex asks in a serious tone. "I won't tell a soul." Hagrid promised. "No offence Hagrid, but I only want this between the three of us." I say my voice lowering a bit. "None taken. You three best be off, anyway. But don't be getting yourselves into any trouble now." Hagrid says as we leave his house.

I lead my friends to the Room of Requirement, imagining the perfect place to talk to them privately, picturing a table and three chairs for everyone to sit and chat. We all take a seat, as I let out a sigh getting myself ready to talk to them. "Some things happened over Christmas break that I need to tell you." I began, my voice shaky, as I try not to cry. "I don't know if you noticed.. but I no longer have Nova with me. She was on my shoulder when Father apparated us back home. She got spliced.. and.. father struck her with the killing curse." I stop as tears start forming in my eyes, I couldn't hold it in anymore. "He told me it's what I deserve for associating myself with you both. I'm sure I don't need to repeat the words he used. My consequences are to help him bring back the Dark Lord." I notice my friends looking scared and worried, but I continue. "Draco's been trying to become a better brother. He's been there for me since the incident. He said he would leave you both alone because he didn't want to hurt my feelings even more than father has. He even helped me bury her in the garden and gave me some money to buy your presents." Atticus places his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss, Asteria." He  says, smiling, which slightly cheers me up. He moves his hand off slowly, both of us turn, noticing Alex's discomfort. "S..so.. Does this mean you're going to become a Death Eater..?" Alex finally blurts out. "Unfortunately, it's not up to me.  My father has already decided that for me, for my sixteenth birthday." I tell them sadly. Alex stands up, resting a hand on the table. "There's always another choice." He mutters, tears now streaming down his cheeks. "My father was killed by Death Eaters. I never even got to see the look on his face when I got my letter to Hogwarts. It might feel like you don't have a choice, but there's always something you can do. I just pray you make the right decision." He balls his hands into fists as he begins to walk away.

"I'm so sorry.." I say softly, making my voice sound like I really do care. "I had no idea.." Alex stops in his tracks, still with his back turned. "It's not something I advertise to the general public, you know." He grunts. "Alex.." Atticus says softly, reaching his hand out to him,  he suddenly turns to face us, his eyes red and puffy. "You can't blame her for what happened. She's being forced into this life." Atticus says trying to reason with him. "We have five years to figure out how to get her out of this! I'm sorry.." He mumbles softly, before transfiguring into his dog animagi, he bounds over climbing back onto his chair and curling into a ball. I can hear him whimper, it breaks my heart, as my mind plays the sound of Nova's whimpering over and over in my head.  Alex jumps off of his chair, which breaks me out of my memories, he waddles over to me and climbs up onto my lap. I slightly hesitate to pat him, but my hand instantly reaches out to pat him, how could I not he's soo cute. I start scratching  behind his ear. I can tell he likes this because his leg starts shaking and he burrows his head into my side. After a few moments, Alex launches out of my  lap making me jump slightly, and onto the table in front of Atticus, Alex starts licking Atticus's face. He lets out a giggle. "Aw, Alex... C'mon man..!" Atticus whimpers, trying to contain himself as I believe that's gotta tickle.