The Serpent

PROLOGUE

"We are asking one more time, Mrs. Adeline Lestrange. Have you worked for the dark lord?"
The beautiful woman remained resolutely silent. Her hair was frizzy and her clothes looked dirty. This was nothing like her usual appearance. They stole her jewelry, even her wedding ring. They stole her wand, making the brilliant witch powerless. They stole her fancy clothes. They stole her freedom. But, bitterly and deeply hurt, I had to comprehend that they stole her love.

"We need an answer.", the minister said out loud.
He was getting closer to the cage she was locked in.
"Yes! Yes, I did!", she started screaming furiously.
Silence. Everyone was shocked. Neither of us had expected her to actually speak the truth.
She tried breaking free and her metal chains jangled against the metallic rods keeping her in.
"Why?", the minister asked further.
"Because he gave me power. I could learn from him.", she grinned proudly.
"HE is dead! He died killing a little boy.", somebody lauged at her reply.
"He will come back one day!", she growled angry. This wasn't my wife. And she would never be her again.
"Kill her! Kill her!", some people screamed.

All the love she expressed for a lifetime, it was all gone. And it hit me like a gun shot as I understood that she didn't even care anymore. It didn't bother her to loose her beloved family by her foolish actions. A tear rolled down my cheek as I turned around to not face the bitterness anymore. They stole my wife, the mother of my child.

"You deserve to be send to Azkaban for the rest of your life!", the minister of magic decided.
"Kill me or I'll kill you all!", she disagreed.
"I'm afraid, she is insane, minister.", Albus stated sadly. He looked at me, but I didn't want to see his face. How did they dare to take my wife from me? She was all I ever wanted. Nobody could ever replace her.
"There's nothing we can do.", Albus continued.
"Send her to Azkaban. Now!", the minister decided finally.

Drenched on sweat, I woke up.

"Dad? Is everything alright? You made weird noises, I'm sorry for waking you up.", a little sweet girl said. My sweet girl.
Her black hair was nothing like her mother's. But, she had her dark green eyes which were opened widely, observing every detail in excitement. Just like her long retroussé-nose, which outlined the opposite of her cute big eyes and gave her a very mature semblance. Nevertheless, these small lips with the proportionally long philtrum made it easy to tell that she also had my genes.
Her hair had grown very long and her aunt Bellatrix badgered me on and on to cut it short again. Anaïs didn't want that, she wanted to wear her hair as long as her mother did. How would I disagree on that?
I wasn't made to be raising a daughter. Luckily, she never carried a grudge against me. We got on well with one another.

"Dad? Why did you sleep on the couch?", she asked, looking at me with those big eyes trying to figure it out like a little detective. She beared a lot of power from a young age on. So, it was very soothing for me to finally introduce her to Hogwarts this year. It had been hard to leave her for teaching, but at least the Malfoys took good care of her when I was gone.

"I must've slept in while reading, my dear.", I managed to reply to her and got up from the couch. "Let's get breakfast done! What do you say?", I asked smiling. It made her cute little grin come out. "I am starving! But, we can't miss the Hogwarts Express!", she replied excited. "We won't miss it, don't worry! There's always time for breakfast.", I said and rubbed through her soft hair. Sidestepping, she tried to escape my hands making a mess out of her hair, but failed miserably. Laughing, she followed me into the kitchen.

"Are you scared?", I wanted to know while seperating the baked beans into two equal parts on our plates. She shook her head in denial. "Maybe a tiny little bit, because I don't know what I would do if I don't get sorted into Slytherin or if I don't make any friends.", she admitted. "Don't worry, I am sure you will be with Draco and the other kids in Slytherin. And even if you don't, I will still love you the same, I promise!", I said looking at her eyes. She smiled. But, a father can tell if her daughter doesn't feel well. From the day she was born, she would do a lot of thinking about everything. I bet it was a sign of how smart she was. On the other hand, it wasn't very easy to make her speak about it.