Atlas Malfoy and how history repeats itself

Part 44

I shiver as we sit in a dingy little cafe. I'm not listening to the conversation at hand, but I'm looking round. Two men walk in and I can't figure out where I know them from. They recognise me, and one of them raises his eyebrows questioningly. Then, they grab their wands, shooting at me. I barely dodge, but the spell rebounds off the wall, whacking the chair next to me. I scream and fall to the floor. Spells fly everywhere, until there is silence.

I get up and step over them. They're death eaters, one being Dolohov. I say, "They recognised me. I'm sorry."
"Suppose they killed Mad-eye?" Ron scoffs. Harry says, "Wipe their memories. It'll be better."
Hermione steps forward, obliviating them. I can't help but freeze, so Hermione has to drag me out into the cold street. The air is harsh and it feels like a brick into my body. I'm not sure how long we are walking for, but long enough that we reach Sirius's house. I enter after the group, breathing deeply for a few minutes. They are upstairs and I head to the kitchen. I sit at the table, running my hands over all the carved names. Then I head to one of the many living rooms.

There is another mural, tapestry type thing with all our names on it. I run my hands over Bellatrix's name, then mum's name, and then mine. It's so close to a burnt off name, probably Aunt Andromeda. Definitely Aunt Andy. Tonk's name isn't on the mural. I wonder if that upsets her, or whether she feels like she isn't apart of this family. Sirius's name is burnt off, but Regulus's name is bold and swirly. His picture looks so sad, so fed up with everything. I probably would be if I had grown up with Bellatrix near me most of the time. I wonder how it is to be only ten years younger than Bellatrix. My only cousin is Tonks. I'm about to leave when something catches my eye. Ron's name. I knew we were related, but I didn't think he would be on the tree.

I head up to bed, trying desperately to be quiet passed Hermione's room. She pokes her head out and says, "Are you alright Atti?"
I spin round to her and say, "NO- No, I'm fine."
"What's wrong."
"Nothings wro-"
"What is wrong?" She repeats, more firmly. I feel tears stream down my face and I say, "I don't know what I'm going to say to my family if we get caught. It will be obvious that I know you. I just can't be found by them and survive."
"I'll say we kept you with us. Made it impossible to apparate away." Hermione says, nodding, "Yeah, that's it. I'll just say I knew you were going to rat us out and made sure to keep at least one hand on you at all times?"
I nod and whisper, "I don't want to die yet Hermione. This isn't fair."
"Do you want to talk about it? You can sleep here."
I nod and she invites me into the room. There are two army bed type things and I sit on the one closest to the door, resting my walking stick on the floor.

"Just talk." Hermione says, sadly smiling at me. I nod, saying, "I hate being a Malfoy. Sure, I got my last name changed, but I am a Malfoy. My brother was chosen to kill Dumbledore. I have sat in death eater meetings. I have sat and watched the Dark Lord kill people. The Dark Lord has spoken to me, put his hand on my shoulder. My aunt has hurt me, and I still act like I am in awe of her. If I don't lie and keep my guard up, I will be murdered. I shouldn't have had to be fifteen and worrying about being killed by my family. I don't want to die. Draco and I haven't had a full conversation since we were thirteen, where he had a rant about muggle borns. Lucius wants me not to be such a freak. Dolohov made my life a misery while he was at my house. Severus treated me like I was stupid. He still managed to be the closest thing I had to a father, and then I know if I join the death eaters, I'll end up like Regulus."
"At least you have you mum," Hermione says, awkwardly fumbling with a loose thread. I begin putting on my pyjamas and once I'm done, I say, "I don't want her to watch me die Hermione. I don't want my mum to watch me die."
"I know, I should've thought about what I was say-"
"Hermione?" I ask. She raises her eyebrows and I say, "What is it like being a muggle born? And not being disowned by your dad and like... having a normal family who don't have stupid views?"
She hesitates for a minute. I lie down on the bed and she follows suit, saying, "I can't really explain it. What was your childhood like?"
"Awful," I say, "I learnt Spanish, French and German, and in response, I was ignored by everyone until I could do something to impress someone. Mum loved me. Lucius used me as a little puppet that he could make people impressed with. And now people are scared of me. Aunt Bella says I look so much like her. You heard Slughorn last year. He was scared to look at me in case I did what?"
"Well," Hermione says, "Your aunt is terrifying."
"I'm not my aunt."
"What happened to Regulus? Who was he?" Hermione says after a second or two of silence. I smile a little and say, "Regulus was Sirius's younger brother. He was a Slytherin and joined the death eaters when he was sixteen or there about. He regretted it. Look."
I lean over and pull the notebook out of Hermione's bag. I hand it to her and as she flicks through the pages, I say, "He only joined them to impress his mother. She was crushed when he died. Nobody knows exactly how he died, but most people say he was either killed by the Dark Lord or another Death Eater. I think it was a death eater. He wasn't important enough to be killed by the Dark Lord."
I look up at the ceiling and Hermione says, "Why would you say he wasn't important enough?"
"He's like me," I say, "More like Draco if anything. Just doing things to impress their parents. He was only a kid. He died at our age."
"Our age?"
"That's why he wasn't important. He wasn't killing muggles left, right and centre. I'm going to try get some sleep, Mines."
"Okay Atti," Hermione says, putting the notebook down, "I'll say we kept you tied to us. You can't apparate alone if you are tied to a person."