Father's Little Deatheater

The Worst Day

Snape's been keeping up private lessons with me most evenings to keep my occlumency up to date incase the Dark lord tries to penetrate my mind in any way to get back at me. He has been teaching me how to cast non-verbal spells too.

One night as I walked into Snape's office for a lesson. I was shocked when I saw Alecto Carrow sitting at his desk. Her evil brown eyes staring me down. "Where's Snape What did you do to him." I demand. "Oh nothing, I just didn't tell you he canceled cause he had an urgent meeting with the Dark Lord." She tells me in her demeaning voice. 

The dimly lit room was thick with the smell of old parchment and the faint crackle of distant thunder. Which scared me a little but I didn't show her any of my fear. Before I could even speak another thunderous rumble happened even louder this time, which gave her a chance to yell "Crucio" I had no time to react, I fell to the floor holding my whole body, which trembled with fear. I couldn't move or scream for help. The pain was all-consuming, sharp and relentless, like a thousand needles being driven into my skin. But it was more than just physical pain. It was the crushing weight of all the screams of the victims I saw die right in front of my face. 

"You deserve this, Asteria," Her voice cut through the screams like a blade, smooth but filled with venom. "You are a traitor. You chose the wrong side. You betrayed everything we stand for."

My vision blurred as the curse tightened its grip on me. Every muscle screamed for relief, every nerve burned with unbearable fire. My teeth clenched, desperate to hold on to the fragments of any trace of happiness I could think of. My mind starts filling with the faces of my friends and George. This gives me enough courage to reach into my boot to grab my wand. 

I point my wand at her and her wand instantly gets sucked out of her hand, landing at my feet. I grabbed her wand and jumped to my feet, her concentration was broken and she had no wand to defend herself. I snap it, right in front of her and throw it on the floor. "You'll regret this you little Bitch," she yells as she rushes out f the room. I let out a sigh, then a few slow claps are heard behind me. "Well done Asteria." Snape beams. "How much did you see." Is all I could say. "Enough" he replied. "Are you okay." he says placing his hand on my shoulder. "Yeah I will be." I say letting out another sigh. "I will deal with her for what she did to you." Snape tells me. "You do know that Alecto makes some of my friends torture the first years in class too, Right?" I tell him. "No how dare they. I will deal with them. You go get some rest Asteria." He says. I turn to walk out the door. "I'm proud of you for casting your first non verbal spell." Snape voice beams. I turn to smile at him and I swear I see him smile to for the first time ever. 

On my short walk back to the common room. I make a note in my mind that I need to apologize to Atti for casting 'Crucio' on him in Salazar's sanctum in our fourth year. I now know what he must have felt going through that. 

***

Amycus paced at the front of the room, his voice sugarcoated and dripping venom. "Crucio is not a curse," he said. "It's a gift. A tool. A way to educate the disobedient. Repeat after me." Everyone was silent. A first year girl near Atti and I sniffled. She was trembling, trying to keep herself from showing fear. I didn't know who she was, but I felt bad for her. Amycus will for sure choose her as his next target but who will he choose to torture her. 

"Gaunt." Amycus snapped, turning to Atti with a demonic look. "Up." Atti stood slowly. My mind racing, I know he wont want to do this to her. So I'll know I will have to see Atti being tormented by that spell again. "Let's see if that Gaunt blood of yours remembers what it means to obey. Cast it. On her." My stomach twisted for him. He looked to the girl, she was staring back, still trembling with fear. "No." Atti refused. Amycus's smile dropped. "No?" He questioned "I won't do it." Atti spoke, not flinching one bit as Amycus rose his wand. 

"Crucio." He yelled

I can't watch this. I close my eyes, expecting to hear his screams which didn't come.

I open my eyes to see him on the floor. He tries to stand with shaking arms. His knees buckled, but he got to his feet. He's got this If I can do it he can too. "Still stubborn," he said. "You'll break eventually. They all do." Amycus's voice piercing through the silence. He just stared at Atti. "Sit down. Before I decide she should take your punishment instead." Atti did just that. The girl was still crying. but not looking at Atti anymore. I'm glad she was okay. She'd be traumatized but aren't we all.

When class is over, I quickly gather my belongings and am glad I caught Atti before he left. "Atti?" I spoke in a quiet tone, behind him. "Can I talk to you?" I add. He turned towards me. I knew he was faking a smile. "Hey, Astra. What's up." He responded. "Not here.. come with me." I say, pulling him along towards Moaning Myrtles bathroom. "Are you okay..?" I ask concerned for him. Considering I now know how it feels to be under that curse. "yeah fine, why?" he replies quickly. I know he's keeping it in... the pain the horror. I let out a sigh. I have to tell him now.

"I'm so sorry for casting that on you in our fourth year, cause now I know what it actually feels like to be in that immense pain. Please don't hide your pain from me." I blurt out. I find it the best way to get my point across, "Asteria. I volunteered to have you cast it on me. That was my choice, I never blamed you for it." He says calmly. "Secondly, don't ask me to share my pain, if your saying you know what it feels like. why didn't you tell me?" he continues. "It only happened last night and after seeing you go through it today just bought back flashes of when it happened to me. I didn't want to be a burden." I confess, pacing around the bathroom. "Oh Asteria." he sighs pulling me into his embrace. "Your not a burden, not for me, not for George, not for anyone in the da. we love you." he tells me, my eyes already watering. We pull apart from each other and his shirt is soaked with my tears. He looks down, then back up at me. before I am about to apologies once more he stops me. "Don't say it" We both smile and just crack up laughing. 

"Good to see you two happy" The familiar ghostly voice of Moaning Myrtle sounds over by her cubicle. She floats over to us. "I haven't seen your brother around this year. Is he okay" she asks me. I have to tell her. Draco actually had a friendly connection with her. "Draco is okay I guess. He's still under the control of father and the Dark Lord. I do feel bad for him, he's struggling a lot with realizing what side he's on." I tell everyone. "Oh I understand. He was a mess last year." Myrtle mumbles, looking saddened. "I know. Thanks Myrtle for being there for Draco when I wasn't" I say looking up at her. "No problem Asteria. You two are nothing like your father or Tom for that matter. OH he was a handsome boy. That Tom Riddle oooohhh." She floats off in her own little world. 

"Hold on, you knew Tom Riddle". Atti spoke up, as she floats around the room. "Well, yes. We both went to school around the same time. Of course he treated me like dirt from the moment we met up until the day I died but.. He was very handsome. A bit weird though, always carrying around random items, trying to hide them away." She rambles, sounding like me a bit. Atti and I both look at each other. "What kind of items." I ask curiously, peering up at her.

Myrtle thought for a moment as she circled around us. "Well, from what I saw, he had a book and a ring. But after that he started breaking into the other dorms to steal things. I don't think he ever found what he was looking for, but I remember overhearing him asking Helena Ravenclaw about her mother's lost diadem. He disappeared after that, I never saw him again." She shrugged before floating away.

Atti glanced down at the ring on his finger. Was this the ring? "Well, thanks for that Myrtle." He smiles, waving. As Myrtle disappears I look at Atti. "Is that the real ring. The one Tom Riddle had?" I as curiously. "I think so. Dumbledore left it for me in his will. I figured it was because it was a Gaunt family heirloom." He replies with a shrug. "Oh okay cool. Um.." I mutter, trying to figure out what to say. "Soo see you in class." Atti asks, tilting his head to the side. We both smiled and nodded before leaving the bathroom.