Death Eaters

Chapter 30: Where the End Begins

Dear Harry,

Please accept my deepest apologies if I regretfully have to cancel our planned vacation. After the incident at the restaurant, it has become clear to me that we should refrain from any unnecessary public outings as it poses an unacceptable risk for all of us. The safety of everyone must be paramount. Also, write back to me about your plan on locating the Horcruxes immediately. Please let me know your whereabouts, as discreet as possible. Make sure you don't let anyone, especially the ministry, interfere with your letters. Once everything is all settled and safe, I'll apparate to your location. I insist that it'll be I who travels to you.

P.S: I think I may have a solid lead on who R.A.B is.

Sincerely, [F/n] J.R.

I wrote on a clean sheet of parchment before handing the letter over to my owl, it grasped the edge of it gently with its beak and swept out of the window— vanishing into the gloomy, wind-swept sky. I exhaled sharply, pushing back my chair and falling onto my bed. My life was a tangled mess, and I hated every part of it. Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling, where faint constellations shimmered like ghosts of better days. A wave of helplessness washed over me— cold, familiar, and unwelcome.

Then came a knock at the door.

I groaned softly, rolling onto my side as my eyes drifted toward the door. "Come in," I muttered, my voice low and tired.

The door creaked open, and to my dismay, it was only Mattheo— that insolent jerk who never seemed to know when to leave me alone. I rolled my eyes and let out a sharp groan of irritation.

"I wanna talk to you," He spoke softly as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him and locked it. He sat at the edge of my bed, his eyes fixed on me— filled with a kind of concern that I didn't know how to face.

I looked at him in confusion, my heart beating a little faster with a growing sense of curiosity. "What is it?"

He let out a sharp breath, his voice low and steady. "I know about your plans with the Golden Trio."

I jolted upright, a staggering dagger in my chest, and stared at Mattheo as if I'd just seen a ghost. My eyes locked onto his, wide with shock and sudden revelation, as though the world had shifted beneath me and I was only just beginning to understand why. Seeing the weight of the moment settle between us, and feeling the truth claw its way to the surface, I let out an exasperated sigh. There was no use holding it back any longer. Sooner or later, I would have to tell him— and it seemed that later had just run out. I tore my gaze from his and looked down, clasping my hands tightly in front of me, my fingers weaving together in a nervous tangle.

"Well, I suppose you've caught me," I said with a soft, strained chuckle, my lips curving into something that wasn't quite a smile. I ran my tongue over them absentmindedly before catching my lower lip between my teeth, a nervous habit I couldn't quite shake.

"Okay, so a long time ago... Father once told me that Harry Potter's parents were part of the Order—the Order of the Phoenix. He tried to recruit them, of course. The Potters were Pure-bloods, their name written among the Sacred Twenty-Eight. By blood, they should've been on our side. They should've despised Half-bloods... and Mudbloods." I paused, the word tasting bitter on my tongue. "But they defied him. Both of them. And Father— he saw that as a personal insult. Betrayal, even. Pure-bloods choosing to fight against him? He couldn't tolerate it. Then he learned of a prophecy... one that truly terrified him. It spoke of a child— born at the end of July— who would have the power to vanquish him. To destroy Voldemort. And out of all the wizarding children born that summer... the only one who fit the prophecy was Harry Potter."