The Mark of a Death Eater : Sequel

Chapter One

Chapter 1
As usual, I was waiting for the knock on the door.
Three knocks, to be precise. They came thrice a day, like clockwork, and very occasionally they would come at random times.
The first of these regular knocks was meant I wake me up. Since I was usually awake anyways, mainly due to my overactive brain and nightmares, it only signaled me to go downstairs.

The second came when it was time for the late afternoon meeting, and the third for supper.

I didn't have to do downstairs to eat. If I wanted, I could skip the meals altogether, which I did often.
Or, if I preferred, I could call for the Malfoy's house elf, and he would come to my room with a tray laden with food. I never did that, though. The Malfoy house was so silent, even whispers seemed like screams.

Maybe that's why I found it so hard to speak anymore. My voice felt stuck in my throat, like I couldn't make any sounds. Every sound echoed in the huge lonely house, and on the days when there were meetings, the whispers carried through the lavish halls.

I couldn't help but keep comparing this house to mine. This garden had statues of pretty witches, water fountains, pastel-coloured pruned flower bushes and neatly trimmed hedges.

My garden at home had roses only. Lots and lots of roses. Mostly dark red ones, because that was the only type my mother liked, but it did have yellow ones too, and our house elf had planted a patch of lavender once, when she found out I liked it. Apart from that, the large evergreen trees dominated the mansion at home.

My house was lonelier than this one, I suppose, but in it's own way, it was also warmer.
Each visitor here brought their own coldness and darkness when they came. Although my house wasn't nearly as full of people, my brother was almost always there when I was, and so was Zayn and his family.

On my return to Hogwarts on the day of Dumbledore's funeral, I had retrieved Asteria, my faithful owl. Her company would have been appreciated in my room. She'd been taken away from me by my fellow inhabitants. I was still mistrusted, it would seem.

I had never felt more lonely in my life. Perhaps my time during the summer at home could have been considered lonely, but this was on another scale altogether. Here, there was an ever-impending doom and worry upon all of the houses occupants. Narcissa, Draco, and I.

That gloom had only increased for me, when a letter arrived on my windowsill the week before.
I had been in an empty house a few miles away from the mansion, looking out for when Alecto and Amycus would show up, when the letter appeared with an unfamiliar owl.

Emma:

I miss you terribly. I can't wait to see you again.
Mum said I should wait  till you get home to tell you about this, but I really couldn't, so I had to write: I proposed to Sophia! Isn't that great? I know how much you and Zayn used to joke about wanting to be a real family, and now you will be.
It might seem silly to propose with everything going on, but I've been wanting to do it for ages, and we might not have time anymore.
Jasmine and Alia are back from their work break, and they've started working out preparations already. I told them you won't wear a peach or gold dress, but they've argued that if you dyed your hair back to brown, the three of you will match.
I'm willing to make you my best man, if you want. At least you'll get to wear trousers then.
See you soon Eve.

Your brother, Rigel

The message had crushed my heart more than I could explain. There was my brother, getting married, unaware that at that exact time he'd been writing that message, I was plotting the death of someone.

The second letter had appeared only days after.

Emma, please tell me it isn't true.

That was all the letter said, but for me, it was more than enough. The letter was from Rigel. This meant that my parents had realized I wasn't at home when the Hogwarts train arrived, and undoubtedly, as soon as the students arrived, so did the news.
The news that Draco and I were responsible for the death of Albus Dumbledore.

I could picture Rigel, first writing out the first letter, excited, his brown hair falling messily over his forehead, as always. He'd have sealed it hurriedly and sent it immediately.

And then, the second letter. He'd probably written it just after he'd heard about me. He probably wondered whether or not to send it, and then he had, hoping that his message would be enough to coax one out of me.

I did wonder how my family found out. Surely Zayn wouldn't have said anything to them about me... Or maybe he would. He would have had to tell them something about where I was gone, and if he didn't tell them the truth, someone else would have done so eventually.

I missed Zayn so much. Everything I saw reminded me of him, even things that didn't have much to do with him. He was the one other person I knew best. I knew his family better than my own. I could read him like a map. He was my best friend... one of the very few people I loved...

Rigel and Zayn. The of the two people I could count on to not look at me differently no matter what I did.
If they both hated me now, I would have nothing left.

I absently began picking up things around the room. I'd developed this habit recently, of repacking. When my surroundings were all neat and orderly, it made me feel in order. Like my emotions weren't all over the place and in utter chaos.

The day of the funeral, I'd snuck into the school to retrieve some of my things. The rings that Draco bought, perfume from Daphne, a few books and clothes, my black dress, and Tom Riddle's notebook. I had to refrain myself from reading it recently, because it only made me more bitter and depressed.
Tom Riddle had a troubled soul.

I was mildly surprised when the knock didn't come. Draco had never missed one since I'd locked myself in. He got along better with his mother than I did, of late. She passed on messages from the Death Eaters, and he passed them on to me. Those were the only times he spoke to me, and I to him. The two of us were on edge, both nervous and terrified. It seemed stupid, I suppose, that we didn't take any comfort in being with each other through this difficult time, especially since we were around each other 24/7, but that's how it was.

Narcissa, I knew, was depressed as well. She had taken her husbands imprisonment with great strength, but it had been over a year now that she hadn't seen him, and it was obvious how much she missed him. That didn't seem to be too much of a problem for now. Rudolphus Lestrange, who had broken out of Azkaban during the previous year, had come to inform us that it was possible that Lucius Malfoy would be joining us soon. As if I needed to feel any more like an outsider in this house.

Curious about the lack of communication this morning, I stopped brooding and made my way out of my room. My feet made no sound on the carpeted stairs as I walked down.

I heard sounds in the hallway and followed them.

Three blonde-haired people were huddled around the doorway, evidently hugging. Draco and Narcissa both had their backs to me, but I could see the face of the man they were holding. I didn't really recognize Lucius Malfoy. I suppose I saw him a few times at the platform at Kings Cross, but I never payed attention to anyone who didn't benefit me. Even if I had known him, I'm certain it would have been difficult to recognize him now. He looked, for lack of better words, ill.

The scene in front of me took my breath away for a second. That could have been me and my family, had things been different. Had they been more loving, if we got along better.
Even if it hadn't, that would have been Rigel and I this holiday; or Zayn's sisters and I: Alia, Jasmine and Sophia, who was going to be married to my brother soon.

As if sensing me there, Lucius opened his eyes, seemingly the exact same shade as his sons, and pulled away from his family.
Narcissa turned around to look at me. She attempted a smile, and it looked so genuine, I had to give her credit.
"Lucius, this is Emma. She's..."
The one that found out your son is a Death Eather? The one that the school thinks was going out with Draco? The girl who helped your son attempt to kill someone?
"...Draco's friend."

Alright.

Lucius walked up to me and shook my hand tightly. "I look forward to hearing the full story," he said slowly.
I didn't look forward to telling it. "Please to meet you, Mr Malfoy," I replied.
He didn't ask me to call him by his first name, for which I was grateful. It would have been strange.

And then, because I couldn't speak to Draco, and I was afraid that if I saw him I would either run to him or run away from him, I turned very quickly and left the three Malfoy's to bask in their tiny moment of light in all this darkness.