The Mark of a Death Eater : Sequel

Chapter Four

The next day, I awoke much earlier than the rest of the house. The horizon was just beginning to light up, and for a while I contented myself with sitting against the windowsill and watching the top of the sky turn from pink to purple to blue. I did something I hadn't done in a while - opened my window. I hung my head outside and enjoyed the sounds of quiet life. The water fountain outside my window bubbled and sounded soothing and musical. Birds chirped in trees and occasionally the strange scream of a peacock was heard.

The solace was enough to drive bad thoughts from my head and for a full few minutes, I was almost relaxed.

Then the moment was shattered. The barrier that surrounded the Manor wasn't very far from my window, and part of the neat hedge that made a pathway to the house entrance was in my view. As I watched, a man came into sight. I couldn't see his face, but he wasn't very much taller than Draco and I. The cloak he wore wasn't bulky enough to hide his slimness, nor was it's hood large enough to hide his shock of very white hair. I watched him march up the path purposefully. He had a dark mark, or he wouldn't have been able to cross the barrier. At one point, a peacock screeched, and I watched him stop suddenly to a halt, alarmed. I sniggered from the window as he noticed it wasn't anything he needed to be afraid I and he continued his stride.

I sighed and pulled away from the open window. I turned to the bathroom that joined my room and stripped.

Last night I had made a promise to myself, and I was all set out to fulfill it.

An almost full bottle of scented bath gel stood where Narcissa had left it last night, per my request. Also on the bathroom sideboard was: a large and fluffy-looking towel, a new pair of clothes and robes, a new hairbrush, hair ties, a few necessary toiletries. I made a mental note to thank Narcissa later as I filled the large bathtub with hot water.

Over my time in the Manor, I had taken a few showers and brushed my usually tangled hair with my old hairbrush that still contained green strands in it. That was all going to have to change.

I poured in a generous amount of the bath gel and allowed myself to bask in the wonderful scent that came along with it. I unclasped the fire-opal necklace around my neck and set it on the sideboard next to my new clothes. I'd asked the Malfoy house-elf to polish it last night. The absence of the jewelry had made me uneasy, but he had returned it and it looked as good as new.

I winced a little as the scalding water reached my stomach, but I gradually sunk into the bubbles and my mind drifted.

Last night had been dangerous. I was correct in assuming that Narcissa would help me where my family was involved. All I had to do was ask.

By candlelight in Narcissa's bedroom, I'd carefully written out a letter from me to my family.

Dear Rigel:
Please see to it that this letter reaches mum and dad. Don't reply. It isn't safe.

I'd told them that they were in danger because of me and I'd asked them to leave the country. That didn't seem to me like a huge request, what with Death Eaters roaming Britain, and the threat of The Dark Lord hulking over everyone. I knew to them, however, it would be a major one. They took their work very seriously. My father never left his post as an Unspeakable, and my mother was almost always away for Gringotts. My brother was more reasonable, and I hoped he would talk sense into them. If I wasn't part of their family, they might have been safe. They were an old pure blooded wizarding family, who's Hogwarts houses went back as Slytherins and Ravenclaws only. They had never allied with Harry Potter. The death eaters would have no reason to tangle with them.

No reason except me.

I put my family in danger.

I ordered them to leave and go far away, maybe East. My mother had work there, and Rigel and my father could both get transferred. It would be better than going into hiding here.