Help Is Only So Far Away

Part 2

Quirrell was being destroyed piece by piece. That's how it seemed and he felt alone. Thrown away, disgraced, disgusted at himself. It was all the same day in, day out.

The woman from before came to visit again, this time with a child. A youngish girl. She looked like she had just started her teens. He didn't recognise her from Hogwarts though, Maybe she went to a different wizarding school. The woman stopped outside his cell. The Dementors as her guard. He couldn't be bothered to shrink away anymore and just embraced the cold awful feeling.

"Oh, look at you. No longer scared of me. You have grown up! So, Quirinus Quirrell, has the Dark Lord come to visit you?" At his name, Quirrell winced and trembled just a tiny bit. Then he shook his head. "No, that's what I thought. Like I said last time, you are such a wimp, no one wants you." She laughed and walked onto the prisoners she was originally here to see. Quirrell felt tears fall silently down his face.

"Excuse me." The young girl was sitting outside his bars. Quirrell was surprised. He had expected her to leave with the woman. She had bright blue eyes and brown wavy hair that fell down her shoulders. "What was your name again?"

"Q-Quirrell."

"Quirrell? Okay. My name is Astrid. Look I just wanted to say that you don't seem like the others in here. They all seem............bad, like they deserve what they got but you don't. I'm not sure why." She was American from the sound of her accent.

"It s-seems like y-y-you're the only one wh-who thinks that." He said, slumping over even more. He didn't want to go near the bars, incase he frightened her away or the woman thought he was attacking her. He looked down the corridor slightly at her retreating figure.

"Ignore Auntie Emily. She makes fun of and ridicules those that she is afraid of. That is why she is so rude to all the prisoners, because they terrify her. It's not a very good method in my opinion. Surely she would just anger them and make them hate her, but it helps her sleep at night." Quirrell looks in wonder at Astrid. Then looks down towards the woman. It would make sense, he supposed. How did this young girl work it out? He looked up at her with slight wonder.

"I'm from America. I go to Ilvermorny. It's the best wizarding school in the world!" Quirrell chuckled.

"I th-think you'll f-find that's H-Hogwarts." He smiled at her and she smiled back. In that moment, he didn't feel quite so lifeless.

"That's what everyone here has been saying but I will stick by my school till the end. Auntie Emily was explaining the Hogwarts houses to me. What house were you in?"

"R-Ravenclaw" He wanted to sound proud but he knew that he didn't.

"That is the wise one....? With the eagle?" Quirrell nodded. Astrid grinned again. She moved a bit closer to the bars.

"I'm in Pukwudgie!" Quirrell must have looked confused because she explained. "We are meant to represent the heart and have lots of healers."

"That s-sounds l-like a n-nice house." Astrid nodded. There was a few moments silence.

"You still don't seem like you belong here. Will you.....will you tell me why you are?" Quirrell froze. He could tell her but then she would be horrified of his opinion on "He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named". She would hate him and leave him. But it might be good to get it off his chest. He thought for a few minutes. She was going to leave, anyway.

"I....I had V-Voldemort on the b-back of my h-head for over half the s-school year and I h-helped him. He was k-k-kind to me, treated m-me like a f-friend. I g-genuinely th-thought it would all b-be okay. I was b-blinded! Stupid! I knew he would hurt people but I h-helped him. I should have known he would betray me! He had me kill a child. Cedric Diggory. Partly moved my hands into place but I did it. I can never be forgiven! That is one of the worst crimes you can commit! I deserve to be in here. I didn't think. Voldemort got his body back and was removed from the back of my head. I was happy. I thought we were friends. But he and Bellatrix sent me here. As a present to the Ministry. Like a bag of trash! I am an awful, horrible, naive murderer who deserves every second of this torture!"

Quirrell refused to look at Astrid. He knew what her expression would be. He hadn't noticed that he had lost the stutter in his anger. He curled up into the corner of the cell and sobbed.

"I still think you don't belong here." Astrid's voice was quiet, almost a whisper. Then there were footsteps. Quirrell looked up to see her walking away, back to her aunt, and on until they were out of sight. Quirrell was shocked. He hadn't expected that from her. That's when he felt it. The tiniest sliver of hope.

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Voldemort didn't even realise what he was doing but Bellatrix noticed. She saw her Dark King start to crumble before her very eyes. He didn't pay attention during planning or meetings, he didn't excite at the idea of torturing, didn't want to make love to her, didn't sleep at night. She had seen him wander outside a few times at night and not do anything in particular. He was in his own head and had, worst of all, accidentally called her Quirrell a few times.

How dare Voldemort do that?! She was nothing like that half-breed mumbling peon! The first few times, she just brushed it aside, told herself that he had gotten into a habit, seeing as he had had no one else to talk to for almost a year, but then it just kept happening. She wasn't sure what it was, but she would straighten him out, on way or another.