The Pureblood Princess | Sirius Black

|82| Crazy Cathryn

Trembling in fury, breath heavy, Adelaide's eyes were fixed on her mother's raised wand and eerily calm demeanor, as if to challenge her—dare her to use the curse she must be dying to use.

This was it, Adelaide thought to herself, this was the moment Sirius had been fearing. The moment Crazy Cathryn finally snapped. She should feel scared, right? She should feel regret given the probability of her mother using that torturous curse on her.

However, despite the ominous predicament the petite fourteen year old found herself in, Adelaide didn't regret a single word of what she said; not about werewolves, not about her mother being a heartless bitch, and definitely not about Alexander.

For months she tried to forget what she knew about her brother's existence, but it only made the burning curiosity swell within her. Thoughts of him lurked in the back of her mind no matter how hard she tried to force them out. Questions bounced around within her skull day and night. What was he like? How did it happen? Was she alive when it happened? How old was he?  And the most important question of all: Why had her parents kept the truth from her for fourteen years?

A beat passed and Cathryn still stood staring at the girl with that strange unreadable expression, eyes distant, manic, but also a little sad... glassy with unshed tears. Adelaide didn't know what to make of it. For a moment, she thought perhaps her mother would stand down and let her go.

But she was wrong.

"CRUCIO!" Her mother's ice cold voice blared through the silent Manor, echoing off of the marble walls and floors, ringing painfully in the girl's ears.

In the same moment Adelaide's hands shot up, as she shouted, "PROTEGO!"

The spell hit hard against the shield charm she cast, but her mother's wand did not lower. A steady stream of magic in the form of the unforgivable curse pushed against her shield, weakening it until finally, Adelaide couldn't hold it any longer.

The moment the shield charm failed, Adelaide hit the ground—hard.

A loud primal cry rang out as every single minuscule nerve in her body was set ablaze. Body flailing and twisting as thousands upon thousands of razor sharp knives stabbed her on the inside and out. This was the pain that haunted her dreams for years, and yet no amount of nightmares and flashbacks could prepare her for the intensity and utter horror that was consuming her.

She writhed on the floor shrieking, "Stop! Please stop!" for what felt like ages. Then the pain stopped, just as quickly as it came, leaving the small girl panting and crumpled on the cold marble floor.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER HIM!" her mother screamed furiously. "HOW? WHO HELPED YOU?!"

"I-I don't...remember... an-anything..." Adelaide said breathlessly, hardly able to gather the strength to speak.

"LIAR! TELL ME!" her mother spat.

"I'm not lying!" Adelaide yelled as loud as she could. The weight of her mother's words set in. They had obliviated him out of her memory.

A second wave of indignant anger pulsed through her giving her a burst of strength. She looked around the room, catching sight of the fireplace. With every ounce of strength she could muster, Adelaide pulled herself off the floor, hobbling towards the fireplace, the bag of Floo Powder from Mrs. Potter still in her pocket... but she didn't make it very far before—

"CRUCIO!"

Again, Adelaide held up a hands to cast the shield charm, but this one was even weaker than the first.