Fragments of the Sea

Ambivalent Answers

If Harry could've hissed, he would. He would've summoned an army of snakes to come to his aid, while he screamed and hexed and growled at the other occupants of the room. He wanted to, he would've, but he couldn't. Because he was petrified.

The devil motioned for Malfoy and Hermione to put their wands away. "First, let me start off by clearing up some misconceptions about my heritage...or perhaps you didn't misinterpret my words, but you are just so judgmental and close-minded that you assumed I was an exact copy of my grandfather.

"Anyway, to put it simply, just under 50 years ago, Tom met a beautiful witch from a lesser known pureblood family. I wouldn't expect you to know her, so I won't dwell on the subject; however, the important part of the story is that the encounter resulted in the young witch being having a daughter. The unfortunate truth is that her daughter, Sabrina AKA Sally, was a squib. The girl's mother managed to convince Tom to hide her away from her family by taking her to America. There, they raised the girl for a few years before the witch perished.

"Tom decided to make a life for Sally, and tried to fill it with touches of misery, hoping she would turn out like him. He used the alias of Jim Jackson and faked his death in a plane crash. Afterwards, he altered the memory of a few weak-minded muggles and sent Sally off to live with a rich, privileged and cruel uncle, whom he planned to imitate the way of a pureblood upbringing. Satisfied, he left and came back here, and began the path you know of. Sally- What is it?"

"So Sally is your mother then? What did she do?" Ron questioned. The devil's lips pinched together like she had swallowed a lemon. "What do you mean?"

"You said it herself- with her life, she should be plenty bitter and I doubt a daughter of Voldemort would be against taking it out on her kid. And you have that weird look in your eyes. Like you're traumatized or something," Ron elaborated.

"That's not because of my mother," she quickly assured. "My mother was one of the strongest, most determined, caring people I've ever known. It's Smelly Gabe who was the problem, but he's gone now anyways. I got rid of him years ago."

Harry felt chills down his spine, and his glare wavered before coming back stronger than ever. It shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. This thing had a monster's blood in her veins; he should've expected murder to coat her past, but the tone she used when saying his name was toxic, and too close to the way he might mention his aunt, uncle and cousin for comfort.

Harry could feel the beginnings of tingling in his limbs, the fading of the numbness in his chest, signaling the end of the spell that kept him frozen in place. His arms were unpinned from his side, and he saw a flash of a wand on the opposite couch.

'Hermione! She must still be helping us. I knew she could break from their control eventually! Now, we just have to get out of he- wait, if she's free, why is she staying?' Harry's eyes flicked towards the devil. 'Of course! She wants more information so we can have more proof!'

The devil cleared her throat. "So, as I was saying, my mother Sally was in America must of her life. She was about 19 when she met her father and had me, but because he...well, let's just say I never got to meet him as a kid." She let out a pained laugh. "She chose to marry a cruel, overweight walrus with an alcohol problem, for my protection. Unfortunately, it didn't work out properly. He...he would demand money and beer the moment I walked through the door after-school...and...he hit both me and my mother.

"I managed to dispose of him when I was 12, and my mom eventually remarried an English teacher named Paul. He became like my second father, until...A few months ago, Paul and my mom were caught up in a fire at their apartment building. They would've gotten out safely, had they not gone back in to find more survivors, and in the end...they died. I like to think that they're in Elysium. I'm Greek, by the way, in case you don't understand some of my terms. I'm actually the one who taught Hermione over there how to speak that little tidbit you heard during your argument." She laughed loudly.