Silence is Deafening

Chapter 21

A/N: sexual content. please proceed at your own discretion. begins after the second line indicating a scene switch

I stared in silence at Remus. His question had taken my off guard.

"M-my grandfather? Which one?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. What an unusual question.

"Your father's father." He answered quietly, and I wracked my brain to remember anything. Remus should know that I had no knowledge of my grandparents at all. Anything I knew about my family was from what he told me.

"Nothing. Remus, why are you asking me?" I asked, now glancing at Dumbledore. Dumbledore continued to smile politely at me.

"His name was Roy Clarke, he used to be a professor here." Remus prompted. I looked at him with confusion.

"And..?" I asked, waiting for the point of this story.

"Roy Clarke was a coworker of mine, Miss Clarke.  He and I knew each other quite well. He was an exceptionally brilliant Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Dumbledore said, folding his hands.

"Roy was an amazing wizard. He was smart, charismatic, charming...a Slytherin, much like yourself. However, after your father was born, he went horribly, horribly bad. We believe...he may have befriended Voldemort while they were school mates, and Voldemort was somehow able to recruit him later in life. If I'm not mistaken, he was a few years younger than Voldemort, making him very impressionable." Remus said, looking over to Dumbledore for validation. Dumbledore simply nodded.

I stared at the wall, feeling my body shaking slightly. This news, be it important, was earth shattering at this moment. I couldn't even imagine what my grandfather looked like. The images in my head was a very tall, dark wizard, with a twisted mustache and an evil grin. Nothing like what my father looked like.

"He went bad, and Ed- your father- he knew he wanted to be different. He vowed to do the opposite, become an Auror, fight for the good. Roy was never too kind to your father. Roy...was exceptionally cruel. He is responsible for the murder of quite a few original Order members...Gideon Prewitt, Edgar Bones, Benjy Fenwick-

"Ah, Benjy. What an interesting fellow." Dumbledore added, smiling fondly at his own personal memories. I couldn't help but notice a look of sadness behind the smile.

"-just to name a few." Remus said, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Stop, stop...I don't- I don't want to hear this, Remus! Why is this-

"Please, Lizzie, I know. I wouldn't be telling you this if it wasn't absolutely essential. My darling, it's not my or Professor Dumbledore's intention to upset you but this is quite important." Remus said, a pleading look in his eyes. He was leaning forward, resting his forearms on my bed. I looked at Dumbledore, who nodded gravely.

I sighed and motioned for him to continue.

"Your mother and father tried to stop Roy. They did everything they could. Your father thought that there was still hope, and that he could still be saved...your mother knew otherwise, but she supported Ed. Roy was captured eventually, and sentenced to life in Azkaban. He had no idea that your parents ever had a child. He was imprisoned before then." Remus said, patting my leg underneath the blankets. The look on his face let me know all that I needed to know.

"He got out." I said plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Slowly, Remus nodded.

"He escaped...this past summer. That's why- that's why we had to send you to Hogwarts. It was safer to have you close- have you here under Professor Dumbledore's protection." Remus said, looking at Dumbledore. He cleared his throat and continued.