Live For Me (Drastoria)

Blood Traitor

Christmas was not Christmassy at all, I avoided everyone except Daphne. My crankiness should have driven her mad, but she has been very patient. I couldn't tell her anything, yet she tried her best to lighten my mood. Our Home stopped feeling home. We had our breakfast in terror silence than in usual serenity. Days felt like years. I either danced till my toes bled, or not at all.  My only escape was books, so I spent most of the time in our library, and acted well enough to cover the grief within. I stared into our garden, and not even the snow could cheer me up. Too often I feel weighed down by guilt. I am running away from your own life. Panic settles in my chest as I try desperately to escape to a safe place that seems just out of reach. Worries swirl around in my head at a speed that makes it hard to breathe, and fear wells up, causing indecision and self-doubt.

"RIA?" Daph barged in, fear written all over her face, I continued to laugh, holding the letter.

"What?" I asked, as she was still standing, froze.

"Blimey! You laughed all of sudden after so long. I thought you have gone mad!" she sighed, and sat on my bed. 

"Look at this," I gave her, realizing how much I missed laughter. She read the letter, and why isn't she laughing? Blaise is being bad influence on her, what's happened to her sense of humor?

"Why are you not laughing? She wrote something about a muggle restaurant called McDonalds's? She wants to take me and Drew, as if she knew the muggle world," I snorted. Why would I visit muggles, anyway? I started to worry as she stared bizarrely.

"What's wrong?" I asked, suspicious.

"She is a muggleborn-You did go, remember? You told about some light box you liked to stare at?" she whispered, "Damn Ria!" closed her mouth in a gasp. I was taken back by her statement. 

"No, she's not, what are you talking about?" I narrowed my eyes. She's pranking me, is she not? "If it's one of your stupid pranks, remember that I'm the prankster, not you," I told her.

"Sheesh, follow me," she lead me to her room, holding my arm. I waited for what she was going to tell/show, crossing my arms against my chest.

"Look, what do you say about this?" she raised an eyebrow,  extending what looked like a what? Frozen yogurt? 

"I brought this home?" I asked.

"Yes! You brought it for me, you told me you liked this more than the ice cream, and there are so many flavors in muggle ice creams." I went through my sister's memory, and I froze as she was not lying. I could see myself telling her that. Something told me what happened, and I ran downstairs, before I realized what I was doing.

"What did you do to me?" I asked, through clenched jaw, and gritted teeth. Startled my mother jumped, fear written all over her face.

"What are you talking about, Astoria?" she asked. Stop acting, I know you did something to me, I just have to know if it's true.

"You bloody know, woman," I yelled, surprised at my own words. My skin turned hot in fear, and a tear escaped. 

"Astoria!" My father, got up from his armchair. Oh! he's here too?

"Cepheus, she has to know," she held my father's arm, "Please sit down, Ria," she motioned towards the sofa opposite to theirs. I obeyed, despite my blood boiled, part in anger, and the other in fear.

"Say at once," I sighed, now fear overtaking my anger. Why is she crying? She got up from where she was sitting, and pointed her wand at my head, whispering a charm. Memories from that night came back, and I realized I never was hater of muggleborns. Their blood is equally magical. 

"Was that  Imperius curse?" I asked, through my tears.

"No, no, it was a memory tampering curse," she whispered.

"So that I'd carry out the dirty work?" I asked, hurt. I couldn't believe my own mother did something like that to me. Hold back, a powerful Legilimens can see through tampered memories, unless the one who's blocking is a proficient Occlumens. That's what aunt Cass told me during our occlumency sessions. I never learned occlumency before Voldemort barged his way into our house. So he knew, I was a so called 'Blood traitor.' My heart stopped beating. At least, I thought so.

"Why did he not kill me?" I asked, my voice now turned colder. My heart turned too hard and emotionless, to shed another tear. Maybe I'm done being vulnerable. Words struggled to pass out of their lips. Their hesitation yelled all the bad possibilities at me.