Watching

Watching

Chapter 29

I left before the others did, hoping to at least try to fool them into thinking I wasn't actually going. I was the first to arrive.

It was noon, or close to, when I got to Hogsmeade. I walked the path to the shrieking shack and remembered hiding in the corner as my brother found what had been the only family he would know for the next three years before that too was ripped away from him. Would he be able to stand up to Voldemort tonight and win? Or would the pain of the previous months combined with seeing so many die be his breaking point? Would he ever marry Hermione?

I sighed as I leaned on the fence that bordered the shack and wondered if there was anyone living in there now. Was Professor Lupin residing within those walls once more? Perhaps a ghost haunted the place as was rumored in years past? Maybe even Sirius, having not been truly dead all of these years (Okay, so it's only been two...)

Maybe Voldemort was in there....

"Athena," a silky voice muttered my name. "What a surprise, I wouldn't have expected you to be here on a day such as this."

I did not turn around, knowing who this person was.

"I wouldn't have expected you to be out in broad daylight," I replied, locking my eyes on the shack some hundred or so yards away. If I looked at him...I knew I would become what I had left behind with the sentence: I am a Death Eater.

"What does that fool do to those who confess their allegiance?" Voldemort asked. "Does he make you take Veritaserum? Does he promise you safety?"

"He does both," I answered softly.

"I do not treat those who betray me with any mercy, Athena," Voldemort reminded me. "You would do well to consider that when I kill Harry Potter tonight. However, if you join me once more, I will spare your life."

I sighed heavily. "No," I replied. "I walked away from your cause for a reason, my Lord. Harry Potter is my brother, and not just because we share the same mother. I cannot betray my family, no matter how much you want me to."

"You used to regard me with awe and respect, Dear One. The first time your eyes gazed above my robes, I saw in your eyes the amazement you felt. I daresay you thought me beautiful."

"And so I did," I replied. "However, silly girlish dreams are a part of the past. I am a wife now. Maybe someday a mother as well. I am a sister and a daughter. I cannot betray those I love, no matter how much the lure of your power begs me to."

"Do you want it still?" he asked. "The power?"

I nodded, my eyes still focused on swaying shack. My heart was racing and I couldn't tell if I was terrified at his presence or if I was thrilled by it. Something in the pit of my stomach stirred as I heard him take a step closer to me.

"Do you know why I sent your mother?" he asked me.

"No," I replied.

"It was because of her beauty. Like her, you have an unearthly beauty about you. Your eyes alone are unmatched by anything of this earth. Your hair, your white skin...you are almost...not human, I think. Your mother possessed this same beauty, which is why your father fell in love with her. The same is true of the Malfoy family. Snapes and Malfoys...must you all betray me in the end?"

"We are families bread for the survival of our kind," I said. "We do only what is necessary to ensure that survival--even if that means betraying the most powerful sorcerer in the entire world. My brother will defeat you, Tom. And I will be standing proud, watching him as he does."

"Where did you learn that name?" he asked me.

"A diary," I smiled. "Lucius had it in his possession for a time, and I found it rather fascinating. You told me all about your mother and father, and your life in the Muggle orphanage. You told me about the Basilisk and the girl it killed--Myrtle. I learned so many things from that diary of yours. And then it fell into the hands of a Weasley and you almost came back. So close...yet so far...."

"Then I also should have informed you that Tom Marvolo Riddle died that year. That was the year I became what you have refused to look at the entire time I have been chatting with you today. Do I repulse you now?" he asked.

"No," I answered shortly, pushing myself off of the fence. "You are a bitter reminder of what I had to do to become what I am today. I bid you good day, sir, and luck tonight. I hope my brother finishes you both quickly and painfully."