Unusual Beginnings

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UNUSUAL BEGINNINGS 03- THE CURSED ONES

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Momma please stop crying, I can't stand the sound

Your pain is painful and its tearing me down
I hear glasses breaking as I sit up in my bed
I told dad you didn't mean those nasty things you said...

...Can we work it out? Can we be a family?
I promise I'll be better, Mommy I'll do anything
Can we work it out? Can we be a family?
I promise I'll be better, Daddy please don't leave...

Daddy please stop yelling, I can't stand the sound
Make mama stop crying, cause I need you around
My mama she loves you, no matter what she says its true
I know that she hurts you, but remember I love you, too...

~song- "Family Portrait" by Pink~

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Summer 1985 (The next day)

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Nell noticed that Tali's room was unusually quiet since last night. She was not used to this. On normal days, Tali would run around the house, and scream at the top of her lungs when her father was not around. Nell would also know if Raine was with her because they would be screaming "check" at each other or they would be fighting over something else besides chess.

But not today. Tali was not her usual self. All day, Nell had been sitting on Tali's bed and doing nothing but staring at her sleeping child, not knowing what to do. She wrapped Tali, who looked very pale, stricken with a high fever, in blankets and held her in her arms, rocking her.

Her husband, Ben walked into the room and sat in front of her as she continued to rock her sleeping daughter. Ben glared at her the whole time.

"I thought I told you never to go near her," Ben said.

Nell kissed Tali's warm and sweaty forehead before looking up to her husband. "She is sick, Ben. Or don't you care about her?"

"I care," Ben answered back in a toneless voice. He then takes Tali from her mother's arms, waking her. "Come here, Tali."

Tali blinked her eyes sleepily.

"Are you okay, little one?" asked Ben as Tali yawned and nodded her head.

"Yes, daddy." She started to play with Ben's Poena Charm. (I'll call it 'talisman' for short.)

Nell tried to get her daughter away from Ben but he refused to give Tali to her.

Nell asked, her eyes pleading, "Ben, why do you not want me to take care of her at all? I am her mother."

"She belongs to Him, Nell. You know that."

"Your Dark Lord does not own her. Don't speak as if she does not hear what you say!"

"She knows this. She saw Master yesterday and she knows who He is to her."

"Ben! She does not belong to Him. She does not know Him. And why the heck does she act like she doesn't even know me?"

"It's because she doesn't!"

"You won't let her know me!" screeched Nell. "What have you done to her? What has He done to her? She's sick and that fever is unusually high, even for Muggles."

Ben grabbed Nell's arms pulling her closer. "Don't you dare compare my child to those Mudblooded animals!"

Nell broke his grasp and said, "They are not animals. They are humans with feelings! And she is my child too."

"Muggles are animals. But defending those Muggles before defending your own child!" exclaimed Ben as he looked at Tali's eyes.

Tali looks up to him and leaned her head closer to his chest. She turns her head and frowns on her mother.

"Nice, Nell," mocked Ben. "Very nice, really!"

Nell's eyes narrowed as she slapped Ben's face with all her might.

Ben turned his face to the direction of the slap, accepting the full strength of the blow. Tali, shocked and scared, shivered in his arms and hugged him tighter.

"Ben, give her to me," Nell begged, her arms outstretched to accept Tali.

Ben looks down at Tali. The little girl in his arms touched his now red cheek. He took her hand and kissed it as he stood up, carrying her in his arms.

"I will not leave her in your violent hands, Nell. I don't think so."

"Ben! You're a monster. How can you just twist the truth like that? You and the other fathers... and not to mention your Master..."

But Nell stopped because Ben had already started to walk out of the room, muttering more mind-bending tricks on Tali.

"We're going, Tali. Your mother doesn't love you at all. She doesn't love our Master either. "

Nell watched her family leave the room. Leave sanity. She fell on her knees, her face in her hands, as she started to cry for her husband and daughter.

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That afternoon, Nell was lucky enough to be able to gather the women in her room without their husbands hanging on to every word. This rarely happened in the past so they eagerly took this opportunity to discuss plans for an escape.

"We have got to get them out of here," Nell said as she handed out crumpets and tea. "We don't know what their fathers are doing to them."

"You know it's a long shot, Nell," said her sister, Lena. "You know they might hurt them."

Leila, Riley's mother, bit down on her lip as she tried to hold back her tears. "How do we get them to trust us in the first place? Riley looks at me in disgust. He even..." her throat constricted, cutting off her words.

"What happened, Leila?" asked her sister-in-law, Narcissa. "What did he do?"

"He... He slapped me in the face this morning." By now, Leila was crying on Narcissa's shoulders.

All the other mothers could say was the occasional 'Oh, Leila.' or 'He didn't mean it,' and although it didn't hurt for them to say it, it didn't help much in the situation either.

Leila gathered her courage to talk without bursting into tears again. "Riley is turning into his father. He is starting to get violent. And so is the other children. Didn't you notice?"

"I've noticed how Raine has been acting these days," Lena said, as she handed Leila a tissue. "She's starting to get as hardheaded as Red."

"And Draco," added Narcissa. "By Merlin, he's been using words I've only heard Lucius use. And innocent Tali. Even she is corrupted." Narcissa took a tissue for herself and blew her nose. "Nell is right. We have to get them out. And now is the time. The only time. It is now or never." She sighed as she tried to catch her breath. "Our husbands are going out tonight and they are leaving the children to us. All we have to do is get the children to trust us and they will escape with us."

Lena touched the bruise on her right cheek. "Any idea how? Raine refuses to listen to a word I say."

"Sis," said Nell. "All we have to do is promise them that they will not get hurt ever again. Never would their fathers hit them or whatever else. That is all we need."

"It's going to be a long shot but I'll try," Lena agreed. "We'll do it tonight then. Tonight we escape."

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Lena walked into Raine's room that afternoon, right after her husband had left for a meeting. She heard Raine's heavy and strained breathing, and the sound of Raine's sheets rumpling as she tossed and turned in her sleep. She sat by her daughter's side, touching her Raine's unusually pale face, almost waking her.

Raine opened her eyes, creasing her forehead in confusion. "Mum?"

"Yes, Raine. It's mummy."

Raine inched away from her, in fear and in shame. "You're not allowed near me, mum. You know that."

"I know, sweetie. But..."

"He'll hurt you again if he sees you here."

"No, sweetie. He can never hurt me again."

Raine sat up quickly, almost jumping. "Did something happen to Father?"

"No, sweetie. Nothing happened to him. But something can happen to us."

"Yeah, he'll punch you again."

"That's not what I meant. What I mean is that we can run away from your father forever."

"Mum? What do you mean?"

"We're running away from here, Raine. So that your father can never hurt you again."

"But I don't want to leave father, mum. I love him."

"I don't want you getting hurt anymore either, Raine. You have to escape with me."

Raine started to cry. "No! I will not leave father!" She crawled out of bed, and ran for the door.

Lena caught her right on time and held her by her shoulders. The girl continued to try to escape with no success. Lena hugged her daughter tightly, making sure that her lips were close to Raine's ears. "Listen to me, baby. You have to go with me, before your fathers hurts you again or does something worse. I don't want him to hurt you or do anything to you anymore, Raine."

Raine stopped trying to escape and hugged her mother instead. "Mummy, I don't want to be hurt anymore! I don't want to leave father either."

"Raine, listen to me.

"Will we ever go back to father?"

"I don't know, Raine. That I don't know. Maybe we will. Maybe someday, when he learns not to hurt either of us anymore, we will go back to him."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"That's my girl. Now let's get you bundled up. It's a little cold outside and I don't want you feeling worse."

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Early nighttime, when the sun had finally set and all was dark, the mothers gathered their children in Narcissa's room, making sure that they had all gathered what they needed. When everyone was accounted for, they wrapped their children in blankets and carried them as they ran out the gates of the Lucius Malfoy mansion.

Once outside the gates, they stopped to catch their breath. Narcissa let Draco stand for a while, hanging on to her hips, as she felt for the wand in her backpack. "We're so close. Now, where's that wand?"

As she pulled out the wand from her bag, she heard someone utter "Expeliarmus!" from a few feet away. The wand flew from her hand to one of the silhouettes, their faces were hidden by the darkness of the streets, their bodies outlined by the moonlight sky behind them.

"Father!" screamed Draco in fear as he hid behind his mother. The other mothers clung to their little ones as they walked backwards away from their husbands.

"Lumos!"

The light that came from the wand revealed the faces of the four fathers, their eyes narrowed, chests heaving up and down in obvious angst.

Ranco moved in front of the other three, his hands out to his wife. "Leila, give Riley to me... now!"

"No Ranco!" Leila cried. No! You will never hurt him again. Or any of them."

"Guess again," exclaimed Ranco, touching the talisman on his chest.

Leila jumped back as her son clawed on her shoulders, writhing in pain.

"Aah!" howled Riley as tears crept down his face. "Stop please, Father! Make it stop! Mom, make him stop!"

Riley sighed a breath of relief as Ranco let go of the talisman. Ranco offered his hand to his wife. "For the last time, give him to me, Leila."

Nell slowly worked her hand into her pocket. She then threw a vial of potion towards the fathers. When the vial broke, it released the potion, creating a cloud of dark smoke. The mothers hung on to their children as they tried to make another run for it.

A few feet away from the smoke, Nell and Narcissa noticed that Lena and Leila are not with them.

"Leila! Lena!" Narcissa screamed. She then squinted her eyes in search for the missing mothers and their children. Not far away, they saw Lena and Riley, kneeling in front of their children who were lying, convulsing on the ground. Nell and Narcissa ran back to them, anticipating the worse.

"Raine?" Lena cried holding Raine's head up. Raine had stopped moving and did not respond at all. Her eyes were shut and her body hung limp on Lena's knees.

"Help! Riley, please no!!!" screamed Leila, for her son was shaking uncontrollably on the ground. His upper body arched and his knees started to stiffen. Nell and Narcissa held on to their younger ones, their bodies shivering, their eyes crying for their friends.

"Nell!" Lena screamed. "Nell, Raine's cold as ice! Raine!"

The fathers apparated from behind Leila and Lena, Redvin and Ranco held out their hands, and used their powers to push their wives at least ten feet away from their own children. Lena landed on some bushes, receiving cuts and scratches on her face, while Leila held on to her sprained left arm. Ranco and Redvin knelt beside their dying children, looked at each other and then picked them up.

As Redvin carried his unconscious child in his arms, he smiled at Lena -who at that time was weeping, and there was a huge cut on her face from landing near a huge shrub.

"Lena, Lena---" Redvin scolded, "What did I tell you about leaving the house with her?"

"You are trying to kill your own child!"

"Me? Wasn't I the one who told you that if Raine crosses the mansion gates with you, she'd die? This is all your fault."

"How could you pin this on me? How could you all do this to them!?!"

Lucius smirked at his wife as he touched Draco's talisman lightly. Narcissa noticed Draco hurriedly trying to get away from her.

"Mother, let me go!" Draco shrieked. "Let me go!"

Tali, seeing her father closing his hands on her talisman, also struggled to get away from he mother.

"No Draco, no!" ordered Narcissa as she continued to cling on to him.

"Let me go, Narcissa! Let go!" Draco finally got away from her but he fainted once he reached his father's arms. Lucius carried the unconscious boy in his arms and nodded his head in Ben's direction.

"Nell, give her to me," screamed Ben.

"No!"

Tali's eyes shifted from her mother's to her father, who was just moving his hand closer to the talisman.

"Daddy!" she pleaded trying to break free from her mother's grasps, but Nell continued to hang on to on her.

Tali twitched when she felt her father touch the talisman. She looked angrily at her mother and punched her nose. When her mother finally let go of her they both fell to their knees. Tali turned to her father, crying as she crawled in his direction, her hand outstretched, begging.

"Father, please stop!"

Ben glared at Tali, still not letting go of the talisman.

"You were going to leave me, aren't you?"

"No, father! No!!!"

"You were going to leave me and betray Master, aren't you?"

"No, father! No!" she cried, feeling her father clutch tighter on the talisman. She cried louder but manages to plead once more, this time, in Latin.

"Statim hic arcessere, esse eis. Cum unicus vox vocis, nos propositum exire. Cum unicus vox vocis, nos propositum suus iracundia. Father! Father!" (Once he summons us, we belong to him. With one word we will come forth. And with one word we will unleash his wrath.)

Ben walked towards Nell, his lips forming a devious grin and he pushed her to the ground. He then turned to Tali and took her in his arms.

"Father!" cried Tali, her face buried into her father's shoulder. "Daddy. Don't hurt me anymore, Daddy!"

Ben rubbed her back gently. "See now? I won't. Shh... It's okay, precious." Ben kissed Tali on the cheek and started to carry her back into Lucius' mansion.

Lucius handed Draco to Ranco and walked towards the mothers who were cowering together.

"At least Tali knows her place. You don't."

"Lucius!" shouted Narcissa. "How could you..."

"Shut up! What did we tell all of you? You betrayed all of us, your husbands and even your children!"

"We didn't--"

"Shut up, Narcissa! And just for that, you can never see your children ever again!"

"No!" was the cry that came from all the mothers.

"You can't do this to us!" Lena screamed.

Redvin ran to Lena and slapped her face. "You brought this upon yourselves!"

"We? We?" exclaimed Narcissa. "You imprisoned us in our own houses. You won't even let the children know us! You taught them to ignore us. You taught them to hate us!"

"Why shouldn't they hate you four?" questioned Lucius. "You are all useless to the cause!"

"The cause?"

"Our Master's cause!"

"He's dead! You have no Master! He's gone!!!"

Lucius lunged at Narcissa, almost toppling her to the ground. "What did you say?" He punched her but she did not answer. "What did you say? Answer me!!!"

"Your Master is dead!"

"And so are you!" he screamed, "From now on, Draco will know that you're nothing but dead! You are never going to ever see him again."

"What are you going to do? Kill us?"

Lucius let out a cold laugh and so did Redvin and Ranco. "Aye, Narcissa. We don't want to make it that easy a way out for you." He grabbed Narcissa by her upper arms and moved her closer to him. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then glared into her eyes.

"I'd rather have you alive and know you suffer each day not seeing your boy."

"Lucius, please. Don't do anything to us or to them."

"Don't worry, we won't. I'll just leave it the way it is. And you can have it as you wanted. You four are free, from us."

"Free?" half-giggled Narcissa. "Lucius?"

"Don't laugh yet dear, because this is the best part. You are to stay in the Muggle world, keeping your identities secret, never to come back."

"No, Lucius, please..."

"You go back to the Wizarding world and we swear your children will die. Mutter even a single word about this to the Ministry or even to Dumbledore and the last thing you'll ever say are the eulogies to your children's funeral."

Lucius threw Narcissa to the ground, took Draco from Ranco's arms and lead the fathers back to his mansion, leaving the mothers huddling with each other on the grass.

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"Are you sure this is his house, Leila?" asked Nell as she sat on the steps by the front gate of the house Leila had been searching for. Their arms were tired carrying all the bags and luggage from their houses to Muggle London.

"Yes," Leila assured her as she held on to her sprained arm. "Uric said 389 Litmus Street, London. Muggle London. He likes living in the Muggle world. Now come on, get up!" (I just made up the street!)

Nell whined as she started to stand up. "How do even you know he will help us?"

"Uric is Riley's godfather and an old friend of mine. If it wasn't for me, he'd have flunked his N.E.W.T.'s. He will help."

"And even if he decides not to help us," Lena added, "maybe we can get him to drive us to Sylvia's. Maybe she can help and at least we'd get something out of going here."

"Let's not keep our hopes up or down just yet then," said Leila as she rang the doorbell.

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