Stolen Letter

Chapter 13: Traitor

The silence seemed to last forever before Sirius finally broke it.

"Y/n, you said your memories were taken. How long before they were taken did you know who your father was? H-How long have you been lying to us? Did you know the whole time?" Sirius yelled, his anger cutting me, sharper than any knife ever could.

"Sirius, don't-." Remus tried to interrupt but Sirius stopped him.

"No! I want to know how long she knew! Did she know when James and Lily were murdered?! When I went to Azkaban?! Did she know when we met?! How long, Y/n?!" He screamed at me. Everyone's eyes were on me once again as Sirius screamed questions at me.

"I was given up as a baby. My father wanted to give me a better life. He knew that what he wanted to do wasn't a life for a baby. I reconnected with him when I entered Hogwarts. I didn't know who he was when we met. I learned later when I met the Malfoys in my first year of Hogwarts. My father heard my name mentioned by Lucius who was a governor of the school at that time and decided to reconnect with me right before I entered school. By the time Lily and James were killed, my memories had already been erased. I didn't know when they were killed but I during our years at Hogwarts. I just couldn't tell anyone. I thought you'd all hate me... kind of like you do now." I looked down as I finished my explanation. At this, Sirius's expression softened.

"No, Y/n... We don't hate you. I'm sorry... it's just... I wish you would have told us but I understand why you didn't."

"I'm still the same person I've always been. I- I never betrayed any of you guys... ever. My father didn't even know I was friends with the Potters." By now, tears were beginning to fall from my eyes.

"We know, Y/n. I'm sorry- I'm sure this is hard enough on you. I shouldn't have reacted that way," Sirius says as he gets up from the table and hugs me. As he pulls away, Molly notices my tear stained cheeks and walks over to hug me as well.

"We love you, Y/n," she says as other members of the Order start getting up to hug me. This sort of attention felt weird. I wasn't used to affection... or at least I hadn't been. The Death Eaters were the only ones who had ever shown me any sort of affection before I met my Hogwarts family. After the hugs stopped, something finally occurred to me and the anger I felt toward Albus finally made sense.

"Wait- Albus? You knew me from school. At the time you believed the Malfoys were my parents. Why didn't you tell me? When I told you I lost my memory... Why didn't you say anything about them.?" I asked as all eyes fell on Albus.

"The truth is... I had my suspicions that the Malfoys weren't really your parents and I figured they had a reason for erasing your memory. I never would've guessed any of this, though," Albus replied, lowering his head. "I'm sorry, Y/n."

"Are you alright, Y/n?" Remus asked me, concern in his voice. Before I could answer, Mundungus rose from his seat, anger present in his features.

"Seriously! Are you all really this stupid? She's a traitor! Do you all really believe this story about losing her memory?! This is bullshit! She's a liar and a traitor!" He screams, his face red and veins bulging from his neck. At this, Severus released my hand from under the table and began angrily striding toward Mundungus, grabbing his collar. Remus and I ran toward Severus trying to stop him from killing Mundungus.

"No, Sev! Don't!" I screamed, trying to move between the two of them, but Remus held me back for fear that I would get injured.

"Severus, please," Remus begged, trying to get Severus to stop for my sake.

"No!" Severus yelled. "He doesn't get to talk about her like that! She's been through enough!" He slammed Mundungus against the wall and I freed myself from Remus's grip, knowing I need to calm Severus down before he does something he will regret.

"It's okay, Remus," I whispered. "I'll be fine." Remus nodded before fully releasing me, allowing me to walk toward Severus. I slowly walk up behind Severus, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Please, Sev... If you kill him, you'll go to Azkaban. He's not worth it, please," I begged.

"If it means this scum doesn't get to insult you again, I'll gladly go to Azkaban!" He shouts, but still allows my arm to remain on his shoulder. In this moment I knew he didn't care about himself anymore. He only wanted to protect me. In this moment, all he could see was his need to protect me and I understood that. I tried a different approach.

"And then what? You'll go to Azkaban and then I have to go to the Death Eater meetings alone! I have to face everything alone!" I saw his grip loosen only slightly, as he looked at me out of the corner of his eye, not fully turning his head. I knew it was working, so I continued. "I'm his daughter and now that I have my memories back, he is going to expect me to join him. I'm going to have to join as a spy, Sev. Are you going to make me do it alone?" Those words seemed to soften him as he released Mundungus from his grip. Severus stared at the wall for a moment before finally turning to me, locking his eyes with mine. I could see so much emotion within his eyes, his instinct to protect, his fear of venturing too far over to the dark side; I could even see his fear of what I would think of him if he hadn't have let go of Mundungus... and even his fear of what I thought him now. It wasn't Legillimens but somehow I could see all of this within his eyes and I didn't fully understand how. I released his arm and backed away, allowing him some space to breathe. I thought he might need a minute alone, but this was a mistake as Mundungus lunges toward me. Before he could get too close, Remus jumps in front of me, pushing me back toward Severus. I felt Severus wrap his arms around me, protectively, kissing the top of my head as he whispers to me. "It's okay, darling. We've all got you." In that moment, I knew my Severus was back. The calm, protective Severus, who loves holding me and kissing the top of my head. The one who would only kill if it was absolutely necessary. His words made me feel safe, knowing that he wouldn't let anything happen to me, nor would anyone in the Order. I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard Remus begin speaking to Mundungus, trying to diffuse the situation.

"You don't want to do this, Mundungus. Everyone here loves Y/n and looks at her as family. If you go against her... you are going against us all," he calmly says, trying to keep himself between Mundungus and I.

"I don't care! I'll kill her!" Mundungus screams. I can feel Severus's grip get tighter at Mundungus's words. Remus pretended to back off before slamming Mundungus into the wall. It was as if something in him had snapped.

"Okay, I tried the nice approach, now let me be more direct," he said, calmly, yet menacing."If you so much as look at Y/n the wrong way, I will kill you!" He said as he held his wand to Mundungus's throat, his other hand holding Mundungus against the wall. After a few moments of silence, Remus lets go of Mundungus. What happened next happened within a flash, too quick for anyone to react. Mundungus had pushed Remus out of the way and ran toward me. Severus moved to push me behind him but Mundungus pushed him out of the way and lunged toward me once again. This time, he succeeds in wrapping one hand around my throat, the other holding his wand to my throat.

"No, Y/n!" Severus screams as he quickly gets up from the floor. The other members of the Order raise their wands, trying to figure out a way to disarm Mundungus without injuring me. Severus starts walking toward me but freezes when Mundungus yells.

"Come any closer and I'll kill her! I can kill her faster than you can get over here!" He looks at the rest of the Order. "Wands down or I'll kill her right now!"

I can see the fear and the defeat in their eyes as they lower their wands, unsure of what to do next.