One Shots

Don't Forget the Sun

The cell doors radiated the cold off of them as a mixture of the breeze and a wave from the ocean hit mesquare in the jaw. I shiver, I don't know anything else. I feel the emptiness in my stomach and my heart as I drag my fingertips across the cold metal. The guards told me not to get too close, as if I was going to be a threat. Like I wasn't the one behind bars and they weren't the one carrying wands, armed and ready for another escape. I was capable. I could do it, my mother did, Bellatrix Lestrange, many years before and my father, Lord Voldemort, was never captured. He was dead. Which made me even more invisible. Perhaps when I stepped foot on Azkaban Island, I was already dead. Perhaps.

I glanced back to the guard who's footing remained sturdy, he watched me intently. Partly because he knew of my magical abilities and how I could perform charms without a wand in my hand. Harry Potter had to have told them that, didn't he? Harry Potter. The man who ruined my life. But not even he was to blame for my actions. It was my fault. That was obvious. I was the one with the idea. I was the one who stole the time-turner. I was the one who persuaded Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy to jump off of the Hogwarts Express. I killed that boy on the Quidditch Pitch. And I tortured his best friend in front of him. I did that. Not Harry fucking Potter. Not anyone but myself is to be blamed.

I know that as I mutter, "Imperious," causing the guard to hold a strong stare through my eyes, nothing but cold. I'm not using him as a muse, as an escape goat. That's not my plan, not this time.

I am going to get out of here and make things right and this time not hurt anyone. If I time-travelled once, I can time-travel again. I can leave out all of the pain and suffering I inflicted and even bring back lives in the process. Harry Potter will be grateful for that. And in the near future, everyone will be grateful for Delphi Lestrange-Riddle. Every witch and wizard in England. And hopefully even the Muggles too.

My trial is soon. Too soon if anything. I wasn't going to testify against the witnesses, the victims. I was going to plead guilty, I really was. I was finally going to own up to my actions and I am going to do that, but first I must reverse my father's actions. I have to save everyone from the second wizarding war. If I can, I hope, everyone will forget my last name. And finally, I will be able to live in peace.

I set my intentions, 'Unlock the cell door,' the guard follows, unlocking the door and going the extra mile and unlocking my cuffs that restrained my hands that had been bound together. I smile.

'Walk me down the hallway and into the chariot,' I stare deep into his mind and watch as he understands me and does just that.

I hear the sound of prisoners cat-calling me and watching as I walk down the hallway, even in prison robes, I somehow manage to attract. I've been told I have this sort of effect on people. It's like I'm a siren, I can entrance you form the moment you set your eye on me. I could kill you.

I won't, but I could.

The word 'manipulation' comes to mind.

When we arrive at the chariot, I look at the guard before whispering, 'obliviate,' and then he's gone. Just as many had been before, I honestly lost count once I reached the double-digits. Does that make me a villain or does that make me clever? I don't think I'll ever know.

I'm lucky there aren't dementors anymore, or maybe they're lucky they don't have me. Either way, it would have made an escape far harder. That's what intrigued me about my mother, how she broke out the way she did. How she killed the way she did. I wonder what that would feel like. To be her. That's something entirely different. My so-called cousin, Draco malfoy, had once explained it to me. He'd only visited me once and needless to say it didn't go very well, I didn't feel guilty, I didn't feel anything. He spoke, explaining the trauma I left on his son. Even though there weren't any physical marks, I apparently did a number on the kid's mental health. It felt odd having explained to me that I was the reason I ruined his life. He ruined mine, that's how I looked at it at least. If there was an option to send me to a psych ward, I would already be in one. There was no doubt in my mind about that. There has always been something wrong with me.