Song of the Chapter: Everybody Wants To Rule the World by Lorde
Malory's POV
I wish I could avoid the address written on that page in Snape's notebook. If it were up to me, we wouldn't be coming here. But I can't run away from my fears and put the entire world in danger.
I have to be the good guy.
"So if we don't know what this place is," Blaise sighs. "How are we going to know what we're looking for?"
Draco shrugs. "Who knows, maybe we'll get there and it'll make sense."
"Or we'll get there and be even more lost." Aary mumbles.
I glance at her on my left. There's still some blood on her shoes from the other day. The three of them didn't really tell me much about what happened in the woods, other than letting me know Bellatrix is now dead.
"It should be coming up soon..." Draco's words trail off as he stares at the address.
It looks different, there's not as many trees. The last time I was here I was a baby, though. Maybe it really hasn't changed at all; I can just see the real world more clearly now that I'm grown.
As we approach the end of the street, I stare at the lot where a home used to once stand. Now, all that's left is a pile of debris.
"I don't understand," Draco says. "It says it's supposed to be right here..."
I continue to stare at the house burned to the ground. It is here, it's just destroyed. Like I said, I don't remember much. But the trees used to be so big, there's an image printed in my mind of the leaves in front of a grey sky.
Draco shuts the notebook, then meets at my side. Aary and Blaise join the two of us as well.
Blaise scoffs. "What the fuck is this?"
It's my home.
"No idea," I respond. "Let's just hurry up and search the place."
Blaise, Aary, and Draco all hesitate to walk closer to the house so I go forward alone. The doorway to the front is still standing but as soon as you go through it, there's no walls.
Dirt and glass surround my feet, along with small groups of rats. There's no way a horcrux is in here, right? Out of all places he could hide a piece of his soul, why here?
"There's not really many places to look, Mal." Draco says while placing his hand on my back.
He's not wrong, but we can't just give up right away. If we leave and no one ever finds this horcrux then we're screwed.
I kick the dirt back and forth with my shoe while trying to think of places to look. That's when I realize the perfect hiding spot is right below me.
"Maybe it's buried." I say under my breath.
Draco raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Instead of repeating myself, I just start digging. I could be totally off track and just turning my clothes brown for no reason, but for some reason it makes sense. I still don't know what I'm looking for, but it has to be buried.
"How do you even know it would be in this spot?" Aary asks.
"I don't," I tell her. "But I just have a weird feeling."
I can't see the three of them but I know the facial expressions they're making. I'd probably be making the same face too if they were in my place. But I'm desperate for answers, I'm desperate to end this.
"Do you see anything so far?" Blaise hollers.
It doesn't take me long to get in the ground a decent amount. The dirt is dry and sandy, easily moved. The sun has gone down which is making it hard to see anything in front of me, which makes me ten times more impatient.
"Mal, I don't think anything is down there." Draco says to me.
There has to be something. And maybe it's in a different spot on the lot, I should probably try somewhere else. But I can't. The deeper I dig the darker it gets, the only thing surrounding me is pitch black. Not just in my vision but in the air. And just when I feel like giving up, I see white.
"Why'd you stop?!" Draco shouts. "Did you find something?!"
A piece of white sticking out through the dirt. My first instinct is to pull it from its place, so I do just that. And of course, when you pull a bone from the ground you're not going to assume the worst. Maybe it's from an animal, a cat that used to roam this neighborhood.
But then I see more white. And one of the bones I pull up from the dirt is bigger than any animal's body. These bones are from a human.
Who, though?
"Is everything okay down there?" Blaise says in a somewhat playful tone.
~ ~ ~
July, 1997
"So what are these horcruxes exactly?"
My father gives me an irritated look. "That's not really your business, is it?"
"Actually, it is." I mutter. "If I'm going to have to find them then I should know."
He lets out a heavy sigh. "I suppose you're right."
As he begins explaining and the words fall from his lips, I feel shock slowly come over me. He talks about his goal of immortality and how the horcruxes are going to help him achieve that. He also tells me his plans for the wizarding world after Harry Potter is dead.
I swallow the lump in my throat. "Y-you want to get rid of all muggle-borns?"
A smile grows on his face as he runs his fingers across my face. "Yes, Malory. And you will help me."
I push his hand aside aggressively. "I'm not going to help you murder people, are you mad-"
Within an instant, his hands are gripping my face and I'm pinned against the nearest wall. When I try to look away he forces eye contact again.
With his mouth only a centimeter away from my face he hisses, "You're lucky I need you alive."
"Why do you keep saying that?!" I weep. "All you do is hurt me, dad! Why can't you just kill me?!"
The real answer is on the tip of his tongue, but he pushes it back quickly.
"Because we need to do this together, my dear. Together we can do so many incredible things-"
"I don't want to!" I say with tears in my eyes. "Can you not see how scared I am of you?! Why would I ever want to do what you do or be like you?!"
The expression on his face changes slowly, but drastically.
"Oh, Malory," He whispers. "Just wait until you see how similar we actually are."
He moves his hands from my face and I push myself as far away from him as possible. I wait for him to try and stop me from leaving, but he doesn't.
"If you don't want to help so badly, then leave." He sighs. "Soon enough people will find out what you really are, then they'll kill you themself."
What I really am?
~ ~ ~
What I really am.