chapter four — peony and silas
December 30th, 1976
"Merlin, I loathe Reece's grandmother, that woman is," James ranted, pacing back and forth in Sirius' bedroom. "When she used to come for Christmas Eve, way before you came to live with us, dinner she would always give me the evils." He explained.
"I don't think you can hate his grandmother mate." Sirius pointed out, laying back on his bed tossing a snitch James caught in a quidditch match the year before. "Yeah she might be a complete bleeder, but she's still his grandmother."
James quickly nodded his head in agreement. "You don't know why she stopped coming with Reece every year on Christmas Eve?" He queried, sitting on the edge of his bed. Sirius looked on in anticipation, waiting for the answer. "Because of you..." he slowly explained.
"What about me?" He quickly sat up, placing the snitch on his nightstand.
James stammered, trying to find the right words. "You ran away from home, in her eyes you're a blood traitor. I don't know much about the hag, but I know a pure blood supremacist when I see one." Sirius' face twisted in disgust shifting in bed. "And have you noticed lately how Reece always seems, I don't know, on edge?" He continued.
"What are you trying to say mate?"
He ran his fingers through his wavy hair, "I don't want to say it out loud, because if it is true," he paused. "I don't know what the bloody hell I'm talking about." He quickly shrugged off the possibility that Maurice, one of his closest friends, was in danger somehow.
Maurice stood in front of his mirror, he glanced over at his door making sure it was locked. He gently tugged the collar of his sweater down to his shoulder, cautiously gliding his fingertips over the spreading bruise that ran down his arm. An involuntary wince escaped from his lips the moment he accidentally made contact with his skin. That wasn't the only souvenir he had earned from that night, a majority of his body was completely covered in a variety of violent shades of purple. To say the previous night was a nightmare, wouldn't do his pain any justice. With his condition, bruises made their presence known rather quickly than the average person.
"I didn't want it to come down to this dear, but you must learn your lesson." His grandmother hissed the previous night. "I hope you don't put that illness on display in my house from now on." He quickly brushed off the memory as it slowly came trickling back to him.
Ethel always had a firm hand when it came to disciplining her grandson, but she had never gone as far as she did. Maurice couldn't possibly fathom how his only blood relative, the only person he had, could do such a thing
A soft knock came from his bedroom door. He hesitated for a split second before announcing, "come in!" He covered up his shoulder as the person on the other side undid the lock. A thin smile bloomed over his face at the sight of his beloved house elf. "Tobbs," he stated, with a sigh of relief.
He walked into his bedroom holding a warm bowl of chicken soup. "Tobbs has brought Master Maurice a meal," he spoke, glancing up at Maurice with a smile. "Master Maurice has to eat something," he added placing the bowl on his table. Maurice hadn't left his bedroom at all since the previous night.
His face immediately brightened when the savoury aroma of the hot soup reached his nostrils. "Thank you, Tobbs," he has been contemplating what he was about to do next since November. Since that night his fate was sealed with that unforgivable curse. "I actually have something for you," he announced, digging through his drawers. He then pulled out a small knitted cap and hunkered down in front of Tobbs to present it to him
"Master Maurice..." His eyes widened in disbelief. Maurice could not, in good conscience, let Tobbs live in this house. It would be selfish of him. The sight of seeing Tobbs reach out to take the poorly made knitted cap drew a dagger straight into his heart. "Master has given Tobbs a hat, Tobbs is free!" The elf wore a radiant expression across his face as he put on the clothing Maurice had just offered him.
"Yes, yes you are!" He announced, a bittersweet smile quickly spread across his face. Maurice knew this was the right thing to do, at least someone had to make it out of this house. Though, he wasn't sure if it even qualified as such since it lacked any kind of love. "You could get a job at Hogwarts, maybe I could see you there once my term begins."
Maurice brought up the back of his hand to his face, wiping away a stray tear before it could drip down from his chin. "Tobbs wants to thank you," he breathed, quickly wrapping his arms around Maurice who let out a small wince, but ignored the pain. "Thank you." He whispered to himself, his voice unsteady.
"Goodbye, Tobbs." He quietly sobbed as Tobbs brought his index finger to his thumb and with a simple snap, he was gone, vanishing into thin air. Just like that, his only friend in the Faron Manor was gone, with a low grunt he lifted himself off the ground, carrying on with his day as if nothing had happened.
A deafening silence fell over his bedroom as time slowly ticked away, in his mind, Maurice started to count down the hours until the Potter's New Year celebration. He was constantly drowning within the four walls of this place, the place he called home. Fighting with every fibre of his being to keep his head above the rising water, but being with James and his family was like coming up for fresh air. He was drowning and they saved him.
One of his biggest fears, apart from the life he would have to lead now that he was a death eater, was losing them. Normally he would never dare to even imagine that life, completely hollow and devoid of love, but now the thought crept up on him late into the midnight hours. To say the least, it terrified him more than his grandmother.
With a sigh of relief he allowed himself to fall back on his bed, tugging on a fuzzy blanket that had a bunch of tiny embellishments gifted to him by Euphemia not so long ago, over his body.
"Go straight to bed," his grandmother instructed as Maurice turned on his heels to walk out of her office before she called out for him. "Oh and dear, if you disobey my rules again—" she stopped herself with a small grin. "After tonight, I doubt you will."
Maurice's head hung low as he stepped out into the hallway, tears stained his face. The walk from her office, to the library, and then to his bedroom felt like an eternity. His body ached and stung with every step he took, holding onto the book is what kept him going. He could barely get any sleep once he had made it to his bed.
After fighting off the flashbacks he knew would haunt his thoughts for weeks to come, months even, he eventually drifted off into a deep slumber. Finally, Maurice was getting the rest he desperately needed. The sun had set on the horizon beckoning the moon and stars in, there was a knock on the bedroom door. He blinked his eyes open and called out, "Who is it?" He sat up, taking in his familiar surroundings.
"Your grandmother wants you downstairs now." A deep voice echoed throughout his bedroom despite having the door shut. "Don't take too long," the voice added.
He stretched, rubbing his eyes, shaking away any remaining drowsiness that lingered. "Uh yeah, I'll be there in a minute," he announced, stepping out of bed making sure the wooden box wasn't visible from any angle in the room. Whenever he wasn't home or in his room, Maurice always made sure the box wasn't out in plain sight.
For the first time that day, Maurice left the comfort and safety of his own bedroom, he steadied his own breathing as he walked down the hallway. The distinct sound muffled chattering could be heard and his heartbeat started racing, afraid he was about to receive his first official task as a death eater. "What do you think this is about?" A woman with jet black hair, a black lace veil over her eyes, mumbled into the ear of the elderly woman standing next to her.
As he waded through the crowd, many death eaters spoke amongst themselves. "I reckon they found one of the traitors." A bloke chimed in, slouching in between them. "That must be it." He added. Maurice kept his eyes focused on his shoes as he placed one foot in front of the other trying his best to drown out their voices.
He almost jumped out of his own skin the moment he felt a hand perch itself on his shoulder, he glanced up to see none other than his grandmother. "Ah, Maurice dear," she exclaimed with a thin scarlet smile. "I believe you have learned your lesson this time?" She asked and he reluctantly nodded his head. "Excellent, third times a charm."
"What's going on Nan?" He queried, looking around the room as the voices began to die down.
"You will find out soon dear," she said in a reassuring tone. "Very soon," she added.
A couple of weeks ago the Dark Lord and a handful of his loyal followers took off in the middle of the night with no explanation at all, Maurice assumed today was going to be the day their beloved Dark Lord would return. Gracing everyone with his presence.
Then the door swung wide open, allowing a gust of wind to carry in snow, and two men walked in. One man's elbows were hooked on their arms his head hung low, his legs dragging along the carpet. "We found the bloody traitor!" One of them announced, looking in their direction or rather at Ethel.
That is when he could feel the lump form in his throat, everyone shouted at the bruised and battered man, chanting the word traitor traitor traitor, over and over again until the word lost its meaning. Maurice flinched as she pulled him aside near the main stairs, she hunkered down in front of him, her expression unreadable. "Look, I need you to behave accordingly to that mark on your forearm, dear." She said with a tight smile.
"What is going on?" He asked, glancing over her shoulder. "Who is that man?" He added.
"That man... is a traitor, the entire bloody time he has been working with the other side, giving that headmaster from your precious school information." She paused. "If you do what is expected of you, I will tell you about Peony and Silas. I know you must have questions and well, I have answers." His expression brightened as she mentioned the names of his parents.
The glint in her eyes made an appearance the moment he nodded his head. "Very well," she stood up, perching her claws on his shoulder and leading him back to the front of the crowd. One of the death eaters dug his wand into the man's neck, mumbling something Maurice couldn't hear. "Is it true?" She extended her wand out. "Have you been spying for the other side, taking information from us and scurrying back to them like a rat?" She pressed on.
"Please I have a family!" He pleaded, a violent river of tears streaming down his cheeks, "I'll swear my undying loyalty to the Dark Lord again!" Maurice grimaced at the sight of the man, his spirit completely shattered. Despite his relentless begging for forgiveness, he was abruptly cut off by the man holding the wand, who drove it deeper into his neck. Small drops of blood trickled down from his skin. Maurice brought his hand up to his throat. He still had nightmares of that night; in most of them, the man with yellow eyes tightened his grip around Maurice's neck until his skin turned blue. "I did it," he finally admitted. "I did it for my family, I wanted to do the right thing for them."
The other, rather thin man shouted. "There is nothing I loathe more than a bloody traitor!" He drew his wand before reciting the word. "Crucio!" Maurice watched in pure terror as the man fell to the floor writhing in pain. The world around him spun as his stomach twisted in on itself. There was nothing he could do to help, nothing besides stand there and watch as the man muttered a name he could only assume belonged to his wife and daughter.
Maurice's shoulders stiffened.
"Enough!" Ethel announced with her hand raised in the air. "Betraying the Dark Lord himself is a crime punishable by death." She glanced down at her grandson, shutting down any thoughts the boy might have about running. "Should I make an example of him?" In response the crowd shouted, their fists beating in the air.
Without saying a single word, Maurice reluctantly nodded his head. "Please, you don't have to do this!" The man shouted before there was a bright green flash and his lifeless corpse fell to the ground. Maurice's chest rose and fell quickly once he came to the realisation that he was responsible for killing a man. For taking that poor girl's dad away from her forever. He desperately pushed past the crowd, past the double doors that led to the lifeless garden. He leaned over by the nearest tree, pressing a hand over his chest as the soup Tobbs gave him earlier quickly came back up and out of his mouth.
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authors note, this chapter... yeah it's a rollercoaster sorry and i promise the hogwarts chapters are around the corner, also 320 reads when i barley published this book hello?? <3