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xxxii. THIRTY-TWO
THE THRILL OF IT ALL
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"NOW, SEE, THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT FUN!" BELLATRIX EXCLAIMED AS SHE WALKED AWAY FROM MELORA. It had been a while since the Occlumency lesson in which Melora had been unsuccessful in keeping her summer hideout a secret, and Bellatrix had been oddly excited by it all. Melora didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it certainly wasn't for her mother to be happy. If anything, she'd imagined being disowned, or tortured, or something.
But certainly not a laugh and nothing more being said about it.
Yet, Christmas Day rolled around faster than Melora a anticipated (marking one year since that all-important locket had been given to her), and Bellatrix seemed thrilled. It was odd anyway, because Bellatrix Lestrange was never one to celebrate Christmas, but to see her happy after what Melora had done? What?
"We're going to fix the problem that you've made," Bellatrix said that day, striding away from Melora like a sibling of hers, rather than a mother. Melora, feeling absolutely terrified for what that meant, followed her. "We can't have you walking around like you've done nothing wrong, can we, little Melora?"
Melora felt a shiver run cold down her back as she went after her through the halls of Malfoy Manor.
"We'll go, won't we? And we'll fix all your wrongdoings," Bellatrix said sharply, before she turned back to Melora. "There's no point in disowning you, is there? You're useful, unlike all the scum from before."
Melora didn't even know what to think at this point. So she had thought about disowning her, but for the moment, she was safe? Even after hiding with a Weasley for two months, and kissing him? And... loving him? She was... safe?
Bellatrix grinned, before she turned away again, calling out, "We need the werewolf with us!" in hopes of the elf hearing her and informing him about what was going on. "This is going to fun, isn't it, Melora?"
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When the time came, Bellatrix and Melora Apparated to where they would be 'fixing problems'. And even though she was aware that her daughter was capable of Apparition, Bellatrix grasped Melora's wrist tightly and escorted her to their destination herself. Melora caught a glimpse of her aunt out of the corner of her eye before she left, but Narcissa's face remained expressionless, and gave Melora no further clue as to where she was headed.
The actual transportation lasted a mere few seconds before they arrived and her mother roughly shoved her away, pointing to the place she should stand. They were in the middle of a field, and what seemed to be some sort of marshland, with reeds towering above her head. And then, she was instructed to hurt as many people as possible and catch Harry Potter, as though it were the easiest thing in the book.
"You know what you've done," her mother hissed at her. "And here's your chance to fix your problems. You have to ruin this family, Melora, like your life depends on it," she said, pressing her finger against the Dark Mark through her sleeve, making Melora wince. She reached up and pushed Melora's hair back, tucking it behind her ear, and grinning horribly as she did so. "And hunt down Potter once you're done."
And that was when she realised what was going on.
Just then, as the two Death Eaters had positioned themselves in more concealed areas (along with the werewolf her mother had talked about - Fenrir Greyback), Melora looked over at the building they were waiting nearby to. She had to jam her knuckles into her mouth and bite down into the skin hard to prevent herself from screaming.
Before her, stood the oddly shaped house that belonged to a traitor and his family. The family that she classed as her own had repeatedly taught her to despise such a place and belittle the residents, but since she had hidden there for the two months that she had been away - which her mother still hadn't questioned her on now that she spoke, thankfully - Melora could never quite call the place a hovel, like her cousin so proudly did.
As she continued to stare at the house in horror, there was an unwelcome heat that gushed over her body, yet only moments after, her chest fell heavy and felt cold and empty, sucking her from within. Melora felt nothing but guilt as she watched the house that contained the people who had welcomed her in when she had no one. The home that contained an entirely innocent family who were celebrating Christmas in peace.
Peace seemed to be part of a foreign language in Melora's world. And as Harry Potter stayed inside of this house, protected from her and the others, peace seemed to be way out of sight.
Melora didn't need any training to work out that the ambush she was part of was going to turn violent shortly. The sky was almost black now, as though it were in her favour and was helping to hide her positioning. Clouds were absent that night, and therefore all that remained in the sky was darkness. No white. No light. No innocence. Nothing pointed towards a failure for her.
They waited in silence - only her short, panicked breaths were audible as time passed them by. But only moments after, a small click was heard, and two figures stepped out of the Burrow. She tried to see who it was through squinting, but the gesture proved to be useless. Their voices, on the other hand, provided immediate identification.
"Well, thank you for the food, Molly," her cousin smiled as she stepped out into the open, closely followed by another figure - a man.
"It was really kind of you to let us join," Remus Lupin added, as though he felt obliged to show gratitude as well.
Melora watched intently through the reeds, the silence that surrounded her still so overwhelmimg, and the adults before her finished their conversations. There was no sign of the boy they wanted so desperately, but she knew exactly what the others were thinking. If he wasn't going to come to them willingly, then this seemed like the perfect time to make him do so.
She remained hidden for as long as she could, and continued to be a silent spectator as her mother than Apparated forwards, into the clearing, where all of the adults were then able to see her. She began to laugh, which told Melora that Bellatrix had been spotted. She straightened up a little in attempt to get a better view, and watched as a blazing fire then hurtled around the house in a perfect circle.
It had seemed as though Harry Potter had been close enough to them, as he shortly after burst out of the front doors, and began storming past the adults and Aurors, despite their calls of protest. Bellatrix hurried back into the reeds, taunting the younger wizard as she did so, and Melora took it as a hint to get moving. Ginny Weasley came out of the Burrow next, pushing past the others as she too followed Bellatrix out into the marshland. The circle of fire sealed up after Ginny ran through, separating Harry from the people who were trying to protect him.
It could've been easy to move in on the Weasleys and 'ruin' them. It could've been easy to get Potter, too. And it should have been... but it wasn't.
Melora wasn't going to do what her mother had asked of her. She knew that all Bellatrix wanted was to make her feel guilty for betraying her family in the way that she had, but Melora wouldn't do that. She wouldn't hurt the Weasleys, no way. She'd pretend to hunt down Harry afterwards.
This wasn't what she'd wanted, and it wasn't what she'd do.
Several Apparitions occured, as to confuse the two children who had chased after them. It seemed as though her mother had taken full responsibility of Harry, and that therefore left Melora to focus on Ginny. She didn't exactly want to, since the two girls had actually managed to befriend one another, and also because she had witnessed some of the things that the girl was capable of. Perhaps Ginny was a safer bet than Harry, but she still wasn't an easy bet.
Ginny was running away from her when Melora Apparated closer. She knew that she was being too loud, but at that moment, it didn't exactly matter. Ginny spun around, expecting to see Harry, and called his name. But as Melora stepped out in front of her, any trace of hope she had died away.
"What are you doing?" she blurted out as the older girl approached her. There wasn't any evident sense of fear in her voice when she spoke. Perhaps she was convinced that Melora was too innocent to hurt her. She continued, "Do you know how George has been feeling since you left and that article got released? I actually liked you two, you know."
"Just be quiet," Melora snapped at her, shaking her head. "I'm not like that anymore."
But then it became Ginny's turn to shake her head. "That's the most pathetic thing you've ever said."
The circle of flames crackled as it hungrily snapped at the air, and as Melora listened to what the youngest Weasley had to say, she felt ready to do exactly the same thing. Swiftly, she pulled out her wand on the girl, crying out the Stunning Charm, but it was quickly blocked by another person. Harry Potter came to the girl's aid, and shielded the charm. Bitterly, Melora scowled at the two of them, and Disapparated further away.
The other Death Eaters got a similar idea, and attempted to circle around the two children, Apparating to different points, going in different directions, closer and farther from their targets. Not long after this began, the adults had managed to escape from the raging circle of fire, and bolted into the tall-grass. Hearing them so nearby triggered something within her, and Melora started firing jinxes and spells at both Harry and Ginny, and as did the other three Death Eaters.
"Harry! Ginny!"
Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley and Tonks then appeared to assist the others, and since they were outnumbered, it left the Death Eaters with no choice but to retreat. Bellatrix Lestrange was a stubborn witch when it came to surrender, but she knew there was no other way out of it. Glancing at Melora, she grinned wickedly, and proceeded to tear across the skies, encircling the Burrow as she began firing spells at it, officially creating the first flames to snatch at the home.
Knowing that this was the part she was meant to take part in most, Melora followed suit. She was just another twisting black cloud of dust that spiraled its way around the building, watching as the other trails of smoke fired spells. They weren't focused on her - they couldn't tell whether or not she were contributing to the destruction of the place.
But the people on the ground could.
The entire Weasley family, as well as their guests, had gathered outside the Burrow. They each stared up at the chaos that was being caused above them, silently. None of them spoke. Each person remained quiet as they watched, heartbroken, as the house was destroyed. But as young Ginny Weasley stared, her eyes landed on the one spiraling cloud of black that did not send a single spell from its wand.
She frowned, and pointed up at it, "One of them isn't doing anything, look," she stated, nudging her mother to watch, despite the woman's best efforts not to. And as they stared, they realised. Ginny added quietly, only speaking to herself, "Get over yourself, Melora. Of course you're still like it."
As the Death Eaters left the scene, they also left behind a burning mess of the Burrow. Flames roared viciously, warning the people below not to get any closer to the food they were carelessly eating away at. The residents were mortified to see their house in ruins, and especially on a day so special.
Perhaps Ginny would mention her encounter with Melora to someone. But then, perhaps some things were better left unsaid.