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AS A CHILD, ANASTASIA HAD ALWAYS BEEN TOLD STORIES OF AZKABAN AND HOW DREADED THE PRISON WAS. She'd always listened intently, duvet drawn to her chin with wide eyes as her father told her tales of murderers and dementors and everything alike.
As a child, she had never known how much truth each story held to the real thing.
Azkaban was a place where hope would never be found. It was a place where she felt as if she would never be happy again, dementors ensuring that fact as they flew freely around the storming sky.
Scrimgeour led her down a series of twists of turns, holding the child as close as he could. Truthfully, he feared that the moment she step foot into the room, she would be struck down, dead at the hands of her father just like her mother had been.
The more Anastasia peered around, the more she wanted to turn tail and run. More than half of the cells were occupied by screaming inmates, the sound sending goosebumps across her skin as she tried her best to block them out.
Some of them were familiar faces, some just names she knew had come up at the table more than once.
Without meaning to do so, the girl fell frozen at the sight of a blonde man, his head hung low as he looked at her from shielded eyes. He looked terrible, his hair tangled and his skin sagged and discolored. More than all, it was eyes that sent her reeling back, rubbing at her own as she envisioned his son in the spot he sat.
Lucius didn't speak a word to the girl, only turned away and took stance before the window. He watched the storming sky, every so often jerking away as if he was expecting something to come barreling in to kill them all.
Something didn't feel right.
Scrimgeour continued to lead her down corridor after corridor, finally halting infront of a large door. He turned to her, pulling his wand from his robe before turning back towards the door. He uttered a single incantation and the click of a lock was heard.
"Though it is far from protocol, you have been allowed to keep your wand in your possession to ensure your safety. Zacharius is a danger man, as you already know. Stay on your toes, Miss Romanov."
Anastasia didn't bother to respond before she gently pushed the door open and stepped into the room. She couldn't help but flinch when the door slammed behind her, her eyes focused on the floor as she was far too terrified to meet the man's eyes before her.
"Ana... Merlin, I feel like I haven't seen you in years."
At the sound of his voice, Anastasia snapped her attention from the floor to her father. She felt her lip curl into a snarl, her hands tightening on her wand hidden within her pocket. She was desperately trying to curb to instinct to strike him down dead just as he had her mother.
