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—THE NEXT WEEK, ALEXANDRIA WALKED INTO THE KITCHEN, WHERE EVERYONE WAS HAVING BREAKFAST— EVEN THE MALFOYS WERE THERE. All conversations hushed down at the sight of the girl, who suspiciously looked at them all. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," they said immediately, except for Tom, who was looking at something under the table with an emotionless expression.
"Father."
Tom hummed questioningly, not looking up.
"What's going on?"
"This." He finally looked up, giving her the daily prophet he was looking at under the table.
His daughter ignored the groans from the inner circle and started reading it.
'NEW ASSASSIN FOLLOWERS? as we all know, you-know-who had been defeated years ago by our savior, Harry Potter. However, only a few days ago, we have gotten word that the Fawleys, (powerful Half-blood family), were all killed and had knife wounds all over them. Neighbors say they saw two what looked to be teenagers— both in black uniform and black masks on. What was most disturbing was they managed to escape the scene with no problem, not leaving any piece of evidence behind that would help us find them. Here is a few words from our new Minister, "Horrifying. That's one word to describe the scene and the outcome we've managed to get to. You-know-who's supporters are still out there and those 'assassins' are one of his most devoted followers. Even though we don't know their age, we are most certain that they're underage, as they haven't used magic on the scene. We found Lord Fawley's wand and the only spells he used were the killing curse on self defense."—
Alexandria's head snapped up. She made eye-contact with Draco, who looked extremely sorry for her. He even mouthed the words, "I'm so sorry."
Hesitantly, she glanced at her father, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her. His hands were folded in front of him. His hair, that was always neat, was looking a little messy as if he had ran his hands through it. His expression, however, was what broke Alexandria the most.
There was a hint of pride in them, but mostly.. disappointment.
She looked back at the daily prophet in her hands, not ready for the conversation that would soon come.
—You all heard that right, readers! So as to this outcome and for our safety, it's best to stay home until further notice. ——Rita Skeeter.'
She looked back up, wandlessly burning the paper.
"Alexandria, follow me." Tom said as he stood up and walked out of the kitchen.
♡
Alexandria watched as her father closed the door when they reached his study in silence.
Tom motioned for his daughter to sit down on the couch, who did so without any questions.
"Father—"
He held up a hand, motioning for her to stop. "I believe I should be talking." He said and sat down in front of her, leaning forward on the couch. He put his hands together, face void of any emotion. "What actually happened on your mission?"
"We killed them. That was it." said Alexandria as if it was obvious, scratching her neck.
Following this movement, Tom's brows furrowed. "You're lying. I want nothing but the truth, Alexandria."
The said girl threw her head back and groaned. "When we killed the mother and children, the father tried defending himself, but his aim was just bad." She shrugged. "None of us were in the way of the green curse at all."
Tom stayed still, sighing a few seconds later. "Lex, please just tell me the truth." He said, voice much softer than before. "I just want to know what my mistake was."
"Mistake?" She asked, looking confused.
"Yes. I want to know if I should've sent Bella or anyone else with you. I want to know what my mistake was."
"Father, you did many things, but a mistake was not one of them. I admit— I hated the fact that Malfoy was coming, but now that I see it.. we were a good team." Alexandria admitted, grimacing at the end.
She couldn't believe she had just admitted that!
Judging by Tom's look of disbelief, he was thinking the same thing.
"Alright. Were you or were you not in danger?" Tom finally asked.
"No." She easily lied.
Lying was never something she was happy with, especially not to her father, but sometimes it was needed.
The only reason she was able to lie to her father was because he respected her privacy and never used Legilimency on her, even though she knew Occlumency. But if he tried hard enough, he could break her mind shields— but still.. he never did it. Nor had he even thought about it.
Tom considerably relaxed. His stiff structure was gone in a second and his legs were now on top of each other. The disappointment in his face was gone, replaced with fondness.
"Good. I don't know what I would've done had I lost you."
