Love, Life, And Lies- Regulus Black

.salt and lemon.

.sometimes we don't want to heal, because the pain is the last link to what we've lost.

The headlines were the same for weeks.

"Minister for Magic Killed in Death Eater Attack."

"Death Eater Trials To Commence."

"Corruption in High Places."

"Rosier Replaced?"

Over and over again, they repeated, as if we were spiraling into a constant cycle of ill-fated news.

My father, it appeared, had one of the shortest stints as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement in the history of the job. After the death of the Minister, there was so much fear, so much hysteria. Everyone was suspicious of one another, and no one knew who they could trust. And once it had come out that Evan was a Death Eater who had been part of the attack, mistrust ran through my father's department like a cancer.

It ate at everyone he was over, especially the Aurors. Moody, and the Longbottom's in particular jumped on the rumors and nurtured the seeds of dissension. I was sure they knew that my father was very involved in the Dark Lord's ranks. Sure that Dumbledore had passed that information along to them.

With them raising the questions, it didn't take long for others to begin questioning whether my father also had any affiliation with the Dark Lord.

The day after Evan's name was dragged into the papers, my father -trying to squash the rumors- released a statement in the Daily Prophet condemning him. He claimed that Evan had strayed down a path that we detested. That he had broken the sacred trust of our family, and betrayed the years of service we had given to the Wizarding World. Most importantly, he denied any affiliation with the Dark Lord, and proceeded to disown Evan from the Rosier family.

I was too numb to feel anything as I read the words. Too numb to fully comprehend what that had meant.

He couldn't even let Evan's memory rest for two days before he spat on it. Before he trampled over it for his own gain. It was a betrayal that he had disowned him so quickly to save face. A betrayal because he was the one who had dragged us into the Dark Lord's service in the first place.

Of course, he used the story to attempt to evoke pity from the general public. Poor, loyal Raphael Rosier whose son abandoned his family to serve an evil lord. But it hadn't been enough. Rumors spread, and no one could trust that he wasn't involved in the same business as his son. So rather quickly, an emergency council had been held, and my father was ousted. An offense he was not likely to forget anytime soon. Unfortunately for the rest of the Wizarding World, the new opening as the head of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was given to none other than Bartemius Crouch.

The irony was not lost on me. Whether Crouch knew it or not, his son was a more active Death Eater than Evan had been. It just proved how deep the seeds of dissention were buried.

Barty Crouch Jr. was one of the worst of the worst. He was one who made the hair on my skin stand up whenever I would see him slinking around my family manor. He was one who delighted in torturing, in murdering. Delighted in all manner of horrors. I didn't know how someone with a father like Bartemius had strayed so far down the darkened path.

The one silver lining was that because my father had been ousted, he was not eligible to take up the seat as the Minister for Magic. Dumbledore worked tirelessly to ensure power passed to someone who would continue the work Harold Minchum had started. It wasn't long before the new Minister was named. Minchum's Senior Advisor, Millicent Bagnold had stepped into the position. She -knowing the plans of her predecessor- immediately called for orders to triple the Auror forces within the Ministry, and for Death Eater trials to commence.