In the Shadow of Azkaban

Volume II: LXXVIII

The Gaunt Manor
Late August 1896

Unfaithful Ashwinder,

We waited for you, Orion.

It's been months, and you hadn't returned our letters. So, we took it upon ourselves to remove what has been keeping you here. Again. It's a shame the aurors were allowed rest because that's what determined their fates. You should have learned from before.

The quill between my fingers shook writing the last line. He hadn't deserved the reminder, but I knew it would be more believable if I wrote it as such.

The parchment tasted bland when it ran along my tongue. I sealed the Gaunt ring inside the envelope as evidence of our deaths and slid the letter under the door to Orion's chamber.

I strolled to the other side of the staircase and cracked the door to Morganna and Marvolo's quarters. Soft snoring escaped them both while Kassia followed behind me.

Ominis seemed anxious to leave us alone, but he should have known that Kassia and I had completed many a ruse together. He reluctantly took Lailah and joined Marat, Iskra, and Markov on a steamboat to Greece.

All the while, Sebastian and Aesop apparated via long distance to begin conjuring larger homes and updating the ones already present to accommodate all of us.

I tiptoed over to Morganna's bed and knelt down. "Morganna," I whispered. She sleepily mumbled to herself in return. Then, she flipped the other way, and I brushed her knotted braid away from her ear and leaned closer. "Do you remember... when I told you I wanted to adopt you?"

Her eyes flew open at the words. Her braids spun around faster than her head. The groggy voice grew too loud for my liking, "Yes, Aunt—"

I clasped my hands around her mouth. "Just nod, okay?"

Her head moved up and down like a bludger chasing a broom.

I swallowed to keep my composure. I couldn't bear to think about what would happen if we stayed. "Well, now you don't have to choose. We're going to take you and your brother far away from Xilia and Orion. Everyone else is already on their way home."

"No!" Marvolo screamed out. His body had jolted forward from those words.

His voice was quieter, but the emotion still lingered, "I'm not going. Iskra isn't my mother! And my father only cares about that baby. I was here first, and I won't leave."

Kassia's eyes grew to the size of gobstones, and she just stared at me. I watched her shoulders go up and down while Morganna slipped out of bed.

She walked over to Marvolo and stuck her hand out. Marvolo's arms sat crossed against his chest, but his dark blue eyes flickered to his sister.

"Brother. I'm not asking you to go with us." She extended her hand even further and leaned to where she covered his vision.

"I'm asking for a proper goodbye. I'm going to miss you." Morganna took a seat on his duvet and brought her arms out and waited. Her brother looked incredibly small when he climbed over and nestled into her arms.

Kassia turned to me while they held each other. Her usually pale face somehow shone even more white from the moonlight. "Antoinette. I'll have to do something horrible to alleviate this situation. Otherwise, Xilia and Orion will come after us."

I scrunched my eyebrows together attempting to understand her cryptic words. "What is it?"

"I'll have to remove and alter Marvolo's memories, so he believes we died by the Ashwinders hands." She bit her bottom lip in what seemed was immense distress.

"Are-are you sure that's the only option?" I questioned. I hadn't wanted Kassia to be the one to cast the charm, if possible.

"Well, I wasn't prepared for this response, and it seems to be the only plausible plan. So, you bring Morganna out and distract her while I Obliviate Marvolo." She spoke slower than I ever heard her manage. It was as if she were trying to convince herself it was the right move.

"Okay." I agreed. "Morganna, sweetheart. Let's go. We don't have much time." Which was partially true because if Xilia discovered us, we would all be dead.

I took her small palm in mine and exited the chamber. I planned to distract Morganna, but she had all the tools she needed. Her whispering overtook my ear of how she would decorate her room when she arrived and how Lailah would go with me and her to the beach every day.

My stomach twisted at the thought of having to cast at a child. I hadn't been sure how Kass would handle the feat.

Only a few moments passed when she finally emerged looking green. She pulled a Calming Draught potion from her robes and swung it back, and then she followed it with Firewhisky.

The three of us trudged outside, and once we hit the point where we could apparate, we joined hands. Our eyes met each others at different times, and our fists clenched one another. The tension hovered between us.

But I was glad the split was fast when our bodies bundled up into thin air to hit our first stop.