☤ Pseudonym ☤

~Chapter Two~

Sirius was pacing in front of me. He ran his hands through his hair, getting stuck halfway. He was muttering something about security and an order. 

Mrs Weasley entered the room as well and sat down on one of the adjacent sofas, so she was to my left. She was fiddling with the hem of her jumper, pulling at a loose thread with nervousness. It hurt that she was so afraid of me. 

"I--" I began to speak but Sirius cut me off immediately.

"I don't want to listen to your lies."

"They're not lies." I pleaded, the tear that had been resting in my eyes, now ran down my face in frustration.

"You're a death-eater, everything you say is a lie." he spat at me.

"That's what people said about you though, isn't it?" I said, trying desperately to figure out a way for him to hear me out.

This made him pause in his pacing. He collapsed into an armchair in front of me. Closing his eyes for a second in thought, he exhaled forcefully. 

"Fine." he said, "One chance." he held a finger to cement his point. "You have one chance to explain yourself. And you better tell the truth."

I nodded quickly. I ought to write a script for these explanations as they were getting more and more frequent.

"I was a death-eater, yes." Mrs Weasley was looking at me with hatred which made me wince. "But I am not anymore."

"How do we know that?" Sirius asked.

"Because Dumbledore said so." they looked at me confused. "He trusts me." I paused for a second. "My name is Florence Riddle." they opened their mouths to speak but I stopped them. "Dumbledore knows this and he knows my past. Do you really think he would have let me come here if I was still loyal to Voldemort?" 

Mrs Weasley flinched at his name. Sirius looked unsure of himself at my words. "I will write to Dumbledore at once. See if he can confirm your story." he stood up, "You'll stay here until we know that you're not a threat." I nodded.

Sirius and Mrs Weasley both left, giving me suspicious looks as they went. Once the door closed I hung my head in relief. At least they weren't going to kill me or anything. I tried to adjust my position to gain some semblance of comfort, but it was impossible as the invisible ropes had been wrapped around the chair, preventing me from large movements. 

I could feel something wet trickle down my left wrist and I tried to shift it so it wasn't cutting into me so much. But the ropes held fast. I hadn't done much wandless magic before, except for a few simple spells that I had taught myself. Nothing to get me out of this situation. 

I thought of a simple spell which would free me from the bindings. I took a deep breath and stilled. "Liberare." I spoke firmly, but not loud enough for anyone to hear. This opening charm was usually used for doors or windows but I had heard it working for restraints. 

Nothing happened. I repeated it with more force and the ropes shifted. However, they didn't release, instead they actually tightened slightly. I groaned as they cut off the blood flow to my hands. 

With pain as my motivation I said it once more with all the power I could muster. Instantly the ropes tore and fell limp around me. I sighed in relief and examined my arm. On the outer side there was a large red line that was seeping blood. I couldn't heal it without my hand, and the wandless magic had drained most of my energy. I wiped over it with the sleeve of my shirt. My right arm was also bruised slightly but nothing too bad.

It was getting dark outside so I decided to rest until they came back for me. I was sure that they wouldn't be happy at my escape, but I was too tired to care. 

I lay down on the soft sofa and closed my eyes. Sleep overcame me quickly, but with it came the nightmares of Cedric dying and the evil cackling of my father. 

-----

The door opening woke me, it was Mrs Weasley. She gasped when she saw me out of the ropes. But thankfully she decided not to put me back. 

She was carrying a plate with a piece of plain toast on it and holding a glass of water. She set them down on the table in front of me without a word. Briskly she left the room and closed the door loudly. 

I sighed and reached for the water. I held myself back from gulping it all down at once, but I didn't know when I would next get the chance to drink so I savoured it. I ripped a piece off the toast and stood up to examine the room. 

Now it was lighter I could make out the images on the wall. The family tree was one for the house of Black. This must have been Sirius' childhood home I thought. There were Latin words inscribed around the tree; "Stirps nobilis et gens antiquissima Black." was repeated around it. I did a rough translation of it to found it meant 'Behold the noble family and oldest clan Black'. They sure were modest.

I sought out Sirius name on the wall but couldn't find it. I found Bellatrix Lestrange however, here she was known as Bellatrix Black. A few branches above her lay a deep black crater as if it had been burned. I caressed it gently and could see a few letters poking out from it. 

"They did that the day I left." I whipped my head around to see Sirius standing in the doorway. I removed my hand from the black patch. I swallowed my food down my dry throat. 

He walked cautiously over to me, as if I was some wild animal that could attack at any second. "I was sixteen at the time. Just couldn't take it anymore. I hated the lot of them. My parents with their pure-blood mania." he glanced down at me. 

I shook my head, "I'm not like them." I swallowed hard. "I would have run away if I could, but..." I cringed at the thought of Barty's wrath. He still haunted my dreams and affected my daily life.

Sirius nodded, understanding not to press me for more information. "Dumbledore hasn't written back yet, but I think.... I think I believe you."

My eyes lit up and my heart beat really fast in my chest. I blinked back tears of joy. Barty would have been angry to see me to so affected by my emotions. 

"Thank you, Sirius." my voice was hoarse with emotion. 

"I would have let you come down for breakfast, but Molly doesn't really want you around her children." he explained.

I nodded, "I understand." looking away from him, I pulled my sleeves down out of habit. 

Sirius followed my actions then grabbed my sleeve. "Where are you injured?" he asked frantically as he noticed the blood on it. 

I tugged my arm away, "Nowhere. Nothing... it's fine." 

"No it isn't." he wrapped his hand around my wrist and I grimaced as he squeezed my cut, prompting it to start bleeding again. 

He lifted up my sleeve and I bit my lip as it tugged at the wound, having stuck to it as it had scabbed over.

He took a sharp breath as he revealed the cut. It looked a lot worse than it was because the blood had smeared up my arm.

"Oh god." he cried out and took a step away from me. "I... I'm so sorry. I never meant to actually hurt you. I--"

"I said it's fine, Sirius." I placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "I get it. I've done bad things and I deserve to face the consequences. But I just want you to know that I hate my father and I would do anything to protect my friends."