Marmoris | Rabastan Lestrange [1] ✔︎

60 | TALK

When Phoenix entered Grimmauld Place after a one-hour walk to sort her thoughts, the house was silent. She closed her eyes and expected Kreacher, their house elf, to come rushing to her side, offering to take her brown cloak. However, he didn't and Phoenix didn't hear a single sound as she placed her new cloak in the place where it belonged and slowly made her way into the big foyer of their home. Despite the cold atmosphere, Phoenix felt a warmth filling her heart as she remembered how she and her brothers had often raced each other on the stairs or how she had sat in the kitchen while Kreacher cooked their next meal. Different than Sirius she had always enjoyed the house elf's company and the big house, and she wished nothing more than to be able to go back to her childhood days to relive those happy memories. That thought only made her straighten her back.

She was doing the right thing.

"Father? Mother?" Phoenix called out, rubbing her hands against each other.

Her father only answered a few seconds later. "We are in the lounge, dear."

Taking another deep breath to brace herself for whatever she had to expect, the young girl made her way up the stairs to the first floor and into the room where they usually met their guests. Her father sat in one of the armchairs, while her mother sat on one of the sofas with a female that Phoenix recognised in the blink of an eye. Bellatrix. Next to her mother sad the murderer of her friend, smiling warm-heartedly at her.

"Hello cousin," Bellatrix greeted her, fondness evident in her voice. "I must say you have really grown more beautiful since I last saw you."

Phoenix gave her a smile in return, just like their society expected her to. "Thank you, Bella. I didn't know that you were coming to visit today, otherwise I would have made sure I was home."

"Oh, my visit was not planned at all, don't worry. Nonetheless it's lovely to see you," the young woman told her, but Phoenix could see the dangerous glimmer in her eyes. She was still testing her loyalty.

"Did you want to tell us something, dear?" Orion Black interrupted, getting out of his seat and walking over to her.

Phoenix was glad he was at home. She had always considered him the gentler one of her parents when it came to serious matters and also the one who showed her more affection, like some fathers did to their daughters in the novels that she had read. Also he was the only one to be able to keep her mother's temper under control.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about something, but that can wait," she answered with a calm tone in her voice.

"I can leave, if there is something that you wanted to discuss as a family," Bellatrix offered, but Walburga was quick to shake her head.

"No, you can stay as long as you want. I'm sure Phoenix wouldn't mind your opinion in whatever she wanted to talk to us about," she told her niece and gave Phoenix a look that allowed no contradiction.

Of course she did mind. It was what she had wanted to avoid, but she nodded. "Of course I don't."

"Come sit with us," her father offered, but she declined with a slight shake of her head.

Still he sat back down and all of the adults looked expectantly at her. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes for a short moment. "In the past weeks I've come to realise that I have made a lot of mistakes in the last few months. There is the possibility that you are going to hate me after I tell you this, but I really want to be better, so please hear me out."

Her parents and cousin didn't interrupt her and Bellatrix simply gave her an approving nod, obviously knowing what she was about to say. "I have committed the worst sins. I have sympathised with blood-traitors, half-breeds and Mudbloods." She almost couldn't bring herself to pronounce the word, but she knew that she had to in order to be convincing.

Nonetheless her mother shrieked, "You did what?"

Phoenix father placed his hand on hers, stopping her from jumping ti her feet and gave his daughter a nod to ask her to carry on.

"Despite all of your stories I thought I was doing the right thing, but obviously I am not. Bella has helped me see that. I know what I did is wrong and I will never do that again, I promise, but what all of you didn't consider is the fact that I am an abomination as well."
She touched the necklace around her neck and looked at Orion.
"Father, you instructed me to never take this off, but last year I was forced to do so. I couldn't bear the voices in my head anymore, I wasn't strong enough. I am sorry."
She brushed away a tear that was making its way down her cheek. To her surprise, Bellatrix walked over to her, rubbing her back in a soothing manner. "I'm sure we can fix this."

"Thank you, Bella, but what I meant to say is that I now know that you only wanted to protect me from the awful curse of these powers inside of me, but that doesn't work. Don't get me wrong, I would do anything to get rid of them and live a normal life, but that's not possible. Therefore, I have decided that I want to use this curse as an advantage." She took a deep breath. "I wish to pledge my loyalty to the Dark Lord and learn how to use my powers with Jackson Avery's help in order to be of use to him. Please let me make something good out of my misery."

"Jackson Avery?" Her father inquired with a raised eyebrow, while her mother didn't even try to hide the proud grin on her face and Bellatrix looked all too pleased.

Phoenix nodded. "Yes, his brother Louis was my teacher at Hogwarts during the past year. He seems to have a lot of knowledge about these kind of powers and he has helped me a lot. As far as I know he's loyal to the Dark Lord, just like the rest of his family."

"I know Louis," Bellatrix chimed in, "and I can assure you that their family is trustworthy although they fought against us in the battle. They didn't use their full strength and knowledge against us."

Walburga got up with a broad smile. "I am glad you finally found your true destiny, Phoenix, and see Mudbloods as the monsters they are. You, however, just proved that you are no abomination. You are goingto be a valuable member of our society. The Dark Lord will be delighted to hear about these news."