Beware the Devil that lies Within a Man
'Let me in!'
Thump...thump
'Please don't go.'
Thump...thump...thump
'Don't leave me alone.'
Thump....thump.....thump........thump.
'It's dark here.'
..........
'Come back!'
...........thump..........
The fluttering tune that assured him all these years that he had a heartbeat. That he was human like everyone else despite what they said. Now that tune he thought would never silence was no longer humming to him. Making him feel more empty.
'Why?'
Anger, confusion, and panic course through his veins. His body trembles as his mind try to make sense of what is happening.
Did something happen to her?
Was it that man? The man that hurt her in the past?
Dark thoughts from the pits of hell circled in his mind. As he snarled, brown eyes were slowly turning into a deep shade of ruby as its dimming glowed in the darkness. For a brief moment, his body stops to tremble, and then there was laughter.
The laughter came from the darkest part of his core.
From trembling in anger there was a sick twisted feeling of joy and laughter that could only cover up the feeling of neglect that he feels. 'Everyone leaves you anyway. Unwanted. Unloved.'
Madness covered him like a warm blanket.
'Why do you keep offering your heart...if they are just going to stab it in front of you? Leave you in a rotten place where all those forgotten goes.'
A dark whisper speaks to him, 'Kill them! Kill them all! For being so weak in their muggle form.'
Tom's voice strains as he holds back his laughter and quickly glances at the snake slithering out of the hole in the wall of his room where he sleeps in the orphanage. He speaks back in a more cheerful eerie tone, "Nagini took you long enough. How was your hunt?"
Nagini speaks back, "It was fine. Though chasing rats is now getting boring."
She makes her way to him, slithering on his leg, and curving her way up his body to lay her head happily on his neck.
"Hmmm, playing the same game repeatedly does tend to get boring."
Outside the moon's light began to make its way to the room he is in. There he stares up to the sky, seeing the stars twinkle down at him, and a change in the wind courses through him.
Making him laugh again.
"Don't worry Nagini. You will hunt much bigger prey later on. After all, the game has just begun."
His now red eyes glowed brightly within the darkness and there in his reflection was a Cheshire cat smile. His body trembles once more, welcoming the madness like an old friend.
~ **∞** ~
The stars twinkled brightly.
The first piece of the puzzle came together.
Now, the old dragon is next.
After that..........
Well, you will know the rest soon.
~ **∞** ~
Past Memory
Arthur puts the last of his material from his office in his box. Right, when he closed the lid a knock on the door pushed away how tired his body was becoming from the bond. He turns to the door and responds to whoever was on the other side.
"Come in."
The last person he wanted to see entered the room.
"Arthur!!" He says with a cheerful smile.
Arthur glares at him.
"What do you want Francis?"
Francis's smile vanishes quickly and is now replaced with a smirk.
"So I heard you are retiring from the Ministry."
Arthur shrugs.
"Yeah so? You're not here to say goodbye so what are you really here for."
Francis chuckles and walks deeper into the room closing the door behind him.
"Well looks like you know me so well. It is sad though that the last of the dragon-lords will be a young girl."
Arthur grows tense.
"Imagine such a powerful and beautiful gift to be wasted on a brat who can't even speak."
The box he had finished packing flew off the desk slamming itself onto the wall. In a blur, a wand is pointed straight to Francis's face and a harsh glare Arthur gives him as he says in a menacing tone, "Be very careful with how you address my daughter, Francis."
Francis laughs stepping closer to Arthur's wand.
"Come on Arthur. Are you really going to kill me hmm?" He says mockingly as he leans closer to Arthur's ear, the wand pressed deep onto his neck, and he whispers.
"Are you really going to risk her being left alone? After all, you haven't found Olivia yet. She went missing losing all contact with everyone again."
Arthur's eyes grow wide and reluctantly lower his wand.
Francis's eyes were now wicked and he purrs to his ear, "Good boy."
He pulls away from him and glances at his neck, "Seems like the rumors of the veela bond are true in the negative aspects. It does turn one into a bloodthirsty killer but right now you seem conscious enough. Tell me, Arthur. Whatever would you do if the broken bond forced you to hurt your daughter?"
Arthur remains silent. He hasn't thought that far into the possibility of such a thing occurring.
"Such a shame really. Such an unfortunate tragedy young Aurora will have to go through. First, she loses her mother, and now..." He stares deep into Arthur's eyes with a cold stare. "She is going to lose her father. How cruel can fate be? Torturing us for no reason, stringing us like puppets and sent to slaughter."
Arthur clenches his fist. Still gripping tightly onto his wand. Just in case.
"You won't get your hands on Aurora."
Francis laughs, covering his mouth with his hand as he tries to compose himself.
"Now what makes you think I want her?"
Arthur scoffs.
"A Belmont by blood is the only one that can speak the language of Dragons and it's the only way to enter the Belmont's vault."
"Ahh yes, the famous vault that everyone talks about. The vault that the Ministry wants to get their hands on but can't. It's the same vault rumored that the infamous Merlin left the secrets of powerful magic spells in there so powerful that they can shield away spells such as the killing curse."
Arthur remains quiet trying to analyze why Francis so badly wants this type of power. What is he trying to gain? How can he stop future events from happening?
"Why? Why can't you just leave my family alone? Aren't you happy with what you have? You're just as rich and powerful as I am."
The room grew tense as the oozing dark aura surrounding Francis suffocated the room.
"Powerful?" Francis whispered. His fist clenches. "You and your ancestors have been giving everything handed to you on a silver plate! Why?! We all struggled and fought our way to the top! Being second isn't enough. Not when you selfish pricks never knew what it was like to fight for survival. Draconian language. What did you all do to deserve such a gift? Nothing!!! Whoever has control of the dragons, controls all of the Wizarding World."
They now stood in front of each other, asserting dominance in a staring contest.
"I will not rest until you and everyone from your bloodline have fallen."
"Then prepare to be disappointed," Arthur says softly while his eyes remain cold. "No matter what, we will rise from the grave again. No matter how hard life throws at us, we will always find a way to survive. After all, we are the last descendant of Merlin and will not admit defeating so easily."
A knock comes from the door and a head peeks inside.
"H-hello am I interrupting something," young Henrik nervously asked as he could sense the tension between the two wizards right outside the office room.
Arthur doesn't look away, "No Henrik you are not interrupting. We just finished speaking." He looks away and waves his wand to pick up the box and place the objects back inside. Henrik grabs the box for Arthur and heads out of the room avoiding eye contact with a very angry Miller.
Arthur doesn't look back at Francis but before he leaves the room he says.
"Even if you get your hands on Aurora, you still wouldn't get what you want. She would sentence you to your grave."
He then walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.
Francis's body trembles in anger and he releases his tension by laughing at the now empty room. His eyes sparkled in malice as the smile on his face grew wide. The dark ich to murder crawled in his thoughts. So familiar it felt to him. Without it, he felt empty.
He looks out the window overlooking all of the Wizarding World and says, "We shall see."
~**∞**~
Present Time
Arthur rested his time in his private office room. A photo book lays on his lap as he carefully turns the page.
Their first date.
Their first kiss.
The time all three of them fell in love with each other.
Then, their wedding photo.
A small photo falls out of the book's pages to the floor. Arthur reaches out to grab it and flips it over to see what the image is.
Marie's pregnancy.
His hand trembles as past memories echoed in his mind.
They were in the garden of the mansion, during the evening enjoying a light dinner with a soft tea of lavender.
"Arthur look!!" Marie excitingly shows him an ultrasound photo.
"Is this...our baby?" Arthur questioned, astonished.
Marie nods in glee.
"Look this is her feet and her head is right here!" Marie pointed at the photo but Arthur didn't hear what she was pointing at since his mind was stuck with a specific word she said.
"Her?" he whispers in hope.
They always talked about wanting a little girl.
Marie squeals as Arthur picks her up and spins her around.
They both laughed in joy, the mark on their throats felt warm in a loving touch. Their hearts beat together as they sealed their love with a kiss.
"Yes, we are having a baby girl!"
They both lay down on the blanket. Their hands were on top of each other as they touched the spots where their baby was kicking.
"She is a little feisty fighter," Marie chuckles.
"Just like her mother," Arthur smirked before Marie hit him on the shoulder.
"I was just joking." He laughs as he dodges another blow from his pregnant wife.
"You better be or your sleeping on the couch tonight." Marie crosses her arms and glares at him. She tries her best to keep a straight face but slowly fails when Arthur gives her his best puppy dog eyes.
"You wouldn't do that to me would you?" He puckered his lips.
A kick from Marie's belly was felt under their palm.
"See even our baby is agreeing with me!"
"Huh!! Don't you bring her in this. Besides what makes you think she is agreeing with you maybe she is agreeing with me."
"Because she is daddy's little girl"
Another kick was felt onto Arthur's palm.
"See!! Baby chose me!" Arthur shouts in glee.
Marie looks at her belly and whispers, "Traitor."
"Now honey, I am sure our baby loves you just as much don't you sweetie." Arthur kissed Marie's pregnant belly and right after he said that a soft kick was felt on Marie's palm.
Marie begins to sniff and quickly tries to wipe away the tears.
"Aw, baby why are you crying?"
"I just feel so happy."
Arthur smiles lovingly and asks Marie gently, "Have you thought of a name for her?"
She nods sniffing wiping away her tears lovingly rubbing her belly before responding, "Aurora, it means dawn. She will bring great light into our lives and will be loved by all who meet her."
"Aurora," Arthur tries the sound of the name. "It's perfect for her." He leans forward and kisses Marie on the lip whispering to her, "Aurora Belmont, our elegant flower of light."
Wet smudges marked themselves on the photo as Arthur shakily tries to hold himself together.
"God! I failed. As a father and a husband." He chokes out as hot wet tears stream down his face.
The veela mark burned his skin but he tried his best to ignore its call.
A photo of Marie in her wedding dress was on his other hand.
"Forgive me, my love. I hurt the most precious gift you could have ever given me."
He looks at the ultrasound photo.
"I am sorry, Aurora. I should never have ever allowed the mark to consume me to its darkness. I should have given guardianship to Olivia right after the funeral. You would have been much safer with her from the beginning. How much of a fool I was to believe I can win against a veela bond knowing it's impossible. For my arrogance, you sadly had to pay the price."
Arthur takes one last look at the photos giving them a teary kiss before placing them back inside the book closing it gently as he gets up from his couch and makes his way to his work desk.
Sitting behind it, he gives a final glance into the room.
Seeing past memories moving around the room in laughter and joy.
He smiles sadly.
Reaches to the small shelf on the right side of the desk pulling it open. Arthur pulls out a black envelope and the parchment that lays inside.
"Here it is."
"My final goodbye..."