Estella took one last look at her room before picking up her bag and wand. "I'm done with this shit hole." she thought to herself. She walked back over to her bed side table, picking up the picture frame. It was a picture of her, Astraia Malfoy, Evelyn Nott, Marcus Flint, Adrian Pucey and Lucian Bole. She had always adored that picture. It was their picture they took together after finishing their O.W.L's in fifth year. It was her last year at school before being forced into getting the dark mark. It wasn't just her though that was forced to get it. She was joined by Astraia, Evelyn and Marcus. Marcus had seemed proud to get it but the girls weren't. As much as they had held a brave face that day Estella knew that they didn't want it. They didn't want to become death eaters. It had always been forced on Astraia and Estella though because they were part of the Black Family.
She placed the picture in her bag. She couldn't bare to part with it. She hadn't put her shoes on yet because it would make too much noise as she tried to leave. She tiptoed down the hall all the way to the front door. She opened the door and took one last look at the house before stepping out. She waited till she had gotten out of sight of the manor before putting her shoes on and lacing them up.
She didn't exactly know where she was going. She had thought of going to twelve grimmauld place but she didn't know because that was an order safe house and she knew she wouldn't be accepted there. She knew that Professor Lupin had said she would be if she ever needed help but that was before she had murdered Isla Davids, Mad-Eye Moody's niece. She had decided to go their though because she was wanted for murder and all wizards and muggles were looking out for her. It was the only place she knew that if they did let her in then she'd be safe.
She decided to apparate to Greenwich because she needed to get to Grimmauld Place in the early hours of the morning. She didn't want to apparate straight there because if the death eaters could somehow track where she had apparated to then she was at a good enough distance away so they wouldn't find her.
As she started walking the only company she had was her thoughts and she began thinking about her seventh year at Hogwarts.
~ 1 and a half years earlier ~
She sat at the end of Slytherin table with Lucian on her right, their hands intertwined under the table, and Evelyn on her left. Opposite her was her cousin Astraia, and the two other boys Marcus and Adrian.
"What lesson do we have first?" Lucian asked Astraia, who was looking at her timetable for the year.
"Dark arts then potions." Astraia said, not taking her eyes off the timetable or so it seemed. Estella could tell that she was messing with her dark mark under the table. She kicked Astraia's leg and her head shot up.
"Stop messing with it." Estella mouthed to her.
"I don't want to go to dark arts." Lucian said. "Especially not with Loony Lupin over there." They all started laughing. Loony was the nickname they had given him. There was no specific reason they had gone with Loony but they had heard Peeves calling him it and decided they would take credit for the name.
"I know, I wish we could skip." Estella said.
"Well you two can't but the rest of us can if we want." Marcus said. Lucian and Estella had missed every Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons in the first week because they were too preoccupied with each other in the prefect bathroom. Lupin had gone to Mcgonagall expressing his concern for the two because they hadn't turned up to his lessons but they had turned up to all their other lessons. Mcgonagall then reported it to Snape and he gave them both two weeks of detention and they had to be escorted to lessons for two weeks as well.
The bell had rang and everyone started getting up to go to their lessons but Estella just laid her head on the table. "No one will get me to that lesson. They'll have to physically pick me up and carry me there."
"Or Miss Lestrange I can send an owl home about your failure to follow staff instructions." Snape's low voice came from behind her. Estella made a loud groan and reluctantly got up from her seat. She took Lucian's hand and started walking to Defence Against the dark arts with Snape right behind the couple.
Lupin stood at his classroom door welcoming students in. "Ah, Mr Bole, Miss Lestrange. How nice of you to join us today. Thank you, Professor Snape." Snape turned on his heel and the two students walked in. All the desks had been moved to the side of the room and there was a big cupboard in the middle of the room. Lucian and Estella went and stood with their friends at the back of the classroom.
"Hello seventh years, it's nice to see you all again or in some people's case it's nice to meet you." All the Gryffindors started snickering at his comment and Lupin had a grin plastered on his face. He started explaining the lesson but Estella just stood talking to her friends.
"Does he really think he's funny because if that was meant to be funny then he failed. The gryffindors only laughed because it was aimed at slytherins." Estella whispered.
"I don't know. It's no wonder Peeves calls him Loony." Adrian said.
"Right if you could all make a nice orderly queue in front of the wardrobe then we will start facing your boggarts." All the gryffindors pushed their way to the front because they were so eager to prove they were better than Slytherins.
Instead of joining her friends in the queue, Estella walked over to the side of the classroom where Lupin was standing. "Professor, I was wondering if I would be allowed to sit this out because I am already capable of performing the spell and don't find this childish game beneficial to me."
"Well if you're capable of performing the spell you should have no problem doing it in front of your peers. And don't you think you've missed out on too many of my lessons to miss another activity? Please join your friends in the queue Miss Lestrange."
"But sir-"
"I don't need to hear excuses. You're an adult witch and you're perfectly capable of facing a boggart."
Estella ignored the curious looks from Evelyn and Lucian and just stood next to them facing the floor.
It was Evelyn's turn and she was quite curious as to what it would be. Estella watched as it turned into her brother's dead corpse. It was Lucian next and his turned into him dying. It was her next. She could feel her hand getting sweaty around her wand. Lupin motioned for her to move forwards. She did, ever so slowly. The boggart started transforming, Estella tried to prepare herself. She was thinking of spiders or anything other than what she thought it was gonna be.
At first it was just Dolohov standing with his arm tightly around her waist. He was holding her close to him and slowly the dead corpses of her five friends and younger sister showed up. Then Dolohov started talking. "I told you this would happen if you told anyone. Look what you've done beautiful, they're all dead because of you. It's your fault." Estella just stood staring, her eyes welling with tears.
"The spell Miss Lestrange. The spell." Lupin shouted from the side of her. Estella couldn't bring herself to lift her wand, she ended up dropping it on the floor and it rolled away from her. Tears were now falling quickly from her eyes. Lucian came up to her and brought her into his arms. She turned into him sobbing into his jumper. Astraia came over with both their bags and pointed her wand at the boggart.
"Riddikulus!" Astraia shouted.
The three of them walked out of his lesson leaving Estella's wand wherever it had rolled to. They all walked quickly to the slytherin common room. She sat on the sofa still crying into Lucian.
"Stella, what was that about?" Lucian asked. She just lightly shakes her head against him.
"Stella it has to be something. What's he doing to you?" Astraia asked.
"It's nothing."
"Estella, stop lying." Astraia said, getting frustrated at her friend for lying.
"I can't say, he'll kill you, all of you if I say anything."
"What do you mean all of us?" Lucian asked.
Estella lifted her head off him, "I mean you two, Evelyn, Marcus, Adrian and Adelina."
She spent the rest of the morning laying on the sofa with her head in Lucian's lap. She was reading Pride and Prejudice. None of her friends knew where she was getting the muggle books from because they didn't allow muggle books at Malfoy Manor. None of them cared to ask though.
Lucian had gone and joined all their friends at lunch but Estella stayed. She didn't want to risk seeing Lupin. Lucian never came back though. Snape had probably seen him and taken him to his lesson.
She had heard the common room door swing open but didn't bother to look at who it was. "I don't know what you think sitting here and reading muggle books is achieving." Snape said.
"Literature skills." She said, not bothering to look at her professor.
"I don't believe Miss Lestrange that your mother and father would be too happy if they found out you're skipping lessons to read muggle books."
"No they wouldn't but who's gonna tell them because you sure won't. You just use it as a threat."
"Lestrange, if you miss anymore lessons Dumbledore will have to start thinking about expelling you."
"Fine, I'll go." Estella put the book in her bag and started following Snape to ancient runes. She had assumed that Lupin was teaching a lesson so she wouldn't run into him.
"Miss Lestrange." she heard Lupin's voice behind her. She turned around and so did Snape but he had an annoyed look on his face.
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"Is that all you have to say, I'm sorry." Estella scoffed at the man in front of her.
"I shouldn't have made you face that boggart, you should've told me."
"I tried to tell you. You said that you didn't want to hear my excuses."
"I know and I apologise profusely. Is there anything I can do. I could take you to Dumbledore. You don't have to suffer from whatever that was."
"I appreciate the offer but I'm perfectly happy with my life as it is."
"Ok, heres your wand. You left it in my classroom." Estella took the wand, turned on her heel and walked away to her lesson with Snape swiftly behind her.
Snape opened the classroom door for her, "Don't walk out of this one."
They did ancient runes with the Hufflepuffs. Despite not having seating plans in any lesson at Hogwarts, Professor Babbling was very set on having one in her lessons. She had it so you weren't sat with someone in your house. Estella was sat next to Isla which she was fine with because she would get help in lessons. Any day that they had ancient runes, when all there lessons were done she would meet Isla in the library because this was her worst subject by a long shot. That's who Estella had been getting her books off. When they first started doing this, Isla had brought Pride and Prejudice with her. Estella had sat reading the back cover and Isla said she could borrow it.
"Do you like the book?" Isla whispered while the professor was talking.
"Yeah, I've not finished it but if you want it back at any point just say because it is yours."
"No it's fine. I've got plenty of books. You can keep it if you want."
"No I can't keep it."
"Why not?"
"I'm not allowed muggle books. You know the whole pureblood supremacy thing, yeah well that means I'm not allowed anything that muggles made."
"Your family is quite strict, don't you think?"
"Well I am a Lestrange."
Later in the day, Estella sat in the Great hall with her friends. They had all been laughing at something Marcus had said.
"Estella." Adeline said behind her. "Will you come on a walk with me?"
"Yeah sure. I'll see you all in the common room."
They walked outside, Estella pulled Lucian's quidditch hoodie closer to her as the cold evening air nipped at her skin.
"Is there a reason you wanted me to come on this walk and not one of your friends?" Estella asked.
"Yeah there is. I heard about what happened in your defence against the dark arts class."
"Great." Estella said sarcastically.
"Well it isn't exactly great Estella. Are you trying to ruin our family name?"
"No, I wouldn't purposely do that."
"You're a coward, Estella. And don't worry. I will be righting to mother and father about this."
"Lia you can't possibly think I did this on purpose."
"You're an adult witch and you can't even face a boggart. You're an embarrassment."
Adelina walked away from her and Estella let tears spill from her eyes. Her younger sister was turning into their mother and she hated it. Estella started making her way to the dungeons and she bumped into Mcgonagall and Lupin.
"Fuck."
"Language Miss Lestrange. Ten points from Slytherin." Mcgonagall said.
"Are you alright?" Lupin asked.
"I'm fine." she said coldly to Lupin
"As it happens Miss Lestrange, Professor Lupin was just informing me of your recent Defence lesson. I seriously encourage you to go to Professor Dumbledore."
"No, I already told him that I'm fine with my life as it is. Whatever happens at home is normal for my family."
"Being assaulted by a man at least twice your age isn't normal." Lupin said.
"Lupin, I don't really think it is any of your business." Estella brushed past him and ran off to her common room. Estella went straight up to her dorm and flopped on her bed.