CHAPTER XXIII

IN HELL AS IT IS ON EARTH

October 26, 1659

During all my years, fulfilling the sacred duty in which I was entrusted since my young age, I carry with me the teaching that my late father passed on to me: there is no room for fear in our hearts, because the Lord is with us.

But in the last few days my faith has been tested thanks to a violent whore and her hateful words that now ring in my mind like the chimes of a bell and that keep me up all night.

It all started two weeks ago when I received a noble lord from Little Hangleton in my parish.

He claimed that his son and only heir, was being a victim by the most vicious witchcraft casted by his wife. He told me that he was surprised by the frivolous behavior of his son when he seemed suddenly in love with a young woman devoid of any charms as well as connections with prestigious families in which could have justified such a sudden and unexpected marriage.

In a short time, this "maiden" attracted the lad's attention, secretly marrying him and becoming pregnant, something difficult to be seen as natural since he never revealed any inclinations towards her, much less mentioned her name to someone.

Together with my son - in which he is already preparing to take my place soon - I started an investigation and started with her background: we found out that she lived with her father and brothers in a miserable shack in the woods that borders the village; her family was described by the local people as 'strangers', 'weirds', and their absence was also noted at the Church - a clear indication of their true nature, as witches are unable to be in places in which there is communion with Our Lord.

Faced with such evidence, we were able to penetrate her rooms in the mansion of the noble family and, with astonishment and indignation, we found that she was indeed a disgusting witch: in her chest were found books of witchcraft, small vials with powders for the manufacture of potions and one of the biggest perversions I've ever seen: a copy of what appeared to be a satanic bible.

With the endorsement of her father-in-law, we predicted her with fetters anointed with holy oil to prevent her from escaping our hands. We also tried to locate the rest of her family to also arrest them, but they had fled as if they sensed that we were on their trail. With no alternative and having only her in hand, we took her to London where I was able to interrogate her and make her confess her diabolical crimes.

On the first day she confessed nothing, crying out for innocence, crying for her husband and the child she had, just as she claimed she was expecting another child, but her tears were useless - we had the truth, but we needed her confession first so we could to atone for her sins.

On the third day, already weakened and seeing that there was no way to be saved, she confessed the atrocities that made me shocked: she was in fact a witch, born more than a hundred years ago during the reign of Her Majesty Henri VII, fruit of an abominable and incestuous union between two siblings, because their family had the tradition of perpetuating their dirt blood between them.

On the first full moon after she turned seventeen, she committed an act of blasphemy by giving her soul to Satan in a kind of baptism, signing her name with her own blood on something she called 'The Book of the Beast' and promising to serve him as his handmaid in exchange for prolonged youth and powers, a practice that is common for witches.

Then, she studied witchcraft in a place called ' Hog'art ', along with other witches, learning about the dark arts of the ways more distorted possible. Even under torture, she was unable to say the exact location of this fortification, except that it was to the north, possibly close to the Highlands, hidden from the eyes of all Christians who happened to be able to pass nearby.

Decades later, she had seen the noble man hunting in the woods and decided that she would have him as her husband, thus using several sorts, including a love potion, in which she forced the good man to marry and lie with her, having his conscience enslaved and free will taken.

At the end of the months she had become pregnant, hoping to fulfill a damned prophecy that began in this century, called the prophecy of 'The Chosen One'.

According to her, it was prophesied that a witch would be used by Satan to conceive in her womb a child made of human flesh and divine grace - the last remnant that the Devil brought when he fell from Paradise. This child – a boy - would be born in this realm under one of the six blood moons in late summer.

When he turned seventeen, he would sign his name on the Book of the Beast.

With this maximum act of blasphemy, he would fulfill the first part of the offering: he would receive something called "deathly hallows", consisting of a ring with a stone with the power to summon the dead. A cloak belonging to that of a fallen angel, which would allow him to walk anonymous through the darkness. And, finally, a wand from the wood of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil itself.

On his forehead, Satan himself would mark his skin with the cursed sign of Cain, the first murderer, the father of all witches: ᛋ .

He would become the Master of Death, Lord of Darkness and of all Serpents, immortal, reigning over the witches and creatures of night. On the blood moon following his birth, he would make a series of sacrifices in order to open the portals of Hell, which would allow the damned of the damned to walk again on Earth.

I was horrified and immediately ordered the child born by this slut to be checked, but we found no sign of a witch mark on him. With the support of his father and grandfather, we agreed that he would be drowned in holy water to atone his sinful soul, but Carlisle objected, considering that it would be more beneficial to send him to an orphanage where he would learn Christian values, and reluctantly agreed, but without giving clear instructions to the nuns about the proper treatment to give to this devil's brood.

After a swift trial with all votes in favor of the penalty, we sentenced the witch to death by the fire in the public square, without any chance of clamoring for mercy or a coup de grace. When she burned with holy fire in the midst of our prayers, she tried to curse me, saying that in three years my son would succumb to the forces of darkness and that in another three, entire London would burn like her.

I pray at this time that such words have no effect, as I have done nothing in my life but serve the Lord as His tool and that He will remove this fear that is in me at this moment, covering me with His protection.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.

Edward finished reading in a short time, but his eyes remained glazed as he looked at the object. For long seconds, he tried to process the internal flood of conflicting emotions, racing thoughts as well as questions that seemed to just unfold into new questions.

Seeing that he remained immobile, Carlisle decided to give the initiative.

"Son...?"

The younger vampire was slow to react to the call, struggling to return to reality instead of being swallowed up inside himself. Lifting his head slowly, he slowly saw that he was being looked at by six pairs of apprehensive golden eyes. Everyone's lips were closed, but their thoughts were blatant.

"What..." he said in a neutral voice, closing the book and holding it up "What is this?"

Carlisle took a deep breath, knowing he was going to get into a delicate subject.

"This is my father's diary." he replied cautiously "The only written document I was able to rescue beside the wooden cross when his parish was set on fire."

Edward looked at the diary, his thumb smoothing the worn, soft black leather cover.

"And why am I reading this? What does this have to do with Harry? " he asked, looking at his father "I don't understand."

"Edward..." Carlisle said in a careful tone "What you're reading..."

The older vampire failed to complete, causing Jasper to sigh as he approached Edward.

"What you're reading gives us strong indications that we are dealing with something much more serious than we thought..." Jasper whispered clearly so that the other would understand well.

Edward turned his head towards his brother, his neutral expression gradually becoming disbelieving.

"Indications... Indications of what?" the vampire asked while frowning, stepping to back.

"Indication that Harry is actually the person of the prophecy that Carlisle's father wrote." Rosalie responded nervously.

Edward's face hardened as well as his gaze. It could only be a joke.

"Apparently you still find any excuse to incriminate my boyfriend for whatever reason..." he said harshly looking at everyone "Frankly, I thought we were past that stage..."

"Edward, please, at least once in your life, shut up and listen to us!" Rosalie interrupted him, articulating with shaking hands.

Edward's eyes widened, a little surprised by that reaction, but soon recovering. Gradually his mind formed an unlikely hypothesis, but that would still be the only explanation.

"Ah... I understand." he said more calmly, shaking the diary.

"You understand?" Carlisle murmured, blinking in astonishment.

Edward turned to him, nodding his head.

"Yes of course." he stated, looking at the rest of the family "This is a prank, isn't it? Because... It doesn't make any sense."

Edward continued to smile, his mind convincing himself that this was a prank, probably Emmett's idea or something. It was a prank, a prank of extreme bad taste that would only serve to make him angry and make his siblings laugh at his expense.

It had to be.

Looking face to face, Edward hoped to find some crack through his family's worrying masks, hoping to see a contained smile or some thought that said 'I got you!' followed by laughter.

But all he saw was looks of tension, anguish, anxiety and even pity when they looked at him, just as his thoughts were free of any trace of mockery. Little by little the vampire's smile faded when he realized it wasn't a prank, his mind clinging to that hope, begging it to be that.

It wasn't possible that they were all serious.

Wasn't.

"Edward, darling..." Esme said as she took a step forward, taking his free hand and making him look at her "...I ask you to listen carefully to what they have to say, even if I'm not agreeing in the way it's being done... I know that in these last days things have been 'shaking' in this house, but I want you to know that we're still a family, a family that loves you and that above all wants your good."

The copper-haired vampire frowned, feeling a strange lump forming in his throat.

"Your mother is right..." Carlisle whispered "We may have differences, but we're still a family and we'll respect what you decide... But for that, you need to know what and especially who you are dealing with."

Edward froze while Jasper moved a little closer.

"I know you're hurt with me" the blond vampire murmured "And in a way I don't blame you. I would do the same or even worse if it were Alice and me. And I also know that I'm the last person who should point the finger... God knows how much I made mistakes... But I am learning, every day for all these years thanks to you, my family and I would do anything to protect you all... And that's why in the past few weeks I have continued to investigate them."

Edward widened his ocher-colored eyes in a betrayed way.

"I needed to know the truth Edward!" Jasper said immediately, knowing that the other would scold him "I have felt for some time that there are important things that they are hiding from us, keeping us blind for some reason."

Jasper paused, taking a deep breath.

"Carlisle's father wrote about witches several times throughout this diary..." the blonde vampire pointed to the object in Edward's hand "In the beginning, it wasn't a very safe source of research... There are things that are pure insanity, fanatical madness, but this specific account you read makes me think that he may be right in several points where I previously thought it was insanity. For example, the pastor wrote that the witch cursed him saying that in three years Carlisle would 'succumb to darkness' and that in three more, London would burn like her... It sounds crazy, but those two things came true."

Jasper looked at everyone, especially Carlisle who looked at Edward.

"I was turned into vampire in 1663." the doctor said to the bronze-haired young man, "In 1666 the Great Fire of London took place, where my father died burned within his parish."

Everyone was silent, waiting for some response from Edward, who remained absolutely quiet. Jasper cleared his throat and using his voice.

"Over the months we met Ron, Hermione and..." Jasper hesitated as he looked at Edward's livid face "... and well, Harry, they avoided talking about them as much as possible. What was the source of their powers? How could they not age? What was needed to be a witch? Remember how it was in the beginning? You had doubts too... More than I did. "

Edward pressed his lips in a thin line, refusing to say a word.

"But even with all that aura of mystery, they still gave us information. Snippets of information that, if we fit them one by one, will give us the truth. " Jasper moistened his lips "The first information we have according to Pastor Cullen is that upon turning 17, the witches sign their name in what they call the 'Book of the Beast'."

Alice took her turn.

"Edward?"

He looked at her.

"Do you remember that day we went to the beach?" Alice whispered, watching Edward nod minimally "Hermione told us that when witches turn 17, they choose to relinquish their powers and be mortal or... As she said, they 'accept' them."

Edward remembered perfectly the moment Alice told him.

"According to the pastor, when the witches sign the name on the book, in addition to powers, they also receive 'prolonged youth'..." Jasper completed the reasoning "That is why the three keep their youth intact. They... They sold their souls for it. "

A silent pause followed, Edward holding his breath, standing as still as a statue.

"The pastor also mentions that the witch confessed to having attended a place called 'Hog'art ', where she learned witchcraft..." the blond continued "'Hog'art '... An archaic form of English that today would be more or less like..."

"...Hogwarts." Emmett said sheepishly "The name of the school of witchcraft they told us when they first came to our house."

Edward didn't move.

"So here we have the first part of the truth." Carlisle murmured cautiously, looking at Edward piously "Harry, Ron and Hermione are witches who worship the Devil. They signed their names in that book in exchange for power and youth."

The younger vampire turned his face to his father, watching him get a little closer to him.

"Edward..." Carlisle continued, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder in a form of consolation "You understand that if this first part is true... The other things, by analogy, will be too, right?"

Edward felt his head spin in a horrible way, gradually feeling the inevitability that that line of thoughts would lead.

"The prophecy of 'The Chosen One', mentions that a child would be born during one of the six blood moons, from what happened in the 17th century..." Jasper said. "I... I checked the dates on the Internet and saw that the eclipse that occurred in that century was in 1659, in the same year that this passage of the diary was written... The next one occurred in August 1731, after a cycle of 72 years. "

The younger vampire's face was shaken to understand what Jasper was saying.

"Six moons of blood are six entire cycles, each lasting 72 years. After 1659, there was one in August 1731... "Jasper said calmly "July 1803... August 1875... And the penultimate one was in..."

"July 31..." Edward said more to himself than to the others "July 31, 1947."

The living-room went silent, Edward feeling Carlisle squeeze his fingers on his shoulders in comfort.

"This is Harry's birthday... isn't it?" he asked quietly.

Edward turned his face to the side, refusing to look at him.

"Harry was born on the day of the blood moon..." Jasper said "At 17 he, like his friends, signed his name in the 'Book of the Beast' and received the cursed mark from Cain."

"The scar he has on his forehead..." Alice said quietly "It's the same pattern the pastor drew."

"And finally... The sixth and final Blood Moon will take place on October 31, 2019." Jasper finally said, "Two days from now, Harry will fulfill this prophecy of almost 400 years."

Edward closed his eyes, massaging his forehead with his fingertips.

"They told us that they came here because of this eclipse." Rosalie said to him, feeling outraged that she had been cheated "To do a ritual... Well... Now we know what it's about: your boyfriend is a type of Antichrist. These murders that took place here in Forks could very well have been done by them!"

"Rosalie...!!! "Esme scolded, making the blonde step back a little at her insensitivity.

"But Rosie is right..." Emmett said quietly "If they hid from us that they... Well... That they are evil, they may as well have lied all the time and killed those people in their sacrifices..."

Edward did not answer.

"Edward..." Carlisle sighed "Son, I know... No... I only can imagine how all of this must be... difficult for you."

The bronze-haired boy looked at Carlisle as well as the rest of his family and finally at the diary in his hands for long seconds of growing tension, as until now he hadn't manifested.

"This is ridiculous." he said as he raised his head, shaking the diary in his hands "This is all ridiculous."

"Edward..."

"No." he cut "How can you all act so petty and... And insane enough to believe in this heap of madness?"

The Cullens were silent.

"Are you at least listening to yourselves? Have you all lost your minds? " he went on.

"Edward..." Carlisle sighed wearily.

"I respect you very much Carlisle... As I do for you all. But if you also have a minimum of respect for me, spare my ears with your insane paranoia" Edward countered, turning to leave the room.

"Edward, wait ..." Alice said as she gently took him by the wrist, causing him to turn to look at her

"What is?"

"Look..." she sighed "I know it sometimes becomes comfortable for us to ignore what may be right in front of us. The lie is comfortable, in many cases we prefer to live with it and close our eyes."

She approached him a little.

"But it is still a lie. Deep down you know that there has always been something... Something strange... Something inexplicable in relation to them... In relation to Harry."

Edward slowly shook his head in denial, taking a step back and looking at them all tentatively.

"I..." he murmured "I'm going to my room."

"Edward ..." Carlisle took a step forward.

"No..." he sighed, feeling his head throbbing with the rapid flow of thoughts of himself and others at the same time "I want to be alone. I've heard you too much. "

Unable to say anything more, he left the living room, ignoring his sisters' protests, climbing the stairs at his supernatural speed and entering the bedroom.

In just under an hour before, he felt the fullness of a happiness that he never imagined he could ever feel.

A part of him could still feel the ghost of tingling on his skin when he remember the warmth, the caresses, the kisses and the sensations of having made love for the first time with the one in whom was his mate, his perfect mate. He had reached a state of grace, a private Paradise.

And now... Now it looked like he had been catapulted directly into Hell.

He felt his head throbbing in something similar to physical pain.

This was ridiculous! Absurdly ridiculous, outlandish, crazy, insane... There was no other definition for everything he had heard, except ridiculous.

He should have laughed at everything he heard, he should have been laughing until he couldn't, but for some reason he was far from bursting out laughing; his family's words and thoughts repeated consistently and insistently in his mind, forcing him to place his hands on the sides of his head as if he could stop listening to them.

But it wasn't just the voices of his family that he heard.

Gradually, loose portions of the conversations he had had with Harry, as well as things he had seen, flashed through his memory making him gasp.

'No... No... No, no, no, no, NO, NO!!! ' He forced his mental voice to speak louder than the rest.

A part of him shouted with all his might that what he heard was nothing more than an absurd, unthinkable, utterly impossible mistake, that there were only coincidences of one or two facts, but that was just that: casual coincidences, something possible be explained and worthy of just a good carefree laugh after.

Harry was not that.

He was not an evil wizard, devil-worshiper, Master of Death or any of those absurdities... He was just Harry, his Harry, the brave, stubborn, patient, caring and sweet boy, protective of all those he considered and had affection.

Harry couldn't be that.

Edward remembered each boy's gentle smile, each look of innocent amusement, his affable tenderness every time he saw him, the way he blushed when he laughed, when he was close to him or when he kissed him.

This was the bright, luminous and solar facet of Harry Potter: the loyal friend, the perfect boyfriend, the ideal mate, the golden boy.

But...

But there was another side.

The other side of the coin, the opposite spectrum of the golden boy with emerald eyes.

There were several times when Edward saw a side of Harry in which he, being frank with himself, didn't get used to it and did his best to ignore it.

It started with little things, like making a human choke on gum and not showing any remorse for his suffering, evolving to the point that he made Jasper explode in front of everyone... Or even that he confessed that he killed people before, starting when he was still a child.

Harry could be cold, callous and even cruel at times.

Every time he saw this "side" of Harry, he would find an internal excuse and throw the thought into a kind of mental closet, a "safe" that, over time, accumulated more and more suspicions.

It had become automatic for him: when Harry did or said something disturbing, he would ignore it, throwing the thought into that mental safe and closing the door, refusing to face reality and pretending that nothing happened.

That was his escapism.

But now, to his own despair, Edward realized that there was no longer any way to resort to this mechanism... His family had thrown 'open' the door, causing him to be buried by all the thoughts he avoided and that could no longer be suppressed.

He needed to face them.

And God... How that hurt...

Leaning back against the bedroom door, he sat on the carpet as he rested his forehead on his knees, his hands pressing on his throbbing head, listening to a part of him begging him to stop while it was time... But he couldn't and nor did I have the strength to do so.

Everything he heard downstairs was starting, to his despair, to fit.

Ron and Hermione, as well as those who recently arrived in Forks, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott were part of a group and called themselves Death Eaters.

Harry was their leader and they followed him.

Harry, unlike Hermione and Ron, and possibly all the other wizards and witches, would never grow old, as he was immortal... He had said that himself when they were on the beach, months ago. He was different from those of his own people.

Sometimes while he slept, his body floated exactly at 3:00 am and the vampire remembered very well having read many months earlier on a supernatural website, at the time he was investigating witches, the information that this hour was also known as "the Devil's hour", where demonic manifestations occurred with greater force.

And the wizard's dreams...

Edward remembered when he had been able to read Harry's mind for the first time while he slept: the burning trees, the heat of the fire, the apple tree with hanging rotting corpses and mostly the humanoid creature, with goat head and long horns, shaped feet hoofed and with sharp claws... Now he knew what that thing was.

Sobbing dry, Edward breathed hard when he realized that the more he thought, the more little things came into his mind that only served to corroborate what he had heard: his boyfriend was a dark wizard.

The Master of Death. Satan's "Chosen One".

So this is what Harry wanted to tell him so much?

That during all this time he deceived him? That him took advantage of his love to hide his true self? That during all that time, the suspicions of his family and the dog's were founded in truth?

Harry told him that he loved him, but... Was that a lie too?

For all this time, he was the only one who sided with him, protecting him, confronting his own family while Harry possibly did horrible things and hid this macabre secret about him...

But on the other hand, he felt that Harry loved him. There was no way to simulate love as authentically as he had experienced during the last few months... There was no way to manufacture a feeling as pure and noble as love, love that they felt for each other and that they consumed together that day. They loved each other and that was true.

But was Harry lying all this time about himself?

In what to believe? In whom to believe?

Staying in this state for almost an hour, Edward gradually looked around the room in the gloom, the silver light of the full moon coming in through the large glass windows overlooking the forest.

On a nightstand, now framed in an elegant sterling silver picture frame, was the photo that Jasper had taken months before and that Alice had given him as a present: Harry and he sitting together on the beach, the two looking at each other as the sun set on their fronts, coloring the sky in warm orange tones, possibly the exact moment when he had begun to fall in love with boy.

It made his chest ache while encouraging him to get out of that catatonic state and take action.

There was no longer a turning point.

Rising from the floor, Edward hesitantly opened the bedroom door, hearing the murmur of his family's voices subside to the point that they were just apprehensive whispers. Slowly descending the stairs, he took a deep breath as he stopped in the doorway of the living room, watching them all turn to look at him anxiously.

He was silent, biting his lower lip as he tried to make an effort to say something, but he couldn't say anything for long minutes.

"Edward...?" Esme asked softly, trying to offer a soft smile.

The vampire closed his eyes and took a deep breath, placing his hand on the back of his neck.

"Months ago, before we started dating..." he said opening his eyes, his voice at a low volume "I... I saw him doing certain things in the forest... Things that didn't look good..."

Carlisle straightened up.

"I remember you telling me you saw something..." the patriarch murmured "You never told me what you saw..."

Edward lowered his head, feeling ashamed.

"I was confused... I didn't know what to think..." he replied, rubbing his nose.

"What was he doing?" Jasper asked.

Edward was silent.

"Edward...? You can tell us..."

The boy inhaled the air through his mouth, feeling the same make his dry throat sting in response.

"He was..." he murmured absorbed in his memories "He was summoning a spirit called Valak. Invoking the forest snakes to serve and obey to him... He can talk to snakes. He killed a boy by stoking a snake when he was a child."

The Cullens looked at each other in mortified form.

"What are you doing now?" Alice asked.

"I need to speak to Harry. I need to see you now." he replied, starting to walk towards the mansion's foyer, followed by everyone.

"Edward, don't act rash, talk to Harry tomorrow, more calmly, I'm sure there is an explanation for all this!" Esme said concerned about the possibility of him leaving at that time and in that state.

"No... I will not wait!"

"Then let us accompany you!" Emmett exclaimed.

"I need to go alone." Edward said opening the door to the house, walking down the stairs. "Don't you dare follow me! I don't want anyone close to me, understand?"

Ignoring all, he looked to the sky and seeing the full moon shining the most.

'The full moon...' Harry had said to him one day while they were watching a movie '...is a good time for witches to recharge, balance or extend their magical powers through rituals.'

In milliseconds, Edward ran into the forest at high speed gliding through the trees like a ghost as he retraced his path to a deep part of the forest, thanking him for having an excellent spatial memory, as he knew exactly the location where he should go. It didn't take long for him to find the steep trail that led to a dense part of the forest, his keen vision of a hunter capturing the flickering glow of the fire dozens of feet away from where he was.

The feeling of déjà vu was immediate, this time making sure that there was no snake that would report his presence, as well as Harry's familiar, Hedwig.

Edward swallowed dry as he started walking among the trees, taking care that his feet did not step on dry branches on which he could attract attention. He needed to be sneaky, invisible.

With each step, he smelled wood being burned together with a sweet, resinous odor, similar to incense. The light of the fire grew luminous and clearer, casting frightening shadows between the trees, the cool breeze blowing between them, carrying with it a new wave of scents in which the vampire identified: Hermione's soft floral scent... Ron's mineral and woody scent... Harry's sweet, warm scent, an odor in which Edward can still feel traces on his own skin.

He closed his eyes tightly, resisting the temptation to leave and pretend he didn't know anything, that everything was fine and would be fine... But it was too late for that.

With each step the voices became clearer as well as his figures sharper, he hiding behind a tree in order to see better: next to a fire were Ron and Hermione, wearing capes with pointed hoods over their heads, their hands joined in prayer while on his fingers hung a kind of rosary on which an inverted cross they swayed gently.

With a loud crack, three other hooded figures materialized, using skull masks that covered only the region around the eyes: it was Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy, the three immediately bowing to Harry and kissing his hand. Taking off their masks, they stood next to the redhead and the brown-haired girl, joining hands and making a circle around the fire.

"Ave Satanis... Ave dominus autem inferferus... Ave Satanis... " the five began to recite in unison causing the fire to react in a synchronized manner to the song.

A little ahead of them was Harry.

He was also dressed in a long black cloak, but instead of a pointed hood and skull mask, he wore a kind of crown made of distorted metal that looked more like long spines or horns. On his arms rested a white rabbit, while his fingers slowly caressed the animal's soft hair.

For some reason, Harry didn't recite the song with the others.

He just remained motionless, looking at the fire with a wistful expression while the lenses of his glasses reflected the flames, bathing his face in orange light, but which seemed to accentuate that sinister vision even more.

The chanting stopped, Hermione pulling out her wand and conjuring a metal bowl, making it float towards Harry. Ron had stood up, walking over to Harry and handing him a sharp-bladed dagger, offering a small encouraging smile.

"We're almost over..." Ron whispered.

"Let's just finish with it." Harry replied in an emotionless tone as he gripped the dagger handle and dug the blade into the rabbit's neck, cutting it in a quick enough motion that it wouldn't react.

Immediately blood spurted, staining the dead animal's white hair as well as the wizard's hands, the liquid dripping into the bowl and onto the dirt floor.

Placing the dagger in the sheath of his leg, Harry held the animal out towards the fire.

"Receive from us this unholiest sacrifice, oh Dark Lord!" Harry said coldly, throwing the rabbit's carcass into the fire that doubled in size and took on a red color, bathing the clearing in an almost bloody light. Harry remained standing as he cleaned his dirty hands, while the other five began to swirl around the fire, their arms extended at their sides in a kind of hellish dance, reciting yet another series of songs in which he seemed to stimulate the flames.

At one point they stopped, kneeling on the floor as they put their hands on their chests.

It took a few seconds before Harry pulled out his wand and pointed at his index finger, cutting it and making his own blood flow from the tip. With a sigh, he walked towards each one, drawing the sign of an inverted cross on their foreheads.

"May my power grant you power..." Harry recited "May my strength grant you strength... Because I am your Master and you are my allies."

Harry's blood traced a way onto everyone's skin, flowing down their necks, their arms until it reached their hands in which held the wands pointed at the fire.

"Let us pray." the wizard whispered, sighing as he raised his hands to his sides.

The fire's flames crackled with more vigor.

"O Mighty Dark Lord By whom all things are set afire..." Harry started.

"Thy power be the path..." Ron recited.

"Thy will be my desire..." Hermione completed.

"May Your enemies be destroyed..." Blaise joined hands.

"In hell as it is on earth" Draco touched his chest, closing his eyes in a devout manner.

The silence lasted, Hermione glancing at Harry.

"Harry...? "

The wizard moistened his lips, lifting his head as he left his daze.

"In the name of the Fallen..." he whispered "... of the Blasphemed and the Damned... Praise Satan"

"Praise be!" the wizards recited in unison, their skins absorbing Harry's blood as the flames grew to the point of looking like a pillar of fire until it returned to its previous size.

Harry stood for a few seconds while looking at the flames consuming the rabbit's carcass entirely, while the smell of burning meat began to exhale. Taking a deep breath and straightening his posture, he started to walk around those kneeling until he stopped behind Malfoy, placing his hands on Malfoy's shoulders, who seemed tense when he felt that touch.

"I am very, very disappointed in you." Harry said seriously

Draco swallowed.

"Milord...?"

"I know what you did behind my back... The things you said..."

"Milord, I don't..."

" Shhhh... This isn't the time for you to speak."

Harry sighed loudly, making Draco go pale.

"You know what I do with traitors, don't you, Malfoy?"

Draco's eyes widened, lifting his head to look at Harry and opening his mouth to say something, but he stopped when he felt Harry squeeze his shoulders.

"Don't bother to say anything. You spoke a lot of things, unnecessary things... And now... Now it's my turn to return the favor. " Harry said calmly, taking the dagger handle and placing the blade on the blond wizard's pale throat "It would be interesting to cut your throat from ear to ear and see if your blood is as pure as you claim it to be..."

Harry moved the tip of the blade to Draco's heaving chest.

"...Or maybe I could stick it in your heart and throw it in that fire and then let your corpse rot in the open..." Harry murmured, pressing the tip of the dagger a little further on the boy's chest, which started crying for despair "It would be an unworthy end, wouldn't you agree? The heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy, dying here, in this forest like an ordinary animal... Rotting like a piece of trash."

Harry sighed, pulling the dagger out of its lethal position, but still holding Draco by the shoulders.

"The point is... Killing you would be very easy. It would be too fast. I want to teach you a lesson... An educational lesson to remember what happens when you decide to challenge me, using your tongue..." Harry put his hand on Malfoy's face, his fingertips caressing the damp cheek skin "Open your mouth"

"Please... H-Harry..." Draco sobbed, shaking with fear.

"Open your mouth or I swear to Satan that I change my mind and kill you right here!" Harry growled low.

Draco was shaking sharply while Zabini and Nott remained in absolute silence, knowing that the blond had dug his own hole and they could do nothing. Hermione was serious as Ron looked at him with some victory over all the provocation he had heard during the afternoon.

Losing patience, Harry grabbed Draco's jaw and what followed was a horrible scream that made everyone cringe by instinct, a cry that was gradually drowned out by coughs and sobs as if he were choking.

Harry stepped away from Malfoy, his bloodstained hand holding a small piece of muscle as the blood flowed abundantly from the blonde's mouth, who looked as if he was about to pass out from the pain he felt.

"How does such a small thing have the power to do such great damage?" Harry murmured calmly as he looked at the piece of his cousin's tongue, frowning as he turned to Zabini and Nott "Look at this... Look closely... This is the least that happens when someone dares to challenge me, thinking that will go unpunished. Do we agree, gentlemen?"

"Yes... Milord." Zabini said livid when he saw Harry throw the tongue at the fire as if it were disposable, the flames of fire rising as consumed it.

Harry turned to the platinum blond, crouching down to speak with him.

"Keep your head down, Draco... You don't want to choke on your own blood." Harry said calmly, "Because I am merciful, in a month your tongue will grow back... It is long enough to remember to never disobey me again, conspire against me or say nasty things to my boyfriend. The next time you do something like that, there will be no next time. Do you understand what I mean?"

Draco shivered, too weak to even be able to lift his head, collapsing to the floor completely.

"Take him away." Harry said as he stood up, making the blood disappear from his hands "And make sure he doesn't die."

Blaise and Theodore hurriedly stood up, lifting Draco by the arms as they staggered to feel their own shaky legs; with a slight nod, the three apparated, leaving Harry alone with Ron and Hermione.

Harry's shoulders slumped as he removed the metal crown from his head, looking at the object in his hands for minutes, the cold, indifferent expression on his face gradually disappearing, giving way to a countenance that seemed to be bordering on sadness.

"Draco has been asking for this for a long time, Harry." Hermione said approaching him, placing her hand on his forearm "There would come a time when there would be no choice but to kill him."

"She's right, man..." Ron said, removing the hood he wore when approaching his friend "This is not enough if we consider what Malfoy has done over the decades. We were lucky that none of the other Death Eaters cared about the fact that you overlooked his attitudes, otherwise they would start questioning you... That son of a bitch got what he deserved and was lucky he didn't go to Hell today."

Harry took a deep breath, still looking at the crown.

"But... He's still my cousin." Harry whispered, looking sadly at the fire.

Ron and Hermione were quiet.

"Sometimes I wonder..." the wizard continued "If I'm not becoming whom I hated the most"

"I... I don't understand." Ron said in a low tone.

"It's as if I'm stuck in this cycle of violence that seems to grow and get worse and worse. I wonder if there is a limit to how... how low I can get. " Harry said, as the crown disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Hermione smiled slightly at Harry.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" she recited calmly, causing Harry to give her a half smile "Don't worry Harry ... As Ron said earlier, there is little to go. Soon you'll be fine, Edward will be fine... We'll all be fine."

"Listen to Hermione, Harry... She's always right." Ron said while looking at his girlfriend.

Harry smiled as he nodded, biting his lower lip when looking to the side.

"Could you guys leave me alone? I... I wanted to stay just for a moment."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... I... I need to think. Tomorrow will be a decisive day for me."

"You mean about Edward, don't you?"

Harry shook his head, looking down.

"Everything will be fine..."

"I hope so."

Hermione smiled at him, holding Ron's hand.

"Don't take too long, okay?"

"Okay."

With a snap, Ron and Hermione left Harry alone in the clearing.

Harry walked over to a fallen tree trunk, sitting on it while unbuttoning the cloak he wore, setting it aside.

His eyes roamed the flames of the fire, consuming wood and charred meat... For the blood spilled on the earth in which it exhaled the odor of rust and salt... And finally to the sky, gazing at the full moon and bright stars in which a few hours before he had seen with his boyfriend while flying together.

Harry smiled as he kept his gaze upward, not noticing that a hitherto hidden viewer was walking towards him with light steps, as if sliding between the roots of the trees.

Sensing the natural instinct that something was going on, the wizard immediately drew his wand when he noticed that he wasn't alone, but his brain gradually assimilated who was the second figure there.

Glassy golden eyes stared at him with intense horror, eyebrows drawn together as if trying to understand what he had seen and his mouth twisted in an expression of shock, panic, dread.

Harry felt his heart beat to the point of aching in his chest, a cold sensation taking over his muscles making them tremble, his hand with his wand falling in his lap.

On the other side of the meadow, Edward was in all his perfection that he had seen a few hours earlier.

The vampire was looking at him wounded, hurt and terrified, making Harry's stomach turn over for what it implied.

Edward had discovered in the worst possible way what Harry wanted to hide, out of shame and mainly because of his fear of reacting the way he seemed to be reacting at that moment.

"Edward..." Harry whispered, cold sweat already breaking out on the back of his neck "Edward... I can explain..."

The wizard stood up, feeling his knees shake from the sudden injection of adrenaline into his body as he walked - or staggered - towards him.

Edward took a step back, as if Harry were a disgusting and dangerous creature, his face contorted in a weeping expression, which made Harry feel the first tears well up in his eyes.

"Edward... Listen to me..." he said, swallowing the lump in his throat and forcing himself to speak "I c-can explain what you s-saw... I can explain!"

The vampire shook his head, sobbing dry.

"Ed-Edward..."

"How can you?" Edward whispered indignantly and hurt, watching the tears run down the wizard's face. "How can you do this to me?"

"Ed... P-please..." Harry approached.

"No... No..." he took a step back "I stood by you... I... I believed in you... How can you lie that way to me?"

"I can explain! I swear, I... Let me explain! " Harry pleaded.

Edward sobbed, looking around as he fell silent. Harry struggled as much as he tried to regain control over himself, as he felt increasingly unstructured.

"I saw you... I saw you in this exactly place months ago invoking snakes through a demon and you accused me of being a hypocrite... I asked your forgiveness! I ignored the signs... You... You told me you killed people, Harry, people! I accepted you, because I also made mistakes... Y-you made my brother explode in front of me and yet I... I stayed by your side!!!" Edward whispered hoarsely "And during that time... All this time you lied to me! Lied to me!"

"Ed..." Harry said wiping his tears with his sleeve, trying to get closer "Listen to me..."

"Listen! Listen to what?! That my boyfriend is a murderer servant of the Devil?!"

Harry cried, shaking his head.

"I w-would t-te-tell you... I wo-would tell you the truth!" he whispered.

"Would you tell me the truth?" Edward replied bitterly "Or would you tell me a less explicit version of what I saw just now?"

The dark-haired boy put his hand on his face.

Edward felt his eyes burn from the venom, the sob of a dry cry that made his breathing unsteady.

"How can you lie to me when I loved you so much?" he asked, his voice weak "How can you do this to me? How? After everything... Everything we've been through?"

"L-let me explain! I... I can explain!!!" Harry shivered, his face red with tears "Please!"

Edward smiled bitterly, turning his face to the side.

"I wish I never met you..." Edward said, feeling his chest tremble with pain, moving away from Harry.

Harry cried, feeling desolate.

"S-stay away f-from me!" Edward said in his broken voice.

Harry didn't have time to answer him, as he left that place at the same moment, and could hear the wizard's screams crying out his name in desperation.

It didn't matter.

He had seen too much.

Heard too much.

It was like to be in hell.