Bought from Hate

By MyFiniteMercy

Dedicated to My Endless Love... for her wonderful influence in my life
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summary: After her parents were murdered 15 years ago, Lilah has hated the man that killed them ever since. But will an unexpected encounter make her doubt her feelings, and cause new ones to stir?

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to JK Rowling. Lilah and the plot belong to me. :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1. Nightmares and Peppermint

Lilah Freeman jerked awake from the all too real dream, sweat pouring off her body in rivers, and her hair plastered to her face and neck. The sheets on the bed had twisted around her body as she tossed and turned whilst she slept, and were now warm, sticky and damp from her sweat.

The room around her was black. As it was every single night. Untangling herself from the mess of sheets and quilts, she pushed the hair back from her face and stood up off the bed, glancing at the clock on the bedside table as she did so. 2.28. Damn, she thought. There goes another night. Another night with no sleep. Every night for the last 15 years, Lilah had been plagued with nightmares of the night her parents were murdered before her eyes by Death Eaters.

No. Not Death Eaters. Death Eater. One Death Eater.

The image of white-blonde hair and stormy grey eyes raced through her mind, and a single name spilled from her lips in a disgusted hiss.

“Lucius Malfoy.�

The one man who had single handedly Crucioed Jason and Marie Freeman and then, with a look of complete boredom, killed them. All with 15 year old Lilah watching from a nearby cupboard, rage and terror coursing through her veins.

Shaking her head, Lilah returned to the world around her, and found herself crumpled on the ground with tears coursing down her cheeks. Using a shaking hand, she wiped the offending moisture away and stood up again on unsteady legs. She stumbled into the bathroom, flicking the light on as she moved past. Her eyes shut quickly as the harsh fluorescent light flooded the bathroom and into her unadjusted eyes. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again and walked over to the basin.

She looked in the mirror and inwardly gasped at what she saw. A face with skin flushed pink all the way down to her neck, and red bloodshot eyes. Tear tracks down her cheeks which were sticky from sweat, and hair hanging loosely from dampness. I shouldn't be surprised. This is what I see every single night. She sighed and turned the tap on, splashing her face with the cold water. She hoped, just as she hoped every night, that the water would wash away the memories...and the nightmares.

As the water dripped down her neck, cooling the skin there, she remembered that night. The night of her 13th birthday. 15 years ago.

-Flashback-

“Hide in there, Lilah,� her mother, Marie had said, motioning to the wardrobe behind her. “Stay there, and don't come out, whatever happens. Promise me that you will stay!�

Lilah had tried arguing, but the tears in both of their eyes and the 'don't argue, just do it' look on Marie's face silenced Lilah almost instantly. As they shared a quick hug, the front door of the house came crashing down, the sound reverberating through the whole house. Lilah found herself being roughly pushed into the wardrobe, and the door hastily closed behind her. She turned around quickly and gazed out into the room through the gap between the doors, and gasped at the sight.

A single man stood in the centre of the room, gazing at Marie and Jason. The man had platinum blonde hair hanging halfway down his back, stetting a sharp contrast with the jet black robes he wore. His face looked as though it was made from marble, with sharp cheekbones, stormy grey eyes and lips twisted in a smirk.

“I'm only going to ask once.� He raised his wand at the statement. “Where is she?�

Silence followed the question, resulting in a silent curse being thrown at Lilah's parents. They fell to the floor in pain, their screams echoing across the room, and causing tears to spill from Lilah's eyes. For minutes, they kept screaming and writhing in pain. The smirk on the man's face had slipped, and had been replaced by a look of utter boredom.

He ended the curse, and was met with sharp gasps and pants. “Please,� Marie begged, “please, no more, Malfoy, no more! We don't know where she is!�

Malfoy sighed. “I grow tired of this. I will ask one more time. Where is she?�

Jason groaned in pain. “We don't know,� he ground out.

“Very well.�

Another silent curse was flung at the pair on the floor, and green light flooded the room. When the light faded, Malfoy was gone, Jason and Marie lay on the ground, green and blue eyes staring lifelessly up at the ceiling. Lilah bit into her fist to stop herself from screaming in agony at the death of her parents.

-End Flashback-

She rinsed her face again with cold water, stemming the flow of tears. Drying her face on one of the fluffy white towels on the racks next to the basin, she wiped away all moisture, leaving no trace that it was ever there. She stood in the bathroom, on the cold tiles, staring at a point on the wall, letting the heat from her skin fade away.

Once the heat had left her skin, Lilah walked back into her bedroom, still dark from when she was woken by the dream. She passed the bed without a second glance, not wanting to lay in the damp sheets. She walked over to an armchair next to the window instead, the chair she curled up in every night after recovering from the shock of her nightmares.

As Lilah remembered, her eyes became watery, and her breathing hitched. However, the thing that bothered her most now, a decade and a half after the day she had been forced to watch from the wardrobe was not the death of her parents.

No. Instead, it was an aroma. A smell that she carried with her at the back of her mind everywhere she went, hoping to catch another whiff of it so that she might avenge her parents. The smell of the man who destroyed her life.

Peppermint and leather.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note: Alright I finally got this down on paper! This if my first fanfic, so if there are any flaws, they should be picked up by you brilliant readers :D

Song of the moment: Happiness – Alexis Jordan

MyFiniteMercy

Beta's Note: the writer is gay and an absolute queer ! :) but well, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter as much as I did – and stay tuned for more.