Crystalline ice clung to the surface of rocks and rigid vegetation in the polar sector of the famous and world renowned Bellarose Biome, where several Hippogriffs were snorting in a circle atop a make-shift mountain in the cold, puffs of hot air from their nostrils presenting as clouds under the habitat sun.

In the center of a frozen pond a Hinkypunk held a lantern, flickering and alluring, with the hope to draw out some imbecilic tourist over the ice to their immanent death.

Above in a snow filled branch a jarvey was mumbling extremely offensive insults in perfect English directed to the latest passers-by, which it tailored to purposely cause the highest degree of emotional harm, it's long bushy tail swishing back and forth in amusement.

An extremely rare creature which was arguably inhumane to harbor, an inferius - a reanimated human corpse - cracked and jangled down the main arterial pathway in the zone, realistically only capable of retaining it's flesh in such a temperate environment, producing snapping noises with each step that could turn one's stomach instantly.

It's toes were all but gone save for three causing it's gait to especially jangle, only rotten fleshy stubs left after following the patterned trail over and over.

His name was Ottilie the Odd, having lived a very short life in which he was so depressed he wished to end it rapidly at the age of thirty-two, bizarrely donating his body in the name of technomancy to Montgomery Bellarose for the purpose of reanimation.

Without rhyme or reason the Irish Ministry for Magic had passed a motion allowing the monstrosity, with the expectation that it would go to a magical laboratory of intricate collection.

Audette had never felt comfortable making eye contact with Ottilie's cataract grey orbs, wondering if perhaps there was some lingering morsel of his soul inside of his deteriorating temple.

On the contrary the tourists were absolutely infatuated with Ottilie, always requesting to take photographs of him, although touching was strictly prohibited after the incident involving one boy losing an ear to Ottilie biting it clean off.

Controversial Zombie Beast In Bellarose Biodome: Charming Or Chomping, the Conscious Claddagh had read the next day.

Of course, Montgomery Bellarose was untouchable in the wizarding community and had not faced any consequences of any kind, rather the tourist information packages had been upgraded with a foul spray that put off even Ottilie, who himself was a reeking mess.

Even more odd, he seemed to be more well mannered with classical music playing, ergo, the wintry area was always endowed with a distinguished lilt of melancholy piano music blaring from hidden speakers, which created a dreamy disguise in the icy nightmare.

He was predictable enough in his route that there was even a time table and diagram in the brochures indicating where and when one might be able to spot him ambling along - the only interruption to his calculated schedule due to the random times he would get caught on a fallen branch or walk just too close to the edge and end up mindlessly bumping his head into a wall of rock.

The skeletal creature that was Ottilie the Odd happened to be shuffling directly in front of Audette and Montgomery as they spoke one on one for the first time in years.

Audette was surprised by his recent decline, evidently having lost another finger, not to mention the gigantic gauge in his right flank where something had attacked him.

Montgomery that day was in a fitted pink suit with a lovely pocket square of orange and purple geometry, his tangerine gloves clasped behind his back as they passed through the shivering landscape, "A woman now, you are, in my eyes Audette. Ravishing and refined, exactly what one would expect of a Bellarose heir. But these surface qualities pale in comparison to your mind, which is the true indicator of your genetic inheritance; you have come here for answers to a mystery solved, and I would not dare to divert you any longer."

Audette looked to her father, a man in his late forties with exquisite blond hair swirling off of his head, a handlebar moustache to top off his stunning appearance. He was devilishly handsome, his green eyes an exact match to hers, yet just like her latest love interest he was poisonously attractive with a derisive personality underneath which was, sadly, brilliant but inhospitable.

She cleared her throat, "Father, it is not a common occurrence for interchange to blossom between you and I, and when it has transpired you often speak in riddles. I'm certain that today you entertain me due to a critical understanding which requires nothing but sharp lucidity."

Suicide.

Audette ran her mitten over a passing frozen twig with red colour in the stem, forcing herself to ask what was really on her mind, sure to result in an abrupt cancellation of Montgomery's rare attention, "What I seek from you today is brutal honesty; is our family involved with the dark lord?"

Montgomery's gaze was caught on the extremely sad form of the bent and broken Ottilie scraping ahead before them, "My child, this world is run by power and politics, I assume you have come to that conclusion by now. My allegiance will always be dedicated to the most potent source. Immorality does not combat principles for success, a mindset you would be wise to adopt."

Audette's little heart was beating so hard that if it were a power plant of any sort, then all of the homes in reception of energy would light aflame.

She swallowed and panted, her mouth hanging ajar as she pushed through the discomfort of the topic, "The most potent source, being the dark lord? Father please tell me, are you a Death Eater? Is Draco Malfoy a Death Eater?"

Montgomery paused on the pathway and turned in such a way that his monocle was terrifyingly directed exactly at Audette, the glass pane changing colors rapidly as he inspected her like one of his beasts, "Has young Malfoy mentioned the wording Death Eater or dark lord in your company?"

"Well...no, but-" Audette floundered but her father swiftly cut her off.

He held up a flat palm, at least five rings on his hand covered in steaming frost, "Forgive the boy. It is his duty not to expose such information to anyone, even you. He is bound by vows to hold his tongue, however I am not - that is why you request confirmation from me. That is why you have travelled here, to your home which you regret, to speak to a father you despise. I am not a fool, Audette."

He was not a fool by each and every standard.

Montgomery Bellarose may very well have been in the top percentile for intelligence world wide.

Audette shivered in place, not only because the temperature was approximately fifteen degrees below zero in that particular sector of the biome, but also from the importance of the moment, each second ticking by feeling like a hundred years.

"It is with severe remorse that I despise my home, father, but to you that should not be a mystery. However there are ways to adjust that reality," Audette managed to bravely point out.

Montgomery closed his eyes and reopened them slowly, placing a hand on Audette's shoulder, "Let us revisit adjusting that reality once you are acceptably married. In any case, before we proceed down this path which cannot be untrodden, tell me this my child; is your heart set on Draco Malfoy?"

Is it set? It was damn well metastasized.

If there was one very crucial freedom that Montgomery Bellarose had afforded his daughter thus far in life, it was the choice of her future husband.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Audette heaved in burning breaths through her nose, the classical music surrounding them out of place for the hideous discussion at hand, "Quite inescapably. I love him, boundlessly, and I am terrified of what is imprinted on his skin which he will not reveal. Please father, I must know."

In that moment she just about left her body, as a demiguise known to inhabit the biome appeared on a pine tree right before her out of thin air.

She had never, never, seen it, nor had any eager tourists, and for her entire life she had doubted it was even there in that cage with her.

It raised a woolly hand up the side of the chippy bark trunk and bent it's head curiously, watching, waiting. Something unpredictable was occurring, otherwise, it would not be visible.

Montgomery nodded, the pin-points of his handlebar moustache pinching on either side, "Then the concept of loyalty is no stranger to you. What you believe to be true of your betrothed, and myself, it is confirmed. We are aligned with the dark lord Audette, and that cannot be unwritten. Ergo, you are also aligned with the dark lord. The Malfoy's and the Bellarose's are quite central in the current paradigm shift; the world will evolve in the favor of Lord Voldemort."

Audette eyes went instantly blurry at the wretched name.

She began to moan outwards in an awful pant, struggling to stand upright.

Behind her and retreating around the corner of the trail, Ottilie was grunting loudly and wheezing through his rotting lungs - the only unfortunate sounds that were grounding her in the moment.

She spoke through a parched mouth, "Draco and Theodore both?"

"Naturally," Montgomery made no move to stabilize Audette as she brought her mitten to her chest to signify a rapid heart rate.

He glanced up to the top of the rounded dome, his dazzling viridian eyes reflecting magical birds flocking ahead, "The Nott boy is far behind though - whether or not he shall endure this transition is pure subjection. Due to his unparalleled brilliance he has been tasked with a paramount project, which will ultimately determine his family's survival."

"What is Excetra?" Audette brazenly inquired without grace or conversational diligence, her fuzzy vision caught on her father's elaborate pocket square.

Montgomery pressed an apricot glove to the base of her spine to guide a stupefied Audette onwards.

If one was deaf and watching, it would appear on the outside that it was an adorable stroll between a father and his daughter, although it could not be farther from.

Montgomery calmy explained, "Excetra is the guild which trains tentative youth for enrollment amongst the adult Death Eaters. Rest assured, young Malfoy has passed his trials with Excetra in flying colour, and is now in a position of delegation. He is well on track."

Audette felt like fainting yet again, but she held herself upright even so given the exceptional situation which was bound to only occur the singular time. She gripped her long white Victorian dress in both hands, her eyes stuck on her petite pink slippers popping out to and fro as she took crunching steps over the snow.

Mr. Bellarose sucked deeply on his protracted wooden pipe, releasing a nasty cloud of nicotine around them, "Nott on the other hand, has only just begun due to a lack of his father's cooperation over the years. Your choices this year have impressed me as such, Audette. Malfoy is a strong constituent. Theodore did little to aggravate me given his unrivaled intelligence and courtly bearing, but he is weakened by emotion and resistance. He is not for you."

The silky grey demiguise continued to leap from tree to tree as they walked, shaking snow down onto the trail as it wrapped it's soft paws around blanketed branches, keenly overseeing the exchange.

Despite the shock of the situation Audette couldn't help being awestruck by it's visible attendance and perseverance.

She raised a mitten to the collar of her pink petticoat to tug at it, her heart an absolute mess. Her rainy eyes fell on everything around them; snow-dusted gravel, petrified plants, rocky escarpments with grumpy magical creatures that preferred the cold.

Her heart was br-ea-ki-ng for Theodore, who had been forced into a life of darkness and desolation. He had made the choice to leave her out of selflessness; hoping that she would end up betrothed to another who was not involved with the dark lord directly.

Her memories of him were nothing but darling; his shy smiles, a dark mole on his cheek that she loved to peck specifically, sunlight glinting off of his sailboat and into his dark blue eyes which were always dripping with intensity, his artistic cursive on each letter he wrote her with elaborate consideration...the way he kissed her nose just hardly, as if it were an adorable accident. He'd always made Audette feel safe and harbored, taking control of each situation with her in mind.

He is not for you.

She couldn't help but cover her nose with her mitt, trying with all her might to ignore the controversial burning pain in her heart.

Nothing in that afternoon made any sense; her father speaking to her was alone unreal.

Her father was a Death Eater.

Her boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend were Death Eaters.

Severus Snape undeniably was a Death Eater overseeing Draco and Theodore's work, which was contributing to the success of lord Voldemort taking over.

So where did that leave Audette? And what was she to expect in the future?

Montgomery wisely assumed her thought process, breaking the silence without needing to be asked, "My glassy child, there is something you must comprehend when passing judgment; just as you have been instructed to behave accordingly by your family, Draco Malfoy follows instructions as well. There is no alternative save for absolute desolation. The boy is as innocent as yourself, allow that to sink in, and do not punish him for his contributions."

He was not as innocent as Audette - how could he be?

Audette was now not even looking at where she was stepping on the pathway as they slipped into the Boreal biome, comprised mainly of rigid, pointy trees, thick understory growth, and curly ferns. The air grew misty and apocalyptic on par with the design of the conversation.

Disturbingly, she caught sight of a menacing manticore walking between the trees at their side, watching carefully. Dangerous beyond belief, they were famous for having the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and worst, the head of a human.

That very manticore had once cornered Audette in those same woods when she was only fourteen - backing her up against the base of a seven foot wide red wood tree, proceeding to breathe horrible and devastating notions in her face about how undesirable she was for a good hour straight, before the Trunchbull had arrived to scare it off.

That might've been the only occasion that Audette had been happy to see the Trunchbull.

She had not returned to the Boreal sector since then, and even with Montgomery at her side the evergreen trees felt suffocating and dense.

A parade of nogtail pigs marched across the pathway looking like perfect little piggys, yet capable of cursing an entire farm with bad luck should one suckle on the teet of a resident pig.

The shuffling of leaves and surreal scratching noises suggested that they were absolutely surrounded by creatures masking themselves behind vegetation, and it was positively spine-tingling.

Montgomery raised his spectacular white wand in a heartbeat when a quintaped - a five legged monster in reddish fur with a hunger for human flesh - leapt out from behind a rock at the pair.

Audette hadn't even seen the creature coming.

He hit it smack in it's hideous face with a sleeping curse, so that it crumpled into the greenery and disappeared. If it were not so valuable for the biome collection, the definably insensitive man would have killed it in cold blood.

"Foreseeably he sent an owl, young Malfoy did, before your arrival," Montgomery slithered his hand up Audette's back to clamp down on her shoulder authoritatively, not phased in the slightest by the recent barrage, "He fears your abandonment. I shall say now - that is not conditional. You will not abandon the Malfoy boy. He has made clear to me that there is a disconnect with regard to his sanction, resulting in my generous revelations today. One would expect nothing less of my daughter to grow ripe of her own reality, it was only a matter of time."

Heart soaked in gasoline Audette begrudgingly shut her eyes, expecting a raging forest fire the second a match was lit, "I cannot...I cannot accept this..."

"You will, Audette. You will perform your duties; do not make me further contrive your survival over your brother's," Montgomery spun her to face him in the middle of the woods, and suddenly there was no sounds of ruffling and scurrying in the surrounding landscape, nothing at all but deadly silence.

Everything living got the message that a lethal force was in the vicinity, and it was not pleased.

With her father glaring down upon her Audette shrunk into herself, casting her vision aside to the wooded debris at her feet. Her nose was invaded with the scent of fresh air, sap, and gurgling water, but olfactory calm was far from capable of producing spiritual or physical peace.

He forcefully grabbed her right hand and intertwined it with his, the monocle over his left eye glowing hot red, indicating an angry concentration of magic was coursing through his veins.

She was suddenly in a life or death situation with one of the most powerful and unforgiving wizards in history, "You will vow now, unbreakably, not to speak a word of what you know of the dark lord's return to power and who is involved. You will also vow to remain with the Malfoy boy, or else, you are no daughter of mine, and this will be your final memory on this planet."

Perish by her own father's hand in a forest of horrors, or agree to an agenda of unthinkable design.

Audette sucked in air, her eyes landing on each leaf in sight fluttering in the breeze of the habitat conditioning, then to the squiggly backsides of the nogtails tramping down the pathway in the distance.

The world was going on as usual, but Audette was trapped with a decision to make, neither choice ending desirably.

"I agree," she spoke the unforgivable words with zero fervor, tears running down her cheeks unencumbered.

Slivers of golden wires began to wrap around their intertwined arms as she finalized her sentence, "I agree not to speak a word of the dark lord, and I agree to dedicate myself to Draco Malfoy."