─── SAROS WOULD EVENTUALLY COME TO THANK UMBRIDGE, although not to the woman's face. But it was her overly twattish behaviour that allowed his memories to start flooding back under his control. After weeks of being completely unsure, memory after memory returned to Saros, enough that he found himself feeling overpowered in the corridors. Whether it was the memory of him in the graveyard along with Harry and his father, or the memories of his childhood, it was all coming back. And perhaps it was all coming back a little too fast as he broke into a sweat and had to sit down for a moment.

Part of him still didn't want to believe it, but how could he ignore it any longer? Lucius had been there that evening in the graveyard, and due to his loyalty to Voldemort in question, it had put Saros at risk. Yet, the Malfoy family had foolishly wanted to pretend that it never happened and Saros was gutted by the idea that they were going to try to keep the truth from him. For years, he had trusted his parents, he put his full faith into everything they had told him. But as he was growing older, they were coming off as nothing but manipulative liars.

Using the stone wall for support, Saros slid down to the floor and sat there with his legs sprawled out before him. His anger with his parents eventually faded away and was replaced with a gaping wound of hurt. It was the final memory that he recalled that left him wanting to scream in utter betrayal as if Lucius hadn't done enough to him. He could see himself walking away from his parents in Malfoy, demanding to see Angelina in his state of anger, and the next thing he was blinded by a light. Only to wake up and have his father stand before him with his wand pointing directly at Saros' head.

Lucius promised that when it was all over, that Saros would feel much better and things would go back to the way they should be. Saros protested, trying to escape, but he was defenceless and Lucius had taken full advantage of that.

To know what Lucius had done to him, Saros found himself crying in the corridor as it all made too much sense. His father had manipulated his mind, his mother had allowed it, and Draco hadn't said anything against it. Did they really expect for Saros to go the rest of his life under their control? He thought they had been more than done with him after the way things had ended, instead, they took advantage of his fragility at the time, which could have cost him everything.

"Testing the support of the floor, Mr Malfoy?"

Jerking his head up, Saros quickly noted the headmaster standing just a few lengths away. He didn't seem angered by the idea of Saros skipping out on his classes, but more or less curious as to why. Normally, Saros wouldn't have confided in Dumbledore of all people, but he needed someone at the time and all the typical people he turned to weren't around.

"I remembered, " he whispered to Dumbledore, " I remembered what happened that night."

Red in the face and teary-eyed, Saros was promptly invited to follow Dumbledore up to the Headmaster's office. He pushed himself up from the floor and followed along quietly as they reached a rather empty corridor with a statue of a gargoyle sitting at the end. As Dumbledore approached, he whispered something that Saros did not hear, but more than likely it had been the password to gain access. The gargoyle spun around to reveal a staircase and Dumbledore allowed Saros to climb up first.

The headmaster's office was a circular room, decorated with old portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts. There was floor to ceiling shelves, laced with books, candles lit to illuminate the room, and centred in the back was Dumbledore's desk with the Sorting Hat resting upon it.

With a simple wave of his wand, Dumbledore summoned a chair over for Saros to sit before taking a seat himself. " Liquorice snap?" he offered, directing his gaze to a bowl full of the dark sweets.

Saros was in no mood to eat, let alone consume sweets as he didn't even bother with an answer to Dumbledore's offer. Instead, he sat down in the chair, folding his hands into his lap as he debated whether to tell Dumbledore about the events of that night. Of course, Harry had already confessed to everything that had taken place, so Dumbledore was more than likely aware, but many didn't believe Harry and it would be Saros who confirmed it all. 

"If my family disowned me," Saros began, " why did everyone let me go back to them?"

"It was out of their hands, Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore explained, " unfortunately, the matters were more or less personal between you and your family. Legally, you were not disbanded from them, and when you arrived at St Mungo's your request was to see them. The Healers did not want to risk anything by providing you with too much information-"

"Instead, I was sent back to live with people who took it upon themselves to alter my memories!"

There was a long pause after Saros snapped at the headmaster before he turned his head and looked in the opposite direction. His frustration wasn't with the others, even if it came across that way, Saros just didn't know how to release all the emotions that were building up inside of him. And seconds later after lashing out at Dumbledore, Saros buried his face into his hands and started to cry again.

"I saw my father there," he claimed, " standing with Voldemort! The two of them going back, Voldemort spoke to him like he was just an old friend until he told my father to kill me. He said that if my father didn't do it, he was going to take it upon himself because I was a blood-traitor. My father said that he was going to fix things and I would be loyal to Voldemort, so that's what he did, isn't it?"

Dumbledore continued to sit in silence, listening as Saros continued to just let it all out. Eventually, Saros couldn't bring himself to sit as he started pacing the floors, confessing to everything that had been hidden for so long. He spoke of the evening in the graveyard, he spoke of the events of the summer back in the Malfoy Manor, his voice getting louder with nearly every passing second. It was getting to the point where it seemed Saros was going to work himself into a frenzy until he collapsed.

Everything that came from his mouth was incriminating evidence, enough that Lucius Malfoy wouldn't be able to get himself out with a donation or any sort of his family name influence. However, it would all come down to Saros and whether he would be willing to testify against his own father, enough to put Lucius Malfoy away in Azkaban. During the time that Saros ranted, he confessed to his father's crimes at the Quidditch World Cup, attack muggles, and his involvement as a summoned Death Eater.

Maybe the media and the wizarding world didn't believe Harry; many of them believing that Harry was only saying things to keep his fame or name amongst the headlines. But how would it benefit Saros Malfoy to put away his own father and possibly even his own mother? Maybe some would argue inheritance but if Saros was disowned from the family, it wouldn't do him any good.

Finally, as if he was short of breath, Saros came to a stop and faced Dumbledore, realising that the headmaster had yet to say anything.

"I don't know what to do, Professor," Saros admitted, " all of these memories came back, but I'm sure it's not all of them. Because I still don't have any memories with Angelina, why is that? Everyone has told me she placed such an important role, so why can't I remember her? Do you think my father took those memories from me?"

"It is possible, Mr Malfoy, it is very possible," Dumbledore said, " but more importantly, there is something I must ask you. Everything that you have confessed in this office, would you be willing to state it again? Would you be willing to say it against your own father?"

There wasn't an answer right away, instead, Saros looked at him, his eyes narrowing in the old wizard's direction.

"That's all you got out of that?" Saros questioned him in return. "I told you all of that, expressed my concerns and the first thing you ask me if I'm willing to stand witness against my father?"

"Yes. It is of grave importance, Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore replied in a calm manner, " after all, you said it yourself, he is a Death Eater, his loyalties still remain with Voldemort, and Voldemort has returned. Should your father remain free to join Voldemort's ranks once more?"

Saros wasn't sure what he was thinking when it came to confiding in Dumbledore, he instantly felt like a fool for doing so. He was angry with his father, there was no doubt about that, but the idea of being the one responsible for sending Lucius to Azkaban didn't settle well in his mind. And yet, rather than being sympathetic towards Saros' situation, it was like Dumbledore was just moving ahead with his own plans.  Instead of being relieved that the boy in front of him was on the mends, Dumbledore was just thinking of ways of how the memories were going to benefit what he wanted to do going forward.

No, Saros didn't think it was good for his father to return to Voldemort's rank, but Azkaban was said to be hell on earth. And would his mother be involved? Guilty by association? Would that place both of them in Azkaban, where would that leave Draco? The two of them were still in school and Draco wasn't even fully convinced that Saros was in the right. If Saros sent one of their parents or even both of them away, Draco would probably never trust him again.

"What do you need my testimony for?" Saros asked him. "You could put him away even without Harry or me testifying."

"Can I?"

"You did it to Sirius."

There was a confidence that seemed to return with Saros' memories, something he had been lacking in his voice for several weeks under a different mind. He wasn't afraid to challenge anyone, even if it meant burning bridges. And while Harry may have trusted Dumbledore, there was still part of Saros that believed his parents were right when it came to the Headmaster. Needless to say, Saros wasn't prepared to fully trust Dumbledore so easily.

"You put Sirius away without him even going to trial," Saros said.

"That was under completely different circumstances, Mr Malfoy, and those were different times."

"You were responsible for an innocent man going to prison for twelve years," Saros said, " why should I trust you? Sirius gave up a lot for you and you couldn't even help him. If it wasn't for me capturing Peter Pettigrew, Sirius would have easily gone back to Azkaban eventually or lived his life on the run.  Am I supposed to fall into the same trap, so when you're done using me up, you're just going to make sure that I get locked up too? I'm not a scapegoat, Professor."

Not willing to wait on any response that Dumbledore conjured up, Saros decided that it was his time to leave. He still had a lot of thinking to do, now that the seed had been planted in his mind. Maybe it would be possible to talk it over with his friends and with Angelina, he needed to let them know what had happened. However, the idea of telling Angelina that he remembered almost everything but her, well, he wasn't sure how he was going to go about that without hurting her feelings.

Hadn't she been through enough pain as it was, why did she still need to suffer?

If Lucius had indeed taken those memories from Saros, he wanted them back, but would he be able to if he was responsible for his father getting locked away? He could hear Dumbledore call after him, but it was too late as Saros made his way down the stairs and into the empty corridor. He had no plans to return to classes for the rest of the day, willing to face the consequences later. For the time being, he wanted to return to the Slytherin dorms and just crawl into bed.

He hurried along before he could be stopped and when he reached the dungeons, he quickly gave the password and made his way into the Slytherin Common Room. It was empty, thankfully, as Saros began feeling a sharp pain through his leg. The phantom pains seemed to be returning, especially after he found himself under heavy stress throughout the day. But he limped his way to the dorms until he could collapse on his bed.

As he fell back, Saros closed his eyes and attempted to regulate his breathing. His hands rested on top of his chest as he tried to silence his mind. He needed advice, he needed a voice of reason that would tell him what to do, but know that there weren't any hidden motives behind it. His mind drifted to Andromeda and Sirius, he hadn't spoken to them in what felt like forever. They were probably going mad with the entire situation being out of their control.

Saros knew he needed to get into contact with them and let them know what was taking place.

Pushing himself to sit up, Saros crawled to the end of his bed and opened his trunk to grab some stationary to begin writing his letter. He propped himself to sit up and write against the top of his trunk.

Dear fellow Tapestry Burns...