reputation - (h.p.)

prologue

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

On the fourteenth night of December, 1979, precisely seventeen minutes before midnight, Bellatrix Lestrange became a mother.

       Gaia Lestrange. One could almost feel guilty simply letting the name slip through their lips. It rang in the ears of those who feared the darkness she came from, and it left a bitter taste when said by those who knew of her lineage. The connotation of such a name could be upheld only by those who had raised her, those who used darkness as a tool and fear as a power. 

      If anyone in the wizarding world were to tell you that they had seen the young girl prove herself to be the threat she was made out to be, they would be lying. Her reputation did not only precede her, it defined her, as she was so rarely spotted outside of her manor. At a young age the girl discovered the way people look at you when they think they know all they need to.

      However, Gaia was kind. Nothing more could be said. And this would become her fatal flaw.

      The first damage this attribute ever did for her came when she was eleven.

      Gaia had lived her whole life without a chance to defend herself. Cruel people saw the all-too-known perfect black curls and knew to stay away at all costs. And the pain inflicted on the innocent girl kept her up every night.

       So when she was four, she made a vow to herself. She'd never form her opinion of a person until she met them herself. She would never allow an assumption, a rumor, a reputation, to define a person. 

       Some surely would have thought it was useless to listen to a promise that was made at such a young age for so many years, but Gaia had a purpose for it. She saved it for her mother.

       When Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord, Gaia was nearly two years old.

       Bellatrix had been in hiding for several months by the night that Voldemort fell from power. He had hidden her and her daughter away when he discovered that the ministry was on her tail for the torturing of the Longbottoms. When the Dark Lord fell, it was only a matter of hours before countless death eaters had stepped forward claiming to have lied to him about their allegiance. In proof of this, they gave secrets so valuable the ministry had a field day.

       It wasn't long before Bellatrix's hiding place was uncovered and she was apprehended for a lifetime in Azkaban.

       Her brother-in-law, and the Godfather to her daughter, fit well enough into the ministry's pocket that he wasn't subjected to any punishment at all for his relations to the dark arts. Instead of the lifelong Azkaban sentence that so many of their fellow followers received, Lucius and Narcissa became Gaia's legal guardians. 

       The girl was raised quite strictly, of course, just how she would have been if it had been her mother living with her, instead of her aunt and uncle. She was taught all of the values that a pure-blood was supposed to be taught, and her family strived to raise a niece that would make her mother proud.

       Gaia grew up in a home where the phrase, "just like your mother," was a compliment of the highest degree. Every time she heard it, she bit back the elation that rose in her stomach, and reminded herself of the promise she had made. She kept her vow, and she refused to worship her mother, the way her aunt and uncle wanted her to, or to fear of her, the way everyone else in the wizarding world did, until she met her for herself. 

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

a/n: hope you all enjoy!