Severus knew reasonably well who Mabel String was. When he had met her, at 25 years of age, she was well in her forties; a tall, secure woman, provided with a mortal resolution that could only be found in a raging lunatic.
There was something unforgettable about her.
Her fanatism rivaled that of Bellatrix, a true Wizard supremacy ride-or-die; she had been so radicalized that even he felt like avoiding her most of the time. She was, by now, one of the oldest members of the organization at 68, as well as one of the most influential, having been there for almost 30 years.
He had admired her talent and her closed way of carrying any task to term, no matter what. Her cold blood was astonishing, and her true devotion to the cause made her a precious ally, but that wasn't all there was to her. Her morbid attachment to Narcissa, probably stemming from a personality prone to obsession, was no secret; and Narcissa didn't shy away from using it to her advantage.
Severus didn't know anything else about her, and he hadn't been interested in learning more until her husband had been labeled as a traitor. She hadn't hesitated to turn him in, furiously attesting against him and disowning him without a second thought. On that occasion, Severus had fully comprehended her wildly bidimensional standpoint, characterized by a dictatorial black-and-white way of thinking. He was surprised by her perseverance, as she had waited by her husband's side for him to be killed several years later: she hadn't said a thing, despising him in secret, spying and using him until the moment came.
What he never understood was her strange bond with Narcissa, who didn't seem to mind keeping such a liability close to her; it was peculiar, considering her cautious nature, and especially the attention she paid to her own family's safety.
Mabel's oldest daughter, Lorraine, was no different. She vehemently testified against her own father, sat by her mother, and accused him of high treason against the Death Eaters after he, allegedly, had killed another member to sabotage a long-planned raid. She, too, had said nothing for years; she, too, had joined the organization by her own will at the age of 25. Severus carefully avoided her.
He was aware of the existence of Beatrice, but he had never met her, as she still wasn't officially a member; he had just assumed that she would be, at some point, yet another feral maniac joining the group.
Paul was the most composed member of the family. He steadily followed the orders coming from the higher ranks, and he had never caused any problems. He was a calm man with a clever tongue and a bright mind; Severus never understood how he and Mabel fit together, but none of it was his problem.
He remembered clearly the meeting in which the matter was discussed for the first time, in Paul's absence, of course. He, too, had voted in favor of waiting for a more convenient time for the execution, as Paul could still be useful. He couldn't care less about such a vicissitude, to be honest: in fact, he had lost interest in the String family feud as soon as he had left the gathering.
Severus wasn't aware of the details of Paul's fate until he darted into Blanche's memories.
In a sense he had, once again, played a role in making someone a killer.
Beatrice, or Blanche, was a victim of the circumstances which he had coldly contributed to create; and now there she was, sitting in front of his desk, blissfully unaware of the role he played in defining her destiny. He couldn't stand looking into those deep, black eyes as if it was nothing; he could see his soul being burned at the stake in their glowing darkness, his own trial carried out in every sharp glance she took at him.
Yet, he couldn't avert his gaze from them.
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