Blaise let out a shuddering breath as Eliza immediately threw herself at him, drawing him in for a hug as he stepped out of the floo. She was half his size and yet somehow, she made him feel safer than anything else ever could.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he was nervous to meet Eliza’s pseudo-uncles. He had of course had conversations with both Sirius and Remus before this point, and the fact that he hadn’t been there when Eliza had almost murdered Sirius in third year probably helped him out a bit, but still.
Parents were scary.
The Malfoy’s didn’t count because Mrs Malfoy was scary in a completely different way, the Malfoy’s always seemed to be the exception to ever rule.
“Just call me Sirius – or padfoot” Sirius was saying and Blaise tried to force himself to relax. Eliza wouldn’t have invited him (threatened him) to come over here if he wasn’t wanted but the niggling nervousness wouldn’t leave him alone.
“We need to get Blaise settled in first” Eliza said with a start, grabbing his hand and dragging him through the winding hallways of Grimmauld Place. Blaise listened to her rambling fondly and laughed when she wrinkled her nose as he patted the top of her head.
He would be fine here, Eliza wouldn’t let anything happen to him.
Besides, anywhere was better than a house with his mother.
~
Blaise felt like he was settling in nicely now. He and Eliza shared breakfast every day just as promised and slowly but surely Grimmuald was becoming more like home to him. Although he had still been making a valiant attempt to avoid being in the same room as Sirius and Remus.
Logically, logically, he knew Remus and Sirius were brilliant. Merlin, Eliza murdered people and Sirius still pranked her at any given opportunity. Blaise hasn’t even murdered anyone, they have no reason to kick him out.
But that was logic.
Theo was the logical one of their group, the same could not be said for Blaise.
He had taken to disappearing into the garden more often than not. It was a tiny thing, overgrown and more thorn bushes and ivy than anything else but Blaise enjoyed having a new project to work on. Plus he figured if he was in the garden, he wasn’t in anyone’s way.
And Blaise wasn’t in anyone’s way, but Remus Lupin was certainly in his own.
“Going back to the garden Blaise?” Remus asked with a friendly smile which Blaise tried to match.
“Eliza despises herbology, I’m not surprised she let the garden get into such a state” he tried to joke and resisted the urge to shuffle his feet. He was a Slytherin for Merlin’s Sake.
“Then do you mind if I join you? Only I have a book I’d like to read without enduring Sirius’ constant interruptions”
This was a trap.
“I don’t mind at all” Blaise said chirpily even though his mind was screaming at him to run.
Remus smiled again, although this time there was a victorious glint in his eyes and Blaise was distinctly reminded of the stories Eliza told over the years. Remus Lupin was a marauder through and through, and Blaise had just trapped himself in an unescapable game.
Walking through the door leading out the back Blaise allowed his eyes to close for a moment as he breathed in the crisp morning air. He could hear the traffic from the muggle streets around them but even still the garden was tranquil, peaceful. Pulling on his dragonhide gloves Blaise started heading towards the flowerbeds that he had discovered on the second day. He had spent days weeding them and with Eliza’s blanket permission was about to start planting some flowers.
“Eliza tells me Herbology is one of your favourite subjects?” Remus questioned from his spot at the garden table, a book and a cup of tea in front of him. Blaise shrugged non-committedly before turning back to his flower beds.
“It’s the easiest for me so it’s sort of my favourite by default. It’s better than history of magic at any rate”
“I doubt that’s a standard that’s hard to beat” Remus commented drily and Blaise snorted.
“The only reason we’re all passing that class is because of Theo; he’s a genius” Blaise continued, always happy to brag on his friend’s behalf “Even Eliza steals his notes all the time”
“I can’t say that surprises me”
Remus went on to speak about his days at Hogwarts, and how Sirius had actually been the only one to do well in history of magic to everyone’s bafflement. But unlike Theo who begrudgingly gave his notes up, Sirius used to barter his off for no-questions asked favours.
Remus had just finished accounting the time he had to levitate Sirius from the top of the Whomping Willow when silence fell over them. Glancing up from his almost finished flowerbed Blaise caught sight of Remus’ still unopened book sat on the table.
“I apologise” he said with a small smile “It seems you weren’t able to read your book without distractions after all”
Remus took a sip of his tea and pretended to be oblivious, throwing a glance to the book in front of him.
“Well” he sighed “I suppose I’ll have to join you here tomorrow and try again”
“I suppose you will” Blaise replied with a grin.
Maybe, maybe not all adults were scary.
~
Sirius grinned when he found an unsuspecting Blaise in the kitchen, arguing with Eliza over how to make the perfect macchiato.
“Blaise” Sirius yelled out “Perfect, I need your help”
The pair of them span around simultaneously. They both looked at him distrustfully although Blaise was looking a lot more panicked.
“What are you making him do?” Eliza questioned and Sirius pouted. Although past experience would dictate that nothing good had ever come from Sirius saying the phrase ‘I need your help’ could she at least trust him this once?
“I need someone to help me with my motorbike, and after last time you said you’d never fix it again”
“Yes I did” Eliza muttered petulantly “Because you got oil in my hair”
Eliza glanced between him and Blaise and then gave a minute shrug “Sorry Blaise, you’re being sacrificed”
Blaise let out a yelp of protest but Sirius was already bounding out the door, knowing the boy would follow him.
Of course this was an obvious ploy. Sirius knew it, Eliza knew it, Blaise knew it. But if Blaise would just stop avoiding him Sirius wouldn’t have to resort to overt Gryffindor strategies. He knew Blaise and Remus had been growing closer over the week but Sirius also knew the boy was still on edge around him.
Sirius knew what Blaise was feeling. He knew what it was like to not trust any adults, knew what it was like to walk the halls of your home and only feel fear. Sirius had grown up learning to be invisible and distrustful.
And then James’ parents had taken him in, given him a home and Sirius’ life had never been the same. He had never managed to repay the Potter’s for all they had done for him, but here, now, he had a chance in another way.
To provide for Blaise what the Potter’s had given him all those years ago.
Walking into the ‘garage’ (Merlin bless undetectable extension charms) Sirius ignored the motorbike and instead kicked out two giant bean bags that he had in the corner of the room. Blaise stood unsurely in the middle of the room and Sirius tossed himself carelessly on one of the bean bags, gesturing to the other with a wide sweeping gesture.
Blaise sat down hesitantly but Sirius just kept smiling. He knew what he was doing this time, after all he had once been on the receiving end of the same talk. When Euphemia and Fleamont sat him down on the sofa after weeks of him creeping about Potter Manor, scared he was going to be kicked out if he made one wrong move.
“Welcome to Gryffindor 101, Blaise” Sirius began and his smile grew at the confused look that crossed the boy’s face “The first lesson in Gryffindor 101 is this; talking about our feelings”
It was almost funny, in a rather ridiculously sad sort of way, that Blaise looked like he was immediately ready to bolt.
“Yes, yes” Sirius began dramatically “I know you Slytherins are allergic to emotions but this is Gryffindor 101 now, and you signed up for it”
“I revoke my signature” Blaise dead-panned which was a good sign, probably. Sirius grinned and smushed himself further into the bean bag.
“Too late” he said chirpily and Blaise slumped back into his own beanbag, seemingly admitting defeat. He must have recognised he would never escape a marauder.
“To begin our lesson” Sirius said, trying to do his best impression of McGonagall which Blaise had to stifle a laugh at “I’m going to tell a story”
Dropping all pretence Sirius straightened up and started acting, well, serious.
“It was the summer before my fifth year at Hogwarts” Sirius began heavily. He would never regret running away from home, it was the best decision he had ever made. But he wished he had brought Regulus with him. His brother would have refused but Sirius would have fought to the last breath, would have knocked him out and carried him if he had known.
Hindsight was a bitch alright.
“I had a blow up argument with my parents and then I just, ran away. I had a messenger bag full of clothes and no idea what I was doing or where I was going. I was scared, honest to Merlin scared out of my mind. And I knew in that moment there was just one person I could count on” Sirius recounted, trying not to get lost in his memories. James’ grin, the smell of Potter Manor, of home, and the butterbeer biscuits Euphemia loved to bake.
“I went to James’, tried to stutter out explanation that no-one even needed to hear. They just opened up the door, showed me to a bedroom and that was that”
And it really had been that. The Potter’s had taken one look at him and decided this one, this one is worth something. This one is going to stick around. Of course Sirius hadn’t known that at the time.
“I didn’t believe them of course. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop y’know?” Sirius spoke conversationally as Blaise shuffled nervously across from him “I kept thinking, eventually I’m gonna mess up and they’re going to see in me what my parents saw. They’re gonna decide I’m too much trouble, that I’m not worth the hassle. I mean, they already had James so why did they need me?”
Sirius could remember what happened next like it was yesterday
“And then one day Euphemia and Fleamont just, herded me into the parlour. They cracked open some butterbeer and shoved it in front of me and told me to sit my arse down or they’d stick it down” he explained with a wistful smile “And they told me straight, like gryffindors, that I wasn’t going anywhere. They told me that they knew me, that I was more than James’ best friend, that I was his brother. They told me I wasn’t a waste of space, that I was wanted and they told me I couldn’t leave if I tried
“And I had no idea how much I needed to hear that until they said it” Sirius finished, jolting himself out of his own memories and turned his gaze towards Blaise “So I’m saying this to you now. You aren’t a waste of space, you are wanted and most of all, in this house, with me and Remus and Eliza? You never have to fear anything again Blaise, I promise you that”
Sirius glanced away, pretending to look at his motorbike as Blaise let out a sniffle and tried to surreptitiously wipe at his eyes.
“So” Blaise said, voice cracking slightly as he collected himself “What’s lesson two of Gryffindor 101”
Sirius grinned “Always be ready for a surprise attack”
With a flick of his wand the beanbag Blaise had been sat on transformed into a veritable army of ducks.
“For fucks sake”
Blaise was going to fit right in.
~
Today was going to be a bad day, Severus could just tell.
He had woken up with a foreboding feeling. The kind of feeling as if you’ve just missed a step on the stairs, the kind of feeling when you remember you didn’t switch the stove off, the kind of feeling when you see Eliza Potter walking around unattended.
He hadn’t even brewed a coffee yet before an emergency order meeting was called.
Any day that made Severus miss his morning coffee was going to be a miserable day indeed.
Stepping through the floo Severus didn’t even try to hide a sigh when he caught sight of Eliza sprawled out on the sofa, although he was rather confused as to why Blaise Zabini was with her. Any unnecessary stress Eliza caused with just here mere presence however was quickly forgotten when he spotted the two mugs of steaming coffee sat on the table.
He had been dealing with their bullshit for five years, he deserved some recompense.
Taking one of the mugs Severus downed it in one smooth motion, greedily drinking the elixir of life also known as caffeine. Finishing the first mug Severus decided to steal Eliza’s as well, just for good measure, and swept into the meeting room.
He took his seat, sadly landing himself across from Black and Lupin and took a commiserating sip of his coffee.
“Is that Eliza’s mug?” Lupin questioned with barely concealed laughter as he stared across the table.
“No” Severus lied baldly and took another sip of his stolen coffee.
Lupin looked like he was about to retort but at that point the Weasley’s bustled into the room. Severus heard one second of Molly’s screeching voice and promptly retreated behind his occlumency shields.
Hadn’t he said today would be a Bad Day?
Merlin he just wanted to sleep, or maybe die. Either would be preferable at this point. At least if he was dead he wouldn’t have to draft up seven years of lesson plans. If the curse on the defence position would take him out before he even started Severus certainly wouldn’t be complaining.
His musings were interrupted by Eliza, shuffling into the room, fluffy socks obnoxiously scratching against the floor as she walked.
Severus took another sip of his coffee and valiantly tried to ignore the arguments that sparked around him when Eliza took a seat at the table. He wasn’t doing too bad actually, at ignoring the general chaos around him. That was until of course Eliza decided to wreak as much havoc as she could.
“Hello I’m Eliza Potter, and also your prophesised saviour. Pleasure to meet you”
That Merlin Damned prophecy.
Severus swore he could still feel the phantom pains of the dark lord’s crucio.
To say he hadn’t been pleased that Severus had kept his knowledge to himself would be an understatement. At least Dumbledore wouldn’t torture him if Severus’ betrayal was ever revealed.
He really had made some bad life choices in his time.
He should have just taken a ministry job like the other twats in his year, they were all still alive weren’t they?
Severus hadn’t even realised he had zoned out until he was forcibly jolted back into the conversation by Tonks’ loud exclamation.
“We weren’t dating” Eliza protested and Severus snorted into his coffee.
It wasn’t that he was particularly invested in the dark lord’s love life, far from it actually. Severus would die happy if he never thought about the dark lord’s love life ever again. But Eliza really had been lying to herself for years now. She and the dark lord were dating, even if both Eliza and the dark lord didn’t realise it.
Severus would sing the Hogwarts School Song in Dumbledore’s dress robes if he was wrong.
Severus listened as Eliza skilfully handled the order, glad that he wasn’t on the opposing side of her quick silver tongue for once. He listened as she admitted to murdering the death eaters at the world cup and barely contained a wince.
The thing with Eliza, was that she didn’t bat an eye to reveal the worst parts of herself. She was cavalier, and murderous, she could be accused of being arrogant and some would call her cruel. That was what the Order was seeing.
But Severus knew the parts of Eliza that she hid away, her loyalty and her devotion and care.
Which was why Severus found himself bristling when Diggle fucking dared to call her a monster, and why he felt such sorrow when Eliza didn’t even blink in surprise.
Severus took another sip of his stolen coffee and not for the first time prayed to lady magic that there was hope on the other side of the war.
If the war would ever end at all.
“Severus?” Eliza’s voice broke his dark musings as the order meeting ended “Can I have my coffee mug back now?”
Severus blinked in surprise, staring into the now empty coffee mug as he tried to subtly get himself together.
“No” Severus found himself saying “I think I deserve to keep it. It can be my compensation for having to put up with you for so many years”
Eliza sniffed haughtily in a way that was very reminiscent of Draco “I’ve only been a blessing in your boring little life”
Black and Lupin were barely stifling their laughter as they listened to the exchange and Severus found himself letting out a heavy sigh.
“Take your damned coffee mug Eliza”
She let out a bright laugh as Severus stood up to leave. As he walked to the floo he heard her call out behind him.
“You didn’t deny it” she shouted back but Severus didn’t stop walking.
No, he didn’t deny it.
~
Eliza Potter was a strange girl.
When Lucius had first heard that Draco was associating with her he had been full of panic. It didn’t matter if she was a slytherin, or smart, or acting like a proper little pureblood. If the dark lord came back, and there was no doubt that the dark lord would be back at some point, and found out Draco had been consorting with Potter?
Lucius couldn’t even bear to think about what would happen.
And so he was harsh, he was cruel and overbearing but Draco had to make the right decisions, because if he didn’t where would Draco be? Dead or tortured or Merlin knows what else. No, Lucius would play the villain if it meant Draco listened to him.
And it had worked for a while, until it hadn’t.
The Yule Draco refused to come home Narcissa had almost killed him, and that was without anyone knowing about the whole diary incident. So when Narcissa invited the girl around for Yule Lucius truly didn’t have a leg to stand on.
And it was then, when he finally met Eliza Potter, did things fall into place.
His Draco had never looked happier, he could see their friendship as clear as day. And Eliza herself was a Black through and through. Witty, sharp and intelligent – Lucius couldn’t blame Narcissa for adopting her almost immediately. Lucius was even willing to put behind the admittedly embarrassing incident involving the house elf behind them.
Eliza Potter became family, almost overnight.
And he realised then and there, he loved his family more than he feared any looming threat. The dark lord could do what he wished, but Lucius would treasure his family for every moment he could.
He sat down with Draco, apologised for the years of pressure and snappish comments because even dads messed up sometimes. And by Merlin Lucius had messed up time and time again.
He was so lucky to have Narcissa.
Narcissa who fixed everything, Narcissa who kept their little family together.
Narcissa, who when confronted with a terrified Eliza and a near dead bleeding out Thomas Gaunt, immediately leapt into action. Narcissa who didn’t even flinch when little Eliza Potter revealed that this entire time she had been working with the dark lord.
The dark lord who was back to his old self. Not quite sane, Lucius would never go as far as to say that the dark lord was sane, but better. Intelligent and ruthless and dare he even say it, happy.
Lucius could never have predicted the way his life turned out, he supposed Eliza Potter just had that effect on people.
“Plus, if all else fails you can just do an interview in Witch Weekly”
Lucius could barely muffle his laughter at the sight of his lord’s face, Eliza really did just exist to cause chaos.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
~
When Jormy’s Salazar died he had left him with one task; protect and guide his descendants. Over the years many of his Salazar’s line had been and gone, many leaving Jormugand alone. He didn’t know much, but he knows he has been alone for a very long time.
The new one was different, his current master, a young hatchling of Salazar’s line. The boy came to visit him almost every day, gave him treats and gifts and conversation. Jormugand loved his new master, who reminded him very much of his Salazar.
And then one day his master never came back.
Jormugand was growing very tired of being left alone.
But then his master came back, and with him the little speaker.
Jormy loved the little speaker. She was kind and happy and gave Jormy all sorts of treats. She was perfect for his master, although they had to continue with their silly little courting rituals first. Jormy was happy to say that he had fulfilled his Salazar’s wishes.
The little speaker would forever protect and guide his master, and he in turn would do the same for her.
“Jormy!” the little speaker cheered as she ran into the chamber, she was a tiny thing but she still made as effort to hug him for all he was worth.
Yes, Jormy thought to himself, Salazar really would have liked this one.
~
Theo never thought he’d see the day where Professor Snape actually taught defence, it was almost too weird for Theo to deal with.
It was at odds with his whole perception with the universe. It was like trying to imagine Eliza without coffee, or the dark lord with a niffler pup – there was something jarring about it. Theo wouldn’t have even taken the position if he was in Snape’s shoes, that curse was nasty business.
Then again, Snape had also somewhat adopted Eliza – he couldn’t have that much will to live anyway.
Speaking of Eliza, she was currently mysteriously missing.
“She has a time turner” Blaise grumpled next to him “How is she bloody running late”
“Something must warn her away whenever she senses you’re about to win a bet” Theo murmured back slyly. Blaise jabbed him in the side with his elbow but Theo stopped himself from retaliating when Snape levelled them with a very unimpressed glare.
Over the years the professor had gotten a lot less intimidating. Theo didn’t know whether it was because his life was now far more batshit to be scared of professors or if it was down to the man himself, but he still wasn’t going to push his luck.
There were some lines even Eliza Potter herself wouldn’t cross.
“Sorry sir” Eliza herself said as she finally dashed into the room “Time ran away from me”
On second thought, maybe there were.
Another weird thing about sixth year was that Slughorn was now the potions professor.
There had been a time in Theo’s life where he had been too afraid to go near anything to do with potions. Apothecaries had made him think of his mother and that night and whenever he was near a cauldron his hands started to shake. He had gotten better, over the years. Maybe it was the paranoia, or maybe he was moving on – but potions was easy to manage even if that lingering nervousness never left him.
In Slughorn’s potion classroom that nervousness was practically non-existent. Gone was the dreary and macabre atmosphere that had always clung to the walls, the classroom was lit by bright lights that danced merrily and none of the grim and gory flasks Snape had kept on show to intimidate people were even in sight.
Theo hadn’t realised how much Snape’s potion class used to grate on him until it was gone.
Go figure.
Slughorn himself was just as Theo expected, obnoxious and chatty with a tendency to pander to those who would ‘go far’ Theo was honestly glad to not have woo’d Slughorn with any potions prowess he had. He couldn’t think of anything worse than a Slug Club party, in fact he just might rather die than ever attend one.
Crushing another sopophourus bean Theo chucked it into his cauldron and glanced up when Eliza left their table, wandering over to the storage cupboard. That in itself wasn’t unusual in the slightest, what was unusual however was when Eliza stumbled.
In all his six years of knowing her Theo can’t recall ever seeing Eliza trip up, at least when the floo network wasn’t involved.
For the rest of the lesson Eliza seemed dazed, lost in her own thoughts, and when the lesson ended with Draco winning the Felix Felicis she dashed out of the room before anyone could even stop her.
“What in Merlin’s name is up with her now?” Daphne questioned as they watched Eliza dash down the hallway.
“Maybe the invite to join the Slug Club was just too much for her” Draco commented drily and Blaise snickered as they started walking towards the great hall.
“She was acting strange after she went to the storage cupboard” Daphne pointed out and Theo let out a snort.
“I think it was more of what she passed on the way there that threw her” he said and repressed a sigh when three identical blank faces stared back at him “The cauldron full of armortentia?”
“Holy shit-
“You don’t think she-
“The dark lord maybe-
“Has she finally realised?” Daphne squealed over the sound of Blaise and Draco gasping like morons behind her and Theo gave a non-committal shrug.
“Nothing freaks Eliza out more than emotions” he offered and Daphne let out another little squeal.
“What would the dark lord even smell like?” he heard Blaise question behind them “Blood and tears?”
Theo heard more than saw the stinging hex that hit Blaise and didn’t even bother stifling his laughter at Draco’s next comment.
“Don’t ruin the moment”
“Oh yeah” Daphne chimed in “Like you don’t completely try and cock-block Eliza at every single Yule Ball”
“I do not!”
His friends were still idiots, at least that was one thing that would never change.
~
Bellatrix leaned forward at the meeting table, raising an eyebrow in her lord’s direction.
“And will it only be us on Samhain my lord?” she couldn’t help but ask. She could see everyone around the table tense but her lord didn’t react badly. Instead he simply tilted his head slightly, red eyes flashing as he debated Bellatrix’s question.
“Who else would be joining us?” he asked sharply but Bellatrix didn’t let his tone deter her. Everyone could see how he felt for the girl, merlin Bellatrix had only been here for a year and even she could see it.
She had been curious about the girl who had captured her lord’s attention so easily. Who was she? Was she worthy?
Would she treat him as Bellatrix knew he deserved to be?
The answer was an unshakable yes, anyone that could hold their own in a duel was worthy enough in Bellatrix’s eyes. And that fight at the ministry. Bellatrix couldn’t believe what she was seeing, a girl of her age going to toe to toe with some of the fiercest duellers of their time? Bellatrix had been trained by the dark lord himself and even she could recognise she had reached her peak. And Baby Black had already surpassed it at only 15. Plus the girl was a Black through and through. Bellatrix couldn’t believe Cissy had kept her to herself all these years, or that the Black she had ended up with was Sirius.
Not that Sirius had escaped the Black family madness, he was just unhinged in a slightly different way.
“Baby Black of course” Bellatrix responded and felt her grin widen when her lord made an aborted motion to pinch the brow of his nose.
“Eliza is at Hogwarts”
“I should be at Hogwarts” Severus commented sullenly in the corner and Bellatrix didn’t even bother to hide her laughter.
“Perfect” she exclaimed with a wide grin “Baby Black will be joining us then”
Her lord didn’t even try to argue with her.
Merlin he had it bad.
Bellatrix breathed in the sharp cool air as she pulled her wand out of its holster.
Samhain had arrived.
Tower Bridge was empty, at least for now it was, and she could feel the excitement thrumming through her. Her lord was further down with a few others, and had sent her, Rabastan and Rodolphus ahead to ‘attract some attention and cause some chaos’
Baby Black hadn’t arrived yet, but apparently the girl was on her way.
Whistling a merry tune to herself Bellatrix watched as the first of the Order Members ran down the bridge, evidently attracted by the loud explosions the twins were setting up.
Samhain night, the perfect night to go on a date with death.
Sending a bombarda of her own at the tarmac in front of them Bellatrix let out a mad laugh as she, Rab and Rod started sprinting down the bridge to rejoin the rest of them.
After Azkaban everything seemed a bit duller. Everything had been dull before of course. Unlike the normal Black madness Bellatrix had always been a breed apart from her sisters. Calm and cool and fiercely protective Narcissa, loving and ruthless Andromeda.
And then there had been Bellatrix, too loud, too fierce for a girl. Never knew her place, they called her mad, untamed. They had called her wild but Bellatrix hadn’t felt any of it. She had never felt anything, not for magic, not for boys - or girls.
And then the dark lord had given her a purpose, and the blood and the violence and the dark magic, that had made her feel alive. More than anything else ever had.
And in one night it was all taken away from her.
She could remember how it felt. That fear of returning to the emptiness, hollow and lost – the mad Black who everyone pitied.
But now here they were.
Baby Black and her lord had joined the fray when the rest of the order arrived and Bellatrix could practically feel the overwhelming magic crackling around her. Rab and Rod where further down the bridge, leaving Diggle in her own tender care. Bellatrix had just been playing with the man when Baby Black must have cast a glacius. Thin slippery ice spread out beneath the man as he fell over and she didn’t waste a moment to tear into him. Hitting him with a Sectumsempra Bellatrix had to laugh as she moved on.
Oh she had missed this.
And it came to an end far too soon for her liking.
Joining Rab and Rod in clean up duty Bellatrix didn’t notice anything wrong until she caught sight of her lord’s face.
Because he looked just like she had, that night she heard of his death. Lost and angry and so, so very scared. Bellatrix watched as he ran over to the Baby Black, could only watch as he begged and pleaded and then apparated away without another word.
Bellatrix could only hope that Baby Black would pull through.
For all their sakes.
~
Tonks didn’t know why she was fighting anymore.
She didn’t think there was much of a fight left anyway. Not after what happened last night. Who was left to fight against the dark? Who was left to die at Dumbledore’s beck and call?
That was what was getting to her, really.
She’d had doubts for a while honestly. Her mother had never trusted the man, Slytherin that she was. But Tonks wasn’t a Slytherin. She was bright and clumsy and fiercely protective. She became an auror to help people, to protect people.
She joined the Order of the Phoenix to stop a war.
But what war were they fighting? That out there last night hadn’t been a war, it had been a massacre. It just proved what the dark was like.
But did it?
Because hadn’t it been the dark lord, the dark lord, who gave them all the option to walk away? Wasn’t it the dark lord who knew what they had been walking into and gave them an out, who would have let them live? And wasn’t it the dark lord, or Thomas Gaunt, who was pushing for creature rights in the Wizengamot? Campaigning for better schooling for students?
And wasn’t it Albus Dumbledore who gave them the order to die like dogs.
And they had died, all of them.
Even Mad-Eye.
Tonks really didn’t know what she was fighting for anymore.
Dumbledore continued to speak at the head of the meeting table about the blow they had taken last night. How they would recover, how they would bounce back. When she was younger he used to seem so great, wise and grand and untouchable.
But he was just a man.
“And eventually Voldemort will make a mistake – and when he does, we shall be there”
Tonks didn’t know if she would be.
Not anymore.
~
“For once in your bloody life can you not try and get yourself killed” Daphne snapped at Eliza the morning after Samhain.
Eliza had obviously been intending on not mentioning the fact she had almost died at all, but Daphne, knowing that was exactly what Eliza would do, had cornered the girl.
She had broken into Eliza’s room just to see the other girl wrapping fresh bandages around her torso, rather badly as well. Huffing Daphne had slapped Eliza’s hands away and finished the job herself. The wounds had already been healed, presumably by Eliza’s dark lord, but Daphne assumed Eliza wanted the bandages as added protection anyway.
“That dark lord is supposed to be looking after you-
“I don’t need looking after” Eliza grumpled petulantly but Daphne merely rose an eyebrow in response, finishing with Eliza’s bandages.
“Even just without Theo you’d be dead five times over”
Eliza went to open her mouth but shut it with an audible click when she realised Daphne was in fact right, because Daphne was always right.
“Why are you up this early anyway?” Eliza asked as Daphne threw herself back on the plush bed, grabbing the grimm plushie and holding it to her chest.
“My ‘Eliza Potter is doing something stupid’ senses were tingling”
“Isn’t that just a normal day?” Eliza quipped and Daphne laughed slightly, at least she was self aware. Silence fell over them as Eliza waited for Daphne to actually respond. Daphne heaved a sigh and hugged the grimm tighter, that girl was too perspective for her own good.
“Astoria had one of her bad nights” Daphne admitted, fiddling with the ear of the grimm as Eliza came to take a seat in front of her on the bed “The pain reliever potion helped a bit but-
Daphne gave a helpless shrug.
“She finally fell asleep half an hour ago”
What could you do when your sister, your baby sister, would die before you? The blood curse wasn’t avoidable, it wasn’t something they could fight. It was just something that was.
And her little sister was living on borrowed time.
They were usually good at ignoring it. Her parents never really spoke about it, Astoria herself liked to pretend it didn’t exist. And to be fair it was easy most of the time. Astoria wasn’t as frail as she used to be, and all the healers said they doubted it would affect her too much, that she would be able to live a normal life.
And then there were bad nights and Daphne just didn’t know what to do with herself.
“You know I’ll find a way to fix it right?” Eliza promised, so earnestly that Daphne could almost believe her. Daphne smiled even though her eyes burned and took Eliza’s hands in hers.
“You do know there are somethings you can’t fix right?”
Eliza scoffed and then suddenly launched herself at Daphne, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and dragging her into a hug “Watch me. I’m fucking unstoppable”
Daphne let out a choked sort of laugh and buried her head into Eliza’s shoulder, trying to ignore the tears slipping down her face as Eliza consoled her.
“Have I ever let you down yet Daph?”
“No” Daphne whispered and felt Eliza’s arm tighten around her.
“Well I’m not going to start now okay?”
“Okay”
Daphne wasn’t sure if she believed Eliza, somethings just seemed impossible for anyone to overcome. But Eliza couldn’t let her down anyway. Not when she was always by her side with hugs and laughter and endless unwavering support.
Daphne laughed again when Eliza yanked the blankets over them, kicking off her shoes haphazardly as they landed somewhere in the room.
She couldn’t have asked for a better best friend.
~
Draco escaped from Slughorn as fast as he could.
Eliza may enjoy pandering to Slughorn’s guests all night but Draco would honestly rather a jab a wand into his eye. Well he knew Eliza didn’t actually enjoy the mindless pandering, he knew she found most people dull and irritating, a sentiment he could agree with.
But she would also never pass up an opportunity.
It wasn’t like Draco was passing up opportunity however, he and Blaise stood to make a lot of money tonight. It was a slug club party, any bet could happen.
“Have you seen Daphne yet?” Draco asked, taking a sip of Blaise’s champagne as he glanced about the room.
“She’s making out with Susan behind the tapestry” Blaise replied instantly and Draco almost choked on his (stolen) champagne.
“I never thought Hufflepuff’s were so frisky”
“Well it’s a good thing you don’t have your eyes set on any hufflepuffs, isn’t it Dray?”
“Shut up”
Blaise laughed like the absolute sod he was and Draco went back to scanning the room idly. Blaise’s date had ducked four dances in, not that Draco could blame the girl. Although he was thankful, Lavender Brown was surely one of the most irritating girls Blaise had ever hooked up with.
And that truly was saying something.
“Draco” Blaise gasped beside him, hand coming up to clutch his arm “Draco are you seeing what I’m seeing? Draco please tell me I’m hallucinating oh my merlin-
“What?” Draco cut in trying to scan the room and cursed when he saw what Blaise was freaking out about and in turn clutched Blaise’s hand.
“You are not hallucinating”
“What do we do?” Blaise questioned.
“I don’t know” Draco hissed back but anything else he was going to say was interrupted when Blaise pushed him forward anyway. Stumbling into the crowd Draco flipped Blaise off as he started walking towards Eliza who was making bedroom eyes at a vampire in the corner of the room.
Merlin Sanguini was bloody creepy.
“Can’t believe you” he muttered to himself the second they left creepy Sanguini behind “Leave you alone for two hours – start flirting with a bloody vampire”
Eliza tried to protest and Draco let out a scoff.
There was nothing about calling someone ‘mon petit mort’ that could be classed as innocent. Salazar Eliza could be oblivious but she usually wasn’t that oblivious.
Draco’s unasked question was answered a few minutes later when he and Blaise watched with wide eyes as Eliza downed two full glasses of fire-whiskey without even flinching.
“Eliza Potter- drunk” Blaise said as he and Draco watched the girl walk away “This can’t end well”
It didn’t end well.
But Draco certainly wasn’t going to be the one to interfere. They watched in mild horror as Eliza drank another three glasses of whiskey as she trotted about the room. On one notable occasion she hit Severus with a sticking charm before he could escort her out and when Draco next found her she was with Granger of all people.
“I’d get her back to Slytherin if I was you” Granger warned as Eliza blinked heavily beside her, a dopey grin crossing over her face when she evidently realised who was in front of her.
“Dray” she cheered, leaving Granger’s side to lean heavily into his “Don’t you think Blaise and ‘mionie would be a good match?”
“Okay” Draco said, looping Eliza’s arm over is shoulders “She’s talking nonsense- she’s drunk”
“Or is she?” Blaise asked and winked at Granger who let out a scoff.
“Can you take a break from flirting for five minutes” Draco asked exasperatedly and Granger let out a small laugh.
“Just make sure she gets in safe okay?”
And with that the girl returned to the party, leaving Draco and Blaise behind to deal with a very drunk, very giggly, Eliza Potter.
“Hey, hey guys – we should pay ring of fire when we get back. Will you play ring of fire with me?” Eliza pleaded as they herded her out of the room.
“I’d be down for a game” Blaise said and Draco turned to glare at him.
“No” he said vehemently “Our friend is drunk, possibly even for the first time in her little tiny life, it’s our job to make sure she sobers up”
“Or” Blaise said “We could all get drunk and then it’s someone else’s job to sober us all up”
For some reason Draco couldn’t deny that logic.
“Ring of fire” Eliza cheered and Draco found himself exchanging looks with Blaise before giving a helpless shrug.
“Ring of fire!” he joined in and the three of them started stumbling through the corridors once again.
Merlin he hoped they wouldn’t regret this in the morning.
(They did)
~
Theo let out a pained sigh.
He never wanted to go to the damn Yule Ball, and without fail his friends dragged him out every year, and every year without fail they forgot about him.
Extroverts.
Theo had holed himself up in a corner of the room, near one of the many open windows and swirled his drink disinterestedly in his glass. He was pretty sure Eliza hadn’t even arrived at the ball yet, he was certain he’d notice. Which meant Blaise wasn’t here yet either. Daphne was somewhere with Susan, presumably, and Theo hadn’t even spotted Draco in the crowd which really was saying something considering it was his families yule ball.
All in all Theo figured he could probably sneak out and call it a night, but knowing his grandfather he would be forced right back out the second he got home. Apparently Theo needed to ‘get out more’
Theo had been perfectly happy not getting out more thank you very much.
Heaving another sigh Theo drained his glass and left it on the windowsill behind him. It wasn’t his problem anymore.
“And what’s someone as handsome as you doing here all alone?”
Theo span around and felt his mind blank.
A boy was leaning against the wall next to him, grinning at Theo who felt himself blinking in confusion.
“My friends dragged me here and promptly abandoned me” Theo found himself saying, unable to take his eyes of the boy in front of him, or his shockingly blue hair. It rested wildly on top his head, stray strands falling into his stormy grey eyes and Theo swore to Merlin his heart skipped a beat when the other smirked.
“How dare they” the boy gasped “That settles it, they can’t have you back now” he continued, wiggling is eyebrows and Theo felt his lips curl into a smile.
“Do I get to know the name of my captor?”
Impossibly, the other boy’s smile seemed to widen, grey eyes lighting up as he stuck his hand out for Theo to shake
“Elijah Sinclair, and you?”
“Theo Nott” he responded, releasing Sinclair’s hand and desperately wishing he hadn’t finished his drink so he would have something to do other than stare at the boy in front of him.
Theo had never really been attracted to anyone before. He’d never had crushes, the thought of kissing anyone had never appealed. He wasn’t like Blaise who bounced from girl to girl, or Daphne who liked to snog Susan in any abandoned classroom they could find.
Until now.
Theo was not equipped to deal with this.
“Theo Nott?” Sinclair repeated and then let out a gasp “I know you”
Theo squinted his eyes, tilting his chin slightly because of course Sinclair was taller “How?”
“Draco’s my cousin! He never stops ranting about you guys” Sinclair explained and Theo winced internally. He wasn’t sure if he trusted Draco to give the best impression of him, especially when said impression was being given to a ridiculously attractive Sinclair.
“Ah you must have heard so many wonderful things” Theo commented wryly, thinking specifically of the time he and Blaise had crushed up a few Bertie Bott’s every flavoured beans and put them in Draco’s fire-whiskey.
“I’ve heard enough to know that I want to ask you to dance” Sinclair said with a smirk and Theo let out a short laugh.
“I don’t think you do”
“Why?” Sinclair teased, leaning in closer “I bet you’re a brilliant dancer”
“This is the Malfoy Yule Ball” Theo pointed out with a matching smirk “It’s never just a dance”
Sinclair titled his head in acceptance, but his smirk didn’t disappear
“And what if I don’t care?”
What if I don’t care?
Theo gave a hesitant smile, and then slipped his hand into Sinclair’s.
Theo didn’t know dancing could be so fun. He didn’t know how long he had spent talking to Sinclair, who had quickly become Elijah over the course of their conversation. He found out the other boy lived in France and had been bullied by Narcissa to attend the Yule Ball this year. When Theo had mentioned the Triwizard tournament Elijah had let out a loud booming laugh.
“They banned me from attending” he choked out through his laughter and Theo let out a shocked laugh himself “I was too ‘unruly’ apparently”
“You’ll fit right in over here then” Theo said which led to him mentioning many of the incidents that had happened over the years. Theo was just mentioning about Eliza’s latest drunken escapade where she hit Snape with a sticking charm when he heard Draco’s voice over the crowd.
“Ah cousin Elijah” Draco exclaimed obnoxiously and Theo cringed in preparation for his best friend’s antics “I see you’ve met our Theo”
“Cousin Draco! You didn’t say your friend was this attractive” Elijah responded and Theo felt himself blush.
For fuck’s sake was this what it felt like to have a crush? Elijah could take it back, Theo didn’t want to deal with this.
And he especially didn’t want to deal with Eliza wearing that look on her face.
Elijah let out a laugh next to him, jolting Theo out of his thoughts as he glanced at the other boy.
On second thoughts-
Dealing with all of that might be worth it after all.
~
“Have you seen this?” Gemma demanded, throwing the Daily Prophet down onto the table “What is she doing?”
“Oh are we having another Eliza Potter emergency meeting?” Rowle questioned drily from his place at the table. He was lounging on one of the plastic canteen chairs, his legs thrown on top of the one next to him carelessly and Gemma was almost certain he was wearing yesterday’s clothes beneath his robes.
If anyone thought they calmed down after Hogwarts – they were wrong.
“Yes we’re having another emergency meeting” Gemma shot back and once again angrily pointed to the damning photo on the pages of the Daily Prophet “Because there is very clearly an emergency here”
“Hey Eliza’s allowed to flirt if she wants too” Roman cut in, finally joining them at the table. He took one look at Rowle’s shoes on his usual chair and promptly shoved them off. Rowle let out an offended gasp but Gemma cut off their domestic before it could happen.
“Eliza can flirt but we’re all ignoring the rather obvious fact that she’s chosen to flirt with the bloody dark lord”
“I hate to tell you this Gem” Roman said obnoxiously “She’s been flirting with the dark lord for quite a while now”
“I’m still in the Hogwarts betting pool about it” Rowle butted in, curiously glancing over at the paper.
“-and you’re all going to lose it” Warrington said as he finally joined them at the table, a giant stack of papers under his arm “There is no way Baby Nott has bet wrong on this, he has the-
“Stop saying he has the bloodline gift” Bletchley groaned dropping into the seat next to Warrington “None of us know if he has the bloodline gift”
“Bet he does”
“This is so not the issue here” Gemma found herself cutting off their conversation again. This happened whenever they all convened. Well, this wasn’t even all of them. There were a few more ex-slytherins running around the ministry somewhere. Sometimes the older death eaters liked to join them to gossip too but most were too scared to talk about the dark lord’s love life.
But Gemma had gone to Hogwarts with Eliza Potter.
She no longer knew any fear.
“I bet they do the tango at the next one” Roman quipped and Gemma had to muffle a scream.
“For Salazar’s sake”
~
Albus had not expected Eliza to know about horcruxes.
Although in the long run it may make his job easier, when the truth was finally revealed. She already had an understanding of what foul magic a horcrux was, and why it would have to be eliminated. She knew just how to destroy them if, or more likely when, Albus would no longer be around to do so.
Seven.
Albus himself had expected seven, from a boy like Tom, like Voldemort. Hubris and grandeur and misplaced arrogance – he would have thought six horcruxes would make him superior. Make him a God.
Eliza suspected seven as well.
Because professor, if I was a bit more arrogant, and had been a bit less loved –I would have done the same thing
The accusation had been heavy in her gaze. No doubt Voldemort was a monster but Albus at least had a hand in his making. And she wasn’t wrong. Albus could admit to making many mistakes in his time, perhaps Tom had always been destined to become Voldemort, or perhaps Albus himself had a hand in it.
To think he had driven one student to immortality, and damned another to an early grave.
It would be easy to tell Eliza now, the truth about everything, about the horcrux but-
Albus couldn’t bring himself to do it. She didn’t deserve to be burdened anymore than she had to be, she deserved to spend however many years left without worrying over if they were last. Albus at least owed her that.
And he had no true idea how she would react. Would she accept her fate with dignity? Would she accept it at all? Albus couldn’t imagine she would, not when she was so ambitious, now when she had so many people in her life.
Albus couldn’t help but pity them, Sirius and Remus, and the friends she was obviously so close too. He was glad that she had found a family but in a way it hurt more, to know she would be leaving them all behind.
And she would be, she had too.
Which was why Albus couldn’t tell her anything. He couldn’t risk her disrupting his plans, couldn’t risk her deciding Voldemort was the lesser evil. No as much as it pained him Albus would have to keep his plans secret until the last crucial moment, it was the only option he had left.
For the greater good of them all.
~
Dear Theo,
I’m a bit hurt actually. Here I was, thinking we had really hit it off only for me to not receive one single letter. I thought you promised to write to me Nott, I didn’t take you as the type to break your promises.
You’re not making a very good hostage.
France is as boring as ever I can assure you, I honestly don’t know what they would do without me over here. I recall you asking at the Yule Ball why exactly I was banned from attending the Triwizard tournament and I sadly never got around to explaining. To make up for it I’ve decided to include some photos. See enclosed, me releasing all the mice we use in transfiguration, also me- chucking boxes of beetles all around the school, and shockingly surprisingly me, about to let loose all our birds into the dining hall.
The professor is a bitch okay.
Are you causing trouble over there? I bet you are. You know you came across as all charming and nice at the Yule Ball but I bet underneath you just live to cause chaos. After meeting your friends I can’t imagine anyone sane would last long in that group.
Oh you should probably pass on my regards to Draco come to think of it.
I have a few questions to leave you with (to guarantee I get a reply, as you seem to be rather bad at that)
What bands do you listen to? Because I swear Theo Nott if you don’t like the Weird Sister’s I’m never sending another letter again. Do you play quidditch? Because I haven’t got a clue about it and that’s a deal breaker for most people. When Draco found out he threatened to disown me.
And have you ever fancied a holiday in France? Because I happen to know a very willing tour guide.
Yours,
Elijah Sinclair
~
Severus would really rather not be supervising the apparation lessons this morning. But then again no one ever really truly cared about what Severus wanted, or his steadily declining sanity, and so here he was. Although he could admit it was slightly entertaining to see all the moronic kids he had to teach spin around and fall over, though it would be far better if he didn’t have to be here at all.
Especially considering this was Eliza’s apparation class.
Sometimes he missed the days when all he and Eliza did was insult each other. He had less heart attacks back then, when it was just the dark lord and possible murder. Now it was the dark lord, multiple murders, and he was somehow responsible for the train wreck.
No he wasn’t responsible, he was just one of the poor sods in the passenger cabins watching as the train rolled over dead bodies and crushed dreams on the course for world domination.
Fuck he just wanted a coffee.
Minerva was stood next to him, with that barely there smile on her face that showed she was well aware of Severus’ suffering and was finding it highly entertaining.
Severus scowled even more.
And then Eliza apparated because of course she did, and then started arguing with his godson because of course she would. In the face of apparating on her first try of course she would start a petty squabble with Draco. And then, obviously, she would start schmoozing up to the examiner because that’s what Eliza did, she caused problems, manipulated, and schemed and everyone was none the wiser.
Or they didn’t care.
Severus himself felt like he transcended both categories. He had been putting up with Eliza’s bullshit for so long he had skipped out on the ‘I don’t care’ and landed in tired.
Severus was in the tired category, as were Remus and Lucius.
Sirius and Narcissa were just as unhinged as the girl herself so they didn’t count.
Severus jumped when there was a loud crack behind him, multiple swears leaving his lips as Minerva muffled a small laugh next to him. His heart was still pounding when he turned to face Eliza who had apparated next to him.
“Why?”
He was so tired.
“Narcissa was very upset that you didn’t attend the Yule Ball this year” Eliza quipped and Severus responded in turn, letting the conversation carry on within itself. Or more Eliza carried on within herself and Severus never knew when to stop battling his way through for the last word. It was when Minerva practically started giggling next to him that Severus knew to stop the conversation.
“Just go Potter” Severus sighed although he couldn’t stamp down the fond smile on his face when Eliza disappeared with a peel of laughter.
Minerva let out another soft laugh, the sound loud in the empty hall “She reminds me so much of Lily”
Severus turned to the witch, and the shock must have been evident on his face because Minerva smiled wryly.
“Oh don’t pretend you don’t see it either. Everyone compares her to James but I taught Lily Evans for seven years. People forget she was as mischievous as James was”
Everyone did compare her to James Potter. His attitude, his quidditch skills. The messy Potter hair and her talent at transfiguration. Even in the beginning all Severus had seen was James Potter.
But Minerva was right, as she usually tended to be.
Severus let a ghost of a smile cross his face “She dyed Lucius Malfoy’s hair bright pink once”
“I caught her trying to turn a rug into a portkey in the Gryffindor commons” Minerva confided and Severus laughed slightly. Of course Lily would have tried something like that.
“That girl has more of Lily in her than anyone thinks – you mark my words”
“Merlin help us all” Severus quipped and Minerva let out a very undignified snort beside him.
He would like to see Minerva give that gremlin career’s advice – they’d see who was laughing then.
~
Dear Theo,
We so have to see Weird Sisters live, their concerts are supposed to be epic. And I mean their proper concerts and not your shitty school dance one (yeah that’s right – I went there)
Also I do not believe you’re the responsible one, at all. There is something on your track record somewhere and I am determined to discover it. Detention? Cheat sheets? Assisted murder? I refuse to believe that I’m the delinquent here.
If I was you I’d simply never attend a quidditch game again. Rogue Bludgers, dementors – Hogwarts sounds absolutely batshit. Although I can’t tell if that’s a you specific problem or a problem with the whole school in general. Either or at this point really.
I notice your silence on a holiday to France but I know I can tempt you. Not only will your tour guide be ridiculously handsome, but he can also get you into the catacombs. You love history right? I guarantee France is far more interesting than staying in Britain all summer.
And yes my transfiguration professor is horrible. She’s had it out for me since day one, for everyone really. I don’t know why she’s a teacher. Maybe she’s cursed or something, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I really love care of magical creatures actually. I’m not very good with theory – don’t have the attention span for it. But care is honestly amazing. We’ve actually just started studying thestrals which are unbelievably cool. In fact! I heard Hogwarts had a tame herd? Nott you have to tell me if this is true or not and if it is you need to sneak me in so I can see them.
Do you have a favourite magical creature? I bet you really loved dragons growing up didn’t you. Actually maybe I don’t want to bet against you considering your entire school’s gambling addiction.
Yours,
Elijah
P.S I know you’ve been giving Oscar treats. Stop making my owl fat.
~
Hermione never knew when to leave well enough alone.
It was problem of hers, one she freely admitted to having. When something caught her interest, when she found out there was something out there she had yet to discover she simply couldn’t let it go.
And Eliza Potter seemed to be a mystery that just kept on giving.
Hermione honestly had no idea how the other girl did. Hermione gave up her time turner after third year and yet she knew for a fact Potter still must have hers considering all the subjects she was taking. And her OWL scores were meant to be off the charts. A younger Hermione would have been jealous but instead now she was filled with admiration.
She could see that Potter worked hard for all that she achieved, and Hermione couldn’t fault her for it. She could fault the girl for being a homicidal lunatic but as Hermione had no proof she decided to leave that chain of thought undisturbed.
First rule of maybe going to school with the next dark lady, try and not irritate the next dark lady.
And Hermione did try her best to stay out of Potter’s way.
But then the Slug Club party had happened.
It was funny seeing Potter so drunk. The girl was usually sharp and fierce – something untouchable about her. And now here she was open and giggly and stumbling about, it could almost be considered endearing. That was until she gave Hermione an existential crisis.
She was almost 90% sure Eliza had completely forgotten what she had been rambling on about that night to Hermione. And she was 100% certain that Zabini and Malfoy had not in fact sobered her up like she recommended and had instead chosen to carry on the party.
At least they had gotten to their rooms safely.
But Hermione’s nagging thoughts wouldn’t leave her alone. Ron had never mentioned much about any wizarding culture, no one in Gryffindor had really and yet in undeniably existed. Perhaps that was another reason Slytherin and Gryffindor always seemed so different. And yet she couldn’t find answers anywhere, which obviously left her with one option.
“Potter?” Hermione called as they both left the alchemy classroom, breathing in the somewhat fresh air of the Hogwarts halls. It really was quite ridiculous how much stuff they managed to blow up in that class “Can we talk?”
And talk they did.
Hermione was almost overwhelmed by the amount of truth Eliza had laid down before her, the books the other girl had lent her were a blessing and Hermione had stayed up night after night reading through them. There was so much Hermione hadn’t known, so much that she still needed to learn and she cursed herself for not realising it sooner.
If she were to move countries Hermione would have researched everything about their culture, learnt their language, before she even considered moving. Hermione was never one to do anything by halves. And yet when it came to the wizarding world, her world, she had chosen to remain blissfully ignorant.
Or more she was kept that way.
Because Albus Dumbledore was supposed to be the greatest wizard of their time and yet he had never once advocated to protect wizarding culture. None of the professors ever mentioned any of it, there was no ‘Welcome to Wizardry; A Handbook’ and all the books Potter had given her were classed as illegal by the ministry.
Supposedly it was dark magic.
She really didn’t see how it could be.
Hermione had never been the type to let things go, and she had a feeling Eliza Potter wasn’t either.
Hermione had no idea what was coming, but she knew it was something big. And honestly? At this point she might not even mind.
~
Horace knew not to trust Eliza Potter.
He knew it the second he met her. For all that she acted like James Potter Horace had been the head of Slytherin for decades. He knew how to spot that calculating gleam in people’s eyes, knew false flattery and subtle manipulations. And he still allowed it to happen anyway.
That’s what most people didn’t understand, Horace found. He knew what they all said, that he was an idiot, gullible but they didn’t see the larger picture. Horace surrounded himself with the best and brightest, he gave them allowances and special measures and then years later he was remembered, and he was pretty well off from the whole thing.
It suited Horace fine.
But sometimes, there were the occasional students, where the dangers far outweighed the benefits. Tom Riddle had been one such student, and Horace hadn’t recognised that until it was too late. Eliza Potter was another, and yet Horace still found himself dragged into her trap.
At least that’s what he thought as he faced her now. Everything about her screamed danger, power, predator. And Slughorn felt so hopelessly trapped.
But trapped by what? No matter what Eliza said she wasn’t lying to him, Horace knew that for certain. No he had no doubt that she and Tom weren’t good people, and he had no doubt they wouldn’t stop until something made them and that they’d even continue after that. And some part of his desperately hoped she was right about Tom being back, not Voldemort. Voldemort had been a megalomaniac, there was nothing in him that reminded Slughorn of the boy he had once taught.
But Thomas Gaunt, no matter what alias he chose, Slughorn couldn’t help but be curious.
Yes Tom had committed many atrocities in time, but hadn’t Albus Dumbledore as well? And what had Dumbledore done for them? Their traditions were stripped, Horace himself had to go on the run and Albus hadn’t cared to reach out until he needed something. Even now if Eliza had been following Albus’ orders and not her own she would just be here for the horcruxes.
He had spoken to Eliza at length, had followed the upstart Lord Gaunt and he couldn’t disagree with any move they made. All the bills they agreed with Horace had advocated for as well, and in every interview he agreed with their ideals.
“And you’re telling me you want to choose the wrong side?” Eliza questioned and Slughorn wasn’t blind enough to miss her slipping her wand away. She was sure she had won this but it wasn’t that easy.
It was never easy, facing your past, your ghosts and your own countless mistakes.
And it wasn’t easy when Eliza looked so much like the students he used to know.
He had seen those kids every day for seven years. How many times had he saved James Potter from a detention? How many times had he been filled with pride when Lily Evans beat even Severus at potions? It was hard for muggleborns to break into wizarding society but Slughorn had been backing her every step of the way. They had barely left the safety of Hogwarts and then they were cut down.
But they chose to follow Albus Dumbledore.
And they followed him to their deaths.
Horace wondered what Sirius thought, or Remus Lupin – Merlin how could he forget those two. He thought about Severus and Narcissa and Lucius. All the students he had taught over the years who were still out there, hopefully happy, certainly alive.
Horace was a lot of things. He was egocentric, certainly hedonistic, he preferred to live in quiet luxury, and he enjoyed attention. He was very much aware of his long list of faults.
But he cared for his students. How could he not? They arrived at Hogwarts when they were eleven, children, and Horace watched them all grow up and become the brilliant people they were today. Perhaps they weren’t good people, but who was?
Lily and James had made their choices, maybe they were the right ones, maybe they were the wrong ones. In Horace’s mind they were heroes whatever the outcome. But Lily and James were dead now, and there were students at Hogwarts now who maybe needed some heroes of their own. Someone who would fight to better wizarding society, someone who could reshape the world.
Tom Riddle, Eliza Potter.
“We’re not good people” Eliza said softly “I won’t lie to you about that. But you said you knew what kind of people we are, so let me ask you this; Do you really think we’ll ever stop until we win?”
Horace heaved a sigh and murmured a prayer to Lady Magic herself “I hope I’m not making the biggest mistake of my life”
But this time Horace didn’t think he was. And if it did turn out out be a mistake, well, there wasn’t a lot Horace could do about it.
He doubted even Lady Magic herself could stop the pair of them now.
~
Albus wasn’t a fan of The Insider.
It was factual certainly, to an almost painful degree. It had taken an anti-ministry stance which wasn’t all that bad in the grand scheme of things. But it was completely anonymous, and it had an agenda.
Albus had no time to deal with an unknown agenda right now. What was the point of the paper? Why did it start? Who began it?
And then Lord Gaunt started endorsing The Insiders research and Albus’ worry grew tenfold. He didn’t believe it was Voldemort who started the paper, it wasn’t his style of attack. Plus Albus had seen that article on Armortentia, Voldemort only saw love as a weakness – he would not have printed such a story himself.
But Albus could find no way to block the paper from circulating, and so it continued.
But somehow, inconceivably, it became worse.
Albus could barely bring himself to sit in the Great Hall anymore. Not when everyone looked at him with such disdain, even Minerva had turned him away. He had tried so hard to forget Ariana, to move on from his past. To move on from Gellert.
And yet here they were.
Copies of The Insider were strewn across his office, Ariana’s face staring out back at him from every old sullen photo. He knew he was over-using his supply of dreamless sleep potion but Albus couldn’t sleep without it. All he could hear was her voice, or Gellert’s laugh, or his brother’s angry accusing words.
Albus could see what was happening, could see his ruination before him with his own two eyes.
It was imperative he acted now before Eliza too, turned away.
He was sure when the war was won he would have more ghosts to haunt him anyway.
~
Daphne watched as Eliza walked away, something heavy sinking in her chest.
She was tired of this; she was tired of Eliza walking into danger. Tired of her leaving them. Daphne was tired of dreading that one day her best friend wouldn’t come back.
“She’ll be fine” Blaise said, staring at the tiny bottle of Felix Felicis. Usually they would all jump in agreement. How many times had they been through the same routine? They lied to themselves and reassured themselves and Eliza would step back through the common room door like nothing had changed.
“We thought that last time” Daphne couldn’t help but point out “And if the dark lord hadn’t been there, she would have died”
“The dark lord is with her tonight” Draco shot back somewhat harshly, but Daphne could excuse him. The worry was clear on his face, pale and stricken as the tension around them all rose “Nothing bad is going to happen to her”
“And” Theo cut in gently, far too calm for the current situation but then again, that was Theo. He kept them all together when they were falling apart “This should be the last time now. Merlin seventh year might even be a quiet one”
“Would you be willing to bet on it?” Blaise joked but nobody responded. Nobody would breathe a sigh of relief until Eliza walked through those doors with a damned insufferable smile and some ridiculous joke. Daphne wouldn’t even care if she walked in with Dumbledore’s head – at this point she just wanted her back.
“If- Draco began hesitantly, eyes locked on the potion bottle “If I took some now do you think that would mean Eliza would come back to us?”
Silence fell as they let Draco ramble on
“I mean if the potion guarantees the best day of my life, it’s not going to let my sister be murdered on it, is it? Or do you think-
“Draco” Theo cut in, abandoning his armchair for once and coming to sit in the middle with the rest of them “When has Eliza ever let you down? We don’t need a potion to make sure she comes back. We just have to wait”
“I’m tired of waiting” Daphne couldn’t help but say. She just wanted her best friend to be safe and happy and home.
“Well we’ve got to” Draco said, shoving the tiny potion bottle away “She said she wanted a hot chocolate remember”
“Whipped cream on top” Blaise added in and Daphne felt herself smile when she and Theo chimed in unison
“Three marshmallows”
She was going to get Snape to ground Eliza when she came back, surely murder was a good enough reason to be grounded.
~
Albus glanced around the cave, keeping an eye on Eliza who trotted faithfully behind them as they walked. She had been acting different tonight, quiet perhaps. Or maybe not quiet but something, something was different, rattled, unsettled.
Or perhaps it was just Albus himself.
It wasn’t a pleasant situation to be in. The cave was unsettling, the inferi he suspected rested beneath the lake even more so. And for Eliza it must be even more difficult. Albus himself could not bring himself to kill Gellert, no matter what had transpired between them.
It would be difficult, and Albus could only shake his head knowing that things were only going to get worse from here. War didn’t care who paid the price, as long as its toll was met.
They sailed across the water and Albus glanced at Eliza. She sat quietly in the boat, eyes almost empty as she stared at the island in front of them. He couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking. He couldn’t help but hope that for once, things would be easy for them.
But Voldemort was a cruel man, Albus doubted he would come away tonight unscathed.
Eliza climbed out of the boat ahead of him, heading straight towards the basin and Albus had to repress a shudder. The potion had cast its green glow across the girl’s face, making her eery green eyes somehow brighter in the dark cave. They uncannily resembled the killing curse, and there was something in them – a warning of danger, that made Albus tense as he approached.
He had to remind himself it was only Eliza. And that yes she had made some bad choices, but hadn’t they all?
Albus felt grim despair fill him as he studied the potion. He would have to drink it, would have to have Eliza give it to him so they could attain the next horcrux. If he made it back to Hogwarts in time, perhaps Severus could save him.
If they didn’t-
His thoughts were interrupted by a jarringly loud ‘crack’ Albus span around but faster then he could even draw his wand Tom was there, wrapping himself around Eliza, a wand pointed at her neck. Albus could feel himself freeze, especially when Eliza’s wide fearful eyes met his.
He hadn’t expected Tom to show himself tonight.
“Move away Tom” Albus demanded but he knew it was futile. Knew that this was now out of his hands.
“And why would I do that?” Tom simpered, monstrous red eyes meeting his, alight with some sort of sadistic glee.
Someone would by dying here tonight, in this cave, on this floor.
“Take the potion” Tom demanded, all pretence of civility gone “Or I kill her”
And it would not be Albus.
The guilt almost broke him when Eliza’s eyes met his own, the betrayal so clearly coated on her face. But Albus knew what he had to do. If he died here, tonight, there was no saying Tom would uphold any bargain and not just kill Eliza anyway, and all knowledge of horcruxes would be gone.
There would be no-one left to defeat the dark lord.
But if Eliza were to die, well, Albus had always known she was living on borrowed time. He had just wanted her to have longer than this, but somethings weren’t up to him.
Somethings simply had to happen.
“Eliza” Albus tried to speak but couldn’t say anything to her. There was nothing he could say to her that would make this situation better. No, best for it to be quick.
As quick and as easy as falling asleep.
“The Girl who Lived, sacrificed by the all mighty Dumbledore” Tom said scornfully and Albus felt his guilt as if it was a physical weight. He hated to do this, truly he did but-
“Or at least, that’s how the story would have gone”
He heard Eliza’s voice chime in and he blinked in confusion. Gone was that scared child he had just been faced with. A cruel smirk was on the girl’s lips, an almost malicious glee in her voice as she continued to speak.
“That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it Dumbledore? To create a perfect little child soldier”
She raised her wand at him, in unison with Tom and Albus felt himself waver.
What had happened here? Was Tom coercing her somehow- no, no it didn’t seem like that. The anger in her eyes, the vehemence in her tone – the betrayal she confronted him with. None of that could be faked.
Truly, after all this time? Eliza had always been on Tom’s side?
Albus was a fool, of course she had been.
Love made monsters of them all.
Albus didn’t know who fired the first curse, all he could focus on now was the duel. The next spell, the next breath, the fight to stay alive. He didn’t want to harm Eliza, even now in his eyes she was just a child. But she was a child he had helped become a soldier and together she and Tom were ruthless.
And Albus, for the first time in a long time, was faced with a fight he couldn’t win.
He couldn’t tell which was worse, the injuries he had gained or the betrayal that was shoved in his face.
And whose betrayal was it, he couldn’t help but think as he drew closer to the end, was it Eliza’s betrayal of him? Or was it everything he had done to the child? Every mistake pointed out to him, each venomous word cutting like a hex.
But still Albus knew where he stood. And even now at the non-existent mercy of his enemy, wracked with pain and on the floor of the cave, he knew he still had to fight. For the greater good.
Gripping his wand as Tom gloated Albus prepared himself to cast the spell that would end it all, only to find he had been noticed.
“Expelliarmus” Eliza cast and Albus watched in horror as she caught his wand, the elder wand. For a second, just a second, he swore her eyes glowed brighter in the darkness, something heavy and oppressive rising up before it disappeared just as quickly.
Albus could barely focus on anything but the pain now, each breath costing him more than the last. He almost didn’t notice Tom raising his wand.
In his last moments alive Albus prayed, and he prayed that he was wrong. He prayed that, in spite of all odds, his death would not be in vain.
He swore, somewhere, he could hear his sister’s voice.
“Avada Kedavra”
Bright green light engulfed his vision-
Quicker and easier than falling asleep.