A/N: So I was going to write some happy family fluff... and then this happened.
Get ready for the ANGST TRAIN!
WARNING: mentions of child abuse, descriptions of violence, blood, and just lots of morally ambiguous behavior... just read at your own risk, okay, and if not a fan of that type of stuff... well it's not a super important chapter?
~~~
Lena wasn't a huge fan of this Skeeter woman, but as she knew a spell to send Howlers back to their sender and she was more than happy to use it, the drama seemed to avoid her fairly well.
Cedric and she were finally talking again and the boy admitted that he'd gotten together with Adrian Peucy after the ball, stuttering out an apology for his behavior after ice skating while the other Slytherin was seeming to gnaw at the boy's neck and she just waved them off as it didn't really affect her (and she wasn't sure that trying to eat your romantic partner was appropriate for the Common Room- to which Riddle had a fit of laughter over).
The second task was a bit invasive and she wasn't sure what to do with the pity and words of seemingly actual genuine sadness for 'her situation', and she found herself shrinking back from most everyone who came up to her.
However, this was something she could deal with.
"You think you had it bad? That you're all that because some old man died? I'm much smarter and prettier than you and I never even got a shred of affection from my parents! You don't know the pain of having people there just ignore you!"
The girl, a Gryffindor she didn't even care to know the name of seemed to be trying to one-up her for how bad they had it, obviously looking for pity. And because they were in front of the Great Hall, Lena was just watching the girl whine with an eyebrow raised. "Oh really?"
"Yeah! I have it much worse than you, but no- you're all 'pretty' with your 'broken charm and soulful eyes'. Well, I know the truth! You're just some attention-seeking pig and-..."
Lena stopped listening. I wonder who the idiot is that thinks my eyes are 'soulful'... Plus, 'broken charm' only goes as far as to get people cut on jagged edges.
"Lovely, I think that you're the most beautiful, even with your bloodstained edges and unique eyes."
Sap.
"Only for you, my dear."
"-and that 'Tom' boy should just give you up- Merlin knows I'm a much better girlfriend!"
That drew her attention back, chuckling softly as she shook her head. "Oh, you poor girl... Tom would eat you alive and when there was nothing left of you but a blood-stained corpse he would find his way back to me just for the chance to be in my presence. You know nothing of what you talk, as you wouldn't last a second against my dearest Tom."
"Accurate. I would rip her throat out with my teeth just to share the taste of blood with you."
Violent.
"You started it."
The girl sputtered. "You-you're just some- some crazy bint!"
"Methinks Gred, that this little lion should look in a mirror." A tall redhead boy seemed to melt from the shadows with a wide almost manic grin, resting an arm on the girl's shoulder.
Another boy that looked like a mirror image- twins?- appeared to the girl's other side and put his arm on her other shoulder. "Why waste a mirror? Miss Vane would find her reflection just as well in the painting of the hag on the third floor."
The girl- 'Vane'- turned red, pushing off their arms and running out as if embarrassed, but as she was yelling about 'being bullied' the whole way Lena was pretty sure she'd just retreated.
Turning to the twins, she tilted her head quizzically. "You are the Demon Twins of Gryffindor, yes?"
"That's us. And you must be-"
"-the notorious Ice Queen of Slytherin." Both boys grinned and bowed at the same time, voices in sync. ""It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.""
Lena crossed her arms, though she still held a hint of a smile on her face. "Rise." When the boys straightened from their bows, she arched an eyebrow. "What is it the Demon Twins seek me out for?"
The two boys looked at each other, becoming a bit nervous in their posture as they seemed to argue through their prolonged eye contact. Finally looking back to her, one of them glanced to the Hall and then to her, speaking softly. "We heard what you did for Meyza and Duval with the chocolate shop and- well-"
"You want financial backing. I see. Come sit with me then. If you can survive the snake-pit and my questions then we will see."
The other redhead snorted softly. "Do we get customized hot chocolate too? Or is that for friends of Slytherin only?"
She grinned sharply. "Let's see if you survive lunch first."
At the end of lunch, they had both an order with the elves of spiced hot chocolate with a blood pop stir stick and a deal with her (and surprisingly Draco) for a loan to get their joke products up and running.
"Farland!"
Lena looked back from where she was walking to Astronomy with her Court to see Mister Crouch glaring at her. Stopping, she turned slightly so she could see him better, hand ready to go for her wand or just cast a wandless spell should he do something stupid. "Mr. Crouch. Do you need something?"
The man scowled at her. "We have to talk about the next task. Come with me."
Glancing to where the others were looking at her curiously, she nodded slightly, and then they smoothly separated, her walking after Crouch and them heading to class with the message that she had Tournament-related things.
There was no way that Professor Sinestra was going to be happy, but that was a thought for later.
Right now she was more focused on coiling her magic tightly into her hands so she could attack in a second if need be. Not because the bitter man was really a threat, but because if she really had to do anything 'tournament related', Fake Moody would have warned her or just come to fetch her himself.
So she warily reached out with the thinnest strand of magic she could make and let it sharpen until it was a point, waiting, ready to be used.
When the man stopped at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, she let herself stumble as if she hadn't been paying attention to his pace, the tendril piercing his skin in what she assumed was a small pinch when she collided with him so that he didn't notice it.
"Stupid girl!" The man pushed her away, but it was too late.
A tendril of magic had gotten into his body, into his very being.
Lena tried to hold in her rage, knowing deep down that soon the man would pay for his actions. "Sorry." Her murmur was soft, as she continued to follow the man into the woods, away from the edge of the forest where she knew safety was left behind too.
Into the dark of the overbearing trees, spilling small patches of the setting sun's light onto the damp brown dirt, she wondered how long it would take for the man's body to be consumed by the forest, taken away piece by piece by the animals to be buried around the forest as fertilizer for the new life to grow from.
And her small tendril of poison green magic would go unnoticed among the scattered parts, curled around the arteries of the man's heart like tiny snakes waiting for her command to sever.
Lena's morbid thoughts were broken as the man stopped, though this time she didn't bump against him, watching him steadily as he turned to her with his wand raised. Her voice was a soft croon, gentle, and full of false sweetness. "Mr. Crouch... are you going to try to kill me?"
"I will not try." His wand raised just a bit higher, moving forward until the stiff wooden weapon was pressed to the soft skin of her flesh. "You are evil and must be exterminated Farland, I will kill you."
"Really." Her tone went flat, leaning forward so the wand was pressed further to her throat, almost painful as she grinned something slow and sharp. "Because just the other day I opened up the notebook I put out in the Common Room for my snakes to write their nightmares in and I found out that you, like the disgusting swine you are, hurt someone under my protection... So if anyone is going to die, Mr. Crouch, it's you."
With a pulse, the coils around the arteries of the man's heart tightened and she watched as he fell to the ground in a lump, the wand clattering against the ground. Dipping to pick the man's wand up, she let go of her magic's tight grip, studying the slumped over figure as it gasped for air and twitched slightly.
Staying down for a while, the man slowly turned to look at her with eyes promising violence. "I did not touch-" his voice was rough with exertion, "-any of those dark brats!"
"What a bright and lovely personality. No wonder he is on your hit list."
You mean other than the reason he was planning to kill me?
"Dear, I was trying to overlook that, for the sake of my blood pressure."
A voice came from off to the side, interrupting her internal back and forth. "You hurt me, so why not hurt one of them? Crucio."
Lena spun around with the wand that was not hers pointed at the newcomer, only to slowly lower it when she came face to face with the man she knew was the real Fake Moody. Ignoring the man writhing on the ground in agony, she tilted her head to study the man that looked a bit younger than she remembered. "Ah. How nice of you to join us, Fake Moody."
"I'm not-"
"Sure you are." She then tossed the man's wand to him, moving to lean against a tree, watching with half-lidded eyes. "Plausible deniability. Now, as you were hurt by him, I will allow you to do as you wish as long as you do not kill him. When I face the second year Hufflepuff that took it upon themselves to write to me, I want to be able to tell them I killed this monster."
"A woman after my own heart."
This is not the time to get sappy, dearest.
Riddle huffed. "This is the best time! You are showing off your magnificence to another person!"
Someone who works for the man who wants to kill me.
"...you're still mine."
Sure, dear. Whatever you say.
Fake Moody's face was oddly barren of scars, the smooth skin seeming out of place in combination with the calm yet somewhat sharp presence she associated with the trusted Defense Professor. And yet he just nodded slowly, turning to the man and releasing the torture curse before taking out a knife and grinning maniacally. "I have dreamed of this for eleven years, stuck under that damned curse, biding my time, imagining just how I would make you suffer..."
Crouch sneered up at Fake Moody. "You're going to let some girl kill me when you're right here? You always were a sniveling-
Lena pulled out a book on stars and star positions moving to sit against the tree and squeezing the bands of magic so the man gasped on the words. "I think, Mr. Crouch, it is better to not antagonize your torturer." Her voice was soft and sort of chiding, as if a parent lightly reminding their child that something was wrong. "I will not be happy should you make your death fast, so why don't we do something about that voice of yours..." She sent out a wave of magic.
"You foolish girl! I'm the Head of a Ministry department! You can't-" The man's voice cut off suddenly, his mouth moving but no sound coming out.
Fake Moody looked to her. "Why did you silence him? I wanted to hear him beg."
Huffing, she tossed a small brown charm to him, rolling her eyes. "I didn't silence him, I stole his voice. You can keep it if you want. A souvenir of sorts." Then, ignoring the man's gaping, she looked back to her book.
"And when did you create an entirely new spell, my dear?"
A bit ago. It's not all that impressive, as I have yet to actually figure out how to steal the voice entirely and make it so I can use them in place of my own if I want, but-
Riddle sounded a bit impatient for the first time since she could remember. "When- not why or how."
Lena frowned slightly down at her book at his tone. I got the idea first year after watching a movie at the local cinema and finding out I had magic. It's mostly an intent-based spell, so I have to use more power to fuel it without an incantation, but it's pretty useful for long-term punishments.
"Have I mentioned lately that you're amazing, lovely?"
Yes.
"Well, you really are. You never cease to amaze me."
She shook her head, smiling softly at the book and focusing on actually reading about the stars and their configurations.
It was late when Fake Moody nudged her with his boot and she looked up to see his hands were covered in blood- presumably why he'd chosen such an undignified way of getting her attention. "You good for ending this kiddo?
Stretching slightly with a small yawn, Lena nodded, looking to where a bloody mess was laying on the dirt of the forest watching her with eyes that looked tormented. Crouching beside him {no pun intended}, she patted a part of his head that was untouched by the red splatter of warm liquid. "There there. You will soon be given some rest from the evil of this world."
Mr. Crouch spat at her vilely.
Keeping her eyes closed against the feeling of blood and spit on her face, Lena stood and took out a handkerchief to wipe off her face slowly. "What a miserable beast." Clenching her hand as she wiped the last bit of offending spittle from her cheek, she watched with detached fascination as the man's blood stopped flowing, his body unable to cope before the small threads of her magic squeezed hard enough to cut through the arteries entirely.
Internal bleeding. A slow, yet effective death.
"I do not think even the best healer could fix that..." Riddle sounded a bit awed. "The second you took control of his heart like that he was without salvation."
Perhaps I would have let him go if he had made a well-thought-out case against hurting that Hufflepuff.
"Would you have?"
...In another life, maybe.
"Lena? Kiddo, you alright?"
Lena blinked slowly, realizing she was staring blankly at where Crouch was drowning in his own blood. Surely a sign of a guilty conscious- or that was what Fake Moody was thinking it was.
So she turned to take the man's own wand from Fake Moody gently, pointing it at the dying. "Quaeso veniam indulgentiae tribuas." Then she flicked it, using her raw magic to overpower it's stubborn will not to be used, the spell going through cleanly and opening a wide cut on the man's throat. Handing back the wand without another word, she turned and collected her stuff. "The thestrals will clean of the raw materials. Vanish all the clothing and either break the wand or hide it away in a place that you are sure will never see the light of day."
"Wait at the edge of the forest for me. We will be each other's alibis."
Nodding, she strode towards the edge of the forest.
The scarred face she was more familiar with in combination with the man's presence met her at the edge of the forest, hands clean of blood and he hobbled along next to her, his regular eye fixed forward even as his glass eye watched her. "You seem fairly composed for it being just your second time."
"Third." She didn't look at him, voice barely above a whisper, but she knew he could hear her. "And either way, every day I slip further down the path to no redemption, so if I already know that... then why would I be surprised?"
Shoving her hands further into her pockets, she picked up her pace so the man was left behind.
Entering the Great Hall late for dinner, she moved to the Hufflepuff table instead of her normal seat, standing stiffly behind a small second-year girl. "Miss Grace?"
A fair-haired girl with pigtails and bright brown eyes looked up at her shyly. "I- uh- that's me..."
Taking out her notebook, she set it down before the girl gently. "If you read the first page where it lists what this is, then you know what I promised you the second you wrote in these pages. Help was offered, so when you asked, help was given. You will suffer no more, though I admit I was a bit late in-"
"Thank you!" A small form shot up, clinging to her and sniffling softly. "I- I didn't know and then- then Charlie told me... he told me about the notebook and- and I was worried that t-the Slytherins would- would kick me out..."
Oh. Right. I almost forgot for a moment- this is what makes the path of no redemption so easy...
"Dear, you will never be a bad person in my eyes. Not compared to what I've done."
Then let us both hope I never break that trust.
Lena pulled the (slightly) smaller girl further into her arms, rubbing her back gently, as she'd picked up the habit of doing for Theo or Ginny when they were having bad days. "You will never be rejected from my house as long as you bear no ill intent. And even if you are not entirely mine, I would never let you suffer such a fate knowingly." Pushing the girl back, she wiped the tears from the bright brown eyes and smiled a bit sharply. "Now sit and eat your food without worry, little badger. You should not have to grow into your claws so soon."
"But you're strong!" The girl clutched at her wrists childishly, voice almost a whine. "I want to be strong like you!"
Her laugh was soft, gently prying the girl's fingers off her wrists and then ruffling her hair. "You will be. You will be strong, but ultimately you will be good, and that will make you better than even me. I believe you will do magnificent things as soon as you lose that guilt you carry." Taking back her notebook, she leaned down with a whisper. "You are not at fault if I chose to help you of my own free will."
Savannah Grace visibly sagged, nodding slightly. "O-okay."
Patting the girl's head, she moved to sit down in the middle of the Slytherin table, talking with the younger students and ignoring the glances as she ate.
One of the younger boys finally asked why she wasn't sitting at the head of the table and she gave the best truth she could.
"Because the rest of my Court knows me too well."
Because she wanted to pretend for a little while, soak in the admiration in the younger student's eyes and pretend that she was just as good. That maybe someday, with enough holy water and repentance, she too could be made of such sunshine.
Because if she sat up there at the head of the table she knew they'd all be able to tell that she was exactly like the forest in which she'd killed Barty Crouch-
Peaceful and yet deeply haunted.
~~~
A/N: I was thinking of posting the third task as a Thanksgiving gift to y'all... but I might have to go for some (actual) fluff instead just to correct the mood a bit...