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sofoulandfairaday · 1 year ago

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Can you tell us more about The Death of Regulus Black, The Prophecy, and the Hurt/Comfort??? ❤️

Sure thing, my dear!

Ch.36 - The Death of Regulus Black 1979. Still unwritten. I already know that it will be more than 10K words long. I haven't yet decided if there is one last Bella-Voldemort scene before everything goes downhill. Regulus disappears in late August; N.E.W.T. results still haven't come. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black is on the verge of collapse after the tapestry in 12 Grimmauld Place confirms his death. Bella already knew, though. She had asked the Dark Lord to call him through the Dark Mark and He had told her he felt no connection there at all. Like a severed cord. Walburga is in hysterics. This cold, haughty woman is crumbling to pieces. She is not the only one. Bellatrix is mad with grief; Cissy too, maybe even more so, but Bella can't help but feel personally responsible because she was supposed to look out for her baby cousin (she had sworn to do so when Sirius had left and Orion and Walburga say nothing to refute this). Walburga is also convinced that Voldemort is responsible for her son's death. As everyone descends upon n°12 to try and make sense of this tragedy (and decide what the fuck happens now since Sirius is a traitor and there are no Black heirs left), Bellatrix is alone without the Dark Lord by her side (and her aunt is being Very Mean). Both Barty and Rabastan, who had loved Regulus, are not doing well at all. In all of this, Rodolphus ditches his mistress (the Lestranges aren't exactly living together at the moment) because his wife needs him (and his little brother too, although Rod doesn't know that they were more than friends). She is NOT happy about it at all. The task of consoling Bella is left to her estranged husband because the Dark Lord is nowhere to be found at the moment and the Lestranges' marriage starts to improve. Before leaving Grimmauld Place, Bella goes up to Reggie's room in search of answers, a trail, anything. She only finds a series of journals that Kreacher is attempting to destroy. Later, she asks the Dark Lord if he was responsible for Regulus' death and he denies any involvement. The scene is from his pov and we get confirmation that no, it wasn't him, but at the same time he really doesn't care what happened to the boy who was a mediocre Death Eater at best and a weakling at worst. Once again he is not the centre of Bellatrix's world and he is (irrationally and selfishly) mad at her for it. (#thegirlsarefighting, once again) [I've debated on whether or not to give him an on-screen death or not, between chapters 35 and 36, and while I might write it in, I am more inclined to say no at the moment. I feel there are hundreds of Reggie death fics, since that's basically the only bit of character info we get on him in canon; it's already been done, time and time again, and I wonder if I can make it more impactful by having it happen off-screen]

Ch.40 - The Prophecy February 1980. Severus Snape goes for a drink at the Hog's Head (where he might or might not have a side hustle selling dubious potions/poisons) and overhears the first part of the prophecy. He then goes to his best bud Lord Voldemort to tell him what he heard. Suffice it to say, he does not take it well. Harry's birth is about five months away. Do you know who else's birth is about five months away? Draco Malfoy's. Narcissa is absolutely terrified that the prophecy could be about Draco and she gets into a furious argument with Bellatrix, who is always on the Dark Lord's side. Horrible things are said. In the end, Bellatrix says something along the lines of 'I would gladly give any child of mine up to the Dark Lord' and Cissy is like 'Even if it means their death, Bella?' and well. Rodolphus is not pleased with the answer. He goes to see Elizabeth (did I mention that's his mistress' name?) who is tutoring Severus at the time (in potion-making; loooong story). She feels guilty about things that have happened in the past and makes an effort to be there for Rod but at the same time, she is pissed because lately he seems to only seek her out when he wants to bitch about his wife and how poorly she treats him. [this chapter is unwritten, it hasn't been completely fleshed out yet and to be honest I don't really love it; I have a clear picture of how it begins, which I like, but I'm not sure of any of the other scenes. I hate filler chapters. I want it to be snappy/interesting but I can't figure out how to make it work. Bella's fight with Cissy and Rod's bitching to Elizabeth are both scenes that don't really progress their characters/have happened before, so they might get scrapped. I also have no idea what to do with either Rabastan, Evan or Barty in this chapter because I suck at side-plots and this story is in desperate need of them. So this chapter might get entirely re-written based on story needs; in all of this, Voldemort still has no idea what his last Horcrux should be] Hurt/Comfort is not even a draft, just a file with jotted-down ideas in my WIP folder. It's Bellamort. It's explicit. It's basically smut-with-psychological introspection where Voldemort tries dominatrix therapy. I have a very clear idea of their sexual dynamics and in this story I wanted to subvert all of them. I wanted to make him submissive and her dominant. I also wanted to explore his childhood trauma (and give him sexual dysfunctions in the meantime??? who knows, it's like three lines of meta and that's it). I can't see him being into humiliation, honestly, but I can see him having a fucked-up relationship with pain. Anyway, good stuff. If I ever get around to writing about it again.

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herpronuonsarefemslash · 4 years ago

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Teaser for “Hop, Skip, and a Jump”

A Bellamione fic that explores what happens when the Department of Mysteries duels end in Hermione taking Bellatrix down with a whip, which leaves an impression on Bella when she's sent back to Azkaban. Luna invents a longer-range time turner, Hermione is lonely after divorcing Ron, and the Black sisters were just legendary for getting up to gay nonsense... https://www.patreon.com/posts/48881466 Harry is thrashing in Remus grip, refusing to believe it and trying to dive through the Veil. Hermione takes in the other members of her merry band of child soldiers.

Ron's a mess. Black eye. Split lip. Bloody knuckles. Dark red staining the tips of his sweaty ginger hair where it dips against a cut on his forehead. Looks like a soccer hooligan after a riot. Made excellent use of that table leg when he lost his wand, though.Full marks.

Ginny displayed raw elemental force with wind, cold and lightning that her tiny body shouldn't have been able to contain and reflexes none of them could keep pace with.

Luna was bloody terrifying. She nearly killed a man with an origami dragon made out of interdepartmental memos. Hermione nearly threw up after her first real curse connected, after the first time that she did magic that truly harmed another human being. Yet Luna simply cocked her head and looked curiously at the dragon and was about to pet it when it dissolved.Creativity and lack of inhibitions are useful in a soldier, Hermione supposes.

Tonks is badly hurt, but she's breathing at least. What the fuck was that curse? Dumbledore has been letting her read up on Dark Arts, supervised, and she's never heard of those elements being combined. If there's a person spending their rainy Sundays with a notepad working out new ways to use dark arts, it's probably Bellatrix Lestrange.

A magically amplified voice rings throughout the room.

"I killed Sirius Black, I killed Sirius Black, I killed Sirius Black!"

Harry slips out of Remus' grip and then he's gone.

Fucking invisibility cloak. One of these days, I'm going to hang him with it. ----- Never used an Unforgivable Curse, have you, boy?" she chuckles.

The dark witch's hand is not far from her own wand. She's taunting Harry about having to mean it when he does dark magic.

Pathos versus logos, one French scholar decided when studying the topic. Someone can do ordinary magic emotionlessly, acting out just an idea. Not dark magic. Dark spellwork takes raw emotion and blood magic and dark rites more so.

Which also brings her to the disturbing realization that Bellatrix is not nearly as broken as everyone thinks, and at the same time, she's so much more broken than anyone realized.She's never seen Harry this angry, or this torn up, and he can't summon a cruciatus for a woman who really deserves one.

Bellatrix can let one drop from her lips like its nothing, ten seconds after telling a joke. She's not cold. She's not empty or numb or hollow. Bellatrix Black Lestrange is just too much. She's always boiling over.

She's not dangerous despite being insane because it's not a handicap. Bellatrix is dangerous because she can use her own insanity. Uses her instability as just one more weapon. To be able to do the things she does, to channel wildly different emotions on a moment's notice like that... ----- Hermione spots a bit of velvet rope on the ground, not far from one of the entrances.

"Accio rope," she whispers, calling it slowly into her hand.Bellatrix's fingers are curling around that clawed wand of hers. Any moment now, she's going to make use of the fact that Harry's standing there, barking out curses he doesn't understand the mechanics of, his lip trembling. She's going to kill him.

"Flagellum ingis!" Hermione shouts and the rope in her hand catches fire. Crimson, bloody-looking flames. What had been a few inches of fat velvet is now a thirty-foot coil of nasty-looking black leather. The frayed end becomes a hard metal handle. She swings and, by some miracle, connects. ----- Shacklebolt stares at her for a long time, like he doesn't believe her.

There's a knock on the door.

"Enter," he calls over his shoulder. It's Tonks, wobbling on crutches with an expandable sack under her arm. Her typically pink hair is a messy gray and her metamorphagus skills seem to be trying to shift her dislocated jaw back into shape, against the bracing charm the healers put on her.

"Tonks!"

"Wotcher, Hermione," she chuckles.

"Get it?" Kingsley asks.

"Kreacher wasn't happy about it, but yes."

She tips the sack upside down and drops a huge book on the table. It's bound in crimson silk and black lace. No title on the spine, instead two words. Tojous pur. Always pure. The motto of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. "Looks a bit like fancy knickers, don't it?" Tonks jokes. ----- When the Black Grimoire teleports itself into Hermione's lap, no one's laughing. Arthur Weasley goes white as a sheet and Remus's eyes flicker gold momentarily and she could swear she heard a canine's whine.

"Hermione," Remus says, his voice scratchy and small. "Please. That's..."

"Dangerous," Arthur fills in.

They're all looking at her like she's Darth Vader, suddenly. Like she has to be talked down. Like she's suddenly the most dangerous person in the room. She looks at the book. What spells are in this, anyway, that it being in her lap makes the entire Order of the Phoenix flinch?

"I don't want it!" she protests.

The book teleports itself again. Where it goes, none of them can figure out.

----- The book comes back again the night before the battle. She asks Tonks over to try to get rid of it. "S'not something to be afraid of, little devil," Tonks says. "Doesn't have to be." Little devil is Tonks' nickname for her, after finding a photo of Hermione gothed-out at age eleven, a few weeks before she got her letter. She's stopped using it around others. "I'd think you'd hate the Blacks," Hermione mumbles.Tonks sighs, shifting her skirts out of the way and sitting down on the bench beside her. Hogsmeade is empty. Cleared out so fast that everyone left almost everything. They've been eating like kings, and it helps. Tonks especially is thriving. Crazy bitch decided to put the witch-or-wizard debate to bed for all time by rejoining the war nine days after giving birth, slinging spells while leaking milk into her clothes. "I think that'd be like using a time turner to kill my grandparents," Tonks admits. She puffs at her hair, which goes pink, then blue, then green, then turns to something rather like glass. "Being a Black gave me this ability.” "Let's take a look, shall we?" Tonks squeezes her hand tight, and together they open the grimoire. "I'll keep you safe." ----- She's staggering out of the Great Hall. Bloody. Aching. Alive. Before she can find a banister to lean on, Tonks slams into her. Hermione wails. "Sorry," Tonks squeaks. "Just ribs," she grumbles. "What is it?" "Page two hundred seventeen. Knowing what that curse looks like? Saved my life. Remus' too." Hermione huffs."Next time you're trying to thank me, let's talk, all right?" The Grimoire appears in her trunk on the way back to Hogwarts to re-take her seventh year. This time, it won't leave, even when ordered to. ----- Everything is pain and exhaustion. But Rose is gorgeous. She's everything. Hermione fumbles for her wand, gathers the birth blood into the air and then whispers out an ancient curse with her lips pressed to her eldest's tiny, sticky head. Not all curses are meant to hurt the one at the center of them. The Mother's Curses are darker than night and because of the blood linking caster to target, far more powerful than ordinary spells. ------ They split after Hugo's born. It's more to do with her campaign for Minister, which she loses by a hair, than the 'neglect' of Hugo who she keeps so close she thinks that Molly would have blushed. As divorces go, it's bloodless. Pureblood-muggleborn marriages can be rocky, of course, and she produced heirs for the Weasley line. So from the traditionalist point of view, the muggle divorce and the Gringotts paperwork don't mean much. The same ceremony showed that their children's blood bears more of her magic than his. For that reason, or some other reason, Ron never bad-mouths her in public. She never moves to have their names changed to merely 'Granger'. She hears 'mudblood' whispered for the first time in a long while. ----- On one side of her desk, the plaque bears bold green letters that thrum with sorcery. Hermione Jean Granger, Minister of Magic On the other side, visible only in the presence of a Dumbledore's Army coin, she scratched a second marking in one of Tolkien's half-right, half-wrong scripts of Elvish. here sits a servant of the elves ----- "WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, A BLACK?" a woman shrieks outside her office. Hermione groans, dropping her fork back into her takeout container.Harry chuckles, glancing up from his case file. "Your damn fault," she mutters."You needed the help, old friend. Be a shame if paperwork killed you after all this." "It'd be the most evil thing that tried, so it makes sense." She flicks her wand at her office door. "In here, both of you!" she barks. ----- "Sarah?" Hermione asks, desperate to hear a human voice across the shuffling of papers. "Yes, ma'am?" "Something's been bugging me about...the incident." Missy stiffens. "What?" she asks, flipping another sheet face down."You said, what do you take me for, then added the word Black." There's a polite throat-clearing so familiar sounding that has Hermione scrambling for her wand and leveling it at a sixteen-year-old girl. "Right. Sorry," she mumbles. "Sounded a bit like..." "Umbridge," the girl laughs. "Professor Longbottom and Professor Abbot complain too." "I keep telling her that's going to get her jinxed," the boy next to her huffs. "Interrupting people who that lunatic tortured in mid-lecture rather than just raising her hand." "Shut up, Ballard." "Go on...uh...""Myn," the girl chirps, offering her hand. "Mynara Wallsworth." Hermione shakes it and then bows. "Enlighten us, wise one." "It's just that the Blacks are notorious. There's a bunch of scratches on the sixth-year Slytherin dorm's walls. Hard to tell with fading, but at least twenty. According to legend, it's one mark for each girl who got a hat trick." "A what?" "Each girl who snogged all three of the Black sisters during school."

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thelucyverse · 4 years ago

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Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

I end up in the middle of an informal Order meeting- just a dinner, I suppose, but it looks like a meeting to me as I have only seen these people at Order meetings in the past years.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asks, in a mixture of confusion, anger (at the world in general and because he can't visit his best friend all the time, being his secret keeper) and happiness (because I was a distraction from anger and frustration?).

"I- something happened. V- /the Dark Lord/," I catch myself, being around them almost made me forget the danger of that name, "he had some of his followers under a kind of mind control- I broke it, and there was chaos, and a few death eaters died- you can put Malfoy and Greyback on that list, one of the Carrows too I think, and Nott and Avery were in pretty bad shape last I've seen- and-" "Malfoy him or Malfoy her?" Sirius asks. I want to raise an eyebrow, say 'I didn't know you cared', but then I catch the way he is looking in the direction of the kitchen. Oh. Andromeda. I hadn't realised she was around. "Just him" I quickly explain. "Actually, that's another thing- I didn't exactly come here alone..."

There is definitely a lot of shouting involved, and I am just about ready to run outside, grab Bella and get away from here, when Andromeda stomps out of the kitchen and past everyone to open the door. Suddenly, it's very silent in the living room.

"Narcissa." Andromeda says, her voice cold but her resolve to stay that way definitely wavering. "And- Bella, you too? Regulus??"

"What?!" Sirius pushes her out of the way to see his younger brother. "Reg?! What the fuck?! Wait, you were under mind control??"

"Uh, no, actually" Regulus winces, scratches his head, taking an involuntary step back. "Really just didn't know how to get out, at this point... Did try to do some shit, but someone had gotten there before me, and then I kinda didn't have the energy to try again..." Sirius groans and shakes his head at him. "Fucking Slytherins..." "He took down Carrow" Bella interrupts. There's definitely some pride for her cousin in her voice. "You what?"

Interrupting before this gets more chaotic than necessary, I explain: "Actually, out of the three, only Bella was under the mind control. There were others, I have a few suspicions but nothing confirmed. Narcissa was magically bound to her husband in some way, but- well, he's dead now." no need going into the fact that I broke the connection beforehand. People know of your power- people want you to use it. Bad enough I can't pretend like I didn't do the rest- but, if I play it right, maybe it'll just look like it was another Dark Mark related thing instead of soul magic. As long as Bella and Narcissa play along... I curse myself for talking so openly earlier. Heat of the moment...

"And- what? We're supposed to believe that they are just immediately reformed?" Andromeda snaps, pulling me from my thoughts. "In case you have forgotten all about it, my dear sisters never stood up for me when I was cast out, and I'm fairly certain they weren't under any mind control then!" I pinch my neck. "Andromeda" I say, holding up a hand to silence her as well as her sisters. "They would have just been cast out too if they had tried to help you, what did you expect? They're Slytherins, some healthy egoism is in their blood! And-" I take a deep breath- "yes, they grew up around blood supremacy ideology and probably never questioned it much, but tell me- if you hadn't fallen in love with Ted, if you hadn't had any /reason/ to question it yourself, would you have acted any different than them?" Andromeda is silent, and I sigh. "Yes, they aren't perfect people, but they are ready to act against the Dark Lord, and isn't that all we need to know right now? You don't need to get on, but we can't afford to be picky with our allies at the moment."

Andromeda nods, stares at her sisters for a long moment and turns around to disappear in the house. In that moment, however, Regulus cries out and lands on his knees, hand pressing against his arm. I curse. "Fuck!" I should have thought of that, I should have /anticipated/ that and done something about it! Of course, the second maze of dark marks hadn't been broken, and Regulus hadn't been part of the first...

Bending down to get a better look at it, I am appalled: this isn't just a second round of the same thing, but a new, terrifying curse instead. This isn't just meant to curse pain and summon people, this is-

Breaking away from the magic with a gasp, I sit back and disarm him, then grasp Regulus' face, force him to look into my eyes. "The Dark Lord can control you through that" I hiss. "And it isn't- it isn't like the others, and I don't have /time/, he's going to act, he might try to take over your body- the only way to get rid of it I can think of is to get rid of the arm. Regulus?" He stares at me, shell-shocked and still obviously in pain. Then he presses out: "Do it."

I turn around to the others, looking for help. "Does anyone- he'll need medical attention at least-" "I'm getting Pomfrey!" Dädalus Diggle squeaks out and disapparates. I wince. Pomfrey means Dumbledore. Well, best get it all over with. I turn around to Regulus- only to find him staring back with unseeing eyes. Fuck. He turns on the spot, trying to apparate- and falls on his face. Thank Fuck has I thought to disarm him. It's easy to tie him up now, and he doesn't seem to be properly possessed by anything that could talk- Voldemort probably just sent out a generic 'come home' signal.

"What's happening to him?" Sirius shouts behind us, alarmed. "The fuck did she just say was happening" Bella hisses at him, and I smile at her protectiveness of me. Whatever else happens, I think we can figure out the thing between us.

The /cracks/ of apparition around us alert us of the arrival of newcomers, and we all immediately raise our wands in defence- it's Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, McGonnagall and Pomfrey (do they hang out for tea together, or what?), but I don't lower my defence immediately. "How many stories does the house behind us have?" I hiss. "Two" Dumbledore answers calmly. "It is really just us. Now, what is going on her?" "Constant vigilance!" Mad-Eye booms "She has it right! All of you, lowering your wands like little-" "Alastor!" McGonnagall interrupts him indignantly. In that moment, Dädalus arrives, carrying an assortment of medical equipment and potions bottles. Pomfrey steps forward to take some of them of him. "I was told there would be a patient?"

"Not yet" I say, nodding to Regulus. "But could we maybe move inside first?" that leads to another discussion ultimately abandoned for the moment when Regulus starts to twitch and I can see the curse slowly flickering past his elbow...

Mad-Eye is the one to do the actual amputating, and while I don't understand that choice, I believe in Pomfrey's judgement, and I'm glad it doesn't have to be me. Somehow, blood and open wounds in a medical environment are just more bile-inducing than in battle. Plus, it means I can be there for Bella when the continues discussion amongst the people not involved in the amputating turns back to what to do and where to go. We can't exactly keep standing just outside of the Fidelius property forever.

"Oh, for god's sake!" I finally hiss- for a moment then, I am afraid because I used a muggle idiom, but then I remember where I am. I turn to Dumbledore. "Let's use your pensive. You can tell when a memory has been tampered with, can't you? Let's go." Mad-Eye comes with us, and the five of us apparate to the Hogwarts gates. It is the first time I actually see the castle. It is, somehow, both more and less impressive than expected. Narcissa is the first Dumbledore asks for her memories. They are a jumbled mess of colours and shock and /fear/, neatly highlighting the scene where she /has/ to check on Lucius when he is unconscious, not revealing much about my actions apart from the fact that I used an imperius on Malfoy. Dumbledore raises an eyebrow at that, but he doesn't comment, and Mad-Eye just snorts: "Had it commin'!" Bellatrix' memory is first even more jumbled than Narcissa's, darkness of hatred clouding thoughts and judgement, only to go over in sharp, clear pain when her soul is healing herself. She doesn't show the scene of me telling them about soul-magic, either. Then I show my recap- how Bellatrix first changed after going to a meeting with Voldemort, how others had similar changes or behaviors, how Bellatrix collapsed under some outside influence- then back to how Narcissa never seemed to like her husband, how I cut the connection to him, and finally how, through Lucius' eyes under the imperius, I broke the connect of the Dark Mark to Voldemort. Dumbledore and Mad-Eye seem to buy that as the full story. After each taking a magicians' oath not to knowingly and actively aid Voldemort in any way (I demanded the phrasing instead of a vow not to act against the Order. That had too much room for complications), they were given the Secret of Tine Cottage, and we went back to Headquarters.

Just as Regulus is sitting down on the chair next to sirius, one cursed arm lighter and a grim expression on his face, Snape stumbles in- and it is that stumbling that saved him, because instantly, Mad-Eye, McGonnagal and I all have our wands pointed at him. The others would have probably just kept them pointing in threat, but I immediately disarm and stun him. "What-" squeaks Dädalus. I shake my head, walk over, kick away his wand and cast a diagnostic. I shiver. I might not like the man that much, but he doesn't deserve this. "It's the same as Regulus" I say slowly. "Only I don't think it's on his arm... The tattoo on his arm is empty, it must have been one of the ones I destroyed... This one is on his chest, over his heart." McGonnagal gasps in shock. I had heard that she and Snape are something like friends, now, or at least good colleagues, despite her having been his teacher not too long ago. I feel sorry for her.

"What can we do?" Regulus asks, staring at the pale form of Snape on the ground. I realise that he must have just found out that Snape isn't on Voldemort's side. "Right now, we have to make sure he can't move or talk, no matter what the Dark Lord wants him to do. Madam Pomfrey?" She sets to work putting Snape into a magically induced coma. I am thinking hard now. "Dumbledore- can you be sure that your Fidelius holds when Riddle possibly saw every last thought in Snape's head?" "The Fidelius is a charm of-" "I don't need a lesson, I need an answer!" I hiss. Some of the others are clearly distraught by the way I am talking to their leader, as if they don't remember that it was the same way before I went undercover. "...rest assured, it will hold." Dumbledore answers. "Now, my dear, I believe we have to have a discussion long overdue- while I am gratified to hear that Tom is weakened, your rash actions have put many at risk, including Severus here. And of course, the use of the Imperius curse-"

I explode, barely hearing how Mad-Eye grumbles about the unforgivable curses being legal for aurors at wartime. "Oh /shut up!/" I shout. "Shut up with your holier than thou attitude, and don't you dare talk down to me again calling me your 'dear'! I had acted immediately because it was already happening, you saw the damn memory, you saw how Bella collapsed, but I suppose I should have just left her to die 'for the greater good'! And don't pretend to even care about Severus, you wouldn't even have let him join the Order if we hadn't talked you into it, after all you already had your spy! And don't think I didn't notice how you didn't even care to mention Regulus- he's sitting here and missing an arm! And the goddamn imperius curse was fucking necessary to break the curse in the marks, plus it's not like I could have let Lucius go otherwise, anyway, yes maybe there would have been a better way but not in that moment when I didn't have any time! And /don't you dare pretend you have never done something questionable!/ I know your history maybe better than anyone else in this room apart from yourself, or /including/ if you've deluded yourself well enough! So be damn. Fucking. Careful what you say to me." panting, I sit down, and feel Bellatrix grabbing my shoulder in support. Mad-Eye slides over a glass of whiskey. There's a glint in his eyes as if he's glad to see Dumbledore taken down a notch- funny, I would have thought he was an Albus Dumbledore fanclub fanatic. But I detect no poison in the alcohol, so I down it. Needed that right now.

Dumbledore is silent. Everyone is, really. I sigh. While I'm glad the old man is shutting up for a moment, we still have a war to plan.

"How many of the- /items/ regarding Riddle's downfall have already been collected, and how many more do you think there are?" McGonnagall says. 'Items', really? What, does she think we're all going to turn into vicious crazed murderers to split our own soul if we find out what Horcruxes are? "You got three, right?" I ask. I got Hufflepuff's cup from Bella- uh, you probably don't remember that anymore, you asked to be obliviated afterwards-" "I remember leaving it in Gringotts like he asked, despite my- doubts-..." Bella murmurs. I can't help it, I grin proudly. "You got back into the bank immediately after, got the cup and asked to be obliviated of anything after you first left the bank. Terribly clever, that!" "Wait, was that while she was under the mind control thingy?" Sirius asks, and Regulus leans forward too, probably personally interested. I grimace. "The control she was under wasn't as- explicit- as the one you experienced. It wasn't like she was possessed, she was still herself for the most part, just- more open to murder and serving the Dark Lord unconditionally, basically... And she was already fighting it." then I remember something: "Oh! Wow, how the heck I managed to forget about this I don't even know" I exclaim, then mutter: "it's oozing evil so you'd think I'd've noticed, but I guess there's been too much of that today..." I pull Tom Riddle's diary out if my coat pocket, only touching it with my sleeve. "Number five! Got it from Lucius Malfoy's study. And- I don't actually think there are currently any others? If V- /He/ gets a familiar, we should make sure to kill that too, in case he's twisted enough to try something on a living thing, but otherwise..." silence falls in the room. Then, excited chattering from just about everyone. Despite myself, I have to grin, too, and reach up to squeeze Bella's hand that's still on my shoulder. The war is coming to a close.

Remus Lupin- the only spy we have left- arrives to report that the werewolves are in disarray, and while them not having a leader isn't an ideal state re: not killing anyone on the full moon, it's still definitely better than being lead by Greyback, who would have them kill on purpose. Also, not many of them are going to follow Voldemort- apparently, the Deatheater liaisons just stopped showing up. That's something. Are other Deatheaters just disappearing, too? Fleeing or dead? I wonder. And I propose an idea: to lure out Voldemort and all his followers for one big final battle to get rid of them all with a bang. Because while getting rid of the Dark Lord himself is the main goal, I'm afraid many if the Deathesters aren't quite as worshipful of him as they might have been in the distant future- they still see an organization that he happens to be the leader of, not a philosophy that stands and falls with him. If we take him out, what says another won't take over? "We know he has less people in his ranks than before, possibly less than he knows, probably less than the followers he still does have know- he wouldn't tell them that their position is weakened. If we can lure his army somewhere into the open- a field, or even Hogwarts grounds as long as the school is still closed- we can disappear in his army, dressed as Deatheaters ourselves, and take them out from within before it can even come to an attack" I suggest.

That leads to another great discussion, but in the end my idea is accepted. Which leads the question: how do we lure him out, what do we use as bait? "I have the full prophecy of which he only knows half." Dumbledore tells us. "What prophecy?" "Prophecy, what prophecy?" oh, how nice to see that his people are always fully informed of what's going on. Not. An explanation (and a lot of sneering about wanting the prophecy to come true from my side to Dumbledore, which leads to Sirius and Remus getting mad at him too in defense of their godson) later, Narcissa asks: "But how do we get the Dark Lord to go after it?" before immediately blushing, looking down and wanting to disappear. It's the first time she has said anything in this meeting. "We could use Snape" Bella chimes in. I grin. "That's a grand idea- he knows Snape's a spy and undoubtedly also who he is with, he's going go keep trying to look through his eyes... If, the next time Pomfrey would have to renew the coma spells, we just chain him to the bed instead and let him wake, we can have people visit him- several, to make it more believable, with most just there to talk to Snape and try to talk him out of his mind control- but me, or one of you two- or Regulus, too- we could go in to speak to Voldemort through him, to taunt him, to make it seem like we think we've already won because of what the prophecy said..."

Getting Voldemort to bite is disgustingly easy. We put Snape in a hospital bed in Hogwarts to make sure Voldy will come to the right location, then Dumbledore comes to talk to Severus about fighting the evil within while completely ignoring all that Tom has to say to the topic- next is Lily, who has a pretty good fake cry, pretending that she wants her best friend back while of course the true reason is for old Morty to see her at Hogwarts- if the prophecy isn't enough, the prospect of getting to the Potters /and/ the prophecy might do. And then, entry Bella, laughing mean and half-crazed about what she has heard about the prophecy the Dark Lord was so in love with, and that he would never get to rule ever again because he was stupid enough to believe half-knowledge was enough, and that little attacks by his followers were getting him anywhere, how good for us it was that he holed up his own power in a cave to rot. Yeah, Voldy-Snape snarled pretty impressively when she left the room, I'm kind of sorry for the state of Snape's teeth from all that grinding them.

Meanwhile, we have copied Death Eater masks and cloaks while also managing go get in contact with a few of the others I had suspected to be under 'mind control'. Arleen Singer, Corban Yaxley, Sabina Frey... Sabina has scars on her face she hadn't had when I had last seen her, and a part of me feels guilty for not making sure that she got out of Malfoy Manor safely- on the other hand, I'm just glad the scars aren't on mine of Bellatrix' faces.

On the day of the battle, everything feels rather anticlimactic. We had all preparations ready days before, having hurried not knowing when Voldemort would come, and even though he comes in the dead of night, many are already awake and the rest do wake when the first alarm is triggered. We move, silent and disillusioned until we reach our location, into the rows of death eaters and the rest of the Dark Lord's followers. We had decided to go in pairs, to pre-decided locations far enough apart that the stunning spell-bombs we have won't reach the other pairs. There was much discussion about what to do about Voldemort, now that he is most likely mortal, too, and in the end Mad-Eye ended the discussion by stating that as an Auror, he has a kill order on that man, and he won't do anything less. Dumbledore isn't happy about it, but he doesn't need to be. Squeezing Bella's hand under our Death-eater robes, I wait for the signal. It's pretty obvious when it happens- green light where Voldemort stood in the middle of his army, two flashes- one for the snake, one for the man. Then green sparks, the all clear.

Voldemort has fallen.

The Dark Lord is no more.

There will be time for relief later, now I have to move: I activate the ring of the spell-bomb in my hand, aiming away from us, while Bella does the same. As soon as the chaos starts, we scream as if surprised and run forward- past the line that ends the area that is going to trap the Deatheaters. Once we are past it, we pretend to be caught as if by invisible strings- as if this is the dangerous area, and not the one the Deatheaters are already on. The few others who weren't hit stumble back, afraid, and the two who do move forward past the line are caught by actual spells when they don't pretend to be caught to indicate that they belong to us.

Counting the figures with their hands in the air in the position as arranged, I smile when I see that we all made it back out alright. Raising my hand and shooting green sparks in the air, the rest of our team raise the anti-apparition, anti-magic in general wards on the area the Death eaters are on, plus physical shields not only surrounding the area but also in partages, in case one of them goes on a rampage he won't be able to get to everyone of them now. Deatheater or not, those people should get a trial now that the war is over. McGonnagall sends a patronus to the ministry, and Mad-Eye goes to collect more Aurors.

I don't stay to find out what happens next. My part is done here.

In the Great Hall in Hogwarts, breakfast is layed out. I sigh as we enter, leaning into Bellatrix, finally able to relax somewhat. Bella smiles, then slowly walks over towards the Slytherin table, stroking her hand over the old wood. What memories is she thinking on? "What would your house be?" she asks me instead. "I know you were never sorted." I frown. I had never given this much thought. During the war, I had done many things one could call stupidly brave, but I hadn't done them out of chivalry or to prove that I wasn't afraid. Many actions were, of course, means to an end, calculating in Slytherin ways... And I had had to be clever, and I valued intelligence. But then again... "The sorting hat usually decides what house you are at eleven" I muse. "Had I been sorted at that age, I would have undoubtedly been a Slytherin, angry at my fate, at the world, ready to do just about anything to anyone to get what I wanted. Then throughout my life, however... I did things that fit in all four houses. Maybe not Gryffindor, at the very least less. But at the moment, what I would choose, or what the hat might choose for me based on my values? Hufflepuff. Kindness, loyalty, we need more of that in this fucked up world."

Part 5

#wip

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theelderswear · 8 years ago

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Men Among Wolves: Chapter One

This is the first chapter of my fanfic, based on this post by @asktheboywholived . A huge thank you to @justasmall-obscurial for editing this because I fucking suck at writing. *finger guns*

Prologue ~ Chapter Two

“Sirius, get back here!” shouted Bellatrix, running after her younger cousin.

He was dodging her, moving between the stalls in the market in an attempt to avoid her rage. Not five minutes prior, Sirius had placed a spider by her face and told her that they could be twins. Bellatrix, unfortunately had not taken too kindly to the obvious compliment, and was now attempting to strangle the living daylights out of him.

The crowd was seemingly against her, people parting like sheep to let Sirius pass, whereas no such favour was granted to Bellatrix. “Get out of my way.” she growled, shoving them aside.

But it was too late. Sirius had already circled around to the palace, and was now in the protection of the guards. The future heir’s safety was paramount, and not even Bellatrix was an exemption to the rule of ‘do not touch’.

She gave a frustrated shout, kicking at the dirt on the ground. Those around her decided it would be a good idea to give her some space. “This is all your fault, you-” she yelled towards the gate, hoping Sirius would hear her.

“Bellatrix,” a quiet voice came from behind her.

Whipping around, she was met first with an abundance of blond hair, and then pale skin and bright blue eyes. “Narcissa,” she seethed, her hand twitching.

Narcissa saw this, and reached out to pull her inside. Bellatrix was not one to be handled, however, and moved out of her sister’s grasp. “I can walk myself.”

Bellatrix stalked inside while Narcissa followed closely behind, checking over her shoulder frequently. “You have to be more careful, Bella,” she hissed once the door was closed.

“I know that. But Sirius-”

“Will be dealt with appropriately. We have to maintain our image.”

Scowling, Bellatrix grabbed a nearby vase and whipped it at the wall, shouting in anger. Narcissa moved to calm her sister,but both froze when they heard Walburga.

“Can someone explain to me why my favourite vase is on the floor in pieces?”

She had aged rather well in the past six years, with very little grey painted into her hair. Her face was miraculously wrinkle free, considering the stress of raising Sirius and running an entire empire at the same time. Walburga looked elegant, as usual, but that didn’t mean that her piercing gaze was any less terrifying.

“Sirius irritated Bella, yet again.” Narcissa supplied, shooting Walburga a small smile.

Bellatrix scoffed, “He teased me. He won’t learn, aunty.”

Walburga sighed, walking towards the two. “Have I not told you many times before that I would handle it? That you should simply come to me?”

“Yes, but-”

“But nothing.” Walburga corrected. “You know our intentions for you and Sirius. If you can’t learn to handle him, then I can’t teach him to respect you. He plays off of your reactions. You amuse him when you get irritated. So don’t amuse him.”

Although very obviously not pleased with what she’d been told, Bellatrix gave a curt nod before stalking off to her room. The two remaining women watched as she left, with the older one shaking her head. “She’s eight years older then him, and yet she still acts like they’re the same age.”

“Do you really intend to marry them?” Narcissa asked, turning to look at her aunt.

Walburga nodded, facing her niece. “They are the eldest. We must keep the bloodline pure, and though they despise each other, it must be done. For the good of the empire.”

“For the good of the empire.” Narcissa echoed, knowing what that meant.

Hard decisions had to be made every day. The empire had to be protected, and sometimes one had to do unpleasant things for it.

On the other side of the palace, Sirius laughed as he entered his room. He moved to pull off his shirt, but was interrupted by a cough from his couch.

Whipping his head around, Sirius saw his second youngest cousin, Andromeda, sitting calmly. “Andy!” he exclaimed. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“You know exactly what, cousin. Don’t think I didn’t find the rat you left in Bellatrix’s room, or the pile of dung on Narcissa’s floor.” Andromeda shot him a look of pure scolding.

Sirius merely rolled his eyes. “And I suppose you cleaned it all up? You always spoil my fun, Andy.”

Andromeda scoffed, standing and walking over to the door. “I don’t spoil your fun, I protect you from getting yourself hexed. Bellatrix will only put off murdering you for the image of the family , and even that can only last for so long. I’d be very careful if I were you.” And with that she left.

Sirius snorted, kicking off his sandals and relaxing on his bed. “Me. In serious trouble. As if.”

“Maria’s back.” Gaius called from outside of Remus’ tent.

Remus let out a sound of acknowledgement, more focused on the map in front of him then what was being said.

“Remus, did you hear me?”

So caught up in his plans, Remus hadn’t heard Gaius sneak up behind him, and jumped about a foot in the air when a strong hand clapped on his shoulder. “Gods, Gaius, you frightened me.” Letting out a sigh, he rolled up his map. “I’m afraid I didn’t, no.”

Gaius let out a hearty chuckle, ruffling up Remus’ hair. “Maria’s returned.”

Over the past six years, Gaius hadn’t changed much. He’d lost a chunk of his lower lip, grown a beard, and his hair was going grey at the temples. His muscles and scars had doubled, but as intimidating as he looked, Remus knew he was quite soft on the inside.

Hearing the good news, Remus rushed outside, finding a group of people surrounding the older woman. “Maria!” he shouted, gaining her attention.

She fought through the crowd to get to her protege, swatting away hands who reached out for her satchel. “No, not for you!”

“Remus, it’s always a pleasure to see you. Now, tell me, where has our fearless leader hidden himself?”

There was no excessive affection with her. Maria never wasted time getting to the point.

Gesturing to Romulus’ tent, Remus walked his mentor towards the leader of their pack. “He’s been in there for a few days now, planning.”

Entering the tent, Romulus was pouring over a large map of the city that had been stuck down with various knives. There were small stones with markings in them: ‘W’ for the wolf pack, ‘B’ for members of the Black empire. It was his way of planning attacks and keeping them from getting wiped out with a miscalculation.

Or, at least, that’s what he told the others. Only Maria, Gaius and usus were allowed to move the rocks. Romulus was only there to rally the pack and recruit other wolves, as he was an excellent speaker.

“Don’t look at that just yet. I have some information for the others that might warrant a change in plan.”

Romulus turned around, a grin spreading across his face as he saw his friend. “Maria! Good to see you! It’s been too long.”

As he pulled her into an embrace, Maria protested his statement. “Only one moon, Romulus. It wasn’t like last time.”

The mood was tense as they remembered how long Maria was gone the time before. Five months, and she returned with two fingers missing. “I told you to be more careful,” Gaius had whispered, patching her up, “The Carrows are not forgiving in the least.”

“But let’s not dwell on that. Romulus, I’d like you to leave, if you don’t mind, and send the other two in.” Maria began pulling out supplies as the two men walked off. “Not you, Remus. I’d like you to stay today.”

Romulus and Remus looked at each other in surprise before Remus shrugged and walked back. “Any particular reason?” he asked, leaning on the table.

“Not much. Only…” Maria took in a deep breath.

“Only what?” Remus felt wary, sensing bad news.

“I think that in maybe six moons or so, I’m going to step down.”

Remus’ eyes widened in shock. Of all the things he thought she’d say, he did not expect that. “But, you’re the best we’ve got.”

Maria shook her head. “My job can be taught. Which is why you’re here now. You will take my place.”

Nodding slowly, Remus accepted her decision. It wasn’t his to make, after all, and if Maria was truly stepping down, then it was the only viable option. “What led you to make this choice?” he asked, curious.

“A multitude of things. I’m not as young as I used to be, and running around all the time is taking a much higher toll than it used to.. You, Remus, have the potential to do so much greater than I ever could, and you have the young body to do it. My encounter with the Carrows made me realize just how dangerous it is, going out and collecting information. I don’t think that it’s the right job for me anymore, not now that I’m…”

Maria glanced down at the ring on her finger. She had recently gotten engaged to another member of the pack, and they were to be married soon. “I don’t want Lainus to wake up one morning with the news that I’ve died hundreds of miles away, and he could do nothing to stop it.”

Remus gave a sound of agreement, and placed his hand on hers. “I look forward to learning from you, Maria.”

Gaius and Marius sauntered in, dissipating the tense mood between Remus and Maria. “Let’s get down to business, my friends.” Marius proclaimed, clapping his hands together.

It was several hours before they retired to their respective tents. Finally alone, Remus ran through the plans over and over in his head.

In a week's time, a group of men from the south would be coming to the city with weapons. A a small group would head one way to cause a distraction, while a slightly larger one would head south shortly thereafter to interrupt the supply and steal the weapons. They would spend the next week to go through the plan with a fine toothed comb, as well as choose who would be going. The day before, they would tell Romulus who would tell the pack.

Remus was to stay behind and look after everyone else. It was impossible to know just how secure the area was, so having someone Romulus trusted staying to defend was a relief.

He knew Gaius would be part of the group manning the distraction. “Draw as much attention to yourself as possible. Once you’ve finished, send up a smoke signal. We’ll know then that it’s time to attack.” Maria had said, moving around some rocks on the map.

She was going, for once, as this was an important attack.They couldn’t afford any mistakes so close to the city. Marius, their man on the inside, couldn’t be seen by anyone from the Black empire. He always snuck out of the city and made sure his tracks were covered when he entered their region.

Remus sighed as he put away his plates. No use dwelling on what was to come. It would happen the way it was destined, the way the gods willed it to. Nothing he could do would change that.

As he settled in for the night, Remus thought about Maria’s situation. Her declaration had seemed odd, but he supposed she knew best. He just hoped that her fiancée wasn’t forcing her into anything, otherwise Lainus would find Remus’ fist uncomfortably familiar.

That thought was what accompanied him as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

AN: Tada! Chapter one... yeh... Not much to say... *crickets*

#ooc #my writing #harry potter #sirius black #remus lupin #asktheboywholived #wolfstar #au #men among wolves

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