Chapter One
Whispers of the Yewbeam Aunts
Sparkle Stardust wasn't quite sure what she would do if the Weasley boys actually let the Yewbeam aunts into their joke shop. The Yewbeam aunts were brutal, but few outside of the Bone, Dustman, and Yewbeam families knew that. Still, to escape her witchy old aunts- who weren't even her real aunts, anyway, but her cousins on her mother's side- she'd have to duck into Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and try to hide somewhere. Otherwise, her cousin Paton would have to rescue her from Number Thirteen again. Last time, they'd barely made it back to Filbert Street.
Fred and George Weasley were behind the counter, feeling morbidly despondent. Business wasn't exactly falling, but it wasn't exactly great, either. No one had come into their shop in the last five hours. It was now noon, and they hadn't had any customers yet.
"What d'ya reckon, Fred?"
"We'll be swamped in an hour."
"You said that an hour ago."
"Right you are, George."
It was right about then that something amazing and portentous happened to the Weasley twins. Sparkle Stardust, of the violet and gold eyes and long, white-streaked black hair, ducked inside their shop and then sprinted to the back and hid behind an oak cabinet full of patented daydreams. She didn't even stop to catch her breath until she'd slid out of sight of the door.
"Um, excuse me, Miss, but, are you all right?" Fred rushed to where the girl had dropped out of sight and found her clutching her chest, gasping, with tears in her eyes. She wrapped her long arms around both her legs and grimaced.
"No, I... these four women... they're following me. Please, is there a place I can go? Somewhere I can hide? Anywhere, please?"
The younger Weasley twin was to be commended. He didn't ask questions, he didn't stop to consider her story. He asked, "Can you Apparate?" When she shook her head, he turned to George. "If anyone asks, I'm in London looking for more Muggle magic tricks. This girl was never here."
"You got it, Fred. Where're you going?"
"The Burrow. Be back in a few."
With a loud CRACK! Fred disappeared, the girl with him.
A few moments later, four women walked into Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. One of them was drastically younger than the others, and her hair was a beautiful raven black without a trace of white. Her name was Venetia Yewbeam. One was considerably older than the others, her hair shock white, without a trace of black. Her name was Grizelda Bone (nee Yewbeam). The other two were in varying stages of going gray. They were Eustacia and Lucretia Yewbeam. The four of them were the Yewbeam aunts.
"Excuse me, young man," Venetia murmured politely, "have you seen our niece? You would have noticed her. Wild eyes, yellow and purple. Her hair, beautiful black hair, is going a bit white, young though she may be. She would've rushed in here just a few moments ago. Is she here?"
"No, ma'am," George replied, lying unabashedly. "No one's been in or out since my brother Fred left a few hours ago." The red-haired young man knew the four old bats didn't believe him, but for some reason, they were wary of coming against him. Why? Fear of his magic? Surely they were witches, though, and capable of magic on their own.
"Are you quite certain, young man? Perhaps you've momentarily just forgotten?" Eustacia Yewbeam asked, smiling most charmingly. George was not one to be charmed. He replied steadily, "No, ma'am, I would've known. I've been at the counter all day, I would've seen someone come in. Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies, it's closing time. It's my lunch hour, y'see."
"Well," Grizelda Bone muttered as the aunts left the joke shop. "Now what the hell are we supposed to do about that girl?"
"Perhaps the Baudelaire-Quagmire-Dustmans know where she is," Lucretia murmured.
"Maybe the Lancre-Dustmans know," said Eustacia.
"I bet the SDS Dustmans know where the little bitch is," Venetia snarled.
"Or perhaps... perhaps the almighty and powerful Lillith knows where her grandchild is," Grizelda hissed, and began walking very quickly, trying to remember the way to Lillim Castle.
Watching and listening from the door of Madame Malkin's Luna Lovegood ran into Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and asked George if she could use the flat's fireplace to get to her cousin Charlie's house.
Madison Dustman was very careful to slip away from her three cousins, Sam, Selena, and Ollie Sparks, when dawn had broken that morning over their all-night chess tournament. Although Madison was not a witch, and although Sam and Ollie were merely endowed, not wizards, Selena had taught them to play wizards' chess. Sam and Selena were at the final match. Ollie and Madison were no match for Sam.
So while Sam and Selena played chess, and Ollie hunted up some of their Aunt Muriel's strawberry jam for himself and their blue boa constrictor, Cobalt, Madison stole away with her large, black backpack and a present wrapped in green paper with a silver bow on top. She was going to see her boyfriend over at Luna Soleil, the House of the Moon and Sun. He lived in the attic.
Making sure that none of the Yewbeam aunts or the Bloor family were around, nor Bellatrix or Narcissa, she crossed the street and slipped inside the doors of the House. The only people awake were the two endowed women, Terra and Wendy. Terra was watching television, but the only thing that seemed to be on the screen was the scenery just outside Luna Soleil. Wendy was watching the Merfolk-Dustman clock, the one with Madison's name on it, and turned as Madison's clock hand touched on the emblem of the moon and sun intertwined.
"Good morning, young mermaid," Wendy murmured. "Your young man is in a right state. I told him it was only dawn, that it might be hard for you to get away. Then he went back to his Legos and started building a tower of green and white. Does that mean anything to you?" The woman asked sharply.
Madison stared at Wendy and wondered just how she'd come to be related to the Elemental-Dustmans. They were close relations, only fourth cousins, but they were completely different from the other Dustmans, especially the Merfolk-Dustmans. For one thing, the four sisters- Cook, Pearl, Wendy, and Terra- were, well, very, very big. It wasn't that they were fat, exactly. No, no, they were just huge. They were matronly women, true, but they were also very stern if they wanted to be, rather intimidating.
"A tower of green and white?" Madison asked, trying not to squirm under the stern gaze of the endowed woman. "He's worried about me. Has he destroyed that dungeon piece yet?"
"No," said Terra from where she sat on a sofa. "He's only made the walls thicker. If a Lego is a foot, then them walls is thicker than ten men abreast. Sparkle ever tell you what's wrong with that boy?" She asked.
"There's nothing wrong with him!" Madison cried. "He's... look, may I go see him now? It's his birthday."
"Middle of summer? Ah, very well, my lovely mermaid, go on up to your beau. We'll keep a look out for any of your relatives. Raven Williams will be up with a cake for the two of you in a bit."
Thanking the two younger Elemental-Dustmans, Madison took the wooden stairs up to the right-hand attic three at a time. When she got the attic door and swung it open, her boyfriend didn't even look up from the tower he was building. He was far enough along now that she could see the beginnings of the Dark Mark done in green Legos throughout the white.
"Hey," she whispered, walking slowly towards him. His stormy gray eyes flicked over to her before he went back to building what looked like the third or fourth ring of Legos around the tower, thickening the walls. Suddenly, he looked up at her, and his eyes cleared for a moment.
"Madison..." His stark, white face crumpled as he began to cry, and he dropped the green Legos as he staggered into her arms, sobbing.
"Dearest, dearest, what is it? What's wrong?"
"The tower... I though he locked you in the tower. I didn't think you were coming back. I thought he got you."
"Who?"
"You know... him." She knew he meant Voldemorte, but she thought it would be better for his mental health if he said the name as much as possible. It would keep him from being so afraid. Fear was what had driven him mad in the first place, fear and pain and misery. Her poor, white Dragon...
"It's all right, Draco," she crooned softly, "I'm here now. I'm here."
When Luna Lovegood fell out of the fireplace of Number Nine, Filbert Street, she fell into Paton Yewbeam's room in a flash of emerald fire. Fortunately, her cousin Paton didn't notice. Unfortunately, the reason her cousin Paton didn't notice was because he was locked in a very passionate (and naked) embrace with her friend Emma's aunt, Julia Ingledew. The kiss they were currently sharing was so deep and throat-probing that they didn't notice Luna scuttle out the door, carefully shut it, and race upstairs to her cousin Charlie's room.
"Charlie-" She began, and barely managed not to trip over the flames when she ran into his attic room. "Oh, goodness, the flames are here," she gasped, and shook out the ash from her hair. "Charlie, the aunts are trying to- where are they going?" The three cats known as the flames dashed out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door.
"Probably to stop whatever the aunts are trying to do. What is it, anyway?"
"They're hunting down Sparkle! They know she's taking care of Draco, and You-Know-Who wants him back. You know no one betrays him."
"But why would that one even bother with the aunts? They're not witches. They're not even all endowed. Only Aunt Eustacia and Aunt Venetia."
"Sparkle's not a witch, either, but you've seen what she can do when she's angry. She's worse than Paton, you know."
"I know, I've seen it."
"What do we do about Sparkle? Charlie, they're going to Lillim Castle!"
Charlie stared at Luna as if she were mad as a hatter, and well he might. Lillim Castle was the one place that Voldemorte, Yorath Yewbeam, or any other enemy of the Dustman family, would never, ever go. Granny Lillith lived there, and though the name granny probably gave people the idea that she was a nice old lady, Granny Lillith wasn't always nice. Sometimes, if the situation suited her, she could be downright mean, and for a demon, and the very first demon at that, mean wasn't anything to laugh at. And the Yewbeam Aunts were going to her castle? In an effort to harm one of her own many times great grandchildren?
"They're mad. We've got to stop them, for their own sake!"
"Could Tancred do it? With a storm?"
"No. No, not even one of Tanc's storms would stop the aunts. Not if they're that determined. Something tells me that this time, not even the Flames could stop them."
"What could, then?" She asked.
"I bet the Stars could." Luna blinked. The Stars? All twelve of the Celestial Cats? "The Stars could stop the aunts, they could."
"That's powerful magic, Charlie, and you know the Stars would've come to get us by now if they were gonna help. I've got an idea, though, but I need a better fireplace. Paton is..."
"Currently engaged, I know," Charlie murmured, grinning wickedly.
"You might have warned me, Charlie." She muttered reproachfully as they went down to the kitchen fireplace. Runner Bean, a big, yellow dog, licked Luna's hand before dashing under the table. He hated magic.
Charlie tossed in the floo powder, and the flames in the fireplace turned a brilliant green. As Luna stepped in, her cousin asked, "Where are you going?"
Luna smiled and yelled, "Rawnadmodsiw!" She was engulfed in green flames, and then she was gone from Number Nine, Filbert Street, just as Benjamin Brown, Gabriel Silk, Olivia Vertigo, Fidelio Gunn, Henry Yewbeam, Ollie Sparks, Tancred Torsson, Emma Tolly, and Lysander Sage all showed up at his front door.
Hermione Granger was not in a good mood. Her hair was crackling and sparkling with static electricity, her head was pounding like the hammering of war drums, and her pupils were dilated as wide as they would go, taking in light that sparkled behind her eyelids. She knew what that meant- Artemis was trying to contact her.
'The moon's not full yet. He knows what this will do to me,' she thought. 'What's he playing at?' When the hammering of drums in her head intensified, she threw herself up from the bed and stalked towards the mirror in what used to be the Weasleys' guest bedroom. Grumbling and fluffing her hair, she found a point of reflected sunlight on the glass and stared at it. Ignoring the burning in her eyes, she watched the glinting light until a buzzing filled her ears.
"Moonbeam?"
"What is it, Artemis?" The voice of her brother in her head sounded tense and frightened. "What's wrong?"
"Something's wrong with Mommy. She's upset."
"Do you know why?"
"Her family... something about a cousin..." Footsteps on the gravel path outside alerted her to the meeting she'd been dreading for two weeks, ever since she'd arrived at the Burrow.
"Artemis, I gotta go. The Lion is here."
"Oh. Watch out for that one, Moonbeam. He's a man-eater."
"Will do."
"The tree hags are coming after us all, Moonbeam."
"Thanks for the warning. I gotta go. Love you, bye." She pulled herself away from the link between her brother and blinked, trying to clear the dancing pinpoints of light from her eyes. She pushed herself away from the vanity and trumped down the stairs just as the living room fireplace flared with emerald fire and spat out one of the twins and an elderly woman.
"George!"
"Sorry, 'Mione, I'm Fred," said Fred, spitting out ashes. "This here is... is... say, what's your name?"
"Sparkle," the elder woman murmured, and brushed the ash from her hair. "Sparkle Stardust. Thank you, so much, I... where are we?" She asked, looking around. Hermione was surprised at the youngness of her voice. When she caught a real close look at Sparkle's face, she realized the strange girl wasn't as old as she'd at first thought. She couldn't be much older than Hermione, herself.
"This is the Burrow," Fred murmured. "Mum! Oi! Mum, I'm home! I've brought a guest!" The entire Weasley family piled into the living room at Fred's shout, and Sparkle Stardust clutched the redheaded prankster's hand for dear life.
"Fred, dear-" Mrs. Weasley cried, but fell silent when the younger of the Weasley twins held up a hand. Everyone, even Percy, shut up.
"Mum, this is Sparkle Stardust. Her aunts are giving her a bit of trouble, of the Death Eater variety, so I wondered if she could stay with us for a bit."
"Wait a sec! Stardust? As in, Silver Penelope Star Dustman?" Sparkle stared at Hermione as if trying to remember something, and then a huge grin spread across her face.
"Moonbeam! What're you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same, Sparks."
"Don't call me Sparks, Moonbeam, you know Ollie and Sam hate it. So this is the Weasley family you always rave about in your letters, eh?"
"Uh-huh."
"What's going on?" Fred asked, dumbfounded. Hermione grinned and replied, "Oh, nothing, Sparkle's just my cousin."
"Cousin? But... that means you're a Muggle."
"Indeed." Sparkle was watching Percy sputter with indignation with a keen eye.
"How did you happen to know about wizards and... and-"
"Too many people in my family are witches and wizards or are married to them. I have experience with magic."
"Well, well, come on, dears!" Mrs. Weasley cried. "Into the kitchen! You look ravenous. Spot of tea?"
As Sparkle and Hermione walked into the Burrow kitchen, Sparkle couldn't help wondering whether the aunts would figure out just where she was or not. If they did, she didn't know if the magic of all these witches and wizards would be enough to protect her.
Emerald fire flared up in the office fireplace of Minerva McGonnagal, and Luna Lovegood tripped over a log as she staggered out onto the carpet.
"Do try not to get ashes everywhere, my dove, please," Thaddeus McGonnagal's ghost requested. Thaddeus's still living wife looked up from paperwork and removed her wire-framed spectacles and set them on the table.
"Luna?"
"Auntie Minerva, the aunts are going to Castle Lillim! You've got to stop them! They'll be killed!" Minerva McGonnagal whistled sharply, and Peeves the Poltergeist appeared out of thin air.
"Ooh, ickle Loony!"
"Peeves!" Minerva cried. "I am sending you to Lillith. Tell her to repel the Yewbeam aunts only, nothing more. Go, now." The poltergeist vanished with cry of, "Damn!" McGonnagal's violet eyes pierced Luna's gaze.
"Luna, were you following the Yewbeam aunts?"
"No, Auntie."
"Are you certain Charlie didn't-"
"No, Auntie."
"Were they after one of ours?"
"Yes, Auntie."
"Who?"
"I... I can't say, Auntie. If I could I would, but... I swore I wouldn't. It's imperative that I don't." Minerva watched Luna intently for about ten minutes, then glanced at the ghost of her husband. Thaddeus nodded towards the fireplace.
"Go home, Luna."
"Yes, Auntie." As Luna stepped into the flames and went to her own house, Minerva slouched against her desk and sighed. If only her brother were still alive. He would know what to do.
"Thad," she murmured. "What could the aunts be up to now?"