Author's Notes: This is a very alternative Battle at the Department of Mysteries. It's so AU that Delphini is Harry's age ;)
Don't leave without a review. This may just turn out to be the start of something.
Prompts and Challenges at the end.
Word count – 2.034
A Snake in Hare's Clothing
It had to be around here somewhere. There were shelves upon shelves upon shelves, reaching so high they could not see the top. On every shelf there was an absurd amount of spheres. Some dark, devoid of any light, some bright white, shinning into the surrounding darkness, some eerily blue, with light shadows that seemed to dance inside.
They were labelled she noticed, all Potter had to do was pay attention, it couldn't be that hard. They did have to find the right shelf, first. Potter had said something about number ninety-seven. She huffed has she tossed her hair back, having to stop herself from flinching at its colour.
She had switched places with Luna at Hogwarts, in the last possible instance. It hadn't been easy, but she had been paying attention to the aloof girl this last year, enough that she could mimic her mannerisms. She could tell something was going on when Draco and his bunch had left running, and she had a deep wish to be of use to her Father. So the moment she laid eyes on Potter and his friends, she had followed the party of six to the Forbidden Forest.
Once there, morphing her features to those of the Lovegood girl was easy enough. Transfigurating her school uniform to match her clothes was harder, but she had been working diligently now that her Father was back. She had to be absolutely perfect to take her rightful place in His ranks. She had aimed her wand carefully, crying Stupefy with all her might in her mind, and seen the blonde girl be tossed to the trees. She had rushed forward from her hiding place, saying something about dropping her wand. That seemed to be enough of an excuse, and it bought her the time to catch the now unconscious witch's wand from the forest's damp ground. Then, she had taken her place on the Thestral's back and flown to London.
All she had to do now was help Harry find the prophecy, so that she could steal it and deposit it in the hands of the Dark Lord.
Deceit was an art made of little things. Little lies that made the act believable. So she stuck to her character while rushing through the Hall of Prophecy, acting a bit detached from reality, and read each metal plate carefully, under the light of a wand that didn't feel quite right on her palm.
Ninety-nine… ninety-eight… ninety-seven!
The object of her desire was so incredibly close. But she couldn't give her game away, not now.
"Harry, it's here," her voice sounded horribly foreign, "ninety-seven, right?"
Harry Potter came running, sliding to the beginning of corridor ninety-seven.
"Where's Sirius? He should be here! We need to find Sirius!"
The others sounded just as surprised, so she acted it too, even if she had not a clue to why they'd be looking for Sirius Black at the heart of the Ministry.
"But we need the prophecy, Harry," she wished she could just use the Imperius curse on the boy right now, "go get it, we'll spread out and look for him afterwards."
She went down the corridor with him, wands held high, illuminating the dusty spheres on the shelves. She never read anything as attentively as she read those labels. Her heart tripped over in her chest when she saw it.
S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D
Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter
"Harry! It's this one!"
"Don't touch it, Harry," came the bushy haired Granger girl's voice, "what if it drives you mad?"
The anticipation was driving her mad.
Delphini saw it as the Boy-Who-Lived held the key to her Father's plans in his hands. The prophecy started singing in his hands, the eerie forms that lived in it started to dance. Maybe, she wouldn't have to steal it. She could listen to the prophecy and then show it to the Dark Lord in her mind.
Then the shadows came. She wasn't afraid of them, but Luna would be, so she ran with the others, trying to think of a way to let her Father's servants know who she really was before a curse landed on her. She made sure to send some orbs flying here and there, some hitting their targets, most of them missing.
At some point, their path was barred by two cloaked and masked figures. The silver hair of the first gave her uncle away. Then a woman, who wore neither cloak nor mask, came forward from the darkness. In her mind, Delphini smiled.
Mother!
She kept her body carefully posed, as if she were a cornered little animal, scared of the mean people. She listened to the exchange from a faraway place in her mind. She was building her plan.
She didn't listen to a single word until Potter lost his temper and screamed at her uncle.
"I know Sirius is here. I know you've got him!"
"It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter. Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."
That was her way to the prophecy. Potter liked playing the saviour. She would play the damsel in distress then, and turn the tables on him. Still perfecting her plan in the back of her mind, she listened as Potter enraged her mother and teased the Death Eaters in front of them.
"NOW!" Potter screamed, and they all took off running, splitting into smaller groups. She had to be alone for this to work, so she made sure she took all the wrong turns. Once she was far enough, and after making sure the Death Eaters were not actually following her, she shrieked.
A terrible, haunting scream, as if Luna was being tortured by one of the cloaked wizards.
"Harry! Please!" The plea was screamed in the same tone. She had to make sure he would come.
She waited, trying to listen over the rake of the crumbling shelves and of the shattering prophecies. She could faintly make out Granger's voice, telling Harry to slow down, to not go alone.
It's useless, Mudblood. He can't help himself. He has to save everyone, don't you know?
She dropped to the floor, holding on to her left ankle. Harry took the corner, rushed to her and immediately kneeled by her side, trying to make sure she was well enough, that she could still walk. She sobbed, telling him a nasty jinx had hit her. She got up, arm over his shoulders. She was putting herself in the line of fire by being with him, but Uncle Lucius had been stern. The prophecy was not to be damaged.
They ran as best they could, with Delphini pretending to have a serious sprain. They could hear the others in the heat of battle. She wanted to fight so badly, she wanted to drop her cover and turn her wand on Potter and be done with it.
"Harry," this was make it or break it time, "give me the prophecy. They won't expect it, and you can go find Sirius."
They stopped dead on their tracks. Or he did and she stumbled against him.
"Are you sure, Luna?" The oaf didn't even spare it a second thought, Delphini mused, fighting her smile.
"Yes," she nodded eagerly, taking a couple of hops away from him, "give it here." She pulled her jumper over her head, thinking how weird that felt in this body. The distances were all a bit off, with her being taller than Luna, so she struggled, huffing her frustration at having to do this while balancing on a foot. Harry held her by the shirt she had on underneath.
She tied up the sleeves with the turtle neck, turned the garment upside down, and held the hem of the jumper as a bag, reminding herself to not put the left foot down, to not smile, to not giggle, to not let her façade falter. She was so excited now that she feared her Metamorphmagus' abilities wouldn't be able to keep her eyes blue or her hair pale blonde.
Harry placed the prophecy inside the makeshift bag, and she let out a little whimper. He looked up to her, probably wondering about how bad her ankle hurt. She quickly wrapped and tied the jumper around the shiny orb and held it to her chest.
She forgot what she was supposed to say. She forgot to not stare at what she held in her arms. He noticed her behaviour.
"Luna, you're starting to scare me," he took a tentative step towards her, propping her by an elbow, "are you alright?"
Harry gave her an inquisitive look. He was starting to see through her cracks, she realized. But if she wasn't listening to what the sphere had to say in here, she was definitely taking it with her. One way or another.
"I scare a lot of people."
That was the wrong answer, but she couldn't care. She raised her eyes to him, knowing the blue there was fading to her true colour. The shade of grey of the Blacks.
"Wha-"
"Scared, Potter?" She interrupted him, letting her true voice sound too.
He made a move for his wand. He never had a chance. Her Mother had trained her every day during Easter break. Her Father as well. Potter was no match to her.
"STUPEFY!" She screamed with all her might now, knowing his death did not belong to her but to the Dark Lord.
BOOM, echoed the room, as his body was thrown against the nearest shelf and it slammed into the next one. The orbs danced for a second, and then started to rain on her.
She ran as fast as she could, throwing shield charms over her shoulders, trying to outrun the tumbling spheres. She dropped Luna's wand and grabbed hers. Her shields would be stronger now. She could hear her Mother's deranged laughter to her right, so she turned that way. She ran straight past Neville, towards a Death Eater at the end of the corridor, throwing a jinx over her head.
"Ah-ah! It seems one of you is smart enough to side with us. Malfoy! Lovegood's daughter just got us the prophecy!"
The Death Eater, Avery if she had to guess, grabbed her arm with excessive force. She hissed, letting her features change from Luna's to hers. He removed his hand the same instant. She heard steps, familiar, running steps. Her Mother was quickly behind her, turning her by the shoulder.
"Delphini? What," Bellatrix's hands ran over her face, brushing her equally wild curls from over it, "how… What are you doing here?" Then her eyes caught sight of what her daughter held in her arms.
"I pretended to be Luna. I have the prophecy, Mother, can we take it to Him?"
"Capture the boy if you can. Kill the others if you have to," Uncle Lucius stepped out from the shadows, removing his mask, "I'll take her to the Dark Lord."
"She is my daughter, Lucius! I'll take her. You find the boy. Don't kill him, you idiot, capture him. The Dark Lord will end him once he listens to the prophecy." Bellatrix nearly growled her orders. Delphini knew her relationship with Uncle Lucius was strained, but Aunt Narcissa had told her it had always been. They both craved power too much, she used to say.
Avery followed her uncle back to the shadows. Delphini looked up to Bellatrix, not having to look up very far, smiling overtly,
"Will He be happy, Mother?"
"He will be so proud of you, my precious Augurey," she answered, caressing her cheek, "take my arm." Mother and daughter Dissaparated from the Hall of Prophecy.
They Apparated before the gates of Malfoy Manor. Delphini bolted form the arm of her mother and ran all the way to the Dark Lord's chambers.
When Bellatrix reached them, she found the Dark Lord spinning the orb in the air above his swirling hand, caressing Delphini's curly tresses with the other. The girl sat on the floor, at the foot of her Father's seat, petting Nagini's head, on her lap.
The Augurey had paved the way to the Dark Lord's glory.
Author's Notes: Prompts and Challenges
Assignment #9 Mythology: Task 1 Nemean Lion - Write about someone pretending to be a damsel in distress.
365 Prompts Challenge: 295 Spell – Stupefy
Geek Pride: Stand 2 TV Shows - The Justice League Animated Series: (dialogue) "(name), you're starting to scare me." / "I scare a lot of people."
Geek Pride: Stand 3 Mangas/Animes - One Piece: (plot point) looking for treasure
Geek Pride: Stand 4 Goodies - Comics: (word set) read, boom, art