Part 2 - The Truth
"And if I only could,
I'd make a deal with God,
And I'd get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building"
Kate Bush
"Having an identity is one thing. Being born into an identity is quite a different matter."
Henry Rollins
Prologue - Missing
1914
"She's a bloody squib? You must be joking."
"I'm afraid I am not, Monsieur Crabbe. The oldest possesses a fine potential for magical learning. But the younger has no magic at all. She is, indeed, a squib," said Madam LeRonge, Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. "If you doubt me, you can always go to Hogwarts have their Headmaster examine her."
"No descendant of mine will ever attend that horrid school again," Peter Crabbe almost screamed at the Headmistress in a fit of rage. He calmed himself before he spoke again. "Bianca is acceptable for admission then?"
"By all means, yes," Madam LeRonge reiterated. "She will do well here. Her kind of magic is very special, indeed. You and her mother should be proud."
He shifted in his seat before answering, "We are, thank you."
Madam beamed. "If you would like I keep a list of regular Muggle boarding school close at hand in case you would like to keep the girls close together – "
Crabbe raised a hand to stop her. "That will not be necessary, Madame. We will sort out this inconvenience at home."
The Headmistress stood, and Crabbe left her office. Sitting outside the office were to twin girls so alike in appearance that he and Diana still insisted on marking one of their hands with ink to tell them apart. Their hair was the exact shade of auburn down to the highlights. Their blue eyes twinkled in the same mischievous way when they were in trouble. Even each freckle was plotted on the same point on their faces.
But after today, there would need no more special means to tell them apart.
"You are staying here, Bianca. We will see you on the holidays," he said sternly to the witch on the left.
"Yes, grandfather," the girl said sweetly, as she looped her arm into her sister's.
"Come with me, Fiona." He grabbed the girl on the right and started walking to the entrance hall of the school.
"Fee?" called Bianca after them. "Why is Fee leaving? FEE!" she screamed after her sister.
"Bianca!" cried the girl as the door to the entrance hall slammed shut behind them.
"A squib in my own house," Peter almost spat the words out as he all but threw her into the carriage. "How long has your sister been covering for your lack of magic?"
Fiona was silent, tears pouring from her eyes as she looked at her grandfather.
"You'll have no more time under my roof, girl. We will send you to finishing school, and after that you are on your own. We should have let your father take you," he ground out angrily.
"I wish you would have left us BOTH with him! I despise you!" she cried out.
He slapped her and pulled out his wand. She cringed in the corner of the seat, as far away from him as she could get. But, it didn't matter, as he was one of the most powerful wizards in Britain, and she was only a little squib.
"Obliviate," he said.
1925
Bianca Crabbe was about to be a Crabbe no more. It was her wedding day, and she would be marrying a Selwyn. It was the society wedding of the year among those who counted among the pureblood families. Which, alas, were getting fewer and fewer.
She grinned as her grandmother helped her with her veil. She wanted more babies than she could count. Maybe she and Darius would help repopulate the world with pureblood children, and the little problem of the Mudbloods would finally cure itself – there just needed to be enough real wizards to keep them from stealing their slots at school, their jobs, and their potential spouses.
"You look beautiful Bianca," her grandmother said, backing away from the bride and looking at her handiwork. Bianca's dark auburn hair was completely hidden by the veil that covered her head like a little cap before it flowed to meet her white silk dress.
They walked, hand in hand, to the entrance of the gardens of Selwyn House, where she and Darius would handfast and make their vows. The bride peeked over the hedge to see who all had arrived, and was delighted to see that there were representatives from the entire Twenty-Eight. She clapped her hands together, earning a disapproving look from her grandfather.
"I know you are excited, girl. But do show a little decorum," he chided, taking her small hand in his.
"I shall try, sir," Bianca said, attempting to look more remorseful than she felt. She peeked out over the hedges again, scanning the crowds and counting heads. They'd all made it, all the invitations had come back accepted, and they'd all showed.
But, Bianca could not shake the suspicion that someone was not there. She looked at her small family around her – all accounted for with her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.
She wondered if her heart was thinking about her mother. But she knew that wasn't quite it either.
Someone was missing. Of that she was completely sure.
She just couldn't remember who.
A/N: Don't kill me for the cliffhanger on Part 1. I was reading Stephen King's "On Writing" when I started this story and became obsessed with the idea of a serial novel and of a kind of modern day Wizarding ghost story. As always, this is not mine. And now it's raining so I can't mow the yard with my little push mower. Rats.
You'll have to wait for this in true Dickenson fashion though. I'm rewriting some of this Part that doesn't work, so updates will be much further between. I didn't want to keep chickening out of posting this, which is why the last few days have been a flurry of posts from me. Thank you for your time spent with me sharing this version of Rowling's world. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers (also not mine).