Well hello there!
This is a major departure from my usual writings, and this story gets pretty dark at the end, so bear with me. I hope you enjoy :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
It was dark outside, sheets of rain falling in frothing piles on top of the crashing sea. But that wasn't important, because Mother wasn't here to shut the storm away behind silk curtains, wasn't here to count the rolls of thunder against the swirls of spoons in hot chocolate.
Mother wasn't here anymore. Only the little baby was.
He was in the nursery, watching the baby, his new little sister, thrash in her blankets. Father was gone, the house elves were away, and nobody was around to care for the Young Master and Miss Nott. No, nobody cared, not even that he was a big boy of eight or that she was just a little girl of not even a day. Mother would've cared, but then again, Mother was gone.
A roar of thunder big enough to swallow the whole world up in one mouthful made her cry, and it was a soft, tired cry. She was too early, too small, she was born in the summer storms instead of the autumn sunshine and Mother wasn't here to pick her up and make the crying end. Father...Father didn't care, Father was gone, and it was the little Master's job, it was Theodore's job as big brother to keep the Miss baby sister safe, right?
He picked up the baby, holding her very carefully like a doll with her tiny head safe in the crook of his elbow. She was soft and warm and fragile and here, unlike Mother or Father, and so he loved her the best.
He turned the corner and hid behind a curtain, holding a sticky hand over her sticky mouth to keep the giggles down. Plinky hobbled down the hall, yelling for the children to come out and prepare for that day's big party celebrating Young Master Theodore's letter. It was a very important letter, because now he was going to go to Hogwarts far away from the shores of Devon, up in Scotland where it was cold and dreary and away from his little sister.
She looked up at him with her big round eyes, bright and blue and just like the violets growing in the courtyard. Iolanthe. He named her from an old book Mother used to read from.
He led her away from Plinky and out towards the sea, lessening his speed for her littler legs. He was always ready to slow down, it was his part of his very favorite job to love and cherish and take care of her because Father was never home and the house elves were too old to play with her as they should. But now he was going away, and Io couldn't come with him because he was eleven and she was only three. He wasn't happy that he was going, he bet that no one all the way in ugly gray Scotland was happy, and Hogwarts didn't deserve to have her if it was so terribly unhappy.
She went right into the morning sea foam, getting the hem of her light blue robes wet, and she called out "Theo!" just as she always did.
He loved her, and she loved him, and maybe it would be ok. He jumped into the water even though Plinky would be cross and Father would be angry enough to hurt him later, because he deserved to have a day with his sister, the one who would never leave him behind.
He was a Slytherin boy now, with Malfoy and Zabini and Crabbe and Goyle, and he hated their guts but Father taught him how to hide ugly thoughts behind thoughtless smiles.
His bed was too large and too cold without Io sneaking in because her nursery held too many ghosts of a Mother she never got to know. The walls were too stony, the skylight too dark under the water, and there were snakes behind every corner. He hated it here, but he picked out his bed regardless and dreamed the loneliness away.
Morning was too dark, no giggles and thrashing legs to wake him up to go swim in the surf and let the sun bleach his mousy brown hair sandy blonde. Io didn't need the sun, she was the sun with her bright light hair and violet sky eyes and smiles golden as the dawn. She was perfect as all little girls were, but she was special because nobody was like Miss Iolanthe Nott.
Hogwarts was too old and dark, just like the Father that Theodore forgot how to love, and it was too silent and ghostly, just like the Mother that Theodore strained to remember. But it was nothing like Io, nothing like his sister, so he let himself find a bit of affection for the castle that could never compare.
Malfoy called him a sissy, saying that no respecting pureblood heir would simper after someone as useless as a baby sister.
He clocked him hard enough in the face to break his nose in three places.
Parkinson shrieked and Malfoy's goon trembled in impotence and Professor Snape swept up and finished the whole matter in three minutes. Detention for both. No messages sent home because the matter was between them and Io's avenged honor. A small smirk from the bat and life went on as usual.
Except that now Greeengrass was offering to set up play dates between Io and her own youngest sisters, and Perks was a competent Charms partner, and Bulstrode shared her mother's treats, and was Davis always so intelligent in Transfiguration? Anyway, Malfoy kept to his own circle of influence and Theodore to his.
He told the story to his sister in one of their many Floo calls. She laughed her dewy sun-bell laugh, and he felt warmth seep into his bones to keep out the chill of the darkness flitting in their school.
Christmas came too slowly and was finished too quickly.
His sister was larger than he had last seen her, a bit paler and skinnier than he tolerated. But she glowed honey and violets when he swept her up in a proper spinning hug, months of loneliness and apprehension melting like sea foam. They played in the cold water and let Plinky scold, they avoided Father and his drinking binges in favor of playing pretend in one of the many empty rooms of the Nott Manor, and they fell back years to the glory days. The young Master and Miss Nott, loving each other and only each other because no one else would.
She had stories too, of baby Eirene and sweet Phoebe and funny Doris and bossy Astoria Greengrass and their home which was in a forest with many gardens for flower crowns and fairy hunting. They were fair children just like her, blue eyed and fair skinned and sun kissed and Theodore wished that they were their family instead of Father. Mother should've married Mr. Greengrass before she died, before she gave up her face and place in his heart for her daughter.
There was a large Christmas party as usual, with too stuffy dress robes and too many drinks and too many boring courtesies that Theodore loathed for its artificial smiles and hidden ugly thoughts. But Io smiled at Malfoy who shied away behind his parents, and it made him laugh, so it wasn't an entire loss.
The day before he left, he took his sister into his room and they watched the snow dissolve on the sea as spoons swirled in hot chocolate. He missed Mother, and he loved Io, and the darkness that surrounded Father and his school were too far away to disrupt their happiness.
Dumbledore was a hack and the Golden Trio were tools, and what kind of sham was last minute points devoted to bringing up those boorish bullying Gryffindors anyways? Daphne rolled her eyes, Sally-Anne was glaring at her sneering cousins across the hall, and Millicent shrugged and called it the way of the world. Just like Father twisting the rules of the house to give any reason for punishments in his study, his little sister hiding in her room to keep the anger at bay.
He didn't like it, how Professor Snape kept himself from calling shenanigans in the face of cheering from every other house in Hogwarts, so he pushed away too overdone chicken and slipped out into the dark corridors. The fearful darkness was gone, but now there was a burning seated too deep in his heart for him to draw out. He hated Dumbledore, he hated Gryffindor and jeering calls of "snake" and how he had to live under a cold lake instead of by a warm sea. There were angry people with angry thoughts every day, drowning out the joy of magic that he felt every time he waved his wand.
The fireplace was ready for use, but he stewed in a high backed chair until tears scalded down his cheeks. His precious little sister didn't need to see this, she was away from the pain of being a Slytherin in a very anti-Slytherin world. Maybe if he asked Father she would be sent to Beauxbatons or a school in Switzerland, Greece, America. She deserved sunlight, and Hogwarts was a shadowed place.
Summer was a golden dream, of two birthdays bleeding into one joyous cycle of swimming and play dates and singing their fears away. His sister was smarter now, clever and brilliant and he hoped that Father would send her to a beach when she turned eleven, because Hogwarts was looming at the end of August and he loved her too much to send her where her bloodline would taint her smiles.
Father pulled them through King's Cross with distaste rolling off his skin like oil, cursing Muggles and Mudbloods and everything they stood for. Io was enraptured by her visit outside of her sanctuary, waving at other children behind their father's back. He found himself enjoying her cheer, fighting back the urge to sneer at the Muggles crowing into their trains. It wasn't their fault they were inferior to his little sister, they should be honored to even be in her presence.
Then he was crowding into his own train, calling back to his sister until she was a memory in a sea of useless faces. He sat with his usual acquaintances, watched Daphne giggle over a group of Ravenclaw boys passing, and let his mind wander away from their destination to worlds far away. What was the French countryside like in spring? Did the streets of Shanghai glow at night? Which Viennese charm masters would debate and which would concede? And where would Io wish to go across the pond, to California or Florida or any manner of any city in the sun?
He would just have to take her there one day, when he was free of schooling and ready to give the world to her on a platter, just as she deserved
Lockhart was the stupidest man he had ever known, and he was dorming with the heirs of Crabbe and Goyle. Cornish pixies were nuisances that kept house elves busy, nothing more, so how in the name of Merlin did that hack let their DADA class turn into such a mess?
He straightened his tie and pin, resisting the sudden impulse to fling it out the window. More trash for Hogwarts to clean up, stereotypes and aside glances and pixie dung all mixing into the mess. Some Hufflepuff first years skirted him, as if he cared enough to hurt him, and their fourth year minders shoved him roughly out of the way. That's right, badgers eat snakes and he didn't have a right to the hallway like the other students, he wasn't Young Master Theodore Nott but just a filthy Slytherin and he needed to know his place.
The Golden Trio walked out of the room and he stalked towards the library. He didn't want to see their too childish faces in their too red and gold uniforms, he hated them as much as he hated every other Gryffindor and then some. At least one of the Patil twins acknowledged him as he was her sister's friend's study partner. Sue Li was a nice girl, pure enough to let him be seen with her and quiet enough to not get on his nerves. Io would like her, he thought.
She was there as usual, her dark hair brushing against her face, and he wanted to touch it. It looked as soft as his sister's hair, but different, just like her. She smiled and something fluttered in his stomach. But he ignored it and went to studying as usual, fighting down the thought that there was a girl just as lovely as his sister in the world, as incredible as the thought.
Whispers slunk through the dungeons, up the sides of walls to permeate every hall and classroom, until he was ready to lop off Potter's head and show how unfounded those rumors were.
As if that self-entitled twit was worthy of being the Heir, Parseltongue or not. Doris Greengrass told garden snakes to stay away from her younger sisters, Millicent's Ravenclaw cousin was hiding his skill to avoid suspicion, and he knew that his Mother's late brother could speak to snakes. All of the old families had at least one, as Salazar Slytherin had many daughters, and he bet that even the pious Weasels had relatives who would be very ashamed in their Golden Trio representative.
The best part was that Potter thought that Malfoy was the Heir! Malfoy was a coward at heart, all words and no bite, and whomever was petrifying the students had guts. Theodore was also very unapproving of that Granger girl, who did something very naughty and gave herself a cat face, if Sally-Anne was to be believed. Probably had to do with Crabbe and Goyle being very suspicious recently, once acting out of character and forgetting the events of that day.
Father had told him to stay out of any Heir business and for once he was inclined to take his father's advice, especially when Io was becoming more and more melancholy in her days alone in the Nott Manor. He would be a very poor brother indeed to get swept up into the whole Pottermania and Heir nonsense in favor of his little sister.
Once again Gryffindor sneaked up from behind to take the House Cup, using points that in Slytherin would be debunked as cheating. But this time he stayed to smirk at the Golden Trio as Millicent muttered about how every time Potter went up to Dumblerdore's office, Gryffindor received the Cup. Honestly, he wouldn't put it past the old man, but he kept his laughter to himself.
Daphne confirmed their plans to meet up in a week's time, Millicent gave him half of her overzealous mother's care package, Sally-Anne exchanged addresses, and Tracey gave him a small chain that would change colors depending on his mood. He felt that his alliances in the Slytherin world was coming along nicely, as it was the cunning snake daughters that ruled the underworld. Io would be better fit for a Ravenclaw, as she discovered a love of music beyond his own understanding, or better yet a Viennese or Californian school of magic.
Before he left, Sue took him aside by the hand. Before he could ask, she kissed him. On the lips and everything, she held his hands firmly and she was so different than Io but so kind and pretty and wonderful, and he went home to his sister in a daze of happiness.
He held his sister's small hand tightly, as if she were to slip away and be eaten by the maw of murderous Sirius Black.
The breakout of the century happened, no-one was safe if he were to believe the Daily Prophet, and Father was brooding in his office again. It was never a good thing for Father to brood, to lash out when interrupted and act out his anger on Theodore's back. Never Io though, never his sister, the last gift Mother gave him five years ago with her dying breath. He would kill Father before that miserable excuse of a man would lay a finger upon her, that was how much he loved her.
His mood chain was a dismal black under his robes, and the sea washed crinkly foam against his feet. There was a storm coming to usher in autumn and the new school year, blackening the horizon and his thoughts. His sister was to spend more time at the Greengrass estates, away from the father that left Theodore to give her a name. Good; she needed away from the cold chambers of Mother's ghosts and the black fury that possessed him to drink the day away.
She stopped and he stopped. She let out a few tears and he wiped them away. He gravitated around her axis, planets around her sun, and swore to do whatever it took to keep her safe, no matter what.
There were Dementors at Hogwarts, bringing darkness and frost to the students' steps. Astoria was never without Daphne, too faint on her own, and smothered newborn cries haunted Theodore's mind whenever a rotted cloak dusted along his vision. Zabini was friendlier now, eyes darker and hands shaking under his perfect veneer of manners. He wondered if the rumors were true and he had many lost stepfathers coming to life whenever a Dementor came their way.
Potter had caused another scene and fallen from 50 feet to his near death as dozens of Dementors swarmed a Quidditch match. Theodore wished that Potter would die and take out the Dementors and Sirius Black and all of Hogwarts with him, releasing the students from nightmares that his presence caused. But that was an ugly thought, best kept to himself and the tears that he would squeeze out at night.
He never remembered why Mother had died, or how. Only that as the days shortened and nights stretched on, he would sometimes hear her screaming in pain, a baby wailing before everything cut off as he awoke from his nightmare.
Professor Lupin was an ill man in a sick class, but he could not begrudge him the Boggart lesson, as now he knew.
It was over five years ago, when he was a big boy of eight waiting for his sister to be born. Father wasn't home, he had better things to do then wait for a useless female child, and it rained, staining the windows. One day stretched into two and three and four and why wasn't Father home to comfort the wife dying in labor? He had sneaked into the birthing chamber and saw too much red against the marble, something writhing on the floor before being stamped out by a house elf. He had gone back to the kitchens for a milk then, watched the rain pour, then up to the nursery to see a little sister lying alone in her blankets.
The red writhing thing was his boggart, his greatest fear because oh Merlin above, what had Father done to Mother in his quest to have another male heir?
Professor Lupin had to take control because the red thing could not have been made funny, never in a million years. The class finished in silence, and Theodore wandered back to the dorms to lay down quietly.
Io was at the Greengrass estates and she was going to stay there as long as she lived if he had any say in the matter. Father was an enemy now, an abusive drunk and a dark magic occultist and a murderer, and he had no business behind around his beloved and only sister.
Dawn under the lake was a black thing, sunlight unable to filter down and fill the room with warmth. He woke with an alarm instead, and would rub his thumb against the cool links in his mood chain. Always black, always dark and ugly and clouded with thought.
He dressed for the day and hovered by the Hall, waiting for the other girl that made him happy. Sue with her black hair down for his to comb fingers through, to inhale and breathe in the light that would grace the Ravenclaw tower. Kissing was fun, always fun in the shadows behind a column or corner with their breaths hot against each other's mouths. She was as Slytherin as a Ravenclaw could get, charmer of snakes and men alike, and he liked her enough to love her, but not quite yet.
Mornings were spent like that, lighter than the dawn but darker than the summers spent at home. He was going to take Sue to Io one day, let his favorites meet and drown out the black with colors of laughter and music and kisses hidden from a Dementor's prying fingers.
Another year, another waste in Scotland with just enough magic to justify his presence. Black had escaped, Professor Lupin had been sacked, and he was sick of gold and red banners. But now the Dementors were gone, everyone able to sleep in warmth, and he was home where be belonged.
His sister was bubbling about how she was so happy, the very most happy because he was home and now they could spend time together like they used to. He wondered if she could remember the three years before he left, if she remembered the red twin child killed by Slytherin ambition, but wished that she only remembered sunlight and sea foam and flower crowns. She was the light child, the pearl of the world, and he would take all the darkness in her stead. He loved her, after all.
Two days after Io's sixth birthday, Sue invited him to her own home. His sister hugged Sue tightly, violet eyes wide with wonder at the Chinese scents of the Li kitchen and the erhu music lilting from Grandmother Li's room. Mother Li brushed Io's hair into long braids, and Sue had taken him to the soft hills a ways away from their own home. They kissed away their childhood there, the late summer sun warming their flesh.
Father would've killed him for what he did, and the Lis were traditionalists, but it didn't matter. Sue was happy, Io was happy, and he loved them both.
Excitement was in Hogwarts, driving away some of the blackness that had come at summer's end. The Triwizard Tournament against the Dark Mark, school cheer against Io whispering that their father had taken to hurting the house elves in his rages.
Theodore could give a doxie about the Tournament, not when his sister was in danger. Daphne convinced her bleeding heart mother to take Io on the home family's trip to Athens, where she could spend the year in safety until he returned. Daphne was a friend now, with Tracey and Sally-Anne and Millicent, and Zabini wondered how his "celibate" friend had garnered so many lady friends.
Sue would spent the night sometimes, working charms to illusion herself from his dimwitted dorm mates. With his sister safe he could relax, celebrating each day spent away from his dark father by indulging in teenage lust. He knew each curve and contour of her body, how her left cheek would dimple when she smiled and how her legs would twitch around his waist if he moved just fast enough.
Potter was in the Tournament somehow, a glory hogging Gryffindor to the last, but Theodore didn't care. For once, he was happy every day.
The sun was shining through the hazy clouds, and he wished it would sink back beneath the horizon.
The Dark Lord was back. He was back and Father was a Death Eater who was mad enough to kill his wife and unborn child, making Nott Manor unsafe despite what the Prophet claimed. He told Sue what his father was, what most of Slytherin was tied to, and he hid his shame in the soft fabric of her shirt.
The sea was his refuge now, sea foam caking his ankles and waist, but Io loved the sea and she was becoming a very spirited seven year old. He was fifteen, no old man by any means, but sometimes he would just drift in the salt water and watch her exist in bliss. He wasn't blissful, he knew too much about what his father was going to do, but he was ready to defend the bliss of his sister and his lover.
There were books in the library, dark books with vicious curses. He memorized them all once he came home, whispering their hate to the ghosts of his mother. He would defend her final legacy, the child that bore her face and joy, even if he had to damn himself in the process.
If their forgotten first year DADA professor was the baseline of competence, then Dolores Umbridge should be executed for crimes against education. His friends laughed behind her back, Millicent swearing to find a decree just for that allowance. But then the toad woman had sworn that the Dark Lord didn't exist, and it wasn't as funny anymore.
The noose was tightening around the Slytherins. Daphne, Astoria and Zabini were purebloods with ties out of the country, providing an escape when needed. Millicent and Tracey were half-bloods, making them targets once the Muggleborn population was dealt with. And the core Death Eater families all had their heirs in the school, each boy knowing it was a matter of time before the initiation began.
Theodore was ready, though. Io was going to escape this madness, she and Sue and the Greengrass girls and every other innocent didn't deserve to be hunted down by men who murder pregnant women and unborn children. Umbridge was a failure of a woman to not see the darkness, so he would face the darkness himself if needed. His sister was going to live happily ever after, that he swore.
Umbridge was in their common room, blathering on and on about an Inquisition Squad and how they could be doing a real service to the school if they joined. He want to hex the woman into a fine red jelly, but instead clenched his fists and counted the flecks shining in the water outside of their windows. He didn't have to join, he was in the clear as a pureblood, he had nothing to prove to this ilk.
Millicent and Tracey joined, as they needed all the buffers they could get against Umbridge's anti-pureblood agenda. Malfoy went, probably to lord authority like a spoilt child, and where he went his two goons and floozy went with him.
Parkinson sneered at Millicent and Tracey after Umbridge had left, declaring that no matter what they were just filthy half-bloods, only a little better than Mudbloods. Theodore waited until the day was over and they had all gone to bed, before slipping into the girl's room. Sally-Anne pretended to have not opened the door, and then he had hexed the pig snouted wretch before leaving as silently as he had came.
The next day Parkinson sprouted antlers when she had sneezed and of course he hadn't done it, what would give you that idea.
Sometimes he wished that he could get Sue pregnant, to not use contraceptives and fill her with his seed. That way, the best part of him could mix with the best part of her, and they'd have a little baby, a daughter to share in her aunt's light with.
There was a club, an organization stewing rebellion in Hogwarts and burning out more of the light with their rage. Sue had been invited with the provision that she dump Theodore; she had politely declined in deference to staying a neutral party and nearly broke his back in their rather violent sex afterward. She wanted to scream because she was a half-blood and the Ministry was becoming a scary place for her parents to work in and who could take care of her disabled Popo if they were lynched by Death Eaters while the Ministry kept itself in the dark? He held her for a long time, kissing reassurances into her skin until some of the fear bled away.
He would teach her the spells he knew. He would take care of her as he had taken care of Io, for he loved them both and he'd be damned if the prejudices of Hogwarts compromised her safety.
The word was out: The Dark Lord had Returned, right under the Ministry's nose and now everyone knew who the Death Eater spawn were. Potter had gotten that information published through one of the weirder tabloids, but it didn't even matter because now his father was in jail and he didn't know how he felt about that.
Yes, Father was finally gone and the house elves could begin to finally heal the bruises and gashes wrought upon them. Now Io could come home and enjoy being home, tanned from Athens and glowing with new memories she wanted to share. He could host parties he could enjoy, have Io's little friends over for play dates in the sea. Sue could come and see his home, they could make a mockery of his father's manor and shag against every place of honor his father kept. He was sixteen and young and glorious, and because of Potter he was an outed Death Eater's son.
He couldn't leave, not without risking retaliation from overzealous hypocrites and white avengers. His name had been dishonored again, but this time his sister was Death Eater spawn. His perfect sister, who never did an evil act in her life, was now the lowest of urchins in society. All because of Potter.
He locked himself in the library and poured evil knowledge into his brain as if it were the pitcher of Muses. Potter would pay for what he did to his sister, who cried because some of her half-blood friends didn't want to be seen with her. Potter hurt his sister, and he would pay.
Malfoy was a Death Eater now, and he knew he could use that. He himself hadn't been initiated just yet, he was holding that off as long as he could, but now that the blonde was under the influence of dark men, maybe he could add some of his own.
He handed Malfoy the list of curses and poisons in the courtyard, listening for Io playing in the violets. They were discrete attacks, able to silently kill without a hint of detection as long as the intention was clear.
Malfoy nodded and made the list disappear. Theodore didn't care what he did with it or whom he attacked. Just as long as Potter was made to suffer, it was all golden.
Sue had come just after school had begun, eyes wide with terror. Ginerva Weasley had taken very sick, rushed to St. Mungo's as her condition fell apart quicker than a rotted rose. The Golden Trio was devastated, all of Gryffindor was suffering, and Theodore held her close, hiding away his ugliest thoughts. She didn't need to know, nobody needed to know because he didn't do anything at all.
Three days later the youngest Weasley died. He spent the day studying Potions with Millicent and Tracey, worshipping Sue's body, and Floo calling his sister.
The Dark Lord's influence was clawing its way into his circle. Malfoy's goons were certainly Death Eaters now, and Daphne was talking about transferring to a Grecian school for her final year. All to be expected, of course, but it wasn't painless.
Tracey came with wild eyes taught with suppressed hysteria. People were starting to disappear, including her Mudblood uncle, so her parents were moving to Germany with her mother's cousins, and she was saying goodbye.
He hugged her for the first and only time, absently noting how her hair was only three shades away from his sister's blonde. She gave him a weird disc, probably Muggle in nature judging from the tape across the front, saying that with a certain charm it would play and since his sister loved music, it would be a nice present for Christmas. Then she patted his shoulder and left forever.
The tape said "best eurodance ever" and he quietly activated the charm. Wizarding music was much like classical Muggle music, all wind instruments and some warbling. But this...this "eurodance" had his sister written all over it. He couldn't describe the sounds, but they were quick and powerful and sweet and unearthly, nothing like he'd ever heard before. He silenced the disc before anyone else could hear it, and hid it in his belongings. This was a gift, the last gift from Tracey, and he could protect it as it he protected his mother's last gift.
Potter had snapped and nearly eviscerated Malfoy in a girl's bathroom, according to Sue. Apparently, the boy had become so unhinged after the death of the Weasley girl that he'd begun taking risks, venturing into the Forbidden Forest and screaming at his friends. Sue wasn't a large fan of Potter, finding him rather boorish, and now she was disturbed by him, along with most of the school.
Malfoy was going to live with a chest full of nasty scars, according to Professor Snape, and Theodore quietly handed Malfoy a list of protective charms. He didn't know what kind of business the little Death Eater was getting into, but he couldn't lose an ally just yet.
The end of the year was approaching quickly, their studies piling up and the darkness making life unbearable for the younger students; Doris Greengrass had convinced her mother to send the sisters to Greece for their next year. Theodore liked the girl, funny and intelligent and cunning, and hoped that maybe his own sister could have such a nerve to defy her Slytherin heritage on her own.
He clasped onto Sue's hand tightly, feeling her fingers tremble in his grip. Black banners fell from the ceiling like silk curtains shutting out a storm, except that Mother wasn't here, and neither was Dumbledore.
The Dark Lord had made his move, a very bold one that made all of Britain too unsafe for half-bloods and Mudbloods to be in. Sue wasn't coming back the next year, her parents were moving to China indefinitely.
He turned away from the sad sight of the grieving hall, taking her away to the weak sunlight of the fading day. They were leaving tomorrow, and he didn't know when he was to see her again. His breath hitched at the thought, and she wiped away a small trickle of saline from his cheek.
That released the dam, and they both wept for time gone by and a relationship split by other men's ambitions. She loved him, and he loved her, and it wasn't going to be enough. So he released her from any commitments and guilt, wishing her every happiness in the world.
She asked if he was going to be a Death Eater now. He didn't answer, and they both knew.
Their lovemaking that night was bittersweet and not as safe as it could've been. They boarded the train and it came into the King's Cross station and he kissed her goodbye and she was gone.
When Father came home he became a Death Eater.
The initiation didn't last long, as his father was a high ranking member, and the snake skull slid under the skin of his forearm.
Father nodded in recognition. He nodded back.
Before the war was over, he was going to kill the man for making him say goodbye.
He watched his sister bliss out in her room, charming her walls to be soundproof against the Muggle made music. Io had taken to sneaking in more and more discs and albums and EPs of electronic music, proclaiming that one day she was going to be the first pureblood dance music producer. And what she wanted, Theodore made sure she got.
Father didn't know, he made sure of it, and if anyone dared to shame Io for her joys, then he was going to kill them, plain and simple. Sue was gone, gone to China to live a life outside of his, and he wished that she would fall in love with a man who wasn't tied to a genocidal freak by blood and magic bonds. And with her gone, all that mattered was his sister and her happiness. There wasn't a Ravenclaw to keep his Slytherin in line anymore.
The final year of his failure of a magical education came with more murders, more Ministry disasters and the Carrow twins. He knew them, the shapeless lumps of Death Eaters, and they favored him by allowing him to practice curses on misbehaving students. With Daphne and her sisters in Athens, Tracey in Germany, Millicent sheltering her little Ravenclaw cousin with her brutish violence, and Sally-Anne "vacationing" in Sweden, his circle of friends were accounted for. And with that, he let himself give into the black curses.
Every Gryffindor was his rage outlet, every Hufflepuff was his knowledge booster. He left the Ravenclaws alone, a final salute to Sue, and wrote daily to his sister to increase her skills in penmanship.
Three times she reported that someone had scolded and berated her for her love of music. Three times he had taken a worthless excuse of flesh and done away with it. He took very good care of his sister.
Headmaster Snape used him to crack down on rebellion, and he let himself be used. Every day was a blur of acting out upon the deep seated rage burning under his skin, striking fear into the hearts of the unworthy. First he eliminated the bullies that would prowl upon Slytherins, their screams fueling the flames of his revenge. No more Gryffindor pride or Hufflepuff hive mind, no more Slytherins crying when they thought he wasn't looking.
Then he dismantled the remnants of the DA or whatever it was, starting with Longbottom. The boy was gustier than he recalled, but after he had insulted Millicent he broke the boy's back and the mantle of the rebellious students. Hogwarts was silent now, snakes unafraid to slither and ravens flying above it all.
Mother and Io would be proud, that he was certain, and every day the blood of his enemies ran.
His sister was an intelligent girl of nine now, ten in the summer, and she wanted to actually go to Muggle events and feel the music in her bones as it should be heard. Schoolwork was a joke anyways, and with his influence and power he could easily slip himself and his sister into raves and clubs, watching her violet eyes go wide as her pale light hair turned blue and red under their lighting.
From there she would explore the Muggle cities her shows took place in, learning about electricity and telephones and the Internet with the ease that she mastered her magic. She was his little modern girl, unchained by any prejudice that lesser humans were victim to.
He didn't care about the blood barrier now, he didn't care that these were filthy Muggles and as a Death Eater he was ready to kill their kind. All that mattered was that they made Io happy, his beloved sister, and if she wished to make a life in both worlds, then he would make it so.
His sister was gaining Muggle friends from the seaside town by Nott Manor, and she wanted to go to a Muggle primary school with them. He enrolled her as she wished, and she was happy, and then Father found out.
Father had dragged her home, and according to Plinky, beat Miss Iolanthe Nott to within an inch of her life.
Theodore took an unconscious Io to the Hogwarts infirmary, demanded that Madam Pomfrey bring her back to as she was, and killed his father.
It was an intimate affair, with Father drugged to hyper-sensation and paralysis. Theodore had cut every secret and every hidden thought out of the man as slowly and as delicately as taking Sue's virginity. Yes, Father had pushed upon Mother dark potions to ensure a male child. Yes, he had cursed her when the children were revealed to have been twin girls. Yes, he had intentionally aimed to kill all three, with Io surviving by the grace of magic itself. Yes, he felt no guilt or shame for what he did.
It rained all night, the waves crashing into the shore with the frenzy inside of his heart. But he didn't lose control, even though the pig tried to kill his beloved baby sister. No, he drew out each drop of blood exquisitely, making it last until the man's voice gave out and he screamed in gargles. He screamed for his Lord, for anyone to come to his aid, and when no one answered, he screamed for mercy.
The study dripped with red. He gave him no mercy, just as Io would have wanted him to.
She was living back at home now with Plinky and the house elves, Theodore allowed to go home every night and check upon her. She asked where Father had gone, and he simply said "away". He was being watched closely by the Dark Lord for now, but the maniac's suspicions were in another vein. When asked, Theodore simply would point to his mother's death and years of rage finally finished in a night of revenge. The Dark Lord understood that much more than Theodore thought he would have, but it wasn't of any consequence what he thought.
All that mattered was that Io was happy, Father was dead, and the year was almost over.
It happened in May, a few weeks after Io returned to her school and after he had killed his 472nd.
Potter was a deranged manchild now, the Golden Trio split apart with Weasley hiding in France and Granger dead by Bellatrix Lestrange's hand. Something had finally broken the Boy Who Lived, and now he was staging a final attack against the Dark Lord from the very grounds of Hogwarts. Any resistance that the dead Weasley girl could've whipped up had died when Nott broke Longbottom's back, so it was a ragtag rush of freedom fighters Aurors up against a powerful assembly of Death Eaters.
But then again, fate favors the underdogs at the very end.
Perhaps the Dark Lord had become arrogant, seeking out Potter directly instead of attacking the school at once. Whatever happened, the fear Potter slaughtered the Dark Lord with his bare hands. and the downtrodden students who didn't run when Headmaster Snape called for an evacuation mustered up enough spirit to kill themselves attacking Death Eaters.
Theodore didn't know for sure, he hadn't been in the castle, but Millicent had taken her cousins and ran before Potter came to kill anyone wearing green and silver.
So on the morning of May 2, he arrived back at Nott Manor. He stood in his sister's room, watching her thrash beneath her blankets, possessed by the dark aura that followed him everywhere. He wondered if Sue would recognize him now, or Daphne or Tracey or his Mother. It didn't matter, as long as Io was happy he would do whatever he needed to keep her that way.
Potter had followed him with a group of Aurors. Malfoy had told the creature that he was the one who wanted the Weasley girl dead, right before Potter tore open his throat. Now he was coming to kill him and his sister, and he would do what it took to keep her safe.
He carefully cradled the child in his arms, feeling how her skin was still so soft and warm after nearly a decade. Iolanthe was his beloved baby sister, forever and ever, and he would keep her safe.
He gently recited a mind spell found in the darker corners of his library, one that needed a skilled Legilimens to ever undo, but Professor Snape was dead and the key dead with him. Io thrashed in his arms but he held her still, mentally prying open her mind to let the spell spread.
She was screaming and crying, judging by the way her mouth twisted and gaped, but he couldn't hear her. His mind's eye was in the sweetness of her psyche, destroying her accent and slang and ties to friends and family and her identity. She would forget that there was ever a Miss Iolanthe Nott, that she was ever a pureblood witch who lived by the South Devon sea with her brother and father. All she would have was her sweetness and music and love, and that would be enough to make her happy.
Another spell turned her long blonde hair into a short black bob, her facial features softening to reflect the woman he once loved. No more Iolanthe Nott of Devonshire, this was the pure Iolanthe, the pure sister that he loved bearing the wish he once held for his and Sue's child.
Potter was raging in the rooms below, calling him a sadist and a Death Eater and a filthy Slytherin. Perhaps he was, but she wasn't, and she was going to be happy.
He Apparated away across the pond, his magic sucked away as he landed somewhere in California. He finally took her here, his promise fulfilled, and he left her on the steps of a hospital. She would be happy here, able to freely explore the world denied in Britain, and he would do anything for her happiness.
He walked away from her soft whimpers and the medical personnel that came to her side, wandering into dark alleys. Cracks followed him, Potter raging and frothing like the angry sea the night his mother died. Theodore laughed and turned to face the manchild and the wand pointed at his heart.
Theodore loved his little sister, and he would do anything to make her happy. Even destroy their world.
And that's...well that's something XD
To be more clear on how the ending came to be:
Potter outed Senior Nott as a Death Eater, which gave cause for Io to be unhappy. Theodore then has Malfoy kill Ginny Weasley in revenge. Potter goes off the deep end and causes the Golden Trio to split up in their quest for Horcruxes. Granger is found by Bellatrix Lestrange and killed, Weasley runs off to France in shame, and Potter becomes more and more deranged.
At the same time, the DA uprising in the 7th book doesn't happen because G. Weasley is dead and Theodore personally breaks Longbottom and the spirits of the rebellious students. So the "Battle" of Hogwarts is just Potter and Aurors and suicidal children, because Snape runs off with the rest of the castle occupants.
Snape isn't killed by the Dark Lord because he just takes on Potter immediately, thinking that he got this after the Trio has broken. He shoots him with a Killing Curse, they both lose that part of the soul, and Potter completely snaps and kills the Dark Lord with his bare hands.
Potter than corners Malfoy and finds out that Theodore is the "cause" of his unhappiness, and then he kills the coward before going after Theodore with a bunch of very squicked out Aurors. Theodore destroys Io's identity, leaving her a new face and accent in California—she still goes by Iolanthe but there's no connection between orphan Iolanthe and Miss Iolanthe Nott now.
Potter and Theodore face off to the death. I imagine that after Potter kills Theodore one of the Aurors puts him out of his misery.
In 2017, when the prologue of the 7th book takes place, Iolanthe is a EDM producer and marries a fellow music maker. She is friends with Sue Chiang née Li and her daughter Dorothy, never knowing that Dorothy is her niece. And they live happily ever after the end sorta not really.
...so feel free to review and tell me how I did XD