Sacrificial Lamb
Disclaimer: Own nothing
Summary: Narcissa and Hermione's youngest daughter Vela sees something she won't ever be able to forget. That's the day when she realizes what the relationship between her muggle-born mother and her pureblood mother really is. And it's not good. Closely tied to "The Tempest," and "Artemis's Jape."
Sacrificial Lamb:
Bushy, nearly white hair cascaded down the young girl's shoulder and recoiled back up from it as she bolted down the hall, the kitchen her destination. Vela Irma Granger Black swiveled around the corridor, thinking solely on those three remaining luscious slices of chocolate pie that were still being protected in the kitchen.
Her baby sister Antlia had gotten the last couple of slices while their mommy, Hermione's back was turned, Vela was going to dive for at least one of the other three while she had the chance. As the eight-year-old witch reached the mouth of the kitchen, she froze when she spotted Narcissa Black, her mother using spells to clean off the newest porcelain dishes, making them an unblemished snow white again as they were before one of Vela's siblings or her aunt Bella got to the food on them.
Narcissa waved her long brown wood wand at the dishes and with a stroke of her graceful, delicate right wrist, all four of the levitated plates soared to the drying wrack on the counter in their place. Vela sucked in a breath, waiting for her mother to leave. However, before the older blond woman made even one step, Vela's mommy walked into the room from the other entrance of the kitchen, almost making the young girl groan before thinking better of it.
"Hermione," Narcissa exclaimed, an immediate, besotted (as Vela liked to call it) smile forming on her pale pink lips. "Narcissa." Hermione said, smiling back with a smile that Vela couldn't quite place.
"Have Bella and Andy come back from the store yet?" Narcissa asked, "I heard they think owls are the best suited for Carina."
Vela perked her head, now at full attention. Carina Walburga Granger Black, the second youngest of the four daughters of Bellatrix Black and Hermione Granger had turned eleven three months ago, and in two more months, come September, she would be sent off to Hogwarts for her teachings.
All of Vela's older sisters had done so. Hydra had graduated and was now training as a professional Quidditch player. Gemini would be in her sixth year, Aquila in her fourth, both of them planning to be Aurors when they graduated, Sagitta would soon be in her third year.
This was going to be Carina's first year. All four, Hermione, Bellatrix and Carina's two aunts promised they wouldn't judge her no matter what house she ended up in. When it had been Sagitta's turn to go to Hogwarts, a six-year-old Vela remembered them saying the same to her big sister. But all the kids knew what their mothers and aunts preferred for them.
Vela, like her sisters were all intuitive at such a young age, like their mommy and mothers and aunts. They knew their pureblood mother and aunts wanted them in Slytherin. They could hide it all they wanted, but Vela and her sisters knew. Their mommy wanted them in Gryffindor. She was much more quieter about that than her wives, as she wanted to give Vela and her other daughters a choice, but her hope for them to end up in the house she had ended up in was just as strong as her wives' desire.
Hydra and Gemini had both ended up in Slytherin. Vela had almost let out a laugh when she found out. She doubted Hydra could have ended up anywhere else. Maybe Ravenclaw. And Gemini the whole family knew just went along because she wanted to be with Hydra. Aquila ended up in Gryffindor. It had been a shock to everyone in the household and to any close friends of the family (making it many).
Aquila was ambitious, strong willed, wild and intelligent. A perfect candidate for either Slytherin or Ravenclaw. So the placement had been very strange. It was even stranger when they learned that Aquila had requested from the Sorting Hat to put her in the Gryffindor house in the first place. Aquila, when asked by both Bellatrix and Hermione at a dinner once, just said, raising her head, speaking proudly, "I do what I want. You even said I could. Besides, I'll show those Gryffindors up."
Aquila's logic was always strange to Vela, honestly. Then again, Aquila being the child that emotionally resembled Vela's aunt Bellatrix the most, that shouldn't be a surprise to her.
And then Sagitta had become a Hufflepuff. By that point Bellatrix and Narcissa both threw their hands up in the air (metaphorically for Narcissa but not for Bellatrix). With their children it was a gamble, they realized this and their children had a will of their own. They could encourage their babies all they wanted, but at the end of the day, they had promised to let their children make their own decisions and that was what both Aquila and Sagitta had done.
Vela had a hard time imagining anyone getting Carina to do anything she didn't want. All of her sisters that were the daughters of Bellatrix were unshakable in their decisions.
Carina once alluded to being the best Slytherin Hogwarts had ever seen. Of course, this had brought a mock from her mother that she could have good luck trying, since she'd never be better than her mother. And if there was one thing all four Hydra, Aquila, Carina and Antlia liked, it was a challenge.
Vela had once considered what she could choose. She wasn't sure she wanted to be a Gryffindor. It was true, there were Gryffindors like her beloved mommy, her aunt Ginny, her uncle Harry and her uncle Neville, but if they were anything like her uncle Ron or uncle Seamus, or uncles Fred and George, she wasn't sure about that. Oh, she loved all four of them, but they were imbeciles. Even Vela's godfather Dean Thomas could be frustratingly infuriating.
Of course, it wasn't to say Slytherin was the only house for her. Her closest family being in Slytherin was a good incentive not to end up in it. Her oldest sister and her old half-brother Draco for starters. And her uncle Lucius especially. She loved them too, but again, they could be imbeciles too sometimes, especially uncle Lucius.
Vela's thoughts were broken when she heard Hermione step in front of the older witch. "Yeah, as if Bellatrix would want Rina to have anything less than the most fearsome owl at her beck and call." She then narrowed her brown eyes, "Narcissa," She began again, "There's something on your mind. I can tell."
The blond witch stiffened, making Vela cock her head as she stayed hidden behind the kitchen's entrance's left wall. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about." Narcissa finally answered, "Something about Bella and the children."
Vela froze and so did Hermione. "What?" Hermione asked and like with the brunette's smile, there was something in her voice that made Vela feel uneasy. Like there wasn't something quite right here.
The pureblood witch said quietly, "Listen, I know you don't want to talk about this, and I don't want to be the one to say it, but I'd like you to choose soon." Vela narrowed her eyes. Choose what? What was her mother talking about? Narcissa continued, as if answering her young daughter's thoughts, "I've been happy with this arrangement as I'm sure you have these past years. I love all of the children, Bella's and Andy's as well as our daughter, but Hermione…I'd like it to just be me and you. I want you. And I want you to only want me too."
And just like that, Vela's whole world collapsed. Her heart pounded. Pounded so loudly, she was shocked that her mommy and mother didn't hear it. Her mouth dropped open. Her mother wanted her mommy to leave aunt Andy and aunt Bella? That was insane. Vela couldn't believe what she was hearing. This had been her whole life. Her mommy, her two aunts and her mother and her sisters. She couldn't imagine living in the same household without any of them.
It seemed she wasn't the only one that found her mother's idea completely mad. Hermione didn't move for several moments. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the muggle-born woman moved, right hand flying across the blonde's face. The blonde's head snapped to the side, almost bringing a cry from their daughter's lips before she clamped her hands over them.
What had she just seen?! Vela wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. Not only had she heard her mother suggest that her mommy leave her other two wives, but her mommy had just hit her mother. This was madness. How?
Vela could feel sharp, hot tears accumulate. She didn't want to be watching this, but found that she couldn't move from the spot. It was like watching a pair of dragons crashing into each other. You knew it was going to happen, but you just couldn't look away.
"Watch your mouth." Hermione growled dangerously, a tone that sent a freezing jolt down Vela's spine. She had only heard that tone a few times, and only with people who had threatened Hermione's children or her wife, Bellatrix.
"You will not suggest this ever again, Cissy," the way her mommy sneered out her mother's nickname almost made Vela whimper at the iciness in it, "I will admit, I love having sex with you. I find you extremely attractive and I even like you. But for the most part, I tolerate you. Both you and Andromeda. Do you know what the two of you are to me? You are insemination machines. Oh, we've raised a family together perfectly well, but you and Andy are really the unemployed help I have around here, when Bella and I aren't. If I ever get the chance, do you know who I'll run off with? I'll give you a hint, it's not either you or Andromeda. You're both just tools I use to give Bella more children than she has. You ever notice I encourage our daughter and Andromeda and my daughters to be around Bella much more? Well that's why. You might be Vela's mother and Andromeda might be Gemini and Sagitta's mother, but they're Bellatrix's in my eyes, just as much as Hydra, Aquila, Carina and Antlia are. I know, hurts, doesn't it?"
Vela couldn't move. Her blood was frozen in her veins. She didn't want to see her face in a mirror. She could only imagine what it looked like. Her only evidence of her appearance was the hot moisture streaming down her face, dropping onto her fingers that were grasping her face in pure horror.
Narcissa's physical state wasn't much better. The blonde pureblood turned her head back to Hermione, face marred with pain, a red blotch imbuing her left cheek.
"I appreciate you giving me a daughter, Narcissa," Hermione said, face emotionless, "But appreciation, lust and tolerance are all far from love. That's not what I have with you and Andromeda. That's what I have with Bellatrix. You and Andromeda at the most are money providers, children providers and fuck buddies, but that's it."
Vela almost stumbled back. She had never heard her mommy curse before. It was bewildering to hear. To make her state even worse, Narcissa lowered her head, face a blank. Vela didn't even want to imagine what her mother was thinking about.
"I understand, Hermione." Narcissa answered voice cracking as she spoke.
"Everything I've done," Hermione continued, seeming not to care about her wife's pain, "Has been for Bellatrix. Money, children, a place in this world for her, it's all been for Bellatrix. Not for you and not for Andromeda. I could never love two women who used Bellatrix as a sacrificial lamb to be protected from their abusive father and then do the same as she rotted away in Azkaban. Now Narcissa, you and Andromeda are the sacrificial lambs. Doesn't feel very good, does it?"
Vela couldn't take it anymore. Biting down on her fingers so that she didn't cry out, the small blonde witch whirled and bolted back up the stairs, tears threatening to break loose from her eyes. She got to her bed, running past the still sleeping Antlia and jumping in, wrapping the blankets and sheets around herself, burying her face in pillow.
She didn't feel like eating chocolate pie anymore.
Three years later:
Hogwarts Train Platform:
Vela kept the unmoving iguana under her arm. The extremely statue-like creature was completely unfazed by the bustling crowds of witches and wizards leading their children to the train, sending their progenies off.
Vela smiled down at the straight-backed Antlia, the black haired young witch trying to keep the tears out of her eyes as she saw her big sister off.
"So I'll owl you many times over the school year," Vela promised her little eight-year-old sister, "Please be good to aunt Bella, mommy, mother and aunt Andy, okay?" It took everything Vela had not to add, "And don't make a habit of listening in on them in their moments. You won't like what you hear."
"I will." Antlia sniffed, stepping forward and hugging her big sister around the neck despite the iguana, Gawain moving its head uncomfortably at the awkward contact. As the two sisters parted, there were footsteps behind Vela and Carina, Aquila and Sagitta strode over to entrance of the train car, a seventeen-year-old Aquila slapping a hand against a startled Vela's back. "Don't worry about Vela, Lia," Aquila said, laughing loudly, "She'll have us looking out for her."
"Yeah," Antlia snorted, "That's what I'm worried about, Quila." Aquila smirked, "Watch it, kid."
Aquila ruffled Antlia's raven hair and leaned over, kissing her tearful mommy and proud mother on the cheeks before turning to the train and walking in. Carina and Sagitta did the same before going in. Vela watched her siblings go and turned to her mommy, aunts, sisters and mother. She walked to Narcissa, Gawain still beneath her arm.
She embraced the older woman and whispered into her mother's ear, "It's alright, mother. I'll never leave you, I promise."
Narcissa parted from Vela, staring at her daughter, confusion riddling her pale, regal face. Vela just smiled, nodding to her aunts and mommy before passing into the train opening.
As the locomotive began to move, Vela sat in the compartment where her sisters sat. Carina was on the right of her and Sagitta and Aquila were sitting across from her. Aquila's large black, fierce looking owl Athena sat perched on the wooden swing hanging from the spire of her cage, angry looking golden eyes seeming unfazed completely by the steel white bars surrounding her wide ebony frame.
Regulus, Sagitta's black and orange cat; fur as puffy as his father, Crookshanks's, the familiar Sagitta's mother Hermione had had with her during her adventures at Hogwarts was stretched across his mistress's lap lazily.
Carina kept her large, intimidating eagle owl close as it scowled at Athena.
Vela curled up on her seat, pushing her suitcase up by her legs, putting Gawain on her lap.
Once the train left the station, calls of farewells from the girls' mothers, sisters and aunts following after them as Ron and Lavender's followed after their children's; Hugo and Rose and Neville's and Luna's followed Lysander and Lorcan, Sagitta noticed a grave appearance over her second youngest sister's face.
"Vela?" She asked, "Are you okay?"
Vela eyed her brown-haired sister and nodded. "Yeah," She sighed, lying through her teeth, "I'm fine."
Just hope mother is fine at home without me being there. That was what Vela didn't say about Narcissa.
A sacrificial lamb. Was that what her mommy had said Narcissa made out of her aunt Bella? Was that true? Yet it was Hermione who had made Narcissa into a sacrificial lamb for Bellatrix's sake for years. Andromeda too. They were both sacrificial lambs. Perhaps that's why she had done it too. Perhaps Narcissa had used Bellatrix as a sacrificial lamb.
Vela recalled all the stories about her aunt Bella being in Azkaban and Narcissa and Andromeda living their happy lives and never once visiting their big sister who had protected them from Cygnus Black III and Druella Black.
Vela sucked in a breath. Was that what her mother and aunt Andy had done to her aunt Bella? She couldn't bear that thought. And had her mommy, Hermione really used her mother like this, just for her aunt Bellatrix's sake. Sacrificial lambs…how morbid.
Well, Vela made a choice right there and then, just when the train exited the tunnel and began its journey on the tracks through the sprawling emerald fields and moss encrusted army of forests.
She was going to choose now. There was no guarantee she wasn't going to be an awful person based on the house she chose, but she'd rather be surrounded by decent people, not users.
She knew this now, even before the hours of encroaching on Hogwarts ground would approach.
She knew now, even before she and her sisters approached those towering spires of her soon-to-be school and long before that old smelly hat would reach her head and ramble on what her choice would be.
She knew now that she would not choose either Slytherin or Gryffindor. Not ever.