Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: I finally got past over a year's worth of writer's block on this! The next chapter is NOT written yet, and no idea when it will be, but I do at least have ideas for it. Next chapter may or may not be the last.
Warnings: Mentions of rape. Implications of torture. Talk of rape recovery.
As soon as Draco and Voldemort left the Headmaster's office, Hermione and Luna walked in. Both already had their hoods up and their wands in hand. The obscuring charms on the hoods of the cloaks hid their faces, adding to the mystery of the assassins' appearance.
"Orders?" Hermione asked curtly.
"Kreacher!" Valerie called.
The house-elf appeared instantly.
"Mistress is calling Kreacher?" he croaked.
"Kreacher, what is the Order of the Phoenix doing right now?" Valerie asked.
"Most of the filthy blood traitors is gone to bed, Mistress. They's leaving the nasty Weasel boy and the nasty Weasel girl watching Missy Black. They's staying out of her room though. Kreacher's be adding house-elf wards so they's not be coming in, and Kreacher's be making sure Missy Black had good food that the nasty Order members wasn't touching," the house-elf reported.
"Thank you, Kreacher," Valerie said. "How is she?"
"She's be crying, Mistress. She's being hurt. Kreacher is tryings to help her, but Missy Black wouldn't let Kreacher. She's being scared, she's being very, very scared," Kreacher croaked.
"Has anyone from the Order touched her?" Valerie asked quietly.
"The nasty Weasel boy tried, but Missy Black was stopping him," Kreacher reported. "He's be trying again, but he's not be getting past Kreacher's wards."
"Thank you, Kreacher," Valerie sighed. "You're dismissed. Be aware that Hermione, Luna, and I will be entering the house shortly to rescue Lucy. Anything you can do to help us would be appreciated."
"Kreacher wills be watching," the old house-elf promised before disappearing.
Valerie looked over at her friends. They had their plan. They were as prepared as they could be.
"Ready?" she asked simply.
Both women nodded in reply. Valerie pulled out her Invisibility Cloak and threw it over herself. Luna cast her Fae magic. Hermione Disillusioned herself.
Valerie reached out and grabbed both of their arms before Apparating into the foyer of Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
Since it was her house, and she ridiculously overpowered the Apparition, their entrance to the house was near-silent. Unfortunately, there was a cluster of people in the foyer. One person was apparently sensitive enough to notice the magical displacement caused by their appearance. His head snapped up and he looked directly at them.
"What is it, Terry?" an Asian woman asked. Valerie tentatively identified her as Su Li, who'd been a Ravenclaw in her year, which made the man Terry Boot from the same house.
"Someone just Apparated in," Terry said in a low voice. "Who's there?" he demanded loudly.
Valerie, Hermione, and Luna near-simultaneously let out a string of spells, Stunning all five people and Silencing the sound of their bodies hitting the floor before any of them could move to counter them.
"I'll Disillusion them and take care of anyone who comes this way," Luna said quietly. "You two go find her."
Valerie tapped Luna's arm in acknowledgment, then Hermione's twice in a silent command to come with her. They made their way up the stairs on silent feet. On the second floor, they had to press themselves against the wall in order to avoid running into two conversing Order members – Emmeline Vance and Susan Bones. On the third floor, they passed an open doorway to a bedroom where Sturgis Podmore and Parvati Patil were snogging passionately.
On the fourth floor, Valerie asked, "Isn't he married?"
"Not to her," Hermione confirmed.
Just as Kreacher had reported, the only two people outside the fifth-floor room where Lucy was being kept were Ron and Ginny Weasley.
Valerie grimaced at the sight of them. Neither had aged well. Ron's teenage gangliness had been overcome by his ever-empty stomach and his mother's overenthusiastic cooking. He now possessed enough blubber to make Vernon Dursley proud. Ginny, on the other hand, wore too much makeup and little enough clothing that Valerie was surprised that Mrs. Weasley let her be seen out in public that way. The woman had nearly had a fit of apoplexy when Valerie dared to wear a knee-length sundress while staying with the Weasleys one summer. The blue eyeshadow and bright red lipstick clashed horribly with her frizzy red hair.
"Come on, Gin," Ron was whining. "Ten minutes. That's all I need."
"That's all it'll take, you mean," Ginny said scathingly. "And no. Death Eater bitch or not, we have to leave her alone until after the meeting."
Valerie cast a quick Silencing Charm around the entire floor, then Stunned Ginny.
"Ginny!" Ron yelled as she fell to the floor. He pulled his wand out and looked around angrily. "Who's there? What did you do to my sister?"
"Oh no, Ronald," Valerie said, her voice quiet but menacing. She'd picked that trick up from Voldemort. "It's not your sister you should be worried about."
She unclasped her Invisibility Cloak and let it fall to the ground.
Ron's eyes widened, and he pointed his wand at her.
"Don't move!" he ordered. "I'll…I'll…"
Any further conversation was cut off when Hermione – still Disillusioned – cast a silent Full Body-Bind.
"You'll do nothing," Valerie said firmly. "Except perhaps suffer. You tried to rape her, didn't you? But Ginny wanted you to wait until after the meeting. No matter. Neither of you will be touching her."
"Who are you?" Ron croaked. Hermione had apparently not Petrified his mouth.
"I am the Blood Crow, Badb of the Morrígan. I am the Cloak-Bearer, Stone-Keeper, Wand-Wielder. I am the Mistress of Death. Most importantly, I am the mother of Lucinda Hart. But you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, you would remember me as Valerie Lillian Potter. And I have come to reclaim my child."
"That's impossible!" Ron nearly yelled as Valerie lowered the hood of her red cloak. "Valerie's dead! She's been dead for years! Voldemort killed her!"
"Voldemort saved me, and my children," Valerie said calmly. "I chose them over the war once before. I choose them over the Order once more. For daring to touch what wasn't yours, for attempting to force yourself on an unwilling innocent, Ronald Weasley, you deserve everything that is coming to you."
She strode past him and to the door of the room even as Ron cried out, presumably from the castration curse that Hermione cast.
The door opened at her touch, as all doors in Grimmauld Place did, but she didn't enter quite yet. She pulled the silver-and-gold braided ring out of her pocket and slid it onto her finger. She pulled a strand of hair over her shoulder to ensure that it was blonde, not black.
"Valerie?" Hermione asked in a low voice.
Valerie glanced over her shoulder. Her friend was still invisible.
"Lucy wouldn't recognize Valerie Potter," she said quietly. "I need to be Holly Hart right now."
She pushed open the door.
Lucy was curled up in a ball in the far corner of the room. She flinched when the door squeaked.
"Please, just let me go," she cried. "I want to go home!"
Valerie looked back at Hermione.
"Guard the door," she said quietly. "This might take a bit."
She slowly moved forward into the room and closed the door behind her. The room had been stripped of all its furnishings, but the Muggle pictures of motorcycles and girls were still on the walls where Sirius had applied the Permanent Sticking Charms, though they were looking a bit tattered now.
"Lucy, sweetheart," she said gently. "Look at me, baby."
"Mum?" Lucy asked brokenly, looking up with watery grey eyes.
"Yes, it's me, baby," Holly said, kneeling next to her daughter, though she didn't dare try to touch her yet.
"But…you can't be Mum. You have a wand. Mum's not a witch," Lucy asked in confusion.
"I am a witch, sweetheart. I was under magical oath not to reveal my magic. But I am your mum, baby," Holly said gently.
Lucy didn't look very trusting at that.
Holly settled in a bit more comfortably on the dirty floor.
"When you were four years old," she began, "your Uncle Tom got you a porcelain doll for your birthday. She had black hair, and grey eyes, and had a green silk dress. You named her Morgan. You'd barely had her for an hour before you came to me, crying, because you'd broken the doll's hand off. You must've come to me every other day after breaking the poor doll. I always managed to fix her though – the Mending Charm is a wonderful thing. Eventually, I just borrowed the doll one night and cast enough charms on her that you could run over her with a tank and she'd still be in one piece."
Lucy's eyes widened slightly. She looked slightly more hopeful now.
"That same birthday, Tom got Brax a set of wooden toy soldiers. Brax would line them up on the windowsill, the dresser, anywhere he could to stage battles. He usually liked to pretend he was King Arthur, commanding his troops. He always tried to convince you that your doll should be Morgan Le Fay so you could fight against each other," Holly continued.
"You always let us use whatever magic spells we wanted, but not 'Abracadabra,'" Lucy said slowly. "Because that sounds like the Killing Curse."
"That's right," Holly replied. "I didn't want you to accidentally kill each other. I've never heard of it happening before, but your magic was powerful. I didn't want to take any chances."
"We never really did much accidental magic," Lucy said in confusion.
"I had to be fast about cancelling a lot of it," Holly replied. "You and your brother were Summoning bottles and toys to yourselves from the cradle. One of you – I never figured out which – turned my hair purple when you were two. I had to phone a friend for a rapid Obliviation when you turned Mrs. Rajpur into a duck while she was babysitting you while I took Brax to the dentist to get a cavity filled when you were seven."
"So you always knew?" Lucy asked, uncurling from her self-made ball a bit.
"Not always. I didn't know until I got my letter when I was eleven, same as you."
"Does Uncle Tom know?"
"He does. He's a wizard too. You've actually spent a great deal of time with him."
There was a moment of confusion before recognition lit up Lucy's eyes.
"He's Lord Voldemort?"
"He is," Holly nodded with a smile. She knew her daughter was brilliant.
"Mum?" Lucy asked, her voice cracking.
Holly nodded again, and was barely surprised when Lucy lunged for her, practically crawling into her lap as she cried.
Holly rocked her back and forth gently.
"Mummy's here, Lucy baby. Mummy's got you. No one else is going to touch you. I've got you now. You're safe now."
She continued the gentle litany as Lucy sobbed, petting the girl's black curls as she tried to wedge her face into the crook of Holly's shoulder.
Lucy's sobs had mostly faded into quiet sniffles when the door burst open. Lucy flinched violently into Holly, who already had her wand pointed in that direction with her right hand while her left cradled Lucy's head.
It was just Hermione, her Disillusionment Charm gone. A flash of white behind her meant Luna was there as well.
"Time to go," Hermione said grimly. "Someone found the group in the foyer. Luna wasn't able to keep them all out before someone sounded the alarm."
"Do you have something I can make into a Portkey?" Holly asked.
A shoe came flying into the room from where Luna was.
"I stole that off Ginny!" the blonde called cheerfully.
Holly picked up the neon-pink stripper heel by the back strap with a look of disgust.
"It's better than Ronald's," Hermione pointed out.
Holly grimaced, then tapped the shoe with her wand.
"Portus," she ordered. "Everybody grab on."
Lucy reached out from her position in Holly's lap and grabbed the heel. Hermione grabbed the top strap. Luna moved forward to grab the toe.
"Professor Lovegood?" Lucy asked in wonderment.
"Hello, Sara," Luna said calmly.
"No time for chit-chat!" Hermione said, pointing her wand out the door with the hand that wasn't holding the shoe and firing off a string of silent curses. "Holly, go!"
"This first!" Holly cried.
Holly placed her wand on her shoulder and incanted, "Cresce." Her tattoo – kept glamoured for the past fifteen years, so her children wouldn't see it – rose from her skin, burning with bright flames. Holly pointed her wand at the far end of the room. "Ardere!" she ordered. The phoenix flew past them, a brief warmth passing by their face, though none were burned. It let out a fierce cry as it burned itself into the wall.
"Holly!" Hermione shouted.
Holly turned from her handiwork back to the matter at hand, though she vaguely felt the warmth of the phoenix resettle into her skin.
"Princess," Holly ordered as she tapped the Portkey with her wand, using the same password that Voldemort had used for Snape to bring her to Hogwarts. It was the name he always used for Lucy, after all.
There was a whirl of color, and they landed in the Hospital Wing. Holly ended up sprawled on the floor with Lucy on top of her, looking green.
"I hate Portkeys," she groaned.
"They hate me too," Holly commiserated.
Luna and Hermione had both landed on their feet and were already in the middle of casting a veritable slew of privacy charms around the bed in the far corner of the room.
"I'll find Healer Abbott," Luna said once they were done. "Holly, will you let the Lord know we're back? Your Patronus might make the Resistance worry."
"Wonderful idea," Holly said as she carefully helped Lucy to her feet before pulling herself up. She guided Lucy over to the bed. Hermione was there too, but she was careful to keep a distance from the traumatized teenager.
"Lucy, you know Professor Lovegood, obviously. This is Hermione Granger, one of my very best friends. I trust her completely, and I swear to you that she will never harm you," Holly said firmly. "Will you trust her to help me guard you?"
Lucy hesitated, scooting closer to Holly, but still nodded.
"Don't leave?" she asked in a small voice.
Holly pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter's head.
"I won't."
She pulled out her wand and ordered, "Expecto Patronum!"
The silver phoenix erupted from her wand. It had changed from her father's Animagus form to her own when she was seventeen, around the same time the newspapers had started calling her the 'Lady Phoenix' in response to her repeatedly living through Voldemort's attempts to kill her.
"Find Voldemort and tell him that she's safe now," Holly ordered. The phoenix nodded regally and flew out of the room, presumably towards Inverness.
"The Patronus Charm is supposed to be one of the most difficult there is," Lucy breathed in shocked awe.
"It's not as difficult as the books make it out to be," Holly assured. "I can teach you how to do it, once you're recovered."
Lucy flinched and looked down at her battered and bruised body.
"Mum…Professor Towler…he…"
"I know, sweetheart," Holly said gently, reaching out to cup her daughter's chin. "I know what he did. He's in the dungeons for it. He'll never leave them alive."
Tears began welling in Lucy's eyes once more.
"I didn't want…"
"I know," Holly said, reaching out to pull her daughter into another tight embrace. "I know how much it hurts. I've been there. But Lucy-love? It does get better. I promise you, it might not feel like it can right now, but it does get better. Now, let's get you over to the bed so that Healer Abbott can check you over once she gets here."
Hermione hovered nearby, but didn't touch as Holly gently settled her daughter onto the stark white hospital bed.
"I never liked these beds," Holly commented lightly. "I was in here a lot when I was at Hogwarts, and even after, during the war. Madam Pomphrey, the Mediwitch back then, actually had my name carved into one of the beds. She said it was that or start charging me rent."
"You fought in the war? Is that why you left?" Lucy asked.
"I fought in the war," Holly confirmed. "I left because I found out I was pregnant with you in your brother after being captured by Death Eaters. Voldemort offered me a deal – the chance to raise you two in exchange for leaving the Wizarding World – and I took it. We both swore a magical oath – me to never reveal my magic or identity, and him to protect you two. When he broke that oath when you were kidnapped, I was allowed to come back to my name and the Wizarding World."
"What's your real name?" Lucy asked. "Not Holly Hart? Does that mean Brax and I aren't Harts either?"
"No, you're not," Holly said gently. She held up her hand to display her ring. "Have you noticed that I never take this off?"
Lucy nodded in confusion. "I thought it was your wedding ring from Dad."
"No," Holly sighed. "Your father and I were never properly married. We had a magical partnership bond, but we were only nineteen and on opposite sides of the war. He was – and still is – a Death Eater, and I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He never gave me a ring. This ring is what I use to anchor the glamour charms on me, that make me look like Holly Hart."
She pulled off the ring and felt her appearance shimmer into her natural one. This was the second time she'd assumed it in twenty-four hours, which was more than she had worn it in the past fifteen years.
"This is what I really look like," she said, extending her arms so Lucy got a good view.
"You look like a pureblood," Lucy said quietly.
"Half-blood, but you and your brother would count as first-generation purebloods. My father and your father were both from old pureblood lines, but my mother was Muggle-born," Holly said, equally quietly. She could see Lucy attempting not to sleep. "Don't fall asleep quite yet, darling. Healer Abbott will want to run some diagnostics, and probably shove some potions down your throat first."
"That would be correct, Lady Potter-Black," Hannah Abbott said as she entered the hospital wing, Luna at her heels. "Hello, Miss Hart. We're all very glad you're safe. May I cast a few diagnostic spells on you?"
Lucy nodded slowly. As Hannah began casting, she looked back at Valerie.
"Lady Potter-Black?"
"My full name is Valerie Lillian Potter-Black, Lady of the Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Potter and Black," Valerie said quietly. "Recent history remembers me as the Girl-Who-Lived, who survived Voldemort's Killing Curse as a baby and went on to lead the Order of the Phoenix during the Second Wizarding War as Lady Phoenix until my supposed death sixteen years ago."
"When you found out you were pregnant with us?" Lucy asked.
"That's right," Valerie said. "No one but Tom – Voldemort – knew I was alive. Well, Lucius Malfoy might've, but he never said anything."
"We were all quite shocked," Hannah said. "Usually, when the Dark Lord announces someone as dead, they don't come back again."
Valerie shrugged.
"What can I say? I've survived four – no, five – Killing Curses from the Dark Lord, and over a dozen to-the-death duels. Not to mention every time we've practice-dueled since I went into hiding. But we weren't actually trying to kill each other then. Just get a good workout."
Hannah blinked at her for a moment before going back to looking over Lucy's results.
"Well, it looks like you're going to need some Bruise Balm and Star Grass Salve, as well as a Rape Recovery Potion. I'd like to give you a Calming Draught as well, and then some Dreamless Sleep potion before you go to bed. May I help you apply the salves, or would you like your mother to do it?" she asked calmly.
"Mum," Lucy said in a small voice.
"Very well," Hannah said. "Lady Potter-Black, I presume you know how, after how much time you spent in here as a child."
"I do," Valerie said calmly. "And Valerie is fine, Healer Abbott."
"You may call me Hannah then," the healer replied. "We were friends once, weren't we? Hermione and I will stay right outside."
"Thank you," Valerie said, accepting the two jars of salve, the Calming Draught, and the dark, sparkling potion that she knew would heal any interior damage that Towler had caused her daughter.
Hermione and Hannah left and close the curtains behind them.
"Take the potion first," Valerie said gently, handing it over to Lucy. "It doesn't taste half as terrible as some of the other things in here."
Lucy popped the cork off and downed the potion in one gulp, which was honestly the best way to drink potions. As a whole, they tended to taste awful.
"It tastes like peppermint," Lucy said in surprise.
"Mm-hmm," Valerie said. "Now this one."
She passed over the turquoise potion, and Lucy swallowed it just as quickly. Valerie immediately saw her daughter relax as the Calming Draught soothed her.
"I'll need you to take you robes off so that I can apply the Bruise Balm and Star Grass Salve," Valerie said gently. "You don't have to rush; you can take as much time as you need. I'm not going to force you to hurry, but you do need to take them off so I can help you feel better."
Lucy hesitated, but slowly unclasped her school robes and shrugged them off. Valerie waved her wand and Banished them to the laundry. If the house-elves couldn't salvage them, they'd let her know.
"Can you Vanish my stockings?" her daughter asked in a small voice. "I think they're ruined."
Lucy's shoes had disappeared somewhere between Towler's office and Grimmauld Place, and the stockings she wore underneath them were ripped in multiple places. A few scrapes and bruises could be seen through the holes.
"That's all right," Valerie said comfortingly. "I must've gone through a new pair every week when I was in school. Eventually Hermione told me to just go back to socks unless it was a special occasion. But honestly," she said, lowering her voice conspiratorially, "half the time I just didn't bother wearing knee-socks or stockings. I got this wonderful pair of dragon-hide boots for my birthday that came halfway up my calves, so I just wore short stocks with them and escaped the teachers' notice by keeping my school robes on."
She waved her wand and Vanished the stockings. Lucy flinched, but Valerie pretended not to notice. Lucy pulled her tie off and began slowly unbuttoning her blouse. Valerie opened the Star Grass Salve and Bruise Balm and began treating the minor wounds on Lucy's legs.
By the time Lucy had stripped down to her underwear, Valerie had finished treating her legs and was working on her arms. It only took a few more minutes to finish covering all of her wounds in some kind of salve.
"Will you be alright if I poke my head out and ask Healer Abbott for hospital pajamas?" Valerie asked.
"You're not leaving?" Lucy asked in a small voice.
"I won't leave the room," Valerie promised.
Lucy hesitated, then nodded.
Valerie stuck her head out of the curtains and looked around for Hannah. She didn't see her, but Hermione was still standing there.
"Could you find a set of hospital pajamas for Lucy to wear?" she asked. "I want to give her the Dreamless Sleep as soon as possible. Even with the Calming Draught, she's still pretty anxious."
"I'll look," Hermione promised. "I doubt Hannah's changed too much around here."
Sure enough, Hermione found pajamas in the same cabinet Pomphrey had always kept them in.
"What size?" she called out.
"Adult small, or would you like something baggier?" Valerie asked Lucy quietly.
"Small's fine," Lucy replied.
"Small," Valerie called to Hermione.
The black-cloaked woman brought the pajamas over and handed them to Valerie. Valerie closed the curtain and took the clothes over to Lucy.
"Do you want help?" she asked.
"I can do it," Lucy insisted. Slowly but surely, the traumatized teen got the pajamas on.
"Ready?" Valerie asked.
Lucy nodded slowly.
Valerie opened the curtain. Hermione was still waiting just outside it. Hannah was fixing something in one of the cabinets.
"Could you administer the Dreamless Sleep now?" Valerie called to Hannah.
"Of course," Hannah said, pulling the potion out. She was making her way over to them when the door swung open.
Lucy flinched.
"Voldemort!" Valerie scolded. It was Voldemort, in full Dark-Lordly glory, black robes looking suspiciously wet.
"No blood near my patients," Hannah said, seemingly automatically.
Voldemort looked down at his robes and sighed before waving his wand at them. They vanished, presumably banished to the laundry. Under the robes, he was dressed simply in a dark tunic and pants. His snake-faced glamour faded away into the more familiar face of Tom.
"Lucy," he said, moving quickly towards her, though he stopped a few feet from the bed at Valerie's warning look. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
"Uncle Tom?" Lucy asked in a small voice.
"It's me, Lucy, princess," Tom said soothingly. He reached out a hand toward her, and when she didn't flinch away, moved closer until she could take his hand in hers. He Conjured a chair beside her bed.
"I'm so sorry, princess," he repeated. "We found you as fast as we could."
"It's not your fault," Lucy said quietly. "I should have been more careful."
"None of this was your fault, Lucinda," Valerie said firmly. "You were with your professor. You were supposed to be safe there."
"If anything, it is my fault for not keeping a closer eye on our professors. I should have better interrogated them to ascertain where their loyalties truly lie," Tom said.
"Why did you never tell us?" Lucy asked him. "That you were Uncle Tom and Lord Voldemort?"
Tom was silent for a long minute.
"You weren't ready," he finally said. "Your mother planned to make sure you found out about your ancestry one day, but not until you were old enough to take her titles without anyone questioning whether or not she was alive. If you had found out before your seventeenth birthdays, then claiming your inheritance would have marked you as the Heirs, not as the emancipated Lord and Lady. Everyone would have known that your mother was alive, which was something that I, as the ruler of the Wizarding World, could not allow."
"If I was revealed to be alive by anyone but Voldemort, then I would be seen as a symbol of hope for the rebellion," Valerie said. "There are a lot of people out there who have accepted Voldemort's rule that would start fighting again in my name. The phoenix must rise. Isn't that right, Hannah?"
All eyes turned to the healer, who raised her wand to her shoulder and ordered, "Cresce." A phoenix rose from her shoulder, just like Valerie's, though the coloring was different. Valerie's tattoo was bright reds and oranges and golds. This phoenix was black and dark red, with bright green eyes.
Hermione and Luna both tapped their shoulders as well, ordering, "Cresce." Identical phoenixes rose from their own shoulders.
Valerie glanced over at Tom, who looked curious. She smiled mischievously and pointed her wand up towards where she knew the center of Hogwarts to be.
"Ardesigna!" she cried. The three phoenixes joined together in a blaze of fire and shot through the ceiling.
Tom looked over at her and scowled at her mischievous smile.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"Look at the window," Valerie recommended.
The Dark Lord stalked over to the window and looked out. He had to crane his neck in order to see where it had gone.
"Valerie!" he yelled. "Why is there a phoenix over my castle?!"
"What better way to announce my return?" Valerie asked innocently. From beside her, she heard Lucy giggle.
"I was thinking the Daily Prophet," Tom said with gritted teeth, stalking over to her.
Valerie patted his arm.
"You know as much as I do that this needs to be a symbol. I burned my phoenix into the walls of the room they were keeping Lucy in. Now I have it hanging over Hogwarts, as large as the Dark Mark you cast over London my sixth year. Everyone in Hogwarts will have seen it. The entire Wizarding World will know within the hour. The Resistance will know that my allegiance is here. We can do the paper interview tomorrow, and it can be the front-page article the next day."
She turned to her daughter.
"Are you ready to take your potion?"
Lucy nodded.
Hannah handed the vial over to Lucy, who uncorked it, but paused before she drank it.
"You won't leave me alone?" she asked in a small voice.
"I won't be here the whole time," Valerie admitted. "I need to talk to your brother. But I promise that you will never be alone. Either Luna, Hermione, your Uncle Tom, or I will be here at all times."
"And I'll be safe?" Lucy asked, voice almost pleading for confirmation.
Valerie reached out and brushed her hair away from her face before placing a kiss on her forehead.
"You will be safe here, my Lucinda. You have the most powerful witches and wizards in the world guarding you."
Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath before gulping down the Dreamless Sleep potion. She was out a minute later.
"I'll sit with Sara," Luna said, planting herself in the chair by Lucy's bed. "Valerie, you should go find Cedric. Hermione, you and the Lord need to go get your teaching contract ironed out."
"He's not my Lord," Hermione grumbled, but she nodded in agreement before grabbing Tom by the elbow. "Come on, Voldemort. Your office."
Valerie had to try not to laugh at the face Tom made as he applied his Voldemort glamour.
"You might not want to go out as Badb," Luna pointed out.
"I don't actually have other clothes," Valerie replied. "Kessy!" she called out.
"Missy Valerie!" the house-elf exclaimed as she appeared. "Kessy has been missing Missy Valerie! What can Kessy be's doing for you?"
"Could you fetch my phoenix robes from my room at Voldemort's manor?" Valerie asked, a small smirk on her face.
"Kessy will!" the house-elf exclaimed before popping away.
Valerie looked over at Luna, who's eyes had widened before a similar smirk came onto her face.
"You're certainly going to make an entrance," Luna commented.
"If I'm going to make an entrance, I'm going to make an entrance," Valerie confirmed.
Kessy popped back in with the robes hovering on a hanger behind her, a box in her arms.
"Would Missy Valerie be liking the hairpiece too?" she asked, holding out the box to Valerie.
Valerie knelt to accept it.
"Thank you, Kessy. I very much would. You're dismissed."
Kessy burst into tears as she popped away.
Valerie stood and examined the robes before her. The triple-layered red-orange-gold robes were what she had worn to her first and only meeting of the Wizengamot before she had to start attending via mirror due to the danger she was in. Combined with the gold hairpiece that took up the entire right side of her head, it made a stunning picture.
"No shoes?" Hannah asked.
Valerie shrugged.
"I'm wearing dragonhide boots. They'll work."
She stepped behind another curtain and hurriedly changed into the robes – first the soft gold underlayer, which rose up to a high collar around her throat, but left her back completely bare. The orange middle layer was likewise backless. It had a full-length skirt with several cuts in the fabric that allowed the gold underlayer to flash if she moved too quickly. The top was a deep V that plunged to her waist, allowing the cloth-of-gold to be clearly seen beneath the orange brocade. The crimson outer robe was made from acromantula silk and embroidered with the faintest impressions of feathers. It was the only part of the robes with a back. A gold belt in the shape of a phoenix went over all three layers. The ruby-eyed garter had belonged to the Potter family for centuries.
A few quick cosmetic charms cleaned face and applied foundation, concealer, and flame-colored eye shadow to match the robes. Another charm pinned her hair back and allowed it to dangle over her left shoulder.
Valerie then picked up the box Kessy had brought her and carefully lifted the gold hairpiece out of it. Like the belt, it had been part of the Potter family for centuries. Unlike the belt, she couldn't put it in place on her own.
She pushed the curtain aside and walked out to where Luna and Hannah were talking. Both looked up and stared.
"You look beautiful, Valerie," Luna said firmly, standing to take the hairpiece from her hands. She stood on her toes and carefully slid it into Valerie's hair before casting a charm to make sure it remained in place.
"Like a princess," Hannah agreed. "You'll certainly make an impression in the Great Hall. No one really wears red anymore. It's too closely associated with the Order and the Resistance."
"Well, red is my color," Valerie said proudly. "Though green brings out my eyes. But I am a Gryffindor and a Potter, and the Lady Phoenix. I will wear red as often as I like."
"You'd best get going," Luna recommended. "You'll want some time to talk to Cedric before the Lord and Hermione are done."
Valerie Conjured a mirror and looked herself over.
"Well, it's now or never," she said to herself before Vanishing the mirror and striding out of the hospital wing.