Teeth and Claws

by TheShadowSwan

When you put bunch of predators in one room and tell them to work together they do not roll over and listen to the order. They test both you and each other. They snarl, bite and scratch… They fight. With teeth and claws. Fem!Harry as Skull BAMF!Skull UST!Arcobaleno Crossposted with AO3

4. Faces

Thank you for all the reviews! Reading them is truly a great way to find motivation to write something more :) And I know that I wrote earlier than new chapter won't be earlier but two weeks from the last… But it's World Cup time so happy football holiday for everyone as excited as I am \o/

Answers here:

* Yes, the pose I described was scorpion in handstand. In the fic it's not really about the way she concerted herself to get into the pose, (it may be a common pose but still fiendishly difficult in that version… At least for me :) ) but mostly at the fact that she dared to do so with a man nearby. In canon Arcobaleno were cursed around ~1975 so they also behaved a bit differently. Especially in China from where Fon hails. While in Europe women became more and more daring in the fashions and behavior (still nowhere near how we behave now), the China were… a bit difficult. Under Mao's rule Chinese women were meant to be silent and demure. No idea how the criminal ranks of them behaved but here I went with a bit of stereotype and my own headcannon, to have Fon who's somehow used to vocal flirting from his contacts with European Mafia but still somehow shy when it came to women displaying their bodies and being utterly shameless when about it.

* Again a bit of my own headcannon, but I see proper Cloud having a bit of similar role as a Sky when it comes to organizing Elements (in canon Kyoya have certainly more respect from his 'underlings' than Tsuna from his Guardians) so this is something I'll be using to muddle it a bit.

* About working together - Arcobaleno are intelligent. Overpowered and arrogant as hell but intelligent enough to notice that they should work together to get the hell out of the trap and go for each others throats later.

* Alexis Peverell is a Lord of House of Black, she was one since their body aged 17. One can learn a lot about being proper host in that time. And even more about potioning one's guests with treats. Be warned~

* About timeline… This one's hard :) As I wrote few points up since Tsuna met Reborn in 2006 (the year of manga publishing) and Arcobaleno were cursed for over 30 years before the curse was broken, it puts the curse to happen around 1975. But 'Harry Potter' plot starts in 1991, since Harry officially was born in 1980… sooo… to deal with it and not end up in 2040 or somewhere similar I'm moving 'Skull' birth to somewhere near 1920. Along with Grindelwald's war and entire thing. There were enough conflicts in XIX century to hide Grindelwald involvement, even if most of the official wars happened outside of Europe. I don't have Arcobaleno's ages chosen for this. But every single curse-candidate (outside of Skull herself) is 17-30yo.

* About Skull exposing herself… Well she as a personality is what? Week old? Two? Even with vast experience of other personalities… They are not her own. So sometimes she'll slip.

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Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano-sensei and her publishers. Harry Potter belongs to J. and her publishers. Idea's mine

Beta read by glorious CrystalSeeker

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Skull took a good look at her surroundings, a milky white space hidden from anything with fog surrounding it. A circle made of rocks was in the center of the space, used as a sitting place whenever they met in this… 'place', for the lack of better word. A few dark shadows were spread out here and there. Her last memory before waking up here was cuddling her pillow after an entire exhausting day of 'bonding' with the rest of the so-called 'team'. She was not confused, she knew where she was. She was born in this place. Painstakingly created out of the pieces donated by others and taught the skills she'd need to not only survive, but win.

Her soul was always rather peculiar when one looked at it from this place, but oh well… Souls were generally peculiar, so at least this wasn't another difference between her and those… 'normal' people.

She quickly took stock of her own representation before settling in to wait for the others to come and meet with her. Fortunately, her little avatar was the very same Skull that had gone to the first meeting with the I Prescelti Sette. Full of blades, scales and emanating the aura of an Underworld's… 'professional'. With Cloud Flames just reaching the visible spectrum, flickering over her entire form and engulfing the scythe in her hand. She sat down on one of the prepared rocks and leaned on the flaming weapon, using it as a crutch. From what she remembered the others would be in the states that embodied their targets or the state they were when another one of them was given life.

First came the Freak. No surprises here, Freak was always first. First to live, first to retreat, first to urge the others to retreat as well… Focused on their survival. Freak was young. Oh so young… Barely a 6 year old who had seen too much in such a short life. Painfully small, a pale and thin little girl with a vicious scowl and fight in her sunken in, bleak green eyes. Short, bleak, always tousled black hair, that showcased just exactly how neglected the child was, did nothing to hide the lightning bolt scar going from the hairline straight to her brow. Clean, though ripped, definitely too big clothes couldn't do anything to hide exactly how small Freak was. It served as a reminder to everyone that they could lose necessities as easily as Freak once lost them. How they needed to able to fight for them, and never lose. Even now, Freak was one of the first to point out that trusting people was a bad idea, that relying on others never ended happily. That allowing someone else to protect what was theirs was just asking for trouble, and more often than not that they shouldn't be leaving their family unprotected. Freak took the few last steps to the circle and with a 'welcoming' scowl sat down on the rock to Skull's left.

They sat in silence with nothing to really say between them. Skull didn't exist when Freak was in control, she didn't understand Freak's decision or her actions. She was also still experiencing the strange dissonance between Freak's 'age' and her experiences and viewpoint. Skull was an avid believer in protecting children from the cruel and harsh sides of humanity. A rare show of idealism from her.

Rose came second. Still a small eleven year old, in a too big school uniform from that old muggle school the Dursley's had decided to send her to, away from their 'precious Dudu'. She had a wristband in military colors she had gotten from Colonel Flint after having spent her first day 'working' in his garden. Rose's sweet smile hid Freak's sharpness and viciousness, and the hope in her emerald eyes hid Freak's suspicions and plans.

That's right… Rose was young, to young, when created to properly separate herself from Freak. Even after years of existence and all the mental exercises their adult counterparts had brought back, Rose and Freak were still rather tightly intertwined. But there were still notable differences between the two. Rose was tanned from the exercises out in the sun with either Colonel's or the school coaches. She was more lanky than really thin with budding muscles. She had been taught both proper, constant movements that were needed to save one's stamina and all those sharp bouts of speed, strength or sudden attacks. Shiny, shoulder length, black hair was the only luxury Rose had allowed herself. A luxury that had only been acquired after lying through her teeth about her teachers wanting all girls to have long hair and a few small scale fights with Colonel Flint. Though even long hair did nothing to hide the visible scar on her forehead. Rose was a girl, so she wanted to be girly. She was the only one to ever care about being girly out of all of them.

Rose skipped straight to them and after giving both of them a hug (well, embracing both of them and waiting for them to either wiggle out of it like Freak did or awkwardly pat her on the back, which was Skull's reaction) sat on the rock next to the Freak's. Then they waited.

The next one to show up was a teenager. By the Loki they were so young… Barely seventeen and already so experienced… Dorea was wearing the same battle robes she had on for the Battle of Hogwarts. All severe looking and powerful. Skull remembered Dorea coaching her on how to show the world power and danger… how to portray as a predator. She remembered Dorea showing her own memories about preparations to battle to her and choosing battle boots with a small heel as to be able to at least pretend they were not that short. After all, taller people had an easier time with looking imposing. She had taught them how to knot their long, hair into the same severe bun she was wearing now, and applying makeup to bring attention to the eyes. Dorea didn't need that as much as she used to, because her emerald eyes were always glowing with unconcealed magic after she had gone to Beauxbatons. Thanks to her time in France Dorea had a healthy tan and a slim, yet muscled form. Even the multiple scars earned on the course of her… 'education', did nothing to even imply that Dorea was anything else than strong.

The 'worst' part of Dorea's 'image' though was the lightning bolt on her forehead. Thanks to years of magical exposure the lightning bolt had somehow transformed into a 'proper' lightning scar, spilling on Dorea's nose and cheek around the right eye. THAT one scar for whatever reason also shone with magic in the color of Dorea's eyes whenever she was anywhere near Tommy-boy himself. The scar was pale and healed for the most part, with just an outline visible in their setting. Familiar, purple Flames were licking her shoulders and going down towards her wand, ready to spring into action, and Skull had to smile at the sight. Dorea was the first one to even semi-consciously use their Flames in any kind of combat situation.

She stalked towards the rocks and gave all three of them jerky nods of acknowledgment before sitting down with the grace of a warrior.

They didn't wait long for another presence to be sensed. Alexis' entire purpose in life was to be powerful enough so those claimed as her own would be safe. So she was… regal. A 34 year old woman, frozen with the looks of a person barely in their twenties thanks to her own magic. She was wearing a set of robes looking like they came straight from a Wizengamot session, or the meeting of the Council. They would also not look out of place at the rather famous moment of her 'letting the population of Magical Britain take care of themselves again', and leaving the Ministry after seventeen years of having her word be the Law. She had all the House crests lined in places of honor on her chest, a straight posture and that otherwordly feel to her that could only have come with her dealings with Death and the Dark if not the Black magic she practiced.

Her presence commanded respect and attention even from the parts of her own Soul, and even though she was born out of using Dorea as a framework, she couldn't look any different while still having the same bone structure. A bit taller than Dorea (thank the Loki for metamorphomagi abilities of being able to change entire shapes and even the sex of their bodies) with porcelain skin of a 'proper noble', and sharp, aristocratic features. She had a slim, flexible body with hidden muscles under the 'proper' behavior and dress. Intricate knots of hair were made of such deep black color they made the night sky seem light and easily pierced. Her cold, and acidic shade of green avada eyes were even now catching the eyes of everyone looking and bringing attention to the still visible lightning scar framing her right eye. The scar, that if Skull remembered correctly, was shining with the very same green of Alexis eyes whenever she used truly powerful magic.

Alexis glided to her own rock and with barely a twitch of her finger had it transfigure itself into a simple throne. Skull suddenly had a flash of a vision that showed a meeting between Alexis and the pair of Giglio Nero donna and that little Rain soldier, and felt the proud smirk tug on the corner of her lips. That would have been glorious...

The next presence wasn't truly noticed until Noir was already sitting in the circle. All silent and sneaky, not catching any attention. Especially with strong personalities like Dorea, Alexis or even Skull herself in the same place. Lean, little Noir was an older woman… She was 48 years old when she retired to make place for another personality, and was yet looking like a woman in barely her mid twenties. She was in her nondescript, form fitting clothes that didn't hamper any of her movement. With her distinctly European face even with her not-so-white coloring, short ebony hair and brown eyes she was easy to overlook… and flexible and mischievous enough to rob those who did the overlooking blind, 'because why not?'. A sly smile and a twinkle in her eyes were showcased by the purple and orange Flames dancing and intertwining on her skin. She had no weapon on herself. Or at least none that were visible.

Then they heard the loud, heavy footsteps of the last one to arrive. The original Skull de Mort. A 51 year old woman looking barely like a 18 year old girl arrived in a heavy, leather outfit with additional protective padding for her stunts, motorcycle boots and a helmet in her hand. Short, fluffy, purple hair was sticking out in every direction, giving the stunt artist the look of some kind of cartoon character. Purple eyes were glowing with inner fire that would dim sometimes, but never truly get put out. Piercings in both visible and, what Skull knew very much, invisible thanks to the bodysuit locations. This only helped give off that young-punk-rebel feeling she had going on, which certainly wasn't hampered by the teardrop tattoo on the left cheek, nor by the chain connecting her lower lip and left ear.

She swaggered towards the last empty rock with the steps of a proper showman… well show-woman. Full of confidence and designed to gather attention… and yet she was not even close to be the most attention catching out of all of them. At least when you knew exactly what to look for.

They sat for a few seconds just basking in the feeling of wholeness that was so exotic for them whenever they were outside. Their silence was only broken by the quiet growls and roars heard from the place somewhere deep inside them.

"Well, it's nice for you to finally come down back to us. Enjoying your stay up there?" Freak sniped, looking for all intents and purposes like an offended child.

"I'm sure there is a reason Skull didn't come to us before." Rose smiled sweetly at the purple haired woman making her blink at the amount of teeth 'the sweet one' managed to convey there.

"Pffft… The great Skull-sama actually met with you whenever she could!" Stunt woman exclaimed gesticulating wildly "It's that… interloper that didn't come down on time!"

"Speaking about." Alexis cut in, before it could evolve into a proper squabble between the two Skulls. "I truly do not understand why you would invite confusion and not take on new name. At least in the safety of our Soul."

"I didn't change that much." The Cloud in the I Prescelti Sette set defended her choice with a negligent wave.

"Bull…" The Master Thief snorted bringing attention to herself. Noir carelessly curled a strand of short hair around her finger. "You just didn't want to go through the hassle of thinking up something new."

"That's true as well." The Cloud shrugged.

"Lazy." Dorea hissed disapprovingly. "We do need to somehow differentiate between you, give us a handle or something."

"What about Cloud Arcobaleno?" Alexis asked idly, ostensibly looking over her fingernails.

"What is an Arcobaleno?" The Skull who had to deal with Renato Sinclair asked.

"Forgot already? What a shame~" Noir singsonged, curling into a better position to pounce, making her fellow thief (at least by declaration) sigh tiredly and pinch the bridge of her nose feeling an incoming headache.

"What did I forget then?" She asked looking at both Noir (the one who probably heard information) and Alexis (the one who'd probably tell her, if only to make sure she wouldn't do anything exceedingly stupid) hopefully.

"And it was just 15 years… Shame~" Brown eyes twinkled with laughter.

"Noir…"

"Hmm?" The only one to showcase any amount of Sky flames as an integral part of herself hummed faux innocently "Tell me Cloud, who are you? What is your purpose?" The Thief was looking at her with some kind of detached interest, visibly unimpressed with what she was seeing. "Freak's was survival. Rose's was fitting in a civilian school. Dorea's was surviving the Wizarding World. Alexis ruled Magical Britain, and I am The Greatest Thief, who's title you're oh-so-gleefully flaunting to the rest of that… 'I Prescelti Sette'. Skull de Mort was a stunt woman, our dose of adrenaline… And you?" With every mentioned personality Noir was mockingly pointing at the person, as if Skull herself was uninformed about the dealings inside her own Soul…

"I am the result of all of us." She defended herself coldly. Leaning slightly forward and projecting the very same coldness Alexis radiated when dealing with idiots trying to oppose her in Wizengamot. The very same battle confidence Dorea had when going against her adversaries, just with a touch of the stunt-woman-Skull's ability in acting and charisma. With Freak's viciousness and will to survive. With Rose's determination to better herself and the knowledge when she herself would not be enough, and Noir's own shamelessness when admitting to it. "I am the one who will get us safely away from the trap the title you claimed put us in, Noir." The cattiness was all her though.

"Sure," thief snorted harshly. "blame your existence on my title."

"To be fair it was that or Skull's almost obvious use of Cloud Flames." Dorea mused nonplussed. Well, she was used to landing herself in a trap or two. "Immortal Skull-sama, really?"

"Great Skull-sama dealt with people interested in her, without tangling with the Underworld." The immortal stunt woman declared with their best impression of Fudge's self-importance.

"Until you couldn't do it anymore and left me to deal with that." The newest of the personalities snorted sardonically.

"Oh Loki…" Rose palmed her face letting out a resigned laugh. "Girls, be serious for a second."

"A bit too close to Skull's personality for comfort." Alexis mused pinning both 'Skulls' with the Look. The one she used whenever those her own were being stupid and needed to be reminded about a few brutal facts. "What about simply De Mort, while here with us?"

"Fine" The newly christened De Mort agreed sulking "So? Arcobaleno? What is it? I remember hearing the term, but nothing else." she volunteered thoughtfully.

"Cursed babies. One of each Flame." Noir explained shortly, smirking with amusement at De Mort's expression and Skull's sheepish smile.

"It's concerning that you didn't remember that." Dorea murmured before looking at the Immortal Skull with a thoughtful expression "Skull?"

"I did not know that information either."

"Know?" Dorea questioned sharply, reminding them of the connotation of the word which made the short and purple haired woman hum thoughtfully.

"Yes, it's…" Another pause, before Skull hesitantly explained. "I guess like the results of overpowered Obliviate?"

"Or a powerful geas." Alexis mused, thinking about the things she either could cast herself or was just called to take a look at.

"Checkerface?" Rose asked among the hisses of the physically older personalities.

"The Creature, yes." Alexis agreed sourly, already plotting how to counteract any other geas that could be cast on them.

"How though?" De Mort asked shocked. Casting geas on an entire planet… That was an enormous amount of power to use, just to catch them in a trap. What's worse - it was similar… if not greater power to the one they were able to wield without… additional steps taken. "And why didn't it affect you?"

"Magic? Maybe Mist Flames?" Noir offered hesitantly… De Mort could relate, just the thought that something could be more powerful than them… They were used to being the most powerful being around. It seemed like they got too arrogant because of it.

"I'd guess it wouldn't affect us because we're technically not alive." Alexis mused out loud, causing immediate protest to come from Dorea.

"Magical geas don't work like that."

"Of course they do." Peverell refuted just as fast and assured in her information.

"The ghosts…"

"Are still on a plane of living." The master necromancer cut the other witch's argument short. "We're not."

"You mean… Oh." The 'Immortal' Skull started surprised, catching on. "And the souls already in the Netherworld can't forget."

"But we're not in the Netherworld!" Noir protested at that and De Mort found herself nodding along. All of them were as much alive as normal humans walking on the streets. Just… without control over their body most of the time.

"Mistress of Death here." Alexis cheerfully pointed out the loophole seemingly no one else caught. "Death is a part of the Netherworld, and the Netherworld is a part of Death."

"Is the Almighty Lord of too-many-Houses admitting to cheating?!" The stunt woman teased gleefully.

"The almighty Lord of too-many-Houses also had too many responsibilities to not cheat as badly as Dorea did at the Triwizard Tournament. "The ex-ruler of Britain snorted, causing Dorea to haughtily declare,

"Cheating is a long standing tradition of a Tournament." and thump her nose at them.

"Coming back… cursed babies?" De Mort's alarmed voice cut through the laughs and easy atmosphere.

"Nothing that would truly harm you." Alexis reassured the potential Arcobaleno, just to add on after a few seconds. "Well… Us"

"Well thank you for being concerned."

"I live to please." The witch's smile was all honey with hidden poison.

"To be pleased maybe." The only one of them to be somehow dark-skinned snorted at that and flexed her back, pointedly looking at the increasingly tight grip the current iteration of them had on her scythe.

"I admit nothing." Peverell Lord sniffed haughtily, seemingly deciding to ignore the rising panic from a part of them.

"Can we go back to the Curse!" It seemed like panic finally broke through the long and purple haired woman's mouth filter, she blurted out her demand with Cloud Flames swirling wildly around her, with Noir's Sky flames reaching the empty space to intertwine with her Cloud and even a bit of magic started to gather around her form… The more experienced with the phenomen personalities exchanged meaningful looks, before turning their attention to the youngest of all of them.

"What's with it?" Though words were mocking the voice was gentle, understanding.

"Can't we avoid that?"

"Do you want to avoid it?"

"Yes!"

"Every action has consequences." Alexis cautioned seriously. In her experience, sometimes it's better to go with the trap and deal with the results than to evade and meet some unplanned chaos.

"Fuck consequences." De Mort snarled decisively, gathering serious looks from the rest of them.

"Hmm…" Alexis hummed in thought, visibly looking for any sign of hesitation or weakness. "Very well. With our luck it'll be either at Samhain or at Beltane." She decided. Which… Well yeah, all their lives Samhain and Beltane were signs of small or not-so-small catastrophes.

"That's nice, but it doesn't help us with anything."

"That doesn't help you with anything, De Mort, but both me and Alexis are witches. We'll take care of it." Dorea declared slouching with defeat. Because yeah, as much as she couldn't stand the way either of the Skulls were portraying themselves, at least De Mort was trying to be on at least equal footing with those murderous bastards they were meant to work with. Besides… De Mort was still one of them and Dorea didn't want to learn how their soul would react to having one of their personalities cursed.

"Preferably, let Alexis do it." Noir requested pointedly, immediately giving away her reasoning at the sight of Dorea opening her mouth to protest. "She has a bit more experience with dealing with strange magic."

"Worst case scenario, we'll be breaking the curse rather than dodging," Alexis smiled placidly.

"What if it can't be broken?" De Mort asked worriedly.

"Every curse can be broken. Calm down." Dorea's smile was tight lipped, but it was there.

"Fine, so I won't be in a baby body at all or at least for long… Fine… it's fine…" The long and purple haired woman muttered, slowly calming down. "Will I remember that information Outside?"

"Yes. We'll make sure of it." Alexis promised calmly. With the same voice she used whenever Teddy was in hysterics after a nightmare.

"Should I tell it to Viper?" De Mort looked questioningly at the others, waiting to be advised and warned if there was something fishy she didn't notice in time.

"Do you want to tell Viper?"

"They can help."

"In theory" Freak cautioned, startling a few of the others, surprised by the breaking of the unusual silence from the first of them all.

"What do you mean?" Rose looked up at them with surprising innocence. After all they lived through…

"That… is a possibility." Dorea grimaced with distaste, clearly catching what Freak was getting to.

"What?" The purple haired stunt woman looked from one personality to the other, until De Mort groaned in realization.

"While all hints do points towards the Giglio Nero, there is a possibility that Viper would work with whoever that Creature really is." Noir explained somberly, making both Rose and Skull's eyes widen with somewhat horrified understanding.

"And De Mort trusted them." Skull said pained. Clearly seeing what kind of 'plot twist' would be used in the movies in that kind of situation.

"Oh… but why would…?" Rose questioned surprised at that.

"Two agents inside not knowing about each other is a rather popular tactic." Dorea explained patiently. One had to just look at the before-Alexis-Ministry to know exactly how true that was.

"That's why you wrestled control from me then?" De Mort asked pointedly, remembering how a few nights back, after her first private meeting with Viper, Alexis took over and started casting information protections.

"Yes, even allowing them to still know was too big of a risk for my taste," She admitted unrepentant with a shrug, before grouching out a "but you're in control now" as if it physically pained her to actually say that.

"So you decided to put a shit ton of geas and restrictions on all of them." De Mort snarled annoyed. "Ever heard about trust?"

"What is that trust you're talking about?" Freak's sardonic question halted anything the potential Arcobaleno could say. After all...

"Look back at our lives, would you?" Noir's voice supported Freak's assent.

"But… It's…" De Mort spluttered out, sending Rose a thankful look when she joined in and finished the argument.

"Tiring."

"Why would we even risk trusting others?" Dorea started bitterly "With our track record? Our very own parents didn't decide to keep us safe at all costs when we were born." She spat venomously "They decided to stay and fight with a toddler in the house. Then rather than hide behind the wards of the Potter Manor, you know, the place Dorea Potter nee Black lived in… The one with Black grade wards, they decided to hide themselves in a small cottage… Why?" Dorea ranted, her voice getting louder and more high pitched with every second, every added complaint. "What's worse, the cottage was only under Fidelius, and they trusted their friend to keep us all safe." 'And look what that traitor did' wasn't said but heard loud and clear anyway. "Then Sirius trusted Dumbledore to keep us safe." Freak and Rose both flinched, being the ones to actually feel Dumbledore's methods of keeping them safe. "Lupin trusted Dumbledore to keep us safe. Hell Lupin trusted Dumbles so much he didn't even talk with me at school outside of lessons… He probably actually trusted whoever gave him our blood for the godparent naming ritual enough to not feel the need to question my motives… And then there's what happened when I had no choice but to trust the old coot with our safety while in school… let's leave that with no comment, shall we?"

"Those old cynics decided that trusting people to do their job is already a leap of faith." Rose muttered mutinously towards De Mort's hunched form. The potential Arcobaleno wanted to be able to trust the rest of the team to at least work together on the job and do it without a hitch, if not achieve full trust between comrades. She really did… but what Dorea said was true as well… Trusting others never ended with anything good for them.

"How nice it had to be, being so young and trusting." Alexis snarked bitterly, bringing even more attention towards the physically youngest occupants of the Soul.

"Don't even look at me, I don't remember having anyone to trust." Freak snarled right back. "I understand that as a personality you didn't have a lot time to be properly formed, De Mort, but take it from us and don't give your trust so easily. It's never worth it."

"Trust is a thing worth giving only when you have enough plans for when things go south." Noir added as the only one to actually be part of the Underworld. She knew betrayal intimately and had seen it from every possible angle and configuration while working there."Especially in this line of work."

"So I shouldn't trust in their professionalism?" De Mort hissed at that. After all, what's the point in having five other 'Greatest' and not using that fact to the fullest?

"Professionalism doesn't mean that they will not screw you over." Noir sighed explaining patiently "Among the other potential curse-victims it means that Viper will not give you wrong information. Sinclair will not botch his Hit. Fon will not teach you wrong stances should you take up his offer. Verde will not sabotage the things he gave you if he calls them 'finished products'. Giglio Nero will fight anyone and anything in the way of her plans. That little soldier will try to bring you all out to the authorities even if she herself would be considered a criminal. Nothing more, nothing less."

"In other words, I'm a trusting idiot." De Mort muttered self-deprecatingly.

"Kinda… Alexis dealt with their abilities to use that information so at least Viper, who noticed they can't speak about what they know or deducted, thinks you're an excellent actress and are either magical yourself or have enough contacts on that side to have the proper geas set." Noir shrugged at the way purple eyes became more and more resigned with every word.

"Could be worse." Freak tried to console the slumped purple haired woman by pointing out the 'bright side'. "Now they think you're really dangerous, and it could have been all a test, so also cunning and smart."

"Will you be alright to follow the ruse?" Alexis interrupted before De Mort could answer with anything more than a low whine. "Or do you need to mesh with Skull or Dorea?"

"I… should be alright. Just… Can you warn me if I start giving out to much information again?" She looked to Alexis and Noir, and relaxed minutely at the twin nods she got. "Luckily, I didn't straight up tell anything important to the others, so I'll just try to play it out as if I am honest about the trap and nothing else." She decided, determined.

"Hmm… If that's what you're going to do then you should probably let Noir take over whenever we need to truly steal something." Dorea advised, catching their attention and reminding them that the 'I am Noir' secret is meant to stay secret to the rest of the Underworld. "We shouldn't really stop our work either. Just take the motorcycle and ride it out to the city or some nice, not-bugged-to-seven-hells forest, before letting Noir operate out of there and do the heist."

"That… alright." De Mort nodded in understanding. She didn't want to let Noir get public face either.

"Train, spar with others." Alexis added, to the rapidly growing 'request list' in De Mort's head. "Dorea is a pretty good swordmistress, but I was to focused on Magic to truly do anything other than keep our body in proper condition. And Noir was too busy beating thieving and flexibility in herself, to learn proper reflexes when it comes to the actual fight. Stances won't help in any way without experience."

"Fon will be overjoyed to kick me through some walls." De Mort muttered with a resigned and kind of self-deprecating smile.

"Nope. Use your Cloud-strength as an excuse for not enough experience. Something about not liking to kill people by accident or maybe about not wanting to fight weaklings... " Noir immediately presented the way to not only save face but to also never admit they took on thievery for the thrill.

"That way you'll be throwing him around, not the other way. Give him a hint of your healing as well. Don't notice an injury or something like that. The 'Immortal Skull De Mort' is a Cloud strong enough to repeatedly refuse Death, around the audience." Dorea stressed the last part. It was public. They couldn't forget to use the ability now.

"Why? You think… refusing Death… you think someone could connect Alexis Peverell with Skull De Mort?" Skull asked incredulously. After all those two were the worst parts.

"Not really, but let's shoot it down just in case." Dorea answered quickly, even with everyone tensing at the possibility. "After all, 'everyone knows' Alexis Peverell's Magic is powerful enough to keep her alive and young and she'll live for a shitton of years. And while she's permissive towards Soul Fire induced behavior she is officially not one of the users, though she is a suspected King. If only for the pull she has shown reworking an entire country." She explained, and how sad it was that they needed to make use out of the 'everyone knows' argument… "But with Skull being a 'squib' the connection is already a bit too close for comfort. You can expect Viper try to 'see' through your disguise just to make sure they're not about to see a pissed off Cloudy Witch or worse, a Sorcerer Supreme." She ended dryly. Knowing that should they have become truly enraged, it wouldn't be Sorcerer Supreme calling the shots.

"I'll do it." De Mort declared determined. Connection between Noir and Skull de Mort? No problem. Hell even leaking it out to the entire Underworld wouldn't end up as a complete catastrophe… But connection between Alexis Peverell and Noir or Skull? Not something that could be made. Ideally it would never actually be made.

"Good. If you need help we're here." Rose smiled beatifically at the potential Arcobaleno starting to vanish from their… meeting place, but even though she was almost gone, De Mort could still hear Freak's grouched,

"It's not like we can actually leave." before truly being thrust back to the Outside.

√ -√v-√ -√v—

It took her over a week before she was even remotely ready to try out her 'new little trick'... A week she spend trying to stabilize everything, make sure the miniatures she had would be actually useful.

A week she spend evenings haunting other Elements. Learning how to use… Well mostly how to clean… a gun from Renato (and noting exactly what kind of great shot he was… It was a scary, scary though). Sitting with library with Verde and listening to him tearing apart any 'science fiction' book she was trying to read by an actual scientist (Hearing him go off at something absolutely unrealistic was hilarious), but also muscling a bit when he needed to move something really heavy (after laughing her ass off at his tries to move it himself, when his 'male pride' didn't allow him to ask for help Viper or her.) Tentative peace when looking with Viper through any History of Soul Fire or Curse Collection a Squib even from distinguished family could realistically possess (and tries from both sides to 'feel off' the magical status of the other), while employing everything Alexis and 'first Skull' knew about acting to hide the fact that the Cloud knew it already… And was alternating between angry and resigned when thinking about the title. And of course the morning exercises with Fon together.

She had avoided spending any kind of time anywhere near Giglio Nero (that woman was giving her hives with her attitude) and Mirch (she had honestly no patience for people coming into new world and immediately rejecting big portion of it. She suffered through Hermione's tries of reconciling Wizarding World and her sensibilities and she did not want repeat, thank-you-very-much.) She was also peripherally aware of others connecting with each other as well.

She's seen Mirch was spending time with Fon who suffered through trying to somehow ease her into the world (and failing) and sometimes joined Renato at firing range (and from what Skull heard later, getting mighty annoyed at 'common murderer's' skill with her favorite weapon) or was yipping around Giglio Nero (it seems like the one who sanctions murders is not a murderer in some version of universe…).

Renato himself, as she was made aware was also spending some time with Giglio Nero (she was somehow sure he would not get seduced by the Sky Flame , so she seriously did not want to know exactly what those two did together) but also tried to find out what Skull herself did with Viper whenever they disappeared from their sights together… Sometimes she also felt the clash of Sun and Storm Flame so he either sparred or argued with Fon (The Cloud wasn't yet curious enough to ask about the results but it was a near thing). Poor dear on the other hand just couldn't spend more than 10 minutes with Verde without it resolving into another round of sniping at each other (Verde was mighty annoyed at the fact that Renato tried to spend time with him at all…)

Verde was also annoyed at Fon pestering him but somehow satisfied that he wanted to learn. He was also annoyed at Mirch's behavior towards him as an 'egghead'... And at Giglio Nero's tries to police the way he lived and make him sleep and eat sometimes. (Terrible!) And at the fact that neither Viper nor Skull didn't agree to share their resources towards finding out what 'arcobaleno' was… He was generally more often annoyed than not from what she heard of his mutterings.

Viper was… well Viper was Viper. They were looking through available sources and tried to surreptitiously gather as much of information on the rest of Elements as possible. That much Skull knew. But other than her own dealing with a Mist, she had almost no idea what was happening around them. They took the stereotype and played it masterfully, truly.

And then there was Fon. Networking like crazy as well. Though mostly by offering help and making sure everyone could defend themselves. Somehow. Rather than offering his own protection as Skull was trying to do. Other than Mirch and Renato, Skull was aware that he tried to spend time with Verde and connect over his need to learn a bit more than what was available for him earlier. She also was guessing that he tried to meet up with Viper, but she had no idea how it was going.

This time when Fon joined her for the morning jog and stretches she didn't immediately fuck off to her room to continue work on her copied weapons, rather, she simply beamed at his suspicious gaze.

"I believe you promised me to help with my 'new trick'." She announced smugly after few seconds of their stalemate.

"I did, didn't I?" He agreed after a blink. "Now, or would you rather after breakfast?" The very same breakfast Skull did her best to avoid since that first time she actually tried to see how the situation and bonds of the team were coming along… Yeah, she'd wait… Not.

"Now? I'm rather curious how it'll work out against a proper fighter."

"Need me to lead the way towards the basement?" Fon agreed easily with an eager glint in his eyes… (One battle maniac spotted~) But wait… basement? And her strength… Bad idea… Bad, bad idea!

"I rather thought about the mountains?" Her proposition halted his movement and she gave a sheepish smile at his questioning look. "I'm a rather… destructive fighter." Something more glinted in his black eyes, something that immediately made her wary of whatever scheme the Chinese man was cooking up.

"Will you bring the manor on our heads?" Bastard even had the gall to cock his head at her suspicious look… Urgh...

"Well…" She halted for a second or two to consider exactly how much she could control her strength output… Not very much. "It is entirely in the realm of possibility." She admitted candidly. "I am a Cloud."

"Out of curiosity…" Uh oh… She knew exactly where 'out of curiosity' could get Dorea on her 'adventures'... She didn't want to go there! "If we got Viper, would they be able to contain you within their Mist Territory?" She opened her mouth to answer, but in the end she closed it without the word… Actually could they?

"No idea." Skull admitted slowly. "Probably worth a try, but maybe not in a fight."

"Cloudy temperament after all?" Now, Fon seemed certainly amused… Bastard.

"Violence is nice." The purple haired woman admitted with what she knew from experience was an insufferable smile.

"Oh well… I'm sure our dear Employer took into consideration the risks of having the strongest Cloud and Storm in one place." He hinted offering her an arm and Skull felt slightly evil smile bloom on her lips… She could get behind that idea… She certainly could.

"Well, he did bring a lot of… explosive people under one roof." The Cloud agreed in a serene voice, allowing the Storm to lead her towards the training hall.

"It would be such a shame if we'd need to leave the place because of some light training." The Brunet smiled just as serenely, making Skull grimace at the thought of redecorating her room again.

"I'd rather not fix my room again, to be honest."

"We can train in the hall under the other wing." He offered with an understanding nod.

"Let's do so."

They spent rest of the way towards the training halls in content silence. Both knowing that they'll soon be able to get some much needed violence, and both feeling the thrill of the upcoming fight. Flames flaring, fingers curling, steps falling into battle-ready stances. Somehow they managed to synchronize their steps, arms still linked with each other.

Soon Skull found herself in the big, empty hall save for a few blocks that could work as a cover in a pinch, and of course a smug looking Renato. Why would she even think for a second that he'd miss that kind of entertainment?

"I heard from a little birdie that you finally decided to spar with someone." He announced, like he'd just made some serious discovery, and they all should be surprised and awed with his greatness… Yeah, Skull heard had heard that tone once and had had enough of it already. Would throwing something nice and heavy at him make him shut up? Hmm…

"Hello to you too, Renato."

"Since you're here to laugh at me. Anyway, would you make sure we don't destroy too much?" In spite of her own slightly homicidal thoughts, the Cloud ignored the Italian and Chinese men's exchange of pleasantries to skip straight towards the problem.

"Define 'too much', Lady Skull."

"We kind of need to leave the left wing standing." She informed sweetly… Well, at least some people would classify it as sweet.

"Ho? Your new trick is that destructive?" Was there a glint of challenge in those soulless, black eyes? Was he trying to… goad her? Really? She had enough problems with self-control as it were, there was truly no need to add to it…

"Nope. But I am." she countered cheekily, borrowing the tone straight from the previous 'Skull', full with the wink and turn around with her hair splaying (that was borrowed from Fleur. French Veela colony was awesome!)

"Ready when you are" Fon announced calmly taking on a loose stance that would allow him to quickly dodge whatever Skull decided to use. Good.

"Let me warn you outright, that I… might… have a little problem with controlling my strength." The Cloud smiled innocently. If it wasn't for the barely there underlining of unholy glee that is… She needed to move more.

"Might?" Renato asked from a safe distance even when her 'practice target' gave up on his cool and oh-so-much-better-than-you starting pose and sunk low on his knees. Just in case of course.

"Might." Skull confirmed, her no-longer-so-innocent smile widening and getting more and more teeth while she created herself a copy of one of the throwing knifes hidden on her person. At their just-a-touch-too-wary looks she cursed herself for bringing just the weapon she already knows she's comfortable with using in a fight with her. Knives, mini swords and a small scythe were not the most impressive armory and yet the only ones she not only actually knew how and where to hide, but also the ones she would not embarrass herself trying to wield. Doesn't change the fact that whipping out a battle hammer like those in RPG games wouldn't be hilarious. "I only have a few kinds of weapons with me today, it's mostly a try if it can survive both me and my opponent while in a fight. Ready?"

Fon took a good look at her and fluidly moved into a stance she didn't recognize. (Not like it actually meant something, she could recognize only a few martial arts' stances and all of them were used by her in her stunt work, so flashy and generally useless) Skull smiled at that and slid into her own, taught to her by goblins and refined by the Blade Master that taught Noir, and allowed her Flames to spread in her body and start working. By propagating the energy her body has access too, her own speed, strength, stamina and resistance to blows of others, she was able to deal with most of the holes goblins left her with on purpose (they might like her, but she was still just a witch then.) She did stop herself from propagating her aura though. As much as that trick helped her in the last 15 years, it was not something she was ready to use in a spar. Not when it was something that useful when in a fight.

One last smirk, a quick reminder where exactly all the weapons were and she jumped to the side simply throwing her knife and Propagating herself two more before throwing them again.

And that was the theme of their 'little bout'. At least for a part of it. Skull and Fon jumping around the room, the Cloud throwing knives in different shapes and sizes at him and leaving small scale cracks wherever it was that she hit the floor or the wall she used to propagate herself ahead. The Chinese Storm on the other hand was mostly avoiding the blades thrown at him, sometimes catching and throwing them away. Though he was very careful about handling his flames around her Cloud copies, the one time he actually tried to Disintegrate one of the knives, he had to evade the propagated force of his own disintegration.

The longer it went, the higher the adrenaline levels rose. The two combatants started settling into fight-mode rather than just the we're-sparring-let's-not-destroy-everything setting they were in at the start. Glowing purple and red eyes, bouts of almost inhumane flexibility and strength while they clashed with each other, small bouts of uncontrolled Disintegration wherever their Flames mixed together… Deep cracks in ceilings, which Skull only peripherally registered while trying to get the proper grab on the Storm jumping around her to toss him through at least a few of the walls… The Cloud was still somehow aware of the Sun weaving around her exploding weapon and dodging whatever amount of Disintegration being sent his way either by Fon himself or the clash of the two Wills.

Then Fon blurred even more and she felt a strong kick to her leg and bit back the scream trying to get loose, shoving him away with (probably a bit too much of) Propagated strength. Actually making him break the wall before immediately pouring her Will less in offensive uses and more into heal-defend-heal. She snarled, feeling something deep, deep inside her raising its head, (it took her a truly embarrassing moment to recognize her magical animagus form) and roar demanding for blood-kill-rip (her very Cloudy instincts didn't help in keeping it down to say at the least). She Propagated herself a sword and fell back on the very same instincts that allowed her to not only live through, but also fight against the basilisk in her second year of Hogwarts, instincts that her goblin instructors honed for the sole purpose of battle. ("That is NOT what we meant! Get a grip!" Dorea screamed from inside their soul, Skull cursed trying to keep to the control over their body with her very fingertips. Away from the Beast, safe-calm-safe!)

She slowly went towards the same wall her opponent had flown through earlier, looking forward to catching the carefully-not-in-her-sight Storm. Somewhere in their soul she felt Alexis' gratefulness for the Martial Artist's poise and control and not reacting with the same amount of bloodlust that she felt flooding her. Even with Rose's, Alexis', Dorea's and Noir's effort to pull her back and shut the beast-inside out, it was hard to keep some level of control over her impulses, (kill-kill-kill!) and stay with the human mindset. Distantly she remembered that every single one of them had had that problem after achieving their transformation. Probably the result of that curious little disconnect between her soul, body and mind… Oh well…

There.

The Storm (prey-strong-hurt-worthy-hunt-kill-mine!) stood there looking at her with a blank face and tense posture, no doubt sensing that something had changed. The Italian Hitman that was meant to somehow control them, was carefully coming closer to the same hole, pointedly keeping in her sights. Others in the mansion were coming closer, she could sense them as well. The purple haired woman's body took a deep breath and bared its teeth in a parody of a smile, the widening of the Storm-red eyes of her opponent said to the observing Skull that the body's expression must have lost most of the humanity they had clung to, (and they said being animagus is easy and worth the trouble…)

Skull (luckily still being Skull) growled deep in her throat, fighting with the sheer want-need-want to tear the one to hurt her for the first time since so long ago, to shreds. She very-very-carefully planted the sword in the soil and closed her eyes, taking deep, deep breaths.

"Skull?" Fon inquired carefully.

"Stay quiet." She snapped, inwardly wincing at the deep growl reverberating through her chest.

"Do you need a Rain, Lady Skull?" Renato asked softly, still very pointedly keeping himself in her vision. Skull opened her mouth, getting ready to tell him exactly where he could cram the 'help' of the Rain on site, but before she could articulate it, she snarled again feeling Sky Flames trying to make her submit. Her Cloud immediately flared up to defend itself from the interloper.

She snapped her head to look at the startled looking Sky, that tried to order her, demand from them, cage them, tried to pretend to be an Alpha. She very, very deliberately allowed her Flames to Propagate themselves, just to absolutely dwarf the amount of Flames Giglio Nero was emitting. Her horrified expression at the sheer amount that was pouring out of the Cloud's form brought deep, deep satisfaction into her little, black heart. It was exquisite!

"I am NOT yours to command Giglio Nero. I will never be yours to command. Keep your pathetic, little Flames to yourself and never… NEVER! Try to use them on me again." Skull took a second to thank those sharing the soul with her, for the very fact that they were keeping the Beast at bay… and the strength of the Occlumency barriers they started to build when the Sky came into their sensing range. "Answering you Renato, no, I don't need a Rain. I should be back by tomorrow evening." Then as in afterthought she added stiffly. "My apologies Fon." Then she just as stiffly marched out feeling her self-restrain leaking out with every twinge of hollow pain that always came whenever she used her Cloud to heal herself.

She needed to go home.

√ -√v-√ -√v—

Skull woke up feeling her entire body ache. She also found herself back in what appeared like what a grown-up Rose Potter would look like. Luckily no-longer-painfully thin, short, but with a somewhat still tanned body, short black hair and what she knew were green eyes. Even if the acidic shade, glowing and otherwordliness that came from them was from Alexis, it didn't change much. She sat up with a groan and took in the damage she had caused to the warded space. She remembered going into the dungeon and waiting for the distinct click of Wards before transforming and allowing the Beast to take over the reign of the then dragon shaped body. At the state of the corridor, dummies and a few pointedly not warded walls she recalled watching the dragon tear them apart. She voiced a few not-so-nice things that came to mind at that, and a few similarly not-nice words of choice when her human nose caught the smell of blood from the far end of the dungeon that meant they had a... snack, before going to sleep.

The animagus felt a shiver go down her spine at the casual reminder of what exactly what was waiting for her and the others for when they finally lost control. Scorched walls and ceiling, smashed rocks and the torn apart whatever-the-hell-it-was that died to the Beast. But… it was fine. The Wards held. Her family, her pack, was safe. Probably worried sick since every single Black out there would feel when that specific dungeon was sealed off.

So! Shower, change and breakfast!

Skull took a deep breath before letting go of the control over her body and welcoming Alexis in her place. In the end the Blacks were hers. Alexis smiled calmly at the feeling of having the body back under her control and slowly morphed back into their currently default form, before getting down to the dining room where she was greeted by the sight of every single person claiming to belong to House of Black waiting for her. They even stood up at the sight of her!

Her own son Edward, his wife Morticia from the House of Frump and their children Aeneas, who lately started speaking about asking for arranging at least betrothal with his girlfriend, Helena and Caliope.

Still full of life even while coming close to her 80s Andromeda Tonks nee Black.

Bartemius Black who in the end married Hermione Black and their children Lord Hermes Crouch with his wife Alexandra (yes, she was named in honor of Alexis, who names their children in honor of those still alive?) from the House of Bolton and their children Helior, Leonard, and Marcus Black and his wife Arya from the House of Stark with children, Cassandra and Phineas.

The Malfoys which consisted of Lord Lucius, his wife Narcissa from the House of Black, their son Draconis, his wife Astoria from the House of Grengrass and their only son Scorpius with family. The wife Drusilla from the House of Rosier and children Hadrian and Octavia.

The Weasleys were also there, Lord William and his wife Fleur from the French House of Delacour, and their children with families. Victoire with her husband Diego, previously De la Vega who took the name of Weasley, and their children Mauricio (who was currently seeing Edward's Caliope) and Federico. Dominique, with her husband Franklin Bones and little Armand and Henrietta. Then lastly Louis with his wife Tatiana and their children Natasha, Arsenyi and little Zuzanna. Charles with his wife Anja from the House of Rosnikov and their sons Victor and Mattias. George with his wife Angelina, formerly Johnson and their children with families. Henry with his wife Elisabeth from the House of Bennet and their children Ariana and Labon. James with his children Lilian and Cadmus, and Caroline with her husband Claude Araigne and children Sebastian, Brittany and Cassiopea. Fred, recently widowed with his children. Bianca with her husband Theodore White and their children Bella and Aurora. Aleksander with his wife Rosabella previously Thorn and children Antiope, Theseus and Myrdin.

And the last of those that she claimed as kin both magically and politically, The Prewetts. With Lord Percival and his wife Penelope from the House of Cleawater and their children with families. Ignatio with his wife Rosethorn from the House of Abbott and children Antioch, Perician and Ellienne. Then Ceptimus with his wife Myrcella from the Spanish House of Alliata and their children Bellatrice, Lucius and Margareth.

Her family…

Her Family.

Her Territory.

Hers!

"My kin." She greeted cheerfully drifting towards her seat at the head of the table and smiling at the shocked expressions at her appearance, and murmurs of 'My Lord Black'.

"If I may, it's a lot of… purple, my Lord." Lucius' not-question made her beam at them with the excitement of someone that smuggled their first dragon at eleven.

"I may or may not be springing a trap, which I won't allow to be traced back to you." She started, after smiling gratefully at Kreacher bringing her the 'after rampage meal' "And if to do so I need to look like a muggle in the middle of their teenage years?" Currently-so-very-purple Lord of the House shrugged at that.

"Really, mother?" Edward, sitting to her right morphed his bright indigo hair into vivid purple to match her own and joked. "You're getting nostalgic?"

"Well, this time it's seven of us in the team and no one trusts another, so it's even more fun than Hogwarts." She cheerfully explained making Hermione groan incredulous from down the table.

"Imagine if we'd been in muggle school and on the grandmother day or something we'd need to write an essay, 'My grandmother still saves the world and kicks ass. She's pretty awesome by the way'." Aeneas snorted at the imagined face of the teacher who doesn't know exactly just who Alexis Peverell is, meeting the woman.

"Language." Morticia scolded her son half-heartedly. She was an avid believer in the 'Blacks do whatever the fuck they want' rule… Just not near the table.

"Pretty sure grandmother has heard worse, Mother." Helena quipped at that, curling her own hair with but a thought and changing its' color to purple as well. Little Helena was the one of Alexis' grandchildren to 'help' with her experiments whenever she needed to stop being Noir and come back to the castle… And so she knew exactly how wide her Head of the House's vocabulary was.

"Especially if she's going for the muggle punk vibe." Caliope added dryly, reminding everyone of the unholy stink Alexis raised at the news that someone dared to try and make Caliope stop going for the punk concerts she liked so very much. Caliope took one look at her grandmother, father and sister before morphing her hair to a dark green in a small rebellious moment away from both the public image they'd need to cultivate and to the not-so-public picture they made at the moment. With Lord and their Heir with bright, purple hair.

"I'm not worried about your grandmother kids, Merlin only knows she is the one who could teach you some nice curses, but there are children at the table." Morticia defended herself, looking pointedly at the younger faces at the table.

"They are Blacks, they can do whatever they want." Teddy shrugged negligently repeating the family theme whenever someone wanted to try something new.

"As long as they uphold House laws and project proper visage for the rest of the world I hope." Andromeda interrupted dryly from her seat. As always her words made the actual members of the House bristle aggressively.

"Yes, please do lecture us about proper behavior of a Black Lady Andromeda, I'm sure it'll be fascinating." Narcissa started with a venomous smile. She never quite forgave her sister for eloping with a muggleborn against her betrothal contract, and then not only not presenting her daughter to the Lord Arcturus straight after she proved herself to be metamorphomagi, but also allowing the girl to become a walking joke when it came to her mannerisms and behavior. That didn't even touch on the fact that Nymphadora was not only Dumbledores supporter, but also one to use stolen blood for the godparent-naming ritual, and let's not forget exactly how Alexis learned about the theft and the use… Well, 'poor' Andromeda certainly wasn't anybody's favorite in the family, but even with that she was still allowed to use the name of Black (even after the disownment) as a means for Edward to not feel guilty about his blood grandmother… Not that any of the 'true' Blacks actually recognized that right.

"Oh I'm sure Andromeda Tonks did not mean to come off as someone trying to correct the Heir Black, my dear." Lucius murmured, allowing his smile to reach subpolar temperatures.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure she did not mean to come off as someone daring to order Blacks around, Aunt Narcissa." Edward interrupted before his mother or someone else could also say few words of choice at the unwelcome reminder of Andromeda's presence (let never be said Blacks can't be petty) "After all, Blacks bow to no one. Other than to Lord of their House." He quickly amended at the sigh of 'cousin Scorpius' arching an eyebrow in challenge.

"Which is another great example of her behavior, isn't it?" Drusilla asked dryly, summoning the jam towards her absentmindedly.

"Mrs Tonks did not try to correct a Black and she certainly did not intrude in the House of Blacks matters." Alexis' voice cut through the other venomous remarks of her relatives and glared down said 'Mrs Tonks' when it looked like she'd cause another argument among the family. "Enough. Anything I need to deal with while at home Edward?" She swiftly changed the topic, knowing that Skull needed to get back to the manor with the other potential Arcobaleno by the evening… Speaking of… maybe she should sic Hermione and Barty on research? William and Fleur should also be interested, and maybe Caliope and Cassiopea? Hadrian, Natasha, Aurora and Myrdin expressed interest in old curses as well if she remembered correctly… Well, if there was one library with the Arcobaleno curse description and theories about breaking… it would be in the Black library. Especially the Black Castle's library.

"Other than taking a look at the laws Cousin Lucius drafted on the matters you pointed out last time, there's nothing else. Or so I think." Edward carefully answered, just to have his 'evil plan' of 'let's get more family time' foiled by his own eldest...

"If you wouldn't mind grandmother," Aeneas started carefully, setting everything down and looking at her seriously. (Alexis liked that look, it meant that her kin is truly determined) "since we probably have no idea when you'll be able to come home next, I'd be thankful if you would reach out to the Lord of House of Longbottom about betrothal contract with his granddaughter Elisaviette." Alexis hummed noncommittally and pinned him with a serious look.

"Did you speak with her about the betrothal already?"

"I checked if she'd be agreeable to the contract, yes." Here his grandmother raised pointed eyebrow, waiting for actual answer. "She will accept as long as proper channels are utilized."

"Who is she to the Lord Longbottom again?" Lord of the House asked nonchalantly, even though she knew very well how awkward negotiating the betrothal contract with Neville could become for her. Steady, faithful Neville… Well at least she'd have a proper excuse to visit her old friend.

"Third child of the Heir Longbottom." Aeneas immediately answered at then rattled off other needed information: "Outside of the succession of either House of Longbottom, House of Lovegood or House of McLaggen. Seventh year of standard Hogwarts education, Ravenclaw, Prefect. Interested in the art of wand making."

"Apprenticed?"

"Didn't approach Lord Longbottom with it. She said she'd like to approach you for permission after betrothal."

"I will speak withh Neville about his granddaughter. Do you know why she did not approach him about apprenticeship?"

"I do." Here, Aeneas cringed a bit and warned seriously. "You're not going to like it grandmother"

"Tell me anyway."

"It… has something to do with Lord Longbottom's first wand I think. But he is rather… closed off when it comes to wands as a whole."

"I see…" Well it was probably too much to hope that the entire debacle with Augusta Longbottom nee Rosier trying to make poor Neville use his father's wand would not leave too many scars on her friend. "I will take care of it." She promised with a smile, Neville would be ashamed when she brought it up, but a little shame is better than actually harming family member with some stupid notions. "Young Elisaviette will marry you in the year after this year's graduation, then since wand making is a rather dangerous art, the House of Black will sponsor her apprenticeship under Ollivander, Lalavel or an International wand maker of her choosing after she gives birth to the second of your children."

"Grandmother that's…" Aeneas started to protest the thought of putting such terms for education… Well the boy was an excellent student at Beauxbatons, so it's no wonder… but still.

"You are next in line to the family headship after Edward and should this or the next trap actually be able to kill me I expect the House of Black to prosper and rule Britain as it does now." Alexis cut down any kind of protest with firm words and an even firmer look. The House of Black was one of the largest Houses in Magical Britain once, just to die off to just 2 members at a time. She will haunt her blood if they didn't continue rebuilding the House to it's previous greatness.

"Yes, grandmother." Her only grandson agreed grudgingly, before sighing deeply and nodding to show he understood her reasoning.

"As your grandmother I want some great-grandchildren Aeneas, as your Head of the House I want the House to prosper. Especially since you have two sisters who would need to have additional clauses in their contracts with their House by marriage to actually become my successor." She knew her grandchildren to be smart but just in case she explained additionally smiling at him gently.

"Actually grandmother, you'll probably find the proposition of Contract from House of Rosevell somewhere in the new post. I'd like you to accept it." Helena stated, making Edward start spluttering and looking at 'his little girl' in object horror and Alexis to raise an eyebrow. She did not know House of Rosevell… Foreign? Minor? Foreign Minor House? What did her granddaughter get caught at this time? She could swear that girl could find the trouble as easily as she herself could.

"Rosevell?"

"Noble House of Rosevell is fairly young and most of the time stays with Neutrals while voting. Though lately they have started falling more and more in line with the House of Black policies so I was actually curious with what was happening." Lucius interjected smoothly, looking down on his teacup thoughtfully.

"Noble House?" Alexis asked mildly, her mind whirling with possible reasons for the so-far-neutral Noble House to try and attach themselves to the House of Black. In the end no matter what the House of Rosevell offers they would be under primacy of the House of Black… The question was what they would offer and why. Was it another try to get into the 'Savior's family'? Or rather about Black's continuous standings among other titled houses.

"Their first son, Cyrus, and I wish to be involved." Helena started to explain the situation, no doubt knowing what was running through her grandmother's mind. "Cyrus is absolutely willing to take on the Black name and from what I remember Lord Rosevell is willing to make any manner of concessions for the House of Black, including full primacy even with passing the heirship to his second son. The House of Rosevell owns a rather well known network of magical flower shops and potion ingredients."

"Why?"

"Safety under the House of Black banner?" Edward proposed innocently making Alexis pause. Because… what?

"We're no longer grouped under banners… Especially war banners. Unless there is something happening that I was not informed about as of yet."

"It's… There are some whispers in the Ministry." Draconis offered somewhat hesitantly, which only set her even more on guard. If Draco Malfoy with all their shared history was hesitant to inform her on something...

"About?" She asked, carefully setting her own teacup down and focusing her entire attention on the Malfoy heir.

"Are you familiar with the muggle's Dark World?" He asked rather than answered, carefully choosing his words. "They call themselves mafia if I remember correctly." Now her feeling got even worse. What kind of business could the Magical World have with the Underworld? Did ICW know what it was about? Or was it only the British Ministry's 'bright idea'? Did they expect her to swoop down and save the day when they undoubtedly botched something serious, again?

"It's called the Underworld on the muggle side Draco." She corrected with forced calm and started recounting different names the crime syndicates were using around the world "Mafia Famiglias, Syndicates, Bratvas, Triads, Crime Families, Cartels and Yakuza. Yes, I believe we could say that I am familiar with those terms. What is it about?"

"Please don't tell me that that is your current 'adventure'" Hermione interrupted with horrified disbelief. Then she exploded with "How could you not take me with you?!", making Alexis blink slowly before remembering that the 'Raven hidden among the Lions' was a big fan of fictional Don Vito Corleone. She made a quick note to disabuse 'Mione of the notion that Mafiosi these days are as charming and well behaved. They weren't. Well Sinclair could be charming bastard… Shame De Mort was the one in control on the adventure, she wouldn't be particularly adverse to spending some time with the Hitman.

"The current trap is indeed set in that world, I'll tell you after this." Lord Black promised calmly before turning back to Draconis and prompting with resignation. "Draco?" Just the thought of introducing Magic and Flames was giving her a headache, and the image of Sinclair or Verde with magic… yeah, no!

"The British have that muggle council called Aristocracy of Evil," Draco started, causing those that were alive through the 'Second Blood War', how Voldemort's little rampage of madness was popularly called, let out almost synchronized sighs. Aristocracy of Evil was a right pain in the ass right after dealing with Tommy-boy himself. Straight up demanding results and help with their own problems… Especially late Earl Phantomhive. Brat was annoying enough to be being close to being hit with some nice, deadly curse time and time again. "established by Queen Victoria. They are somewhat concerned about the rise of the amount of Syndicates trying to move onto our soil. I believe they wish for the Ministry to step in and flaunt our power in their faces a bit just so they'd… reconsider." Of course they want to get the Magicals to do their own work… Why would she expect differently?

"Block it off." Alexis demanded even though more than one person at the table expressed approval of the 'muggles knowing when their own power wasn't enough'.

"My Lord?" William Weasley asked carefully. For all the years they ruled together, that was the first time she had used that kind of tone in his range of hearing.

"Muggle Mafia on the high level have unlocked their own Soul Fire." Alexis slowly explained, smiling satisfied when almost the entire family stiffened at the words. (It was nice that they understand possible problems, wasn't it?) "What's worse, they weaponized it." For magicals, Soul Fire was mostly just a way to build proper teams and maybe excuse ones character flaws. After all, they had magic, why would they use those 'Flames of Dying Will' for anything else… On that thought… Did they even have 'active' Flames? Or did they stopped at the 'Latent' stage thanks to magic? Something to probably test as well… If they could make the weaponized Soul Fire a House Secret which they would 'graciously' share with other Lords and the Ministry… the House of Black would rise even higher. "Give that information to both the Ministry and that… Aristocracy of Evil. Muggles call it 'Flames of Dying Will of the Sky', where The King or The Lord as the current naming convention goes is the Sky, The Sword or The Knight is the Storm, The Shield or The Protector is the Cloud, The Crown or The Advisor is the Lightning, The Cloak or The Lawyer is the Mist, The Ring or The Diplomat is the Rain, and The Scepter or The Nurturer is the Sun." She quickly explained nomenclature, just so they would not trip over some report or the other. "They're just trying to box their 'Flame users' into pretty little boxes when it comes to the character and behavior without taking into consideration the wider variation of their own natures. Just like they've stopped onto Soul Fire's aspect and called it good. For example they try to focus on The King as the 'accepting one', absolutely ignoring the 'ruling' aspect of the personality. And that's only because of the Harmony property of the King's Fire. At least in their ideal world. The Sword's role is to just attack, without the expectation of 'parrying' attacks of those that slip through everything else. Because the Sword's Fire's property is Disintegration…" She was complaining. She knew that. She didn't care. She was pretty angry at the entire Underworld for allowing those kinds of beliefs to exist, even worse, for cultivating them! She could see how even though most of the others in I Prescelti Sette were Inverted, they subconsciously expected their fellows to behave like stereotypical Elements of their Flame Type. It was infuriating! And her loss of control to the Beast probably didn't help any, when it came to 'Clouds are…'. "Case in point. They weaponized it, while we allowed ourselves to waste that kind of potential and just make it dictate our own roles in life." She smiled toothily wondering, somehow whimsically, if the Sword could disintegrate a spell flying towards them… "I want you to change it. Edward, Lucius, Draconis, Hermes, William, Percival. I want our Hit Mages to be able to use it as a weapon as well. Throw Unspeakables on the topic and tell them I will try and supply as much information on their take of it as possible, but I expect our inventors and researchers to get on the issue. Make those still blabbering about our superiority over other forms of magic put their money when their mouth already is."

"Understood." Lucius smirked with a hard edge like a blade he could wield as good as his magic. "Out of curiosity, my Lord, what about Elementals?" Here she stopped for a bit. Elementals were somewhat popular in the Magical World, but their powers were focused around the Earth and its faces… Did muggles not have them? Or were they hidden from the Underworld?

"I don't recall hearing about anything like Elementals there. Make sure the researchers know it's a priority. Their abilities and properties would give us a nice edge should we ever need it."

"Of course. Other than that my Lord… what is their scale of power?"

"The strongest Sword managed to break my leg before I had to get out of the spar to take care of my animagi form." Alexis admitted somehow sheepishly… The walls between them and the Beast shouldn't be so thin. Maybe she needs to spend some time with her familiars? Ares and Athena always managed to make her have a better grip on her temper.

"Strongest Sword?" Percival echoed, his voice incredulous at the fact that Alexis would get anywhere near someone hailed as the Strongest from Soul Fire users.

"Spar?" George's voice for a change was full of curiosity, and slight terror at the idea of the damage she probably dished out while 'sparring'.

"The trap." Alexis shrugged negligently, while explaining the rest of situation. "The seven most powerful Flame users in the muggle community were gathered together by the I Prescelti Sette. I do remember hearing the title Arcobaleno and have a bad feeling that it's connected. Hermione dear, could you?"

"Arcobaleno?" Hermione questioned curiously. Her previous pout at not being included in her Underworld adventure immediately changed into a wide smile at being needed still. Lightnings…

"Look among the curses." She advised calmly. "And maybe take Barty, William and Fleur. They already have the scope for what kind of messes I can let my curiosity lead me into" She shrugged with a resigned smile. "And maybe involve the younger generation? Learning new curses is always a good idea and researching what I tripped into at the time gave you a Mastery if I remember correctly my dear."

"True. Master Curse Breaker Aliore's face at the sight of that curse was priceless." Hermione smirked at the memory. It was barely few years after the war, when Alexis almost literally tripped into the of-course-incredibly-ancient curse giving the cursed incredibly good luck at the cost of their magic, and possibly even life. Luckily it was pretty quickly broken. But still, thanks to that she managed to painlessly go through a few of the worse huddles she could have as a newly minted ruler.

"I do believe Caliope, Cassiopea, Hadrian, Natasha, Aurora and Myrdin expressed interest in getting into research or ancient-curses-that-only-Alexis-Peverell-could-get-hit-by." She paused at the incredulous and amused snorts of laughter before sighing and calling attention to herself again. Time to give out details of the curse. "The curse is incredibly old, in muggle understanding of the world, so anywhere from 5 hundred to a few thousand years. It's something that shrinks, de-ages or maybe just compresses full adults into the bodies of toddlers, allows muggles to live up to 70-80 years even in the times when hygiene was truly awful and then kills them. No idea how the killing goes or what is really a purpose of the curse. What I do remember hearing is something about pacifiers… Make out of it what you will." She shrugged and looked at Hermione and the earlier named members of her family with full belief that they can help her deal with that thing.

"Only you Alexis could knowingly go into that kind of danger, only you." Hermione shook her head fondly, but by the green sheen in her eyes, Alexis knew she was hooked on the mystery.

"I have full faith in your research abilities and our capabilities to break the curse if I'd actually get hit with it, rather than just burn it down with my own magic. Of course, I would feel better if I didn't get cursed at all."

"Of course." her Lightning friend agreed sagely before devolving into fit of chuckles alongside the Lord Black herself.

"Do you wish for us to try and actually actively use our Soul Fire, Mother?" Edward interrupted their laughter after a moment, causing Alexis to focus on the only child she ever claimed as her own.

"From what muggles found out Soul Fire comes with different states, Latent and Active." She started, quickly going into another lecture with the sole purpose of helping her family. "Switching from Latent to Active is possible either by sheer will force or by the extreme danger where the 'victim' believe they'd die. Activating when above as certain age, around 30 if I remember correctly, can be simply deadly because of lack of certain… flexibility young minds have." She wondered how the use of magic would interfere with that, before forcibly stopping herself from going on a tangent. "I don't know if it's the case of only muggles or if it comes to us as well. Let the Unspeakables research it before trying to force its use. But I want younger members of family to start trying to coax it out and find its uses. I will not have my family vulnerable!" She forcefully stated, looking at the pleased faces sitting around the table.

"When did you activate it then?" Morticia questioned curiously, noting Hermione's wince at the tidbit about believing to die.

"No idea. There was a Flame when I killed Quirrel at eleven." That admittance caused an entire round of winces around the table, but Alexis didn't finish at that… Sometimes she wished she could do it and spare her family reminders of her own early life… Unfortunately it was important so it needed to be stated. "But it could easily be that Samhain. With my Shield aspect I can Propagate things. Including my own body cells. There is a chance that that was how I survived the Dursleys. By Propagating the amount of nutritions I could get from the scraps I had, energy I had from the little amount of sleep and even Propagating my own flesh and blood when those… people hurt me as a child."

"That's… young. On both counts-" Narcissa commented with a strangled voice. Alexis just smiled at her resigned.

"I had only one true choice in life. To go crazy because of my bipolar luck or to become an adrenaline junkie."

"You don't need to tell us what you choose. Everyone remembers or heard stories about your… ah… adventures" Barty admitted pained. Poor man was very committed to trying to protect her. So the curses she completed like child candies… Oh well…

"Very well grandmother. We will work on that." Aeneas stopped them from going onto another tangent and bringing back attention to the future of the House. Sweet boy always made sure Alexis wouldn't dwell on what it was that Freak and Rose were subjected to. What Dorea choose to do… "And our future spouses?"

"Consider it a Black Secret before the Unspeakables let Hit Mages start working on that." She decided after a few seconds of consideration. Making it a Black Secret would allow the Family Magic to protect the secret and not allow it to go into the hands of those not bound by the magic or blood of House of Black. "Then send the information to the Houses allied with us."

"Building the Black Army back?" Narcissa quipped amused at the turnabout in Alexis' stance on banners.

"Something like that. Just an idea but… Imagine the war that could break out between us, normal muggles and those so called Flame Actives." The Head of the Family asked, clearly hinting that she doesn't believe there would be peace when the knowledge about all the worlds is exchanged. She knew people. Greedy, small minded creatures. There would be war… After all 'those 'other than me' are worse and can't be left alive' was a running theme for quite a lot of wars… Magicals and Muggles, Flame Actives and Latents, Those in the Underworld and civilians… It'd be a slaughter and she won't allow those she claimed to be responsible for to meet that kind of fate.

"That'd destroy the world." Hermione protested immediately. So many years… and Hermione still believed in some kind of good in people. Equality… and the fact that pointing out stupidity of some moves would be enough for the movements to stop.

"It would. That wouldn't stop them." The purple haired woman agreed morosely, then went on- "We can't pretend to be normal muggles. We're obviously not. But we could sell it as entire hidden society using simply Soul Fire. That we got scared after the Witch Trials and Inquisition. Just with possibility to pass our magical 'small comforts' in life as Flame technology."

"Then it's just two sides of conflict." Fleur agreed thoughtfully "Can we do that?"

"Not yet." Alexis grimaced "But in a few years? We should be able to. As long as no one start to publicly wave wands they theoretically shouldn't be able to use?"

"Define a few years." Hermione demanded, her brilliant mind no doubt already running through different possible paths of their development.

"10? Maybe 20?"

"It's not a 'few' for us anymore, my Lord." Lucius interjected amused. He and Narcissa were already maybe halfway through their lives. Maybe even more than that.

"Which is why I'll be making sure the muggle Underworld will not hear about us 'till we're able to fake it. Ideally never."

"Can you do it?" Edward questioned curiously… Silly boy, he should know by now that Mum can do anything.

"For them I am the strongest Shield." She confined in them smoothly.

"But you're The King!"

"Well, they don't know that, do they?"