CHAPTER 3:

NIGHT THOUGHTS

In the guest quarters she had been assigned, Neo finally allowed it to hit her. That Roman, her big brother, was dead. Oh, she knew it, and she was mourning him to some degree, but now that she was alone with her thoughts…it hit her even more.

He was a criminal, true. An unrepentant thief, murderer, and mercenary. Many of those epithets could apply to Neo herself. She hadn't killed that many people, but she had, in cold blood and in the heat of the moment. They went where the money was. And for some time before he died, and she was torn into this new world, they had been working under Cinder Fall…who was working under Salem. And from the few times Neo had actually met Salem…well, she was most definitely bad news. And Neo doubted Salem would mourn Roman's loss.

But Neo would. And she did. As she showered, hot water running off her petite body, she closed her eyes, and wept quietly, silently. She allowed the enormity of what had happened to hit her. Roman was dead. And Salem wouldn't care, instead using the chaos Roman and Neo fomented to run rampant.

Maybe being snatched away from Remnant was the best thing that happened to Neo since Roman took her under his wing. Because without Roman…well, where did Neo have to go? Work under Cinder? Not with Roman dead. Go crawling over to Beacon or Atlas? Hah! They'd lock her away. Especially after she killed so many Atlesian soldiers.

She didn't feel remorse for their lives, the ones she took. While she didn't take lives unnecessarily, she didn't feel any guilt. Though she did enjoy indulging a bit of sadism every now and then. But one needed to kill in order to survive. Otherwise, one was killed themselves. It didn't matter whether they were humans, Grimm, or Faunus. Life was built on death. Survival was built on it.

The only thing she had left behind in Remnant was perhaps avenging Roman's death. And how would she go about that? Killing Ruby? While Neo was sure she could do it, the truth is, Roman's death was accidental, at least as far as Ruby was concerned. The most she did was distract him unintentionally before a Grimm nommed on him. Okay, Neo would have still tracked down the little bitch and carved a smile into her cheeks with a knife at the very least, but killing her, well…she wasn't certain.

Under the hot water, she sobbed quietly. Her big brother was dead. And she had been torn away from everything she had known…back to the place she didn't want to return to. And now, she needed to figure out a way to deal with the sperm donor and the mutt before they dealt with her first. She had bought time with her amnesia excuse, and thank Oum they weren't here, as she might not have been able to restrain herself from glaring at them. And that would have given the game away.

As she finished her shower, she thought back to Roman's words to Ruby. Lie, steal, cheat and survive. Yes, that would be her motto here. Lie. Steal. Cheat. Survive.

According to Dumbledore, Potter was apparently now a top Auror. She needed to deal with him soon. Of course, she needed to ensure that she didn't get caught. No magic, though she doubted that her Semblance counted.

A shame that her Semblance wasn't more like Emerald's, that she could cast a delusion on her father, make him kill himself. Her skill was in illusions, cast on herself and her allies…and objects of her choosing. Hmm, food for thought.

Of course, killing him as he was now would make him a martyr if she wasn't careful. And Black would be sure to make her Prime Suspect if she didn't deal with him quickly. Hmm, a patsy was needed, then? But who?

Well, she knew she had to hit the ground running. When Dumbledore or his chosen lackey took her to Diagon Alley tomorrow, she would have to make a stop at Flourish and Blott's, in case there was anything she could get. Any information. And then, she could begin…

James Potter was not a nice person. In fact, he was spoiled, entitled, cocky, and with an absolute conviction that he alone knew what was good for the sake of Magical Britain. He wasn't alone in that regard, nor was he the only one with such misplaced conviction with money and influence. Especially with his son Charles being not only the Boy Who Lived, but also, thanks to a rather dubious ritual, one of the strongest wizards to ever live. All it needed was a mute near-Squib of a daughter, one he didn't want.

True, he could have arranged for a marriage, but there was something about the girl he never liked. That muteness since that night…and the fact that he knew Lily favoured Rose Harriet Potter over Charles. Plus, he didn't want to give out any more money to the little bitch than he had to, when that money could be better spent on events and bribes. The Potter family's finances had been drained by the previous war, and even while under the influence of Amortentia, Lily would never have dreamed of harming any child. But with Lily gone, and James now having a son he wanted instead of a daughter, well…he had only one use for a useless, mute daughter. No mute of wizarding blood had ever been able to cast spells properly, and it was a stain on the Potter line that needed to be rubbed out.

Plus, he had to admit, if only to himself, he was jealous. While she had displayed no magical aptitude yet, not since the accident, she showed herself to be a Metamorphmagus. She was too damned good for his liking. She shouldn't have that power. She was a mute near-Squib who didn't deserve to live.

So, she was forced to give up her magical core to her brother in a ritual in the Department of Mysteries, and then thrown through the Veil. All at the age of six, as a fifth birthday present for her brother. That was ten years ago now. The Unspeakables he had involved were paid well for their silence, and the Prophet merely announced that the sister to the Boy Who Lived had perished after a brief illness. Privately, James and Sirius claimed to their friends and allies (at the time, anyway) that she had been kidnapped, and that, after refusing to pay a ransom, Rose had disappeared.

Dumbledore bought it, but Remus… while he didn't know, suspected. And the fragile friendship they had broken. Not that he needed a friendship with a werewolf.

Of course, James knew that Dumbledore didn't think much of this, but fuck him. He was an old man whose time was long since passed. James Potter and his son were the future of Magical Britain. And he would show them why.

So it was while having a late night drink of bourbon (he had to admit to being partial to Muggle alcohol) that he received a late night visitor. Not wholly unexpected: he had cultivated a 'friendship' with Ludo Bagman, partly by buying out the man's debts, and making it clear the fatuous man owed him favours. But he was expecting the man, who came by Floo, to give him the news that Charles had been selected as the fourth Champion.

"Ludo, what brings you here at this late hour?" James asked, schooling his features into mild surprise, irritation, and confusion.

"Well, James, it's really most extraordinary," Bagman said, mopping his brow. "May I?" he asked, indicating the decanter and a spare glass James had set out for this exact same purpose. James nodded reluctant assent, and Bagman said, as he poured himself a glass, "Well, as you know, the drawing of the Champions happened tonight. Amos' boy got chosen as Champion of Hogwarts."

Here's hoping that self-righteous twat's son gets killed, then, James thought. Amos had been a thorn in his side on occasion. "And? That doesn't seem like news to me, Ludo."

"Oh, I haven't gotten to the best part. Well, Viktor Krum's been chosen as Durmstrang's Champion, and Monsieur Delacour's daughter, the older one, is now Beauxbatons' Champion. But here's the most extraordinary thing…the Goblet spat out another parchment, one with Charles' name on it!"

"What?" James demanded, or pretended to. "He's in the Tri-Wizard Tournament?!"

"I know, I know. Most extraordinary. Still, an opportunity for us to show up those foreign students, eh?" Bagman said with a knowing smile. "He doesn't know how and why the name came out, and he looked ever so shocked, but, well, he's in a magical contract, and he has to compete or lose his magic. I have to say, it's an extraordinary turn of events."

"I'll talk to him tomorrow, see if this is some stupid prank that has gone awry," James said, playing the role of an angry, irritated father. "I thought that Dumbledore had put in measures against any underaged students putting their name into the Goblet of Fire!"

"Oh, old Mad Eye had some ideas about that, but that's not the most extraordinary thing about this whole night," Bagman said.

James scoffed. "I doubt it," he said, raising his glass to his lips and sipping at the bourbon.

"Well, another name came out. Your daughter's name."

James' eyes bulged, and he choked on his bourbon, sending it spraying across the room, some of it hitting Bagman. He coughed and spluttered, before he stared at Bagman. "…What."

"Yes, extraordinary, I know," Bagman said, mopping at his face and wiping down his robes with a grubby handkerchief, only mildly miffed at being subjected to being sprayed with bourbon. "Anyway, the Goblet seemed to summon her there…well, except she seemed to insist on being called 'Neopolitan'. Had a rather odd getup too. Seemed to not know where she was, or even that Charles was her brother. As she doesn't seem to answer to Rose Potter anymore, I think she has amnesia."

Inwardly, James was panicking. Because it meant that the sins of the past had come back to haunt him. He hoped that Bagman was right, that the bitch had amnesia. Though how the bloodsoaked Pureblood Hell she survived being tossed through the Veil, he had no idea. It took him a while to get back onto an even keel. "She's alive?"

"Yes, but didn't you say she had an illness and died?"

"Yes, but that was a cover story. Rose was kidnapped at that time, and her kidnappers claimed that they killed her. Either she survived, or they took her themselves. She's alive? She's really alive?"

"I don't think the Goblet lies, James. It's rather odd, though. She had a strange Muggle device, one she used to type out messages. It could even play sounds. Also worked at Hogwarts. I thought electronics or whatever Muggles used didn't work there."

"They don't," James said, his mind all awhirl. This, he thought, was a fucking disaster. The sins of the past had come back to haunt him. While he could be lucky, and the girl's amnesia was genuine, he wasn't so sure that was the case. He needed to find out the truth, and fast. Otherwise, he, and Sirius, risked being dragged down into ignominy, all because of a skeleton in the closet that didn't have the good sense to stay in the closet…

Dumbledore, as he often did, was spending a sleepless night pacing his office. What were the implications of this, he thought? Charles and Rose, now Neopolitan, were now Champions in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Why and how had they been entered? And what had happened to Neopolitan after her kidnapping? Always assuming, of course, that James Potter had been telling the truth.

And there was something about Neo that put him on edge. There was something predatory about that girl. Something dark. She may not have had a voice, but she had claws, and it was silent predators one had to look out for the most, as Newt Scamander put it…

If one knew anything about Charles Potter, one would have thought he would have been seething with jealous rage at being usurped by his sister. But in fact, while his so-called best friend Ron Weasley snored, having shown his fair weather friend tendencies, Charles was actually smiling. And it wasn't a pleasant smile at all. It was vicious and cruel.

Well, well, well, so she's back…like a lamb to the slaughter. But even lambs have teeth, and they may bite you when being dragged to the abattoir, he thought to himself. Now, how to deal with her…or perhaps have her as the stepping stone for my ascendancy…

CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:

Hoo boy, Neo's made waves already. And what is with Charles' dark thoughts?

No numbered annotations this time.