Mrs. Lumihee finally awoke at Alazne's shriek of terror at the appearance of the stranger and pulled her daughter to her protectively.
"Who are you?" she snarled. "What do you want?!"
The figure paused but didn't respond. Instead he moved into the cottage and, with a few mumbled words, fixed the broken door before removing the hood to his cloak and turning to them.
The stranger was tall and almost weedy looking, and had long brown hair that seemed meticulously styled and was pulled into a ponytail. His face was angular and seemed sharp, but the most striking thing was his eyes, cold and dark like the entrance to a cave or a black hole. Alazne peered at him a little from her mother's arms, the man seeming almost familiar.
The man looked around with a smug expression until his eyes landed on the teapot still hanging over the fire.
"Mallory, I want a cup of tea. Heat it up for me," he said.
Alazne let out a sharp gasp at his cold voice, realizing where she knew him from. It was the man from her dreams.
Without waiting for them to move, the man strode over on long legs to the couch and waved at the frightened women dismissively.
"Move over. And I said I wanted tea."
Mrs. Lumihee snarled in a savage way at the stranger, pulling Alazne closer protectively. The action drew his attention, and for the first time his eyes landed on the girl.
"Ah, this must be little Alazne!" said the man.
Alazne looked up at him with wide eyes and was surprised to find a smile on the man's menacing face, though it looked almost predatory.
"I've been wondering about you since I received word of your birth," he informed her. "I thought you'd look more like your mother, but I suppose that hair of yours is from that dirty Muggle. But those eyes! My, those must be from our blood, none but a witch could have those eyes."
Mrs. Lumihee let out an animal-like growl.
"You get out of here, now!" she said. "We don't want anything to do with you!"
"Oh, shut up, Mallory, you dirty Squib," said the man; he pulled something out of his pocket and flicked it towards the woman with another mumble that Alazne didn't understand, Mrs. Lumihee's eyes going blank before releasing Alazne and going to the teapot. As she moved she made a noise as if she were being choked.
Alazne watched fearfully.
"Now—Alazne," he said, his attention returning to her, "it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I know it's a bit early, but since I have missed so many of your birthdays, I think it's alright to give this to you now."
He rummaged around in his cloak a moment before pulling out something that let out a little squeak from inside his closed fist. Alazne reached for it timidly. When he placed it in her hand she discovered it was a little pink Pygmy Puff, a creature she had read about in one of her more recent books. The creature let out a pleased squeak at being released and cuddled into her hand, purring.
"I was contemplating on getting you one of the cats available at Magical Menagerie, considering your current home amongst the Muggles, but I heard that your Muggle father was allergic so I was a bit hesitant to do so until I was sure you weren't as well. The girls love these little creatures though, so I figured you would too."
"She's very cute…thank you," Alazne said, gently petting the purring pink puff, "but who are you?"
The man shot a glare at her mother, who was blinking as if dazed in the middle of making tea, but managed to soften his expression before speaking to Alazne.
"My apologies, I had forgotten you have never seen me before. I doubt your mother," he spat the word out as if it were something bitter, "has any photos of me around. I'm Theodore Nott...your uncle."
As Alazne stared in open mouthed shock, Theodore gestured to her mother, who delivered his tea. He flicked the item in his hand at her and Mrs. Lumihee fell to one knee with a gasp, as if trying to catch her breath.
"You…You can't use that spell…!" she gasped in horror.
"I believe I can and did, Mallory," Theodore replied nonchalantly, sipping his tea. "It's your own fault for being so difficult."
"What spell?" Alazne asked, curiosity overcoming her confusion. "Mummy, what's going on? This man said he's my uncle, but…"
"He what?!"
Mrs. Lumihee was on her feet, enraged.
"How dare you?! HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AND ACT AS IF YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO SPEAK TO MY DAUGHTER?!"
Alazne moved away from the conflict with her Pygmy Puff, who was now letting out frightened, high pitched squeaks. Theodore, on the other hand, seemed unmoved.
"Could you quit howling like a wounded animal? I've had a hard time finding you, and it has left me rather drained," he said in a bored voice, taking another sip of his tea.
"How can you just sit there as if you have all the right in the world to just intrude on our lives?!"
"I believe I have every right to introduce myself to my niece."
"You lost that right the moment Father dumped me in that bloody orphanage! And you, sitting by cheering him on!"
"You mean they didn't die?" Alazne cut in. "You said that your parents died in the Second Wizarding War, and that you didn't even have a brother!"
Theodore laughed at the statement as Mrs. Lumihee went pale.
"Wishful thinking, huh Mallory? No, Mother died when we were young, but she was much closer with Father. He did end up perishing in the Second Wizarding War. As for siblings well…I believe I speak for myself when I say that is a load of bat droppings," he said, chuckling.
"This doesn't make any sense…if they hadn't died, why were you in an orphanage, Mummy?" Alazne piped in, everything going a little too fast for her.
"Why?" said Mrs. Lumihee softly, who had seemed shocked to hear of the death of her father. "Why! You really want to know why? It's because of being how I am! Oh, the day my brother got his letter and went to…to Hogwarts…I couldn't wait until I turned eleven and got my own letter. I was the only one in the family who hadn't shown any signs of magic. And when my birthday came and went and there was no letter…beloved Theodore was the first one to tell me what I was—a freak! But I wasn't a freak, Squibs came up in every family, and I just drew the wrong card. Then father figured it out too, and before I knew what had happened I was in an orphanage as 'Mallory Nutt'!"
Alazne took her mother's hand lovingly, the woman red faced with anger and crying softly. She obviously had been brooding over this for years, maybe since it had happened. Theodore yawned, setting down his empty teacup.
"Yes, that's all very tragic, but I imagine Alazne wants to hear a little more about my plan for her," he said.
"What plan?" Alazne asked.
"What plan?!" he hissed, coming to life and glaring Mrs. Lumihee down with his eyes alive with fury. "What do you mean 'what plan'?! Merlin, I knew you hadn't read those letters, but she didn't tell you a bloody thing?! Don't you even wonder about the magic side of your family?"
"I kind of thought they'd been mixed like I was, since—"
"MIXED?!"
Theodore was now on his feet, nearly shaking with rage. Mrs. Lumihee took a few steps back worriedly, Alazne pushed behind her.
"Do you mean to tell me," he growled at her. "You never told her anything about her family!?"
Mrs. Lumihee swallowed but stood strong. "You stopped being either of our family the moment you kicked me out!"
Alazne, who had asked about her family so many times over the years, poked her head out from behind her mother.
"What's my family like, then?" she asked.
"Alazne, hush!" Mrs. Lumihee whispered urgently.
"The girl has a right to know!" said Theodore.
"Why do you suddenly care?! She's my daughter, and you called me worse than a Mudblood! Why would you be so focused on her?!"
"Oh, I refuse to argue with you anymore," Theodore said, dismissing her with an annoyed gesture. "Alazne, you come from the pure-blooded Nott family, and I plan to incorporate you back into it."
There was silence in the cottage. Only the noises of the fading storm could be heard as the news set in.
"So what?" Alazne finally said, not seeing what the big deal was.
"So what?" said Theodore in surprise, sitting down on the couch and gesturing for her to join him. "So, pure-bloods are the highest witches and wizards in our world! We have a lineage of only magic, and only the most powerful and rarest gifts are in our families."
Alazne went to sit with him but was stopped by her mother, who seemed proud of her attitude on pure-bloods. Instead she pet her Pygmy Puff thoughtfully.
"Wait…then why are you bothering with me? My father was a Muggle," said Alazne.
"Yes, but despite this you have the Nott blood in you. I'm not sure what you might be called, considering your mother, but you undoubtedly take after our family," Theodore said, "and I fully intend to make you a full part of it again."
"And how do you intend to do that?" Mrs. Lumihee growled, pulling Alazne close again.
"I'm guessing you didn't read the letter either then," Theodore said, raising an eyebrow.
"No, I didn't."
Theodore rummaged in his cloak again, this time pulling out a wizarding photo of a boy Alazne's age. He had dark brown hair that was as wild as Theodore's was styled, and cold blue eyes that half-glared at the photographer. He smirked at the two Lumihees in a sinister way and his face was still slightly chubby with baby fat, but showed signs of having sharp, angular features when he came of age. His clothes were black and looked expensive.
"What do you think about this boy, Alazne?" Theodore asked.
Alazne looked over him again. He stuck out his tongue, making her scowl.
"He might look nice if he weren't a brat," she replied.
Theodore chuckled a little, giving the boy in the picture an affectionate look.
"Oh, I suppose he may be a little rough around the edges, but nothing the right person couldn't smooth out with time. And his appearance?"
"I said it was ok, not bad I guess," Alazne said with a shrug. "Maybe if he wasn't looking at us like that he might be a little nicer looking. Why are you asking anyway?"
"Well, this boy is my son Duff, and I'm hoping to arrange a marriage between the two of you."
There was a moment of silence, Alazne wide-eyed in shock, before Mrs. Lumihee's furious cry made the two magic-users jump.
"That is disgusting! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Are you actually suggesting that my daughter marry her own cousin?! What on earth is wrong with you?!" Mrs. Lumihee screeched, disgusted.
"Mallory, for Circe's sake could you not scream like a banshee every time I speak?" said Theodore in annoyance. "If you had ever paid attention to Father, you'd know it's not by any means a novel request. Many pure-bloods have interbred to keep the line pure; I'm merely tweaking the idea to keep our family from getting too widespread. Perhaps even incorporate those who could bring novel traits to our gene pool."
"How could you talk so…so confidently about such a horrible idea?! It's wrong!"
"I find no problem with the idea, or else I wouldn't suggest it. This girl has both potential and our blood, so I intend to make her one of the true Nott family members again. Why would you be so against mending the bonds that Father severed?"
"First of all, you're insane. Second of all, you're only picking and choosing who will and won't be a part of the family, the same way he did!"
The comment seemed to bother Theodore, who narrowed his eyes.
"I am very different from Father. He was a follower, but I have a very different style, I have my own vision! And I will pave the way to its fruition my own way! And to begin, Alazne will become a Nott, as she should be!" Theodore yelled, his look becoming threatening.
As the two siblings argued, Alazne had set her new pet somewhere safe, and now she intervened.
"I'm sorry Uncle Theodore…but I'm not going to do that. I don't want to be stuck to someone I never met, especially my cousin, and especially when my cousin looks so cruel. I won't do it," she said firmly, staring down her uncle's furious look.
Theodore's face flushed with anger, but to her surprise he turned to her mother.
"This is your doing! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" he cried, his attitude reminding Alazne of a child throwing a tantrum. "If she had been raised among us, she would understand! She would accept! SHE SHOULD BE HONORED!"
Mrs. Lumihee, who had instinctively shrunk back, managed to stand firm.
"You're blaming me for her not being raised in the family? It's Father's doing! Besides, she has her own mind, she can decide for herself! And she said no!" Mrs. Lumihee cried.
Apparently, this continued rebellion was too much for him. Theodore whipped the item from before out of his cloak, which Alazne finally recognized in the light as a wand, and raised it above his head with pure hate in his eyes. "WE'LL SEE," he roared, "IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR PLACE WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU!"
He brought the wand down with a vicious slice to point at her mother—Alazne realized his intent even if she didn't know what he was doing and just as he cried a third spell she didn't recognize before she jumped in front of her mother with her arms thrown out protectively. There was a sudden feeling of white hot knives driven into every inch of her skin and she let out a screech that even terrified herself with its inhuman tortured sound and both her mother and her uncle looked on in horror. She began wreathing in pain on the floor.
Her mother let out a noise like a cat with its tail stepped on and tackled her uncle, but the pain had already stopped after the man realized what he'd done. When Mallory kicked the wand away from the man's hand and rushed back to a sobbing Alazne to comfort her, shooting Theodore a look that would kill a lesser man as he got back to his feet.
Theodore retrieved his wand, not looking at the two women for a moment as he stroked his sharp chin.
"I apologize for letting my temper get out of hand," he said, his voice betraying some of his guilt, "but that honestly wasn't for you, Alazne. I meant to only remind your mother who the stronger person is, who should be ordering who around, but I suppose I had enough rage that the spell even worked on you."
He composed himself and shot the girl one last look as even her pygmy puff tried to console her.
"I suppose I might have sprung this on you too soon. Consider what I've said, and I'd appreciate it if you don't mention this to Duff when you two meet. Wouldn't want any outside feelings to affect the natural course of your relationship."
With that he gathered his cloak around himself and, without another word, disappeared again into the night.
