CHAPTER 7, Meeting Altaira

A/N HP not mine. Altair means Star of the First Magnitude, or Brightest Star. Altaira is the feminine version.

Re: Gabrielle being Ron's girlfriend. I know cannon claims she was born 1987, That would make her 8 when she entered Beauxbaton, and 14 in my timeline. However, that would also make Beauxbaton students 14 when they graduated, and not old enough to participate in Triwizard Tournament, which would have meant that Fleur was held back 3 years and was thus incredibly stupid. Not buying that. I think they missed editing that one in cannon. Sorry if that is arrogant on my part, but it fits my story and I am sticking to it. I think Gabrielle was born in 1984, and is now 17, about to graduate, and an adult.

Also, a few people are confused about the age of Bellatrix' daughter. Both ages are not a mistake, and that will become clear in a couple of chapters. Kudos to anyone who guesses what is happening, but please PM me, don't spoil it. Answer in a few chapters. And, hint is in Chap 1, and this Chap.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE FAV'D, REVIEWED, AND FOLLOWED. And a BIG hug to Parvati48. Hope you all enjoy

Onward wizarding soldiers.

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Hogwarts, that afternoon

When Harry and Draco got to Hogwarts headmistress's office, they found an extremely angry Professor Snape, who kept shooting Hermione reprimanding looks. He was stood absolutely straight, with his arms folded across his chest, eyes locked on her, just waiting for her to look up at him. She was resolutely looking at the floor, curled up in a ball, and was crying softly. Minerva was standing much like Severus, and looked like she very much wanted to scold Hermione.

Harry took all this in, and assuming a position exactly like Professor Snape, but shooting his look at the two elderly persons in the room, demanded, "What's happened now?"

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The previous day, after Draco and Potter had left, Hermione and Severus went to the library and looked up some things. Hermione was looking for information on the magic used in the dark mark. Severus was researching things he wasn't talking about. Finally he had left the library and gone to the archives. Most people didn't know about the archives, and only professors and certain approved Ministry officials are allowed in there. Hermione had wandered down, and tried to look at the titles of the stack of books he was gathering. They all appeared to be in some old languages. She couldn't read any of them.

He looked at her, cocking an eyebrow, and waiting for the questions he knew was coming.

She didn't disappoint him. "What are these, tomes?" She looked up at him, as he approached with yet another thick, heavy, dusty, volume.

"Yes, in a manner of speaking. These are the ancient books of magic, set forth by the earliest witches and wizards. And, before you ask, they are in ancient languages. A few translated notes in the margins here and there, but basically in original form." He smiled, knowing her next question.

"Can you actually read these?" She asked, perplexed. In all the time she had been around him, she hadn't seen him reading these kinds of books.

"Yes, for the most part. A lot of dark magic is originally written in ancient languages, and much has never been translated. It is a form of protection of the practice from those who are either not disciplined enough nor dedicated enough to earn the title and knowledge of a dark wizard or witch." He answered. He had never taught her this. She wasn't a dark witch. But, she was a brilliant witch, and he suspected she was going to figure out what had been done to her, with or without anyone's help.

"This has to do with my scar?"

He had expected this question, too. And, he was pleased with her logic, and so far, her calm acceptance. He wondered how long that last part would last.

"Yes. I suspect the answer to what happened to you is somewhere in these volumes."

"I can't help you with these. I can't read them." She huffed. She sounded very frustrated.

He smiled, knowing that she hated finding a book she couldn't read. "I really would prefer that you not read them." He took her hand, and led her to a chair and gently pushed her into it. Then he knelt down in front of her. Taking possession of both hands, he looked at her, waiting patiently till she looked back at him. "Hermione, you are a brilliant, accomplished witch. And I couldn't be prouder of your accomplishments as a defense against dark arts student, teacher, and protégé.."

"However, you also have a very pure heart. And, I wouldn't wish that to change. And you knowing this type of magic would change that." He looked at her intently, with a little sadness in his eyes. She was going to have to know some of it. But, he didn't want her becoming a dark witch. "And, my little know-it-all, some knowledge shouldn't be sought by everyone."

He stood up, pulling her to her feet, drew her close, kissed the top of her head, and said, "I need to go one more place. Do you want to go back and read the material you have? Or would you like to go with me?"

She looked up, and knew where he was going. Oh Merlin, she wasn't ready to return there. But, she wanted to know what was happening to her. And, knowing him as well as she did, she thought he might have a reason for asking her to accompany him. "I want to go. I want to know. At least, I want to know what is happening to my arm, what this means for me."

He nodded, gathered the ancient volumes up, motioned for her to shrink them down, and they walked back to his quarters. He could have shrunk them down, but that was her job. And, she could fit an entire town in that silly little bag she had charmed. They dropped the books off in his quarters, and then they walked outside the castle, and he surprised her by taking her arm and apparating her off the grounds and straight to Malfoy Manor.

"I thought only the headmaster could apparate off Hogwarts?" She asked, surprised.

"I was headmaster. I am now deputy headmaster. But, I don't advertise that I can do it." He grinned. And, he had managed to distract her for a few minutes. By the time she recovered, they were already through the manor, and in the impressive library of the ancient house of Malfoy.

Hermione stared, amazed. She hadn't seen a personal library this big before. She had seen much smaller public libraries. It was a huge room, three stories high, and filled, floor to ceiling with shelf after shelf of books. Severus walked over to a desk in the middle of the room, and withdrawing an inventory, started summoning books.

He put Hermione to work reading up on Voldemort's magic and spells he had used for the death eaters, the dark mark, and the different types of bonds typically used by ancient pureblood families. He knew she would figure out some of it. She deserved a clear understanding of what she was facing.

Then he went to work reading up on blood bonds, life bonds, marriage bonds, and inherited bonds. They read for hours, Severus taking careful notes, before he called a halt to it, and said it was time to get ready for dinner. They put the books back, replaced the inventory sheet, and gathered their notes.

Hermione snuck a peek at Severus' notes, and threw a chagrinned look at him. His notes were in one of those ancient languages. That only made her more curious, and more determined to get him to answer her questions.

Severus apparated them back to Hogwarts.

As they walked to dinner, she asked questions. He answered.

"How can you apparate to Malfoy manor?"

"I have always been able to do that, since Lucius became the patriarch. Draco never revoked it."

"So you just pop in whenever you want? Isn't that intrusive?"

"Narcissa and Lucius have their own private wing, as do I, and so does Draco. I don't "pop" in just anywhere. But, I have a laboratory, and there is a shared potions brewing laboratory, and a workout room for practicing spells and dueling. So, there are several locations I can apparate directly to."

"How did you become close to them?"

"Lucius was my prefect at Hogwarts. And, he hated James Potter and his little band of Misfit Marauders. So, when he noticed them bothering me one day, he stepped in. And Narcissa was also in our house. The friendship just grew. And, we were both death eaters. And, when Draco was born, they asked me to be his godfather. I agreed." He grinned again, remembering this. "Bellatrix was furious, which made me very happy."

"So what did you find out about my scar?"

Now he smirked. She had very slyly slid that one in. "Very slick, almost smooth," he chuckled. "Very Slytherin of you." He looked at her to see her reaction to that. She was proud of her Gryffindor heritage.

She gave him an exasperated look, "Just answer the question."

He gave her an equally exasperated look. "After dinner."

She rolled her eyes. She knew which of them was more obstinate. He was, just slightly. But, in this case, he was probably right. They shouldn't talk of this at dinner. Some of the professors had returned to prepare for the school year, and some lived on the grounds year-round. The dinner table was just too open for prying ears and eyes.

After dinner, they talked. Severus didn't open the books he had brought from archives.

"So, what did you discover in your research?" he asked her.

"There are several types of bonds used by the pureblood families. There is a marriage bond, accompanied by a blood bond, that hinders a witch from straying from the marriage bed. It is very effective in that it causes her great pain if she does choose to stray. It also prevents any pregnancy from occurring if she strays. This bond is for the duration of the marriage, ending only upon the death of one of the partners."

"There is also a life-bond, and a soul-bond. These are permanent bonds. A life bond joins the partners for their entire life, and when one partner dies, the other one will shortly thereafter join them in death. The soul-bond joins the partners for all eternity, beyond the grave. When one dies, the other one does not necessarily follow quickly. However, they will not find another partner on earth. And, in the afterlife, they will still be bonded."

"All of these bonds can be made between a wizard and witch, two wizards and a witch, or two witches and a wizard. All of the blood bonds require a sharing of blood, a bonding spell, and a ritual to be carefully performed, and completed by consummation. All of these bonds can be initiated anytime in the life of the partners, but must be completed within a year of all the partners becoming of magical age, or of initiation. And the consummation of all partners must happen within a 24-hour period of the rituals." She thus finished her explanation, which to some might seem like a thesis. Ron certainly would have thought so.

"Very thorough. I am impressed. And what else did you find?"

"There are several different types, each with their own rituals. Most family lines have their own rituals and spells, but all similar ones accomplish the same thing. And, between the partners, the wizard's family rituals must be completed. The witch's family rituals are additional strengthening bonds, and can be performed. And, each time the bonds are performed, the family magic is strengthened, and the bonds become stronger with each subsequent use."

She took a breath. "But, Severus, I don't see what any of this has to do with my scar. Bellatrix carved into me, and neither she nor I are a wizard. And, we didn't exchange blood. She just cut me."

"Are you sure you didn't exchange blood? Are you certain she didn't put her blood in you?" Severus asked her. This was going to be important.

"Oh." Awareness of what he was implying fazed into her consciousness. "But, she isn't a wizard. And, we certainly didn't perform a ritual together."

"My dear, there are several ways to perform the rituals and the bonds. If she put her blood in you, which is certainly likely, then it is something called a slave bond. Did you not read about that?" He pulled her out of the armchair she was sitting in and led her over to the sofa. The tears were going to start soon, and he was too old to keep squatting in front of her. Damn knees.

He sat down beside her, and just waited.

She looked at him guiltily, "I skipped over that part."

"Hummnph." He said, rolling his eyes. "If she put your blood in her, and her blood in you, then it is the beginning of something loosely translated as a "joining of three". It doesn't have to be only three, it can be any number, as long as at least one wizard is involved. And it can get rather complicated if too many witches or wizards are involved."

"So how do we know what she did? And, why would she put my blood in herself? Wouldn't a slave bond make more sense than a marriage bond?" Hermione's voice had risen in pitch. But, she was trying to stay calm. She needed to understand this. But, she did not like the idea that she was bonded to Bellatrix, even after she was dead.

"A slave bond would make a lot of sense if YOU were an ordinary witch, or even merely the sidekick of the Potter." Severus explained. "However, there are distinct advantages to both, and they have different effects. If she created a slave bond, she could complete the bond by herself. And, then she could control you, completely."

"But, if she intended to create a joining of three, the most powerful of the partners can combine their power with the power of the other two to increase the strength of spells, the distance they can be cast, all sorts of advantages to a dark wizard or a dark witch. And, two very powerful witches might be able to control the wizard. The magic is oriented towards favoring the wizard, from a power position. But, if the witches are powerful enough, and the wizard is not, then they can tip the scales to their favor. "

"That is why several partners are complicated?" Then, before he could answer, she had another thought. "So how do we figure out which one she did?" She now understood the benefit of Bellatrix being marriage-bonded to herself and another wizard.

"Partly, to answer the first. And as to the second question, that Is complicated. If she were here, we would know by the way she responded to your proximity. However, without that, we can only be certain that she put her blood in you."

"But, Severus, she is dead. We know that. And, she never got to complete that ritual. So, what is happening to me?" Her eyes were getting moist. She had thought the war was over.

"Hermione, can you honestly say you remember what she did or did not do?" Severus hated to take her back to that night, but they needed as much information as they could get. "I would like to examine those memories. We can do it in a pensieve, or we can do it by Legilimency. Which do you prefer?"

"Legilimency. I don't want that memory open for just anyone who finds it." She remembered several times where Harry had stumbled across someone's memories and watched them, without their permission.

She opened her eyes and mind to Severus, and he silently entered her mind. Slipping through a lot of memories, he finally found the one he was looking for. But, Hermione wasn't looking at Bellatrix the entire time. She had her eyes closed sometimes, and was looking off at nothing sometimes. He picked up on the words Bellatrix had spoken, and was pretty sure he had his answer. He withdrew, and Hermione started crying.

He just held her until it stopped, then laid her down on the sofa, covered her with a blanket, put a pillow under her head, gave her a Dreamless Sleep potion, and let her sleep. He left the door open between his sitting room and bedroom, and went to bed himself. They had a long day tomorrow, he was sure.

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The following morning, Hermione woke up, and went to her own quarters to shower and change. Severus had told her they were returning to France, and she wanted to be ready.

She showered, changed, and wandered back to Severus' quarters to see if he was ready for breakfast. He was, and had ordered some, along with tea and coffee. As they breakfasted, she asked when they were going to meet up with Harry, and what time they were supposed to go back to France.

"WE are not going. I am going, with Harry Potter and Draco." He looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Did you fail to comprehend our discussion last night?"

"No, I understood it. But, I don't understand why I am being affected. Bellatrix is dead. We know that." She folded her arms across her chest and stared at him. Pointedly. He had not answered that question last night, and now, she was going to insist.

"I don't know for certain. But, I have a few possibilities in mind." He answered. "However, until we know why for certain, you should not return there. We don't know what her reaction will be, and we don't know for certain how strong your reaction could be."

"Hermione, what I saw last night in your memories is that she completed everything except the binder portion. She didn't have someone to act as binder for the spell, so she completed everything she could. But her words indicate it is a slave spell. That is very powerful."

"But, she i D." Hermione screeched.

"Perhaps. Perhaps Molly only thought she died. " Severus let that thought swirl around her mind.

"What?"

Hermione's shoulders slumped, and she slouched into the armchair. Bellatrix still alive? Ugh. And herself blood-bonded to that insane maniac! "So, what do we do now?"

"We go to Chateaux Lestrange, and we find her." He looked at her. "And, I have some research I still need to do, in those volumes, so if you would be so kind as to retrieve them from your bag, I will get on with that. And, did you finish the research on the dark mark?"

"Yes. It can only be activated by Voldemort or the person summoning him. It can never be removed, and it cannot be put on someone without their consent." Hermione rattled this off. They already knew this. She pulled out the books they had brought, and restored them to the original size. "What time are Harry and Draco coming?"

"I haven't received word yet, so likely this afternoon."

"I am going to go see Ginny." Hermione left, floo'ing to 12 Grimmauld Place from her quarters. She hoped Dromeda and Teddy were there. She needed cheering up

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When she got to Grimmauld Place, Molly was there, and she and Ginny were talking of wedding and baby showers. That was certainly not going to cheer her up. Hermione had no future of either marriage or children in immediate sight. Her two best girl friends from school were married, to her two best male friends. And, Gabrielle and Ron were getting married right after Gabrielle graduated.

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Chateaux Lestrange, same time:

Altaira laughed, delightedly. Uncle Rebastian was taking her flying. She loved flying. She had the fastest broom made. She pranced around, donning her cloak and boots. She grabbed her broom, and flung herself outside.

Rebastian laughed too. He knew she wasn't his niece, but she didn't know that. His brother had been furious, and had wanted to kill Bellatrix. The Dark Lord had refused him permission to even harm her. But, Rebastian didn't care. This little girl was his path back to fame, fortune, and glory. And Power. He laughed again. He had kept her hidden, and was training her. And, when she became of age, he would blood bond with her. He was going to marry her! And she would be his. And, in his control!

And, it wasn't going to be long now. He thought about that. She was growing up too fast. Rebastian didn't know how Bellatrix had done that. It was puzzling. But, he had realized Bellatrix's plan. Bellatrix was going to kill Rodolphus, join with the Dark Lord, and form a joining of three with their own daughter. Sick bitch. He still didn't know how Bella and Voldemort had pulled off a pregnancy. But, it had worked out to his favor. This witch had amazing power, and she had the power of Voldemort and to create the dark mark, all rolled into one delightful package. And, she loved him, adored him. He had made sure of that.

He had been training her in the dark arts. He hadn't had time to train her completely; but he had hired some professors from Beauxbaton. She was growing so fast, and he didn't know how much time he had until she was completely grown. But, the moment she reached puberty, he was going to join with her.

He grinned as he walked out the door, and they flew off together.

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Hermione was sat there, listening with half an ear to Molly and Ginny. She chatted with Molly and Ginny for a bit, and then made an excuse to leave. She apparated to Diagon Alley, then didn't know what to do with herself. She really only had one thing on her mind.

She decided to do a bit of sleuthing herself. Any information she could find could only help. And she was going barking mad not knowing anything. She decided to apparate to Chateaux Lestrange, and landed in the same field her and Severus had been in.

She wished she had an invisibility cloak, but too late to think of borrowing that from Harry. She was here. She cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself, and started her approach to the chateaux grounds.

She slipped through the gates, and made it up to the door. She didn't set off any wards. She could feel them parting for her. They certainly hadn't been cast very well. She slipped into the chateaux, looking everywhere, trying to remember everything. Odd that she set off no wards, no alarms, nothing.

She had been through about half of this huge manor, and had seen a few muggles, some witches and wizards, a few with a dark mark. That was interesting. Two wizards with the mark were too young to have been in Wizarding Wa II. They looked to be teenagers. She guessed around 30 witches and wizards, roughly. All engaged in various activities, some practicing spells or magic. Who had put this ragtag group together?

Hermione suddenly felt her arm burning. Merlin, it felt like Bellatrix was carving it over and over. She dropped to her knees and bit her lip to keep from screaming out.