Sorry it's taken a while. I haven't been home for a while again, and I didn't have my laptop with me. Then when I did finally come home, I found out we don't have internet anymore. I cancelled my plan when my uncle brought one, but then he ended up cancelling his, and I've got to wait at least another month before I can go back to my old plan. I finally took my laptop to my cousin's, and now I'm trying to upload before I go back home.
Broken Promises
Avianna hugged her robe against herself. The wind was flying in every direction, turning the sky into a dangerous foe. Leaves flew around the grounds of Hogwarts in swirls of green, and there was a visible mist promising rain would soon arrive. Actually freezing to the point that even Adreana wore leggings underneath her school skirt, the two best friends were running back to the school. Lucius and Narcissa arrived the night before, and after an hour of shouting at Avianna, James, Lestrange, and Sirius for being stupid enough to go into the Chamber without telling anybody else or at least waiting to see if Lucius would be able to get the basilisk poison, the two Malfoy elders allowed James to be the one to destroy the diary. Lucius and Narcissa decided to stay at Hogwarts, not wanting to risk leaving in the middle of the night again – Hagrid almost caught them the last time. Avianna and Adreana were the ones to walk the two through the tunnels. Lucius and Narcissa could have walked to the Shrieking Shack by themselves, but the two girls weren't exactly looking forward to being back in the wind so soon.
"You just made it on time," Regulus whispered to Avianna as she sat next to him.
Adreana sat on Regulus's opposite side. "We ended up walking them all the way," she whispered to her cousin.
Regulus nodded his head to show that he understood. Reaching underneath the table he linked his fingers in with Avianna's, causing her to blush. Rivers chose that moment to enter. "A patronus – the only thing that could protect you against Dementors. A burst of light brought on by only your happiest memories – Expecto Patronum!" the class all gasped in awe at the silvery form of a wasp that flew around all of them. "Now, I don't expect all of you to be able to perform the spell. Not everybody can produce a full patronus; some Aurors included. Today you're all going to try it out, but it's alright if nothing happens."
Scorpius and Avianna both smirked at each other from across the classroom. The Patronus was a spell that Uncle Harry taught all of them when they first brought their wands from Ollivanders. It was this spell that saved his life, literally, and he wanted to make sure that all of the kids knew it as well. Uncle Dean even took to teaching the patronus spell in third year – feeling it was only right seeing as how that was when Remus taught Harry in order to protect himself amongst the Dementors. Teddy, James, Albus, Scorpius, Avianna, Dominique, and Lysander were the only ones who managed to get it right within their first month of practicing it after Uncle Harry taught them. Everybody else didn't get it down until Uncle Dean taught it to the entire class. Some of them still couldn't do it, but most of them could. It took Draco three years after marrying Hermione before he actually managed to perform a full patronus, and it made everybody tease him for years because it turned out to be a ferret. Everybody felt that it was a ferret more to prove he and Hermione were soul mates more than to mock him for his fourth year. Everybody knew that Ron being a terrier proved him to be Hermione's soul mate because of her otter spirit animal, and how terriers spend their entire life chasing otters and that otters were a part of the weasel family; but Draco's patronus taking form of another creature related to the weasel family seemed to only prove Draco and Hermione's forbidden love even more. Ginny and George were sometimes overheard wondering if Ron and Hermione would have gotten a divorce in time if Ron were still alive, and if Hermione still would have found her way to Draco – it only seemed inevitable.
"There are rare moments when a patronus will change its form, but that's only after a tragic accident," Rivers explained to the class. Avianna thought to Tonks's patronus changing into a giant wolf when she fell in love with Remus but he turned her away. "And some people," Rivers' hardened stare landed on Regulus, "Are never meant to have a patronus."
Scowling at the professor, Avianna leaned in to Regulus, "Dad has a patronus, and so does Snape. Even Grandpa Lucius has one. Don't listen to Rivers."
Seeing Regulus smirk at whatever Avianna just whispered to him, Rivers narrowed his eyes. "Miss Lange, how kind of you to volunteer first. Please step up in front of the class!" Avianna and Scorpius tried not to smirk. "Too bad Beauxbaton doesn't teach this spell until your seventh year, huh," the gloating in Rivers' voice annoyed over half of the class. Only William seemed to look forward to seeing Avianna embarrass herself.
Stepping in front of the class, Avianna looked up at the beaming professor. "What was the spell again, Professor?" she feigned ignorance.
"Expecto Patronum," he retorted in a bored voice. "Think up your happiest memory, and shout the incantation just like how I did earlier. And do not be ashamed, Miss Lange, if it doesn't work out during your first couple of tries."
"Okay," nodding her head, Avianna took her stance. Thinking back to her parents back home, and thinking of all of her cousins, Avianna started to smile. Looking across at her brother who traveled through three separate timelines with her, Avianna's smile widened. Seeing Lestrange, Mulciber, and Flint – three future Death Eaters that would now live to be old and happy, Avianna could feel her heart swelling. Thinking of her first friend when she entered this timeline, and remembering how her heart flutters every time Regulus looks at her, Avianna grinned and everybody could see the love in her face as she stood in front of all of them. "Expecto Patronum!" she shouted.
Rivers' jaw dropped while the Slytherins and Scorpius all cheered out in excitement. A silver wisp of smoke flowed out of Avianna's wand, forming into a larger figure until there was soon a large silver colored panther running throughout the classroom. The panther made its way to all of the Slytherins, brushing against them and filling them all up with glee. Reaching Scorpius the panther nuzzled its face in his chest then did the same with Adreana. When the panther reached a laughing Regulus, however, it licked his face with a silhouetted silver tongue.
"Did I do it right, Professor?" Avianna asked the stunned professor.
Hearing the class laughing at him, Rivers started to turn red. "Take your seat, Miss Lange…" he muttered.
One by one, Rivers called the students up. He made sure to avoid calling on Regulus and Scorpius to avoid further embarrassment. While watching Williams turning purple in the face while struggling with the spell, Avianna whispered to Regulus that it's popularly known that Death Eaters can't produce a patronus. Snape was the only Death Eater in history to be able to perform it, but in 2012 Draco changed that by performing one. Lucius then managed one two years after that. Avianna then reminded Regulus that everything's already been changed and set into motion – the future Death Eaters already chose their path and changed the outcome of the future; proving that they're no longer Death Eaters. Adreana was the only one in the class that was able to produce a small puff of smoke.
"I want you to all practice the spell," Rivers announced when the bell rang. "Black, Mabry, you're both going to perform the spell first thing for us on Friday morning."
"Alright, sir," Scorpius smirked with confidence.
"Miss Lange, I want to see you."
Rolling her eyes, Avianna sighed. Grabbing her bag she walked up to the professor's desk. "Yes, Professor Rivers?"
"She'll be right out, Mr. Black," Rivers told Regulus when he made no move to leave the classroom.
Regulus nodded his head, but remained in the same spot. "I know, Professor."
Seeing that Regulus wasn't going to leave, Rivers noticed that Scorpius and Adreana weren't moving either. He sighed, "Miss Lange, who taught you to perform a patronus?"
Cocking an eyebrow, Avianna wondered if it was worth continuing to feign ignorance. It was when she felt somebody trying to poke through her mental shields that Avianna decided it was. "You, sir," she lied.
"Do you mean to tell me that this was your first time performing that spell, and you managed to get it done perfectly on your first try?"
Avianna nodded her head, "Yes, sir. I'm just as stunned as you are."
Rivers gave her a hard stare. The determination in his face balanced out the confusion as to why he couldn't see into the young girl's mind. "Miss Lange, I'm going to have report this to the headmaster; it's unheard of that a sixteen year old can perform the patronus perfectly. He would like to know."
"Okay," Avianna nodded her head, smiling innocently. "May I be excused, sir?" when he nodded his head, Avianna turned around then loudly said, "Reg, Adreana, can you guys tell Professor Sprout I'm in the hospital wing? I have a dreadful headache."
Avianna was sitting in the hospital wing when Dumbledore found her. He was stunned to hear from Rivers that Avianna managed to perform a fully functioning patronus, and that she was able to control it to prance around the classroom on display. He already knew that she was extraordinarily gifted, but he didn't expect the extent of her knowledge to go that far. When he assured Rivers that he was going to pull the young witch out of Herbology so he could talk to her, it was with a sheepish admission that Rivers announced Avianna was in the hospital wing because of a headache.
"Professor Rivers said you had a headache."
Looking up at Dumbledore, Avianna nodded her head. "That usually happens when people use all of their strength trying to get into my mind. Could you kindly tell your professor that I don't appreciate him poking at my wards?"
Dumbledore looked taken back. "I assure you, Miss Lange, that the professors of Hogwarts would not try to read into a student's mind."
"Yes they will," Avianna frowned. "Ask Madam Pomfrey. She's been going on for the last twenty minutes about unprofessionalism. Professor Rivers didn't appreciate me not telling him who taught me the patronus spell, so he decided to pull it out of my mind. Of course though, sir, you understand the importance of him not learning the truth."
"Albus!" Madam Pomfrey entered the room at that precise moment. "You will do good to inform Charles that I do not appreciate him poking into the students' minds. We can only be grateful that Miss Lange is strong enough to protect her wards or she would now be in St. Mungos."
"I assure you, Poppy," Dumbledore sighed, shaking his head at hearing the news of what his own employee would do, "I will be talking to Charles about this."
"If you don't I will, Albus! I just had Severus Snape in here last week for the same reason!"
"I will speak to him about it tonight," Dumbledore nodded his head. "Now, Poppy, is Miss Lange excused to leave?"
Madam Pomfrey didn't look too happy about it, but she nodded her head. "She needs to eat, Albus."
"Miss Lange, you may go to the Great Hall for lunch right now, and I'll explain to Professor Sprout on why you missed her entire lesson. I would like to see you in my office once you feel better though."
Jumping out of the bed, Avianna grabbed her things. "Would you like me to gather my family, sir?"
"No, Miss Lange," Dumbledore had a sorrowful look on his face. "They will not need to be present. I'd like to speak only to you."
Bumping into her friends on her way to the Great Hall, Avianna grinned to herself when she saw they were all on their way to see her in the hospital wing. Regulus assured her that he explained to Sprout that she got the headache after talking to Rivers, and that Sprout tutted and shook her head at hearing that. Lowering her voice, Avianna explained to them what Madam Pomfrey said about Rivers trying to get into Snape's mind just the week before.
"Yeah," Snape nodded his head when Mulciber asked him about it. "We were learning spells about vampires, and I felt him trying to poke around my mind. Why?"
"Because he just tried the same thing with me after I embarrassed him by producing a patronus," said Avianna.
"If he's looking into our minds, he's probably been able to look into the minds of other students," Snape groaned. "Who knows how much he knows!"
"Luckily for us then, everybody that knows the truth is all extremely skilled in Occlumency," Nott smirked from next to Draco.
Draco nodded his head in agreement. "Aunt B has already taught me both Occlumency and Legilimency before telling me what was to be done."
"And Neville's always been good at it without even realizing that he's blocking his mind," Avianna sighed in relief. "At least he can't read any of us then."
Looking up at the professors' table, Lestrange saw the strange looks that Rivers was giving all of them. "But we should still be careful. He suspects something, and he most likely won't let us go until he finds out what it is."
"Oh well," Avianna shrugged her shoulders. "This weekend we're having our final meeting and then once that one's out of the way, the war will be fought and won. By the next weekend everyone will probably know the truth about us. He can find out with the rest of them."
"You really think we're going to be able to get it by this weekend?" Rosier asked.
Avianna nodded her head. "They're coming Friday night right? If they sleep in the room like they did last night, and we do the same, we'll be able to think up a plan by mid Saturday, and then Sunday we can act it out. By Monday we can tell Dumbledore everything, and then they'll get the surprise attack."
"You're a very optimistic person," chuckled Goyle.
"Damn straight," Avianna grinned and nodded her head.
"It looks like Dumbledore's waiting for you," Flint said looking up at the doors.
Turning around, Avianna sighed. "Yeah, he wants to talk to me about something."
"All of us?" Draco asked, making to stand up.
Shaking her head, Avianna stood up, "No, just me. I think it's about the patronus thing. He probably just wants to know more about it," yanking a chicken sandwich off of Regulus's plate, Avianna gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you guys later."
Sitting in Dumbledore's office, Avianna felt weird. She hated sitting in this bloody office… even if it was Dumbledore sitting in front of her instead of McGonagall. Proven to her thoughts, Dumbledore asked Avianna about her patronus. He asked her if he could see it, and he laughed in joy as the panther ran around the walls of the office. Avianna explained how Uncle Harry made sure they all knew the gist of it before leaving to Hogwarts and that Uncle Dean taught them the spell in their third year. It pleased Dumbledore to hear that the future could hold such a gleeful environment after such a gloomy past. It was weird now though because they finished talking about the patronuses. She made to leave for her next class, but Dumbledore assured her that she had been excused from her classes for the rest of the day.
An unnerving feeling took over her. Avianna had never known Dumbledore in her own time, and she trusted him only because Uncle Harry did. Then again, Dumbledore was also the one who led Uncle Harry into his own death – not knowing that he wouldn't die completely – it was when the fireplace started to roar to life that Avianna's eyes widened. Standing in front of her was Mad Eye Moody. Of course he wasn't completely mad yet though. He already had the well-earned nickname, but only because of his rotating magical eye. The shocking part was that Mad Eye had both of his legs. Growing up she always heard that he was a frightening looking man with his magical eye, a chunk of his nose missing, and one wooden leg. The chunk of his nose was only slightly there, and he had the magical eye, but he had two normal working legs.
"This is her, Albus?" a scratchy voice barked out.
Dumbledore nodded his head. "Yes, Alastor, this is her."
Mad Eye walked towards her, and Avianna slightly moved back. Mad Eye let out a barking laugh. "Good girl, CONSTANT VIGILANCE! You've heard about me, but you don't know me; it's always good to be cautious!"
Slowly nodding her head in confusion, Avianna couldn't believe she was meeting the very Auror who kills most of her new friends. It was this Auror who filled up most of Azkaban, and it was this crazy arse man who would inspire her uncles, aunts, mum, and dads. "It's an honor to meet you, sir!" Avianna finally managed to say.
"Ayy," Mad Eye nodded his head. "The honor is mine, girl! I've been hearing a lot about you; you've made quite an impression in this timeline. I understand that it's thanks to you we're all going to live."
Feeling the rumble of the choked up laughter in her throat, Avianna released a weird sound crossed between a laugh and a cough. "Uncle Harry would never believe me."
"We can talk about pleasantries later though," facing Dumbledore, Mad Eye sat down in the chair next to the stunned girl. "Did you explain it to her yet, Albus?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "I figured I would leave that to you, Alastor."
Nodding his head in a jerky response, Mad Eye turned the top half of his body to stare up at Avianna. "As you know, we found two of the Horcruxes, but we've been having quite a few problems getting to the final three."
Making sure she kept her mental wards intact, Avianna kept a straight face so they wouldn't suspect that two of the three Horcruxes were already destroyed, and they only had one left to get to. "Yeah, Kingsley told us about it a couple of weeks ago."
"Now, I understand that you're the risk taker?"
"Err… yeah?"
"And you excel in Defense spells that not even half of the Aurors know?"
"That's only because I'm from 2021 though," Avianna pointed out. "Most of what I know was taught to Uncle Harry by you, Dumbledore, the Order, and his own instinct. And Grandpa Lucius made sure to teach me some of what the Death Eaters know."
"And you can perform a patronus… may I see it?" barking out in a strangled laugh as the panther ran around the office for the second time that day, Mad Eye said, "I agree with you Albus, she'll be perfect."
"Perfect?" Avianna was confused. "Perfect for what?"
"You and I are going into that cave today, girl," Mad Eye barked out. "We're destroying that Horcrux today."
Avianna's jaw dropped. This definitely wasn't part of their plan. "What about the other two?"
"We figure that if we can get to this one first we'll have a few days to organize the rest, but the Prewett twins will raid Malfoy manor while Kingsely and I seize the Lestrange vault."
Avianna's jaw was still dropped. "Today? I can't do it today."
"But you're willing to do it?" Avianna nodded her head, and Mad Eye laughed again. "You'll make a fine Auror, girl! I can see myself taking you under my wing.
Not even bothering to notice the huge compliment, Avianna turned to stare at Dumbledore. "Professor, if you give me until Friday I can work out a complete plan to get to the locket. Let me brew a couple of potions to counteract the poison so that way Mad Eye won't have to fight off the inferi to get me out of there. I'll-"
"No!" Mad Eye shook his head. "You misunderstand. I'll be the one who drinks the poison. You're going to take the locket and Kingsley will be waiting for you outside of the cave."
"But that's mental. If I leave you, you'll be killed," the tears welled up in her eyes thinking of Regulus's death. "I won't leave you in there. I'm younger so the poison won't kill me as quickly, and you're stronger so you can carry me into the boat and row us both out of there."
Mad Eye nodded his head approvingly. "You think like an Auror, but you have feelings that could get you killed. Sometimes you must make choices that you won't like. You can't save everybody."
"Watch me!" standing up, Avianna grabbed her things and left the office without being excused.
This wasn't good! She had until Friday to grab the locket before Mad Eye got himself killed. She didn't come here just to have Mad Eye get killed before his original timeline. Going into the Room of Requirements so she could think for a while, Avianna was shocked to see Remus in there. He was by himself and working on what looked like Charms homework. He looked up to greet her but saw her face and jumped up instead. When he asked what was wrong, Avianna shook her head. She looked distraught, yanking at the ends of her hair and sitting down on a couch. Remus looked nervous. It wasn't until he said he was going to call Regulus that Avianna finally snapped out of her stupor.
"We're screwed!" she told him. "Dumbledore called me to his office so I could meet with Mad Eye."
Sitting on the couch next to Avianna, Remus frowned. "Why would he want you to meet with Mad Eye?"
"They somewhat ambushed me into going into the cave today with Mad Eye."
Remus's eyes widened. "What?"
"Yeah. I guess I made a name for myself amongst the Aurors or something. He wanted me to go with him today then he would drink the poison and get dragged down into the lake by the inferi. He wanted me to just leave him. I said give me until Friday to get ready, but I won't do it, Remus. I can't let him just get dragged down like that. I can't let him get killed in that way. I can't do it – I can't let Regulus die again in that cave!"
Catching the hysterical way that Avianna muttered Regulus's name in her rant, Remus saw the tears in the girl's eyes and he sighed. Pulling the crying and hysterical girl into his arms, Remus shook his head. "Don't worry, Avianna, we'll tell the others and they'll be able to-"
"No," Avianna frantically shook her head against Remus's chest. Pulling away from him, she wiped away her tears. "We can't tell them, Remus, we can't. I'll figure something out."
Remus stared around the room, trying to think of what to do. "We'll figure something out," he corrected her.
"It's impossible for more than two people to go into that bloody cave…" Avianna muttered loudly. "The boat will sink with the weight of more than two people, and Uncle Harry only managed to get dragged out of the lake when Dumbledore used up the last of his strength to blast the inferi away. Uncle Harry had to literally carry Dumbledore in and out of the boat…" Remus watched as Avianna bit her nails while muttering to herself. He tried to remember everything that Avianna told them about the cave. "And people can't apparate in or out, right?" Avianna shook her head, and Remus frowned. "Then how was Kreacher able to get out of it when Voldemort left him to die in the lake?"
"Because Regulus ordered him to return home once Voldemort was done with him," Avianna rolled her eyes; having explained this hundreds of time. "A house-elf's magic is different from a witch or wizards. Nothing can stop them if their master orders them to do something."
Remus was still frowning. "So even though there's a no-apparating spell on the cave, Kreacher was still able to return home because Regulus ordered him to?"
"Yeah, I said that already. Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to figure something out that can actually help us out. So unless you know of a way to get us in and out without anybody drowning, I'd appreciate it if you – OH! Remus, you're a bloody genius!"
James and Sirius were grinning at the idea of their best friend being the one to solve the mystery. Draco, Scorpius, and Neville were all pissed with Dumbledore for offering up Avianna to go alone to the cave with Mad Eye – he was mad after all! Alice and Amelia looked worried at the plan, and Lily watched the frustration on Regulus's face. The Slytherins all remained silent while Remus and Avianna explained it to them. It sounded good when they said it, and if it worked then all of the Horcruxes would be destroyed and the Aurors could have Voldemort dead and killed by this weekend.
"You two are insane!" Amelia sighed.
Rosier nodded his head in agreement with the Ravenclaw. "But it's the only thing that works."
"And why can't you just allow Mad Eye to do this plan?" questioned Scorpius.
"Because once they destroy this Horcrux they're going to do a raid to get to the other two. They told me it'd be a couple of days, but I don't trust him. I think they're just avoiding telling me they're going to do a raid as soon as we destroy the locket."
"Once they do a raid the battle will start," Lily gasped. "Voldemort will know what they're doing and he's going to attack them right then."
James was the one who caught the meaning behind Avianna's worry though. "They'll kill Lucius and Narcissa," he whispered. When the room fell silent and everybody turned to look at him, James stood up. "Regulus, owl them now, tell them to come here and stay here for the next couple of days. The only reason they won't tell Avianna when they're really going to do the raid is if they're planning on just killing the Death Eaters in the raid. They know that Avianna would fight against it! Lily, take my cloak, hide underneath it when you go to the Whomping Willow. Go and meet the Malfoys."
Regulus and Lily instantly ran out of the room without any hesitation. "Don't worry, Draco," Neville clapped a pale Draco on his shoulder, "We won't let them kill Lucius and Narcissa."
Adreana nodded in agreement with Neville. Wrapping her arms around her stunned boyfriend, Adreana's eyes met Avianna's. "So we destroy the Horcrux then what?"
Avianna saw that everybody was looking at her for an answer. She had unknowingly fallen into the role of leader. "Then we all go to Dumbledore!"
"And we tell him that we all know the truth? What will that do?" asked Nott.
"That proves to him that you guys are all to be trusted. We show him the destroyed Horcruxes, but we keep Lucius and Narcissa hidden in here. We make sure that we set the room up so that not even Dumbledore can get inside of here. We protect it so that no spells can break through the walls, and we demand to see the four Aurors who know the truth."
Sirius looked up from where he sat. "Once we alert the Aurors to everything the battle will begin."
"And we'll all be in this room when it does," Scorpius said. "None of us are fighting against Voldemort, and we're not letting Lucius and Narcissa out of our sight until Voldemort is killed and the other Death Eaters are all killed or in Azkaban."
Snape blanched. "They're going to want Regulus and Lucius because they bare the dark mark."
"So we throw Pettigrew at them, and create a second war if we have to!" James hissed out. "Once we destroy the Horcrux our main mission will be protecting the Malfoys and Regulus."
The door opened, and Regulus returned. He was panting. "Mad Eye saw me delivering the owl. I think he used his eye to read what it said."
"We have to go to the cave tonight then!" exclaimed Lestrange.
"Everybody run to your rooms and change comfortably!" Neville jumped up. "Shrink your entire trunk and bring it with you if you have to. If you have food or drinks in your room being that with you! As of this moment we trust no one other than us – not even Dumbledore! We consider everybody an enemy and we prepare for war!"
Confused, Regulus watched as everybody jumped up. "What did I miss?"
"We think they're going to kill or arrest everybody with the dark mark," Remus announced, giving Regulus's shoulder a gentle squeeze, "Including you and Lucius. As of this moment protecting you guys is our only concern."
Still confused, Regulus saw Adreana and Avianna nodding their heads at each other. Walking over to them as everybody ran past him to get out the room, he heard Lestrange shout that he would grab his things. "I'm really confused," he told his cousin and girlfriend.
"We don't think the Aurors are going to let you and Lucius go until we manage to explain everything," Adreana informed him. Looking up at James, she shouted, "Potter, meet me outside your common room. I'm going to grab mine and Avianna's things then I'm going to run to Gryffindor and grab Lily's things since she's out!"
Nodding his head in appreciation, James shouted at Sirius, "Padfoot, I'll grab yours. Watch the map while we're gone!"
Avianna, Scorpius, Sirius, and Regulus were the only four who remained in the room after everybody else ran out. Avianna and Scorpius were holding onto each other's hands while the Black siblings sat across from them. Sirius and Regulus weren't holding each other, but they were sitting so that their legs were touching. They waited for everybody else to return. Once this room got full they would jump into action. Once they jumped into action the war would start…
"I was crying because Astoria went out to meet with her friends and I couldn't go with her," Avianna looked up at Scorpius in confusion. "Grandmum Cissy and Grandpa Lucius were trying to get me to settle down. It was late at night and I should have been sleeping. We heard the cracking sound letting us know that somebody came home and I ran out thinking it was Astoria. I thought she came back home for me, but when we got there I saw Dad. He was holding a girl my age. She had been crying, but unlike me her tears were filled with silence. I remember thinking she was such a girl for wearing the pink footie pajamas, and I wanted to laugh at her hair. There was red hair sticking up everywhere. Merlin, there was so much red hair sticking up everywhere," Scorpius chuckled, shaking his head, "Then the girl looked down at me and I saw the darkest brown eyes I had ever seen – it looked like a chocolate bar that my friend Albus left out in the rain one morning. I made a promise to myself in that moment. I promised that I would never let you cry that much anymore."
Resting her head on Scorpius's shoulder, Avianna smiled. "I remember Mum just put me down to sleep then Uncle Harry came over. Mum started screaming and crying and she was hitting Uncle Harry. I saw that Uncle Harry was crying too. I went into Mum and Ron's room to wake him up so he could make Mum smile like he always did, but he wasn't in there. I went into my room, the den, the loo; everywhere. I walked out and told Mum and Uncle Harry that I couldn't find Daddy anywhere. That was when Uncle Harry started to hit the walls. I cried because I thought I made him mad. And that was when I saw a blonde man. He walked right into the house and didn't say anything to Mum or Uncle Harry. I followed him up the stairs and I watched him as he threw my clothes into the bag that I would always take to Grandmum Molly's house. He looked up and saw the stuffed ferret doll on my bed. He gave some sort of sad laugh when he saw it then he grabbed it. He turned around, picked me up, and we walked right out of the house. Mum and Uncle Harry didn't even see us leave."
"You've always been the brave one. You were the one always leading us into stupid things, but you always made sure that none of us got hurt. You were the one always getting poisoned, stung, trapped, or falling off of brooms, but you made sure that none of us were lying in the hospital wing next to you," a soft chuckle escaped Scorpius, "But I've never seen you cry because of it. That time that we were all playing at the Burrow, you were the only one who saw the giant werewolf creeping towards Victoire. You were six years old and she was eleven, but you jumped right in front of her without even crying for help. When the werewolf pounced on you in place of Vic you started punching at it and shouted for Vic to run away. I remember everybody wanting to kill Teddy for playing that prank on Vic, and Uncle Bill took to you St. Mungos because when Teddy landed on you, you broke your leg, but not once did you cry. You only asked if Vic was alright. You weren't even scared when you thought it was a real werewolf – none of us knew it was Teddy until he turned back into himself."
Avianna chuckled and rolled her eyes as she thought back to that day. "Vic was my cousin; I didn't want to see her get hurt!"
"You run to Dad and Grandpa Lucius if someone picks on you or won't give you your way, but when it came to actual important things you always hid your emotions from us. You were constantly getting into fights at school because people would call me a future Death Eater, and you hexed that one girl when she made Lily cry. You acted like the strongest person in the world, and you just refused to cry if you got hurt. But then you cried as if the world was ending when you broke up with Krum, and I realized you were still the same three year old girl I promised to protect. You had feelings and emotions, but you hid it so well that we all forgot they existed. You cried so much that morning when we fought!"
"Because my own brother lifted his wand to me," Avianna whispered. Grabbing Scorpius's hand she started to play with his fingers. "It hurt when you started to agree with the rumors about me, and it hurt when you brought up Ron and Astoria, but nothing's hurt as bad as when you flew me across the kitchen…"
"Until now," Scorpius sighed. "You've cried more in the weeks that we've been here than you ever did in our sixteen years of growing up in our own timeline. And it's all because of one reason. You try to hold so much inside of yourself, but whenever there's a chance of Regulus getting hurt you lose all of your control. I see it in the way you look at him, Avi. You look at him the way that Aunt Ginny looks at Uncle Harry," looking across at where Regulus was still staring at Avianna, Scorpius chuckled to himself, "And he looks at you the way that Dad looks at Mum. You did something here, Avi, we all did. This is his redemption, and I'm starting to see that this is the time you were meant for! Make sure you come back from that cave, but not for me; and not for the sake of Uncle Harry – come back from that cave for Regulus!"
Grinning, Avianna nodded her head. Kissing her brother's cheek, she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. "You really are the best brother!"
"And you really are the most frustrating sister," he chuckled.
The four all jumped up at once when the doors flew open. Scorpius and Avianna looked in confusion when they saw the Malfoys run in behind Lily. They had a brown haired guy with them. "Frank Longbottom?" Avianna questioned with a frown.
"Lucius owled me once he got Regulus's letter," Frank nodded his head. "Where's Alice and Neville?"
Sirius and Scorpius started to explain everything that happened once Lily and Regulus left. Avianna sat back down on the couch and Regulus moved to sit next to her. The two of them sat in silence, holding each other's hands and just listening to the others talk. There was a chance that everything went wrong and people were still killed for nothing. It was possible that Scorpius and Avianna were taken from the happiness of their family and friends to be thrust into a world that they attempted to change for nothing. It could be that Dumbledore betrayed them the way that he once betrayed Uncle Harry. Avianna tried to hide her fear but she knew that Scorpius could sense it – he always could…
"Tabitha told me that Dumbledore was looking for you," Adreana announced, entering the room. Everybody was behind her. "Lily, I went into your room and grabbed all of your things."
"Thanks!" Lily grinned, taking the shrunken trunk from her friend. Before the timeline jumpers arrived they'd never even spoken before.
"Frank!" Alice gasped in shock. "What are you doing here?"
Pulling his fiancée into his arms, Frank smiled and kissed her lips. "Lucius owled me when Regulus wrote to him. I'm going to help to protect them as well."
"Where's my trunk, Adreana?" Avianna asked, standing up.
Placing the trunk on the ground then using her own wand to enlarge it, Adreana pointed at it, "Right there."
Chuckling, Avianna opened it up. "Thanks. Okay, so everybody knows the plan right?"
Draco nodded his head. "We don't like it, but we know it."
"Sev, were you able to get the antidotes ready?"
Snape shook his head. "There wasn't enough time… if we did this tomorrow then yeah, but not in only mere minutes."
"It's fine," Avianna sighed. "It complicates things, but it's fine; we'll manage."
Remus smirked. "Oh thee of little faith. You don't seem to understand what you've created when you brought the Marauders and Snape together as friends…" seeing Avianna's confusion, Remus pulled vials filled with potions out of his pockets.
"I can't brew the potions in time, but I can point out which ones to steal," Snape smirked.
Avianna's jaw dropped. "Oh my Merlin!"
"It's like he's the new fourth Marauder…" Scorpius muttered in shock.
Neville and Draco also seemed to be stunned. "A smirking Snape is never a good thing. But a smirking Snape that's friends with the Marauders…"
"Hurry up and change your clothes, Avianna! Pettigrew's not on the map anymore, and Dumbledore's headed up here."
"Start setting up the room to stop him from entering!" Avianna shouted.
Avianna didn't seem to care that she was surrounded by seventeen males. Wriggling out of her skirt and leggings, Avianna stood there in her black laced knickers. Frank, Lucius, and Neville didn't pay it any bother, but Scorpius, Draco, and Regulus started protesting loudly. After quickly slipping on a pair of black jean shorts, Avianna took off her shirt. She still didn't seem to realize what she was doing. All of her male friends had the decency to look away with blushing cheeks, while the girls all laughed.
"Call Dobby!" Avianna shouted to her future grandparents. Standing in only her jean shorts and a black colored bra, Avianna struggled with opening her t-shirt. They all agreed to not go to the cave in their uniforms – there was always the chance that a muggle would see them… or somebody from the Ministry of Magic.
Growling, Regulus pulled a plain white t-shirt out of his own trunk. Walking up to his girlfriend, he tore her shirt out of her hands and shoved his shirt over her head. "Just put that on!"
"Are you sure you want to use Dobby?" Neville nervously asked. "It seems kind of ironic doesn't it?"
"He's the only house-elf I trust at the moment," Avianna announced, pulling her arms through the shirt. "Uncle Harry and Mum were always talking fondly of him."
"Yeah, but he doesn't exactly like the Malfoys in any timeline… and he doesn't know of the kind Harry Potter yet," Scorpius reminded her.
Looking at Lucius, Regulus shook his head. "We'll use Kreacher."
"Reg-"
"No," Regulus shook his head, "He'll listen to me, he knows where to go, and I trust him."
"He only listens to Reg," Sirius nodded his head.
"But you die when you-"
"But I'm not the one going," Regulus reminded her. "You are. And if you're going you're taking Kreacher with you – Kreacher!"
The ugly house-elf popped up in the room. He looked cleaner than Draco remembered from his timeline, and less crazy. Avianna and Scorpius seemed to be thinking the same thing – Kreacher hasn't gone insane yet because his favorite master hasn't yet died under his watch. Kreacher stared around the room in shock. His large eyes landed on Regulus, "Is Master Regulus alright? Kreacher heard the Dark Lord ask Mistress for Master Regulus."
Everybody heard the gasp leave Avianna. Scorpius nodded his head at his sister. "Remember, Avianna Rose!"
Looking across at her brother, Avianna saw the pride in Scorpius's eyes. Nodding her head in turn, she turned to the others, "Remember, this is war. We weren't planning on fighting Voldemort, but I won't let him take Regulus! This is what Scorpius, Neville, Draco, and I came here for – it's for this reason that we were brought to all of you. You all chose what side you were going to fight for, and Voldemort somehow has gotten word of something happening! Regulus and Lucius are the main two targets by the Ministry, but you are ALL targets for Voldemort – stay on alert and don't leave this room until we return! Ignore whoever knocks on the wall for entrance and trust nobody!"
"Kreacher," Regulus knelt down to be leveled with the confused house-elf, "Do you remember where the Dark Lord took you, to that cave?" Kreacher nodded his head. "I need you to take a few people back there. You are going to take Avianna, Sirius, Severus, and Rabastan with you to the cave. You're going to wait at the base of the cave until Avianna and Sirius row to the little island inside of it. When Sirius calls you, you're to take Severus and Rabastan into the cave by using your magic. Do you understand me so far?" Kreacher couldn't apparate them directly to the poison filled basin because they didn't want to chance alerting Voldemort's presence to them until after the final Horcrux could be destroyed.
Kreacher nodded his head. His hands were wringing the filthy white pillowcase he was using, "Master Regulus wants Kreacher to take Master's friends and traitor brother to the hidden cave then Master Regulus wants Kreacher to take orders from Master's traitor brother."
"You are not to call Sirius a traitor!" Regulus barked out in an annoyed tone. "Now Kreacher, listen very carefully to me – one of them will drink the poison to grab the locket-"
Kreacher's eyes widened, "Kreacher will drink the poison. Kreacher will not let Master's friends and not-traitor brother get hurt!"
"No, Kreacher!" Sirius shook his head. "We need you to be one hundred percent healthy in order to apparate all of us out of there once we grab the locket."
"Master?"
Regulus nodded his head. "Once the locket is grabbed, Kreacher, you need to bring every single one of them back with you. Forget the boat… bring the locket, Avianna, Sirius, Severus, and Rabastan back here to this room – to me! No matter what happens, you bring them back to me!"
Kreacher nodded his head. He looked at the four that he was meant to take with him. "Kreacher will not let Master Regulus down!"
"And Kreacher…" when Kreacher looked up at him, Regulus sighed. "Protect Avianna – make sure she doesn't get hurt. She tends to act recklessly and without thinking first."
Kreacher nodded his head. Reaching his hand out he tightly gripped Avianna's wrist, "Protect Master's Avianna!"
The last thing that the room saw was the horrified expression in Avianna's face at being called Regulus's Avianna. Seeing the empty spot that the five just left, Regulus and Scorpius both nodded their heads at each other. Both of their siblings just left to grab the last Horcrux. Hearing somebody knocking on the wall – everybody tightened their grips on their wands. Until Avianna returned with the others everybody else was an enemy – even the headmaster of Hogwarts!
Appearing half submerged in icy water, Avianna started to shiver with the cold. Pointing up to the jagged edged cliffs, Avianna looked up at the sky. "The sun's about to set," she announced, "Let's hurry up and get inside the cave before it gets too dark for us to see."
"Kreacher!" Sirius barked out, trying to remain calm. After all it's this bloody house-elf that gets him killed just because of some hurt feelings. "Why couldn't you take us closer to the cave?"
"No!" Avianna shouted when she saw Kreacher get ready to snap his fingers. "Voldemort would sense the presence of powerful magic before it enters the cave. Once Kreacher apparates Rab and Sev into the cave, Voldemort will be alerted of the magic, and he'll know that something's wrong. That's why I didn't want to use a house-elf to begin with!"
"This is bloody cold…" muttered Lestrange. "Eh, Avianna, do you think Regulus would have forced you into a white t-shirt if he knew it would get wet?"
Looking down at her chest, Avianna could see her bra through it. The shirt clung tightly to her skin, showing everything it was meant to be concealing. "Twit!" she sneered at Lestrange. "Kreacher, do you know how to swim?"
"Misses Avianna is concerned for Kreacher?"
Seeing Kreacher getting ready to start bashing his head against one of the boulders, Avianna stuck her hands out. "Kreacher, Kreacher, stop – if you hurt yourself I'll become hurt and then you'll fail Regulus's order."
Wiping his face with the corner of his soaked and filthy pillowcase, Kreacher nodded his head. "Misses Avianna is kind to worry about her Master Regulus. Kreacher will not let Master Regulus down. Kreacher knows how to swim."
Rolling his eyes at the house-elf's theatrics, Sirius shouted out, "Kreacher, swim up to the cave already and we'll meet you there!"
Kreacher bared his teeth at Sirius. He hated him even if Master Regulus decided to be kind to him. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to keep his Avianna from harm. Kreacher listens to Master Regulus, not Master's not-traitor brother. Kreacher will swim next to Master Regulus's Misses Avianna!"
"Then can we start swimming already?" Snape's teeth were chattering were from the cold, "Before Misses Avianna dies from the cold."
Nodding her head in agreement, Avianna pointed to the dark slit in the rocks. "We swim to there. I'll meet you guys on the other side."
Slightly creeped out by how close Kreacher swam next to her, Avianna saw that Sirius was sandwiching her in on the other side while Snape and Lestrange swam closely behind them. They were all shocked by how well Kreacher seemed to be with staying close to Avianna. House-elves could sense your blood type just by your scent alone, and Mrs. Black taught Kreacher to attack anyone with muggle blood in them. The true reason that Avianna didn't want Kreacher to be the house-elf to bring them to the cave was because she feared he would try to kill her by orders of his mistress other than listen to Regulus. The Kreacher from her time always spoke highly of Regulus, but he seemed like he listened to the poison from Mrs. Black more. Maybe it really all did depend on how you treated your house-elf – the Kreacher in her time was practically in love with her mum after getting used to muggle-borns and muggles in general. Shivering while swimming towards the cave, Avianna silently thanked Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill for taking them to Shell Cottage every summer so they could all swim in the ocean in front of their home.
Lighting her wand as she entered the dark tunnel, Avianna felt the shirt billowing around her and clinging to her at the same time. Her jean shorts were heavy with water and scratching at the inside of her thighs at the same time. The water kept getting into her face and mouth, making her gag on the taste of salt and seaweed. Hearing Lestrange complain about the slime on the wall touching him, Avianna looked over at Sirius. He looked over at her at the same time and they both smiled at each other. They've come a long way since first meeting each other and Sirius continued to still flirt with her just to annoy his brother, but he understood her choice to be with the younger Black brother and he respected her decision. It's only been a few days since knowing the truth of why Avianna couldn't ever see him as anything more than an uncle figure, and it only made Sirius more determined to make sure that Avianna and Regulus found happiness. It was the least he could do for her after all that she did for him.
"This is the entrance?" Snape asked as he pulled himself out of the water behind everyone else.
Wringing the water out of her shirt, Avianna nodded her head. "Give me a minute to find it," she muttered to the watchful eyes, "Uncle Harry said that Dumbledore sort of ran his hands over the walls while muttering some sort of strange spell – Kreacher, do you remember where on the wall Voldemort wrote the runes?"
Nodding his head, Kreacher approached the stoned cave wall. "Excuse Kreacher, Master's not-traitor brother," pushing his way through Sirius, Kreacher stood in front a blank spot on the wall. "It is right here Misses Avianna."
"Thank you Kreacher."
Glowering at Kreacher, Sirius rubbed his hands together to try and get warm. "The half-blood gets 'Misses' and his own owner gets 'Master's not-traitor brother,' bleeding house-elves…"
"Give me a couple of seconds, guys," Avianna announced, not hearing Sirius's rambling. Pointing her wand at the spot that Kreacher pointed out to her, Avianna concentrated on revealing the entranceway that would take them onto the lake, and then to the tiny little island with the basin.
Lestrange jumped back. "Blimey!"
"That's it?" Sirius questioned in confusion.
Staring up at the arched outline, Avianna shook her head. "This is the entrance, but it's concealed. Rab, do you have the dagger I asked you to bring?"
Nodding his head, Lestrange pulled a long silver dagger out from his pocket. "What is that for?" asked Snape.
"Blood sacrifice," Avianna explained.
Kreacher immediately slapped the dagger out of Avianna's hand. "Misses Avianna almost hurt herself…" he growled at her. "Kreacher promised Master Regulus that Kreacher would not let Misses Avianna get hurt! Misses Avianna would have gotten herself killed."
"It's just a little cut, Kreacher," Avianna assured him. When she tried to pick the knife off the slimy stone floor, Kreacher kicked it out of her reach. At least he remembered not to use magic. "Kreacher, I cut myself deeper when shaving."
Kreacher shook his head. Picking the knife up, Kreacher thrust it into Sirius's hand. "Kreacher was here when the Dark Lord created this place. Dark Lord hates blood that is not pure. Only pure blood can get inside the cave. Any muggles that come here will be killed! Misses Avianna almost got herself killed."
Avianna's jaw dropped. "Well that explains why Dumbledore didn't let Uncle Harry cut himself. He knew that the blood had to be pure."
"What do I do?" Sirius asked. When everybody looked at him they could see that the palm of his hand was already bleeding.
Shaking her head, Avianna pointed to the arch. "Press the blood to it."
The blood began to sputter then there was a flashing light until it all soon faded. Taking in a deep breath, Avianna made to step inside first but Lestrange held her back. It was quite chivalrous how Lestrange walked in first with Sirius right behind him. Avianna followed Sirius, with Snape and Kreacher following after her. The four all used their wands to light up their path, while Sirius healed his hand. They used simple spells for lighted wand tips and to heal a cut, but neither of them thought to use a drying spell or a warming spell – the four teens were all still shivering from the icy water and the freezing chill that haunted the air. Avianna folded her arms over her chest so she could try to keep herself warm and cover her chest at the same time. She wore a bra, but the bra clung to her as well; showing the erect outlines of her nipples while the top half of her breasts popped out and could be seen visibly through her shirt.
"Make sure that none of you touch the water," Avianna announced when she saw they were standing on the edge of a giant black lake. "A simple human touch will awaken the inferi."
Looking over the edge, Snape shuddered. "The inferi are in there?"
Avianna nodded her head. "Look – there it is," pointing at the glowing green light that emanated from the tiny little island in the middle of the lake, Avianna motioned for everybody to step back. "This is it; stand back against the wall for now."
Sirius, Lestrange, and Snape started to argue but the stern gaze Avianna gave to them had them all cowering against the wall. Kreacher, however, held on to Avianna's waist. "Kreacher will help Misses Avianna."
Nodding her head in turn, Avianna thanked the house-elf. Feeling around in the air, she sighed with relief, "I found it."
"Found out?" Sirius asked from where he stood against the slimy wall.
"The boat," she grinned. "Kreacher, are you ready?" when the house-elf nodded his head, Avianna walked until her feet were at the very edge of the cliff. If a gust of wind were to come she would fall in. Clutching at the hardened material in her hands, Avianna frowned. "Damn, I'll have to use my wand. Okay, watch out Kreacher, we won't be able to pull it into sight. I need space."
Kreacher moved back as requested, but he stayed close enough to grab onto Avianna in case anything happened. The three others remained silent while they watched Avianna clutch onto something that was invisible. With her wand, Avianna tapped her hand. A thick coppery green chain immediately appeared out of thin air. It seemed to be leading from Avianna's hand into the lake. With another tap of her wand, the chain started to coil through the clenched hand like a snake. As it landed on the ground, there was a loud clinking sound throughout the cave. The black water of the lake began to emerge until soon there was green boat set in front of them.
Stepping forward, Sirius didn't look too pleased at the sight in front of him. "That doesn't look like it'll be able to fit both of us."
"Dumbledore and Uncle Harry both fit in it," Avianna rolled her eyes. "Uncle Harry said that Voldemort made it so only one person could ride in it, but that he didn't count underage people as actual people. This boat will only carry a source of powerful magic, so we need each other to balance it out. We're the two most powerful ones in our own years, and I'm underage so the boat will only sense you, but it'll sense both of our powers."
Sirius stared at her in shock. "That's why you and Moony insisted that it had to be you and me who came, and why it couldn't have been Prongs."
"Exactly."
Staring down at the little boat, Sirius sighed. "Well, ladies first."
"How sweet," Avianna retorted. Holding onto Sirius's shoulders while she carefully climbed into the tiny boat, Avianna reminded Sirius to not touch the water at all. Holding her hand out to help Sirius get in, Avianna hugged her knees to her chest, thankful that her knees would at least protect her chest for now. Her skin was damp and freezing, but her hair, jeans, and shirt were still dripping with the cold water. Sirius looked worst. "Okay," Avianna looked up at Kreacher, Snape, and Lestrange. "Come only when we call you, Kreacher."
Kreacher nodded his head in response. "Kreacher will break Kreacher's order and use magic to apparate if Misses Avianna gets injured before Kreacher is called."
Smiling up at the odd little creepy thing, Avianna nodded her head. "As long as we don't touch the water, we'll be fine."
Avianna reached over Sirius then pulled the chain out of the boat. "Whoa…" Sirius looked around in fright. "What's pulling us?"
"Uncle Harry said it was an invisible rope, so we'll go with that for now."
Sirius's eyebrow twitched. "But you don't think so?"
"No."
"What do you think it is?"
"The inferi."
"Oh…" Sirius looked across the lake, and saw that they were a far distance from their friends, but nowhere near the basin yet. Looking back at Avianna, Sirius could see the way she was shivering. The look in her eyes though proved to him that it wasn't from the cold. Looking back into the lake, he too shuddered as they floated above hundreds of dead bodies. "Thank you…"
Snapping her head up, Avianna saw Sirius staring at her. "For what?"
"For preventing this," he waved his hand over the lake. "This is my brother's tomb in the three separate timelines that we know of," Avianna shuddered again, and Sirius saw the shining tell of tears surfaced in the dark brown eyes. "I died in those three timelines never knowing where my brother's body laid, and if you hadn't arrived when you did the same thing would have happened in only three months."
Shaking her head, Avianna rested her chin on her knees but continued to stare across at the young boy that she grew up knowing only from a portrait. "Yeah, well, I did."
"You love him," Avianna only blinked across at him, and Sirius chuckled. "That's okay. I like you with him. I've never seen him smile so much before, or become so determined to do something. And I see the way your brother watches the two of you as well."
Avianna nodded her head. "Scorpius thinks that Regulus brings out a better side of me. He seems to believe that I was originally meant to be in this timeline – that it was fate that brought me here."
Chuckling, Sirius nodded his head. "I would have to agree with your brother. It seems to only make sense with how quickly things have progressed. You've only known each other for five weeks, and yet you're both acting as if you've been in love with each other your entire lives. Were you fascinated by him in your timeline?"
"Honestly," Avianna blushed, "Rosier was my childhood crush. I only knew of Regulus by what you or Kreacher would tell me. I liked hearing about him, but you would only talk bad about him while Kreacher made him some sort of hero, so I never thought about him. I cared more about Evan than I did Regulus."
"Seriously?" still blushing, Avianna nodded her head. Sirius burst into loud laughter, creating a vibrating echo around the cave. "Does Reg know?"
"I told him," Avianna nodded her head again. "He had the same reaction as you. I'll have you know, I thought Evan was extremely handsome, and his story was always a mystery to me."
"And yet you fell in love with the one that you didn't care about enough to know."
"And yet I fell in love with the one that I didn't care about enough to know," Avianna sighed in agreement.
The two fell into a comfortable silence, both of them feeling an eerie chill at the thought of Regulus being one of the bodies floating peacefully at the bottom of the lake. A minute later they felt the boat bump into something. Reminding Sirius not to touch the water, Avianna remained seated while Sirius climbed out of the boat first then Sirius helped her to climb out. Folding her arms over her chest, Avianna stared at the stone basin in front of them. It looked like a pensieve filled with a glowing essence. They could see the emerald green liquid looking up at them like fog. The locket rested in the midst of it all.
"I can't believe I'm actually looking at this," Avianna said in awe. "Uncle Harry always told us about it, but I never imagined that I'd one day be actually living it."
Sticking his hand towards the basin, Sirius wiggled his fingers. "What kind of dark magic could turn air thick?"
"It's time to call Kreacher."
Nodding in agreement, Sirius called to the house-elf. Within only a second, Kreacher was standing in front of them with Lestrange and Snape. "We only have a few minutes," Sirius said frantically.
Using her wand to conjure a goblet, Avianna dipped it in. "No matter what happens or what I say or do, make sure I finish drinking every last drop."
"Avianna, no – bloody hell!"
Shuddering at the vile taste of the poison, Avianna started to fill the goblet up once more. "It makes you relive your worst memories," she explained while filling the goblet up.
Kreacher's eyes were wide. "What has Misses Avianna done?"
Sirius had silent tears in his eyes. "Misses Avianna has just saved Regulus's life," he whispered.
Quickly forcing down her fourth poison filled goblet, Avianna dropped to her knees. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her hand clawed at the ground. "Avianna!" Lestrange shouted, kneeling next to her.
With tears in his eyes, Snape took the goblet from the girl he grew fond of. "We need to finish this," he said sadly while filling the goblet up once more.
With her eyes tightly shut, and her head shaking in agony, Avianna started to mutter, "No… no… I'm not… I never will be…"
"Her worst memory," Lestrange shuddered.
Kneeling with the goblet in his hand, Snape pressed it to Avianna's lips, "Avianna, you have to drink this."
"No…"
"I'm sorry, Avianna," Snape whispered, "But you've got to… you want to save Regulus, remember…"
Avianna's head continued to shake from side to side. "You're supposed to believe me…"
"Misses Avianna does not understand us," Kreacher said sadly.
Taking the goblet from Snape, Sirius tilted Avianna's head back. "I'm sorry, love, but I'm not going to lose you right now…" forcing the poison into Avianna's mouth, Sirius nodded his head at her, "Good girl… that's a good girl… just a little more… Sev, more…"
"Please…" Avianna cried. There were tears falling from her eyes. She clutched tightly onto Lestrange's shirt, trying to plead with him. "Please stop… I'm not… I'm not…"
Rubbing a soothing hand through Avianna's hair, Lestrange nodded his head at her. "I know, Avianna…" he whispered, ignoring the tears in his own eyes, "I know you're not."
"Yes…" Sirius started to pour more poison into her mouth, "You're not; we know you're not, Avianna…"
Trying to slap Sirius's hands away, Avianna tried to struggle against the poison. "No! I am not… stop… STOP…" Avianna started to scream out loud, causing the black water to ripple from the volume of it. The scream softened into loud sobs. "Please… why?"
"It's almost finished…" Snape assured his friend, holding her arms back so she couldn't hit the goblet away.
"Kreacher, fill it up again!" Sirius said through his tears.
Kreacher did as Sirius told him to, not saying anything in turn. Avianna leaned against Lestrange, sobbing loudly. "Make them stop, Scorp… please… I'm sorry…"
"I think she's remembering whatever she and Scorpius fought about the morning that they showed up here," Lestrange whispered. "Do you guys know what it was about?"
Both Sirius and Snape shook their heads. "Mudblood…" Avianna started to mutter. "My honor… I'll never forgive you… no… no, Scorpius, stop it!"
"Remind me to ask Scorpius about this," Sirius told the other two. "Come on love, only two more then we can go home to Regulus."
"Regulus…" Avianna's head stopped twitching for a second, almost as if she could understand the promise of what would happen if she finished her drink. Once the poison entered her mouth though, she started to thrash around again, "No… Mudblood… Mudblood… Mudblood… whore… filthy whore… I'm not… I'm not..." Avianna reached out to hold tightly onto Lestrange once again, "Scorpius, tell them I'm not… Scorpius, help me… please… No… no… no…"
"You're not," Sirius said through his tears. Thrusting the goblet at Kreacher for another refill, Sirius shook his head. "Avianna, Avianna, listen to me!"
Avianna didn't seem to hear him though. Her eyes were still shut tightly. Her sobs were growing louder, and she was clutching tightly onto Lestrange as if using him as a shield against harm. "I'm sorry… believe me… Mudblood whore… Death Eater whore… Nott… I'm not… No, Nott, no… not a filthy whore… I promise I'm not…"
"The hickey," Sirius realized, "When she first got here she had that hickey."
Snape gasped. "That's what they fought about. That Nott boy – Michael's grandson – he gave her the hickey and owled Scorpius about it."
"I'm going to punch Nott for having such an idiotic grandson," Lestrange growled.
Bringing another goblet filled with poison, Kreacher had a look of relief. "This is the last one."
"C'mon, love, this is the last one."
Avianna pressed her lips tightly shut and shook her head. "Avianna, once we finish this we can go back home to Regulus."
"Coward…" Avianna hissed out. "Coward…"
After forcing the final drop down into Avianna's throat, Sirius jumped up and pocketed the Horcrux. Shouting at Kreacher to take them home, Kreacher shook his head. Kreacher explained that the first thing Avianna drank had to be water from the lake – it's the final protection. Not caring that the inferi would try to kill him, Lestrange grabbed the goblet then ran. After scooping up water he ran it back to Avianna. Her eyes were open now and she was clutching at her throat and trying to insist that she was alright but she was thirsty. The haunted look in her eyes showed that she remembered everything she shouted out while being possessed by the poison. After helping Avianna to drink the water, Lestrange turned to run back to the lake for more but the inferi were starting to crawl out of it. Avianna continued to beg for water, but Kreacher decided that she would be able to drink things back at Hogwarts now. With a snap of his fingers, Kreacher took them all out of the cave.
Can anybody figure out exactly what her worst memories were? Or what her last words were? What about Kreacher taking his order to heart in protecting Avianna? I've always been one of the ones who agreed with Hermione and S.P.E.W so I like trying to portray Kreacher having good moments if someone is kind enough to him, and I also believe that he wasn't crazy yet because both Regulus and Mrs. Black were still alive right now. Now what about the patronus thing, and the whole Mad Eye thing? Can any of you figure out the significance of why I chose Snape, Lestrange, and Sirius? (besides why I mentioned Sirius having to go) Please review(:
I was searching the next chapter to find a piece to put into the preview and I'm missing more than half my chapter. I mean I have a couple of pages of it, and I have the 2 chapters after that, but for some reason I'm missing more than half of the next chapter alone. So I've got to write it out again… And there's only 3 chapters left of this story… next chapter, and then 2 sort of epilogue things(:
Preview of next chapter:
"So who does she look like?" James eagerly asked.
Avianna laughed. "Lily – she looks just like Lily. Some say that it's harder to determine if she looks just like Aunt Ginny or Lily, but now that I've met both; she looks just like Lily. She's got the pale skin, the long red hair, the scattered freckles, and even the very dimples when Lily laughs. Not to mention the pout is identical. The only thing different from Lily though is her eyes – she's got James' eyes."
Smiling fondly at that, Lily kissed her boyfriend's cheek. She could see the pride in his eyes at hearing that his granddaughter is the only one to have his eyes. "It's funny isn't it, James? Harry was born as your twin with my eyes, while his daughter was born as my twin with your eyes – doesn't it make you wonder if we were to have a daughter what she would look like?"
A squeak left James. Hearing that he had a son was one thing. But a daughter? How do you even raise a daughter? "I think Potter would spoil her rotten," Avianna said, taking pity on James when she saw his face. "Merlin knows how Uncle Harry is constantly spoiling Lily. I think it's a daughter thing in general though. Dad used to spoil me too."
"Avianna," Nott stood up. "I think it's time that we change and confront Dumbledore already. We've already wasted a lot of time since destroying the final Horcrux last night."
Amelia nodded her head in agreement. "We don't even know if Voldemort attacked already or not."
