A/N: Here I am with the next chapter. Thank you so much for the flood of reviews I received for the last chapter. I apologise for the cliff-hanger and I'm glad that you guys seemed to like the twist. I can't promise it is the last one in this story. I am going to have a bit of a rest and then reply to all the reviews I have received. Thank you all for being amazing and offering so much support and encouragement. I never would have been able to write as much as I have this past week without you all. Thank you also for all the favourites and the follows. I have adjusted Chapters 19 and 20 as I said in my now deleted author's note. On reflection after receiving a PM and review from two of my readers I realised that they were weak, so they have no finally been completely adjusted and changed. I love you all and I really hope you enjoy this next chapter. Disclaimer: All characters (except for Sabine) belong to J.K. Rowling.
"Aurelie?" gasped Sabine.
"Hello Sabine, you look like you've seen a ghost," replied Aurelie with an evil smile.
"But...but I don't understand...you're...we thought you were dead." Sabine stammered, clearly struggling with what she was seeing.
"Funny, you would have thought I would have stopped walking around if that was the case," replied Aurelie, smirking. "I'm afraid that dear old Dumbledore has been telling lies."
"Wh...what?" spluttered Sabine.
Aurelie rolled her eyes and shared a look with Bellatrix. "I see we won't get out of this without explanation, so I will give a short version." She turned to face Sabine again. "I was tasked by Dumbledore to infiltrate and capture Bellatrix Lestrange. It was only after I met her did I realise that I shouldn't have to answer to Dumbledore's beck and call. That old coot has been restricting our family for years, hell bent on ensuring that he remains at the top. Bella taught me what true power was and gave me the strength I needed to do what was necessary."
"You cannot be serious?" gasped Sabine. "She follows Voldemort! How can you follow that man? What about our family? Have you not considered how they have been over the last decade and a half? Your own mother, my grandmother, was heartbroken when Dumbledore told her you had died. She has never recovered from it."
Aurelie laughed bitterly. "You think my mother wasn't told the truth by Dumbledore? I wondered how she would react and now I know. Rather than tell you the truth, she created this elaborate story. My sisters went a long with it of course, as soon as she told them of my supposed betrayal. She didn't understand that what I did I did for all of us. I have done this to protect our family, to stop Dumbledore from hurting our family. Bella has shown me the way."
"You're lying!" shouted Sabine. "There is no way my family would have lied to me like that."
"Well they did," screamed Aurelie, rage and hurt shining in her eyes.
Crashing and shouting could be heard somewhere, reminding them all of where they were. Aurelie turned to face Sabine, her face hardening.
"Where is the prophecy?" she demanded. "Hand it over, before the others arrive and things get even more complicated."
"You're not telling me that you are with them?" said Sabine, shocked.
Hermione looked at the dark-haired Veela, wishing she knew what to do to help her through this situation, but she didn't have a clue what to say, so remained silent watching the scene unfold. She felt unnerved when she realised that Bellatrix was watching her closely. Aurelie, however, only had eyes for Sabine.
"As much as I'm enjoying this reunion, Sabine, we need the prophecy. Now tell us where it is. The Dark Lord needs it, so we want it. I don't want to have to hurt you, but I will if you try and stop us."
"You bitch!" shouted Sabine, launching herself at her aunt. "How could you turn your back on us?"
Hermione tried to grab a hold of Sabine, but wasn't quick enough. Bellatrix was quicker, she hit the dark-haired Veela with a spell, causing her to fly backwards and crash into a table. Both of the women were glaring and Hermione felt helpless. She rushed over and helped Sabine up, the older girl wincing as she stood.
"When did you become so selfish?" screeched Sabine. "I may not have many memories of you from my childhood, but I grew up being told stories about you. About how noble and honest and good you were. Now I learn that you are a traitor."
Aurelie's face darkened. "Don't you dare call me a traitor," she snarled. "You don't know the lies our family tells each other. Isn't my mother's lack of telling the truth obvious enough that you don't know everything? Secrets and lies are what our family deals in. You would be amazed what else has been kept from you. I'm not the traitor; Dumbledore and my mother are the traitorous ones."
Hermione was prepared this time to stop Sabine from throwing herself at her aunt, but the dark-haired Veela still managed to slip out of the brunette's grip. Unlike the last time, Hermione was able to stop Bellatrix from hitting Sabine with a spell, deflecting it away, allowing the dark-haired Veela to land a punch and tackle her aunt to the ground. Hermione and Bellatrix were locked in a vicious duel, each trying to prevent the other from intervening. Sabine and Aurelie were on their feet fighting. The dark-haired Veela had forgone her wand and was trying to do as much damage to the older Veela as she could with her fists. Sabine gave out a yell, distracting Hermione from her duel. The distraction was enough for Bellatrix to clip the brunette's side with a Stinging Jinx. Hermione hissed in pain and fell to her knees, clutching the small wound. Sabine was at her side in an instant, her fight with Aurelie forgotten. The older Veela stood up, wiping a bloody nose.
Bellatrix started laughing again, causing Aurelie to glare at the dark witch. Lestrange shrugged. "What? She's more like you than you think. It's like they say: like mother, like daughter."
Hermione nearly dropped her wand in shock. She turned to look at Sabine and saw that the same expression on her face.
"Wait...what do you mean?" stammered Sabine.
Bellatrix laughed at the look on the dark-haired Veela's face, clearly enjoying the girl's shock and distress. "Judging by the expression on your face, your family never told you that Aurelie here was your mother?"
"Bellatrix," growled Aurelie in warning, watching Sabine carefully.
Lestrange ignored her. "Ahhhh, you didn't know, oh what fun," said Bellatrix gleefully. "Guess you know what we mean when we say secrets and lies. Dumbledore lied about Aurelie being alive and your family lied about your true parentage, they all are very good at keeping secrets, are they not? How does it feel knowing that your precious family aren't nearly as perfect as you think they are?"
"But...but my sisters...my mother..."
"All lies!" shouted Bellatrix. "They hid it all from you. Your entire life has been a lie, how does..."
"Enough Bellatrix!" shouted Aurelie.
The dark witch went silent immediately. The older Veela's eyes had turned a fiery red in her anger. She took a deep breath to calm herself and moved closer to Sabine, but the girl flinched away, glaring at Aurelie with tears in her eyes.
"Tell me...tell me it's not true." Sabine was trying not to cry and Hermione hated to hear the raw emotion in the dark-haired Veela's voice.
Aurelie sighed and closed her eyes. That was all the confirmation Sabine needed and she let the tears fall freely. Hermione wrapped her arms around the girl protectively, wishing she could offer more than a simple hug.
"I was young when I had you," explained Aurelie. "You were such a beautiful baby and my proudest achievement. I used to sing you to sleep every night and then once a week we would go down to the beach, just the two of us, and spend the day laughing and frolicking on the sand and in the sea. You are the only thing I have ever truly loved in this world Sabine. Not a day has gone by where I haven't thought about you, but I had to protect you and our family."
"From what exactly?" cried Sabine, angrily. "What was such a massive threat to us that you had to abandon me and join him?"
"I never joined him," replied Aurelie. "I just sided with him. I had to stop Dumbledore. He wanted to use our family in the fight against Voldemort. That man had far more influence in those days. The Minister back then was in a precarious position, seeking help from anywhere to try and stop Voldemort. All Dumbledore had to do was say what he wanted and it happened. Then one night he came to me, said that unless I helped him he would use his influence to make life very difficult for my family."
"But what was so special about you?" interrupted Sabine, she tried to keep the venom out of her voice, but failed.
"Veelas have certain skills, you know that, and all my sisters were already involved with their mates. I hadn't found mine yet. There was no way he would have been able to persuade any of my sisters to leave their mates..."
"But you could leave me," Sabine replied in a choked voice.
"I never wanted to leave you," shot back Aurelie, reaching out a hand to touch her daughter's cheek, but Sabine moved away again. Aurelie continued. "He exploited my love for you, made it seem that if I didn't act that something would happen to you. I didn't know what to do. I was young and distraught at the idea of losing you and my family getting hurt. I have only truly cared about two things in my life: you and my family. So I made a deal with him, I would join the Order and stop as many Death Eaters as I could and in return he would ensure you were protected from anything and everything and he would also leave my family alone. He agreed and that's what led me to Bella. That's when I learned the truth: Dumbledore has been ensuring for years that certain creature laws have remained in place, restricting so many different sections of society and he had already drafted a law against our family, when he had promised me as part of our deal he wouldn't..."
"You're lying," interrupted Sabine, shaking her head. "He wouldn't do that..."
"Think about it? Dumbledore always gets support from muggle-borns and those in the creature community, that's why he had so much influence back then. The muggle-born section of society is far larger than the purebloods. They were clamouring for a supporter, someone to protect them from the persecution they were getting at the hands of Voldemort and his supporters. And they weren't the only victims of Voldemort's, magical creatures and part-humans were too. Their need for Dumbledore is the thing that kept him in power. What do you think would happen to him if they no longer needed his support? Dumbledore has had power for so long; do you honestly think he's prepared to give that all up? No, he's no better than Voldemort."
"But like you say Voldemort targeted creatures and part-humans as well," argued Sabine.
"Only because he needed the support of the Pureblood families and that was the only way he could get it. They exist to lord it over others and the Dark Lord had to gain their support before making any move. He has the power now to truly put his ideas forward. He sees creatures as a benefit to the Wizarding World, not something that should be oppressed. Plans are already in place to change the creature laws that Dumbledore ensured secretly were put in place, without people knowing it was him. I swear I am telling the truth. Why else would he have sent me, and with Bellatrix Lestrange of all people, if he didn't trust me and want me on his side? Can't you see you aren't getting the whole story?"
Sabine paused and began to consider what she had been told. Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing, but was alarmed to see the dark-haired Veela thinking about it. She couldn't tell whether Aurelie genuinely cared about Sabine, or if she was merely playing on her fragile state.
"Sabine," said the brunette, timidly. "Sabine, come on you can't seriously believe this can you?"
For the first time Aurelie turned and acknowledged Hermione. "Ah you must be my niece's chosen mate."
The brunette gulped and nodded. There was something about the older Veela's eyes that Hermione found terrifying.
"Pretty young thing aren't you and..." Aurelie paused, staring intently at her "...a Veela. Now how did that happen? A muggle-born witch developing a Veela, how intriguing."
Hermione wasn't sure what to say.
"The Dark Lord will be most intrigued to hear about you," said Bellatrix, staring hungrily at the brunette.
Hermione suddenly felt uncomfortable with both Aurelie and Bellatrix looking at her.
"Leave her alone," snarled Sabine, moving to protect the brunette.
"Relax," said Aurelie, holding up her hands. "We have no desire to harm her."
"Your mother is right," said Bellatrix. "The Dark Lord has nothing against Veela, or any magical creature for that matter. When he first rose up he needed money and support of wealthy families. The largest section of wealthy families is Purebloods, Purebloods who had an awful lot of influence. He needed our support to get him in where he needed to be. I personally have nothing against Veela, but there were others like the Malfoys who detested the thought of anyone they consider beneath them getting the same rights. The Dark Lord had to appear to agree with them until he gained enough support. Now he has that he can slowly reveal his true intentions towards creatures and morons like Malfoy can do nothing about it, not if he wants a share of power."
"You expect us to believe that?" shouted Hermione.
Bellatrix shrugged. "You will believe what you like, but what we are telling you is true."
Aurelie tentatively laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder and this time the girl didn't move. "I swear to you Sabine, I am not lying. You are my daughter."
"If you are my mother, then why did you leave me? Why didn't you come back for me after Voldemort was killed?" said Sabine in a broken voice.
Aurelie sighed. "I wanted to, but my mother knew what I had done. She knew that I no longer supported Dumbledore and she didn't understand why I did what I did. I tried to come back, but she wouldn't let me. She told me that I was dead to her for siding with the Dark Lord and that she would keep you as far away from me as possible. She erected wards around the entire estate. I could see you playing in the gardens, yet I couldn't get to you. The wards stopped me from getting in. It broke my heart. With Bella gone as well and me being unable to get to you, I left and went travelling to Bulgaria to part of our Coven that lives there, separate to everyone else. Dumbledore sent people after me as soon as Bella was captured. He knew I was alone now and I could turn to no one to help me. Believe me I never wanted to leave you and I tried so hard to get to you, but nothing worked. When Voldemort returned, I knew I would finally be able to try and see you again."
"What, you never thought to come back at all?" snapped Sabine. "You tried the once and then never again? Wow what a fantastic mother you are!"
Aurelie's face darkened again. "I visited every year on your birthday, trying desperately to see you. I would do anything to have those years over again, anything. I love you more than you will ever know, Sabine. My family kept me from you. My mother and my sisters made you live a lie and kept you away from me. They are the ones to blame, not me, not when everything I have done has been to keep you and them safe. Even now the only reason Voldemort hasn't approached them is because I have kept them safe. Despite everything they have done to me, I will not see them refuse Voldemort and then watch as he murders them for it."
Aurelie was breathing heavily, tears streaming, her voice straining with the emotion she was feeling.
"Enough of this," shouted Bellatrix. "As touching as this has been Aurelie, we need to focus on our other reason for being here."
Aurelie nodded. "Sabine, please, where is the prophecy. Give it to us and then come with me, I can explain everything, but we need to get out of here."
"I'm not giving you anything," Sabine yelled, moving away from Aurelie. "I don't want this; I don't want any of this."
Hermione could see Sabine panicking; see her eyes flicking over the entire room for a way out. Before the brunette could stop her, Sabine ran, sprinting straight out the door she had come through. Hermione shared a look with Aurelie before the both of them chased after the dark-haired Veela. The brunette heard Bellatrix say, "For goodness sake," before she too followed them.
Hermione battled with Aurelie as they ran through room after room, door after door. The brunette was faster, but could feel the older Veela clipping at her heels. She saw a door open ahead of her and ran through. She yelled when the floor vanished and she fell down steps, hitting what felt like every single one on the way down. Finally she hit the bottom, groaning in pain as she rolled over. Above her she could see Aurelie calmly walking down the steps, followed by Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Hermione," shouted Sabine, who came rushing over and helped the brunette to her feet.
Before the brunette could reply, they heard more crashing and Harry, Ron and Luna came into the room, casting spells behind them. There was no sign of Ginny or Neville. More Death Eaters joined the fray and a battle began. Hermione ran with Sabine and joined their friends, ducking as spells went flying. The group of friends hunched together with their backs to each other in a circle. Hermione noticed a stone archway in the middle of the room with a curtain fluttering despite the lack of a breeze. She didn't have long to consider it before she had to block a spell cast at her.
She heard a yell to her right as Luna was hit with something, the blonde girl crumpled to the floor in a heap, twitching. Another spell hit Ron and he grunted, clutching his leg as he too hit the stone floor. He tried gallantly to stand, but collapsed back down, screaming in agony as he gripped his leg. There were only three of them left now and the brunette knew they were in trouble. Sabine was unleashing spell after spell, her anger aiding her. Aurelie was desperately trying to get to her daughter, but was too busy fighting with Harry.
Hermione was feeling a power she had never felt before and moved fluidly, her spells being cast effortlessly. She felt connected to her Veela in a way she had never experienced before. One second she would be casting a spell and the next the Veela was getting her to move to avoid a dangerous spell that had been sent her way.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Bellatrix raise her wand, aiming it at Harry. Her lips moved to form the spell. The brunette didn't even hesitate. In slow motion she watched as the spell left Bellatrix's wand, heading straight for Harry. Hermione dived and felt agonising pain as the spell hit her instead. She fell back, hitting a rock. She felt dazed and confused and blinked rapidly as she tried to get her eyes to focus. A blurred shape came into view. Bellatrix Lestrange was hovering over her.
"I'm not going to hurt you dearie, at least not permanently. The Dark Lord will be very interested in you, but alas I cannot allow you to keep fighting until he gets here, you are far too powerful for that. Say goodnight for now."
The dark witch lifted her wand and Hermione flinched. She waited for the spell to hit, but none came. Looking up she saw Bellatrix ducking and running in the other direction. Rolling onto her side, the brunette felt relief wash over her as she saw Fleur, Moody, Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley and other members of the Order rushing into the room and immediately engage the Death Eaters in battle.
Hermione locked eyes with Fleur's, feeling safe now that her mate was here. Fleur waved her wand, a spell slamming straight into the nearest Death Eater, and ran over to the brunette, scooping her up tightly.
"Ma belle, thank god you're okay," said Fleur. When they drew back, the blonde was looking at her girlfriend furiously. "Don't you ever do anything like this again, do you hear me?" she shouted. "You could have been killed!"
Hermione opened her mouth to reply when she saw Sabine out of the corner of her eye. Leaving the comfort of Fleur's arms, she rushed over to the dark-haired Veela. The blonde followed quickly behind her. Sabine was panting, sweat forming on her forehead and she looked murderous.
"Sabine please, let's move. The Order is here now, they can handle this," pleaded Hermione.
"I...I can't...I can't...Hermione..." Sabine collapsed against the brunette, sobbing uncontrollably into Hermione's shoulder.
Fleur shared a worried look with her girlfriend, but the brunette shook her head.
"Not right now, I'll explain later," Hermione said. "Help me with her will you, we can't stay here with this going on."
With Fleur's help, Hermione half-dragged, half-carried the dark-haired Veela to the side of the room.
"I've got you Sabine, I've got you," murmured the brunette in the older girl's ear. "Everything is going to be fine."
"How?" sobbed Sabine, shaking uncontrollably.
Hermione didn't have an answer to that, so settled for holding the girl tighter. Her heart ached as she tried to imagine how Sabine was feeling. Fleur looked puzzled, but placed a comforting arm around her cousin, whispering words of comfort. A spell cracked against the wall above their heads bringing the brunette's attention back to the duels that were taking place. It seemed as if the Order had managed to take out the majority of the Death Eaters. She spotted Harry duelling alongside Sirius against a masked Death Eater.
She heard a crack of apparation above her head and looking up she saw Bellatrix standing on a step near the top of the room. There was a look of pure joy on the dark witch's face and it made Hermione feel sick to know the witch was enjoying this. She followed Bellatrix's gaze and realised she was watching Sirius and Harry. Hermione looked up again at the dark witch and saw her lift her wand.
"Avada Kedavra," screamed Bellatrix.
The brunette yelled out to Harry and Sirius as she saw the jet of green light shot straight towards them. It hit Sirius and he fell backwards straight through the veil. Hermione felt numb as the realisation of what had just happened hit her. Looking up again, the brunette saw Aurelie grab Bellatrix, cast a longing look at Sabine and then head towards the exit, dragging a cackling Lestrange behind her. Not sparing the two witches another thought, Hermione looked back at Harry. She wanted to go to Harry as Lupin held him back to stop him going through the veil after Sirius, but she couldn't bring herself to leave Sabine.
"It's alright, go," said Fleur. "I'll stay with Sabine."
Hermione nodded, silently thanking her girlfriend. She placed a kiss on Sabine's forehead and leapt away, running towards Harry. Before she could reach him, he wrestled away from Lupin's grasp and started sprinting towards Hermione, chasing after Bellatrix Lestrange. The brunette made to grab him, but he raised his wand and hit her with a Stinging Jinx. She fell to the ground with a cry, as Harry sprinted past her. Forcing herself to stand, despite the pain from the spell, she ran after him, shouting his name.
She followed him out of the Department of Mysteries and back towards the lifts. Harry slipped into one that had just arrived and shut the grilles behind him, stopping Hermione from getting.
"Harry James Potter, what the hell do you think you are doing?" screamed Hermione, angrily.
She furiously pushed the button and waited for another lift. It took an age and as the minutes ticked by she felt the worry build as she thought about what could happen if Harry caught up to Bellatrix and Aurelie. Finally a lift came clattering down and Hermione jumped in, slamming a hand against the button for the Atrium. She fought to keep her balance as the lift shot up through the floors. As soon as the cool, female voice announced that she had reached the Atrium, she forced herself out the lift and found herself in chaos.
Harry was crouched behind the fountain in the middle of the floor. Spells were flying left, right and centre as the brunette spotted Dumbledore and Voldemort engaging in a furious duel. Their faces were pictures of pure concentration and neither was backing down. Hermione rushed over to Harry, kneeling down beside her friend. He didn't seem to realise that she was there, his gaze was completely focused on a spot on the floor and he wasn't even paying attention to the battle going on.
Hermione snuck a look at what was going on and found herself transfixed by what she was witnessing. She had to duck behind the statue when a spell came flying towards her head. She heard a yell and a crash. Plucking up the courage to look, Hermione saw Dumbledore unconscious on the floor. He was bloodied and clearly in a bad way. Voldemort was advancing towards where Hermione and Harry were crouching and the brunette knew she had to act. She shut her eyes, feeling her magic flow between her and her Veela. The air crackled as her magic fought to be released. Taking a deep breath, Hermione stood up and stepped out from behind the statue.
Voldemort looked slightly startled and his expression then changed to a smirk.
"And what exactly are you going to do?" he sneered, his eyes flashing and his snake-like nostrils flaring.
"Protect my friend," said Hermione, simply and without hesitating she fired a spell at him.
A fierce duel began. The brunette wasn't even aware of the magic she was producing. She allowed her Veela to guide her. To her surprise Voldemort looked like he was struggling. His face had changed from a sneer to one of concentration and fury. The ground was beginning to crack at their feet from the power of their spells. Like flowing water, Hermione moved across the floor, surprised at her ability to apparently hold her own, at least for this long. As the duel went on, the brunette noticed something about Voldemort's fighting style. Every time he went to cast a particularly powerful spell, the shoulder of his casting arm would raise slightly more than it usually did. Deciding to use this to her advantage, Hermione took a step back, trying to entice him into doing what she wanted. Sure enough, a split second later, the brunette spotted her chance. Before Voldemort knew what was happening, Hermione shifted, ducked and spun releasing a powerful blast of silvery-blue light. She wasn't even sure what spell it was, but Voldemort could do nothing to stop it and it hit him hard. He went hurtling back and hit the tiles hard. The wall cracked and some of the green-black tiles began to come away from the wall. Voldemort fell to the floor, breathing heavily, a look of complete shock on his face. Hermione stepped forward, her wand raised and it was only then she noticed the silvery-blue glow surrounding her. Voldemort looked at her, a flicker of fear passing across his snake-like face.
He made to stand up and Hermione took a defensive stance, ready to begin the fight again. They were interrupted by the fires roaring to life and Fudge and Ministry employees flooding into the room. Voldemort took one look at them and disapparated.
"Hermione!" shouted a voice.
The brunette turned and saw Fleur running towards her. All of a sudden exhaustion hit her and she felt herself falling into darkness. The last thing she was aware of was the blonde catching her before she hit the floor.