(A/N:) See, all ready and out. Hope this makes up for the obscenely long wait. Next chapter will be up in the month range. Kisses and hugs to the reviewers: RoseLilian, mwinter1, and PascalDragon. PD: My mind canon has Hooch as a raven. And the night meeting was last minute thrown together by Albus because everyone is on boss man's time. If it wasn't clear, I'll go back and change it next time I troll through the chapter.
Applause and cookies to the new guests! Thanks for joining us.
***** Warning: this chapter contains violence, mentions of child abuse, implied sexual abuse, and bad language. Nothing is explicit except the violence. Might up the chapter to M before I expected to.*****
As always send your thoughts, comments and concerns to me.
~Yasha's Sis
Lady Black
Chapter 21:
Ursa's Weakness
In which a trap is sprung
The moment Brie saw twin freckled faces outside the door to the library she knew there was no avoiding them now. She'd been successful for more than a month and supposed that her luck ran out. It was almost All Hallows Eve and mischief night was just around the corner. Brie should have expected them to up their hounding.
"Why Little Albatross!" The right twin exclaimed, Cheshire smile wide and predatory.
"Fancy seeing you here." His brother enthused with a matching expression.
Brie sighed. "What part of I don't want to be involved in any pranks right now do you two refuse to understand?"
"The 'Don't'." They responded simultaneously. Lefty pressed forward and draped an arm over her shoulders, ignoring the poisonous look blistering the side of his face.
"Fred." Brie said warningly as she recognized the bolder of the two twins. Fred twitched in surprise and George blinked then gave her a considering look. "I have enough on my plate as is without planning something with you two."
Fred rallied, nursing a hurt expression. "But dearest Brie, you have yet to hear our proposal."
"Might be worth taking a gander at. Unless you'd like to be shocked and awed by our pranking prowess in a more… personal display."
Brie glared at George, tempted to snarl out a curse that'd leave them yapping like toy dogs for the remainder of the evening but that would be an act of war and she really did have too much to do. Quidditch practice was three hours every day except for the weekends until she learned all the formations. Laurence wanted help in Potions so she tutored him Mondays and Thursdays at four. Harrison demanded the first years have group studying Wednesday and Sunday evenings and once she finished her Transfiguration torture from Aunt Minnie she was 'asked' to come in for an hour before lunch every weekday and demonstrate some daft extension of the lesson until it reached the perfectionist woman's standards.
This didn't include the time she squeezed in for Charlie, Cho, Dora and Cedric. She refused to cut out her non Slytherin friends and hexed the last bastard third year to strongly suggest it. Eeking out god knows how much more time with these two to was pushing it, even for her.
The fact that they were stooping to threatening with testing it on her was low.
"Do you really want to go to war, boys?"
George joined his twin over her shoulder and they easily turned her seething form down the hall in the direction of the stairs. "Of course not." He consoled, raising his hand to flick her nose then thought better of it at the expression on her face. He redirected the hand to ruffle his hair.
"We just want the input of a fellow prankster on our next piece of brilliance."
Brie eyed them suspiciously, letting them usher her past the multitude of doors and up the fifth floor's main flight of stairs. "Just my input, huh?" That tie dye job on the Headmaster was a piece of art…..
Fred grinned, planting his cheek on hers. "You did prank us before we ever met you, little Albatross."
"That's a feat unheard of in the Weasley family." George finished seriously pinching her bare cheek and snatching his hand back when she turned to bite him.
"I'm not your pet." She growled out, grey eyes flashing at the usually more reserved twin.
"We'd never think that." Fred cooed, earning the boney end of an elbow in his side. "Oof."
"Not very lady like is she, Gred?" George observed, wisely retracting his arm and putting distance between the surprisingly violent girl.
"Almost feral." Fred remarked mimicking his twin's retreat.
They shared a smirk. "We have to keep her."
Brie had enough, today was a long enough day and she could freely admit she was getting cranky. "Would you two get on with whatever dastardly plot you plan on showing me? I'm tutoring a friend of mine in half an hour."
George held up his hands in defense but the grin on his face did little to sell the beseeching motion. "We know. Got your schedule down to the minute, Lady Black."
"Had to with you avoiding us like dragon pox. We'd be offended if we were anyone else."
They'd be hexed into oblivion if they were anyone else, Brie thought darkly. "Stalking a Firstie is creepy."
Fred sniffed. "Don't say stalking, it's far too plebeian for our actions."
"Think of it more as scouting out a potential ally in mischief and mayhem."
So few people genuinely cared to ask her opinion, to see her and want to befriend her once they hit the wall of her temper. Brie had done nothing to hide how uninterested she was in plotting with them.
And yet these two kept coming back. The ache of only knowing them now strengthened to a throb and for a moment, Brie hated both their parents from keeping them apart.
What's done is done, Brie. No point moping over it now. Despite her self-flagellating thoughts, Brie laughed with a shake her head. "Jeez. You two are unbelievable."
"Thank you!"
She sighed at the chirped reply but deigned not to respond further. She merely gave them an expectant expression.
"Well since you asked so nicely," Fred began with a grin. "Let us show you the fruits of our labor."
With that the twins stopped in front of a non-descript door and bowed, arms sweeping towards the doorway. Brie rolled her eyes before stepping forward and twisting the handle.
Nothing happened as she prodded the door open and warily gazed into the well-lit classroom. Four round tables with squat, square backed chairs sat clustered in threes across from the raised teacher's dais. The dais sat on the far right side in front of a chalkboard, the view innocuous and unexpectedly academic. Not wanting to go into any Weasley scheme unarmed, her hand reached for her wand.
She barely managed to brush the handle when another's grip caught her wrist with a tsk. Brie lifted her gaze to meet George's hazel eyes. "Knowing you, you'll spoil the surprise. Just go in. It won't hurt, promise."
"Well that's reassuring." Brie's lips twisted but George's expression remained earnest, or as earnest as a Weasley in the urges of a prank can be. She squinted at him, briefly distracted by the smattering of freckles on his right cheek that looked like a constellation, and let out a fortifying breath. "Fine," She said finally, stomach fluttering in excitement of something like discovery.
His face eased into a smile but Brie halted the expression as her finger stabbed out to prod his chest. "I'm reserving the right for revenge."
George chuckled while Fred gave an explosive sigh. "Why do you have to be all doom and gloom and threatening? We haven't done anything yet."
Brie smiled and strolled forward thru the archway, trusting George's word. "Keyword: yet."
Magic whispered in the air as she passed the threshold and Brie closed her eyes as it settled over her skin, cool as walking through a cloud of mist. Her eyes blinked open and searched for any changes to the unused classroom. None came to mind. The chalkboard was still empty and her vision hadn't changed for better or for worse so the magic had to have done something to her.
Curious, Brie glanced down at her person. Lifting her hand to tug at her suddenly red tie, Brie caught sight of her arm and gaped.
The familiar caramel of her skin had faded to cream with a splattering of freckles decorating the back of her hand and visible wrist. Her hands looked larger, fingers not as long and thin as she was used to and an unfamiliar scar curved along the meat of her palm and curled into a sickle over the outer side of her right wrist.
The change was startling, significant and thorough. Brie spun around, mind racing with possibilities and questions, to look at the twins who were grinning at her on the other side of the doorway.
Fred helpfully held out a mirror he'd conjured and Brie couldn't stop the amazed smile that pulled at the foreign face staring back at her. Shocking red hair sprouted from her head and her eyes had darken to the same hazel as the boys at the door. Her cheeks held no dimples though the newly discovered widow's peak stood out under the tumble of eye watering red hair. "You made a doppleganger spell?"
But that wasn't quite right because although she had the famous Weasley freckles and hair, she wasn't a perfect duplicate of the twins. Her height hadn't changed for one and her hair was still as long as it had been before the spell. Her features were decidedly feminine as well. It was like she was the female triplet to the twins before her.
"That's the end goal." Fred said excitedly, tossing her the mirror and diving forward through the archway.
Feeling the magic take affect was one thing. Seeing it gave her goosebumps.
Fred's skin darkened, blotting out the freckles he'd had all his life. His hair lost its flaming red quality and curled, thickening into the familiar waves that could rival Sirius Black himself. The distinctive hazel eyes paled to mirror the Black line while his tie morphed into the Slytherin Green. If she hadn't seen the changes take place, she could have mistaken him for a much less distant relative.
Brie tried to get over the sudden and very painful pain in her chest of looking at a boy who could have been her older brother, down to the dimpled cheek and piercing grey eyes.
Is that what the kids between Darius and Fiona could have looked like had he not be stricken by disease and forced sterile? Is this what my family could have been?
She looked away and took a breath. It rattled out of her body with something like regret and Brie thanked Fred's voice for snapping her back to what was and not what could have been.
"We're still in the stages of making an exact copy instead of a derivative," he answered, snatching back the mirror from her limp grip and admiring his newly enviable hair.
Brie forced her mind to focus, ignoring the way George was watching her as she breathed just a little more deeply. "It feels like you based it off of the cross color charm from the train, but instead of triggering it to make color based changes you're working on altering features." Brie circled Fred's form taking note of the change in hair texture that was so familiar to her own.
"That's right," George replied as he stepped through the doorway but no easily discernable change occurred to his person. His gaze sat heavy on her and Brie tried not to bristle, shoving away the moment of weakness. She took note of his lack of alterations and pressed a knuckle to her lip in thought.
"It needs a template," She nodded decisively, glad for the puzzle. "It takes an anchor image that seems to be set to the previous person who walked through the trigger to form the change." Her brow furrowed. "Did you use a variation of the homunculus charm or a glamour?"
Fred arched a brow, surprised. The homunculus charm was an upper year spell. The only reason the twins knew about the spell was specifically because of their research for this prank and a not so known about map. "Neither," He said aloud. "It's watered down versions of altered transfiguration spells." Brie made a face.
"Transfiguration limits the number of people you can affect at once. A glamour could be tweaked to encompass a wider range of subjects and could be tied to a specific release mechanism. The homunculus charm combined with it would make a duplicate of the person you desired."
George's eyes gleamed and the look of consideration gave way to one of excitement. "You forget transfigurations are inherently more powerful than charms, jinxes and quite a few hexes. A teacher would more than likely have to cast the finite to cancel this spellwork, so we're sacrificing breadth of casting for strength. Not to mention the homunculus charm needs a magical sample of all the people we'd want to use as templates. Transfigurations wouldn't since it's just the image we're copying and we didn't want to make it like the Polyjuice potion, because then we'd have to make a batch for each person."
"Impractical and obscenely expensive," Brie dismissed.
Brie's eyes narrowed, mouth unknowingly curling at the challenge he put forth. "Alright, transfigurations are flexible and most times more powerful but they also require more skill to cast and more time dedicated to forcing the image desired. That's why your spell is limited to changing the simpler aspects of the human features like skin, eye and hair color. The image you probably tied it to was 'Make person A look like whoever came in last.' There's no specification for gender, weight or height." Brie paused in her own assessment, eyes back on Fred who was staring at the two of them hash it out oddly. She tugged on his hair, drawing a squawk of offense. "Wait… you did incorporate some aspect of changed facial structures and tones. Fred has my Dad's dimple and my hair texture. Plus my hands don't look the same. My fingers are shorter and thicker instead of long and thin. If the spell was mostly ineffective, it would have stayed with superficial changes."
"So, transfiguration isn't the complete answer at the level we currently have in the subject," George concluded pensively. She expected disappointment but instead the boys just looked thoughtful.
A ponderous silence held. "Maybe if we layer it with a derivative of a mirrored spell-"
"Mirrored spells don't take into account how things truly are," Fred interjected finally.
George nodded in agreement. "Everything would be backwards on the duplicate's person and people would feel off even if they couldn't put their finger on it while looking at them."
Fred hummed. "We could use a glamour-"
"Too easy to break." Brie retorted reluctantly giving George the earlier point.
"Transfiguration was the best option."
Brie chewed on her lip, running her limited Transfiguration knowledge in her head and completely forgetting how she was avidly trying to stay away from their plots. "What if we made some sort of scanner?"
Fred and George looked at her blankly. "A what?"
"A scanner, like a Xerox machine. It's a muggle device that looks at something and basically collects all the visible characteristics and spits out a copy. Could we make a magical way of noting gender and body structure and focus that image into a transfiguration spell? It'd be automatic and you wouldn't have to manually visualize the spell every time you wanted someone to get hit." Though she wondered how many changes the doorway held before the spell would collapse and how often they would have to replenish the layers.
The twins shared a look. "That could work," Fred nodded slowly, face as serious as Brie had ever seen it. "I might recall a spell that did something similar in one of Charlie's books. I'll snag it from him."
"Brother dearest's lady friend is a metaphormagus. She could have insight on spells that prevent outside transfigurations. Wouldn't want anyone canceling the fun too soon."
"Method of dispersal?"
"Doorways-"
"Too tall, residual magic needed to reach all corners may interfere with spell. This was the smallest doorway we could find and it fails after six uses. History of Magic-"
"Binns never really leaves on a workable basis. We'd miss half the years too. Greenhouse-"
"Plants sensitive. Dorms-"
"Portraits gab."
Brie watched the flinging of ideas between the two twins with no small amount of awe until they stopped abruptly and shared the same devilish grin just after Fred shot down George's suggestion of using the carriages for Yule break since some people would be staying and having a feast here.
As one the pair turned to her. "Well little Albatross, I do believe we must adjourn this meeting for another time."
"You mustn't be late to your tutoring session with ickle snakey Yelden."
"How do you-" Brie scowled at their innocent expressions knowing they weren't going to say a word in answer. "Have I told you how creepy it is that you know what I'm doing and who with?"
"Yes," They chorused. George winked. "You still can't get enough of us though, lil' 'tross."
The girl rolled her wrong colored eyes, snatched the mirror back, and stalked out the door, pleased to feel the wash of magic pull the paleness from her cheeks and darken her hands. She flung the mirror back at the two boys without a backwards glance after checking her appearance was back to normal. "I can and I have. Repeatedly. Happy hunting, boys."
"Stand by for updates."
"I'm not in this!" was Brie's shouted reply and the twins shared a secretive look.
"Right. Plausible deniability."
"No-" The girl cut herself off and huffed a sigh. "Un-be-lievable."
The smile didn't leave her lips as she walked away. She couldn't deny she was excited to have someone to talk theory with. It wasn't the same over letters with Remus and she didn't want to rub her extended knowledge in anyone else's face. The only times she could recall letting loose with her interests were the sporadic talks with Professor Flitwick and one surprising conversation with Marcus Flint on extension charms. Who knew having a sickly father made sure you were capable of a wide range of different magical spells.
Charming clothing and places to be larger than believed being one of them so his father could travel in comfort. They even owned a muggle car carefully disillusioned and situated so that it can travel with the ease of the Knight bus through areas without forcing his father into uncomfortable positions.
The twins' knowledge on spells was unexpected although she should have known better. Her father had a lopsided education on things that could potentially be used in a prank rather than not. George's knowledge especially was surprising. Although both twins were very present in conversations, Fred was always the one to draw more attention himself. The other times Brie was cornered into dealing with them, Fred took charge while George mainly threw in quips or prompted Brie for information.
And watched Brie's mind supplied quietly. George sees everything. She hadn't really cared before but seeing Fred like that-
She let a little too much show, family or not. Regardless, it was rare for him to engage with people on his own.
Pushing the terrible twosome out of her mind Brie broke into a trot as she realized she probably took longer than she meant to (which was any time at all) dealing with the twins. She whistled Danny Boy as she got to the main staircase which lead to the Great Hall and dodged the second step that tried to vanish under her. Damn things.
Free from the threat of falling through the floor, Brie chewed the inside of her cheek, hoping Laurence at least started setting up for the practical potion they were planning to do today. It always took him the longest to get ready.
"-lied to us."
Brie paused around the corner as the voices grew clearer.
"No. Erin said-"
Laurence?
A harsh laugh. "Merlin, firsties are idiots."
There was a muffled shriek followed by the clatter of many things falling to the ground.
"Well hell, what's having a little fun while we wait?"
Brie frowned at the familiarity in the voice and edged over to see into the next alcove.
Two boys stood in the middle of the hallway facing a floating shape with their back to her direction.
Her jaw clenched as she recognized Laurence suspended by his ankles. The boy's robes pooled over his head leaving his pale legs and yellow and red briefs on display. His hands flailed to push material out of his face, knocking loose more trinkets to scatter on the ground beneath him. They joined the already noticeable pile.
"Put me down! I- I don't like heights!" The fear was plain to hear in his voice, partially muffled by his tie flopping over his mouth. The tone making her skin crawl as it reminded her of lead pipes and too young faces.
Brie's wand found its way into her hand before she realized she was speaking.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
All boys jolted, one kept his wand in Laurence's direction while the other spun about to face her. Laurence's reddening face somehow managed to pale momentarily as he caught sight of her. "Brie, NO!"
The Black Heir ignored his shout other than to shoot him a reassurance glance that did nothing to slow the rising tide of darkness that made her movements fluid and her mind sharp. Ice grey eyes cast over Laurence's bullies for a moment, recognition failing to spark within her. They looked vaguely familiar but Brie was getting accustomed to seeing everyone now after over a month of living here.
Her mind considered the time of day, the likelihood of someone else walking up to catch sight-
Witnesses an Arcturus like voice mused weren't a possibility for at least an hour. Not yet between classes.
The only bright side was that this was the last hall before you reached the dungeon staircase.
The one facing Laurence tilted his head just so and gave a mean little smile, drawing her attention like a fly snagged on a web. "Bout time you got here! Your poor little prince wailed for you." His wand twisted and Laurence was sent spinning in mid-air, whatever still clinging to his pockets shot out as the boy screamed "Stop! Stop!"
Brie forced her hand to loosen its grip on her wand. Her mind was disturbingly at ease but her voice carried an edge of barely suppressed violence. How dare they? "Put him down."
The closest boy facing her sneered. "Why don't you make us?" Pulling his wand free of his robes, he leveled it in her direction. "You think you can be all high and mighty now when both of us have our wands ready this time?"
Her brow furrowed. "What?"
The one whirling Laurence about like a top glared at her, anger distracting enough that Laurence stopped spinning and whimpered as he slowed to a stop. "Don't act like you forgot, you stupid bint."
Brie's hand twitched involuntarily at the comment. She really didn't know what the hell they were talking about but apparently they had beef with her. Why, then, were they bullying Laurence? This was suicide this close to the Slytherin dorms. If any of the older snakes came out and saw this, a stinging hex would be the least of their concerns.
A thought rose, sour and unbidden, as she remembered Gregorvich's warning.
His amber eyes carded over her features one last time before sobering. "Word of advice, Brie Black, you will have a difficult time here if you continue to place others above yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"That boy, Mr. Yelden, you spoke up when he would not earlier."
"I did." Brie answered cautiously.
"He will abuse that altruism if pressed just as another will take advantage of it should you let more know of your sympathetic heart. We call Gryffindors saps for a reason."
What if she caused this?
Brie bit her cheek to shoo away the thought. Right now it didn't matter why they were using her friend as a punching back. All that mattered was they crossed the damn line. "Let my friend down, now." Her tone left no illusion to it being a request.
Laurence's tormenter laughed darkly. "Oh I don't know." He jerked his wand up and down, stopping just before the younger boy hit the floor before shooting him back to the ceiling. Brie's rage built with each near miss until she felt herself trembling with the effort to think past hurt him now. "We're having a grand time, aren't we Larry?"
If Brie wasn't so scared of breaking the bastard's concentration at the wrong time and leaving Laurence to nosedive into the ground she would have blasted him with a curse that would have left her in detention for a month alone if not expelled.
Laurence stopped screaming after the third near collision with the ground, paralyzed with fear. His bully scowled when the boy went silent and opened his mouth to hiss another spell.
Enough.
Brie saw the moment of distraction, the closest boy twisted just a little more away from her to shoot his partner an annoyed glare, and then she moved.
The Black Heir rocketed forward in a burst of motion, wand twisting in a harsh S as a curse slid from her lips. Her body curled and ducked to left to pass the violently orange hex that splashed on the ground just behind her and her purple curse slithered through the air to smack the first boy on the chest. Vicious, ugly blisters erupted up his neck, across his face and she stunned him for good measure as Laurence's assailant turned to face her.
His cruelty made him careless and the turn to meet her was entirely too slow to stop her attack.
The bat-bogey hex was already jetting for his face before his weight fully shifted in her direction. Sprinting past him, Brie paid her opponent little mind, dedicating her attention to keeping Laurence from crashing face first into the ground. Arresto momentum slowed his descent to crawl but the levitation charm kept him from slowly mushing his face into the ground. Her tension barely began to ease before she was dodging a sickly green jinx from behind that barely missed clipping her friend.
Either her hex had missed or he was aware enough to do the counter curse because a snarl was on his lips as he pelted progressively more severe hexes and curses at her. She felt her self straining to keep from responding in kind. This ass wasn't using school yard spells. The threat of injury made her hackles raise but he wasn't anywhere near her level to call for anything more dangerous than sixth year spells. She needed to be careful and get this guy away from Laurence. The spells he was throwing around could actually hurt him, defenseless as he was right now, maybe if she-
Brie hissed, pain slicing across her left bicep. Her body shuddered slightly at the shock and Brie felt warmth slide down to thread between her fingers. She dodged a curse, glanced down at the blood covering her fingers. Her lips thinned in promised violence and Brie looked up, eyes hardening to a slate grey. She saw her opponent, enemy, and forced the sudden exhaustion from her limbs.
Brie growled a shield in place, red and yellow spells splashing harmlessly against it as she fired off two consecutive bludgeoning hexes, both missed. Her opponent's lips curled in disappointment, tall figure relaxed and mocking as he responded with a nauseously orange spell she knew from experience would make her insides feel like they were on fire. Brie dove from her cover-
Can't let up. He'll beat me bloody then tie me up and do it all over again. I'm better than this. I won't let you win, Siri-
-and a spat Bone crushing spell sprinted from the end of her wand to his armed hand. She shifted her aim, right above her enemy's collar, and hissed a decapitation curse to buy herself some time to recover. She couldn't' go easy on him, the next session always hurt worse when she did-
A scream of agony broke her concentration and Brie felt her world shift as the soft white scones she saw lining their duel vanished from one blink to the next. Her father's tall form replaced with the crumpled form of a teenager bellowing like a stuck boar.
The boy clutched his arm, howling in pain on his knees across the hallway. His arm a pulped mess below the elbow. The scene was enough to make Brie look away as she stuggled to process where her father had gone and why was this boy on the receiving end of an attack meant for another. Two harsh indents stood out on the wall beside him, drawing Brie's confused gaze.
But the confusion gave way to slow building queasiness at a deep curved slash carved three feet above his head.
"Malcolm!" Brie flinched at the shrieked voice and grey eyes caught sight of a girl, a Hufflepuff with dark hair and blue eyes. She ran to his side as he howled again, tears streaming down her face as she stared at his mangled arm. Brie swallowed thickly. She hadn't meant to go that far. She didn't know what happened. How did he- She hadn't even realized-
"Black!"
Brie jerked again knowing the new voice far too well, but when she turned to look at Severus Snape the look of pure unadulterated hatred was an unexpected thing. His lips pressed into a single bitter line before barking out one spell. "Expelliarmus."
The spell punched her in the chest, knocking the petite child on her back hard enough to leave her wheezing. Dazed, she didn't even grasp that her wand had sailed into his hand as she focused on trying to force her diaphragm to move down and let in air.
Brie gasped at the shock of landing flat on her back, winded, and coughed as she tried to get upright. The Hufflepuff finally noticed her at the sound and screamed, "What did you do to them!?" Her wand whipped out, brandished like a sword, and Brie only had a moment to panic at her own's absence.
The panic hardly lasted long because the girl's question rattled around her head like a loose bolt and grey eyes dragged back to the line etched in stone above the boy's head.
If he had been taller…
"I- I just stunned him. I didn't mean-"
Severus's voice was sweet as poison as he entered the older girl's view, cutting Brie off. "Miss Follis, take Mr. Yeasley and Mr. Thrombin to the Hospital wing." Recognition finally sparked at their names, Peeve's awful song playing in her head, and Brie's confusion was snuffed for fury to overtake it.
Those bastards from the train?!
Severus's wand flicked out again releasing the stun that held Thrombin still and the boy moaned pitifully.
"But Professor, she hurt Malcolm. She tortured them all and you can't let her get away with it!"
Tortured? What?
"I am aware of what you saw. This will be handled with the utmost severity, Miss Follis." His voice was a dark promise. Brie could feel the man's eyes boring into her skull before he turned to Laurence. "Now!"
The older girl glared at Brie and gathered Yeasley while Thrombin squinted through the pain and trailed after them. The potion master ignored their departure, black eyes focused on Laurence's floating form. Her fury cooled abruptly as she realized that all this did happen because of her. One moment of recklessness nearly got someone killed. Laurence hadn't made a sound in all this time and worry started to push back her anger, letting confusion once again pool in its place as Brie forced herself not to look at the large gash marring the castle.
Why did all this happen?
"What spell was used?" Professor Snape's voice was colder than Siberia mid-winter. It did well on forcing her mind from the awful mix of uncertainty to tend to the danger that laced each word.
"The levitation charm." She managed to croak out trying and failing to keep her gaze from the stone.
Severus was uncharacteristically careful as he reoriented the boy's position with his wand and gently lowered him to the ground. Laurence's face was an ugly puce from being inverted for so long and he started shaking as soon as he touched the ground.
Laurence I'm so sorry I didn't get here soon enough. I'm sorry they chose to take their anger on me out on you. I'm so, so sorry.
Severus's dark gaze landed on her and his lips twisted in a truly ugly sneer. "Clearly the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree."
Brie's head snapped to him, incredulous and uncomprehending. What did her father have to do with this?
The glimmering grey color of her decapitation spell hissed out of her wand as Severus intoned priori incantatem and Brie saw the trap set before her for what it was. "You certainly didn't waste any time in trying to remove your rivals unlike your father."
Her father's Shrieking Shack debacle, the convenient Hufflepuff witness, staging this right by the Dungeons with his most hated student present and armed with deadly spells. Brie couldn't have given them a better scapegoat if she'd tried.
Damn.
He wouldn't believe her. He was too angry, too caught in past hurts. She could plead and try to explain her deadly use of spells but she could tell just by looking at him that nothing she said would be listened to.
But she had to try, Merlin, she had to try. He had finally stopped looking at her like she was going to stab him in the back and this would ruin everything-
"Professor Snape, I didn't-"
"Don't you dare lie to me you insidious mongrel spawn." The man hissed, dark eyes flashing with loathing and –Brie's breath caught- betrayal. "You thought you could torment your own classmates, your fellow snakes and get away with it. You had the audacity to enter my house and lie to my face about your intentions. If Thrombin and Yeasely hadn't shown up, would you have tried to silence Mr. Yelden as well?"
Brie recoiled at the venom, despite knowing she was fighting an uphill battle. She hadn't meant to fire off that curse. She'd gotten caught in a memory, that'd never happened to her before. And she never, ever lied to him. She knew it would cut him off faster than a mouse's heartbeat. But why would he think she had anything to do with Laurence's bullying? The two other boys she could understand since she'd actually done them harm, but Laurence? He was her friend. She never even spoke ill about him. How could he possibly think-
"-She tortured them all and you can't let her get away with it!"
Realization of the depth of their forethought made something in her freeze just as the rest of her howled with rage.
Sonofabitch-
Keep trying Brie. The truth, he'll have to see the truth.
"I didn't lie! Laurence-"
"No!" He boomed, looming over her like a wraith. "Enough, Black. I have ways of determining the truth without wasting my life listening to your deceptions."
The promise of pain and cold, clawing certainty made dread well within her.
Her eyes darted to Laurence who had finally stopped crying and was looking at the pair of them with something like horror.
Tell him, Brie wanted to say. Tell him the truth.
But before she could verbalize the thought Severus's hand was roughly grasping her chin and her grey eyes met the fury of his black ones.
Laurence's whisper of "Erin lied," was drowned out and she heard one spell her father warned her never to be near.
"Legilimens."
The spell hissed between Severus's thin lips and then all Brie knew was pain.
~*Potential triggers ahead*~
Severus normally prided himself in his ability to enter a mind without them having the slightest indication. He knew the wrongness of someone forcing their way into his head and usually refused to shift through a mind like a careless child with a toy.
Right now he didn't care.
Black's pain registered as a passing note he ruthlessly dismissed when he speared through the girl's mind.
To think he was foolish enough to trust the scheming swot and allow her free reign with his snakes. He had been naïve, idiotic, and disgustingly hopeful when the girl continued to look up to him and he found her presence just above tolerable. She had beguiled the other teachers with the respectful demeanor and her appreciation for their craft. Even Minerva was taken with Brie Black so much so that she urged Severus to give her special dispensation to work under her as an official Transfiguration tutor, ignoring the girl's very real dislike of the subject matter. Severus had denied it, simply to rile the Gryffindor head but Black's ecstatic, gushed thank yous didn't care in the least for his selfish motivation. He had to threaten her with detention with Flich to get the brat to tame her appreciation.
Fury rose ever higher as he remembered he had tested her like one would their own apprentice.
How could she, hissed and seethed in his mind like a writhing nest of snakes so he didn't care to be gentle as he sought his information. She deserved this for lying to him. She deserved this for crushing the budding trust he almost allowed to fester. She deserved this for being Black's spawn.
Snippets of memory ghosted along his path and Severus paid it only passing attention.
-Curious green eyes stared at her in wonder as Brie demonstrated a rune based spell that emitted heat. "You're really good at magic!" A messy haired boy in worn too large clothes enthused. Brie choked back a sob, smile strained. His glasses were taped in different places this time and he held his wrist carefully whenever he moved. How could she have hated this kid for a second?-
-A child of three with big grey eyes and curly black hair giggled madly as a man, pale skinned and tall, spun in a circle with her propped on his shoulders-
-Magic surged in her veins as she cast her first spell under the cautious but proud gaze of Sirius Black. She was a witch! A real honest to God witch! She couldn't wait to learn more-
-Pallbearers solemnly marching down the grass fields to stop beside a grave stone marked Darius Murray. A black woman with ridiculously styled hair stood cold and unmoving while a four year old screamed, "DD! DD! DD! Ma they took DD!"
-Whimpering and the persistent buzz of hatred hatred hatred and she clutched a pipe in hand. Grunting and the musky smell of sex made the little girl's skin crawl but her conviction didn't waver. She had to save Penny-
-Black's Heir, four year old again, stood by the fireplace, hands twisting the hem of a threadbare shirt. "Why'd ma leave, Aunt Tabby?" The large woman pursed her lips at the soulful grey eyes and turned away. "Same reason she got knock up by your dog of a father." The reply made the child flinch. "Stop talking nonsense and help me with the bread. And it's Tabitha, girl, not Tabby. I ain't your friend."-
-Hope churned within the seven year old girl as she stared at the man with grey eyes and a kind smile. Why did he look so much like her?… more than her own father did-
-The sound of kids laughing floated like background music as a brown haired girl with a kind face hummed a lullaby to the five year old Black heir curled against her side. "Don't cry little bird. Don't cry." Someone's voice called from the hall, "Leave the freak alone, Penny." Penny's soft face hardened and she wiped at the tears leaking down the little girl's face over her split lip, careful not to agonize the black eye. "Tommy, you better shut up before I get Master Jefferson and tell him who spoilt the butter yesterday!"-
-Hunger clenched the seven year old's gut as a rat scuttled over her feet. She thought about eating it, then remember the diseases rats carried. If Bennett forgot to feed her tomorrow she'd do it-
-Family, everywhere! Everyone knew who she was and expected her to be something she wasn't sure she could be. She was two parts thrilled two parts terrified because what if she wasn't good enough and they made Sirius give her away?-
-Why did they only talk about Harry Bloody Potter?! Why wasn't she all they needed? She hated him!-
Severus snarled honing his search for more recent memories refusing to let sympathy take root with the girl's less than idea childhood. His own was a horror and he didn't dwell. He'd need to ascertain how the girl found the child that looked disturbingly like James Potter with Lily's unforgettable eyes at a later time. If he continued to get distracted by anymore of this drivel, he'd lose the rage that powered him to violate the mind of a student so blatantly.
Severus's hunt sent him to flashes of the Weasley twins and then he was in the hall watching the girl smile at discussing theory and eager to tutor her fellow snake. He felt the excitement and loyalty she had to the boy, Yelden, and for a moment his conviction wavered.
"-lied to us."
Black paused around the corner as the voices grew clearer.
"No. Erin said-" That voice was Yelden's.
A harsh laugh. "Merlin, firsties are idiots."
There was a muffled shriek followed by the clatter of many things falling to the ground.
"Well hell, what's having a little fun while we wait?"
Black frowned at the familiarity in the voice and edged over to see into the next alcove.
Severus watched her jaw clench as she recognized Laurence suspended by his ankles, robes pooling over his head and showing off his pale legs and yellow and red briefs for all to see. His things were scattered on the floor beneath him as his hands flailed to push material out of his face.
"Put me down! I- I don't like heights!" The fear was plain to hear in his voice and Black's wand found its way into her hand before she realized she was speaking.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
It was then that Severus should have left, acknowledging his mistake, but stubbornly he stayed to see the memory through, knowing (hoping) for the girl to be guilty, to feel vindicated in his actions when all that followed was dumbfounding unlikelihood.
The two boys jolted, one kept his wand in Yelden's direction while the other spun about to face her. Yelden's reddening face somehow managed to pale momentarily as he caught sight of her. "Brie, NO!"
The one facing Yelden tilted his head and smiled cruelly. "Bout time you got here! Your poor little prince wailed for you." His wand twisted and Laurence was sent spinning in mid-air, whatever was still clinging to his pockets shooting out as the boy screamed, "Stop! Stop!"
He watched as Black's eyes shuttered. "Put him down."
The boy facing her sneered. "Why don't you make us?" Pulling his wand free of his robes, he leveled it in her direction. "You think you can be all high and mighty now when both of us have our wands ready this time."
He could feel her confusion at their taunts. She had no recollection of their faces in the train incident and her worry and fury for the sake of her housemate overrode the brief flickers of confusion. "Let my friend down, now." Her tone left no illusion to it being a request.
Yelden's tormenter laughed darkly. "Oh I don't know." He jerked his wand up and down, stopping just before the younger boy hit the floor before shooting him back to the ceiling, making Severus's blood boil with harsh reminders of his youth. "We're having a grand time aren't we Larry?" Black's face was thunderous and she appeared as if she would have liked nothing more than to peel the skin from his flesh with a spoon.
Yelden stopped screaming after the third near collision with the ground, paralyzed with fear. His bully scowled when the boy went silent and opened his mouth to hiss another spell.
Severus saw the moment of distraction, the closest boy twisted just a little more away from her to shoot his partner an annoyed glare, and despite himself he was impressed to note she saw the same and capitalized upon it immediately.
Severus stared, mind churning with possibilities as the girl systematically cut down her first foe moving with the dangerous ability of a practiced duelist. Vicious, ugly blisters erupted up the boy's neck and across his face as he pathetically tried to raise his wand in retaliation. She stunned him with barely a thought as Yelden's assailant turned to face her, movements fluid in their execution. She fired a bat-bogey hex, eyes on Yelden's free falling form.
Yeasely was too slow to dodge but far more competent in his dueling ability than his companion because Severus noted the counter curse already on his lips and pointed at himself while Black moved past him to prevent Yelden from a critically dangerous meeting with the floor
Arresto momentum slowed his descent to crawl but the levitation charm kept him from slowly pushing his face into the ground. Then she was dodging a sickly green jinx from behind unable to spare more time to Yelden's safety.
A snarl was on her opponent's lips as he pelted progressively more severe hexes and curses at her and Black did her best to remain unharmed but a slicing hex slipped through, hardly damaging compared to the other attacks facing her but she hissed and something in her expression changed. Suddenly Hogwarts hallway twisted into a dimly lit chamber. Soft white sconces lined the walls and the ceiling was respectably high and flat. Smooth stone was beneath their feet and Severus's hackles raised when he spotted Sirius Black across from him wand raised and a cool expression on his face.
Severus curiously enough had never seen that look on the man before. Their hateful snipes back in their Hogwarts days were never so dispassionate and assessing. The girl beside him was breathing hard, cuts littering her clothing and the fabric stained red around the upper arms, her right calf and left side of her ribcage. The elder Black fired off volley after volley of dark curses, bombarding his daughter's hastily erected shield with quantity and power so much so the girl was gasping with the effort to hold her defense. Severus may have grunted with the concentration needed to maintain his own shield and was chilled at the understanding that this was not a new experience for her. She had entered a flashback, the boy's hit was enough of a reminder to trigger one.
Black's daughter snarled off two consecutive bludgeoning hexes that missed by a hair. Black's expression shifted into something like disappointment and Severus could feeling the pain, anger, and desperation to be better pool within her. She dove into a roll and spat out a bone crushing jinx, shifted her aim and fired a decapitation curse for her father's head-
But a scream of agony rent the air, shattering the illusion like fragile glass. Black stared in mounting horror at the boy clutching his arm, howling in pain on his knees across the hallway. Two harsh indents stood out on the wall beside him with a deep curved slash three feet above his head.
Severus released the spell, mind snapping back into his own as something writhed in his gut. He hadn't been in her mind for long, a minute, maybe two, but the combination of his spent ire and the shock of feeling her change from a semi serious spat to the desperation of determined prey left him disoriented.
Black eyes focused with agonizing clarity on the limp body clutched in Yelden's hands. Severus stilled as watery blood continued to trickle from the girl's nose. Her grey eyes stared unseeing, glazed, and pupils mismatched- one blown wide.
He could hear Yelden's half hysterical cries of "Brie? Brie? Wake up! Professor-"
Severus closed his eyes, distantly hearing his voice command Yelden to stop yapping and gather the boy's things while he took Brie Black to safety.
The potion's master didn't register gathering the girl in his hands when he could just as easily cast a levitation charm nor did he notice Yelden's fumbled attempts to follow him.
He made a mistake. A terrible, unforgivable mistake that could very well cost the life of an innocent child. Black's child.
If the man hadn't hated him before, he would after this.
Severus couldn't bring her to the hospital wing. The others were there and it was suicide for her to be defenseless in their presence. If they were willing to stoop to this kind of ploy, they would try something far more idiotic as shamed and beaten as they were now. Pomphrey would have to come to the Slytherin guest chambers.
His guts clenched painfully in something he hadn't felt so sharply since that day he called Lily out of name. Guilt, his mind supplied pointedly. That's what happens when you fuck up so royally you don't know who to turn to. The guilt worsened as the girl remained unresponsive in his grip and Yelden fretfully fluttered about like a particularly useless moth.
"Professor, you'll help her get better won't you? She- she doesn't know I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't-"
"Mr. Yelden." Severus interrupted once they reached the corridor that branched to the common room. "You will go to your dorm, you will speak to no one, and you will wait until I call upon you, do you understand?" The boy blinked wide eyes at him and Severus fought the urge to growl. "Do you understand?"
"Ye-yes sir."
Appeased, Severus swirled away and stalked off, pace just short of running.
Of course of all the students he'd used Legilimency on, Brie Black would be the one in one thousand to have Ursa's Weakness.
(A/N): Hopefully all the little hints that something was wrong with Brie's mind come together now. This is why the hat's scan hurt, why Brie is sensitive to magic, ect.
Next chapter: Fallout and lots and lots of bad vibes.
More feels for a while before we get to light hearted schooling again.
Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
~Yasha's Sis