CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
thoughts´
"talking English"
°°Vampire language, also called Vampiric Mot°°
House-elf language, also called Gaëla
# Language of the Werewolves, also called Grawl #
/Language of the Goblins, also called Gobbledegook/
§ Centaur language, also called Starwan §
Written language
LAST CHAPTERThe words ´specialist´ and ´Mind Magic´ pulled at something in Jenna´s mind, but it was hard to place. She raised imploring eyes at her Master.
Master noticed immediately and sent a burst of Legilimens at her. He guided her around, helping her find the memories she was looking for. Together they returned to the normal world with matching understanding in their eyes.
Fred and George looked at them curiously, when Jenna and her Master entoned at the same time the solution to the problem.
"The Veela"
Fred watched with a bit of annoyance as his girlfriend paced in front of the window, throwing a hopeful glance at the sky every now and then. Ever since she had sent the letter to her Veela friends, she had anxiously been waiting for a reply. Now, two days later, her patience was all but lost.He cleared his throat and asked a question in hope of making Jenna settle down for a second. If he could get her to sit down, he could give his stomach a chance to settle down. All that pacing was making him nauseaus. Fred grinned despite himself. Only Jenna could make him seasick on land.
"So, how come the Veela know about Mind Magic?"
For a second Jenna stared at him incredulously, before her expression turned sad again. "I don´t remember.. " She stuttered in shame, before pulling herself together again and continuing in a stronger voice. "I don´t remember everything, but I do know the general reason."
George looked up, interested in the coming explanation.
Jenna went on with a slight frown on her face as she tried to recall the information. "Veela are very sensual creatures. Their whole life and existence is built on attraction and seduction. All full-blooded Veela have a natural sexual grace, but also an explosive temper. It is very dangerous to let either of those loose, so Veela have developed a high level of Mind Magic. That way they can keep control of their emotions and such. It is vital for them."
George frowned. "Didn´t they ever teach you?"
"Uh, well it doesn´t really work that way." Jenna sighed. "I am a part of their world, but I can´t take on any characteristics of the Veela, nor learn any of their magic. I´m just not built like them. And I already had shields around my mind. Master taught me."
Fred nodded. That did make sense. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a silver raven. His mind immediately recognised the animal as the one of the Veela mark on Jenna´s stomach.
Jenna squeeled, echoed by Izzy who also let out a delighted squeel at the happyness of his Mistress.
She tore the letter open and let her eyes fly over the paper. When she was finished, she gave a sigh of relief and ran towards the door leading to the Potions Lab. She knocked once and entered. "They are sending their specialist tomorrow."
Master nodded in acknowledgement, but spent no time further with small-talk. His potions needed his focus.
Familiar with her Master´s short answers when he was brewing, Jenna walked back to her boys and plopped between them on the couch tiredly. The frantic anticipation had left her now that she knew help was on the way. Laying her head on George´s shoulder, Jenna yawned. "So, did anything interesting happen at the Burrow while I was away?"
"Not really. Mom has been antsy ever since you left. She keeps looking at the goblet you gave her. I think she feels guiltly for letting the Potters take you with them." George mused.
Fred nodded. "Yeah, I heard her talking to Dad. They both think something´s wrong in your family but they don´t think it is their place to intervene." He smiled bitterly. "The fact that Dumbledore backs the Potters doesn´t work in our favor either."
George perked up. "At least they like you enough to worry about you. Overall I think it went alright for a first visit." He cast a sardonic glance at Fred. "At least better than how Fred acted with the Centaurs."
Blushing a bit, Fred defended himself. "Well how was I to know the Centaurs would consider that an insult?"
Happy at the lighter turn the conversation had taken, Jenna piped in sarcastically. "You said you had never seen such well cleaned hooves on a normal horse. How were they supposed to take it?"
Fred winced and tried tentively. "As a compliment?"
Unable to keep his laughter in, George cut off his brother´s pathetic defense. "Ah well, luckily you managed to placate them with your compliments about their tails."
"Yes, I am rather charming, aren´t I?" Fred boasted smugly. He didn´t duck in time to avoid the pillow Jenna wacked at his head.
After a second of surprise, Fred let loose a savage battle cry and grabbed a pillow to launch a counter attack.
All thoughts of the coming trial with the Veela were lost in a flurry of flying feathers and pillows. Severus watched from the doorway with a small amount of relief as his Apprentice laid off her burdens and played as a child for one afternoon.
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The arrival was sudden. A low rumbling, followed by a shimmer and Dame Adeia Le Feu strode into the room. None of the three males had ever been exposed to a fullblooded Veela before, as their society was notoriously secluded. Therefore it wasn´t a big surprise to Jenna, that it took them more than a minute to recover from the shock of seeing this beautiful creature before them.
Jenna took the time to greet the guest to the best of her manners; A deep curtesy and a respectful "Bonjour Dame le Feu." The Veela nodded coolly, though the small raising of her eyebrow conveyed her amusement at the men´s reactions.
Adeia was exquisit and she knew it. Like all Veela she had red long hair, a testament of the explosive temperament that was inheret to them. Her face was pale and smooth. And utterly cool. Everything about her, from her carefully groomed eyebrows, to her silver robe, to her highheeled sandals shone with an irrisistable sexual power. Not the usual hot passion. Instead it was a Cold that seeped through the skin and warned the watchers that they would never even stand a chance with her. She was the ultimate ice-queen. And she knew it.
"I believe you were in need of help?" Her voice was enough to lower the temperature in the room to freezingpoint.
Seeing the men were incapable of answering, Jenna spoke. "Oui, ma Dame. A malicious, dark force attacked my thoughts, invading and destroying. I humbly require your help in rebuilding and protecting the sacret cavern of my mind. You Dame le Feu, above all others, know those things that remain mystery to us about the Magic of the Mind. May I ask for your help? " As always around Veela, Jenna found herself talking in a sort of flowery prose. It had annoyed her at first, but she had seen the appreciation the Veela had for her way with words around them. They believed it to be a subconscious way to show her appreciation for their race. Jenna just shrugged and went along with it. It came to her naturally.
Dame le Feu tilted her head. "Child of many worlds…and words." Jenna blushed at the nickname she had gained. "Introduce your companions."
Jenna nodded. "This is my Master, Severus Snape, dark like a night of comfort and hiding. Potions and the mind are his fortes. Alas, his teachings of shields did not protect my mind from the tainted magic, as is the reason for your invitation. These twin fires are my mates, Fred and George Weasley. From the family of Children and Love they have stood beside me like pillars of stone, yet of fire they are. Flexible, unpredictable and dangerous to those they wish to harm."
She ignored the surprised looks of the humans at her introductions and let her mind flow with the soothing coldness of the Dame. "This is Dame Adeia le Feu. She is wind as she is ice. The harshest storm or the gentlest fall of snowflocks. La Dame rules the eastern part of our Veela society and there are none as wise as she in the way of the Mind. Show your appreciation and celebrate her coming."
Finally overcoming his shock, Master bowed curtly. "Good afternoon, Dame le Feu. It is an honour to meet one of your noble race."
Fred and George followed suit, though a bit more clumsily, resulting in another titled eyebrow in amusement. "I am most pleased to meet you. The Child has spoken of you often in her letters."
Suddenly her beautiful face contorted into a frown. She locked her eyes with Jenna and easily looked into the deepest of her mind. "Yes, you need help. You are in grave danger, Child. Let us begin."
Jenna nodded. If the Dame thought it that important to start right away, it was pressing indeed.
Three hours later Jenna was ready to cry. Dame le Feu had initiated a link between their two minds and had looked through practically everything in an effort to find the source of the light. In the Veela´s theory, Jenna had subconsciously drawn on the power of something connected to her to repell the attack. The Dame was determined to find it and use it to make Jenna strong enough mental shields to avert another attack.
Jenna shivered as another mental probe violated her mind. The probes were as icy as the person who sent them and Jenna couldn´t help but hate to be this exposed. Even to the Dame. Even if she was helping. Jenna felt naked and helpless and it Wasn´t. Helping! Three hours had it gone on! The Dame had looked at every relationship she had formed over the years. Every little memory that might give the answer was examined and discarded with no more than a clinical interest. The Ice Queen had absolutely no regard for Jenna´s embarrassment or pain. And all that for nothing.
Aware of the continuous trembling and the increasing loathing of the Child, Adeia le Feu let up the search for a moment. It had been agonizing work and very draining to perform this kind of search, especially with a mind this choatic and a not completely willing patient. Drawing her magic aroung her for strength, Dame le Feu spoke in her usual icy voice. She had worked too hard on her mask to let it be cracked by a bit of exhaustion. "The strongest bonds I can find are those between you and your Master, your mates, a werewolf Alpha and a vampiress. But none of them were responsible for this, I´m certain of it." She cast a thoughtful glance at the youngest Potter. "Do you have any ideas?"
Racking her brain for a solution so the probes would just end, Jenna came up with nothing. "No, I don´t. I just don´t want this anymore." Unable to help herself, Jenna crossed her arms over her body to convey her refusal to budge on this. In the back of her mind a little voice screamed at her to stop acting so unrespectful to the Veela. Dame le Feu was a very influencial person in Veela society and not a very forgiving one at that. But the coldness, fear and plain exhaustion were too much for the teen. She turned her eyes away to avoid another mental probe.
Dame le Feu shot her an icy glare. "Now is not the time for childish acts. This is serious."
"Don´t you think I know that!" Jenna exploded half in tears. "Don´t you think it scares me to death to even think about another attack? I Just Don´t Know What Saved Me. I can´t take another one of this. I just want it to stop." Jenna wailed and launched herself at her boyfriends.
Master sighed and pinched his nose. "I don´t believe this will help, Dame le Feu. It is clearly too much for her."
The Veela Dame shook her head slightly, with confidence. "No. You called for my help and you will receive it. She will stay here until I have found what I am looking for." Dame le Feu looked at the red-eyed snivelling mess and raised an eyebrow in disapproval. Ignoring the protests of the three human males she whispered frigidly. "Child, cease this. You are a Veela. Act like one!"
Even through her sobs, Jenna didn´t miss the order in the words of the Dame. If she refused now, the older Veela would lose all respect for her. She looked up and winced involuntarily at the bludgerlike invasion of the new probe. Dame le Feu wasn´t happy with her. Not at all.
This time the older Veela didn´t let up until she had found her goal. In the end it was Jenna falling unconscious that provided the answer. As soon as Jenna went limp and her last defenses fell, a pale white glow covered her body, like a blanket to keep her warm. Dame le Feu gasped as she was forcefully evicted from the girl´s mind by the feral power she had been looking for. She risked another probe, to identify it and hurried her mental self back into the safety of her own mind before it could launch its attack.
With a small, smug smile the Dame sat back. It was unfortunate that the Child had taken this so hard, but it was worth it. "I have…."
She was cut off as a small fuzzball finally struggled out of one of the redheads´ restraining hands and hopped towards her determinedly. The little animal squeaked angrily and started jumping up and down on the Dame´s sandal-clad foot. It was obvious he was very upset and even ran full force against her ankles in his attempt at attack. Not even Ice-queen Adeia le Feu could contain an amused smile as the animal tried to hurt her, but instead merely managed to tickle her with his fur. "I see the Child has gained a familiar along the way."
Fred nodded curtly. "And he isn´t very happy that you hurt her." The unspoken message that he wasn´t either was very easy to see.
The Dame inclined her head in acknowledgement. "I understand. I have discerned the solution to the problem, however."
Not known for his patience on the best of days, Severus barked out. "Well?"
Dame le Feu shot him a faintly reproving look at his impatience. "The Child did not gain this strength by drawing upon another´s. That is why it took me so long. I was looking for an outside force, not realising I should have looked in her subconscious." Seeing the blank faces she elaborated. "The pale light is that of the moon. I do not understand completely how this being came to be. I can only guess it is a mental manifestation of a werewolf. While she has not been infected the normal way, she has been bitten and marked. Most likely that magic has somehow been twisted, creating this entity. I believe it was dormant until now, but I imagine that an attack as strong as the one she survived called upon these feral instincts in an act of desperation."
George looked pensively down at the hair he was softly stroking. "But why did it leave again? Why did it only react when Jen fell unconscious just now?"
The Veela explained calmly. "She has locked him away in her subconscious. He is only able to act if she is no longer in control. You must teach her to accept him and to invoke him permanently. He must become the guardian to her mind. That way nothing will succeed in entering her mind again without his permission."
With that she stood and gazed down calmly at the unconscious teen. "I can do no more for her. I suggest you let her spend some time with her Werepack." Her nose crinkled almost unnoticeably in disgust. "A free night under the full moon will go a long way for her healing. After the establishment of this defense you can start reorganising her mind." Dame le Feu stroked Jenna´s dark hair softly. "Good luck, Child. I am proud of you." After that she strode out of the room regally, choosing to ignore smug sounding victory-squeaks emitted by the little wuppy who had just driven off a threat to his Mistress.
END CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
A/N. A special thanks to EKI-ember, who suggested some names for eventual Veela ladies a long time ago. I happily used ´Adeia´ which means ´noble´. I do admit I don´t speak french that well, nor that I care that I called the Veela: Noble the Fire.
I´ve read sooo many stories where the Veela have silver hair (and the Malfoys are Veela) that I decided to do something different. Here, Veela all have red hair and explosive tempers. I think that a species as passionate as the Veela with their allure and wings with anger would need very drastic emotion control to keep themselves in check. I imagine that they only show their true passionate self with the ones they are closest to, and show an extremely icy exterior to others. It was also nice for a change to write about a species that didn´t turn out as pleasant as the rest I´ve written about. In short: Veela aren´t nice.