2nd September 2023
She was only tiny, and had her father's lighter skin and her mother's black hair but it was in thick, small ringlets like her grandfather's had been. She had her mother's eyes, which were dark, dark brown.
Mina looked at the baby.
"It's like someone mashed both of us together." She whispered to Luce. He nodded.
"I think that's exactly what happened."
Mina smiled and he kissed her cheek.
"You look worried." Luce said, he lifted the baby from her arms and cooed to her.
Mina wrung her hands.
"There are no parents to fix her," she said, Luce gave her his 'what on earth are you on about' look.
"With other kids, I teach them bad words like poppycock and boobie, and tell them to pick their noses and have food fights and put their elbows on the table, and then their parents take them and fix them. But we have to actually look after her. Make sure she eats healthy food and drinks plenty of water and sleeps well, and we have to put bandaids on her boo-boos."
Lucian laughed at his wife.
"We'll be fine, love."
"I always thought Mum and Dad would be here to help-"
"Oh honey," Lucian put their daughter in her bassinet and hugged Mina tightly. "They'll still help," He said, "Everything that they did or taught you while you were growing up will help, and they'll be watching and smiling, I guarantee it."
Mina nodded and wiped her eyes. The door to the infirmary creaked.
"Sirius?" Mina asked the green eyed man was almost sneaking into the room, looking nervous.
"I'll leave you two alone," Lucian said he quickly scurried out of the room.
Sirius looked into the bassinet and smiled, Mina hadn't seen that smile for so long and it pulled at her heart.
"She's beautiful," Sirius signed. "Looks like you."
Mina just nodded.
"I'm sorry," Sirius signed. "It was wrong of me to think you needed to be protected, especially since you were right. Whatever time we had would have been better-" Sirius didn't finish, he just dropped his hands to his side.
He glanced at her daughter again and she saw something in his eyes that she would never forget.
Jealousy
"I won't ask for another chance, Mina, it's not fair on you, you've moved on, and I have too, but I want my friend back."
Mina smiled at him.
"I want that too, Siri."
She stood shakily out of bed and he came over to make sure she didn't fall.
And he hugged her, just an innocent hug.
Mina lay back down in bed and smiled at him when he sat on the side of the mattress.
"So," Mina sat up and picked up her baby. "Are you going to hold her?"
Sirius looked so terrified she just laughed at him, he was as stiff and proper as ever with the baby in his arms, and he looked terrified.
"Stop it you won't drop her."
Sirius gave her a look that she clearly read as 'wanna bet.'
She glared at him.
He gave her the baby back.
"Did you name it?" He asked now that his hands were free.
"No," She sighed. "I don't want to name her Parvati, Lucian does, but it's a morbid name, hello sweetheart I named you after your butchered grandmother."
"It'll just remind you of it as well," Sirius signed. "Mum has that problem with me."
"I didn't know your name had significance."
"I was named after Sirius Black, he was mum's godfather, James was after her father, Teddy was named after his grandfather, Scorpius' middle name is Severus after Severus Snape, Lucas is named after Lucius Malfoy who was a good dad to Ayah before he went insane, and Prae is named in honour of the house of black, because technically Mums the rightful heir since Sirius named her his son/daughter. And her middle name is Lily after Mum's mum."
"I want to honour my parents, but not in an obvious way." Mina said, and then she gently touched the baby's forehead. Sirius grabbed a piece of paper and wrote on it.
Dena
"Dena." Mina read.
"It's a feminine form of the name Dean." Sirius signed. She nodded.
"I'll run it by Luce," Mina told him; she grabbed his hand before he could leave.
"Thank you," She smiled at him and he offered her a sad smile back.
Lucian came back in as soon as Sirius left.
"What about Dena?" Mina asked him, he smiled.
"I like it," he said, "Dena," he smiled.
"And a second name?" She asked.
"Shae?" He asked, "After my mother?"
"Your mother was a prostitute," Mina pointed out.
"She was still my mother, and the brothel wouldn't let her keep me, that is why she gave me to my father."
"Alright, I like that name anyway," Mina said.
"Dena Shae Biancardi."
31st December 2023
Lorcana was just quietly walking down Diagon alley on New Years Eve. There were groups of witches and wizards walking around, loud and drunk celebrating another year. Many of them were yelling their faith and love for the Lady of Light, or their wives, or their penis. They were just being loud.
Lorcana ignored them, she was heading towards the post office, who were openly supporting the Lady of Light to the point of censoring her experimental 'Lady Of Light bashing' letters and she wanted to know why, censorship had never been apart of the media and it should never be.
Her magazine was taking off, she had already created pockets of doubt about the Lady of Light and the ministry's involvement in her extreme cause, there was a new head of department every week now, with no reason for the new appointments, some people, like Hugo Weasley, who was the new head of the Department of Magical Transportation even though he was only just out of Hogwarts or Gilles Harvey, who was the same age as Scorpius and already head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes (when honestly, Mina should have gotten that job when the position opened) Lorcana stopped outside the post office and was reaching for the door when a man walked up behind her.
"Stupefy"
1st January 2024
"She's been writing rubbish in that rag of hers, about me – about us."
"But still, it goes against what we stand for."
"James," there was a sigh, Lorcana risked it and silt her eyes open a fraction. All she could make out were two blurry figures, one dark, and the other light. "Look, for this to work, we all need to make sacrifices. I sacrificed my Magic; you must sacrifice your aura, please?"
The dark one nodded and pulled his wand.
"We need dark wizards for this to work, you always knew that."
"But, I'll be bad-" The light figure kissed the dark one.
"No," she said, "You can never be bad, you will be powerful and righteous and a hero, you will be the reason I win this, you will bring peace to our utopia."
"You're right," He walked over and nudged her, Lorcana lifted her head.
Then there was pain. Her skin burned and her blood boiled and she screwed her eyes shut.
Then it stopped.
She took no notice of the figures in the room anymore, because it felt like nails were being driven into her ears.
Then it stopped.
And then her skin split. Cuts opened up on every available surface and bled and stung, cuts opened up on top of those cuts and she screamed.
Then it stopped.
"James, its working!" Lorcana paid no mind to the exclamation as she began coughing, blood, and spit and her insides felt like they just ripped away from her body.
Then it stopped.
24th January 2024
"Witches and Wizards, devoted and pure supporters of the Lady of Light!" Harry watched her son prance around on stage, in his red/orange cloak. A woman in a fitted white cloak that faded down to the red of James' at her feet stood on a raised platform on the stage behind him. "Its time to see your Lady," James yelled and the crowd cheered. There were hundreds all packed into Diagon alley. "Its time to see her Aura, and feel what we want for all of you."
The woman on the stage pulled her hood down as James cast a spell. The red hair of Rose Weasley cascaded over the white clad shoulders and she shone a dull but still bright somehow, pure white. Harry felt a wave of pure bliss wash over her and she frowned.
She had seen Draco's aura and recognised the addictive undertone and falseness that dark magic provided.
She pulled the final copy of the Lorcana Times from her pocket.
THE LADY OF LIGHT, NOT SO PURE!
By Lorcana Zabini
There are select few 'neutral' wizards left in Wizarding Britain, most have been seduced by the 'greatness' the mysterious Lady of Light promises us, but here it is the truth about light and dark magic.
Magic is a sentient being and we can treat it like an infection, it wants to be used and this is how we separate light and dark magic.
Now we all know about Aura's now and what our Aura is, and neutral magic – the spells in books and what we all learned at Hogwarts, doesn't affect this aura. We have the power we were born with, and the colour we were born with.
But we can change our aura, which is where light and dark magic come in.
Those that lived through any war know what a dark wizard is and the pain they can inflict, and there's both downsides and upsides to using dark magic, the magic makes a person gain power, you draw on the power of the world, and whoever you're harming. Then your aura tells you how unstoppable and powerful you are. This constant feeling of superiority is a false one; every dark lord has been defeated no matter how dark they are.
But the use of dark magic will drive you mad.
Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Grindelwald and Lucius Malfoy are a few noted Dark Wizards who were driven mad by their own aura.
Light wizards haven't existed for an awfully long time because they are useless. Light magic is the counter curses for dark magic, and you're rewarded by the magic with a constant sense of undoubtedly being a good person, love, happiness and righteousness, again this is a false feeling. As the feelings evoked by Dark Magic have been termed Madness, the feelings evoked by Light Magic are termed Bliss and they are both as dangerous and false as the other.
The penalty for using exclusively Light Magic as the Lady of Light is pushing for us to do, is the loss of your magic. You may counter dark spells, and have a feeling of bliss, but no apparition, no levitation charms, no healing charms, nothing.
Before you rally behind this extremist stranger, remember she is trying, in effect to ban magic, and we will not have the convenience of things muggles use to get by without magic because the heavy magical signatures in wizarding homes, streets and buildings wont allow for such things to work.
Finally I leave you with this, if Light Magic can only be used to counter Dark Magic, how is the Lady of Light using so much Light Magic to change her own aura, when there are no active Dark Wizards in out community?
It suggests she has a Dark Wizard along side her, the minister, perhaps?
The residents of Malfoy Manor believed it was the article that got her killed. And now Rose Weasley shows up with an aura whiter than the sun and prances around on stage winning over the support of hundreds of people with her false bliss.
"Come on Scorp." Harry grabbed Scorp's attention and Lucas' hand and took her children away from the crowd.
"Most of the ministry are against her," Scorpius told his mother, "granted every day people are being replaced but the people who were there are all against her. I've been handing out these fake Knuts," Scorpius said, showing her a Knut. "I took the idea from the DA galleons you told me about.
"It's more of a, 'when we need to rally against her, we'll keep you in mind' thing, I didn't tell them anything other than that, oh and that the activation word is 'mo-jo' when it gets hot.
"That's brilliant, Scorp, what if they go to Weasley?"
By now they were nearing George's shop.
"Their tongue sticks to the roof of their mouth unless they're talking to another Knut-bearer. And I already know word's getting around because I have people coming up to me at work and requesting them."
"What about people who are coming along to plan to attack?" Harry asked a bit concerned.
Scorpius smiled widely, "When we summon them, the coins automatically pretrificus totaluas them all." Harry laughed at the grin on her sons face.
"That's quite brilliant," She said.
They walked through the doors into WWW, George looked pale.
"Rosie is the Lady of Light?" He asked weakly. Harry nodded sadly at him.
"My little niece," George sighed.
"It gets worse," Harry shuffled through the handful of newspapers in her hands showing him one with James and the hooded Rose kissing.
"They're first cousins," Harry said painfully, "and they're together."
George cringed.
"Egh," He said.
"I think she may have killed Lorcana too," Harry said, "well J-J-James did." Harry wiped her eyes.
"I think Ana was right," Scorp took the Lorcana Times off Harry and continued.
"James is her Dark wizard, and he's using Dark magic on animals and people so she can counter it to enhance her aura and make him stronger. I also think she's the one who tried to kill me," Scorpius said, "Because I always beat her in potions, and she had a thing about being the smartest ever. Then Ron Weasley was killed with the same potion?"
Harry's eyes went wide. "Potions have no alignment, so she can use them without darkening her aura."
"She's a bloody psychopath!" George said. "That need to be the smartest ever is true, she always was fishing for complements about how bright she was and Ron ignored her most of the time, always pointed out her flaws pushed her to be better – he meant well by it, she had so much potential but she just couldn't do it."
All four people in the room turned when the shop bell rang.
"Paolo?" Harry asked, "It's nice to see you again what-"
"Shut up Potter," Paolo said, "Scorpius Potter,"
"Malfoy," Scorpius corrected with narrowed eyes.
"Scorpius Malfoy you are hereby under arrest for the Murder of Lorcana Zabini and conspiracy against the ministry." Paolo snatched Scorp's wand and bound him with an Incacerous spell.
"Wait a second!" Harry yelled, "He was at home right over Christmas and new years!"
"Or with you at the ministry," Scorpius said.
"Save it for the trial, Potter."
"Scorpius!" Lucas snatched his brother's wand off Paolo who looked sour.
"The family are entitled to keep it." Harry said sourly.
"Don't worry Scorp," Harry held his arm "we'll clear your name."