Aaaand it's been two months since I update. A crucio for me, then. :)
Trixie Black Lestrange
A few days later, Estella rose early in the morning and went to the Hospital Wing to report for her apprenticeship. She frowned to see more of the beds were filled, and as she walked into the office to find her apron, she greeted Madam Pomfrey and asked her, "Was there a fight? So many new students here."
"Veela," Madam Pomfrey grumbled. "They got carried away with their mates at the ball and shredded them up a bit. Their magic is too different: the wounds aren't healing properly, but I'm working on a bit of of salve that will help with that." She walked off, muttering about "dragons" and "Veela," then called over her shoulder. "Hurry up and come join me."
Estella scrambled to obey, hurrying after the matron. She silently helped the woman, only asking questions every now and then in between patients. None of the Veela victims seemed too talkative, though Estella was receiving glares from some of them. It wasn't until a few minutes later that she realised that two or three of the boys were the Durmstrang students that she had attacked with her bitemates.
"Hisssusss doesn't like us," Icythan said in amusement, poking his head out of his mistress's sleeve.
"Do not show yourssself," Estella hissed, pulling her sleeve over the serpent's head. "You must remain undetected to mossst of these!"
"Hisssusss!" complained two or three of the other bitemates.
Estella did not say anything to the bitemates, wondering what made them so much more bloodthirsty now. She felt her mother's impression on her mind before the woman seemed to say, "Your father wishes me to tell you that the bitemates become more hungry for food once they have tasted human flesh."
The girl winced slightly, hiding it enough that she was sure it wouldn't be visible to those around her. She knew only a few of the basilisks had been actually bitten victims the two times she had ever ordered them to attack. She would have to speak to her father directly about how to work with serpents that were learning to attack on command.
"We are not dangerous to you," Odessa said, offended, and Tishri interrupted her sister.
"It isss not that we are dangerousss," she said firmly. "Missstress doesss not know how to train usss. She mussst have our Master's counsssel."
"I wish to make each of you the bessst you can be," Estella murmured to them, looking down at the wounds Madam Pomfrey was currently dressing. "I need sssomeone with more knowledge to show me the way."
A second later, the young witch looked up at the sound of someone calling her name. She was surprised to see one of the Lestrange twins and walked over to him, realising it was Karntaan. "What happened to you?" she asked, marveling at his injuries. "Did you tangle with Nymphadora?"
Karnt sighed and sat up gingerly. "When I went back to the dormitories, someone had told Ro about me dancing with her," he muttered. "Seems he shared Draco's opinion, though he didn't appreciate my mentioning that."
"I'm sorry," Estella sighed as the bitemates hissed their sympathy for the Dark magic coursing through the young boy. "I—"
"Don't say anything," Karnt ordered her. "It was my decision, though that doesn't make me happy with Ro now, does it?" He frowned. "Do you think I should get even with him?"
"Not like this," Estella said. "Only if you have a subtle opportunity—you know this, Karnt. Did you fight in the Common Room?" she added curiously.
"No, in our room. Meris tried to stop us, but we both yelled at him to stay out of it." Karntaan laughed. "I don't think he knows what to do with us most of the time. It's like he tries to be our big brother. I already have one; I don't need two."
"Yes," Estella agreed with a sigh. "I know the feeling. Just remember that you're the only true Lestranges Meris knows, and he would probably like to keep you in one piece."
Karnt shook his head slightly, lying back against the pillows. "It's like I told Draco," he said stubbornly. "We need to have our fun now before the Dark Lord returns. And if Dora was okay with a dance, then so was I." He fell silent for a moment, then said, "Rita Skeeter is writing another article...I heard Draco and Rohan talking about it. I don't think your Gryffindor friends are going to like it at all."
Estella raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she asked curiously.
"I can't be the one to tell you," Karnt said, then chuckled. "May I be there when you Curse Draco?"
"If the timing works out," Estella grinned. "This sounds promising."
"Parkington!"
Estella looked up quickly, hearing the matron call for her, and nodded to Karntaan before hurrying to the witch. "I want you to be able to do the check-up rounds on your own by the end of the year," she said to her apprentice. "So I want you right with me so you can learn quickly."
The young witch bit her lip nervously and nodded obediently. She did her best to pay attention to all the small charms and spells that Madam Pomfrey so easily and naturally performed as she moved from patient to patient. She made some notes so that she could go back and study the different spells that were used.
Estella dragged herself back down to the Slytherin dungeons when she was sent away for the evening, absolutely exhausted. She was walking toward the girls' dorm when she heard her name spoken softly and looked around to find the silent portrait of Salazar Slytherin watching her. She was about to ask him what he wanted when Megan hurried up to her and said, "Lauren's looking for you—you looked exhausted, Stel. Quick: go upstairs and I'll make your excuses."
"Thanks," Estella said gratefully, scurrying away and up the stairs. She looked at her books and groaned, deciding to go straight to bed and deal with her homework the next day, but she had barely crawled into bed when she heard voices arguing outside their room.
"Leave her alone!" Megan was saying sharply. "She's tired and doesn't want to talk."
"Get out of the way," came Lauren's voice. "Really, Sage? Don't threaten me."
Estella sat up and waved her hand at the door, letting it bang open. "By all means, argue outside," she snapped at them. "What is it now?"
Lauren looked over Megan's head at her. "I just want to talk."
"That's what they all say," Estella muttered. "Well, come in. I won't be sleeping with you two yelling in the hall."
"Sssorry," Megan hissed before hurrying away down the hall and leaving Lauren to enter the room alone.
"I need to talk to you," Lauren sighed. "I didn't want to bother you, but I guess I have to."
"What do you want?" Estella frowned at the older girl.
The blonde witch conjured a chair and sat down next to the bed. "I wanted to ask you about Castella," she said, biting her lip. "I need to know some things."
Estella sat up in her bed, her bitemates slithering into her lap as she defensively asked, "Like what?"
"How did you even learn who she was?" Lauren whispered, the words seeming to give her pain. "She didn't tell you, I'm sure."
"The Chamber of Secrets," Estella said after considering her reply for a moment, "has a room that can recall anything that has happened at Hogwarts. One night, when I was too curious for my own good, I asked it to show me a scene with Dora and one of my brothers. At the end of that scene, she morphed herself and went down to the Slytherin Common Room and met Melvin. I watched them duel, watched them cuddle, and watched as she turned down his marriage offer. I don't know anything more about them than what I saw right then. I was too horror struck to continue investigating."
"Wait," Lauren said in shock. "Melvin actually asked her to marry him?"
"Yes," Estella answered with a sigh. "And she said no. She told him he deserved better—she had misled everyone into thinking she was pureblood, just like he had misled everyone into thinking he was pureblood."
Lauren blinked, shaking her head as she struggled to accept the idea. "I don't understand," she groaned, burying her face in her hands. "They're just so different! How can they be the same?"
"I think Castella is the darkness inside Nymphadora Tonks," Estella said after a moment. "That was something she struggled to understand in herself at school. Dora needed to explore her powers, needed to find out who she was, even at her worst. School gave her the first opportunity."
"I don't know..." Lauren shook her head. "She didn't tell me all the things I needed to know before she disappeared—returned to herself, I guess."
"I could probably...arrange something, if you would like," Estella offered hesitantly, unsure how the blonde witch would react. "I have contact, as everyone knows."
"You...would do that?" Lauren asked slowly. "Can you do it without anyone finding out she's here?"
Estella grinned. "I think so," she said. "I'll just need a few days to work it out."
Lauren smiled gratefully and got to her feet. "Thank you, Estella. Sorry to bother you." She walked out of the room quietly, and Estella snuggled beneath her blankets with a yawn. She would have to figure out the details later.
"Estella?"
The black-haired witch jumped in shock and nearly fell against the wall by the sand rooms. "Father," she said, once she'd made sure she was still alive.
Meretta raised an eyebrow at her, walking up behind her husband. "What are you doing down here at this time of day?" she asked.
"I—I'm not myself," Estella sighed, grinning a little as her parents frowned. "Come along: I'll show you what's going on, because there's no way I could tell you." She led them along, her father staying at her side.
"Where are we going?" he asked her.
"Security Room," Estella replied with a small smirk. "We're going to see a little show tonight."
When the three were in the room, Estella lifted her face and spoke in Parseltongue. "Nymphadora Tonksss: right now."
Her father stared at her in apprehension, the room remaining dark for a few minutes until they blinked, suddenly seeming to be in the dungeons. There was a soft pop! of apparition, and Estella Parkington smirked as her twin seemed to appear in the Deep, grinning wickedly and beginning to walk up toward the Common Room.
"Who the hell is that?!" Meretta demanded, staring at her daughter.
"Castella," Estella answered. "Lauren asked me to arrange a meeting with her."
"As you?!" Meretta said, looking at her daughter in disbelief. "We've been over this!"
"This is different," Estella insisted. "She'll only pretend to be me for a moment until she's closeted away with Lauren. I figured it would be easier this way, as I can walk unhindered and unnoticed fairly easily."
Meretta sighed. "Estella, I don't like it. If she's caught—"
Reginald motioned them to watch, and Estella smiled as Dora seemingly ignored one of the Lestrange boys, walking right past him. "Estella?" he called after her, confused. "Where have you been?"
"Ask me no questions," Dora shot at him over her shoulder, "I tell you no lies. Mind your own business, Lestrange."
"Damn," Estella grinned, leaning into her dad's side as she watched Dora in amusement. "She's more sassy than I am."
"Doesn't she know you're friendly with the Lestranges?" Meretta asked.
"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't tell them off if I was in the mood," the girl smirked. "The twins especially need to be told off once in a while anyway."
They walked Nymphadora make her way up into the Common Room, easily giving the password before slipping into the room. She glanced around the room quickly for the person she was supposed to meet, then walked across the room and up the stairs to the girls' dorm. Dora went straight to the sixth year girls' room and entered quietly without knocking.
The blonde witch immediately got to her feet from the bed, breathing, "Castella?"
"Lauren," Dora smiled, and morphed.
"It's too bad, about her mother," Reginald mused to his wife and daughter. "Nymphadora is a powerful young woman."
Lauren nodded politely. "Thank you for taking the time to see me," she said, making Estella smile.
Nymphadora nodded in return. "I suppose we have Estella to thank for making it possible," she murmured, "though I couldn't imagine what you would want from me now."
"We weren't ready for you to leave us, even though you disappeared after you graduated," Lauren murmured, looking into Dora's dark eyes. "At least, I wasn't. Did you really leave because of who you are?"
"I...had some things to deal with," Dora sighed, sinking down onto the bed as she didn't want to talk about it standing up. "The last week of school, I turned down a marriage proposal from Melvin, and we were both too heartbroken to even talk to each other anymore. I haven't spoken to him since that night."
"Why did you tell him no?" Lauren asked sympathetically. "He wasn't the right one?"
Dora bit her lip. "I thought he was a pureblood," she said very quietly. "I didn't want to be the witch that ruined his family, so I told him he deserved better. Maybe I loved him, but I don't know."
Lauren nodded, her face suddenly filled with compassion. "But he wasn't a pureblood either," she breathed. "Do you think—if he knew—?"
"I can't go back," Nymphadora shook her head. "I'm not the same person: we've both gone separate ways. He aspired to be a Death Eater, and while I pretended to as well, I know I could never be one of them."
Dora took a deep breath. "Anyway," she said, "I couldn't continue in pureblood society like I had been: it would have been much too difficult to hide my identity, and I didn't want to shame anyone. I played the part to know what the other side of me is, to know what I could have been." She looked down at her left hand, closing it into a fist. "I could have become an evil woman, but I chose not to," she murmured. "I don't know if it's what I should have done, but I don't belong, Lauren. I'm not one of you."
"You are!" Lauren burst out, immediately blushing and hoping that no one ever found out she'd said that. "You have just as much Black in you as Draco or the twins, but you act much more like your mother's House than they do!"
"Shh," Dora smirked. "My mother would have a heart attack if she heard you say that." She laughed slightly, then said, "Estella mentioned that there were some things you wanted to know from me?"
"Well, I have asked you most things I wanted to know," Lauren said slowly. "But I also want to know how to choose the next girl to be in power here…."
"It needs to be a mixture of someone powerful, and someone that can speak easily to most of the Slytherins," Dora answered. "I chose you, because most of the girls like you, and you're smart enough to lead them. I don't think I've seen anyone like you in the recent generation, but Megan Sage is a good idea, and Cherea Charleston would have been perfect if she'd been in Slytherin."
"Enough!" Estella said, and her parents blinked at each other, looking at her as the lights came back up. "I don't want to know what she thinks about us." She looked up at her mother and father. "I'll go back to the Common Room later tonight. We can't be caught."
"You could always stay here," Reginald shrugged. "I wouldn't mind."
Estella grinned as the bitemates all agreed with their Master's words. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll be here until morning, then." She hugged both her parents, then hurried from the room.
The bitemates immediately came alive, Icythan hissing, "See bitematesss!"
She laughed. "Okay," she agreed, and went to the sand room, finding the rest of her bitemates eager to see her. "Greetingsss," she said to them, leaning down to take all of them onto her body.
"Missstress, Missstress," they hissed excitedly, slithering over her robes as she rose and left the room.
She went to the room she always stayed in and curled up in the big comfortable chair, talking to her serpents as they basked in her warmth and magic. She loved to hear them talk to each other and her, and Teneski's voice seemed to come from far away: "Master offersss to teach Missstress about how bitematesss attack tomorrow."
Estella smiled, knowing her father still held the smallest bitemate. "That would be lovely," she replied, all the bitemates hissing in agreement. She would gladly stay in the Chamber all weekend if it meant that her father would teach her about their seventeen serpents.
