July 2010
They spend the month away at France.
Delphini likes the way they pronounce their names here, how her surname loses the hissing and acquires softer, deeper notes. The way these people roll their tongues when addressing her family. Her own name sounds a bit like a song here.
Being abroad, she is not allowed to practice magic as freely as back home, but they allow her to perform small simple spells that won't raise any alarms, she can light the candles every now and then, one at a time, she can levitate the flowers they gather into the vases. They know it's not enough for her, but she seems amiable enough. There's something enchanting on this side of the Channel that leaves them all at ease. Something that makes them a bit too careless perhaps.
They enjoy the bustling wizarding Paris for a few days and then take to the south. The Midi is charming and sun-drenched. They teach Scorpius how to swim properly in its sea. It's warmer, and kinder, and a different blue. Even the smell is not the same. The adults can lounge about, indulging in the wine, and the cheese, and the pastry, bathing in the sun while Delphini and Scorpius fight great battles with each other in the water, skirmishes that end up with nothing but foam and sand all over them and tired bodies that sleep soundly and dreamlessly come the moon.
They move on to the Loire Valley, on a floating house charmed to stay unseen by Muggles. They go to land every day, to stretch their legs and vent the children's energy. They take long walks by the riverside, appreciating the view of the magnificent châteaux that populate the valley. They shop for food at the villages and Narcissa tries her fluent French with yet another accent. On a lazy afternoon, when Scorpius has succumbed to the excitement of the morning and no one can quite be bothered by Delphini's actions, she wanders away from her family. Decided on some exploration of her own, she meanders through trees into a sunny meadow.
She finds a snake there, about two feet long, with beautiful markings on its grey skin. Two rows of darker markings run across its length, in pairs, joined by a thin line at the middle, that make its skin look marbled. It also looks smooth enough to touch. She decides to simply watch her first, but her curiosity gets the best of her when the snake stops to watch her too. It does not have slit eyes, but round almost warm eyes, with wide black pupils that stare at her. Its dark red tongue tastes the air several times before it decides the girl is curious enough to be hissed at and driven away.
Delphini laughs when the snake's eyes grow larger when she actually answers its unfriendly "What?" with "Hello". The snake had heard of people like her before, but that doesn't dampen its surprise. Delphini decides to take it as a companion in the remainder of her journey. The greyish serpent gladly takes her as companion too.
It likes to travel within her clothes or in the small purse where she carries her wand and the little things she finds here and there. Delphini lets it wander when her family takes her to the villages, and wanders with it when they don't. She is always slightly afraid of it not being there waiting for her when she comes back. But the snake is always there, day after day, even when they move on from the valley to Normandy, in the north.
By then, the snake has earned a place on Delphini's bed, tucked between the sheets and the girl. Leaving with the earliest light for the hunt and coming back in the afternoon, to take shelter from the heath. It has also earned itself a name. Guivre, after the local legends of serpentine creatures that prowl the countryside. Guivre likes to keep to himself and doesn't appreciate loud noises, so he mostly stays away from Scorpius, often seeking refuge in Delphini's purse during the boy's excited reports of the day. She has yet another secret to keep, but this one makes her happy and keeps her mind off the magic she cannot use here.
They have a small birthday party at a restaurant for her. The now thirteen years old witch is delighted to receive books on local magical creatures and folklore, and a pair of silver earrings with the tell-tale craftsmanship of goblins, among a myriad of other little presents her family gets her. Guivre is perplexed by the celebration and the fuss, and Delphini gives up on trying to explain it to the snake when he tells her that it's not like she has shed her first skin and slithers away to a dark corner. She huffs her disappointment but returns to her book, eating Tarte Tatin from a levitating plate. He has been grumpy, and his eyes and skin seem to be fading in colour. His shedding is fast approaching, she learns. Maybe she should offer him something on that day?
She hasn't figured a way to take a snake inside the Manor so that she can keep it has a familiar. She can't risk trying to remove the ward that prevents it, because her Uncle will be able to sense the wards of the Manor shifting. Not to mention that messing with wards as ancient as those of old magical manors can go awfully wrong. Some Manors have simply fallen to the ground, some caught fire. There are at least two references to Manors Vanishing entirely, with family members and house-elves included in an instance. So that is out of the question. She won't risk anyone under that roof. She hopes she can offer her home as a shedding day gift.
With the overseas vacation nearing its end, the Malfoys take an afternoon to visit their ancestral birthplace. The castle from which Armand Malfoy first departed with William the Conqueror. It looks rather small and simple when compared to the Manor, even if it is clearly cared for by someone the Malfoys pay. Her Uncle is proudly teaching Scorpius about his family's origins and she can't but wonder about her own. Were the Lestranges not French too? Where was their ancestral seat upon France? Why wasn't she taken there too? Draco approaches her, with Astoria hanging from his right arm. He is the one who soothes her unseen and untold ache. As if he too could pick thoughts from the air. The Lestranges left France with the Malfoys, but not all of them. The remaining family disappeared from the annals of magical families early in the XV century, when a mighty curse from an infuriated Dark Lord destroyed their palace, while they were still inside. There is nothing to see of the Lestranges anymore.
Delphini does not notice the gulp in Draco's throat at that last sentence, because she is distracted by Astoria's distress at the mention of curses that wipe out entire families. It is easy to forget that the Greengrasses carry a curse in their blood these days. What she does notice is Draco's eyes widening in terror at the sight of movement inside her purse and the way Astoria's hand clutches his arm when she too sees it.
They do nothing.
Until they are back at the cottage. There, they let an exhausted Scorpius fall asleep before coming to her. Only Draco comes to her bedroom, requesting her presence downstairs. She knows her secret is spilled, but she also knows it will be safe within her family. She puts aside her exemplar of Magical Beasts of France and Their Lore and flings her legs off the bed.
"Guivre, you may be introduced to my family tonight", she hisses to her purse, "if you don't mind."
"Assss long assss the boyssss keepsss quiet…" the purse hisses back. She takes one last look at it over her shoulder, and the tiny nod from the scaly head reassures her. She touches her necklace and pitter-patters barefoot down the stairs.
The Malfoys learn of Guivre, but seem remarkably unfazed by it. Delphini is sitting very properly between her Aunt and Astoria, her eyes darting between her Uncle and Draco, trying to measure their reaction, trying to determine whether or not to she should be worried. She is absolutely baffled that they are not.
"You see, Delphini, you have been speaking Parseltongue in your sleep ever since you were a baby. We all knew," Delphini registers Aunt Cissa's voice, but she can't quite grasp the meaning behind the words, "we never told you because such a gift is usually… well, misunderstood. We did not wish to burden you with worry."
Delphini's mouth is slightly agape. Astoria caresses her cheek, telling her not to worry, but that she must be careful not to display her ability publicly. The indignant witch cuts her word short at that and proceeds to inform her family of just how much she already knows about it, and of when and how she learned of her ability, and of just how long she managed to keep a snake hidden throughout their vacation. They chuckle; it figures she would keep a familiar of the serpentine sort secret, it figures that she would not be able to shy from one, sooner or later. They laugh, gleefully, at the mention of her dorm mates' belief that their room hissed at night. She even gets an approving nod from Uncle Lucius when she tells them that she has placed a silencing charm on her canopy bed to prevent being listened to in her sleep.
Then, she asks the most feared question, the one she herself has no answer to. Why does she possess such a gift? Were there any Blacks or any Lestranges that possessed it too? Narcissa is exceedingly aware of the danger in lying to her niece. The girl can always tell lies from truth. So she does not lie, she manipulates the truth, she presents a rearrangement of the facts, and so her niece does not pick up on it. She believes it.
"You come from two very ancient and very powerful bloodlines that both mingled with that of Salazar Slytherin at some point or another. His gift simply resurfaced in you." She sounds calm and reassuring to herself, although she has a hard time breathing normally.
One half-truth more that must be told for any hinting at the truth will bring their house of cards crumbling down. One more thread to the web they have been weaving for years. She wonders it her little bird will ever fly through it. Not today, it seems.
Her next question is hardly surprising either. Can she keep it and take it home to the Manor? Will they remove the wards that keep snakes from approaching it?
"Yes, Delphini, I'll remove that ward. But have you thought about having a snake, a Kneazle and a raven under the same roof?" Uncle Lucius has a smile, an honest full smile, on his face.
"They all bite, two have claws, one can run, one can fly… they'll figure it out." She tells them, counting facts on her fingers. She gives them that wondrous smile and they know there is nothing they can say to change her mind now. The only thing they ask is that she is careful not to let Scorpius know for now.
On August 1st, they cross the Channel back home. Delphini is happy with the weight of Guivre in her robes. The Customs' wizard is a bit baffled by a shed snake skin in her purse, but she flashes her wide green heavy lidded glaze at him, batting her long dark eyelashes, complete with her best pretty-please-smile, and he chucks it to thirteen year olds being thirteen year olds.
X
Malfoy Manor, August 17th, 2010
Delphini closes her notebook and huffs. She has been writing down anything of interest to the location of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, in hopes that having all of the information in the same place will help her think. It is not working.
She tracked down Colin Creevey after the advice from the Baron, but all he could tell her was about the beast that lived in the Chamber. And it had taken quite a lot of convincing. He had been petrified for weeks after encountering the Basilisk in a corridor, like Mrs. Granger. She actually considered asking her about her experience with the Basilisk during the gathering at Scorpius seventh birthday, but such thoughts were quickly dismissed. She has no plausible reason to offer in exchange of the questions she would get. She has hit a dead-end it seems.
But today, she will put all of those troubles in a box and tuck it away until tomorrow. Today, she will go into the Muggle world for the first time ever. Her Uncle and Aunt have been quite concerned for days now, after she managed to get permission. Draco and Astoria did their share of convincing too, albeit even more concerned, she suspects. So today, they will Floo her to Diagon Alley, where she will meet with her friends. Sigmund, having a Muggle father and living in Muggle London, will be their guide.
They quickly regret it.
The novelty is quickly pushed to the backs of their minds at the noise, and the confusion, and the lights, and the traffic. Sigmund makes an executive decision to get them to his house as soon as possible, before one of them flips on a Muggle that happens to get too close. He gives them a short and to the point lecture about the Muggle underground. They all know about it from their classes on Muggle Studies, but theory and practice are two very different things and he would rather not be stuck with four flabbergasted and on hedge friends in a train filled with Muggles to the brim. He makes sure they understand personal space is not a thing down there and how to use their tickets to get in and out of the station. He feels like he has achieved quite the title of Muggle liaison by the time he gets all four of them into his apartment. He lets the sentiment that nothing could go wrong win him over.
He quickly regrets it.
X
"There was no need for you to be that violent!"
"But it was making weird noises! I thought it was in pain or something."
Sigmund doesn't have time to explain the absolute innocence of the now broken phone to Delphini. Judging from the sound, there is clear distress in the kitchen. Then the shuffling changes to banging, and he takes off running down the corridor, while cursing himself for being an idiot. Barely making the turn at the door, he comes to a wet murder scene.
There is water apparently everywhere. And bits and pieces of yellow plastic across the floor. Radagast is holding a pan high above his head, a look of fear on his eyes, panting like he's just ran a mile.
"What was that!? Why would you leave us alone with that thing? You know we can't use magic out of Hogwarts, let alone in a building full of Muggles!" He is absolutely indignant. And clearly terrified.
"How should I know what it is when you smashed it to pieces?" Then realization strikes. The kettle. The electrical kettle he had put on a couple of minutes ago. He can't help but laugh.
Radagast is furious. Freya is completely baffled, still sitting on the kitchen table, keeping her feet high off the floor.
"That thing was spitting boiling water at us, making noises and flashing a red light... It burned Reya! I had to do something. WILL YOU STOP LAUGHING?"
Sigmund laughs louder, tears careening down his face. He is in for a rough patch, explaining this to his parents, but this is glorious. The twins afraid of a kettle! Delphini freaked out by a telephone! His laughter gets even louder.
Then a veritable shriek comes from the living room. Syrianna is panicking over people stuck fighting in a box. And Sigmund crumbles to the floor, laughing until he can't breathe. He doesn't even hear it when the front door opens.
"Sigmund! What did I tell you to do before you bring your friends around? Your Father goes a long way trying to accommodate magic into his life. Having to buy things like phones and electrical appliances every other wizarding visit doesn't help!"
His mother shows up at the kitchen door, hugging a clearly traumatized Syrianna. Delphini follows her, making sure not to touch anything. He is still giggling, trying to see through the tears. His mother smiles at the scene, Radagast is still holding the pan up high and Freya has moved to embrace her legs on the table. She takes charge.
"Off the table, young lady. Put that down before you hurt someone. Now sit down and stay put while I get you something to eat." She waves her wand in a series of delicate movements. A very normal looking kettle is on the stove at that, while a line of dishes comes flying from a shelf to the table, quickly followed by a biscuit can. Then there are cups filled to the brim with hot tea and milk sliding towards the group of teenagers. "Sugar anyone?" She asks as she takes her place. "You had quite an introduction to Muggle reality. Just drink your tea, you'll feel better."
"I was thinking of introducing them to automated doors next."
"You do that Sigmund, and I'll tell the Ministry you did it when your friends are done destroying the place." She says that without raising her eyes from the tea. "Get up and get some chocolate."
"You could just summon-" He doesn't dare finish the sentence under his mother's glare.
X
Hogwarts, September 2nd, 2010
"Professor Longbottom, how should I clip these leaves off?" Delphini's clear voice sounds in the greenhouse. It is her first Herbology class of the year and her delicate fingers and measured movements have been handling the temperamental plant just fine. She doesn't need help, not really. But that is not the purpose of this exercise.
Neville looks down the table to where she stands. There is an eager little smile on her face. Her eyes are different, her features have subtle differences, and her curls, though wild, seem softer. Still, the image of her mother is the first thing that comes to his mind. "How are mom and dad?" he hears in his mind too, followed by a signature cackle that struck fear in all who heard it.
Snap out of it! You've known this girl for two full school years now. She is not her mother, she isn't even evil. She is a prankster at best. He takes a deep breath and answers her question.
"You do not touch the plant at all. We need the smallest leaves and she will curl them up shut if touched. Move your scissors very carefully to the right place, just behind the stem, and snap them quickly, with purpose. Catch the leave in your hand, don't try to pluck it!" Delphini holds her pale long fingers under a red tiny leaf and clips it cleanly off. The plant curls up all of its other leaves for a couple seconds, but that one drops to the girl's palm.
"Perfect, Miss Lestrange!" The name feels weird on his tongue every time he praises her, and praising the green eyed witch happens often in his greenhouses. "Five points to Slytherin for that. Take notice everyone, expect full marks if you can gather ten leaves by the end of the period. Careful Mr. Morton, she bites you know?" And just like that, his mind is elsewhere.
Delphini walks up to his desk while the others pack their belongings. She hands him a small jar full of tiny red leaves. "I managed to get a few more; I figured you could use them for your stock."
"Oh, well done… uh…" That smirk freezes his mind for a minute. "Well, considering how my stock is already up to capacity after today's lesson, would you mind taking the jar to Professor Slughorn? He asked me for some, for a Potions class. I'm sure it will get you a couple more points."
"Of course, Professor Longbottom. Thank you for your assistance. I'll be on my way then." She moves back to her work station, packs the jar along with her things and walks toward the glass door. Her fellow Slytherins await her there. Neville swallows hard at the sight of her curls in the wind. At the way her classmates wait for her and then give her a sort of precedence as they walk back to the castle. He thinks back to her pale slender hands and cannot help but think them familiar.
Delphini could feel his troubled thoughts, she could almost hear them. She knows that she can get her Restricted Section book permits from the Herbology teacher too, then. Her mother left quite an impression on the man. Slughorn makes two. Trelawney is next then. She doesn't expect much from Divination, but there are all sorts of sketchy subjects she can use as an excuse to get her hands on some much desired books.
X
"So you have chosen to study Divination…" Sybill Trelawney gasps for air the moment she lays eyes on her. She made sure to sit on the low tables at the front. She was planning to act very interested, while exchanging snarky remarks about the crazed teacher with Reya, under Syrianna's pay-attention-glare. She may have to change her approach though.
"Ooooh! I have seen you before!" Her eyes grow larger by the second, and her glasses do not help matters.
"Well. I am a third year student… You probably have seen me before, during banquets in the Great Hall, at least." She answers in her most-obviously-haughty voice. The entire class snorts and laughs.
"You! Uuuuuh! There is something dark about you, something very disturbing. You are hindering my ability to See. I cannot teach with you in the room! You are dangerous! You bring darkness!"
"Well Delphini, that's it for you then! You get an Outstanding straight out on a silver platter for scaring the teacher!" There is roaring laughter at Sigmund's joke. Syrianna kicks him under the table. "You rotten… I told you to pick something else last year!"
"That's it! Class dismissed! You! You dark, daaaaark child" her voice both shakes and rises, while her hands tremble "you must choose another subject. I will not have you in my class. Out with you all. Now! Chooo!"
They are baffled at that. But everyone moves to collect their bags and leave. A longer lunch break it is, then. Delphini makes an attempt to approach the flustered teacher but she recoils so fearfully that it is her turn to take a step back. No book permits from her it seems. Unless she can get them through fear, now that will most definitely work. Her friends' rowdy conversation going down the staircase lightens the mood.
"I guess no one is dying this year then" Sigmund chuckles, earning himself another glare from Syrianna.
"Oh, let him off, Syri!" It's Radagast's turn on the teacher. "He is right you know? No one ever dies. Odds are she just predicted her own death the minute she saw Delphie here, which means she may have a misshapen at tea time today. And I mean she'll turn a cup of cold tea on herself, worst case scenario!" They all laugh at that, but Delphini spends the entirety of lunch time wondering about her predicament. She will have to do with only two book permits, it seems. And no dodgy subjects that would allow her some leeway.
X
Headmistress McGonagall looks as perplexed as herself when she calls Delphini aside in one of the corridors, two days later.
"I'm very sorry, Miss Lestrange, but Professor Trelawney was so much more unhinged than usual that I have no choice but recommend you choose another elective subject instead."
"But I was so looking forward to Divination, Headmistress."
"Now, now, Miss Lestrange. You are one of the most brilliant students I've ever had, and I dare say Hogwarts has had. Your skills in Transfiguration are well beyond those of your fellows. It seems to me you have a remarkably rational mind and that a subject such as Divination consisted more of an opportunity to put your pranking methods to work during class time." Her lips are going thinner by the word. "You would probably enjoy Arithmancy, it's very rational, very logical. I'd also suggest you take Mr. Morton with you." She adds, looking over Delphini's curls to an about-to-do-no-good looking Sigmund.
"Oh, Arithmancy, yes. Now I can take it, the schedule no longer collides. Sigmund will hate it though."
"Just tell he must take another elective. I won't have him trying to make up for your absence in poor Sybill's classroom. She's upset as it is!" Minerva McGonagall wonders if it isn't time to retire the residing lunatic and find a new teacher. The centaur may be up for it again. Better yet, terminate Divination teaching in Hogwarts, nothing good, or right, comes from it anyway!
And so they spend the evening lounging about in the Common Room, occasionally looking up through the glass to watch the creatures that dwell in the Black Lake, discussing Delphini and Sigmund's options. Delphini settles for Arithmancy gladly, but Sigmund quickly chooses Study of Ancient Runes, all three girls are already taking it and he will rather handle weird looking symbols than numbers.
Delphini stays up a little longer that night, legs crossed on her bed, curtains closed, enjoying her first restricted read of the year, courtesy of Professor Slughorn.
X
November 12th, 2010
While going through her Astronomy books, she finds her own name there. Not Delphini, her middle name. Celaeno, one of the Pleiades in the sky. The dark one, out of seven sisters, the books tell her. Why would her parents name her for darkness?
The search for the origins of her name becomes a search for her Black roots. She finds her Mother's name first and asks Madam Pince for more books on the subject. She knows her Mother's family kept a tradition of naming their children after stars and constellations in the night sky. Unsure of what the girl is requesting, the librarian asks her if she wants books on stars and constellations or on the lineage of the House of Black. Delphini deviates from her initial course and asks for the latter.
From book to book, she reads the afternoon away. She means to leave for half an hour at the most come dinner time, and come back straight to the books. She is much faster than that. None of her friends ask questions. They recognize Delphini's reading frenzies and they are not a thing to be messed with. Not even Teddy tries to redirect her focus into a new prank.
She is completely absorbed in a book about the War. She has never read about it thoroughly. The final chapter is a long and detailed description of the Battle of Hogwarts. She finally understands why some walls have scars and why some stairs never connect to the right place anymore. Her heart races at the mention of her Mother. And stops at the mention of the women fighting her during the last stand at the Great Hall. Of the witch who killed her Mother.
Molly Weasley.
Oh, she has a bone to pick with her family.
Author's Notes: To those of you who might be interested, Delphini's new familiar is a smooth snake (Coronella austriaca) and the Guivre is a "real" creature from French folklore, sometimes referred to as Vouivre. If there is any French reading this, I'm sorry if I wrote something wrong or extremely off, I've only been to a couple of places in France, this chapter took quite a lot of research.
To the awesome guest who reviewed saying I made Delphini believable, thank you so very much.
Please keep the reviews up, they brighten my days and get me in the right mood for writing. Fair warning that I have a side piece cooking and that it will probably be uploaded before Ch39. Thank you for reading
UPDATE 03/02/2018: New sidepiece up, it's the second chapter of "The Guilt of a Mother"