Updated Character Pictures!

Gemini Black – Michelle Trachtenberg

Leo Black – Finn Wittrock

Arnold Longbottom – Ben Lloyd Hughes

Abigail Flint – Charlotte Hope

Cassio Zabini – Rhys Wakefield

Chapter 15

Two Weeks Later

"A bit higher, Gemini!" Leo yelled from across the room. "Don't put your weight on one leg, you'll fall easier! Harder! Five…four…three…two…and time!"

Gemini grunted as she gave the punching bag one more kick, and the gym in the Flint summerhouse was finally as quiet as the rest of the place.

"Good job, Gemini. Just remember to hit with your knees, not your calves. Unless you weigh as much as I do, kicking them the way you did won't make much difference." Leo said, handing her a bottle of water.

Gemini took a long sip. "Or I could just use a stunning spell. Less time and effort."

Leo pursed his lips in thought and shook his head. "Too predictable. We're just a higher and better version of Muggles, so most wizards forget that Muggle ways of fighting are just as effective. Fists and guns can work just as well if you can find the opportunity. Heck, your father would be in power right now if he just chucked Harry Potter out the window."

There was dead silence, which both of them hated. Gemini struggled to find something to say, but in the last two weeks, they had overused anything they could think of talking about. She wouldn't even be working out with Leo if there was nothing else for her to do. They were confined to the summerhouse, since they were both wanted people, while the others went to their respective homes to continue on with their lives and avoid suspicion. They were working on the plan while they were gone, but nonetheless, they were trapped in the house.

And though he tried not to make it obvious, Leo hated being confined there as well. For the first few days, Leo was scratching himself trying not to go out the door. They kept trying to keep themselves distracted, but after four days, even Mr. Flint's private collection of Dark Artefacts bored them. Finally, Leo thought it would keep them occupied if he helped her limber up and taught her how to fight. It was fun for both of them, and Gemini learned a bit more about Leo's real personality. He was definitely not the Malcolm Carey she knew, the bright receptionist whose sweetness was akin to a ten-year old. He was definitely the dangerous kind of guy, the one who reeked of ambition and drive to do what he wanted. But there was also the playful and flirtatious way he had when he was around her, and though he'd occasionally border on inappropriate, the two of them learned to get along, what with being trapped in the house and all.

"Now what do we do?" Gemini asked, staring longingly at the window. The sun was high enough in the sky for her to see the blue horizon past it.

"If you're bored, you remember that my offer still stands, right?" He grinned.

She looked away. "Really? I couldn't tell from the past week you've mentioned how lonely it was in your room." She stifled a smile. "My answer still stands, mind you. I'm not that kind of girl."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. I just figured…"

"No."

"Well, you're already sweating…"

"No."

"And it's not incest if you're insanely distant cousins…"

"Fuck no."

"And I figured we might as well while no one can hear…"

"Um, ew."

"Because I can be pretty loud if you're into that—"

"Leo!" Gemini turned to him, her cheeks blushing red.

He raised his hands in surrender. "It's just an idea. A suggestion, really." He walked to the window she was looking at and plopped on the window seat and sighed. "What's a horny twenty-four year old wizard going to do in a boring mansion filled with house elves and a seventeen-year old witch who still thinks she's engaged?"

Thinks? Gemini raised an eyebrow, but didn't push it. "A poor house elf's going to have to die for your entertainment, then."

He chuckled. "Tempting. But do you know how hard it is to find a house elf? Marcus is going to kill me if I do." He patted the space next to him, inviting Gemini to sit next to him. She did, swaggering as she leaned against the wall and lifted her feet onto his lap. Leo glanced at her and smiled wryly as he untied her sneakers. While he pulled her shoes off, the two of them stared outside. "We could go outside."

"We might as well take a Portkey to Azkaban, while we're at it." Gemini said.

He looked at her. Gemini knew whenever Leo was serious, and she was surprised that he was. "I mean it. Even just an hour or two later tonight. It's the New Moon tonight, and a new moon during winter season means it's going to be really dark around midnight. We'd go somewhere where there aren't that many people and quite far from wizarding places."

"And you know it's the New Moon because…?"

"Astronomy is a hobby that runs in the Black Family. You think we name children after stars just because it's fancy?"

"I get that…but you? A hobby?"

"I don't know, as opposed to?"

"I've always assumed it was trying to get with witches."

"Nope, just the purebloods." He smiled at her. "But seriously, what do you say about tonight?"

It was very tempting, and Gemini longed to go out beyond the area around the house, but she knew she couldn't risk it. "I don't know…"

He exhaled as he stood up and held his hand out. "Come with me to my room and I'll show you."

"Is this some plot of yours to get me in your room?" Gemini asked in a sexy voice.

He chuckled deeply. "Lucky for you, I'm above false advertising. Let's go."

Leo's room was facing the front of the house. Gemini expected the room to match his personality, so she was surprised to see how clean the room was. It was similar to her room, with elegant furniture and the curtains drawn back in the morning to let the sun in, except it had blue paneled walls and not red and the only messy place in the room was the stack of books on the table. There was also a telescope pointed at the large window in front of the bed.

Leo led her to the table, where there was an opened book, a journal, and a map filled with circles Gemini couldn't understand. He noticed the confusion on her face. "If you're going to be a Black, you'll have to understand this. Maybe I'll start teaching you tomorrow, gives me something new to do and you something to learn." He turned to the map. "So yesterday, the moon was here, which would explain why sunrise was a bit late today…"

He began explaining, in which Gemini understood nothing about. She never took Astronomy in Hogwarts, since Slughorn had already promised to connect her with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of the Ministry and she thought it was pointless to, but now that she was a Black, she regretted not taking it. Leo completely changed into a different person as he spoke. He was too engrossed explaining it that he didn't notice that she couldn't catch up. It was obvious that he knew what he was talking about, and he enjoyed talking about it.

When Leo was finished, he turned to Gemini. She coughed softly. "So, in layman's terms…it's gonna be dark tonight?"

He huffed. "Pretty much. So what do you say? You. Me. Maybe coffee and a walk in a park—I know a good place in London we can go. We'll leave the house at, say…eleven?"

Leo tried making a puppy dog face, but with his pale face and dark hair and his masculine features, he ended up making a silly face that made Gemini giggle. "Fine, but you have to promise never to do that again!"

He grinned. "Deal. It's a date then."

Gemini felt something inside her stir when he said that, something that made her stop smiling. Her face was blushing, but she felt as though she wasn't supposed to be doing this. Her father told her to focus on her mission, but except for what Rodolphus said about the worst traitor to her family, she had been following the mission for the past two weeks. No, Gemini realized, remembering the first time Arnold asked her out. That wasn't my father. That was guilt.

Leo was looking quietly at her now. Dead silence. She smiled mockingly. "Isn't this the part of the conversation where you correct yourself and say it's not a date-date?"

He looked in mock confusion and shook his head. "Nope. I'm pretty sure I meant what I just said." He smiled. "I'm going to take the shower. You're welcome to join me if…"

"No." Gemini said, though she laughed after saying it.

"Very well, then. I'll pick you up from your room at eleven. Until then."

~0~

"And I thought you hated Muggles." Gemini muttered under her breath as they left the counter with their coffee and sat on the table far away from the few other customers in the café. She had to hand it to Leo: he was right, the night was darker than usual. From what Leo learned from his three years in the Ministry, they were two miles away from the nearest Floo Network, and were far away from the nearest wizard living in the area.

"I don't hate them, I just think we're better than them. Does a Muggle hate an ant? Didn't think so. Besides, one of my Hitchens cousins took me here during those times they couldn't be at home for Christmas and sent me to London to spend the holidays with the disowned cousins. This is the only Muggle establishment I will ever patronize."

"They were busy on Christmas?" Gemini asked. "What were they doing?"

"Serving the Dark Lord, mostly." Leo answered. "They were obsessed with trying to win your mother's trust that they weren't home often."

"Oh…"

"Don't fret about it. I understood why they were doing it, so it didn't bother me much when they left me with the Hitchenses." He took a sip of coffee and sighed. "But enough about me—"

"Oh no you don't." Gemini cut him off. "My life story's pretty much published in the front page of the Daily Prophet. I want to hear yours."

"Not much to tell." He shrugged.

"Don't give me that bull, I know there's something worth telling." Gemini said. "I mean, you've practically stuck your neck out for me, spent most of your adult life looking for me, yet I know nothing about you."

He looked at her for a moment, staring into her equally dark eyes. "Very well. What do you want to know?"

"Well…for starters, what's it like being a Black like you?"

He smiled. "You mean a disowned Black? It's a lot better than a lot of wizards think. Most of the wizarding community thinks we're left out of the family and moved into squalor, but that's not true. My cousin's grandmother, Isla Black, had some standards and married a rich Muggle. My ancestor Phineas Black was independently wealthy and lived a comfortable life. All the disowned Blacks were disowned for toleration, so they eventually married Muggle-borns and half-bloods, but it was our line that remained purely pureblood and Slytherin. Father didn't take to the family's toleration, however, and always thought that, since Phineas Black was Phineas Nigellus Black's eldest, he should have been the Black's patriarch. He married my mum, and, after I was born, figured I would be the one to bring back the family line, but I couldn't do that if I turned into my cousins, so they moved from Wiltshire to London and I grew up there."

"And then what happened?" Gemini probed.

"I think they intended to raise me to think like them. I ultimately did, but it wasn't because of them. With them gone most of the time, they really weren't around to teach me anything. After Harry Potter won the war and the kids of Death Eaters and Voldemort's supporters had to stick together, I learned what I needed to know about blood purity. But it wasn't easy. To everyone, I was Malcolm Carey, but it was a secret kept amongst Slytherins that I was really a Black from a disowned line. To some, I was a Black nonetheless and I shared their opinions, so it was fine, but to some, I was akin to Mudbloods and half-breeds. I made sure they wouldn't ever think of me that way anymore." Gemini raised an eyebrow as if to ask what he did. "Pretty much the same thing you did in Hogwarts: I showed them what I was capable of. But unlike you, my actions were recorded in Filch's office, not the trophy room. After that, well…you saw how those Death Eaters followed me."

It was just like looking at a mirror image of herself. Leo mirrored almost every part of her life: they both grew up with fleeting parental figures; they both grew up with identities that made them outcasts in Slytherin; and both of them manipulated and proved to everyone who ever doubted them that they were not to be messed with.

They continued their talk while strolling into the park, which was ideally dimly lit, and Gemini found more things to ask him and she saw that they had more in common, a load of questions that seemed too personal and was now breaking out of the wall between them.

Growing up having been exposed to Muggles, they knew the problems Muggles created affected the wizarding community, and they were both frustrated that wizards couldn't do anything about it because it would raise the Muggles' suspicion. After graduating Hogwarts, Leo wanted to head to Romania to tame dragons, but instead he was sent to France to check any possible leads on Voldemort's child, in case the Gemini Ridley the Death Eater's children were spying on turned out to be just a Muggle-born fake. Leo's parents died from dragonpox four years later, and Leo inherited everything, including the Death Eater's leader position. After Abigail mentioned Slughorn was getting her an internship with Hermione, Leo decided to go undercover and watch over her, and ever since she arrived in the Ministry, he had been paying close attention, waiting for her to show any signs of being Voldemort's daughter.

"What would have happened if Orion never left my room that night?" Gemini asked. "You suspected I was Voldemort's daughter, but what happened if I never proved it? And don't mention the prophecy because I know a lot of prophecies don't come true—Rodolphus told me."

"He told you?" Gemini explained her escape from Azkaban, along with what Rodolphus told her. He thought carefully. "We'd probably have kept a close watch on you still. But to be honest, being the Dark Lord's daughter and the Dark Lord's heiress are two different things, if you catch my drift. You can be the heiress and his daughter, but just because you're his daughter that doesn't mean you've inherited anything from him. If you never revealed yourself, we couldn't have done anything with your blood, could we? Maybe—perhaps—we'd come to realize that there was no point in waiting for you. There wasn't much to do waiting for you, so the Death Eaters might have just slowly dissolved, or we would have made a plan to continue the Death Eaters' cause without you."

"Lucky for you, fate brought me to this point of my life." Gemini muttered, throwing away her coffee cup at the nearby bin as they passed.

"Yes, lucky." Leo smiled. He threw his cup as well. "So…have you and Longbottom ever been here on a date?"

She scowled. "Why? What's it to you?"

"Defensive, aren't we?" Leo said. "You know, I don't think you and him weren't meant to be."

"Humor me, then. Why is that?"

"He's nice. Too nice. And no matter which way you put it, you're not."

"I'm not a nice person?" Gemini asked warily.

He stopped walking and turned to her. "No. You're an ambitious, manipulative, selfish young woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants and is prone to bouts of bad judgement that Longbottom mistook for some hidden goodness inside of you." He said matter-of-factly.

"Wow…" Gemini said slowly. "And Cassio, Teddy, and Arnold thought it would be easier to just call me pretty on the first date."

"Beautiful, actually." He said, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. He caressed her face, his thumb tracing her lower lip ever so softly. "I meant what I said. But Gemini, that doesn't have to make you a bad person. We live in a world with those who know what they want and those who do anything to get what they want. You're not a bad person for wanting what you want, and I'll be damned if anyone—Longbottom included—ever told you otherwise."

Gemini remembered how most of her squabbles with Arnold were about her contradicting beliefs in what was good and what was bad. Now that I think about it, was I really a bad person for wanting a world ruled by wizards? Am I really a bad person for saying those things during the interrogation? I'm not evil, I'm ambitious. And Arnold never saw nor understood that. "So if girls like me aren't meant to be with nice people, then with whom?"

"Simple. Men who are just as ambitious, manipulative, and as selfish as you are."

She scoffed. "Men like you?"

His eyes twinkled in the dark. "Now that you've mentioned it…" He laughed, and even Gemini giggled at his debonair smile. "But really, where do you think you are with Arnold?"

Good question, Gemini realized when she couldn't answer quickly. She had been so engrossed with surviving and meeting Leo and the plan to enter Hogwarts that she rarely thought about Arnold anymore. She knew Arnold was probably doing the opposite, but now that she was faced with a real question about where she stood with him, she felt her heart drop, but at the same time, felt so much lighter than before.

She sighed. "I don't think I'm ever going to see him again. And when I do, our relationship is sure as over, after everything I've done." She walked slowly, forcing herself to block out their last kiss from her memory. "I think…I think it's been over for quite some time already, actually. I just didn't realize it."

The guilt of being on a date with Leo, the stubborn conscience telling her she had nothing to feel guilty for, and the mixed feelings of finally realizing her old life and old dreams of a normal life was over, and she felt the tears soak her eyes and her knees buckle. Leo quickly caught her and hugged her to keep her from falling.

"Hey, don't worry about Longbottom." Leo whispered in her ear. He was so close that he could smell her flowery-smelling hair. "You're worth a hell lot more than he is. It's going to be okay."

Gemini laughed bitterly. "I know. It just came so suddenly. I haven't cried since I escaped and, well, I guess I just realized that about me and Arnold just now." She quickly wiped the tears on her face and returned Leo's hug, giggling when he wouldn't let go. "I'm fine now. You can let go."

"Just making sure you're okay." He let her go. "I—"

They immediately stopped and turned to the bushes nearby when they heard something shake behind it. Leo pushed her behind him and drew out his wand, aiming at the bush. Gemini placed her hand in her pocket, ready to draw her wand out, until a squirrel came running out the bush and up a nearby tree.

Gemini sighed in relief. "I think we should go back home, Leo. We've been out a long time now."

"Not yet." He took her hand and led her down the path of the park leading to the other side. "There's another reason why I chose this part of London, apart from the coffee and the location. There's something I want you to see."

Leo broke away from the main park path and followed the smaller paths branching out to the more deserted areas of the park. "Oh, and you dated Zabini?" He asked casually. Too casually, Gemini thought amusedly.

"It was nothing." She said indifferently. "Didn't last very long. We thought we'd be the perfect couple: him, Captain of the Quidditch Team, and me, well, perfect in everything else."

"It didn't work and then you moved on to Lupin?" He scoffed. "Honestly, your standards Gemini."

He looked like he both wanted to ask more about it and at the same time looked relieved enough to hear her answer. Instead, he turned away and led her towards a small black gate that opened to the sidewalk of an empty street. The row of houses were dilapidated and grimy, and it looked as though no one lived in any of the houses for a long time.

Gemini looked at Leo, who was staring at the houses. "Where are we going?"

"We're here." Leo motioned at the houses. "Take a closer look."

Gemini looked at the houses. It took her a moment to notice it, but it became pretty obvious when she looked at all of them: all of them were number sequentially, but the number twelve was missing. Thanks to her history classes, she knew where they were. She looked at Leo's poker face, then at the street sign nearby: Grimmauld Place.

"We're at Twelve Grimmauld Place." Gemini said.

"Former Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix until the Second Wizarding War." Leo nodded. "But before that, home to the Most Noble House of Black."

Gemini gasped. "What if they're—"

"Don't worry. I've learned enough from Harry to know nobody goes here anymore. They're not gonna catch us here."

Leo crossed the street, and Gemini followed after. He stopped in the middle of houses eleven and thirteen. "Ever since I found it, I've been trying to get in—"

"How?" Gemini interjected. "Harry Potter inherited it, didn't he?"

"He did, but that's the thing: it opens to him and everyone he's made secret-keeper, but only because Sirius Black gave it to him. There's magic in Sirius' last will that keeps it with him. But it was a strong claim because there was no male Black who wasn't disinherited to claim it, and all the Black who weren't disowned were women carrying their husbands' last names." Leo said thoughtfully. "But when you think about it, the House of Black took extra care to keep the bloodlines pure, so I thought…"

Gemini understood. "You thought the magic that kept the house owned by the family would overpower Sirius' will?"

"It's just a thought." He shrugged. "I thought that since I'm a pureblood and a Black, I could open the house. Apparently our ancestors took disowned Blacks into consideration as well when they hid the place. But you, on the other hand, you're the last legitimate Black in the family line. And I figured…"

Gemini immediately understood and turned to look at the blank wall. She put her hand on the wall and thought, I am Gemini Black, daughter of Bellatrix Black and the last legitimate scion of the House of Black. Open up.

In response, the walls seemed to expand, pushing the other houses to the side until a black door appeared in front of her. Leo chuckled. "That was one hell of a theory. After you."

Gemini opened the door and entered. As soon as Leo closed the door behind them, she heard a rumbling sound coming from the house. "What was that?"

"Just a theory as well, but it sounds like the spells are clashing." Leo said, gently nudging Gemini to the wall so they were standing side-by-side on the narrow hallway. "The first spell used by the Blacks to keep this house within the family and the magic that keeps Harry Potter the owner of this house. It might be a clash to see who the real owner is."

"Then it's a good thing we're not staying long." Gemini said tightly. "We're in the house already, we might as well see what's in here."

She took Leo's hand and walked down the hallway. "Good, because I know the one room we should see." Leo said as he caught up with her. "Father told me about it once, and it's right…there! The one next to the staircase."

Leo led the way and opened the door. The room was as dusty and worn-out as the rest of the house, and though the ceilings are floor were nearly decaying, the walls seemed to be like they were dusted and retouched just before they arrived. Unlike the dark, plain, drab walls outside the room, the walls in this room were intricately painted with small faces and tiny words under it. Gemini looked at one of the painted faces near the door and realized it was like a family tapestry of the Black Family, but bigger and down to the oldest Black dating back to medieval England.

Gemini easily found her name, thanks to her cousin Draco and his mother, Narcissa. They were the only blondes in a group of brunettes, so they easily caught her attention even from across the room. She traced Narcissa Malfoy to her mother, Bellatrix, and just beneath her was a tiny description bearing her father's name and, below that, her own name with a pale painting of her face.

Next to her face were her cousins, Draco Malfoy and Nymphadora Tonks. Below them were their children, Scorpius Malfoy and Edward Lupin. She nearly gagged at the memory of Teddy, but she coughed the feeling away. She noticed others in the tapestry, portraits of purebloods still distantly related to the Blacks. Everywhere she turned, she recognized at least one Slytherin she grew up with in Hogwarts. Not far from her, she saw Abigail's face underneath her father's.

She looked back at Leo, and noticed the disappointed look on his face. He looked hopelessly around the room, and Gemini suddenly knew why he looked sad. "I thought you said your parents won my mother's approval." She said.

"They did." He said quietly. "I guess it wasn't enough."

"Leo…"

At that moment, Gemini had no idea what pushed her to do it. But she walked back to him tiptoed, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you." Gemini mumbled. "From my parents to yours. From me to you. For everything you've done."

He smiled bitterly. "You're bloody welcome. It's a hell lot of work, you know." He laughed softly. The room rumbled again, and this time, they felt the floor shake. He looked at the room, a tight smile on his face. "Why don't we get out of here?"

Gemini nodded. Leo wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Gemini smiled at him as she placed her hand on his and the two walked out.

Along the hall, they passed by a covered portrait. The portrait murmured incoherently, but as they passed, Gemini caught one sentence: Restore the line. She looked back at the space on the wall and wondered if, that too, was as enchanted as the tapestry room and knew she was here. And if it did, then what did it mean by that?