For a moment Dolohov looked at the door the witch had run through and then back to the small wooden box as if it were a magnet. Then he flipped it around and around before sliding his hands along the carved edges and there was a real full grin on his face.
"It's there, the equation. In reverse or maybe it's mirror." Pulling his wand he summoned a magnifier and with a hand wave he lit the space with glowing balls of white light. Another wave summoned a quill and parchment.
"Wait. Before you start that and won't talk for hours, put it down." No response.
"It's about her. You can't do this. I hadn't realized how much she had done." Thorfinn knew he was listening, he wasn't writing or anything. Antonin was his mother's cousin though he had mostly been in Azkaban. When he had been broken out he had called for Thorfinn, after finding out he had been marked weeks after his mother died. He had done his best to keep him from killing himself or 'Bas and he appreciated it. Even liked some things about the older wizard.
There was something in him that was at his best and worst when he had a challenge. Dolohov was at his most cutting and most brilliant when he had an adversary. Granger didn't want to be his adversary though. That was obvious. The little witch wanted badly to learn from the bastard. It was clear, and apparently it went back a long time.
She would snap and snark at him, seemingly delighting in their tussles, verbal or otherwise. Malfoy she stood up to and though she didn't trust him it wasn't from fear. Basically the witch did what she wanted, but she wanted this enough to grovel, well not exactly but it certainly wasn't dignity that she was holding on to.
The world would skewer her. Hell they were now. No one had thought the Golden Girl would actually associate with them, even if she did get them out of hell. It hadn't really been that bad at the end but life was life and theirs were longer without dementors and starvation to hurry death along.
Even with their run ins, as she called times they had faced each other across the divide, she trusted him. Admired him and he just took it as his due. She was brave, so brave to do that. Trust them. Rightly or wrongly.
"If you aren't going to give her an apprenticeship then cut her off. Who says no to someone and then demands they answer your question, and she did it. She's put years into this. Hell I doubt anyone has ever done anything like that for you." Still he didn't move and Thorfinn was suddenly angry instead of agitated. One last look at his relation and he followed her out, thankful she had taken down the wards.
Appearing outside the little cottage that 'Bas was staying in now. It was nothing like the gothic castle he had lived in before. Not as bloody scary either. Thorfinn let his magic flare and knew his friend would feel it, know it was him walking through the wards. Her wards.
This was getting out of hand. How had one witch managed to turn them all upside down. Dolohov was behaving oddly, even for him, and Lucius seemed to want her to himself. Or for his son anyways. No one had been more derisive of mudbloods or that one specifically than the blonde ass. Now though, she was fit only to be a Malfoy or Malfoy-Nott. He had known that she visited the others. Enough news moved through the prison for him to know that for the last year or so it was just the four of them receiving regular visits.
He hadn't known what she had done for his sister, that she personally had been paying for her upkeep. When they had first talked about her being okay it was relief that overran his curiosity. Then as things changed in the prison and she began to look healthier after a while. He had thought she was dying really. Mentioning her condition only made her defensive or took the fight out of her so he had just kept on with they banter.
Her face was red and her hair was frizzing in her agitation. Then she cocked her head and looked him over.
"You are just trying to make me mad, you are such a tormentor. Do you get some sick thrill out of making me so frustrated?" She was calming down and though her words were as flinty as ever he could see that for the first time she really wondered. He only smirked at er enjoyed the huff. Especially how her sweater curved around her chest when she crossed her arms under them.
Looking up from her chest he was surprised to see her eyes closed and what looked like a bead of sweat on her temple. This wasn't normal.
"Little witch." His voice held none of the teasing it usually did. Slowly her eyes opened and she met his gaze. There was a brightness in her eyes that wasn't any emotion he could read. What was going on with her.
"What is going on?" Not letting her gaze flick away from his, he could see her get uncomfortable and shift in her seat. This caused none of the usual thoughts such movements did and instead he became more sure something was very wrong. She didn't answer him but she didn't look away either.
"You know, there isn't anyone better to tell than someone who can't tell anyone." He was pretty sure she wouldn't tell him. Whatever it was had been going on a while and gotten significantly worse in the two months since he had seen her last.
"There's no point Rowle." He cocked his head in question to her words.
"It will be a while before I see you again. I'll make sure Sabrina's okay so don't you concern yourself. Oh here is the copy of the Tornados magazine you wanted." All he could do was nod. Why wouldn't he be seeing her?
When he was back in his cell he remembered the roll of parchment in his hand. The current events ban meant he couldn't be given the magazine. Of course the little witch had come up with a go around. She copied the scores and articles about the team into a scroll of parchment and left out all adds or references to things outside of what happened on the pitch. She had asked him what he was interested in. Explaining that she wanted him to have more than just her visits as mental stimulation. 'Can't have you turning into a slug in here Rowle.' It was the only thing he could think of. Access to mugglebooks kept him occupied when he needed an escape and his mind wouldn't provide one. Memories were easier now that the dementors didn't come into the prison more than once a week. Instead of reading what she had brought him, the look in her eyes kept his mind occupied.
Two months later she swept into the room with a grin and no trace of the hectic light that had been in her eyes. She was still thin and didn't look her healthiest but something was way different. Instead of mentioning it he merely let her see his eyes appreciate her form and smirked at the frown she shot him.
"Thank you for wearing those muggle pants again. Denims, is that what you call them. Do you paint them on?" Through the hour long visit he catalogued the changes and appreciated the healthy glow on her face and how it crept down her neck when he teased her about boys.
Mind back in the present he opened the front door without knocking. There was no yelled greeting but he didn't expect one. 'Bas had gotten quieter since his release which he would have thought impossible. There were things even he didn't understand about his friend but there were things he did too. One of them was that he didn't mind hearing what Thorfinn actually thought and didn't seem to blab. He was standing in the kitchen with his hair, that was shorter than usual, a mess and a spatula in his hand. They exchanged nods and the wave of the spatula told him to go ahead.
"I brought her to that cabin he likes. Way up in the mountains. I don't know what she thought would happen, or what I thought even. She said something about finishing the latest task. I didn't understand really, then with her chin up she asked if her take her on as his apprentice." 'Bas didn't disappoint in his reaction. The spatula jerked in his hand he went still for a moment then turned from the stove to face him.
"Is that what she was doing after the curse?" His expression told his friend that he didn't know anything about a curse.
"Remember what she looked like for a while? Like she was fading away." Rabastan wasn't looking at him but in a memory. This happened often with him. "Bellatrix." That one name explained much.
"The one that eats your magic?" All of them had been threatened with the same curse. Thaddeus Nott had been the example, after failing to take down that radio station three times. 'Bas nodded at him. Seeming to come back from whatever horror he was reliving.
"She came to me for answers, of course it didn't show in any regular tests. I sent her to Toni." There was a slight smirk on his face, and he returned it. That mystery was solved, why she had come to the freezing island rock in the first place.
"He cured it? Thought he didn't know how." Thorfinn questioned.
"He didn't. Couldn't have figured it out without a wand or magic either." He seemed to be thinking. "I'm not sure how they did it. All she ever said to me was thank you for suggesting him and that as I could see she was still alive. It was funny when she said it. Both of us laughed." He turned back to the frying pan in time to flip the bacon before it burned.
"Eggs?" He asked. Thorfinn nodded. He was having dinner at Sabrina's but could eat now and then. Eating whenever he wanted was still very much a luxury.
Seated at the little wooden table by the window they ate in silence. Thorfinn picked up the dishes and sent them to wash. This wand was working out okay. Not perfect but he didn't want to go into Diagon yet.
"He told her no, and I could see that she was upset. Only nodded though and then pulled a stack of leather bound notebooks from that bag that has everything in it. Turned out they were his journals. All of them until the war was over." Rabastan raised both brows at this. His expression asked the question.
"The little witch stole them of course. And get this, the bastards wand. Anyways she gave him all of it after he said no. He gave her veritaserum and asked her how she knew about him. Turns out she had some paper of his and that's how she learned about what he could do. Haven't seen him grin like that since he got duel your brother over Christmas. He was talking about reverse or mirrored equations when I left. Only person who would understand him is the little witch herself."
"That's surprising. She is surprising isn't she? I thought she would change out here. But she hasn't. Maybe a bit more open when I talk to her but that seems to be because she doesn't have to watch what she says. Seems to love to use magic on me or for me too. I think it was hard on her, watching us in there like that. Bit overzealous with the haircut though." How Rabastan ever became a Death Eater Thorfinn didn't know. He should have been a scholar or a father. He could duel well and was very capable but he didn't love the hunt or the fight. Wanted to be able to read and explore. Well he could now. No father or older brother to push him around. Just him, and he only wanted to be as free as his friend. Maybe the witch could find him a broom without him having to go to the Alley.
"It is surprising. That's the word for when a witch takes a truth potion provided by and administered by a man who tried to kill her. Oh and also turned her down after what sounded a bit like years of work." They were quiet for a bit.
"I wonder what she will do now. If it was the Ministry and working with Toni, then she's got some spare time." It was a genuine question of interest to his older friend. Thorfinn could only shrug in reply, he couldn't try to guess what the witch would do.