PART ONE ( EYE OF THE HURRICANE ) CHAPTER EIGHT:
008 || Phantom of St. Mungo's
"pt, ii: in which bellatrix lestrange's past comes back to haunt aurelia black in the worst way possible . . ."
"YOU DID WHAT, Goyle?" Xanthea Rowle snarls, grabbing Goyle by the collar of her cloak.
Both Xanthea Rowle and Gwen Goyle had escaped the security at the World Cup and they had managed to get Barty Crouch Jr away from his controlling father. Now, they've taken up residence in the abandoned Lestrange manor for the time being, soon they would leave and complete the tasks their Dark Lord had assigned them.
"I hit her with the Killing Curse," Goyle says weakly, not wanting to face Rowle's wrath. Out of the two of them, Rowle was the one with the worst temper and she wasn't against spilling pure blood if it meant relieving stress.
"You fucking what," Rowle snarls, "What the fuck —"
"I wasn't thinking —"
"Clearly, you weren't, Goyle! You could have lost the Dark Lord his pawn!"
"I never —"
"You seem to care more about getting revenge against Bellatrix than for the Dark Lord's cause —"
"How dare you —"
"No, how dare you, I told you that the filthy brat wasn't to be killed," Rowle snarls, "You truly are a reckless Gryffindor, Goyle."
"I still think that he should use something else for her."
"That is not your decision to make, Goyle! and you almost risked losing it tonight, she's already been damaged enough —"
"And who's fault is that Miss-I-Almost-Used-The-Dark-Lord's-Gift-For-Bait-For-The-Longbottoms?!"
"At least I'm not the one who tried to sell it out to Greyback twice," Rowle yells, letting out an animalistic snarl, trying to lunge at Goyle but Barty Crouch Jr. steps between the two women.
"Ladies, ladies," He says, "You both are blinded by your hatred for Bellatrix and will do anything to get revenge even if that means going against our master's orders."
"I wasn't the one who hit the bastard with a Killing Curse," Rowle defends, glaring at the younger man.
"No, but you did taunt her and torture her," Crouch Jr. points out.
"Well, she deserved a little punishment, she's turning into a Blood-Traitor thanks to Lestrange's Squib whore."
"You don't know that, Bella's smart, she could be having the Squib teach it to infiltrate Dumbledore's good side — we all know Dumbledore is a sucker for monsters. It could be an act," Crouch Jr. says calmly, "Remember, keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
Rowle crosses her arms over her chest and glares at Crouch Jr. and Goyle rolls her eyes but Crouch Jr. stands his ground and he continues "Instead of torturing and almost killing her, you two could've kidnapped her. You could've brought her to our master and he could've used her, she could have helped with a mission with the right amount of persausion. So, good job on letting your blood-thirst cloud your poor judgement again, girls."
Goyle looks at Crouch Jr. then looks to Rowle, who grits her teeth because she knows that he has a point. They could've taken her, they could've brainwashed her easily but instead they decided to toy around with her. They could've done the Dark Lord a great favour by bringing him a new pawn. He would've rewarded them so well, Rowle could've been better than Bellatrix but she had to go and fall into Goyle's way. She just had to relent and have some fun with Lestrange's little brat like Goyle has wanted to do for years now, if Rowle had just stayed in control then they would have a better plan then the one they faced at hand.
Rowle rounds on Goyle, shouting: "This is all your fault!"
Goyle swallows thickly, not wanting to face Xanthea Rowle's wrath again so she rounds on Crouch Jr. and asks: "Where's Yaxley?"
Crouch Jr. rolls his eyes at the two women, completely convinced that they share one braincell between the two of them. But, he answers Goyle's question nevertheless "Last I heard, she was completing her part of the plan. And she was doing it without fucking it up!"
x
ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ
x
SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP
written by rita skeeter | pg. 2 continued . . .
— Among the chaos, wanted Death-Eater, Gwendoline Goyle (pictured above) was spotted. How she managed to slip past the security is unknown, she was only only spotted after the initial attack on the Muggles. Unlike her other fellow Death-Eaters, Goyle was not involved with the Muggle attacks, instead she was found torturing, Asterope Malfoy, who now resides at St. Mungo's with no word on her current condition.
Asterope Malfoy, a fourteen-year-old Hogwarts student, attending the Quidditch World Cup was tortured for half-hour by Gwen Goyle before Ministry Workers were able to intervene. She was unconscious when she was brought to St. Mungo's; an eye-witness to the attack said they saw Goyle hit Malfoy with the Killing Curse. As strange as that sounds could it be possible that someone else has survived the Killing Curse or was it just another rumour birthed from the terror at the Quidditch World Cup? —
MAE SNORTS, TOSSING the Daily Prophet onto the bedside table. Rita Skeeter is still so full of it, what a bitch! While waiting for Aurelia to wake, Mae keeps her eyes out for that little beetle. No doubt Rita's desperate to hear about what really happened to Aurelia. Even back during what would have been Mae's hogwarts years, Rita Skeeter had always been a gossip-loving little shit. Skeeter would've been a year under Mae, if Mae hadn't been a Squib, and Skeeter was dorm mates with Bellatrix. Mae had only met Skeeter a couple of times and none of them were pleasant encounters.
Of course, there isn't much Mae could do about Skeeter's nosy behaviour considering Skeeter knew Bella's biggest secret and vice versa. Bella happens to be an unregistered Animagus like Skeeter and Skeeter knows that because she had been the one to challenge Bella to be the one to do it. In their seventh year, Skeeter and Bella's had a very 'anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better' type of relationship and Skeeter had challenged Bella that she couldn't become an Animagus before her. Luckily no complications happened but more unfortunately, as Bella always says, Skeeter had won. And now the two are bound by secrecy, they have a line they can never cross.
It's been almost three days since the attack, Aurelia had slept through them mostly, waking up for a few minutes here and there, sometimes saying some nonesense, sometimes she just stared at the ceiling. They put her in the Janus Thickey Ward which is supposed to be a permanent ward but Mae doubts, she has a good feeling, that Aurelia will not be there permanently. The Healers had insisted, though, since they couldn't tell what state Aurelia was in.
Neville Longbottom had unsurprisingly visited four times, twice yesterday; he had cried every time and held her hand almost the whole time. Aurelia had woken up once when he had been there. She spoken during the two minutes she had been awake, telling Neville and Mae quotes: "Your teeth make you look like a bunny, a soft bunny . . . You'd be such a fluffy bunny . . . Don't worry you're still pretty to me, Plant Boy," then Aurelia had tried to smile at him but it looked more like a grimace, seconds later she fell asleep. Luckily for her, he didn't take offense to the comment, it had made him more worried than anything.
Mae reaches for her cup of tea only to realise that it's empty, she frowns then gently pats Aurelia's knee "I'm gonna go grab another cup o' tea. I'll be right back, wee moon."
Aurelia lets out a quiet groan but doesn't stir nor open her eyes. Mae glances around the Janus Thickey Ward to make sure, Alice Longbottom is nowhere in sight before she leaves. Shortly after Aurelia had arrived in the ward, Alice had taken up the habit of wandering over to her bedside and just staring at her until a Healer comes to usher her away. Mae can't seem to see her, assuming Alice must be preoccupied with a puzzle, she leaves the ward.
From across the ward, Alice Longbottom sits in front of a small table watching Aurelia intently instead of working on her puzzle. Now that the redheaded woman was gone — Maeve or May-Ella? Alice doesn't recall what her name really is but she knows that woman. How? She's not exactly sure about that. But she knows her. She does know her. She's sure of it. And Alice knows the girl lying in the bed, she looks a little different than Alice can recall but Alice knows her, she think she's friends with her. Or was. She's not sure but she feels both and happy and wary to see her. Bella? Or was it Andy? She can't exactly recall her name either but Alice knows this girl for certain and she wants to know how. Alice recalls that the girl either did something bad or something bad happened to her, Alice can't recall what exactly the 'bad thing' was but she knows that something happened. She can't remember but she wants to, she wants to know how and why, she wants to know what the 'why' is. Alice wants to know who this girl is.
Bella or Andy, whoever the person is, she wants to know. Alice recalls that they're friends or maybe they once were but that's all she can recall properly. There's something else but she can't remember what it is, it's all far too blurry. Alice tries very hard to remember but it always comes back to friends and pain. She stumbles over to the girl's bed and sit down on the edge, Alice stares intently at the girl, waiting impatiently for her to wake up.
Why is she always sleeping? — I know her. I know her. I know her. — How? Why can't I remember? — I know her. I know her — Friend? Maybe? Yes? Enemy? Can't remember. Can't — Alice is frustrated, why can't she remember? She's trying so hard. How can she not remember. She should remember more than pretty laughter and then scary laughter. Her memory should be better than this, Alice's pretty sure she is an Auror or was an Auror. She can't exactly remember that either. It's so blurry. She wants this girl to wake up because if anyone has answers, it's got to be her. Wake up. Wake up.
Someone touches her shoulder and she grows tense, if it's someone who wants her to leave this girl alone again she'll scream. She doesn't want to leave because she might forget, she forgets a lot but she can never remember what exactly she's forgotten, Alice just has that feeling that she's forgetting something important. It's frustrating.
"Mum."
Alice relaxes, it's that rounded-face boy that always seems to be around. He always says his name's Neville, like the name she gave her son — her baby boy. Neville's just a little baby. This Neville had to be about fifteen, he's nice and she likes him better than the others around her. She hopes her son grows up to be nice like him. My son. My sweet boy. Wait — where is my son? Where did he —
"Mum, why don't we go sit on your bed," Neville suggests.
She looks at Neville. No. No. No. She doesn't want to go to her bed, she wants answers. Alice turns back to Aurelia. I know her. I know her. I know her. She leans closer. Wake up. Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!
"Mum?"
WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Alice turns back to Neville. WAKE HER UP! She screams frustrated but he doesn't react, doesn't even flinch; he just stares at her with a concerned expression. WAKE HER UP! WAKE HER UP!
Aurelia wakes with a start, someone's screaming. Why are they screaming? Her eyes land on Alice Longbottom and she realises she's in St. Mungo's and Neville Longbottom's mum is staring right at her. Oh, fuck. Her head feels blurry and she can't remember why she's in here, she stares at Alice with a confused expression, she doesn't remember Mae saying anything about visiting the Longbottoms this week or any time soon, Aurelia definitely would've remember that. If Mae had told her that, Aurelia would've prepared a bouquet of sunflowers for Alice.
"I know you," A female voice says, soft but also annoyed.
Aurelia looks around the ward, her eyes glancing over Neville, not even realising he's even there. No one else could have said that to her, she realises, her eyes landing back on Alice. Oh, double fuck.
Alice leans closer, staring at her intensely I KNOW YOU!
Aurelia flinches, she can hear what Alice is thinking. It's more shocking that Alice's thoughts are coherent than the fact Aurelia can hear them. After all, Aurelia's a natural-born Legilimens, Aunt Andy has been training her ever since little five-year-old Aurelia first told Mae that she could sometimes hear cousin's thoughts ( spoiler alert: they were disturbing! ). The gift came from her mum's side of the family, her mum being an incredibly talented Occlumens as well as an Legilimens. Grandma Druella and Grandpa Cygnus had drilled the skills in her mum and aunt's mind from a young age like their parents did to them and so on an so forth. Legilimency and Occlumency had been a very well taught and important skill to the Black family for multiple generations now.
"You — you can talk," Aurelia whispers, not daring to take her eyes off Alice, afraid that she'll lose the connection, "You're alright?"
It's then that Neville realises she's awake, he sighs relieved and bit surprised "You're awake," and then he pulls her into a tight hug, that's when Aurelia realises he's here. Even as he hugs her, she doesn't move her eyes away from Alice.
WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME! Alice yells, growing even more frustrated, there's no way the girl can't hear her, she's screaming at her.
"Get a heal — Healer please," Aurelia says desperately and Neville gives her a look of concern but nods his head and turns on his heel to go fetch a Healer.
"Can . . . Can you understand me," Aurelia asks, she tries to enter Alice's mind and push her thoughts into Alice's mind but she's surprised to find that Alice is blocking her. Or perhaps, there isn't anything there for Aurelia to see, it's probably the latter after everything the Longbottoms went through. It's a miracle that she even has coherent thoughts.
Alice's eyebrows scrunch together ever so slightly and if Aurelia hadn't been staring at her so intently she would've missed it. Of course, I can understand you! Do you think I'm dumb or something? The offended tone of her voice doesn't match the practically blank look on her face. Who are you? You're Bella, right? Or is it Andy? You're my . . . Friend, right? Or you were once . . . But — but, then you did something bad . . . Or something bad happened to you — who are you?
"I — I'm neither of those people, I'm their niece . . . I'm Asterope. . . Do you —" Aurelia says, "Do you know —"
Alice tilts her head No . . . No . . . You can't be Asterope, she's just a little baby, wait if you know Asterope then that means, you know my son. Do you know where he is, I think this place is St. Mungo's, he must be sick. Can you telling me who's checking him over. Oh, yes, his name is Neville, like that boy over there —
Aurelia's eyes widen in surprise and she sit up in bed, a bolt of pain runs up her spine but she ignores it. Her excitement over Alice mentioning Neville completely overshadows the fact that Alice, a Blood-Traitor, knew her.
"You remember your son? That — ouch, fuck! — that boy, that's your son!"
Alice leans back, her eyes widening slightly but still, it looks rather blank and doesn't match the tone of her thoughts Don't be ridiculous, my son is just a wee thing, only a year old!
"No . . . No . . . He's not one anymore, Alice . . . It's not nineteen eighty-one anymore."
What do you mean it's not nineteen bloody eighty-one?! Of course, it's nineteen eighty-one, what year do you think it is, kid?!
"Nineteen ninety-four," Aurelia says slowly, does Alice actually think it's nineteen eighty-one, almost as if she's trapped in time?
Alice laughs but her mouth doesn't move. Her light laughter fills Aurelia's brain as she says: you're crazy, kid!
"It's nineteen-ninety-four, Neville's fourteen now, he's not a baby anymore, Alice, you're the one who's in St. Mungo's."
No . . . No . . . That can't be . . . It can't be . . .
"Think about it . . . He calls you mum," Aurelia says softly.
Alice thinks hard, has he? She's never really paid attention to what Neville calls her when he's around. Neville can't be fourteen, she'd remember him growing up, thank you very much, kid! She's only been in this place for a day maybe even less . . . Hasn't she, she doesn't even know why she's here? Alice thinks very hard but everything's so blurry, why is it so blurry?
An image of baby Neville flashes in Aurelia's mind, he's smiling and then he's replaced by Frank, then her aunt but she can't tell which one because the image is gone too fast and replaced by her aunt again but she's sneering this time and then blood, so much blood, Frank's limp body, then Goyle laughing, and then nothing.
It's then that Aurelia remembers why she's in St. Mungo's as the events of the Quidditch World Cup start filling her mind, tears start to blur her vision but she pushes past it. This is much more important, Alice Longbottom and her ability to think is way more important, it's a medical miracle even by Wizarding standards.
Alice goes quiet, her face getting paler. From the corner of her eye, Aurelia sees Neville returning with a young, female healer. Aurelia chews on her lower lip in a nervous manner, reaching out a shaky hand but decides against touching her at the last moment "Alice . . . Are you —"
Much to Neville's surprise, his mum's head snapped up.
I KNOW YOU! I KNOW YOU! I KNOW YOU!
Aurelia flinches at the woman's loud thoughts "No . . . You don't, my name is Asterope, I —" An image Aunt Bellatrix or maybe Aunt Andy flashes in Aurelia's mind but it's gone before she can distinguish which one.
You're Bella . . . Yes, or Andy? I can never seem to remember what one is your name, it's either one of the two —
The Healer Neville had fetched places her hands on Alice's shoulder and gently nudges her "Come along, Alice, I believe you have a puzzle to finish."
NO. NO. NO. NO! NO! NO! Alice is shouting angrily, unaware that it's all in her head.
"It's fine," Aurelia says quickly, "She's not harming anyone, she can stay here until she wants to go back to — to that puzzle."
The Healer hesitates but eventually lets Alice be and then turns her attention to Aurelia "Very well, very well. How are you today, Miss. Malfoy, are you in any pain? Any headaches, nausea?"
Aurelia shakes her head "No, not really . . . But, I am rather hungry."
"Of course, of course! I'll go and fetch you a plate of food right now," The Healer says with a nod, hurrying out of the ward.
Alice's thoughts are growing louder and more frustrated, they were getting harder to ignore. Aurelia tenses, glancing at Neville who's staring at her with an emotional expression. She wants to tell him, she should tell him but she's afraid that he won't believe her and get upset at her or even angry at her for even saying such a thing; Aurelia doesn't want to ruin their friendship.
Neville kneels down by her side, he looks like he's about to cry "Ari —"
She swallows thickly "Neville, can I — can I tell you something? And can you promise not to get mad at me?"
Neville nods, he's a bit confused as to what she could possibly want to tell him but relieved that she's no longer saying weird things. Neville's been beside himself with worry since he had heard what had happened to Aurelia. He had been so afraid that she'd end up like his parents, he had grown up hearing how ruthless Gwen Goyle was alongside the Lestranges and Crouch Jr. from his grandmother and godmother. Hearing that Aurelia had been attacked, possibly killed, by Goyle had been the most terrifying thing Neville had ever been through. Aurelia opens her mouth to speak but she's cut off by his mum who let's out a frustrated, raspy groan. His eyes widen in surprise, his mum's never made a sound this loud before.
Aurelia clamps her shaking hands over her ears, mumbling: "Please stop screaming, I can hear you just fine."
"Ari, no one's screaming."
"Yes — I, uh —" Aurelia stammers, glancing at his mum.
Neville glances at his mum as well, to his surprise she actually looks annoyed. His mum usually has a blank look on her face, occasionally paired with an absentminded smile. Alice's eyebrows twitch upward as she stares intently at Aurelia.
"Yes, I can hear you! I am most certainly not deaf," Aurelia mutters.
Neville is so confused but he's also excited in a weird way. He can't exactly explain why he's excited but he feels all tingly as he looks between Aurelia and his mum, something's going on. Something good, something big. "Who — who are you talking to, Ari," Neville asks but he thinks he knows the answer or at least he hopes it'll be her answer.
Once again, Aurelia swallows thickly and says: "Please don't be mad at me."
"No, never," He assures her.
"I — I know it sounds weird, hell, believe me it feels weird but I can hear her — your mum's thoughts. I'm sort an Legilimens, my mother is too and her gift was passed down to me, somewhat, I've got a natural talent for it and I've been studying it for years. Actually, my family's been studying — not — not the point, sorry . . . I've always been able to hear people's thoughts for a long time now and, well, I — I can hear your mum's thoughts," Aurelia rambles nervously.
"You can," Neville asks giddily. He believes her wholeheartedly, Aurelia, from what he knows about her, doesn't seem like the person to make something like that up and with his mum's strange behaviour, it makes sense, "What's she thinking," Neville asks, his hazel eyes wide with excitement.
"Well, right now she's thinking that I'm a bit daft — hey, am not!"
Neville looks at his mum to notice the corner of her lip twitch as though she's holding back a smirk.
"I'm not daft, Alice, thank you very much! I just got a lot on my mind at the moment, for example: your extremely loud thoughts!"
"Gran used to bring in lots of Legilimens to see if they could find anything in my parents' heads but none of them ever found anything more than a few images that usually went away within seconds and never returned. Do — do you think this means that they — they're coming around — coming back to us?"
Aurelia frowns, shrugging "I — I don't know, Nev — Neville, I don't know what's going on, I —" She's scared, she's confused, and she's feeling extremely guilty. Not to mention, she's got a bloody migraine. "I'm not sure how to explain it but deep inside your mum's mind her memories are there, some of them at least but they're trapped."
"Trapped?"
"They're . . . Being withheld possibly, the damage done to her by the curse probably keeps her from remembering. I — I think I might have triggered some of her memories. She thought I was my . . . I was my aunt and then she thought it was nineteen eighty-one —"
"Why would she think that?"
Aurelia shrugs and Neville bites his lip, his giddiness turning into nervousness as he mulls a question over in his head. Should he ask it? Does he really want to know the answer? "What about me," He blurts out, eyes glossy and face pale.
"Th — that . . . Well, uh, she remembers she has a son named Neville but she . . . Well, she doesn't think that you're her Neville, she still thinks you're a baby, she thinks it's nineteen eighty-one, she's got no recollection of what happened to them."
Them? Alice echoes.
Aurelia turns to Alice "Frank, they got him too. I'm — I — I'm so sorry, Alice, please forgive me," Aurelia pleads, tears threatening to spill.
Frank . . . Frank . . . He's my husband . . . My love, my Frank.
"Yes, Alice, he is. He's here too, at the back somewhere probably drawing, Mrs. Longbottom —"
He likes to draw, my Frank, he draws all the time.
"Yes, yes. Neville tells me that he likes to draw, Neville . . . Your son," Aurelia says softly.
Neville looks between the two of them with teary eyes, his mum remembers him, somewhat, at least. And that's more than enough for him. "Mum," Neville whispers, voice cracking, "Mum, it's me . . . It's Neville."
No, Alice whimpers, no, you — you can't be! My Neville is only a baby, just a — just a wee little thing that can hardly walk! I would — no, not my Neville, wrong, I would remember my Neville growing up!
Alice turns to look away from the two teens when a shimmer of gold catches her eye. It's the necklace that hangs around Aurelia's neck, a sun-shaped locket. Her eyes widen and memories that she can hardly remember come at her fast, so fast and so blurry. It gives Alice a headache, she wants it to stop, her mouth opens up in a silent scream. Asterope. Daughter. Weapon. Voldemort. Greyback. Help. No. Save her. Save her. Why. Why. Anything for her. For them. Help. Black. No. Not Neville. No. No.
Aurelia's face crumbles as a wave of Alice's emotions hit her like a tidal wave, sadness and confusion, it's all too much for Aurelia. She's never felt feelings from thoughts before, Aunt Andy and her mum had described it as being over overwhelming and they hadn't been kidding. She sobs, pulling her knees to her chest just to get away from Alice, she wants Alice to go away and then suddenly, she feels and hears nothing more from Alice, who's now staring at the floor.
"Ari, what — what's wrong? Are you in pain? Do you want me to get another healer," Neville questions, concerned for her — why is she crying? Could it be something his mum thought?
Aurelia takes a deep breath,trying to remember what her mum told her about keeping others' thoughts out of her head, she doesn't want to hear Alice's thoughts for a long time. Neville grabs her hand, brushing his thumb gently over the top of her palm "Ari?"
She blinks, covering her necklace with her other hand as for some reason it had triggered a very surprising reaction from Alice. A reaction she hopes to never be a witness to again. Before she can say anything, Mae returns with a cup of steaming tea, her green eyes widen when she sees that Aurelia's awake "Oh, wee moon, thank goodness you're awake! I was starting to get nervous there!"
She spots Alice sitting on Aurelia's bedside and bites back an exasperated sigh but Augusta, arriving just behind her, sighs loud enough for the both of them "Alice, dear, stay way from —" Augusta starts to say but she stops upon seeing the dirty look Mae is giving her, she pauses for a moment then clears her throat.
"Alice, dear, don't you have a puzzle that needs completing," Augusta questions Alice in a soft voice, grabbing her daughter-in-law's elbow in an attempt to lead her away. This time Alice complies, her expression is completely blank and her mind is quiet. Aurelia's not sure if it's because she's hopefully lost connection with the woman or if it's due to the fact there's simply nothing on the woman's mind.
"My darling, are you alright? You're crying, are you in pain," Mae questions worriedly, gently pushing Neville out of the way so that she could sit next to Aurelia.
Aurelia glances at Neville, they stare at each other and it seems like Neville's trying to communicate something to her but she doesn't hear anything, she's keeping her mind blank so that she doesn't hear anyone's thoughts. Just like Aunt Andy told her to do all those years ago.
"I — I'm confused, what hap — happened to me? Where — is Percy alright? Goyle, she — I —" Aurelia stammers tearfully, "Everything is blurry, and Rowle was there — she — Ellie! Where's Ellie, I remember, he — he wasn't with us, what happened to him?!"
Mae brushes Aurelia's damp curls from her bruised, pale face. "Goyle and Rowle attacked you, they — oh, Merlin! My sweet darling, I'm s — so sorry, I — I should've never left you own your own, pl — please forgive me!"
Aurelia frowns, if it's anyone's fault it's her own. For someone who spends most of the school year either practicing spells or creating her own, it had been pretty pathetic of her to not be able to think of at least three good spells to protect herself. She had only thought of the Stunning Spell because that's the only one she can sort of do, she's pathetic. Aurelia shakes her head quickly "No, mum, er, Mae, it's not your fault."
Mae strokes her cheek lovingly "I could've lost you forever, I thought you were dead."
"I'm a bad witch, you can't kill me," Aurelia laughs weakly.
"You . . . You were hit by the Killing Curse . . ." Mae trails off, although Mae knows that as long as Aurelia saw it coming than it wouldn't have been much of a threat, at least that's what Bella said. But, Bella could be wrong . . .
Aurelia blinks, she remembers that vividly the bright green light that had just missed her, "No . . . Goyle missed me by an inch, I thought I was dead for — for a moment." she whispers, green eyes wide with fear.
"Oh," Mae breathes, looking relieved beyond belief as a smile dances across her red-tainted lips.
Aurelia studies her, she doesn't look too good, her thick blonde curls are dishevelled, her eyeliner smudged, and bright red lipstick smeared, she wonders if Mae has gotten a wink of sleep since she was attacked — holy titty fuck! My scars. She covers the right side of her face but she realises that if they had been showing Neville would've said something by now like "Oh, those are ugly!" or "Bloody hell, I did't realise I'm friends with the Phantom of the fucking Opera!".
Okay, Neville wouldn't say that, he's never read the Phantom of the Opera or listened to the musical — the superior version — so he wouldn't compare her to that. The former is more along the lines of something he would, so it's safe to say that her scars are hidden.
Speaking of Neville it appears that he had left, Aurelia looks around the ward to see that Neville has wandered off to visit with his mum, he's helping her with her puzzle and across the ward, Neville's grandmother is visiting Frank Longbottom, who is regarding Augusta Longbottom with a very tense expression. Aurelia wonders if Frank is in the same state as Alice. This thought both saddens and excites her, it excites her because there's hope that they can be saved but it makes her sad to think that they were even reduced to such a state. Especially by someone in her own family.
"Well, where's Ellie? What happened, where —"
"He's alright and so is Percy, he's at the Burrow with everyone else. Ellie had wandered off because he couldn't sleep and when things started goin' up in flames, well . . . His father's past caught up to him for a moment, but he wasn't hurt. Everyone's fine, we're all just worried about you."
"I love you . . . Mum," Aurelia says hesitantly, not hesitating to say that she loves Mae but hesitating to call her mum.
Mae gives her watery smile and leans over to kiss Aurelia's forehead "I love, my darling Donum Vitae, so so much."
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ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ
x
AFTER SOME TESTS the Healers decide to keep Aurelia there for a few more days, much to her dismay, just to make sure she didn't suffer from any permanent damage. Neville visits both those days, much to his grandmother's dismay, bringing sunflower crowns each time for Aurelia to wear.
It was the early hours of the morning, Aurelia would be going home later that day. Aurelia hadn't slept much at all, she kept having nightmares about not only what happened at the Quidditch World Cup but about the werewolf attack as well, and since she managed not to wake up screaming from them, a huge feat on her part, none of the Healers noticed her distressed state.
Aurelia sits up in her bed, watching the quiet ward shuffle around her. There's only half the Healers as there usually is, it's still technically nighttime and by the looks of it, nighttime obviously goes smoothly. Aurelia glances at the window, the moon is low in the sky and soon the sun will be taking it's place, the moon is nearly full, her head throbs and her stomach churns; as it always has since she had been attacked by the werewolf. The full moon is only a day or so away, Aurelia knows that it's nothing compared to what Remus or other werewolves have to go through but it still hurts like a bitch — it's like her period. But, at least she doesn't turn into a blood-thirsty monster once a month.
Aurelia gets up, swinging her legs over the edge of the hospital bed. They're still shaking although not as badly as they had been when she first woke up, she'll probably be able to walk now without feeling like she's going to collapse after only two steps. One of the Healers reckons that the Cruciatus Curse hit her in the spine at least once which would leave some lasting damage long after she had been released from the curse. Of course, that and being magically punted into giant tree would definitely fuck with one's ability to walk properly. Fortunately, the Healers, after doing some further research, believe that Aurelia will make a full recovery within a couple months.
Aurelia stands shakily on her feet, lifting her legs to see how much it hurts and if it'll be possible for her to walk without falling flat on her face. If she does, at least Nymphadora isn't around to see it this time, she's never going to live that down — not even near-death experiences can stop them from teasing each other.
Someone, in a fast pace shuffle approaches Aurelia, she can tell by the silence accompanied with the shuffling that it's not a Healer who's about to tell her to get back into bed. Aurelia looks up to come face to face with Alice Longbottom. Her usual expressionless face is replaced with a look of determination, Aurelia smiles at her and both of Alice's eyes twitch like she's trying to narrow her eyes but it's too much effort for her.
"Hello," Aurelia says softly, "Would you like something?"
Alice starts at her unblinking and then her mouth starts moving but no words come out. Aurelia stares at her, she surprisingly has a lot of patience in this moment, if Ellie had come up to her doing this, she probably would've socked him. But, that could be more to do with him being her like her annoying older brother and the fact he's just annoying by default and less to do with the fact that she has no patience for being a Hufflepuff.
Answers, Alice says, I want answers. Who are you — why am I here — where is my son — what happened?
And so, Aurelia tells Alice Longbottom what happened almost fourteen years ago, at least she tells Alice what she knows about what happened that fateful night. Perhaps, Alice's fractured memories can fill in the blanks that Aurelia gives her. When Aurelia finishes telling her what happened and giving her a run down of what happened in the thirteen years since they've been in St. Mungo's.
So, you're telling me that fourteen years have gone by and I just didn't notice it? Alice questions, disbelief lacing her dry tone. Although her expression is blank, Aurelia can imagine by the tone of her voice that she'd be raising an eyebrow at her if she could.
"Well, in a sense, that's what I'm trying to say but it's a bit more complicated than that," Aurelia replies, trying to chose her words carefully. Her patience is wearing thin and she wishes that it was a lot more easier to convince Alice of the situation she's in. But, Aurelia knows that she must keep her cool, one wrong movement or one wrong word and all the process she's made with Alice, even if it's not a lot, could be erased.
I think you're crazy, Alice says flatly and Aurelia can imagine that Alice would be glaring at her if she could.
"Fair enough," Aurelia agrees, "But, everyone in here thinks that you're the one who is crazy. I'm just a murderer in the making to them."
The people in St. Mungo's, you mean, that's where we are, aren't we?
"Yes, it is. We're in the Janus Thickey Ward . . . Do you remember why you're here," Aurelia says, prompting her to think, to remember the truth.
Alice's mind goes silent and Aurelia frowns and wonders if she shouldn't have pushed her like that. Then finally after what seems like hours, which was probably only ten minutes, Aurelia can hear mumbled words come from Alice's mind. From the sounds of it, Alice is talking to herself, trying her best to remember what happened and the distressed tone of her voice makes Aurelia feel terrible for asking.
. . . She stole Asterope . . . She — Andy, no, no not Andy — it was Goyle! Goyle stole Asterope for the — for the plan . . .
"What plan? I don't understand why would Goyle steal me?"
I — the one Voldemort planned, think — don't remember the details — and she hurt someone to get Asterope — But, Bella she — she came to our door in the middle of the night in hysterics and Asterope was covered in blood, Frank tired to get the password from her but she was too hysterical and Asterope looked dead and — she revealed herself — a trap — and we tried to fight her but she had Asterope and we couldn't let anything happen to her, she was just a baby —
"She — my aunt used me to get to you — I was there the night you were tortured?"
She was only Neville's age — we didn't know the answers, we knew nothing but she — Merlin, her screams and then pain and bright light — there was a man — wait no . . . It was Frank who convinced her to leave Asterope and then — and then — I can't remember but there was pain, through out everything there was pain — and that's why I'm in St. Mungo's but I — I can't have been here for fourteen years, that's impossible!
Aurelia brain is like a storm, her thoughts and emotions whizzing around her skull as she tries to process this information, her chest heaves slowly as her panic builds — her aunt used her to bait the Longbottoms, Bellatrix used her to torture the Longbottoms into insanity. She swallows the lump in her throat and tries her best to ignore her feelings — help Alice first.
Aurelia frowns "It's not as impossible as you think it is, Alice, the war especially the end of it was a terrible time, there was chaos and people running rampant. People were thrown in Azkaban sometimes without trials. What happened to you . . . It was a miracle that you and Frank survived."
No, Alice says, no! You must be lying! It hasn't been that long! It can't have been that long — you're lying — liar! Liar! You're not Asterope — who are you really?
And then, surprisingly because of the state she's in but unsurprisingly because of her tone of mental voice — Alice lunges at Aurelia but her attempt is thwarted by another patient who steps in between Aurelia and Alice. The woman crashes right into the man's chest, it must've taken all her efforts to make such a quick movement that she probably couldn't stop herself even when she knew that someone was in her way. Alice makes a strange but quiet hissing noise, Aurelia looks on concerned but the stranger, brooding man wears an expression of annoyance.
"Stop," He says to Alice, gripping her shoulders in what looks like a painfully tight grasp, the man picks her up so she's standing up right and then he says "Leave."
Aurelia wants to yell at him for handling her so roughly but all that comes out is a weak whisper of "Stop hurting her."
Alice stares at him blankly, Aurelia expects her to put up a fight but she turns on her heel, after a weirdly tense staring contest, and goes back to her area on the ward. The strange man turns to Aurelia and with what looks like great effort, he smiles at her and then he plops down on Aurelia bed, his expression morphs back into his usual piercing glare as he scans the ward almost as if he's expecting someone else to come and attack Aurelia.
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ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ | ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ɢᴏʟᴅ
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THE STRANGE MAN with piercing grey eyes and dark unruly hair sits by Aurelia's side for hours, he only leaves when Neville shows up and he decides after staring at Neville for a good five minutes that he's not a threat to Aurelia and then he leaves and Aurelia swears he vanishes out of the Ward, she wonders if he was even a patient here.
"Why was he sitting with you," Neville asks, his tone fearful and on the verge of judgmental.
"I guess I just attract strange people," Aurelia says with a wry smile then she adds in a softer tone, "I don't know who he is, do you?"
"No, no really . . . I'm not even sure if he's a resident here. I swear he comes and goes and when I ask a Healer about him, they just give me weird looks . . I think he used to be a Death-Eater, I — I swear I saw the — that mark on his arm one day. I think he's bad news"
"Oh okay," Aurelia says dryly, looking at her hands as she's consumed by a bitter awkwardness. She hated the topics of Death-Eaters especially since almost everyone in her family was one.
Neville must sense that something's gone awkwardly wrong although he's not entirely sure what it was, he presents Aurelia with a bouquet of sunflowers as an attempt to fix things "Here, I brought you some flowers."
He says it as though her bedside isn't covered in an assortment of yellow flowers, he smiles at her and says "I can make them into a flower crown for you."
They make small talk as Neville fashions the sunflowers into crowns, he asks about his mum and Aurelia hesitates to tell him because his mum had tried to tackle her not that long ago.
"Has she said anything new," Neville asks hopefully.
"Well, not exactly," Aurelia says with a shrug, there's no fucking way that she's going to tell Neville what his mum had told her. Neville would never talk to her again if she did.
Neville's face falls and Aurelia frowns sympathetically, "She keeps doing the same thing over and over again, some times, she'll word it differently or she'll remember something else but it's always the . . . Same? It's kind of like clockwork, I suppose."
She had encountered Alice three more times through out her stay at St. Mungo's; four if you count the one that happened this morning. She'd tell Aurelia that she knew her, Aurelia would tell her she didn't, Alice would refuse to believe that it wasn't nineteen eighty-one anymore, and then she'd think to hard and pause for a moment and then start all over again. It's like a loop, not exactly the same every time it repeated but it always repeated. It was most different this morning but that could just be because Aurelia gave her more information but it was still similar to their other encounters.
Aurelia's come to the conclusion that Alice has trouble retaining her thoughts and memories. She could be wrong as she's not a professional but it's something she can use to make a theory. She now knows where to start when it comes to helping the Longbottoms and she was going to find the way to bring them back someway, somehow.
"Should we tell someone," Aurelia wonders, after telling Neville more about his mum's behaviour.
Neville thinks for a moment, he notices she's shivering so he tugs off his Gryffindor jumper and hands it to her. "I don't think they'll believe us," He replies, stifling a laugh as Aurelia's head gets caught in the arm of his jumper.
Aurelia mulls his answer over in her head as she struggles to get her head through the right hole. He's got a point, they're just kids. If trained professionals couldn't find anything what makes anyone think that a highly untrained fourteen-year-old girl could. Most healers had given up on the Longbottoms. They had been written off a lost cause, Healers think that they're too far gone and perhaps at times that's true but there's still hope. Perhaps, the three of them aren't completely gone, they're just trapped. Lost in their minds, almost in a dreamlike state, like Alice in Wonderland, or that Muggle condition they call a 'coma'. Aurelia's not sure how to explain it but Alice and Frank are still there in some ways and she's determined to bring them back.
Which may come as a difficult task to her considering she can't even put on a jumper properly. Neville chuckles and helps her put the red and gold jumper on the correct way after she fails to do so herself three times in a row.
Aurelia sighs exasperated with herself "I'm gonna find a way to work on my Legilimency skills this year, m'kay? Then I'll come back in the summer to see if I can contact her again and if I can we'll tell someone then . . . Does that sound like a plan," Aurelia wonders, pulling her pink curls into a half-assed ponytail.
"It sounds like a — a great plan but you don't — you don't have to do that, Ari, Legilimency is really complicated," Neville says uncertainly.
But even at her words, Neville smiles brightly, the fact that Aurelia's trying to help his parents makes him feel all warm and fuzzy. It's not just the fact that he thinks the world of Aurelia that makes him believe that she's going to be the one who helps his parents getter better. Neville knows that if anyone can make even the slightest difference in his parents' lives it's going to be Aurelia. He appreciates her efforts more than his words can ever express.
It's been so long since someone's actually tried to do something with his parents, his grandmother had give up years ago not because she wanted to but because it hurt her too much to watch all her attempts fail every time. And his godmother, Lyra Black never bothered with his parents, she had been the first to tell him they were a lost cause even though it had made him cry. Aurelia grins back at him, taking his warm hands into her cold ones.
"It's fine, Neville, I want to, besides complicated magic is always easier to me than simple magic," Aurelia says firmly, "I'll probably master Legilimency before I get Wingardium Leviosa right."
I'd do anything for you, Aurelia thinks. Ever since she had found out what happened to the Longbottoms when she was just a little girl, Aurelia's always had a burning desire to help them. The Longbottoms' fate had been one of the reasons Aurelia had decided to start creating her own spells. Now, years after creating spells, she's got the experience and a theory that might help create a spell that help the Longbottoms. She's going to get Neville's parents back, Aurelia squeezes Neville's hands, I promise you, I'll bring them back to you.
Aurelia rests her head on Neville's shoulder as they lapse back into silence, Neville continues on with the flower crown and it feels nice, it feels right being with him; they just fit together so perfectly. The only thing keeping this moment from being peaceful is the haunting idea that Aurelia had been there when the Longbottoms were attacked — she was the Trojan Horse and the Longbottoms were the city of Troy, Bellatrix was the one who burned them to the ground.
"Well," Neville says, "If anyone can figure how to fix my parents, it would be you, you're brilliant, Ari!"
Aurelia tries to smiles but it comes out as more of a grimace, luckily Neville thinks that she's making the face because she's in pain. But, really she was drowning in guilt, would he say that if he knew she was the reason for his parents' downfall?