Hope you enjoy it. I get really excited every time I see someone new joining, so thank you️.
The Two men were left to their own in the large kitchen. The older one looked at ease with this strange situation, the younger one was frowning too hard.
"Headmaster, I don't think I'm the best choice to be given such a responsibility, we should speak to Nina, suggest someone who knows about the subject."
"My dear boy, why do you think Miss Morgenstern has ignored her rune professor, very much adept at the subject. To choose you and Severus?"
The younger man looked torn but it looked like understanding caught up with him finally.
"Her choice wasn't based on our knowledge of the subject"
Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "Rather wise I believe. After all, at the case of an unfortunate exposure, the only thing lacking wouldn't be knowledgeable wizards. I must admit in my old age I find it rather amusing that she had captured how many similarities you both share when you are essentially opposites." He said as his smile widened.
Lupin didn't know if feeling horrified or confused was the right emotional path to follow. Either way the man had no time to refute the craziness Dumbledore had spouted, because Poppy was entering the kitchen followed by the young girl.
There was an uncomfortable silence. "Headmaster there is no way my limited opinion is enough, I urge you to reconsider."
"We have an arrangement with Miss Morgenstern dear Poppy. My hands are tied. She does not care for the scrutiny of old wizards I believe."
Nina struggled to hold her smile and it seemed to frustrate the old woman.
"Well, I have to admit this is exceptional. I have never come upon rune work of this kind, I cannot say I understood much without Nina's explanations, but the tests were stable and balanced. You've done a great job...That being said, you cannot use wandless magic for every little thing, young lady, your body has received a stabilizing rune to manage the amount of magic your core produces in hopes of avoiding physical damage."
"I'm sure I don't have to explain what this means"
She didn't appreciate her scolding tone one bit.
"It means the recipient will be destabilized due to lack of energy it usually receives, which means the body will collapse and basically shut down until the magical core produces enough to resume it's working... This wasn't made on a whim Madame Pomfrey, I couldn't make the simplest of charms without feeling like my chest was about to blow up."
Her tone was serious, she wasn't glaring but the frown on her face and her words were enough.
"I know child, but these matters can't be handled by children, you could have destroyed your core. The amount of damage you could have done. That is why Saint Mungo's exists, I can assure you the help you needed could have been given."
"With all due respect, there is a reason I hadn't found many mentions of Magical Core maladies that fit my case. It's not a stretch to believe the medic community doesn't exactly lose time with them, since the only two I found in record, were vaguely mentioned, and very much isolated to unhealthy, fatal results...my conditions are withstanding."
Stunned silence. The old woman wasn't happy, but she didn't exactly know how could this be a motive for a child to do what they wished with their magic.
"Albus you cannot possibly allow this, she needs careful observation, tests...I understand the need to mistrust adults and institutions that have failed others like you Miss Morgenstern, but what will you do when you hit a milestone you do not understand... You have admitted to me, that you made your rune work as simple as possible because you are no expert... How can you dismiss a professional opinion then?"
The girl's face lost its confidence but the frown of stubbornness was still there. She realised, in all her fear of isolation, fear of being treated like a freak of nature, she was the first one to isolate herself and feel like a freak.
She had never made friends to trust in the magical community fearing she'd be judged nor in her muggle neighborhood. Fuck she wanted to hide under the wonderful warm duvet upstairs and cry herself to sleep.
"I'm not dismissing it Madame Pomfrey, I appreciate it, but I don't think I'm ready for any of it... Thank you for making time, I know you're all busy... If you excuse me.." she said in a whisper.
The girl didn't wait for a response.
Poppy looked like she wanted to follow her and maybe hug her or sooth her, Dumbledore shook his head.
"It's not right Albus" she insisted.
"She has her own motives Poppy, her own fears and worries... We cannot force her."
"We could speak to her mother... you're so ready to treat her like an adult. I'm sure her mother will take the right course of action for her child"
"I can assure you, my dear, her mother would be of no help in this matter."
His frown kept her quiet this time.
The girl stumbled, eyes blurry enough with tears to not realise she was being watched by a tiny creature with long floppy ears, she heard him though and froze.
"Filthy mudblood wandering the halls of the great house of Black. My poor Mistress Black..." The tiny creature continued on with its mutterings, perhaps not realising his thoughts were heard, or maybe just not caring.
She laughed her heart out. Perhaps it was the result of fears, worries, uncertainties, she didn't know. But she couldn't help thinking what would be of the world if everyone muttered away their thoughts out loud. She pictured herself going about her classes at Hogwarts, Professors disturbed and stunned at the fourteen years old girl planning to kill the Bloody Dark Lord no less. She pictured professor Snape muttering away in potions class how nice and tasty some sandwiches would be right about then. She pictured Voldemort muttering away non stop how Harry Potter would not win because he was amazing he was the greatest of the greatest.
She lost it there. She tried really hard not to be heard by the adults downstairs. They'd probably think she went bonkers on the span of climbing some stairs. She practically ran to her bedroom.
Dumbledore stood by the large windows in the headmaster's tower. His trusty companion by his side, letting him pet his soft plumage in hopes of giving the old man some comfort.
These days seemed to escape his control at vertiginous speed, so his past caught up to him with ease. He couldn't afford to falter now. Not now. Not ever again. He had failed so many along his life, he doubted he'd survive another generation of deaths due to his failures.
The young girl he had simultaneously watched over and avoided like a plague, had become an important piece in a powerful game that had no business being called a game.
He remembered the day he was given the name and address of the girl, ready to be part of the magical community.
It hit too close, and it brought up old wounds. When her mother, so scared and just ready for everything to stop, explained that her daughter convulsed in pain and destroyed half the house with her bouts of accidental magic.
He remembered the tight ball that formed at the top of his stomach when he turned his head to the little girl in the green dress, uneasy and scared of herself. He couldn't do much that day, not with her mother present, or the child so small. He told her to control her emotions to avoid outburst and left it at that.
It was four hours later, when the day was long gone and darkness took over, that the old man had visited the little girl's doctor and had made sure her treatment for epilepsy became regular vitamins from now on.
He watched from afar, he saw the little girl struggle to accomplish spells like her peers, he watched her keep her friendships at arm's length. Watched as she managed her condition by herself.
Watched as her grades dropped the two months she spent presumably ill, making sporadic appearances in class.
Watched as she regained the brightness of life, her magic balanced and her appetite strong and healthy.
He didn't know she was preparing rune work for her condition, but he could tell she was trying something new. And for the life of him he didn't want to stop her nor would he attempt to, if he was given the choice again.
He knew the outcome. He wouldn't take the chance of life from her. And If he had slipped her a book or two from his own personal library he'd take it to the grave.
A knock brought him out of his musings. The tall black haired man entered with his cloak swooshing behind him as usual. His expressionless face spoke of untold efforts to keep evil away at all costs. This particular evil, attempted to force entry into the younger man's mind with too much frequency these last few days.
"Severus... have a seat my friend"
The man kept silence intact for a few more seconds and then sighed.
"He's angry... The mark wasn't supposed to be drawn, every last one of them has been sentenced to death, and we were asked to be as imaginative as possible. There has been no mention of the mark's strange coloring. I don't believe he knows about it, we still have time... Lucius has been tasked to sabotage both the Ministry and the Prophet's attempts to raise alarm of any kind."
"So the attack is a tragedy, but it's not Voldemort's massacre"
"No... It is Black's" he practically spat the name.
"Did he urge this scripted line himself?"
"No, it was suggested by Lestrange," he said, spouting more venom this time.
"Ah I see, an old family feud"
"Indeed" he grimaced
"Any news on Barty Crouch?"
Snape hesitated
"Pettigrew buried him a few nights ago"
"Do you have any idea what their conversation could have led him to?"
"I don't believe it led him to anything, it only angered him to high heaven, enough that he killed the only man who could have given him any answers."
Silence took over as the two men thought.
"I don't particularly believe in coincidence headmaster"
"Me neither Severus, me neither. But we have no proof that he knew the girl was there as of yet, there have been other attacks after all."
"None of them were called a massacre, none of them made him lose nine death eaters in one go, and none of them had the mark drawn."
"Ah you see, Severus. It is rather interesting. It seems Miss Morgenstern was the one to draw the mark with a fallen death eater's wand. Of course it was done with the hope that help would come sooner rather than later..."
"That was... astute..."
"Very much so, wouldn't you say?" The man smiled, twinkling his eyes at the young man who seemed frustrated enough to get up and leave. He really had no patience for the old man's games, tonight.
"I feel there is something you need to tell me, headmaster. I would like to enjoy my dinner without it overlapping my breakfast."
"Miss Morgenstern has found a solution for her unstable core and since she hasn't involved any adults or professionals, she requested you to be the one to make decisions if she's ever incapable of doing so or there has been some kind of exposure."
Stunned silence.
"No.."
"Severus"
"Don't... Was this your idea, Albus? I wouldn't be surprised"
"I can assure you it was very much, Miss Morgenstern's doing"
"You cannot possibly expect me to hold more responsibilities, wasn't it enough to watch the boy, you give me another brat. There aren't enough hours in the day to watch over Potter and his nonsensical thirst for trouble, I refuse to take on another brat."
"Now Severus, calm down. The child isn't asking you to hold her hand from class to class. She simply requested all parties involved to turn to you in case of a medical emergency and she is unable to make a decision. Of course she didn't appoint only you, Merlin forbid we find ourselves in such a situation, you would have help"
"Is that so?"
"Indeed.."
"Well,...headmaster,... The name?"
"Remus Lupin"
The old man really was holding his laughter, while Snape fumed red in the face. He couldn't believe this was happening.
"This is outrageous, whatever happened to her parents, family... Someone else, anyone"
"Well, my boy it seems she trusts you, and I wouldn't dare refute it"
He stormed out of his office with no need of dismissal.
The young girl had tried not to dwell on what Madame Pomfrey had implied. She really tried, and for it to work she needed something to do. So after testing waters and asking if she could go back home, to which Lupin answered with a redundant "no, it's too dangerous at the moment Nina." She opted to help Sirius Black clean the house and prepare it for more surprise guests.
The man felt familiar to her, she didn't know why but she preferred not to say anything in case it was one of her visions cooking itself up.
They talked about school and the muggle world, he told her his story avoiding any talk about the horrible night he lost his life and everything he could have been, she told him hers and avoided any talk about dark lords and nasty massacres.
He showed her Buckbeak and when she did the necessary greetings she hugged him and buried her face in his fur.
Sirius laughed "You really like animals, don't you?"
"Only those nice to me" she said, remembering the huge fucked up snake of doom that almost squeezed the life out of her. She shuddered.
She had nothing against snakes, she remembered her mother taking her to the zoo and petting as many pretty ones as she could, she loved the bright colors and their subtle sort of danger. It was the size that bothered her, she knew the size of normal animals, encountering one that looked utterly normal in regard to species, but was huge as fuck, just freaked her out.
Lupin was gone for the day he had enjoyed a fast hurried breakfast and went out on Order Business. They had passed the time with Buckpeak after breakfast and then went to work on one of the rooms.
"So what do you have to do to be a member... is there some sort of interview with the boss man?" She asked, twinkling her eyes like Dumbledore, as they cleaned the heavy dust covering the beds.
He laughed "oh please don't, that was disturbing. She laughed with him until stopped his careful lifting of the dusty covers and looked at her. "You'd really want to join?"
"Sure... I mean I'm not asking to go battle some death eaters after lunch... But I guess if there's anything simple I could do that would give someone more hours of sleep... why not?"
"Well... I'd say if there is an interview you'd surely pass it, you're a known bad ass, now."
"Oh come on", she gave him the most unimpressed look he ever saw on a teenager and sent him a dusty pillow to the face.
He barked in laughter and they resumed their cleaning. At some point Kreacher came in to inform them that lunch was ready and found them singing 1977 Staying Alive with absolute abandon and as much drama as possible.
"Crazy...absolutely foul...he had gone and infected himself with mudblood madness... Oh my poor Mistress"
This time around Kreacher's offensive mutterings made him laugh and sing harder, instead of cursing him to hell and beyond.
Their lunch was all the more enjoyable, and they were left in a stupor due to full stomachs and a chores filled morning. So when Nina suggested a very well earned spanish siesta, he didn't protest.
"You do realize the rest of the world naps too, right?"
"Nooooope... siestas are magical, don't have a nap, have a siesta."
"How am I supposed to know the difference? It's the same thing."
"Oh, you'll know when you wake up.."
"How is that?"
" You won't know which day it is"
Sooner than expected she had realized a week had gone by in Grimmauld Place. Her days were filled with shores, long discussions and Sirius getting her to practice her wandless magic a healthy amount. They had gone through some awkward moments when she realised he knew things about her magic he shouldn't, which prompted him to reveal how they had already met in third year, from there on it seemed easier for him to speak about the past, about death eaters and his friends.
She was going through the pantry looking for ingredients to make cookies, when the familiar feeling hit her.
Her heart sped inside her ribcage to a painful rythme, every nerve of her body awoke and the only thing it said was to run for safety. The cold sweat set in and her limbs started to shake, she approached as slowly as her frantic brain could handle.
She recognized the small place. It was a small cabinet door in the Kitchen where she saw Kreacher go to rest. She focused on the sounds coming from the rest of the house trying to determine if the small creature was nearby and when she heard nothing dived inside the small place, moving everything around looking for what, she didn't know.
She found out when she saw it.
She had assumed the feeling that pulled her to the first horrocrux was originated by the freaky red stone.
Looking at the shiny locket with it's S artfully inscribed, she understood.
Well fuck.
She could feel the presence of horrocruxes when she was near enough.
Being in any way connected to that felt utterly wrong, it felt like being threatened by a part of your body. She understood the night of the ritual that her blood was now running through his veins, and to some extent it had intertwined with his power. She could only assume there'd be an echo of some kind. She honestly expected the worst, at least now she could tell if a spoon was a Horrocrux or just a regular spoon.
She snatched it, pulled things to their place as much as she could and went upstairs as calmly as possible. Once her door was closed quietly she dashed to her trunk like a madwoman and threw things left and right muttering curses until her hand touched the cold hard material. She stood panting looking at the two items in her hands and cursed again.
She couldn't do it in her room, the place was going to get a hell of a magical imprint and she actually wanted to sleep at night, not to mention the mess.
She got out quietly and went to the room at the end of the hall they were currently working on.
She sneaked in, placed the shiny thing in the middle of the room, took out the fang and prepared herself.
"Open" she hissed in parseltongue.
Just like last time the thing exploded outwards, reached a certain mass and froze, the myriad of things it wanted to show her, didn't get any time to play out because the girl stepped forward almost immediately, basilisk fang held high and stabbed it with everything she had.
It screeched in pain and hate, she was pushed by the force of its energy disintegrating by basilisk venom. She landed almost near the door. She was so focused on getting her breath back together she didn't hear the strong hurried and familiar steps coming down the hall.
He was too close when she finally heard him.
She cursed and got up fast, it only gave her time to hide the fang under the sleeve of her baggy cream sweater and kick the dead locket to a corner with her foot, before a very worried Sirius stormed in, wand at the ready.
She saw him aim his wand away from her, relaxing, only for his face to go white, while her world lost its balance and the floor seemed to get closer.
He caught her before she hit the floor. Frantic with worry, he talked to her and asked her questions to which she could only groan.
She felt him lift her up and the sensation of wanting to throw up with every step persisted. She had her eyes closed when he set her on the soft bed, she felt him inspect her head carefully, and heard him muttering to himself.
At some point she felt his hands applying some sort of paste on her head and pulled a warm blanket on her.
The loud crack sound brought her out of her deep sleep. She felt like she wasn't supposed to wake up just yet, everything in her body was slow and lethargic.
She turned her head to the moving blurry bob. Kreacher was watching her prone form with an expression she couldn't understand, it was intense. She knew how he was raised and what he believed, having him watch her while she could barely move wasn't comforting. She groaned and struggled with her useless limbs.
"The mudblood isn't supposed to move, it has a hit in it's head..."
She remembered her head taking too many hits on the same spot. Stupid fucking Horrocruxes and Death eaters.Next time she'll wear a helmet.
The blurry blob focused slowly into the small form of a house elf. He had his arm stretched slightly up holding something. She flinched.
The destroyed locket she had kicked to a corner swayed in the small wrinkled hand like a mockery. She wanted to snatch it up and vanish it to another dimension. For fuck's sake, that's what she should have done right after she killed it.
"The mudblood destroyed it... Kreacher saw ... Yes, Kreacher saw the mudblood go into the room looking like a thief... Mudblood thief... No respect for the great house of Black... It should be punished for stealing for sneaking..."
The old hunched over house elf spat with every insult, he looked frantic, like he wanted to reach out his little arms and wring her neck like a dirty cloth.
"...but the mudblood destroyed the evil inside it... The mudblood did... Even though Kreacher couldn't the mudblood did... What did it do to it? What is it? The mudblood has strange magic... Yes, it's strange... The mudblood will tell Kreacher what it did, the filthy thief will tell the truth... Or Kreacher will tell Master... Yes and it will be in trouble" he whispered as his eyes gleamed.
"Oh no you won't... You won't say a thing because, then you'll have to explain what you were doing with the evil thing in the first place...You will have to explain how you let such vile magic impregnate the great house of Black for years...is that what you want to do Kreacher?"
She was starting to get pissed off. He had just admitted that he had tried for years to kill the thing and instead of some gratitud, the little shit dived right into blackmail. She was impressed, he had a backbone worthy of the great house of Black, nothing like the gentle skittish Hogwarts house elfs. She actually liked him. That didn't mean she wouldn't try and get him on her side.
"Kreacher is good... Kreacher was following orders... Kreacher is loyal to the house of Black..." The small elf fidgeted and twisted his hands, still frowning and pinning her with accusing eyes, as if she was spouting lies.
"... Kreacher has to know that whoever gave him the order to destroy it will be a happy camper, you've just said you tried for years didn't you. So you are glad that I destroyed it"
She didn't feel bad about it ... It felt like trying to convince a bratty child that what she did wasn't bad for him. She should feel ashamed, at the level of manipulation, but she really couldn't give two shits about his feelings if the end line meant he would expose her and her Horrocrux hunt.
"Kreacher's master... Master Regulus said to destroy it... He said to do whatever it took... To never stop until it was destroyed... But Kreacher didn't, the mudblood did.." he said with accusing eyes.
She realized with a sinking stomach that Regulus Black. Sirius's little brother had died fighting on his brother's side and the older man would never even know it. He talked about him, with so much intensity, soft words that remembered the kinship of innocent children and bitterness for what adulthood brought them.
She had no doubt he loved him. But oftentimes it isn't a matter of love or lack of it, but how to show it. Their parents were shitty at best and the high society they belonged to, praised their bullshit. They both had it rough, but admitting it to each other at their age would have been a thing of legends.
"Yes I did... Which means I helped you and your Master, may he rest in peace. Do you know what that also means Kreacher?" She asked with a soft tone this time.
"It means you can hate me at your little heart's content but you can't betray me. You can hate me for being a mudblood but I'm still the mudblood who helped fulfill your master's last request, we have the same goals..., the Order, your Master, me. Betraying me means betraying the order, it means taking allegiance with those who murdered your Master and took him from you. It means betraying him."
His tears pulled at her heart, the small creature had been isolated for years. The family teachings and memories of a kind master, his only companions, left with a task that could take someone's mind and turn it into pudding. He never did. He came closer and put the destroyed locket on the bed beside her, she took it and placed it in his hands.
He flinched at her touch and pulled a disgusted face but didn't pull his hands away. She gave him back the locket.
"I think you should keep it, you loved him didn't you?"
His lip trembled even more and nodding he whisked himself away with a crack.