PART TWO ( NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY ) CHAPTER THREE:

002 Fenrir Greyback's Plan

"in which aurelia black gets some answers and she hates them wholeheartedly. . ."

x

A MILLIONS THOUGHTS are racing through her mind, as she stares at Sirius, waiting for him to explain the situation. It'd better be a damned good explanation. Aurelia's done with all these bloody secrets. Maybe, just maybe she could understand them keeping her from knowing Bellatrix is her mother; Aurelia supposes possibly being killed for knowing that is a decent reason to keep it secret. But, why had they kept Remus from her? What did that protect her from, besides a loving home?

"Rory, do you know who Fenrir Greyback is," Sirius asks.

Aurelia grows rigid, that woman - that werewolf who attacked her had been in his pack and if she's not mistaken, he's the one who bit Remus when he was wee boy; she nods her head.

"Well, back during the war Voldemort had been very interested in getting Greyback in his ranks."

Aurelia swallows thickly, she doesn't like the sounds of this "What does this anything to do with me, I - I don't understand."

Sirius frowns at the fear in her voice "Greyback at the time was looking for an experiment . . . He often turned children because they were easier to use. He's fucking insane, Aurelia, he's worse than even, Goyle! He wanted to see if werewolves would be stronger if they were born from a line of Lycanthropy instead of being bitten -"

"I still - I still don't understand."

"When Voldemort asked Greyback to join his ranks, Voldemort used his plan as leverage. Offering up Gwendoline Goyle to use for this plan . . . Since Greyback couldn't have children of his own, Goyle would have to use one of his werewolves in his pack."

Aurelia's heart beats rapidly, she doesn't like where this is going, she takes it all back, she doesn't want to know anymore. She'd much rather hear Mae tell her that Bellatrix used Remus as some kind of sperm donor because she and Mae - her wife, uh, what the fuck! - wanted to have child. She probably wouldn't have believed that because with magic parents can have children without sperm or any other biological bullshit that goes into making a kid. But, it'd be a nicer story than this.

"Goyle, had recently gotten into a duel with James and Remus and Remus had managed to disarm her, leaving her very bitter. So she chose Remus. At the time he was in placed in Greyback's pack as a spy for Dumbledore. Greyback encouraged her to do so . . . You see, Rory, to put it simply, Greyback has an axe to grind with the Lupin family." Sirius explains, "So, it was decided that Goyle was to use whatever means she had to in order to fall pregnant with Remus' child and then she could kill him for all anyone cared, he wasn't anyone important to Greyback."

Sirius falls silent, frowning as his eyes got glossy like Remus' did.

Lyall places a warm blanket around her shoulders, Aurelia glances up at him and he looks as pale as a ghost but, he smiles softly at her.

Aurelia looks back to Sirius "Well if it was given to Goyle why did Bellatrix end up doing it?"

"She volunteered," Sirius replies, "She knew Remus because of me. I had been disowned quite a few years back but, she did occasionally come around to see me mostly during my years at Hogwarts to give me some money for Hogsmeade, well, the last her and I really talked was in fifth year and Remus and I had been dating. She had thought that Remus and I were still dating when -"

"So, she decided to fuck your boyfriend instead of letting Goyle do it?"

They all laugh lightly at Aurelia's comment, the tension dissipates slightly only to return at full force when Sirius continues speaking.

"I think she volunteered because Goyle was going to kill Remus. It was her own twisted way of trying to help me by saving my boyfriend from a brutal death. She probably wouldn't have done it if she knew Remus and I had broken up before we even left Hogwarts - if I had only managed to block Macnair's spell then maybe I would've been able to help Remus and James with Goyle and she would've never been disarmed by Remus and he never would've ended up as Greyback's pawn!"

Aurelia swallows thickly, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. Remus didn't want you, how could he want you.

"She didn't have to actually do anything with Remus though, she could've just lied and said she did. It wouldn't be her bloody fault if she couldn't get pregnant." Aurelia says in a small voice, feeling disgusted by her existence.

"You're right," Sirius agrees bitterly.

Aurelia gives him a wounded look, it's not like she asked to be born.

"Sirius," Remus says warningly, handing Aurelia a piece of chocolate like that would make her feel loads better, she doesn't even have the stomach to eat it.

"Bellatrix volunteered, yes, everyone thought she was doing it to prove her loyalty to Voldemort but, really she was doing it for Sirius. It wasn't the first time that she messed with his plans to help her family," Remus says, "She never had any intention of hunting me down to do it, she wanted no part of the plan she just didn't want Goyle to kill me. She admitted that months into our . . . Partnership, I guess you could call it that, we weren't friends. She was more friendly with my mum than she was with anyone else besides maybe Mae or that Carrow girl. Anyway, we ended up running into each other at one of Frank's parties and well, you can guess what happens next."

"You said yes - how drunk were you," Aurelia exclaims, oh, Merlin, please let him have said yes!

"We were both considerably drunk, and yes. I did say yes," He gives Sirius a pointed look, "If I had said no, she would've left it at that, she wouldn't have done anything else. Now, that certainly doesn't excuse anything, no matter how drunk she was she still knew about the plan even if she wasn't exactly thinking about it at the time. She still could've walked away, gave a false story to Voldemort about how she just can't get pregnant and he would've believed her, I don't think you, or anyone for that matter understands just how much Voldemort trusts her. She didn't have to do it but, she did and it was wrong. She knew that."

Aurelia sobs, monster child, monster child, monster child "She u - u - used you," monster child, monster child, monster child, she wraps the blankets around herself tighter.

Remus hesitates, glancing at Mae then back at the sobbing girl in front of them, wondering if this was really worth it.

"Yes . . . But - and, this doesn't make the situation any less wrong - but, she did regret it. She told me everything the next morning, crying, and even though it wasn't certain that she was pregnant with you for the next month and a half. She kept me safe from Goyle who, despite being told not to since Bellatrix was handling it, was trying to hunt me down for Greyback and her master's approval. When it discovered she was indeed pregnant, she worked on a plan to keep you safe from Greyback's clutches. She somehow managed to have him run right into America within a week and she did so without getting caught. And, I believe Voldemort was going to kill you since you were no longer useful with Greyback gone but, Bellatrix managed to convince him to let you live. I believe he saw you as giving her a reward for being so loyal to him."

"So, ne - neither of you want - wanted me?"

"That doesn't mean we didn't love you any less," Remus says at once, "Do you think James and Lily planned to have Harry in the middle of a war? They didn't love him any less. We wanted you, maybe not the way it happened . . . I mean I certainly didn't want kids with her let alone kids with that story looming over their heads and she felt the same way. But, we got you and we love you anyways."

"I'm sorry," Aurelia sobs, she shouldn't have been born! Remus deserved better than this.

Mae runs her finger's through Aurelia's gold curls "It's not your fault, wee moon!"

Suddenly the nickname makes sense! Mae calls her that because her father's a werewolf!

"But, that doesn't exactly explain why you couldn't raise me."

"Greyback wants you. He feels as though you belong to him," Remus says, "When Bellatrix was arrested, it was decided, by mostly her, that you were to be handed over to the Malfoys because you could be passed off as Draco's twin that way Greyback wouldn't know where you went."

"It worked for a few years," Mae cuts in, "But then, Goyle somehow got word to Greyback that the Malfoys had you and he sent one of his pack members to come and collect you. She must've been hidin' out there for a few days, Lucius an' I found a makeshift camp in the woods near the manor. We think she was waitin' for you to be left alone to come and grab you but you were always surrounded by someone and the only time you did leave the manor was well . . . Unfortunately, it was on a full moon and she transformed before she could get you to Greyback."

Aurelia squeezes her eyes shut, trying hard not to think about that night or that woman.

"Lucius blames himself for that. I wouldn't blame him entirely but, if he had left well enough alone with your memories you wouldn't have thought the best choice was to leave the manor."

"What memo - memory?"

"You remember that he used the Cruciatus Curse on you an' that's why you wanted to runaway. He did nothin' of the sort. Lucius never raised a hand to either of you kids. I didn't know for a long bloody time that he implanted false memories of abuse and neglectful behaviour into your memories."

"They never hurt me - like ever," Aurelia wonders quietly, "Why would he do that, what was the point of it?"

"When I learned of it, I didn't quite understand why he did it. When Trix told him that she wanted you to not be raised to believe the beliefs their families taught them, that's not how she wanted him to do it. She wanted him not to teach you them a lot but, instead he made you think that he hated you and drove you into the arms of the Tonks and their beliefs."

Aurelia frowns "He . . . He didn't hate me? Even though I'm a Half-Blood."

"Surprisingly, no . . . He wasn't too fond of you at first but, within a week of you bein' sent to the manor permanently he was wrapped right 'round your little finger. He came to view you as his own daughter, Lucius always wanted a daughter of his own. They cared about you very much, they went about it the wrong because they thought that it was best for you, if I had known I would never have let them mess with your memories like that."

"So . . . Dad - Uncle Lucius implanted false memories into my brain to make me a Blood-Traitor," Aurelia asks, she's bloody confused. She wonders just how memories were false, was the Imperious Curse a false memory? Was all the neglect she had faced from them all false memories? What's even real anymore?

"In the simplest terms? Yes."

Well, at least they weren't shitty enough to actually hurt you, Aurelia thinks, but, it's still pretty shitty of him to make you think they did.

"Is there anything else I should know," Aurelia asks, bitterness lacing her tone.

Mae in one breath, says: "You have quite a bit of repressed memories of Remus, Bellatrix, Alice, and Frank. They're not erased, you can get them back if I can or if you want me to take the guards for them down. Uh, your godparents are Alice and Frank, and, uh -" so quickly that Aurelia barely has time to process it.

"Merlin's beard," Sirius exclaims, "Don't you have any good new to tell her?!"

Sirius and Remus look at Mae who frowns "Well, I wouldn't call it a good thing but the Donum Vitae-"

"Oh, yeah, that," Remus sighs and he smiles fondly, Sirius makes a gasps of realisation which intrigues Aurelia who wonders what it could be.

"That is a good thing, Mae, so tell her," Remus says and Sirius nods in agreement.

"What," Aurelia asks, desperate to hear something good, something to make the weight of her newfound existence less heavy.

Mae fiddles with the strings of her cloak "Well, you see . . . You were born sick and Bellatrix was greatly weakened from both the pregnancy and childbirth. When she saw that you were so weak an' possibly dyin' she abruptly made the decision to give you a Donum Vitae right then an' there. Apparently she had planned on givin' you a Donum Vitae a few days after you were born . . . You know to, uh, burn away your Lycanthropy, if you had inherited it from Remus! But, the state you were in caused her to panic and she did it the second you were handed to her. It didn't go too well."

This doesn't sound like a good thing, Aurelia thinks, please shut up.

"She briefly died ("Briefly? Didn't she like croak for like a solid seven minutes?!" - "Sirius, please, shut the fuck up!") before she could close the Donum Vitae bond. While Lyall and Remus worked to resuscitate, I stepped forward to close off the Donum Vitae bond for her -"

"You're a Squib, how could you do that! I swear to fucking Merlin, if you tell me you're not a Squib -"

Mae laughs lightly "No, wee moon, I am a Squib. But, well I can do some magic. It's not talked about a lot because, well, because to most, a Squib is a Squib. But some Squib do hold some magical abilities in their veins, I had few incidents with accidental magic as a child and a teenager but, it wasn't enough to get into Hogwarts. I don't have enough magic to channel through a wand. Blood Magic is different from the magic we learn today, it's the rawest form of magic because you use your blood to channel your magic. I have enough magic to use some Blood Magic and I had just enough magic in my veins to finish off the Donum Vitae."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I closed off the bond for Trix but, the Donum Vitae still took her brief death ("Again, is it really that brief if she kicked the bucket for seven minutes?!" "Sirius. Shut up.") as a sacrifice. Which means your Donum Vitae is a stronger 'cause of it. Ian Hattersley's Donum Vitae was like that! You see, his father died givin' it to him do the Donum Vitae acted on its' own accord instead of -"

"Mae, quit diverting," Remus says sternly.

"Yeah, c'mon and just tell her already! Remus tells me that Rory -"

"Just bloody tell me! It cannot and I mean cannot be any worse than being Bellatrix's bastard daughter -"

"I'm your mother too," Mae exclaims.

The kitchen falls silent, the only person who is shocked is Aurelia.

"The - my blood was mixed with yours when I sealed the bond an' you share genetics with me an' my family . . . You share blood with a - a Squib."

It explains Aurelia's freckles, the cat-like birthmark, her inability to fucking tan! The foreign feeling of happiness punches Aurelia in the face and in one swift movement Aurelia's launches herself at Mae, rambling happily.

"You're my mum! Holy fuck! You're my bloody mum! This is amazing! Wait, that means I'm related to Helga fucking Hufflepuff - oooooh no, I am technically related to Zacharias - and! And - and you're my fucking mum!"

Aurelia hugs Mae tightly "Oh, I wish I looked more like you!"

"You do actually," Sirius butts in, "It's just been concealed with that Blood Magic or whatever it is that Bella was into. A Black has never had green eyes, natural green eyes that is. It'd look too weird, Bella insisted that it'd be suspicious so she covered it up."

Mae laughs nervously, giving Sirius a murderous look "Sirius. Shut. Up."

It's too late.

"I wanna see," Aurelia cries indignantly, "Take that magic off, I wanna see how much I look like you . . . Like my mum."

Mae doesn't smile not even at the fact Aurelia had called her mum. She chews on her lip, looking more than a wee bit worried.

"If I take the concealment off, you will see somethin' . . . Somethin' that from all that chaos that happened that night, you can't remember . . . Somethin' that shouldn't be there." Mae says gravely.

Sirius pales, muttering: "I should've shut up, I should've shut up, I should've shut up."

"L - like w - what," Aurelia asks, her burst of happiness gone and the weight of everything that's going on falls back on her shoulders at Mae's sober tone and Sirius' serious expression.

"A bite mark."

Aurelia blinks "I'm sorry? A fucking what?"

Every shares a look, even the portrait of Hope Lupin is involved with the look and it fills Aurelia with dread. No one says anything, she swallows thickly and she notes that she feels queasy. Mae grabs a thick book out of her bag, her eyes are glossy from what Aurelia can see, the redhead is trying to avoid eye contact with her, Sirius is frowning look ironically and uncharacteristically serious, Remus and his father look at her sympathetically, they seem to be at a loss for words. At this moment Aurelia wishes she knew what they were thinking but her brain is much too scattered to use Legilimency of any kind.

"I was bitten," Aurelia says lowly, "But . . . I've never, I'm not a werewolf?"

"No, wee moon, you're not," Mae says as she looks through a book about Blood Magic to take off the concealment charm Bellatrix had placed upon Aurelia for her protection, "The Donum Vitae burned out any possibility of you being a lycanthrope because it sensed it could be deadly to you, you kept crying that you were going to die the entire time, I had never seen the magic flare up like that before. It didn't settle down until you passed out, by then some of wounds had healed themselves to near completion."

"Did you make me forget?"

"No, we didn't have to, you didn't remember being bitten on your own. Although Lucius had Lyra on hand just in case. When you came to, you asked if you had been bitten and if they were going to abandon you, I said no, and you accepted that. You fell back asleep shortly after and slept the whole day until Draco got past Lucius and Narcissa into your chambers and -"

"And jumped on my bed," Aurelia cuts in, "And gave me a harsher lecture than the three of you combined for leaving the house like that. I remember that. I thought he broke my knee when he landed on me, I also thought he was the werewolf."

Lyall frowns sympathetically from his spot across the kitchen table, now he is sporting two nifflers, one is a baby, in his arms. The older man cradles the creatures in his arms like a mother would hold an infant. Remus his hand over his face as he fails to stifle a yawn, his fourth cup of steaming hot tea, placed in front of him but he didn't drink it as eagerly as the other three. They had all teas, even a mug had been placed in front of Hope Lupin's portrait. Aurelia was on her second one, finally feeling tried, her heavily-lidded eyes starting to droop but she was determined to stay awake long enough for Mae to undo that concealment charm thing.

Mae stops skipping through the book, her bony finger lands on the lower part of the page and she hands it over to Remus "You better do that, I wouldn't want to mess it up."

Mae was drained, any other day she could probably manage, she could always do simple Blood Magic but her Donum Vitae connection with Aurelia had activated when Aurelia was hauled up in the maze, it had been a mortifying moment as she felt everything be sucked from her body for a solid five minutes. It was nothing like she had ever felt before, nothing compared to the World Cup, Mae was certain she had passed out a minute or two.

Remus nods, she hands him the book and a small dagger, Aurelia's eyes widen in alarm

"Wait -"

"It's alright, wee moon, all he has to do is prick his finger," Mae says assuredly, "He'll hardly feel it, I know the dagger looks menacing but it's much easier to keep track of than the needles. It'll be alright."

"I'll be fine," Remus agrees, "Although, I've never done Blood Magic before."

"It's not hard, I could try and do it but my magic is finnicky as you all know from my lack of a Hogwarts letter. I've done this one before but because of the Donum Vitae . . . Just say the incantation and prick your finger or vice versa. Personally, I find it works better if you prick your finger first," Mae instructs Remus.

Aurelia blinks in surprise, because of the fact that Mae is a Squib, Aurelia often forgets that the older woman is quite knowledgeable when it comes to magic. She glances at Sirius and Lyall, the two of them are leaning forward, curious to see how Blood Magic works, Aurelia admits part of her is curious to see how it works but she's more concerned about knowing if she looks more like Mae or not; she hopes so.

"Er, how often do you use this stuff," Sirius asks, looks between the book and Mae.

"I always read through this book but I rarely use it anymore. If I do, the most I can perform are small spells. I used to work with Blood Magic more when Trix was around, she got this book for me . . . Right, anyway, the spell right there, Remus."

True to what Mae had said, the spell was easy. Remus pricked his finger first and started the incantation, everyone watched in awe as the blood began to glow purple and Aurelia felt a shift within herself. She had seen that glow before, many times but had never thought anything of it before today. She looked down at her hands, they seemed different, her skin was paler, more pink than peachy, and she now had a myriad of freckles dancing along her protruding knuckles.

And perhaps this was all in her head, perhaps it was just her trying to find something good in the aftermath of all the terrible events that happened in less than twenty-four hours but Aurelia felt different too. She felt at peace with herself, not quite fully at peace, but knowing that she was never a Malfoy has her feeling lighter. Almost whole.

X

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Aurelia was bit but she's not a werewolf because of the Donum Vitae and so it doesn't change much to Aurelia's attack, since she doesn't remember it that way because it all happened so fast for her childlike brain to handle and I really put her through the ringer LONG before this story started, wow I feel so bad for her. It was more so meant for me to show how the Donum Vitae & Blood Magic works as kind of an example. The next chapter delves deeper into how both of them work and I'm super excited to talk about them! Also a new character, whom I'm love with all my heart is introduced in the next chapter. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter please let me know what you thought of it in the comments, your thoughts/feedback means a lot to me!