Chapter 30: Dream Rune, Part 6: Come Due

The house felt very weird without Dagmar there. Hildegard spent the day crying on and off, worrying. Hogwarts was too far away for the owl Dagmar sent to have arrived before Hildegard went to bed, but there were a couple waiting for her and Erik in the morning. In the letter Dagmar sent, she said the train ride was fine. She had found Blaise, Theodore, Pansy, Daphne, and Millicent to sit with. She saw her new friend Hermione here and there, but Pansy wouldn't let her sit with them because she thought Hermione was annoying. Dagmar ended up in a different house than Hermione. Dagmar still hoped they would be friends.

The other letter came from Severus, introducing himself to Hildegard and Erik as Dagmar's Head of House. If they had any concerns about her school life, he would be the one for them to contact. He would do the same in turn, if necessary.

Dagmar wrote daily to start, updating Hildegard and Erik on everything about her life at Hogwarts. She made some other friends, like the Patil girls, Lavender Brown, Hannah Abbott, and Susan Bones, but she was having trouble with Pansy. Away from her own mum and dad, she turned mean. Hildegard talked to Rose about it, which seemed to help. Dagmar stopped complaining about it, and just focused on her schoolwork and other friends.

Sometime around the beginning of October, Narcissa had visited Hildegard alone for tea. Narcissa remembered that Lucius had come too, but he and Erik were off doing their own thing elsewhere in the manor house.

"I can't quite recall," memory-Narcissa said during a lull of the conversation. "Have any of the other ladies mentioned the prospect of an arranged marriage for Dagmar?"

Hildegard blinked, taken aback. "An arranged marriage? Why on Earth would I do that?"

"It's something a few of our families do here in Britain." Memory-Narcissa stayed calm in the face of potentially offending Hildegard. "Every one of us except Luzia was originally arranged to our husbands. It keeps us all together, especially during times of ostracism from the wizarding world at large. You-Know-Who made it quite difficult to simply exist as a pureblood, thanks to his rhetoric. It doesn't help that he forced the ones he couldn't naturally snare to act on his behalf."

"He did?"

Memory-Narcissa nodded, and Narcissa remembered this lie that she and Lucius had perpetuated long enough by that point to turn it natural. "Lucius was one. I'm not sure if you heard that before or not. He was under the Imperius Curse. The scar from that will last forever."

Hildegard toyed with her cup. "I see."

"I digress, anyway." Memory-Narcissa chuckled. "We aren't forced. We just pair the kids up and hope for the best. If they don't end up liking each other, they can call it off. If they do like each other, they grow up with their future spouse. It makes for a very tight-knit marriage."

Narcissa had left it there so that Hildegard would have a chance to think about it. She'd turned thoughtful rather than put off.

Erik looked at Hildegard like she'd grown a second head when she breached the subject between them. "What's the point of that? I think Dagmar can choose her own partner down the road for herself. Don't you?"

"Sort of." Hildegard paused. "Thing is, she's literally a little me. I made my own decisions and wound up with a child by Voldemort. I'm a little concerned what she might do."

"So the answer is to sign her up for something like that?"

"She can always back out if she doesn't like it," Hildegard said. "Pairing the kids up is done by the end of the first school year. We have that much time to see how she likes Theodore, Blaise, or Draco. If she has good chemistry with one, she might lose the chance at them later if they end up in their own arrangement."

Erik remained unsure, but at some point must have given the green light because Hildegard started peppering questions to Dagmar in letters about what she thought of each of the three prospective boys. Dagmar and Blaise frequently sat lessons and did their homework together. Dagmar insisted they were only friends, which Hildegard thought interesting considering Dagmar didn't make that distinction with Theodore and Draco. Dagmar didn't have a whole lot to do with Theodore even though he and Blaise were good mates. Dagmar didn't like Draco at all.

"Narcissa will be disappointed by that," Hildegard told Erik one night as they discussed the matter. "She wanted Dagmar for Draco. Said that she would probably even him out."

"That's not up to her to do," Erik replied. "From what I've seen, I think Draco would grow up to be a lot like Lucius. I like Lucius, but there's a certain coldness to him."

"He's different with Narcissa, I think. You start to see it once he's got a few drinks in him." Hildegard nudged Erik with a playful smile.

Erik briefly returned it. "Dagmar likes Blaise, though?"

"Ja."

"Then talk to Luzia. See what she thinks."

Luzia had noticed too, but was surprised that Hildegard was even considering arranging something for Dagmar. She was pleased to learn it was so, because she couldn't think of any other girl that Blaise had been drawn to. If not Dagmar, then Luzia and Marino were considering not bothering with the entire tradition. They weren't originally from Britain either, so they didn't feel any sort of stake in it.

The stars and planets definitely lined up at the time for Dagmar and Blaise. The Zabinis had lived in Britain long enough for Blaise to assimilate into the culture, but he too spoke English as a second language. He had the same perspective of being a semi-outsider as Dagmar did; they were both pureblooded, but not recognized for that by things like the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Both were intelligent and avid readers. Above all, they managed to be friends at an age when normally boys and girls avoided each other.

When time came toward the end of June for Dagmar to be home for more than just two weeks over holiday, Hildegard and Erik visited with Luzia and Marino on the train platform. Their conversation stayed light because all were keeping eyes out for the kids. The four of them smiled knowingly when Dagmar and Blaise made their way over together.

"Hallo, jenta mi." Hildegard squeezed Dagmar as tightly and for as long as Dagmar would allow it. "How were your exams?"

"Okay."

"You don't sound too confident."

"It's not that."

Dagmar and Blaise shared a look, both their faces long. Hildegard let it go for the moment. She said hello to Blaise, goodbye to Luzia and Marino, and got Dagmar home so that the summer holiday could properly begin. Dagmar rested upstairs before coming back down for dinner.

"You don't seem very happy, jenta mi," Erik said. "Did something happen on the train?"

Dagmar's fist dug into her cheek. "Gryffindor won the House Cup."

"That's okay, though," Hildegard told her. "Somebody had to. They must have worked really hard for it."

"Nope. Professor Dumbledore gave them a bunch of points last night."

"What for?"

Dagmar shrugged. "Nothing, really. He gave them just enough to beat us. We worked really hard. I earned a lot of Slytherin's points by answering questions right in class. It wasn't fair."

Hildegard and Erik glanced at each other. "There must have been a reason. Who did he give them to?"

"Harry Potter and his friends." Dagmar glumly poked at her potato. "Dumbledore let him play Quidditch too. Professor McGonagall even bought him a broom."

When Hildegard looked at Erik again, his eyebrows were up. He was about as impressed as Hildegard felt. Hildegard had some weird feelings about Harry Potter, considering the impact he'd had on her life, but that felt far too heavy-handed in making an orphan feel at home at Hogwarts.

"You're right, that doesn't sound fair," Erik told her. "Sounds like favouritism."

It was a lesson Hildegard wished Dagmar didn't have to learn. She and Erik had raised her with the value that those who worked the hardest deserved what they earned. However disheartened Dagmar felt about the House Cup, she perked up a bit more when her grades arrived. She'd scored in the high nineties for all her classes, which Professor Snape said put her at the top for the Slytherins of her year.

"I wrote Blaise about it," Dagmar said when she brought it up at dinner one evening. "He wasn't very far behind. If we added all our grades together, I only beat him by two. Six seventy-nine for me, Six seventy-seven for him. Pretty close, huh?"

"You're a couple of smart cookies, aren't you?" Hildegard squeezed her shoulder. "Those are the sorts of things that matter. Forget House Cups. When you're trying to get on for a job after you're finished school, nobody will care about that. They'll care about things you yourself have control over."

"Ja."

"Your dad and I wanted to talk to you about Blaise, actually."

"What about?" Dagmar furrowed her brow as she looked between the two of them. "You don't like me being friends with a boy?"

"You can be friends with whoever you want," Hildegard said. "We actually really like that you and Blaise get on so well. Did you know that most of the families we're friends with have arranged marriages?"

Dagmar shook her head.

"They choose who they think their kids would get along with best when they're old enough to get married. Your dad and I have been talking to Blaise's parents about it."

"You want me and Blaise to get married?" Dagmar's eyes widened.

"When you're older, and only if you want to," Hildegard replied. "We wouldn't have picked him for you if it didn't look like it would be a good thing. Do you understand?"

Dagmar's gaze darted around as she thought about it. Her furrowed brow and the downturned corners of her mouth were a similar reaction to what Narcissa had gotten out of Draco when she and Lucius told him about Pansy. "Erm. . .I guess."

"You two are good friends, ja?" Erik asked her. "The best marriages are when you marry your best friend. Me and your mum are best friends."

"Ja, but you and Mum kiss and stuff." Dagmar wrinkled her nose.

A ripple passed through Erik's face as he tried to hold it straight at that. "We do, but only because we like to. You might want to do that when you're a little older. Just focus on being his friend, ja?"

Dagmar took it in stride, although was clearly deep in thought. Hildegard thought that was the best outcome to the discussion.

"We ought to leave the whole thing alone unless she brings it up first," she suggested to Erik while they laid in bed. "I don't want her to feel anymore pressure about it than she has to."

"You were going to talk to her soon about periods and stuff, weren't you?"

"Ja." If Dagmar was on track, she'd get her first one before the Christmas holidays. "I'll keep the discussion just to that."

Erik nodded before a sly smile came up. "So, Hilde."

"Hm?"

"You wanna kiss and stuff before we go to sleep?"

Hildegard snorted along with him, following up with a shush. "Don't make fun of her. She's just a kid."

"I'm not making fun of her." Erik nuzzled Hildegard's neck, sending a shiver down her spine at the feel of his scratching facial hair. "Just kids in general. It's hard to believe that something so great used to seem so icky."

Because Dagmar had been gone for the entire year spare holidays, Hildegard and Erik had readjusted their life to not revolve around her. They still did a lot of travelling around the French parts of Europe based on the idea Magnus wouldn't bother to learn the language just to pass through. Because Lucius had certain connections at the Ministry, Erik could somewhat use him like a window in. If Magnus was in Britain, he had nothing to do with the Ministry. Hildegard had lived in Britain now for two years, and nobody ever approached her.

The prospect of heading to the train station on September first was a nerve-wracking one. Hildegard didn't have her hopes too high. Even if Magnus and Bjorn were in Britain, Hogwarts split the years by age differently than Kapsferd did. Kapsferd split them by year of birth, whereas Hogwarts did it with a cut between August and September. Even though Dagmar and Bjorn were only sixteen months apart in age, Hogwarts would more likely place Bjorn two years below her.

Sure enough, Hildegard didn't see anyone on the platform that looked like Magnus. She didn't see any of the first-years that looked like what Bjorn might either. Even though she'd braced herself for the possibility, it was incredibly difficult not to be disappointed. Hildegard hid it on the station behind a tearful goodbye to Dagmar.

Erik pulled her into a hug when they returned home. "There's always next year."

"I know." Hildegard sniffled. "I just hate to wait."

They continued their searches for Bjorn, although a hiccup in the form of petrifications at Hogwarts brought them back home. The caretaker's cat had fallen under Hildegard and Erik's radar, but hearing about a student certainly drummed up concern. Letters from Dumbledore and Severus didn't say a whole lot other than the staff was trying to find out who was responsible. Hildegard and Erik had turned instead to Lucius for answers, seeing as he was still a school governor at the time.

"I wouldn't worry," Lucius assured them. "It's most likely just some kid messing around. Maybe they don't feel like they get enough attention, or something."

"Dagmar said there are rumours it's Harry Potter," Erik said. "She also said he was a Parselmouth."

"Draco told me the same thing." Lucius' eyebrows jumped. "He set a snake on a student at duelling club."

"Why would he do that?" Hildegard asked with a glance at Erik. "And why hasn't Dumbledore done anything about it yet? Aside from the blatant favouritism, I mean."

Lucius laughed at that, and memory-Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Dumbledore doesn't believe it's Potter. I asked him to explain then the lack of connection between Potter being a Parselmouth and the Chamber of Secrets being mentioned in those vandalized messages."

Hildegard furrowed her brow. "What's the Chamber of Secrets?"

"A myth." Lucius shrugged. "The story goes that Salazar Slytherin built it when Hogwarts was first constructed. There's some sort of monster inside of it that was meant to protect the castle in the event he was right about Muggle-borns. They were a security liability for the wizarding world. It was possible they might hand our magical knowledge off to the Muggles to be appropriated for use against us. It only took one student with loose lips, see."

"By. . .killing them?" Hildegard went a little pale.

"Surely if such a thing existed, it would've been found by now." Lucius waved a dismissive hand. "I personally believe that the myth is useful, and that the Hogwarts staff feels the same way. They must at the Ministry, considering the Statute of Secrecy. Fear of becoming victim to some monster has certainly kept students in line for a thousand years. Of course, no one would ever admit that. In the wake of the war, it's very improper to publicly speak in any matter that might be misconstrued as placing higher value in pure blood."

Hildegard remained unsure after the conversation, but she trusted Lucius. He had his thumb on the pulse at Hogwarts and his own son in attendance there. If there was any real danger, Hildegard (rightly) reasoned, Lucius and Narcissa would have pulled Draco. At the end of the year, it seemed to all be resolved. Hildegard and Erik received a letter from Dumbledore stating that in the wake he had cancelled exams for the students. Their final grades would reflect the average of their course marks. Dagmar seemed pleased about this when she wrote her own letter to Hildegard and Erik about everything, since with bonus marks she would be scoring over a hundred in all seven classes.

Despite that, Dagmar seemed quiet when she came home. Hildegard had reassured her at Christmas not to feel scared that she was a Parselmouth like Harry Potter. It didn't actually mean anything bad. Since everything had been sorted out, Hildegard wondered what might actually be bothering her.

She sat down on the edge of Dagmar's bed one night. "Has everything been okay? You look like you're thinking really hard about something every time I see you."

Dagmar shrugged. "Ja, I'm thinking about things."

"Like what?"

"Things the kids were talking about at school," Dagmar replied. "They said You-Know-Who had something to do with what happened."

Although taken aback at Voldemort's mention, Hildegard made no outward show of it. "How would he have done that?"

"Not sure. But nobody will tell us what happened and how everything got sorted out. There was a message that said somebody got taken into the Chamber of Secrets, but nobody's missing."

"Sounds to me like it just didn't happen, then."

Still, Hildegard worried a little bit. She knew half a ghost of the Dark Lord existed out there somewhere, and he figuratively still hovered over magical Britain like a dark cloud. Hildegard considered asking Lucius if it was possible the Dark Lord could return, but she didn't want to be rude. She still believed that Lucius had been forced into action for the Death Eaters. Hildegard also believed the story that Lucius had voluntarily resigned from his position on the school governorship, rather than was forced on a baseless accusation.

A new school year came up soon enough, the departure date of which Hildegard both dreaded and anticipated. This was the last chance to know if Bjorn was in Britain.

He wasn't. No Magnus showed up at the station, and there was no boy that looked like he could be Bjorn. That disappointment had one silver lining, that Hildegard and Erik could eliminate somewhere as a place Bjorn might be. They'd never had the luxury of that before.

France stayed their focus, although Hildegard and Erik were anchored at home for most of the time because of the entire Sirius Black situation. They appealed along with Lucius and some other parents about the presence of dementors around Hogwarts. They wanted the kids safe, but Dagmar was suffering horribly from them. She'd barely slept a wink in the first week being there. While the dementors were beyond Dumbledore's control, Severus stepped up as Head of House. He and Dumbledore agreed that Dagmar was mature and able enough to learn Occlumency. With that, Dagmar was only about as uncomfortable as the rest of the children.

Sirius Black broke into Hogwarts then. Hildegard wasn't sure what to think about him, if as a Death Eater he'd maybe known about Bjorn and was looking for him. She wondered if he might try to slip in like that at other wizarding schools around Europe.

"Why would he expect to see Bjorn at Hogwarts, though?" Erik had posed when she was particularly worried about it. "If he knew about you and was looking for you, why wouldn't he go where you might be expected to be? You came ashore after You-Know-Who disappeared."

"So maybe he was just after the Potter boy, then," Hildegard concluded with relief. "But he might still try looking for me. It might only be a matter of time until he shows up."

"At least Dagmar is safe at Hogwarts," Erik said. "Do you think Black knows about a part of You-Know-Who's soul inside of her?"

Hildegard hadn't thought of that, and she almost wished that Erik hadn't brought it up. She started having nightmares of her own about Sirius Black making off with Dagmar or something. Hildegard knew there was nothing to be done about the Dark Lord's soul, but would Black?

Severus had protected Potter from being injured by Black, so Hildegard and Erik trusted him more than Dumbledore to keep Dagmar safe. That sentiment sharpened when they heard that some kind of tournament would be happening at Hogwarts, which brought students in from the Slavic and French wizarding schools. Severus reassured them when asked that it was fine, so Hildegard and Erik tried to let it go along with all the other concerned parents. There was an Auror now working at Hogwarts that had put a lot of the Dark Lord's followers into prison. If anyone was in danger at Hogwarts because of the tournament, it was Harry Potter.

Hildegard and Erik stuck around Britain until Christmas, just in case. Dagmar wrote them excited about the dragons, and she planned on staying at Hogwarts over the holiday because she wanted to go to the Yule Ball. With nothing tying them to Britain for the time being, Hildegard and Erik decided to spend Christmas in Nantes. If Bjorn was at Beauxbatons, he would've perhaps gone home for the holiday. Hildegard and Erik might see him if that was where he lived.

It was another dead-end. Hildegard and Erik pushed on with it anyway, trying to find signs of Magnus there. A sense of dread started to settle in on Narcissa as she watched their efforts go by. The years before the Dark Lord would return had turned into mere months now. When the beginning of June arrived, months turned to days. When Hildegard received a letter from Lucius asking if they could meet alone at Malfoy Manor, Narcissa knew that the day had come.

Hildegard was by herself when she read that note. She frowned because this wasn't normally something Lucius would ask of her. Hildegard crossed the manor house to Erik's office. He was busy dredging through paperwork, although looked up when Hildegard knocked on the open door.

"I'll be back in a little bit," she told him. "Lucius wants me to come to Malfoy Manor."

"Why?"

"Didn't say." Hildegard moved around the desk to squeeze his shoulders and kiss the top of his head. "There are sandwich fixings in the ice box for whenever you're hungry."

"All right." Erik reached up to squeeze her hand. "Thanks."

Hildegard flooed over. Lucius was in the great room, and he looked nervous in the way that he paced. His head snapped toward the fireplace when Hildegard stepped out. Hildegard's curiosity turned to caution from the way Lucius looked at her. Then, she turned awkward. Narcissa wasn't actually sure, in all the memories she'd been shown, that she saw Hildegard and Lucius interact in anything other than a group setting.

"Hallo." Hildegard lingered close to the fireplace. "I got your note. You wanted to talk to me?"

"Er, yes." Lucius was still studying her, his gaze shrewd. "I apologize that I must cut straight to the chase, but I have a question to ask you."

"Okay." Hildegard toyed with her hands in front of her.

"Do you have a son named Bjorn?"

Hildegard blinked a few times. "Why? How do you even know about him? Do you know where he is?"

Lucius grimaced, which killed what excitement had briefly shown in Hildegard. Her eyes started to shine.

"Is he dead?" she asked in a shaky whisper.

"No. I don't know." Lucius quickly corrected himself with a dart of the eyes. "You are the one, then."

"The one what?"

Lucius approached Hildegard, studying her further. "The Dark Lord has returned."

The colour drained from Hildegard's face. "But he can't have."

"He did," Lucius said. "Last night. I was witness to it myself. He summoned me."

Hildegard's gaze dropped as Lucius made to pull up the left sleeve of his robe. His Dark Mark still burned painfully black there.

"But. . ." Hildegard looked back up. "I thought you were forced."

"After he returned, he had a job for me," Lucius said without acknowledging that. "He told me that a search would begin immediately for a druid he was once in contact with. He described you and Dagmar, as well as Bjorn. I hoped it wasn't you. The Dark Lord is in a foul mood already because his plan to deal with Potter failed. Bjorn is gone, I take it?"

Hildegard's breath quickened and she started to shake. With a hand over her mouth, she nodded.

"You'll have to tell him." Lucius nodded in direction of the drawing room. "He's in there."

Hildegard followed his gaze. She was thinking hard, but there was nothing to be done about it. She'd always known that she was tied to the Dark Lord, whether or not he found a way back from half-death. There was nothing Lucius could do, either. This mess Hildegard created for herself had started before Lucius even joined the Death Eaters.

Lucius led Hildegard into the drawing room. The Dark Lord sat at the table, poring over a pile of newspapers. He glanced up, then again when those scarlet eyes landed on Hildegard. Hildegard herself had stopped in her advance. Perhaps she didn't know what to expect to see, but the Dark Lord's appearance was certainly startling in contrast to how he'd looked when Hildegard knew him before.

"Well," he said, sounding amused. "That was certainly quick, Lucius."

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius replied.

"Leave us."

He did with a short bow of the head. Hildegard held her arms as if she was cold. Her feet were rooted to the spot.

"Come sit," the Dark Lord invited her in Parseltongue. "It's been a while."

Hildegard made slow work of her approach. She nearly tripped over Nagini, who laid length-wise across the floor. Nagini slithered away.

"It has," Hildegard said as a delayed reply. "I didn't think you'd ever come back."

The Dark Lord chuckled. "Where there's a will, as the saying goes. I read about the ritual I used in your library. Does the way I disappeared go against your understanding of the magic?"

"I wasn't sure," Hildegard replied. "I waited for you, but you never showed up. I heard what happened. I thought if you could find me, you would have. I kept to my usual migration routes and everything. Well—for a while."

"Indeed." The Dark Lord closed the newspaper he'd been looking at. "I headed for the Greek Isles, since I knew you'd be there in short enough order for winter. I didn't have much concept for time during those first days, though. Not much ability for speed. I must have missed you. I hid in the forests there, gaining my strength and watching for your return."

"Oh."

"You came ashore," the Dark Lord observed as he looked her over. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you blend right in. You lost your runes."

"Removed them," Hildegard said.

"And you're married." The Dark Lord sounded amused again as his gaze landed on Hildegard's wedding ring.

Hildegard just nodded.

"How are the kids?"

The corners of Hildegard's mouth turned downward. Her eyes welling did nothing to move the Dark Lord. All humour bled out of his face.

"Bjorn is gone," Hildegard managed. "I'm sorry."

"Dead or missing?"

"Missing." Hildegard wiped an eye. "I don't think he's dead, but he's been gone for a very long time. I've been trying to find him."

"What happened?" All affect left the Dark Lord's tone.

"He was taken. Kidnapped." Hildegard sniffled. "I made a mistake. I trusted a man, and that's what he did. He almost got away with Dagmar too. Lys got her back before he managed."

"Hm." The Dark Lord calmed down a little with that. "I guess there's no real loss then, as far as our original plan went. My soul fragment is still intact within Dagmar?"

Hildegard nodded.

"Good," the Dark Lord replied. "Then I suppose this body will have to last a little longer than expected. I planned to use it anyway until I'm able to get Harry Potter out of the way. We'll just have to make a new body."

"What?" Hildegard recoiled, her tears forgotten. "No. I'm—I'm married and. . .what did you do? Why are you like this? You must have somehow used that snake to return."

The Dark Lord glanced at Nagini. "What about it?"

"You're not even human anymore. Not human enough to—that we'd—it would never take," Hildegard said. "It'd be like a cat and a dragon trying."

The Dark Lord's glare turned cold again.

"I'm sorry that it didn't work out," Hildegard spoke when the Dark Lord didn't. "I really am. I love Bjorn. I still have hope I can find him someday. When Dagmar comes home from Hogwarts, we could remove your soul fragment from her. You can have it back."

"No."

Hildegard blinked. "You don't want it?"

"No," the Dark Lord repeated. The amusement was back, but it was tainted. "We had a deal."

"I can't uphold my end," Hildegard said. "I don't have Bjorn. Things have changed."

"Have they?" The Dark Lord leaned on the table, his spindly fingers bracing his bare, skull-like head. "You said you hope to find him one day. It's not as if he's dead. He's out there somewhere."

"I don't know where. He'd be with me if I did."

"I'll give you more resources," the Dark Lord said. "You will find him, Hildegard. We'll proceed as planned."

"But. . ." Hildegard teared up again. "What about Dagmar? What happens if something goes wrong and you end up in her body?"

"I don't plan on getting within range of a Killing Curse, but consider it some extra incentive."

"You really are like everyone says." Anger turned Hildegard's breath ragged. "You would hold my daughter hostage like that?"

The Dark Lord laughed. "In exchange for my body? My son? I think that's quite fair. You made a mistake, so you get to fix it. Now leave me be. I have much to organize after being gone for so long. Much to catch up on. We'll discuss this again later to go over what kind of help you'll need on this task. I imagine you'll have your own organizing to do, seeing as you have a husband now."

Hildegard stared at him as he opened up his newspaper to continue reading. She eventually rose, looking numb and lost, and headed toward the exit.

"Hildegard."

She stopped.

The Dark Lord's scarlet eyes drilled into her, even from a distance. "You try to make off with Dagmar, go to Dumbledore, or anything else silly like that, and I will have one of my followers kill this body. Do you understand?"

Hildegard nodded, trying to keep the newest surge of emotion from spilling out. She left the drawing room. Lucius was still in the great room, but he closed his mouth when Hildegard put a hand up to him. She threw floo powder into the fireplace and headed home.

She ran immediately to the office. Erik was still at it, although with a half-eaten sandwich beside him on the desk. His face fell when he looked at her, although had no other chance to react before Hildegard preemptively answered his question.

"Voldemort's back," she told him. "He's back and he wants Bjorn. He won't let Dagmar go until he gets him."

"Whoa whoa whoa." Erik put his quill down and came over to where Hildegard paced. "Lucius told you this?"

"Nei, Voldemort did." Hildegard held a hand over her mouth. "He was there in their drawing room. He's back, Erik. He's back."

It was a long afternoon. Hildegard was so scattered and upset that she had a hard time really communicating everything the Dark Lord had said. On the other side of that, Erik was having a hard time absorbing it. There really was a lot. Not only did they have the Dark Lord very suddenly breathing down their necks, but they had to face the fact that Lucius had lied to them the whole time they knew him. The conversation eventually took them up to their bedroom. Both of them were exhausted. Hildegard sat on the couch while Erik rubbed his head at the end of the bed.

Hildegard was shaking again, but she didn't look like she had any tears left to give. "You should go, Erik."

"Go where?" He raised his head. "And abandon you and Dagmar? Get off it, Hilde."

"You have a chance," Hildegard said. "You should take it. I won't hold it against you."

"Nei," Erik spoke more forcefully.

The conversation turned into a fight. Narcissa had never seen Erik lose his temper, but it didn't seem to much faze Hildegard anyway as she pleaded and begged him to see reason. At one point, Hildegard went into the closet to start packing her things. Everything she tried to put into a bag, Erik either took out or ripped from her hands before she could even get it that far.

Both of them lost steam. Hildegard was an emotional wreck, and Erik had fallen quiet.

"There's nothing else we can do," Erik told her. "It's the same thing we've been doing for over ten years now. We have to find Bjorn, or at least keep trying."

Hildegard sniffled, but her sinuses were so clogged they'd hardly allow for it. "You should—"

"Don't say it again," Erik cut her off with a warning tone. "I'm not leaving."

"Then what are you going to do?"

Erik's answer came in the middle of the night. Hildegard had somehow managed to drift off into uneasy sleep. She woke up in the wee hours, alone in her bed. Hildegard sat up, listening, but the manor house was quiet. She poked her head out the bedroom door before doubling back for a robe.

Hildegard checked Erik's office first, but it was dark. Light came from underneath the drawing room door. On her way toward it, the door opened. Erik stood there.

"What're you doing?" Hildegard asked. "Come back to bed."

"Come here for a minute," he told her.

Hildegard's expression turned stony when she stepped inside. She couldn't even seem to find it in her to be embarrassed that she stood in front of the Dark Lord and Lucius in her nightwear. Her plait had gone fuzzy.

The Dark Lord looked a lot more satisfied now than he had earlier. His eyes crinkled in a predatory way as he smiled at Hildegard. "Come join us."