Weeks turned into months. Iris had a busy life. School. She was keeping up with the classwork but didn't have much interest in it. She only took a real liking to history. She collected many books on the topic. Daphne and Astoria leaned more towards the academic than her but Iris was pragmatic by nature. The coming war would be won with a combination of brains and brawn. The more they had of both, the better. She encouraged her sisters. She moved between Greengrass manor, Grimmauld Place and the next world. Bella, her mum and Lily were teaching her the wand motions for different types of spells. Bella was also teaching her things that would not be in the Hogwarts curriculum.
Poisoned dagger discreetly hidden in the heel of your shoe. Check. The spots on the body to incapacitate. Check. How anything can be turned into a weapon. Check. How to handle a knife. Check. Iris was a little concerned at just how much she enjoyed these classes with Bellatrix. When Lucifer had deigned to meet Bellatrix, Iris had been very amused by the fangirling. Lucifer had been pleased to meet a fan of his work who didn't shrink in fear. Lucifer and Bellatrix developed quite a nice little friendship, Iris thought. He would often pop round to see them both much to her Aunt's delight. Bella was handling the Black accounts now. Walburga had deemed Bellatrix suitable to manage her investments. In her other time, like Sirius, she would use her skills brewing polyjuice and using spells to change her appearance and she would go undercover exploring the lives of those people on Gabriel's list. Confirming who had resisted Riddle and Hitler and who had joined willingly in various countries.
Gareth and both her Grandmothers would teach her about the Wizarding World and all its customs and traditions. Being an heiress came with perks.
'Please,' said Iris to her Grandmother Walburga one afternoon as the rather intimidating wizarding family tree was being analysed and her Gran was telling her again not to be an idiot with the Black and Slytherin heiress title, 'I've already thought about this. I'm not Riddle. In life, you get a lot further with sugar. I don't want to spend all my school days hexing and being hexed by my school mates. Sooner or later it will all end very badly with someone in the hospital or worse. Obviously, if anyone is completely dreadful then yes. I'll stick up for myself but I don't want them all to be frightened of me or lash out in fear. We need allies. It doesn't matter what house I get sorted into. There are going to be problems. Voldemort is a terrifying name for all of them. They will all have made assumptions about me. They would not be human if they didn't. Most of them are not going to trust me for a long time. The Weasleys, Harry, Tonks, Daphne and Susan are going to be the only kids in the entire school who won't feel threatened by me. A lot of them are going to be looking for horns. I would be too if I was in their shoes. I was thinking. If I do get sorted into Slytherin, which seeing as I'm the actual heiress of that house would be the most logical house, I will be in a room of younger versions of my aunts.'
Walburga nodded a little uneasily at this.
'They are the ones most likely to be skittish around me or have pressure put on them to do something to me I'm not going to like. If I want to relax at all then I'm going to need a bribe of some sort. Something to keep some of the more duplicitous people on my side at least for the duration of my schooling. What happens after is up to them.'
'Go on,' Walburga said.
'If push comes to shove, I could make a vow with them that if we keep things kosher with each other till we leave Hogwarts they in return will receive the Black Woman beauty spell. Under a no blab to anyone else ever in their life or they die clause. Of course, only with your permission. This would prevent direct harm from them to me if they are under pressure from their families to do me harm. We're all young. Some of them could be persuaded to risk everything to hurt me and, well, when the adrenaline is going and things get nasty I could pull them into the veil. It would also set their minds at rest if they know I won't attack them. Some women would kill for this spell. Some men too. Their families would understand. It would save a lot of unnecessary nonsense. You know the value of it. Even if I don't get sorted into Slytherin it would be a useful arrow in my bow.'
Walburga sat back and contemplated. When she was younger she had never thought she would ever even think about using this spell as leverage. That was then. Times had changed.
'I'll discuss this with the others. It was time we had a coven meeting with the other Black women anyway. They have been informed of developments. It is time for them to choose their sides for the future. Magic will do the rest.'
'How many of them are there?' Iris asked curiously.
'In Britain. Just seventeen of us, including you, me and your Aunts.'
Iris raised her eyebrows, surprised at the low number, 'That is all that is left?'
Walburga nodded, 'It is getting more and more difficult to find a Pureblood in this country who is not a first cousin to the Black family. There have been quite a few of them who have chosen exile from our society rather than go down that path. It was one of the reasons I was so happy when Sirius gave me the news about Hayley. A Pureblood in Britain to who we were not related to. An almost impossible feat nowadays. You have no doubt heard the whispers about the Gaunt family by now.'
Iris shifted uncomfortably.
'Riddle being a Half-blood was actually a good thing Iris. I can't believe I'm saying that but it would have eradicated some of the more potentially undesirable elements with Hayley and yourself. His Riddle blood would have been beneficial.'
Iris nodded. She knew the dangers of marrying cousins. It was illegal in the muggle world for very good reasons.
'I'll arrange this meeting. If they vote majority then you can use this to ensure some protection in a worst-case scenario. You have shown a very clear understanding of human nature Iris. Yes, this bribe to your peers will be acceptable collateral.'
Iris grinned smugly. The beauty spell was very sought after. It enhanced one's looks and kept one looking young for years.
'Vanity was a useful character trait to exploit,' Iris mused.
The distant future was fast become the present and Iris needed to prepare.
It was Iris's eleventh birthday. New Years Day. 1991. She was sitting in her bedroom in Greengrass Manor after her birthday dinner. She had told her family she was going to see her Gran and Bella. Hayley understood this was about her Black heritage and not for her eyes. Iris's Hogwarts letter sat on her desk. Her Black beauty spell written down with precision for her eyes only. The instructions were emblazoned on her memory. It was to be performed twice a year. Once in the winter solstice. The second in the summer solstice. Both at midnight. The incantation was Byoode. Latin. Bellatrix had shown her the wand motions.
'The elements take a toll even on us natural beauties, Iris,' Bella had informed her. Bellatrix had agreed with Iris that this bribe was the way to go forward, 'Slytherins like to know they are getting something worthwhile back, Iris. It is what it is. We don't want to be thought of as chumps.'
Iris had found the coven meeting fascinating. She met her female relatives. What was left of them. Narcissa was noticeably absent. They all had that same haughty look. Walburga had been informing them of Riddle's long term plans. Walburga had given them details of Regulus's betrayal of Riddle which had swayed many of them. The doubters among them were fully converted once Lucifer made a surprise guest appearance. Bellatrix had invited him to impose upon them how serious this all was. One look at his black wings and a few moments feeling his pulsating dark energy and they were all on board. Lucifer had lapped up the attention.
Her eyes went to her new trunk. It was a birthday gift from her Greengrass family. They had spared no expense. Featherweight and expansion charms had been added. She had her own private room down there, 'Just in case you need some time away from it all,' Gareth had said. She had hugged each of them and felt like Harry when she could barely stumble her thanks out. She would be getting her wand from Ollivanders next week. It would be a simple job of transferring her belongings down there. Her tv, video recorder and stereo would be vital to her sanity in this new place.
She looked at her extensive movie collection. She had added the movies Hairspray and Ghost to her collection. They had been Christmas presents from Daphne and Astoria. She had told her Gran the age certificates were rankings out of twenty and PG meant pretty good and U, underrated.
'The Muggle's have some very strange ways,' her Gran had sniffed but didn't question. Iris had bulk bought large batteries. Hogwarts was powered only by magic. No plugs.
Whispers and rumours from the Wizarding World were coming to her through her Greengrass family connections.
There was a definite shift in the air. Nothing too obvious. Iris looked at her pile of muggle newspapers collected over the last few years. The Berlin wall had been pulled down. At first glance a good thing. Europe was moving on from their brutal history. Looking towards the future. But something irked Iris about this. The European Union. No borders between countries. All covered with a very positive media presence. Unification. It could lead to unintended consequences. She had kept all the copies of the Daily Prophet. She would go through it with Lily with a fine-tooth comb. All very neat and clean. The Ministry of magic had been going through some good changes. Some of the more antiquated laws had been abolished.
Milicent Bagnold had retired and Cornelius Fudge had replaced her. He had a gift of the gab and made a lot of very good speeches but they ran hollow to Iris. One of those politicians who tried to please everyone but ended up pleasing no one. He would smile and assure everyone that all was well despite what their eyes told them. Nothing was always well. There were more delaying tactics with abolishing certain pureblood laws. Meetings that were held back. Narrow margins in voting. Amelia Bones had spent time with them both. She explained inexplicable things were happening. Nothing she could pinpoint.
The progress that had been made in the eighties with a more balanced Ministry appeared to be slowly declining. The Purebloods were now back to dominating the Ministry. There had been early retirements from the Half-bloods which seemed suspicious. Muggleborns who had left quietly with on the surface legitimate reasons. Nothing had been proved that they were being forced out. If they didn't complain there wasn't anything Amelia could do without grounds to investigate. It was all very subtle. Iris looked again at the Muggle papers. Companies were gradually being relocated to poorer countries to boost their local economies and yet strangely these countries remained in poverty. Sirius and Bellatrix, amongst others, had been doing a mighty job. There were still a lot of good people in positions of power. There was a creeping, insidious force in the background, however.
Severus had come out of the shadows. Gabriel had removed his dark mark. He would protect Harry and the others at the school openly. He admitted he did not have the willpower to refrain from breaking his cover at the camps. He would sabotage them instead. Making his peace with Lily had a profane effect on him. Her forgiveness had begun healing him. The Angels could report back better information than he could, he told Albus who agreed. Severus simply could not get close enough to the inner circle to get the information they needed. As James had predicted as Iris grew so did her power. Hayley's Equi magic also increased. Her healing spells became more potent. Saint Munoges were delighted. As were their patients. As the months rolled by James and Lily did not need to hold her hand or visit separately. The time they could stay became longer and longer. They could manage eight hours now before Iris became too tired and had to return to Equi to replenish her strength.
Harry got his full, proper hugs and Quidditch with his Marauder family. He would spend a lot of his other time with Lily, simply talking to her. Learning about her life. Who she was. His green eyes would glow every time he saw her. Ever since he had met Iris and his mum and dad his scar didn't trouble him. His strange dreams became a distant memory. Iris's eyes still grew golden when those from the next world were near.
Iris could go into the kitchen. Make a cup of tea. Put her music on and read one of her books whilst the Potter family had quality time with each other. James and Lily had worked out they could travel on earth within a mile of Iris. As the months rolled by the rest of the Order came to visit. Seeing James and Lily as fully human did shake them to their core but also underlined the extraordinary power Iris had. Fred and George were very reverent to her until she told them to pack it in and just be normal with her.
The Weasley family had tiptoed around Iris in the early days until they became used to her. Iris and Sirius were still cautious with each other. They were polite but distant. For Sirius that was a vast improvement on her mother. Hayley had cut Sirius off completely. The Greengrass coldness wasn't legendary for no reason. Sirius was treated as a stranger she had only just met who she had taken an instant dislike to. She had nothing to do with him.
Iris wondered sometimes about her cousin Draco. Despite Sirius's faults at least he wasn't anything like Lucius. Sirius had found out that Narcissa was colluding with many of those in Britain who had jumped at the chance to join the Riddle and Hitler ideology. Many influential, powerful families, both Muggle and Magical. The information was kept quiet for now. The Order was keeping secrets close. It would not do for the other side to know they were aware. That Severus had openly aligned with Albus wasn't unexpected. Severus had always been shady. That he would decline involvement in their New World Order wasn't a surprise. He had never been one to get his hands dirty either in the first war. He had stuck to potion-making. Riddle had dismissed him from his thoughts. Gabriel had lingered to spy on Riddle. The Great pretender to be a Dark Lord wasn't concerned about Severus's defection. He had been acquiring teams of gifted potion makers from around the globe. Hitler already had his Dr Mengeles. Snape was on the back burner for now.
'A simple killing curse will suffice when our paths cross again,' Riddle had said to Gellert Grindelwald who had shown concern about Severus.
Iris had asked Albus about the camps. He had seemed conflicted when he answered her. He informed her that simple sabotage would not be an option. Where would they be able to take all those people? South America had eyes and ears everywhere. The borders. The docks. They would know an enemy was rising. The Angels could not take physical form without Iris. She was too young to travel there herself. There was going to be carnage. It could be a massacre on both sides. She could die. She was too important to risk. Albus was concerned by the knowledge both Harry and Iris had. However, children had a knack for finding things out. Better they were correctly informed instead of picking things up second hand. Iris had been frustrated but understood his position.
Iris looked at herself in the mirror. She could see a lot of Sirius and Bella looking back at her. Her eyes, mouth and cheekbones resembled theirs noticeably. She had her mother's nose with the pale skin of the Black women. She kept her hair long. It was jet black and very wavy and thick. Bella had given her the Black secret hair potion. Vital to stop her from looking like a wild, feral vampire. Her hair was shocking without it.
Eight months. That was all. Eight months until everything really began for her. She sighed. She moved to the record player and put on a Kate Bush album. It relaxed her. The soft tones came out of the speakers as she moved to the window to look out at the night. The stars were not so plentiful here on Earth, but still beautiful. She had no interest in the maths of the stars. She just liked to look at them. She gazed at the moon. They had a different moon on the other side. They had light blue. They had season changes like they did on earth. She had taken to spending a lot more time over there. It was more peaceful. She felt calmer there. When she was younger, she would go during their days.
Lately, she had taken to staying there longer sometimes to see their moonrise. You could see the stars there all day and night. Their sky was different too. More colours. The older she got, the more she explored the other world. They had different ways of transport. They could apparate but for fun, they had all these other magical means. No cars. They had Motorcycles that didn't have engines and glided along. They could fly in the air if you wanted or keep to the roads if you prefer. They were powered by magic. They were like the brooms used in Quidditch. Iris was competent on a broom, but she much preferred the Motorcycles in this world. The same laws of physics seemed to apply but gentler. What went up came down, but slower. There was more grace in Equilibrium. The music was sublime as well. It was a world that was a culmination of all the best of Muggle and Magical blended together. When she spent time there with her mother she saw her relaxed in a way she wasn't on earth. Iris pulled herself together. She had her people here on Earth. People she cared for. People who would need her gift in the future. She had already seen the true face of happiness in Harry.