I apologize. This is where the story initially ended, and I was having a hard time reaching out to the OG author for their new notes. But I had enough to get this settled. Violence is in this chapter, and someone is playing both sides. Whether that's for the Order or Fate, who knows?
Narcissa strolled through the manor, and Travers struggled to keep up. She pushed her way into the study and threw documents at Tom's feet. Bellatrix blinked at her sister, and Travers hovered in the background.
"There better be a damn good reason why the money that went to Rookwood and Mulciber came from an account in your name," she said coolly.
Tom picked up the papers. He glanced over them, an unreadable expression on his face, and he ripped them in half. He stood and backed Narcissa into the wall.
"It is one thing to accuse me of paying to have Lucius killed, but my child? My seed? The last good thing I ever did in this life? Narcissa, if I were half the man I was before, I would slit your throat and leave your body for your son to find."
Narcissa straightened and said, "You know your threats no longer work on me. So explain."
Tom scowled and said, "The account was from my time at Hogwarts," he said. "Dumbledore created it for me during his time as my acting magical guardian. I made the mistake of assuming he emptied it once I became the so-called leader of the Dark side."
"That is a dangerous game for him to play," Bellatrix said.
"But it is a game Albus Dumbledore has no problem in playing." Tom stepped away from Narcissa. "If there is nothing else, you are free to leave," he said.
"Excuse me?"
"Cissy," Bellatrix cut in, interrupting whatever response she had. "Stop before you push his limits."
Narcissa gave a sarcastic smile and bowed before she left the room. Bellatrix rolled her eyes, and Tom sat back down. Travers hovered around the fireplace before he eventually settled in the chair. Bellatrix turned back to Tom and rubbed her temples.
"If you are against burial, why not cremation?" she asked.
"Why are you in such a hurry-
"I would rather put her to rest than return to that bedroom and see her lying on there. She looks as if she's asleep, yet each time I try to wake her, I remember that she is gone. Can you gift me this one request, Tom? You got to bury Rayna. You got to move on. Let me do the same."
"She is my child," he whispered.
"But if the situation was reversed-
"Enough, Bellatrix."
"Fine."
Bellatrix stood and left the room. Travers watched her go before he rose from the chair and glanced at Tom.
"You know she's right," he said.
"I know."
"Then why are you-
"I promised Rayna I would keep her safe. I promised, and I failed."
"You can't blame yourself for what happened, but if you aren't careful, you'll push Bellatrix away. She was right. If the situation were reversed, there wouldn't even be a consideration. The decision would have been made. Be fair, Tom. If not for Bellatrix, be fair for Calliope."
Bellatrix reclined against the dungeon wall, tossing pieces of her orange through the bars at Rookwood. Travers sat beside her, munching on the slices he managed to steal when she wasn't looking. Mulciber paced the cell, hands behind his back, and recited Latin poetry. Bellatrix knew torture wouldn't work on them. Not after Azkaban. Anything Bellatrix did would be child's play. She flicked another piece at Rookwood's feet before sighing.
"I would ask why, but the reason doesn't matter anymore," she said.
"Doesn't it?" Rookwood mused.
"I should rephrase. I don't care enough to ask." Bellatrix crossed her ankles. "Your reasons for murdering my fiancée-
"Enough with the fiancée bullshit, Bellatrix. You tied yourself to an impulsive brat because of some prophecy. You're no better than Tom and Rayna."
Travers and Mulciber frowned at the comment but for different reasons.
"How did you know about that?" Travers asked slowly.
Rookwood stammered for a response, and Bellatrix cocked her head. She stood from the floor and crossed to the cell doors. She gripped the bars and leaned close.
"Go on then. Answer the question."
"You told us," he said.
Bellatrix hummed and opened the cell door. She stunned Mulciber with a flick of her wrist and dragged Rookwood to his feet, pinning him against the wall.
"I never told you the details. So, I ask again, how?" When he didn't respond, she lowered him to her level and whispered, "Last chance."
Rookwood refused to answer, so Bellatrix dove into his mind without warning. He screamed, but she continued to tear through his memories until she reached the one she wanted. She watched herself and Rookwood in the hall of prophecy. He pointed her in the right direction and walked away. That much she knew, but instead of leaving, Bellatrix watched as he opened the door and closed it before hiding behind a shelf. He poked his head around the corner, watching Bellatrix pick up the orb, but there was no sound. Her heart fell from her chest as she listened to her past self say the prophecy out loud.
"From the trees, a child is born with darkness at her fingertips. Bound to the eldest daughter of the night, aided by time on the back of a dragon, their power combined with douse the light. The daughter of the trees shall cleanse the world in fire?" Bellatrix scratched the back of her head in confusion. "What the hell does this even- oh shit. Shit, shit, shit. Fuck!"
Bellatrix smashed the orb on the ground and ran from the room, too distracted to notice Rookwood in the shadows. Waiting for a few moments, Rookwood left as well. He stopped in an office long enough to grab parchment and a quill. He scribbled out a letter and sent it off with an owl. He paced for nearly an hour before a response returned. Opening the letter, Rookwood read it, then tossed the parchment in a nearby fireplace before running from the office. The memory shifted to Rookwood standing in the trees. A house sat on a hill almost a hundred feet away, and Bellatrix recognized the location immediately.
It was Riddle Estate, where Calliope was born.
A hooded figure appeared.
"Do you have it?"
"She smashed it, but she said it out loud, though, thinking I was gone."
The hooded figure cocked his head. Nothing was said until-
"I see."
"You got it? All of it?"
"I do."
Rookwood held out his hand, and the hooded figure passed him a small bag of galleons. Rookwood took the money and counted it. The hooded figure turned in the light, and Bellatrix exited Rookwood's head. She slapped him hard enough to drop him to the floor.
"You were the one who told him! You led him to the house!"
"I didn't know he was going to attack!"
"What did you think he was going to do with that information?" she seethed. "What else did you tell him?"
Bellatrix saw it in his eyes before he responded.
"Everything," Rookwood whispered. "I told him everything."
Bellatrix screamed in frustration, anger, and guilt as she dug her nails into his neck. With a violent tug, she ripped out whatever she could get her hands on. His blood splattered on her face, her neck, and her clothes. Bellatrix then turned on Mulciber, and she took her boot and smashed it against his skull repeatedly. Travers moved away from the cell with wide eyes, and Bellatrix screamed again. And again. Then, she went silent. Her eyes glazed over, and she slowly stepped over their bodies as she left the cell. Travers followed her silently, aware of the blood dripping in her wake, and he was hesitant to reach out to her. Bellatrix turned and went up the stairs, and he took his chance.
"Bellatrix!"
She ignored him.
"Bella?" he tried again.
Still nothing. Travers stayed in his spot and watched her disappear into the same room she'd been in ever since Calliope died.
Bellatrix dropped down beside the bed and stared at the lifeless body under the covers. She couldn't shake the guilt and pain spreading through her chest. She'd said the prophecy out loud. She broke the main rule, and Rayna and Calliope died because of her actions. Bellatrix cried out and curled into herself on the floor.
It was all her fault.
Tom heard Travers shouting and left the study. A door slammed upstairs, and he frowned at the blood droplets on the floor. Travers sat with his head down, and Tom didn't even have to ask before Travers said-
"Rookwood and Mulciber are dead," he muttered.
"What?"
"Something happened down there, Tom. I don't know, but Rookwood mentioned something about Bella and Calliope being bonded through a prophecy. Bellatrix got upset because she never told him the details about it, and she went into his cell. She pinned him against the wall, and suddenly, Rookwood jerked and screamed. I watched her, Tom, and I've never seen her so angry. Whatever she saw in his head pissed her off to the point she just- Bellatrix ripped- she tore out his throat. Mulciber doesn't have a face anymore, and Bellatrix just went silent. It was like a puppet, you know? She went upstairs and closed the door."
By the end of the story, Narcissa and Andromeda joined them in the hallway. Narcissa quietly called for an elf to clean the blood from the floors and stairs.
"So, how did Rookwood know about the prophecy?" Andromeda asked. "Did she say?"
"No. Bella asked Rookwood what else he told this mysterious person, and Rookwood said he told him everything."
"Okay. Let's say Rookwood stayed in the room after he led her to the prophecy," Tom began, but Travers cut him off.
"But that still would not explain how Rookwood knew the details of the prophecy. The prophecy can only be heard by the person it is about."
"That's the question of the hour, isn't it? When Bellatrix told Rayna, she repeated it from memory because she smashed the orb back at the ministry," Tom said.
Narcissa and Andromeda looked at one another before Narcissa asked, "Are you sure Bellatrix repeated it from memory?"
"Yes. Bellatrix came into the room and told Rayna the entire thing."
Narcissa and Andromeda glanced at one another again. That time, it was Andromeda who spoke.
"Bella may have said the prophecy out loud."
"Why would she do that?" Tom asked. "A prophecy is the most sacred source of information. I can't see her repeating it out loud in the presence of someone else."
"That would imply she knew Rookwood was still in the room," Narcissa pointed out.
"Even still, it seems out of character."
"I'm afraid it isn't," Andromeda sighed. "When we were younger, Bella had to read these massive tomes every night and repeat it to our father at breakfast. She would read the entire thing out loud and repeat it over and over again until she could say it without needing the book," she said.
"She carried that habit into Hogwarts," Narcissa added. "Bella can't relay information without saying it out loud."
The group went quiet.
"Bella heard the prophecy, and to memorize it, she repeated it out loud?" Travers asked.
"I can only assume so, yes. Bella's not always aware she's doing it," Narcissa replied.
"So, if Rookwood stayed in the room when she said it..." Andromeda trailed off.
"All Dumbledore would have to do is pluck the memory right from Rookwood's head."
Tom knocked on the door. He saw Bellatrix's shadow under the threshold, and he said, "It's me."
Bellatrix opened the door and stepped to the side. Tom entered the room and closed the door behind him.
"Is Cissy mad about the floor?" she asked.
"She's more concerned about you." Tom glanced at Calliope on the bed and frowned. "She looks so peaceful like that," he said.
"You're not here to see her," Bellatrix grumbled. "So skip to the point, yeah?"
"Rayna was always going to die that night," Tom announced.
"What?"
"My wife, Pandora, and Apolline were very adept at seeing things they were not supposed to. As was Jean, sometimes. The four made an effort to keep their talents hidden. Sometimes it was impossible. One night after dinner, long before Calliope was even a thought, Rayna had her largest vision yet. She saw her future, all fifty versions of it, and with so many variations, Rayna was left with few choices. The outcome that happened was the one she chose, the one she made happen."
Bellatrix was still confused, so Tom chuckled and looked up at the ceiling.
"My wife knew the attack was coming. It took a long time for me to come to terms with it, and she planned it down to the last second. Lucius was always meant to take Calliope away, you were always supposed to come late, and I was never meant to be there to save her. Rayna wrote the rest in a letter, but this was the future she saw that made the world better for everyone. I went to the Potters on purpose. I had no idea what would happen, that detail Rayna neglected to tell me, but I trusted my wife. You were always meant to leave with the Lestrange brothers, your honor and loyalty have never been an issue, and your purpose was pre-destined. Calliope needed to be raised by Dan and Jean. She needed to grow outside of death and pain, a common theme around our families during that time. It was all fated to occur. As my wife used to say, 'Everything that has happened was already foretold, and no matter my desires, it will happen.'"
Bellatrix looked over at Calliope.
"You knew she would die? And did nothing?" she asked.
"Had Rayna not died that night, Calliope would've died before she ever made it to Hogwarts. We would have lost her a long time ago."
Bellatrix slid down the wall to the ground. Tom crossed the room and kneeled in front of her.
"None of this is your fault," he said. "In what world would you ever believe that Rookwood and Mulciber would betray us? In what world would you think that their betrayal would set off a chain of events that end with the death of the person you love the most? You couldn't have known that. This is all a shitty hand dealt by fate, and I was wrong to say what I said in the study. I'm afraid a funeral would be the end of it all. It's so final, and keeping her like that gives me some sick form of hope that it's all a dream. That she'll wake up one morning as if nothing happened. But just like with Rayna, I have to find a way to move on. I have to trust that in the end, this will work in our favor. I have to trust that the foundation Calliope set is strong enough to keep us going. So. When you're ready to talk about a funeral, we will together, and we will honor her in the long run by putting a stop to the Order and ending Dumbledore's reign. Okay?"
"Okay," she whispered.
Tom said nothing else before he stood and left the room. Outside, he ran into Narcissa and Andromeda.
"Can we see her?" Narcissa asked softly.
Tom stepped to the side and held the door open for them. The two sisters went inside, and he shut the door.
Luna stirred the tea and looked into the murky water. It was nothing but leaves and herbs. The magic came from how she moved the liquid. Luna found the recipe in her mother's book a long time ago but had no idea she would have to use it. Then Calliope died, and the recipe's purpose became clear. Luna inhaled, exhaled, and repeated the actions until her heart calmed. She was alone in the kitchen, the others outside soaking up the rare warm weather, but Luna kept stirring and stirring until she found what she was looking for. She smiled a little as Calliope and Rayna sat on a bench together, and the images swirled with every pass of her spoon, but Luna saw everything clear as day.
"You are running out of time," she whispered.
Rayna glanced upward as if she could see Luna and nodded. Luna blinked and canceled the spell. She dumped the liquid down the sink and prepared a new cup. Outside, Draco chased the twins on his broom. The part of being a Seer she hated the most was the waiting. The other part was not being able to predict everything. Calliope wasn't supposed to die so soon. Rookwood and Mulciber altered the course faster than Luna could manipulate it, and Luna no longer trusted her dreams. Dumbledore was only just getting started. More bloodshed was on the horizon, and his allies would come from the most unlikely of places. Luna bowed her head and grabbed the edge of the counter.
"We are running out of time," she murmured.
Rayna led Calliope to the edge of the cliff. Below them, a dark void that seemed to swallow every ounce of light around it. She watched her daughter waver, her eyes focused on the black hole beneath her, and Rayna felt her heart clench in sadness. She desired nothing more than to keep her there, to demand the universe find someone else to correct the wrongdoing of Albus Dumbledore. But it would be unfair to ask that. Especially since the universe gave her five years longer than what she was initially given. Rayna rubbed her stomach, remembering the little flutters of active feet against her skin, and lifted her head to the sky.
"Mum?"
Rayna looked at her daughter and smiled.
"Yes, darling?"
"Are you alright?"
"I will be, yes." Rayna cupped Calliope's cheek. "You do know that I love you?" she asked.
"Yes. You have said it many times," Calliope laughed.
"There is nothing on Earth, alive and dead, that I love more than you. I have enjoyed hearing about your life, and I know you will have so much more to tell me when I see you again."
"What are you talking about?"
Rayna kissed Calliope on the nose and whispered, "Take a deep breath and close your eyes."
"Mum? What-
Rayna pushed Calliope backward. Calliope lost her balance and fell into the black void. Her scream echoed in the space, and Rayna rubbed her ears.
"You did the right thing."
"Oh, hush, Lucius," Rayna sighed. "I am aware of that."
"I forgot how snappy you can be."
Rayna twisted around and glared at Lucius.
"Why didn't you speak to her?" she asked.
"Calliope has no idea that I'm dead," Lucius sighed. "Plus, she did not deserve to see me like this."
Rayna inclined her head. Unfortunately, the downside of their version of the afterlife was that you came as you died. Rayna had the blessing of dying by a curse. Lucius, on the other hand, had no head. There was a spiritual likeness on top of his neck, and it was disorienting if she stared too long.
"She will be back when it is her actual time to return."
"I know."
Another being joined them, and Rayna frowned.
"What are you doing here?"
"I thought it was obvious that once I gave Calliope her gift, my purpose on Earth was no longer necessary."
"Oh, Merlin-
"Cute."
"Does she know what you did?" Lucius asked.
"I did not think it would matter."
"You should have told her," Rayna huffed.
"Why ruin the surprise?"
"Also, why do you look so pale?" Lucius asked. Then he added, "Well, paler than normal."
"Hogwarts is dying," Morgana sighed. "That man is draining her magic to sustain his own. She will soon be nothing more than an old building. But to answer your question, Rayna, I came to ensure that our timeline would not be interrupted."
"I promised I would return her."
"You can never trust mothers to keep their word when it comes to their children."
Rayna grunted and looked over the edge. Her daughter was lost to whatever magic was at the bottom of that void, and soon she would be back on Earth, in her body, but nowhere near where she needed to be. Calliope would have a journey of her own before she returned to her family.
Calliope gasped and heaved up a strange liquid onto the sand.
"Welcome to Pembrokeshire, dearie."
Calliope scrambled back with wild eyes at the newcomer. Her hand went out automatically, but then she stared at her hand in confusion, flexing her fingers. She waved it in front of her face a few times. The person, a woman with a sympathetic smile, touched Calliope's knee.
"You have no idea why you did that, do you?" she asked.
Calliope cocked her head in confusion, and the woman's smile faded. Calliope had no idea what the woman was saying. She turned and looked around. There was the ocean. Sand. Birds. She grimaced at the taste of salt on her tongue. She attempted to stand, but her legs refused to cooperate. She tried again but continued to fall. Strong arms lifted her from the sand in one fluid motion. The woman looked down at her with a sad and confused smile.
"Sleep," she whispered. "And all will be well."
Bellatrix stiffened and leaned against a tree for support. Suddenly, she jerked and bent over, vomiting in the dirt. It felt like acid. She groaned and dropped to her knees. The more Bellatrix tried to breathe, the more it pained her to do so. She continued to throw up black sludge until she dry-heaved ash. She smelled the ocean and sand all around her. She heard birds and tasted salt on her tongue. Bellatrix fell on her back and stared at the sky, and a blurry figure appeared above her. Bellatrix squinted.
"Sleep," the figure murmured. "And all will be well."
Bellatrix tried to fight it, but her eyes closed on their own accord, and she drifted into darkness.