Hogwarts, November 10th, 2008
The first months at Hogwarts are a constant thrill. Delphini wins house points in most classes. She excels at Charms and at Transfiguration, having an instinctive knowledge of the latter. She is one of the few students capable of remaining awake and aware throughout Professor Binns' never ending monologues on various magical creatures' rebellions and revolutions. Slughorn has already singled her out, even if he was a bit wary of her at the beginning.
That's not to say everything is perfect. She does get in trouble. Professor Hooch never tires of warning her during flying lessons, even if she is her best flyer. She has such complete disregard for rules and safety that being threatened with curses by the teacher herself has somehow become the norm.
And then, there's Muggle Studies. Professor Erskine is a true admirer of Muggle inventiveness, and does have a passion for teaching. But she has to deal with a room filled with Gryffindor students, who keep coming up with ways to charm Muggle technology that always end in mayhem; and Slytherin students, who look on disdainfully for the most part of the class. Delphini doesn't really care for the subject, and ever since she was paired with a Gryffindor boy, and given the mission to understand and describe the functioning of a point ball pen that ended with blue ink all over her, she has grown to despise it completely.
Minerva McGonagall is highly aware of the issue. Because Delphini Lestrange may be one of the brightest students she has ever met, but she is also the leader of a notorious group of first year Slytherins. They have no ill intentions towards others; they simply enjoy showcasing their superiority by using their wands to prank students left and right. No one ever gets hurt, but she already lost count to the number of times Filch has requested her permission to hang all five of them from the ceiling by their toes.
She can hear the noise of laughter and conversation; letting her know the class is over. As she takes the corner leading to the Muggle Studies classroom, she sees a girl in her House colours mucking off some sort of blue slime from her robes. Miss Lestrange, as well as the Rothley twins and Mr. Morton, all carry the same discreet proud look on their faces, while Miss Pritchard has the decency to look worried by the Headmistress's presence. They nod to her as they walk on by. Minerva sighs. As usual, everyone suspects, but no one actually saw who did it. If Bellatrix Lestrange knew just how much her daughter looks like the Weasley twins prancing after one of their stunts she would shriek.
X
Hogwarts, January 5th, 2009
She has a ten inches long assignment for Muggle Studies. It's on the alternatives Muggles have created for transportation. She gets a foot long piece of parchment and writes "Let Muggles worry about Muggle world, I have a wand and I will never ride a red bus!" in the largest size she can manage, so that it fills the entire thing. She hands it in the very next class, ahead of schedule.
Two days later, Draco and Astoria are in Headmistress McGonagall's office when she enters. She was expecting a reprimand and detention, not an intervention, so she can't help it when her eyebrows reach for her curls.
"I have been discussing the matter of your Muggle Studies dare with your family. This will not be taken lightly, Miss Lestrange."
She had made that point previously, establishing with Draco and Astoria that she was not judging the girl for her mother, but that such matters were not looked upon kindly by the public. In the aftermath of the war, both a decade ago and yesterday somehow, beliefs towards Muggles have been under heavy scrutiny within the walls of Hogwarts. It was a simple jape, that is clear, but it must not be allowed to progress.
The younger Malfoy couple is keenly aware of the intense fear that the mere prospect of another muggle-hating dark wizard stirs in Wizarding Britain. Even more so since the dark wizard became a witch in people's imaginaries, no less than a descendant of Bellatrix Lestrange. They posed no objections to disciplinary action, while keeping thoughts of what would happen if McGonagall actually knew the truth secret.
Under the Headmistress' glare over her square-lensed glasses, Delphini explains that she finds Muggle Studies to be dull, boring, and lacking anything akin to interest. She elaborates a bit too much into her views of the uselessness of the whole subject, as most of the wizarding community keeps some distance between them and the contraptions Muggles have had to create to overcome the "profound insufficiency that is the absence of magic".
Draco watches as Minerva's eyebrows shoot up and her lips disappear completely. A shiver makes an icy path down his back.
"Come on, Delphie… They are not that bad. They are just people without magic. We have explained this to you." Astoria has an appeasing smile on her lips, but a look that tells her to be careful with her words.
"Have you met Filch? Because he fits that description. Should I write an essay on him? How is he not a bad thing?"
"Enough, Miss Lestrange! I believe you are far too young to comprehend the true meaning of your words. I will leave you here, with your family, in the hope that they can insert some sense into your ideas. I shall come back within the hour, to escort you to Mr. Filch, whom you will shadow every afternoon after your classes, for the remainder of this term. That should be enough to leave some semblance of respect for non-magical work and efforts! I also expect you to understand that Mr. Filch is not a thing but a person. And since you will only have after dinner to work on your assignments, I trust you will learn not to take them as carelessly!"
Nodding her leave to Draco and Astoria, she rises from the engraved chair and abandons her office.
Delphini is left to face an hour long lecture on the reasons for the Wizarding War and the importance on not complying with such ideals. After several explanations that her lack of interest is just that, and means nothing as far as her intentions towards Muggles are concerned, they come to an understanding. She will behave with Filch for as many days as she has to, and carry on with her Muggle Studies assignments in an academically noteworthy fashion. No more provocations, no matter how dull she may find the subject.
When the Headmistress returns, Delphini is already concocting a plan to have Sigmund do most of her homework. After all, his Father is a Muggle. And even if he is as bored as her during classes, he finds it easy to write Professor Erskine's requested essays. She can trade Muggle Studies for Potions. She knows Transfiguration would be a better offer, but the consequences of being discovered by the Headmistress, and she knows they would be discovered very shortly, are not worth the risk.
She is dismayed by the information that Filch himself awaits her outside. A tiny part of her really wants to jinx the cat the moment she sees Mrs. Norris, but the knowledge that an entire room of old trophies is to be polished by her hands takes that whim away. She now feels like hexing Filch.
Maybe once she has mastered Obliviating…
X
Malfoy Manor, March 20th, 2009
The Malfoys share their sitting room with a party of three, two envoys from Gringotts and an Auror.
"There is the matter of Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. As the heiress, she is entitled to its contents."
The Malfoys trade alarmed looks at that. No one is entirely sure of what "the contents" truly consist of. Nor of what curses may lure there. They didn't even know the vault was Delphini's, they had assumed it was taken, just like Rodolphus and the other convicted Death Eaters.
"Well, you see, Madam Lestrange passed before we could seize it, and since there was already a registry of an heir when we tried to, Gringotts would not allow it."
As if anyone would ever manage to part goblins from that much gold, Lucius muses.
"The child need not be present, but the Aurors must inspect any artefacts found there. You, as well as one of the goblins, will be witnesses to our actions. Nothing will be taken unless it's deemed connected to the Dark Arts." The Auror tries to assure them, adding that there will also be a curse-breaker present.
"Hem-hem..." The goblin cuts in. "The child's presence will be necessary for the opening of the vault. She must present her wand to us. Once the vault is opened on her behalf, you may take her away."
"We will take care of this over the next summer then." Narcissa determines.
"The Aurors expected to carry on with this matter the coming break-"
"The summer." Lucius simply states, putting the weight of all his ancestry behind the two words. His chin raised. His eyes piercing.
They may have fallen from grace on all fronts, but they are Malfoys. They know their worth and will not bow to anything else than sheer superiority.
The point is made. The date is set. Come July and the vault will be opened for the first time since the war. They can only hope that the magic inside has waned. Faded with the death of its owner and her Master. They remain well aware of the other possibility.
That somehow, his magic lingered, like it still does on her doors and on the veil that watches over her sleep.
X
Easter Sunday, 2009
This year, the society has reunited at the Pritchard House. Delphini has teamed up with Syrianna, Radagast and Freya for the egg hunt. They have been running around in the gardens for quite a while now. All the easily spotted eggs have been taken and they are down to the last five or so.
"What if we just get some brooms? It will go faster." Radagast suggests, looking to his sister with a mischievous smile.
"The rules say nothing of the method of obtaining the eggs…" She laughs.
Syrianna proceeds to smuggle all four of them inside the house and back outside, four old Cleansweeps in hand. They split in pairs and take to the air, among the laughter of the adults and comments that it was only a question of time until someone of this generation thought of brooms.
Once more, Delphini finds herself flying over the maze at the farthest end. She decides to investigate it, but to no avail. She does leave with that unnerving sensation of having heard something.
Back at the Manor, much later, under the soothing veil and curled up in bed, she can't shake a feeling of unease. She can't sleep. She has already given up reading. Vicious has tired of her restlessness and retreated to the end of the bed, where only his eyes are visible. She stares at them, as if the yellow there elicits a memory, an important memory, a piece of the puzzle. At Hogwarts, she has become an expert in late night flying, dodging Filch and Peeves, making it quietly out of the sleeping castle with a borrowed broom in hand. Maybe that is what she needs. A bit of wind in her hair to calm her down.
Tiptoeing out of her bedroom and down the stairs, she takes care not to disturb the portraits. Once she is outside, the spring wind dancing through her dressing robe, she takes a moment to breathe in the silence. She likes these quiet, dark nights. Allowing her eyes a few moments to adjust, she mounts her broom and is soon up high.
Observing her from a window, Narcissa can't help both the smile and the shiver. The smile, the memory of Bellatrix disappearing into the gardens late at night back when they were children. The shiver, the memory of Bellatrix doing the same thing with a much different purpose, time and time again, when they were no longer little girls.
Delphini takes her time, making it much further than she usually does. She is quite certain she is now beyond the grounds of the Manor. She can make the shimmering contour of a stream below her. She lands on the bank, kicking off her shoes to feel the cooling water run over her toes. She shivers at first, and then settles. The cold is never truly uncomfortable to her. It's one of those things that speak to memories she can't unearth. Like the smell of smoke, and the red glare in the mirror, and the smell of roses. The latter she missed so much in Hogwarts that her Aunt sent her a vial of essence, kept hidden in her trunk, used only when everyone else is asleep. Soothed, she flies back home, silently making the way to her bed, where she surrenders to slumber completely.
Observing her from the door, Narcissa is soothed too by the peaceful sight of her niece lost to dreams. As she moves to leave, she can hear the hissing. She never forgot it, as they had hoped she would. She simply hopes now, that no one else will ever notice.
X
Hogwarts, June 26th, 2009
The last term flew by. Holding their notices about the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and its consequences should it be broken, a group of first year Slytherins enjoys the sun by the lake, together with older housemates.
Delphini is already thinking of ways of bypassing her trace. She has been reading about it and knows that it can't pinpoint the origin of magic precisely. She figures she can use her wand about the Manor as far as one of the adults is home.
She has also been practising something else. Aware that Legilimency could be picked up by her teachers, she is steadily improving her passive skills. She doesn't look into people's minds, simply tunes in to their thoughts, like reaching and grasping them from the air. It's hard, but good fun, and kept her busy for most of Muggle Studies. Most students around her are thinking of the Quidditch Cup, the following day. Slytherin versus Gryffindor makes for a promising final. Spirits are high and banter is higher. Gryffindor is the school's favourite, but everyone knows that skill is on Slytherin's side this year. A conversation nearby breaks her focus.
"What do you mean your dorm hisses?" An older student, she thinks some cousin of Freya, is asking.
"I'm telling you, Victoria, sometimes at night, the dorm hisses! I mean, Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth, why wouldn't he charm the dorms to hiss at his students? It's like singling out those like him-"
"I sleep there too, you know?" Delphini cuts in, "And I have never heard a thing, Freya!"
"It's not my fault you're always asleep! I keep waking you, but it stops…"
"Right… Well, just so you know, any waking on the basis of hissing-dormitory-nonsense come second year, and I'll hex you until you start hissing!"
There's careless laughter in the air at that. Exams are over, results are not in yet, and the day is bright. Sigmund diverts the conversation to their wager. They are not quite sure how many notices of misbehaviour have made it home, but the five of them tried to keep tally over the year. If anyone gets it right, and manages to still have permission to leave the house, there's ice cream on everyone else's to be won.
Author's Notes: Sorry to mess up the usual uploading scheme of things, but my plot bunnies are running full steam and I'm just going with it. Also, longest chapter ever in this fic. Just take this as a lot of setting for things to come. Had to be done, enjoy, leave your thoughts and feed my bunnies if you please
To the lovely guest pointing out the crumbs being dropped, thank you so much, I'm so happy people are picking up on it.
Update 28/11/2017: There are three new side pieces to Birds become Dragons (my fingers hurt now). You can now find To Placate a Weasley I, To Placate a Weasley II, and Deliverance on my works