Chapter XXV - Good Times Bad Times
The long minutes Harry spent alone in that bright room was a constant flux of pessimistic thoughts that made it hard for him to keep his façade of bravery.
Ginny would be too stubborn to stay away from the fight, even if it meant walking into danger at a disadvantage. She would possibly die fighting. He wouldn't meet his child. He wouldn't be able to help because of his epic failure. He was, once more, uselessly depending on the mercy of a person who possibly hated him.
The sound of the door opening announced the arrival of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Unable to dry his tears, Harry looked down to hide the wet path on his cheeks. There was no dignity in the expression of a defeated man, so he summoned the last of his strength to hide his pain once more.
Harry stared at his own reflection on that silver surface of the table, paying attention to how his jaw worked as he grind his teeth.
"It's a wonder how he managed to build that portal at all..." The witch sounded amused and had no rush to approach the interrogation table Harry was stuck to. "Do you have any idea how his department managed to create trascendere based on his initial project?"
"I told you I don't!" He glared at his own reflection because he didn't want Bellatrix to notice the tears drying on his face. As different as this Bellatrix was, she was still the last person he wanted to see in that sorry state.
"Hmm..." There was such an air of calm confidence in the way she pulled the chair to sit once more, it made him get over his shame to look up, to see what that was about.
Her calculating gaze got on his nerves.
Whatever happened in that world, it didn't change the fact that Bellatrix Lestrange came from the Black family. Bellatrix was Bellatrix. Sirius told him all about her sadistic nature before she was even a death eater. Harry heard enough from Walburga the portrait to know what exactly were Bellatrix's beliefs. She wasn't innocent when Voldemort recruited her, and he wasn't about to believe she was one of the good guys just because she seemed... sane.
"Where's the doctor?" Harry asked with every bit of 'insolence' he could manage, without hiding his disdain.
He knew how she hated that kind of attitude from her enemies.
Hit me with it. His thoughts matched his hateful stare. He'd die letting her know how much he despised her.
"Ohoho look at you, pup. Still so full of bravado..." The scanning look that went from his face to his torso and back to his eyes kind of destabilized him. She didn't seem affected by his challenge. She either had no intention to hurt him at all, or she was like a cat that played with its food before giving the final blow. "Drop it. Or are you actually too dumb to realize the obvious? If I wanted you gone, you'd be dead already. Besides..."
She put her elbows on top of the table and supported her chin with her interlocked fingers "I'm curious to know what brought you here."
That smile... it was definitely a 'cat playing with the canary' situation. If only he was free, with his wand, he would show her what for.
Fuck you, Lestrange. Just get this over with. "You didn't answer me." He answered in a petulant way.
Rita's many criticisms of his 'childish attitude' came to mind involuntarily, it was what made him end that staring competition because he had to look down to hide how much it affected him. It was a reminder of everything that was going wrong back home...
While he was stuck with a fucking psychopath, who was enjoying that situation a little bit too much.
"Very well." She answered, still unbothered by his attitude.
Please, whatever higher power, if you exist... If you exist... Please... Please... He never prayed in his life. But he knew a certain afterlife existed. So, now he hoped that some higher power also existed to protect his family. He knew there was no way to escape. Let the order find a way to end this war without me, comfort Ginny when I fail to find my way back... He knew how much Hermione's disappearance shook her, to lose him in the same way... She doesn't deserve that kind of pain, please, please... Please...
He didn't want to cry in front of Bellatrix Lestrange, but he couldn't manage deep breaths. His lungs decided they couldn't support so much oxygen, he was forced into a pattern of shallow breathing. He could feel his face and neck getting warm with the effort he was doing to hold back the tears that were forcing their way out. But stubborn small droplets of water ran down his face either way.
Such leaky faucets were his eyes. Damn it!
"Is there anything you're hiding from me, Mr. Potter?" With the way his head was bowed, he didn't see what Bellatrix was doing with her hands. He only sensed movement in front of him. I won't die like this... I won't...
He looked up, once more reuniting every bit of his righteous fury to glare at her.
"Geez, why must all Potters be such drama queens?" She was in the middle of the process of untying her hair to tie it again, probably to catch those few errant curls that escaped her previously.
Wha- Dramaqueen?! He was so shocked he had no proper reaction.
"Fine, I'll answer first since you're dying to know," After she finished making a loose hair bun and properly tucked a single stubborn curl behind her ear, she leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her unworried posture gave him the impression that he could bait her into accepting a duel, she seemed to underestimate him. He might have a chance to escape after all... "Your doctor is just fine. The only problem is that he showed too much knowledge about our department, so Campbell rushed into obliviating him. Now he thinks he was hired by a university to explain his theory of time travel..."
Shit... Even if he managed to bait Bellatrix, he would have no way to go back home! "You've already obliviated him?!"
"Will you calm the fuck down, Potter?" Harry didn't know why she seemed annoyed. He was the powerless one! "My co-worker is not a lousy obliviator. She paid close attention to the memories she was altering, we have enough information to analyze on a Pensieve. The only problem is that it's going to take some time for us to understand how exactly he built that portal. But everything is under control, you're going home. Don't worry."
There was a sudden shock. A jolt that followed the realization that things really were different... If anything served to make Harry feel like he was definitely on another earth, it was Bellatrix's good-humoured smile. She wasn't ironically pouting to piss him off, she wasn't trying to scare him with predatory smirks, she was genuinely trying to calm him down. That was a new expression on her face.
He could almost see Andromeda sitting in front of him. If not for the midnight black colour of her long curly hair, as opposed to Andie's short and dark chestnut locks, he would dare say that maybe she wasn't Bellatrix after all.
"He remembers his original theory... He will simply build it from scratch with our help."
What a crazy alternative reality!
"So you'll let me go back?"
She nodded.
Whoever listened up there... Thank you!
"But... I must know first, what brought you here?"
Harry would not miss that chance to plead his case. Who knew? Maybe she'd let him go after Hermione after all. A no he already had, it didn't hurt to try to get her cooperation...
"A friend of mine travelled to the past and didn't appear in our reality again. We imagined that she was stuck somewhere in time with no way back, so we hired this physicist to put into practice his theory that would allow us to rescue her whenever she was. Until he built that portal, there was no magic that could take people to the future... Only the past."
"Ah, the outdated thought that time is linear. The unspeakables of your world made so few advancements in the field of time travel. It's a wonder how they managed to create something as intriguing as a portal to another world."
"We are born, we grow, we die. Time dictates the passage of our lives." He said matter-of-factly. Wanting to get done with that topic already, he had places to be! "Seems pretty linear to me."
"Time simply is. There's no past, present, or future. Those things are just a concept for us to comprehend what is happening in our lives. But in truth, everything happens in tandem. There is nothing linear about time." The more she explained her idea, the more excited she seemed to get. Which, for Harry, was like going back to stare into the eyes of a woman who seemed full of glee just after murdering hundreds of people. "It's even more mysterious in its concepts than magic itself! Just like our future is a consequence of the choices we make today, our present has been defined by choices made in our past!"
"I have no idea what you said just now." She didn't seem to notice his discomfort. A small mercy for the man who didn't want to look weak in front of his possible enemy.
"All right, look. Our past... as we call it... is happening right at this moment. As I said, time is. We can visit different points in time because they happen at the same moment. Our past is happening along with our present and the future we're creating. Whatever that may be. I never cared much for the future, the past always fascinated me more. I... have my own research going on. My co-worker is the one with the team that avoids catastrophes, constantly travelling forwards so we can avoid whatever disaster some ignorant wizard creates."
"About that..."
Bellatrix flashed him a sassy smile that triggered more bad memories. Seconds ago she was a different Bellatrix... Now she looked exactly like the monster out of his worst memories. "Oh. So you do know something..."
That woman seriously creeped him out. Seriously, you had all this time to kill me... Don't do it NOW.
"I know that those catastrophic futures have not been avoided." He controlled his nervousness to focus on the little he knew about this 'alternative reality' business. "That's the whole thing about different realities. You avoided catastrophe for you. Out there, somewhere, there is a world which still lives with the consequences you avoided for your reality. Or... something like that. It's what I understood, anyway. The doctor didn't have much time to go deeper into it when we were coming here."
"Hmm... That makes sense. I thought that the moment we made different choices in our present, the future we wanted to avoid stopped existing..." She looked away from Harry, getting lost in her own thoughts. "Everything makes much more sense now... Maybe I can bring him here through this portal..."
"Bring who?" Oh no... don't tell me she's trying to find a way for Voldemort to win... No...
She looked up startled. Only then realizing that she was talking to herself out loud all this time. "Nevermind."
"...ok" If she really was looking for Voldemort, he wouldn't push the issue. He had to be quick before she found out that he foiled her master's plans in another world. "But would you consider letting me after my friend? I have no intention of messing around with your reality. I just have to find her and bring her back to where she belongs!"
Bellatrix looked at him so intently he wondered for one moment if she was using legilimency. "Under one condition..."
"Name it..."
"I'll follow you everywhere you go. I'm not risking you actually messing up with my world."
"Deal."
Harry held that stare for as long as it was needed while she scrutinized him. Hermione would help him find a way to lose Bellatrix once he found her, he was sure. She was the one with the plans.
"Very well," Bellatrix said once she was convinced that he would truly cooperate. "Let's go."
She got up, magically unbound him and made her way to the door. She had her hands on her waist as she waited for him to get his bearings.
The sound of their footsteps echoing through the halls was the only thing Harry could hear as they made their way out. He wondered what happened behind the other doors they passed. Nothing was labelled...
"Who are you looking for?" She asked as they made their way to the elevator. Probably, she didn't want to let that awkward silence linger.
Harry took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through his nose.
Small talk with Bellatrix Lestrange was the weirdest thing he could imagine happening to him, but since dying was the worst-case scenario, he would embrace the weirdness gladly.
He cleaned his tear-streaked face with both his hands, before speaking "Did you happen to meet any Hermione Granger?"
She frowned and spared him a sidelong glance "Only our minister..." then she looked ahead again.
"Your what?" Harry, on the other hand, kept staring at her profile even when they paused in front of the elevator, waiting for those doors to open.
"Our minister." She finally turned to look at him, with another one of her creepy smiles. "But I doubt you mean her, I've known that girl since she was a child. I think that my wife would have mentioned if her star pupil was from another reality."
Wife? A muggleborn star pupil? What the FUCK happened in this world? He thought for the hundredth time.
September 6, 1969
- It is hard making heads and tails of how the political system works in the wizarding society. It's our greatest disadvantage entering this world. How to understand their laws (their way of life) when it is so completely different from ours?
For example...
There are the prestigious seats of the wizengamot that are both: passed through hereditary rights, and won through years of service to the ministry. They work as the legislative and judiciary body. Passing laws, and enforcing them. It messes up the whole point of one inspecting the other, but the worst part is not even that. Considering how corruption is almost natural - practised daily - you can count on one hand the people that never took part in shady schemes.
The worst thing is that those who run for minister are usually the ones with the 'greatest connections'. Read: The most corrupt ones. Run for minister those who are chosen and supported by the wizengamot. Be it A or B, both are just representing different parties that no one even voted to be there. In the end, do the people really have a choice on who represents them?
Not really, right? You get the idea...
To complete the nonsense, the minister - who is supposed to be the executive power - still maintains a seat in the wizengamot, so he retains all the previous functions plus the power to name people to occupy vacant seats. He cannot strip anyone of those 'sacred families' of their hereditary rights - unless they committed a grave crime, like Lucius (from my future) - but any person a previous minister named for the position can be substituted. It isn't easy to keep your seat unless you have the 'right connections'. Read: Something the current minister may want.
Or a good enough reputation that would create outrage in case of deposal, which happened to be my case. Being a 'war hero' had its advantages.
But everything is a mess and even if my path was practically traced to reach the position of minister, I saw that the changes I wanted to bring would not be accepted by those attached to power. The oppressors or beneficiaries not only fear losing their privileges, but they also fear that the oppressed repeat what was done to them- I felt like my hands were tied... And I had a fucking seat at the wizengamot, but not enough laws in the world changed their views... They liked how things worked. Chaotic as it was... They are used to it, they see no error with their system that could lead to a complete crisis in the years to come. I cannot imagine it will be any easier for you... If that's what you even want.
You would have to completely separate the legislative body from the judiciary. Open up some seats for popular votes, so then the minister would truly be decided by the people. You could leave the hereditary rights untouched, so as not to piss off a good part of the traditional society, but limit them to legislative functions...
And that's just trying to solve the problem regarding the ever-increasing numbers of muggleborns that would have no representativity. Imagine if I brought up the topic of elves' rights, or centaurs' right to their lands, or the overall absurd way wizards tend to treat anyone who isn't a human holding a wand...
Do you think that people so used to power would accept that? Big news, Hermione, even those who didn't support Voldemort refused to change a thing. I would not last a day in that position. You can be sure they'd find a way to take me down as they did to Nobby Leach. This is 1969... It's impressive to see how nothing changed in the future I came from. What they are doing to this muggleborn ex-minister... I can see how it easily could have been me on another occasion.
The more muggleborns arrive, the more unstable this flawed system will become, and the tension can bring another conflict. Even if we win.
Our allies in the wizengamot close their eyes to this fact... So, you see... The path I chose for myself seemed more promising. At least I regret nothing, especially when I noticed my students really questioning the way things worked in their society.
I won't be here long... I know that. I don't belong here. IfWhen we win this war, Dumbledore has to take the initiative of slowly changing the worldview of the wizards... or else it will be for nought. So, beware, Hermione. Your life may be peaceful, but if none of the steps I talked about has been taken, you should prepare for the worst.
Just a heads up.
September 8, 1969
- It's getting harder and harder to hold a conversation with Dumbledore. It's like we can't see eye to eye anymore. I can't even say 'good morning', because everything goes back to how 'dark magic enables a person's darkest instincts'. He just doesn't accept that I have a different view and won't let go of this particular matter. It's almost unbearable to even make plans or train with him. Everything has to turn into a debate where we simply exhaust ourselves, while he tries to get me to see things his way and I try to convince him that I DO UNDERSTAND HIS POINT, I just don't agree and would be very happy if he could just... Agree to disagree. I know he is too inflexible to accept that I will teach my apprentices the dark arts, which is why I don't even try anymore to convince him to let me make it a subject for my NEWT class.
I would be very happy if he stopped projecting for one second, one second only, so he could understand that what I want is to precisely disassociate Voldemort's greatest weapon from his image. He is thought to be the most powerful wizard alive because of all his knowledge of the dark arts... I want to show my students that he is not that great. If they see that the 'Dark Lord' is nothing without his followers, then maybe they'd stop giving so much attention to a guy who is simply trying to use them as a ladder to his own ascension to power.
Dumbledore is much too scared of the next Dark Lord to realize that twisted ideologies don't need the dark arts to make a home in people's minds. Our biggest threat is the supremacist thought that pure-bloods are superior in any way to muggles and their magical kin. Any belief spread with enough conviction has the potential to amass support for a cause. He is trying to fight a disease ignoring the cause and attacking the symptoms. He will forever be ineffective! It's... frustrating. To say the least.
How can a person so wise be so blind to the obvious? If there ever was a time to make concessions, to acknowledge the pure-bloods points that some traditions are important, this was it. The dark arts are the least of our problems considering everything that is wrong in this world! It's a give-it-and-take business. Let them have the dark arts, and prepare the terrain for democratization.
When the experiments come to the public (again... It seems like I'm stuck in a loop!), we'll demystify this whole idea that wizards are superior beings because of magic. Dumbledore will have the opening he needs to destroy once and for all the movement that gave space for Voldemort's ascension to power. He just has to understand that fighting dark magic now will only strengthen the very base he is trying to destroy.
Maybe Minerva will eventually manage to convince him.
September 12, 1969
- Things are looking up! I might not be able to take the dark arts to my NEWT students, but some NEWT students are coming to me! Hahaaa So, Andromeda's good performance in today's mock battles is definitely the reason why Rodolphus wanted to get those lessons as well. She was casting spells so fast, and silently! She beat him so easily, he took much offence. I bet.
And the most surprising thing about today's duelling club practice? Apparently, Andromeda taught Narcisa as well because the youngest of the blacks took many upper-classman by surprise, too, with things that I'm sure I didn't teach the third-years.
I don't know who looked more proud... Andromeda herself, or Bellatrix. Those girls... They clearly love one another so much. It breaks my heart to think that such a close relationship has been destroyed.
September 14, 1969
- I wasn't in in the mood to celebrate my birthday. You know, just another reminder of all the people that wouldn't be here... But it's touching how Dumbledore is constantly trying to make me feel at home. This dinner at snail's pace with him, Minerva and Flitwick... It was exactly what I didn't know I needed. Oh, and I was invited to Lindsay's wedding. So it seems I'll be going to watch a wedding ceremony after all, huh?
September 15, 1969
- I suspect that Rodolphus might have ADHD... It hadn't crossed my mind before, but now that I've been giving him lessons one-on-one I've noticed things that make me look at his behaviour in class from another perspective.
I'm no psychiatrist, but I have helped Ted enough to know how it goes. Andie's grandson - in case you're thinking it's his grandfather who I mentioned that had become my apprentice... my God, life is crazy! - anyway, he gets distracted by anything that interacts with him, and if what I'm teaching reminds him of something else, he will take the first opportunity to mention what crossed his mind or simply lose himself in those thoughts and ignore completely what I'm saying. Hard to keep his attention, but I know how important it is for him to learn things because then he will get motivated to learn more, and it will help with his focus. So it's important not to make him feel like a certain topic is too difficult because the reverse also happens... Whenever he can't understand something, he feels like he is the dumbest person on earth... It takes away the least of his interest in the subject.
With Rodolphus it goes like this: Whenever I start discussions and ask questions, he is attentive. It's just when I enter the theory behind the spells, or take too long on a subject, that he loses his focus. Except he doesn't dare interrupt me now (I might have scared him off when I thought he was doing it on purpose out of disregard) and Francine is the one who gets to deal with his divagating thoughts since he always engages her in conversation. But, even knowing the consequence of losing his attention in my class, he doesn't take the 'warzone' setting of the classroom as seriously as the others have. Maybe it's because he knows it's not a life-or-death situation... Either way, he keeps getting distracted at the most inopportune times. And it's obvious he doesn't realize when it happens because he is genuinely taken by surprise every time.
When it's just us in my office, I can see that he really tries to focus on what I'm saying. He is very ashamed to say when he missed what I explained, or what he doesn't understand, so I end up making all sorts of questions until that nervous look of 'I'm just agreeing because I don't want you to think I'm stupid' disappears from his face.
I will definitely be more mindful when I'm reprehending him in class now... That boy clearly is not ill-intended. I don't want to end up completely demotivating him in case I'm right about my suspicions. He has to trust that I'm here to teach him and that I'll repeat myself however many times is necessary until he understands.
September 20, 1969
- Close to the Slytherin's dungeon, past the entrance to their common room, there is the illusion of a wall. Well planned to make people believe it is just a dead end. It's my favourite secret place. Not because of what's beyond it, but precisely because of what isn't.
There's nothing beyond the 'three slaps wall', aside from four torches, two on each side, and another dead-end wall. Apparently solid, too. This mystery is so intriguing! Why put a barrier to hide a wall? There's something in that enclosed space. I know it! I just have to find out exactly what.
I don't know if I can wait until the winter break for that...
"Hermione, are you there?"
Three knocks on the door made the woman look to her left, in the direction of that distracting noise. That very familiar whimsical voice was muffled. Not only the door was closed, but Mr Plant's vocal lines were also almost as loud as her own thoughts. She turned down the volume of the small transfigured phonograph on top of her table so that she could pay attention to what Dumbledore had to say.
Visualize what you want done, focus, magic controls matter. Without touching her wand, she practised a wandless spell casting by opening the door with a hand gesture. Like slapping the air in front of her, she gestured in the direction where she wanted the door to move.
The knob of the door twisted on her command, and Dumbledore's face appeared. He went from worried to excited as soon he saw that she was still sitting behind her office table.
"Did you do it wordlessly, too?"
She smiled back with ease. "I'm working with intent."
"Wonderful! You're advancing fast! Did that tire you out?"
Surprisingly...
"Not as much as it used to. I think that all the demonstrations I've been giving to my students have been the perfect way to exercise willpower. It's certainly taking less and less effort to control my magic."
He stood there, still smiling, but now looking more consternated than before. "How do you feel about going to snail's pace right now? I believe... We've got matters to discuss."
Dumbledore was obviously exhausted, much too worried about the path this world was taking.
It saddened Hermione to see him like that. He had so many troubles to deal with... And unfortunately, as much as she tried to help, she was just another stone to his heavy sack of problems. She was an intruder in this world. He could not explain who she was to others. Questions would start to rise when her research came to the public, and it's not like he could defend her ideas on the wizengamot without going against everything he ever stood for. "What happened?"
The less she got involved in the decisions he made, the better. At least she hoped to make his life easier.
"I know enough" She unceremoniously sent her diary to her private quarters with a spell and followed him out. "What happened?"
It seemed like he carried the weight world on his shoulders and didn't know what to do anymore. "Abraxas Malfoy died."
"No..."
As supportive as Abraxas was of Voldemort's cause, he wasn't radical enough to start a war. Dumbledore was counting on Malfoy's reluctance to buy himself time. Lord Malfoy would not openly support a man who suggests war to take down the statute of secrecy. His interest in Voldemort's recruiting campaign was to guarantee that no matter how many muggleborns entered their world, they'd still be controlled by some sort of regulation force. At least, that's what Dumbledore's intel informed. Abraxas' contributed in the shadows, with great monetary donations, but little else.
"He finally demonstrated interest in becoming minister... You know what that means, don't you?"
"His 'disease'... wasn't a disease at all, was it?"
Dumbledore shook his head "The timing is much too fortuitous."
Hermione had to agree.
If a man as well-renowned as Abraxas took over, The 'Dark Lord's' project of power would go off the rails. Malfoy's respected background could take away even the support Voldemort had from families like the Blacks, that isn't half as scared to show their radical opinions.
Voldemort did not train his whole life just to work in the shadows of a man who wouldn't give him half the prestige he wanted. No. Hermione is sure, Abraxas' death served two purposes: It got him out of the way, and quenched the hope of a certain majority in the wizengamot for a better future. It's a wonder how no one ever questioned Abraxas' sudden death before.
Lord Malfoy voted often with the most radical families in the wizengamot, but his speeches were moderate, all to maintain that picture-perfect image of 'neutrality', portraying himself as a safe choice for people who feared great changes. Not one for risking his reputation, he never exposed his radical anti-muggle beliefs to the greater public. He was well known and widely accepted by many people, even those who didn't acknowledge blood-purity status as relevant. He had real chances to become the next minister.
He would never be a good choice for any muggleborn... but if the present scenario prevented them from having a minister at all, Abraxas would be one hundred times better than the man Voldemort is supporting now. And it's clear that to justify his next actions, Riddle wants his candidate to lose. If Abraxas ran to be minister and won... The self-entitled Dark Lord would lose his support for a war.
"I have no doubt in my mind that it was Tom Riddle himself that orchestrated Abraxas's death" Dumbledore gave voice to their shared conclusion.
"Trusting Voldemort to have their interests aligned was a foolish mistake. Did he expect that power-hungry snake to work as his personal militia with his army?"
Dumbledore had one resigned smile on his face "You haven't met Tom personally, Hermione. He can be... Quite charming. Trust me when I say that Abraxas never saw it coming. He had no way of predicting this betrayal."
"Oh... Lucius..." That boy clearly saw his father as his hero. He mentioned him quite often, with clear pride. She worried about what would become of him now if this war is what turned him into the prejudiced man she met in the future. Up until that moment, he treated her with politeness, much like Narcisa had when they first met. The kind of attitude she never expected from the man who taught Draco to be insufferable in his youth. "Have you had the chance to see him?"
He nodded. Not hiding how much it hurt him to do so. Now she understood his gloom. "His mother requested his presence for formal procedures. To be filled with so much responsibility, so soon."
And just after such loss... He didn't say but Hermione knew it hit him just as hard.
"I've changed my mind, Hermione."
"About what, exactly?"
They've been disagreeing on many points as of late. How to proceed with the research, since he didn't want her to be so open about it with the muggles who would participate... Then there was the matter of the dark arts she was going to teach the students who went after her for 'apprenticeship'. Andromeda, Ted, Rodolphus and now Camila wanted to learn from her... She would teach everything she knew. They were her hope for the future she wouldn't be able to see.
"It is clear that Voldemort will take advantage of this moment of fragility... It's better for little Lucius to learn Dark Magic with a person who wants him on the right path." Dumbledore still managed to surprise her. She didn't hope for his inflexible nature to bend anytime soon.
"You mean..."
"You are right. At least... in parts. I still believe we should avoid such matters within our halls of learning but..."
"You see that it's unavoidable for them to have contact with it outside."
"Yes. For now, at least... Honeybuns." He said the password to the gargoyles and gestured for Hermione to walk in first. "Until I find a way to cleanse our world of such nefarious practices."
Even to her, his office seemed much too suffocating at that moment. The flu network took them quickly to the restaurant where they'd have a lighter setting to discuss such a heavy topic.
"Albus! Jean! Welcome back!"
Hermione couldn't even bring herself to properly retribute Lindsay's warm greeting. A small smile and a nod were all she sent back. Her head was reeling from trying to understand what exactly Dumbledore planned to do.
"Hello Lindy, how's the wedding preparation going?" Dumbledore was the one who managed to properly greet the girl.
"Ugh, please don't remind me of that upcoming disaster!"
"Ah, still butting heads with your mother-in-law?"
"I swear, Dumbledore, if I didn't love Frank so much I'd be calling it off. Can you believe that his mother dearest wants to veto who I invite to the wedding? MY wedding? Entitled little..."
When nearby clients started to turn their heads to pay attention to her ranting, she stopped her outburst, took a deep breath, and plastered a smile on her face. "Here, let me just guide you to your table before I make a scene in the only place I actually find peace."
"In a constantly busy restaurant?" Hermione couldn't help but joke "Frank must be really worth it, huh?"
Lindsay rolled her eyes, but found herself amused with the jab. "Jean... without a shadow of a doubt, he is worth it. But listen to my words... NEVER allow yourself to fall in love with a pure-blood wizard from a traditional family. Too much headache."
Hermine laughed "No worries." She couldn't deal with all the outdated views those guys usually defended to protect their privileged way of life. As sweet as Lindsay said Franklin was, he was undoubtedly another one who would be against the necessary changes that would make the wizarding world a bit fairer in its distribution of power. "Believe me when I say, there's not a chance of that ever happening."
"GOOOOD TIIIMES, BAAAD TIIIIMES YOU KNOW I'VE HAD MY SHAAAARE! WHEN MY WOMAN LEFT HOME FOR A BROWN-EYED MAN BUT I STILL DON'T SEEM TO CAAAAAAARE!"
Bellatrix stopped at the door of the boy's dormitory like she was hit by a petrificus totallus. She watched, befuddled, as Francine jumped on Rodolphus's bed, with her left hand grasping the air while her right one had two fingers out to follow whatever sound it was coming from the phonograph. But that wasn't the most surprising part.
Rodolphus had a small cigarette trapped between his teeth while he banged his head, making inexplicable movements with his hands and feet, sitting on the edge of his bouncing bed. He had his eyes closed so he didn't see her coming in. Francine was simply much too engaged in the song to care if Bellatrix was watching or not, she didn't stop for a second, as if nothing had changed.
This is the kind of trash my parents forbade Andromeda from taking home. Are the Lestranges more lenient about muggle influences? It would certainly explain Rodolphus's complete disregard for traditions and protocols... His partnership with Francine, his bad habit of chasing even mudbloods for his 'fun time'...
Maybe she could get rid of that marriage after all. She had enough ammunition to destroy his reputation with her father. Then she could postpone finding another person to marry until she got a place within the Auror force...
Who was she kidding? Her father wouldn't leave her alone until she got that marriage paper signed and delivered a grandchild. At least Andie won't have to. She had to keep reminding herself constantly... Fucking muggle invasion!
"HEY!"
Rodolphus opened his eyes and once he saw her standing in the doorway, he stopped his silly movements. Not because he was embarrassed, no. He didn't seem ashamed of what he was doing. He took the cigarette butt out of his mouth, breathed out that grey stuff that smelled worse than potion fumes, squished that thing against a carved stone on top of his bedside table, and smiled at her in a way she only ever saw directed at Francine.
Idiot. She couldn't believe herself when the desire to make that smile disappear from his face didn't take over. But... She had to admit that the more time she spent with Rodolphus, the less she hated him. If anything, it made her feel safe to know that he was the type of guy who was exactly what he seemed to be. The only idiot she knew who never cared to wear a mask.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING? WHAT IF SOMEONE CATCHES YOU LIKE THIS?" She yelled over the music, but her glare didn't hold the same threatening energy it usually did. She was in good spirits.
The reason: Even Andromeda suspected something was off with Jean Grey. So she chose not to complain about being interrupted in the middle of her study session with her sisters. Andie could use that time to reflect upon why their professor completely shut off with any question about her past, and Bella could do with time to bask in her small victory without pissing her off.
Rodolphus turned down the volume so he wouldn't have to yell to be understood.
"Relaaax! My roommates went out to Hogsmeade with their dates, the room is ours for the next..." He cast a silent tempus, a sign that he had been practising like Professor Grey suggested, "four hours. Come on in, join us! We're going to listen to all these amazing albums Francine brought from home!" He pointed towards the bedside table, where some strange records rested against. Why would anyone listen to doors?
"I can't believe..." She had been disturbed because of this... "Rabastan said it was urgent!"
"Yeah... we urgently need to get to know one another better. How do you expect to fool anyone if you can't act like me?"
She could use the good argument that the lacewings flies would take another week to be ready to be used in the potion, and they didn't need that much time to rehearse... But her immediate response was to defend her acting skills. "I can act like you!"
"Like hell, you can. You're the most high-strung person I know, Black. You gotta learn how to relax!"
"What the fuck do you mean?!"
Francine jumped from the bed to the floor, then ran to stand face to face with Bellatrix. "He means..." The half-blood grabbed Bellatrix by the shoulders and dragged her inside. "This." She gestured between them.
Bellatrix was as rigid as the table Professor grey had turned into stone.
Any other time, really any other time, she would have cursed Francine with a very hurtful spell just because she had the gall of touching her like that.
But Bellatrix got the feeling that this was precisely what they meant. Rodolphus would never hurt Francine...
She would have to get used to their closeness.
Fuck me... "I don't have time for this..." She rolled her eyes, ready to turn around and leave.
"Of course you do. If you're going to be me, the first lesson is: Homework is for the mudkins! We don't need this shit. We're rich, Black. RICH! We pay people to do that stuff for us."
She looked towards Francine, curious to see her reaction to being called a mudkin... But the girl simply stole the cigarette Rodolphus had trapped between his lips before he could light it and threw herself on his bed, she bounced for a while when her back hit the mattress.
Rodolphus faux glared at her before he fetched another for himself. His smile made it obvious that he was far from annoyed.
"Rodolphus... I want to graduate with twelve outstanding on my grades. I actually like to learn. I just have to pretend to be an airhead, not literally become you!"
She walked in, nonetheless. There was no use standing in the doorway where anyone could eventually pass and overhear their conversation. They did have to figure out a time to practice.
A wrong move, apparently, because Rodolphus found it appropriate to turn the volume up again.
"OOOOOOOhhh this is my favourite!" Francine said suddenly, sitting on the bed.
Bella had to admit... That melody wasn't half bad. No song touched her as deeply as her mother's talent to charm the ivory keys. She never cared to listen to anything other than the classic piano arrangement Druella loved to play and listen to. But this... this was something else. This was like a better version of the silly stuff Andromeda liked to listen to with her friends.
"You Shook Me is better..." Rodolphus' opinion went ignored by both girls. Bellatrix had no idea what he was talking about, while Francine seemed to get into that song she deemed her favourite.
"Shush!" Francine used her right hand to place one finger in front of her mouth, then with the same index, she pointed towards the phonograph. Bellatrix looked towards the object as if something would come out of it... But her attention was stolen away again when Francine started to sing.
"Baaaabe... Baby, baby... I'm gonna leave you..." Francine brought back her hand to form a fist in front of her mouth, while she held her smoke stick between her index and middle fingers on her left hand, away from her body.
Rodolphus had a very fond smile on his face when he looked at Francine. Ok... so I really can't simulate this... She wasn't that good of an actress to pretend to like someone as much as she loved her sisters. But I won't even be in the same room with Francine while I pretend to be Rodolphus!
Bellatrix was about to say how stupid this was and leave...
When Rodolphus cut her off in the most unexpected way. "I said baaaby..." The raspiness of his voice... "You know... I'm gonna leave you..." She knew Francine sang because they shared a room and that girl wouldn't shut up on the days Slytherin had games. "I'll leave you when the summertime... Leave you when the summer comes a-rollin'" But Rodolphus? Since when Rodolphus knows how to sing? He was in tune with the man from the phonograph.
Francine's eyes shined with excitement, they shared one big smile and then sang together "Leave you when the summer comes along!"
After that, Rodolphus trapped the cigarette between his teeth again, immediately going back to those strange movements with his arms and feet. Francine fisted the air with her left hand still holding that burning cigarette between her fingers and moved her right hand up and down to the rhythm.
"Since when have you guys started doing this?"
She conjured a chair for herself, so she could sit facing them and stay away from that hellish smoke.
She didn't have to learn how to act precisely like them, but what if Jean Grey asked about their relationship when she switched with Rodolphus? She had to have answers. It seemed logical to know their points of view, in case it came into question. She purposefully chose to ignore how the entrancing melody was appealing to her. She wasn't about to give in to the muggle influence. She was merely impressed with how well Francine and Rodolphus's voices matched. That was it. Academic curiosity... Did Francine begin to like Rodolphus because he was a predictable little Gryffindor reject?
"Do what?" Francine asked, then took another drag of that deathly smoke. "Laze around, listening to the bands papa showed me during the summer?" She blew it out, and the smoke seemed to pursue the person who seemed most bothered by it. Bellatrix twitched her nose and sneezed when part of that smoke went in her direction. How can they breathe that in?
Rodolphus had a smug smile on his face, as if he knew, all along, that she would stay. Just because of that, Bellatrix felt the urge to get up and leave. But...
Curiosity got the best of her.
"No, I mean... you guys never told me how you became friends. One day you hated his guts because he didn't want a little girl on the quidditch team, the other he is defending your position as a seeker and you are the best of friends. To these days, I can't understand how you can stand him, Canyon!"
The quidditch players laughed like it was common knowledge that Bellatrix was starting to tolerate Rodolphus. It's not that she showed outwardly... Not often, anyway... but he started to survive their conversations with fewer injuries than in the past. Maybe she was getting a bit predictable.
"Hmm... Was it third year, Fran? When you broke your acoustic guitar on the head of that idiot?"
"No. It was just before summer break, second year. And it wasn't on his head..." Rodolphus snorted "Shut up, I wanted to hurt him, not kill him. I broke it on his back!"
"Because you were a tiny little thing" He made a pinching gesture with his thumb and forefinger as if it would represent how small Francine was back then "If you had your growth spurt a little bit earlier, you'd have hit him on the head, for sure. You raised that guitar so high I thought you were going to fall backwards hahahaha"
"If only I knew what I know today... I'd spare my beautiful guitar. Nothing like a refined stupefy to black a bully out."
"Right..." He laughed again, took another drag of the stick, and breathed out "So, Remember McIlroy?"
Bellatrix nodded. She remembered vaguely the face of that seventh-year head boy. Back when they were twelve years old and the upper classmates seemed more impressive... to the others at least. In her opinion, that guy always looked like an idiot. Minor house, not even in the sacred twenty eight list. One could even doubt his 'pure-blood' status, especially since he always lost in the first rounds of the duelling championship. Even to mudbloods. He never won anything for Slytherin. Not even in quidditch. Pathetic.
"What about him?"
"He was giving me a hard time." Francine took over the story-telling "Rodolphus was passing by, he thought it would be a good idea to piss me off too... I beat them up the muggle way to get them to shut up."
"I didn't want anyone to find out I was beaten up by that tiny little girl... I convinced McIlroy to not say anything. No complaints about her reached the Headmaster. I saved her ass." He nudged her, with his elbow playfully.
"Asshole. That wasn't why I befriended you!" Francine smiled
"It's how it went for me" He stuck out his tongue "Admit it, I saved your aaaass!"
"No one wanted me here anyway, If I got kicked out of Hogwarts, at least it was for a valid reason instead of 'she's a half-mud, let's writte daddy, she can't be here'."
"But then your wand would be snapped, you'd probably never be able to do magic again..." Bellatrix interrupted what seemed like a playful banter. "I thought you were smarter than that!"
She was so used to Francine's dismissive nature, she couldn't imagine a time when her roommate was actually affected by her inferior blood heritage. She never thought that girl was ready to give everything up because... what? She couldn't deal with some truths? Francine is half-mud. Not that Bella cared about what happened to her, but it seemed stupid to risk her future, to give up all of her power - limited as it was - because she couldn't accept her place in their society!
Proof of her evolution was Francine's indifferent shrug before she answered. "I don't need a wand for that. You wizards think that only these supernatural things are magic. Give my dad any string instrument, you'll see magic happening then. Wingardium Leviosa..." Francine made the cinder-filled carved stone levitate towards her with a wandless wingardium, tapped her cigarette on it, and stared at Bellatrix as if she proved a point by showing that advanced magic. "Give a chisel to a sculptor, a scalpel to a doctor, a question to a philosopher..."
Bellatrix wasn't impressed, she knew that this 'wandless wingardium' was the first lesson Jean Grey taught Rodolphus. When he shared the exercises, Bellatrix learned on the first try, while Francine had to keep training for hours to get even a pen to levitate. Rodolphus is probably not even able to do the simplest feather float without a wand yet...
Such Bullshit. Bellatrix rolled her eyes and summoned the stone with a silent, and equally, wandless accio to get the stone and cigarette away from the girl. "I can't believe you're seriously comparing real magic with these stupid muggle things!" She put out that stupid smoking stick and send it back to the table with another silent wingardium.
"Why not? If you weren't able to enjoy doing this real magic you love so much... what would be the point of it?"
"How would a person not like doing magic?"
"The same way a person doesn't enjoy living." That girl was not making any sense... "Just... Trust me, Black. Hogwarts... is not the first place I'd choose to be."
"We can bend matter according to our will... Ok, maybe you won't ever be as powerful as I am, but you're comparing true power to silly muggle past times! How would you live without real magic?"
"Magic happens when our conscience is at work, can't you see that? Magic is life in itself, but it's senseless without a purpose! These silly-past times makes my life worth living! I have to find my thing and I can't find it here! Seriously, if I got expelled I would be relieved. At least then I would spend more time with my dad... go back to the routine I actually liked... Where I'm actually happy."
What other purpose is there than becoming the strongest you can possibly be? What would you possibly achieve without magic? What's more fun than having the power of creation?! Bellatrix was so befuddled, none of her protests actually left her mouth. She hoped Francine would understand the look on her face that displayed her utmost disbelief.
Rodolphus hugged Francine sideways "Shut up you whiner."
The girl laughed, and let herself be squished against his chest "Right. Right, where would you be without my brilliant guidance?"
Bellatrix always thought that their friendship was a thing of convenience. Rodolphus spared her the incessant bullying when they became 'friends'... She did all his homework in turn... The story they told almost confirmed her point of view.
"Exactly." Rodolphus' good humour seemed to be infectious to Francine "Now send those brooding thoughts to the furthest corner of your mind, and listen! Your father really knows his stuff!"
But the way Francine fit her face in the curve of Rodolphus' neck and rested her cheek against his shoulder made Bellatrix wonder if there was something more going on. Again. As if it wasn't a hot topic around Slytherin already. Would she dare ask? No. She wouldn't. Not knowing made her feel much more comfortable than the thought that something did happen between them. She just didn't know why it bothered her so much.
"I know." Francine tapped his chest twice with her open palm before she showed her intention of breaking away from that hug and Rodolphus let her go "And you, Black. Pay attention. If you're going to pass as Rod, you'll have to learn what he hums to when he gets distracted in class. This is music appreciation time!"
"Yes! That's the good one!" He nodded slowly, to the rhythm of that strange song.
Bellatrix wasn't interested, at all, in listening more of that strange, distorted sound it filled the room. But she couldn't say that she would never appreciate muggle noise, because her body betrayed her. Before she realized it, she had been moving her head much the same way Rodolphus was doing. There's no way this is muggle music. They are messing with me. This must be a new wizarding band. "What's it called?"
"The band or the song?"
"The band."
"Led Zeppelin"
Arandomgal - HAHAHAHAHA my god... All right... All right, I breathed...
Have those questions have been answered in this chapter? I hope that only parcially because I need some mistery for the next chapters :v haha
Yeah, it was from day one, that good old 'attraction at first sight.' Not that Bellatrix will ever admit it... or will she? hehehe
laskdçfjasçldjflaçksjdalkçj girl, give me your time-turner immediately! you're me from the future, aren't you? xD
aaaah did it have to end, really? :/ sad, sad.
Thanks for this review, I've died and I came back to life at least twice with how much I laughed! hahaha
You know, I did get a nice meal. Want some pizza? It has ham and cheese. :p
