Updated: Monday 20th June 2005
Disclaimer: Not mine. Specifically, any identifiable dialogue is solicitously borrowed from GOF.
Chapter Ninety One: Secrets of the TwilightEstella paced the abandoned classroom nervously, wondering if Harry had gotten lost. Maybe the stairwell had changed and he was delayed – yes, that was probably it. Surely he wouldn't have been found by Filch under that cloak of his. Estella had slipped him a note at dinner requesting an audience with him at the place and time where they'd had their first real conversation. He'd nodded at her in understanding, and Estella had taken for granted that the boy would be thinking of the room that had the mirror in it that night a few years back.
A tell-tale noise behind her as a heavy veil of material was uncovered assured Estella that he'd gotten the reference right.
"I'm sorry." Two voices cut each other off in their haste.
Estella stopped her talking to let him speak. The tousled-haired Gryffindor regarded her with a contemplative look.
"I shouldn't have taken things out on you." Harry said honestly. "I was just so… Merlin I can't even describe how I was feeling."
"How do you think I felt, Harry?" Estella asked, the pain and angst she had felt at the end of the previous school year coming back to her. "I felt as betrayed as you did, AND I knew I risked losing your friendship; and for a time there, I DID!"
"I'm sorry I pushed you away." Harry said remorsefully. "I didn't know what I was doing. It wasn't supposed to be something personal against you."
"Well you made it that way!" Estella scolded him. "Would you even be here now, doing this, if things hadn't turned out like they had? If my father was guilty?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Harry shrugged. "I didn't have any friends growing up…"
"What has that got to do with anything?" Estella stared at him incredulously.
"Well, just that I am not so quick at discarding friends." Harry said, grimacing when it didn't quite come out the way he wanted to.
"Well you could have fooled me!" Estella scoffed, referring to how she felt chewed up and spat out by the then-angry teenager. "You couldn't get rid of me quick enough!"
"But you don't understand!" Harry tried to defend himself. "I thought the whole reason we were friends was a lie. It was different! I acted foolishly, I admit. I probably would have stopped blaming you for things you had no control over eventually; but the fact is we were both wrong about things – your Dad is innocent – and as soon as I found that out I felt so bad." He paused to collect himself. "I couldn't help but feel it was my fault that he was ever kept away from you. If he didn't go after Peter that night… you… one of us would have had a parent. I thought you would be angry at me, so I may as well be angry at you. It was stupid."
"I admit, I blamed you for that a bit too." Estella sighed. "I turned you out when you tried to talk to me after that night. I don't know what I was doing – I so wanted to find out what happened after my Uncle took me out of there… but you hurt me Harry, and I…"
"I know, I'm sorry." Harry reiterated. "Forgive me?"
"Alright." Estella smiled slightly… having gotten to know Harry's parents, she felt all the more closer to the boy before her. She owed it to their memories to make amends with their son. "Forgiven."
They shared a awkward brother-sister like hug.
"So," Harry said, pulling away first. "What is it you were sorry about?"
Estella looked at him sadly. "Your parents." She said, her watery grey eyes shimmering like a turbulent sea on a winter's day.
"Tell me about them?" Harry asked, taking her hand and pulling her down to sit with him.
After Estella had answered Harry's seemingly endless list of questions, it was Estella's turn to inquire after the school's boy-of-the-moment. Harry, in turn, regaled her with stories of the Quidditch World Cup and how he had been going in the Tri-Wizard's Tournament. When the excited boy got to the topic of the Yule Ball, however, Estella grew pensive.
"Estella, what's wrong?" Harry asked, noticing the sad, far away look on the girl's face.
"The Yule Ball." Estella sighed. "We were at Hogsmeade getting last minute Christmas gifts and we were going to go try on dresses…"
"What happened?" Harry asked her in concern. He'd not even known she'd been back until Ginny had told him and he'd seen her for himself in the Great Hall; let alone how she had returned.
Estella then explained how she came to return to the future, specifically how unplanned it had been and what state she had been in when she had returned.
Harry swore.
"Harry!" Estella scolded him… her eyes softening when he shot her an apologetic look. "Bad choice of word, but I can't help but agree with the sentiment, though."
"Merlin!" Harry toned down his exclamation. "You're lucky to be alive!"
"Yeah, if it gets out, I'll become the 'girl-who-lived' – we'd be the perfect pair." She sniggered. "Only I got away before the curse hit, obviously."
"Wait, did you say my grandfather was a teacher?" Harry backtracked, the information finally hitting him.
"Well actually he was an Auror first… which of course made him a brilliant Defence teacher." Estella gushed. "Don't tell Remus, but I'd say Harry was better than him by far."
"Harry?" Harry's brows shot above his hairline.
"You have no idea how trippy it was calling him that!" Estella smiled wistfully at the memories. Though it still hurt to think of them, she didn't want to forget them at any cost. "Didn't you know your Grandfather's name was Henry? I reckon your parents would have named you that had he not liked Harry better! Hated people calling him Professor, he did. Though only me, Sirius and Remus were game enough to actually call him Harry in class. Your Dad called him 'Professor' just to stir him up." She paused. "They were a lot alike, those two."
"All I knew of my grandfather was that he was at my parent's wedding leaning on a cane." Harry sighed. "And that he wore glasses."
"He must have left his leg without a splint for too long." Estella mused, shaking her head. "I told him he should have splinted it straight away, but nooo he was too busy seeing after everyone else. He was a really great man, Harry. You would have really liked him."
The pair sat in a comfortable silence until Estella let out a shaky breath.
"I miss them." She said sadly. Harry reciprocated by pulling her into a hug.
"Some times I think I am lucky for not having any actual memory of my parents." He said sadly. "But I don't know what is worse, that or knowing what I am missing."
"Not knowing has its advantages." Estella admitted, thinking of how her perspectives on her Mother had changed in recent times. "I never knew my mother before, and now I at least got to meet her I feel like I've lost her for the first time." She looked at him intently. "It hurts to know they were all great people… your parents would have made such brilliant parents, Harry… and your Grandfather would have been so proud…" Her voice trailed off. "And me knowing my mother as a classmate doesn't compare to how she would have been as a mother." Her face hardened. "It makes me so angry, to know that was taken away from us."
"Yes, but we can't change it." Harry tried to explain to her. "You can't get mad like that, it will only eat you up inside."
"I could have changed it though! I could have told them everything!" Estella scolded herself.
"No." Harry shook his head vehemently. "They would not have believed you… and it would only have made things worse here. Think of all the other people that would have died if Voldemort hadn't been stopped that night!"
"I did think of that." Estella's eyes were downcast. "That's why I didn't say anything… but Harry, what if things could have been better if I had? What happens if Voldemort was going to fall soon anyway after that night? There's no reason why someone else couldn't have taken him down that night."
"I guess we'll never know now." Harry said sadly. "It was meant to happen this way. I don't like it anymore than you, believe me, but it's just the way things are."
"It's not fair." Estella scowled.
"I never said it was." Harry said, agreeing with her.
"You sound like my Dad." Estella smiled softly.
"Sirius? How is he?" Harry asked. "He does know you're back, doesn't he? Merlin Estella, he was going out of his brain when you were gone! No one knew if you were coming back or not!"
"Of course he knows I am back." Estella assured the boy, going on to tell him in detail what had happened when she returned.
"You flew?" Harry looked at her, surprised – and somewhat put out that he had been left at the school unawares. "A firebolt?"
"What, are you the only one allowed to have one?" Estella jibed him playfully. "But yeah, I was a bit apprehensive about starting out on such a internationally-classed broom; but it did save our lives in the end…" she broke off for dramatic effect before giving an abridged version of what happened at her family's country estate.
"Wait, you did magic outside of school?" Harry looked at her, confused. "Since when did you know how to advance brooms?"
"Oh boy…" Estella exclaimed exasperatedly, not unlike a certain Samuel Beckett in the television series Quantum Leap that she had gotten hooked on a few years previously when she as last at her godfather's over summer.
Broom adventures recounted and out of the way, Estella was wary to see the same excited glint in Harry's eyes that she had spied in her father's. She groaned.
"Oh no, not you too!" She threw her hands up in the air.
"What?" Harry asked innocently.
"Dad's already given me a list of names that he and James had come up with!" Estella rolled her eyes.
"My Dad made up names for brooms?" Harry asked abruptly, thirsty for information.
"Yes." Estella nodded, then looked at the sponge-like boy with a new light in her eyes. "You know what his favourite name was?"
"What?" Harry asked, feeling subconscious at how Estella was ogling his forehead as though she was suddenly awed by it.
"If he ever swindled a broom maker to name a broom in his honour…" Estella dragged it out for effect, enjoying how she made the excited teen squirm. "He was going to name it… oh Harry… he was going to name it The Lightning Bolt!"
"You're kidding me!" Harry reeled back in surprise, his hand instinctively flying to his scar, which he rubbed furiously.
"I kid you not!" Estella shook her head resolutely. "It only just occurred to me how freaky that is."
"I'll say." Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Wow."
An awed silence followed as the bewildered pair processed their respective input of new information.
"So…" Harry asked finally. "Are you going to do it? Are you going to help redevelop that broom for Cleansweep?"
"Maybe." Estella shrugged. "Dad said it'd be the least I could do for them after accepting their help back then. But I still have to figure out how I did it. I couldn't practice it anymore outside of the school after Malfoy tracked the magic."
"Well now you're at school." Harry said suggestively, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I am sure the Gryffindor Quidditch team won't mind you experimenting on their brooms."
Estella looked at Harry sharply. "Harry! No one must know! While being able to decipher curses or charms is something lots of people can pick up, people will ask how I knew the spells, Harry." She shook her head. "Those spells are not in any school textbooks, Harry. I am not supposed to know how to make brooms fly! You can't tell anyone!"
Appreciating the seriousness of the situation and the importance of keeping anything that could possibly associate Estella with the past secret, Harry agreed. It was bad enough to know that Voldemort knew where she had been – having the Ministry and everyone else know could lead to even worse things.
"I could try and make a few subtle amendments." Estella smiled malevolently, her Slytherin colours flying in clear view as she relented. "I would have to get Mr Ollerton's permission, of course, but I am sure he won't mind me testing a few things out in the interests of research."
"Wicked!" Harry grinned at her, all the talk of broomsticks driving him into another account of the Quidditch World Cup.
"You should see them… they are so much better than Muggle binoculars!" Harry gushed over the functions of the magical Omnioculars he'd discovered for the first time at the Cup.
"You really think so?" Estella shrugged. She didn't have the heart to tell the excited Gryffindor that she'd been using Omniculars for years. "I don't think they're much different from the instant replay screens at a Muggle football match. "You've never watched Muggle sport on telly?"
Harry shook his head. "The Dursleys don't let me watch much television."
"Good grief, Harry!" Estella shook her head. "My Dad's a pureblood wizard and even he can't get enough of Muggle sports! He doesn't quite understand the concept, mind, but he enjoys anything that keeps him occupied… you know, since he's couped up inside most of the time." She paused. "He's spewing he missed the World Cup, you know. He told me a bit about it – and all that what he had heard happened with the Dark Mark. Say… how good is your memory?" Harry just stared at her, not understanding where she was going with her sudden request. She rolled her eyes and explained further. "You remember the match pretty well, right?" Estella pressed, Harry nodded. "I have an idea. Meet me in the library tomorrow after classes. I have a free after Herbology, so I'll be there all afternoon."
"What have you got planned?" Harry eyed her carefully.
"Oh, nothing serious." She said, giggling giddily at her own pun. "I just thought you might like to help me write a special letter… I'll tell you more tomorrow." She yawned widely and rubbed her eyes. "But no offence, I'm too beat to go into it now."
Yawning contagiously, Harry pushed his glasses up his nose as he rubbed his own eyes wearily and looked at his watch. "Merlin, is that the time? We got to be up in a few hours! I'm so going to fall asleep in class!"
"So will I." Estella agreed, pulling herself onto her feet and shaking out the resilient pins and needles sensation that set her nerves on fire. "It's a good thing I have double History in the morning."
"If I could be so lucky." Harry groaned. "I have double Potions."
"Oh boy…" Estella gasped, mirroring her earlier sentiment.
Even after a restful nap in her double History of Magic class, Estella could not be prepared for the exhaustive exercise her double Potions class was to be like. And to think she had actually led herself to thinking that her Uncle would have exhausted his negative energies on Harry in the previous class.
"Miss Black." Her Uncle snapped at her before she'd even had a chance to set down her books and collect her independent study notes. Holding up a vial she recognised as her submitted potion from the day before, Estella eyed him curiously. "Care to explain the meaning of this?"
"I don't understand… sir." Estella frowned, moving a little closer to her Uncle's desk so that their conversation would not become a public spectacle… well, less of one anyway, since her Uncle seemed unwilling to lower his voice. "It's the potion you had me brew yesterday."
"This is not the potion I asked you to brew yesterday." Professor Snape glared at her, spittle dotting his chin. It was so much easier for her to think of her Uncle as 'Professor' when he was playing the role like this for it helped her to separate the actor before her with the man she knew was repressed inside.
"Oh?" Estella peered more closely at the vial.
"The potion I requested that you brew specifically required ingredients from my potions store, yet you did not ask me for any." The Potions Master went on. "So how is this the same potion?"
"I improvised, sir." Estella told him factually, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "I substituted the…"
"I know very well what you did, Miss Black." Professor Snape interrupted her with a condescending tone. "Five points from Ravenclaw for deviating from the prescribed instructions!"
"But the potion's just as effective!" Estella growled defensively at him, momentarily forgetting the dual roles that they were forced to play. She did, after all, did not take too lightly to being criticised for no reason. Had it been one of the man's Slytherins who had displayed such initiative, they would have had points awarded for innovation; not been punished in front of the whole class; and act or no act, she still had pride.
"You will desist with your protests, Miss Black." Severus gave her a warning look. "Or it will be ten points."
"Yes, sir." Estella huffed through gritted teeth. "May I have my instructions for today, sir?"
Severus wordlessly handed her a piece of parchment. "A potion the class did in October." He said for the benefit of all who was listening. Then, looking Estella directly in the eyes so that there could be no question, he added pointedly. "See to it that you follow the instructions to the letter."
"Yes, sir." Estella narrowed her eyes at the man and accepted the parchment. Halfway back to her desk, however, Estella faltered in her step as she looked over the instructions – there must be a mistake. To make the potion exactly how her Uncle had instructed on her piece of parchment would undoubtedly cause it to explode! What was he playing at? Had he been up late the night before and gotten it wrong? No, her Uncle was never wrong about such things – especially not such a relatively routine potion, this one actually on the third year syllabus – but surely he didn't want her to make a show of blowing up her cauldron! She'd never heard of something so ridiculous! No one would be able to buy that she, Estella Black, niece and live-in charge of one of Europe's most skilled of Potions Masters, would be able to botch a simple draught!
Then again, perhaps it was all part of his plan… had he anticipated her changing the directions of the previous day's potion; giving himself the window of opportunity to reprimand her and pointedly instruct her to follow today's instructions to the letter? Well, if he wanted to play the game this way, Estella had no choice but to go along. He'd better have some pretty good answers later though, because she could hardly see why things had to be done this way.
Begrudgingly, Estella diligently set to work on creating the doomed potion. Stepping back from her cauldron at the precise moment that it started to shake violently and bubble over, Estella shielded herself from the imminent blast of chunky fluid by casting a shield around herself. Predictably, her Uncle was upon her in an instant.
"Black," He hissed, looming over he desk. "I will not tolerate such disruptive attempts at getting my attention."
"I wasn't trying to get your attention, sir." Estella responded in low tones. "I can't help that accidents happen…"
"Accident?" Professor Snape leered, eying her clean form up and down. "Yet you could clearly see it coming."
"I made a mistake, all right?" Estella admitted grittily, knowing it was fruitless to point out his deliberate act of sabotaging her ingredients list. "But even I could see when it was about to explode!"
"If you had followed my instructions precisely, this would not have happened!" Professor Snape lamented. "Do you think you are too good for this class?"
"I don't think that, sir." Estella looked at him strangely.
"Yet you totally disregard my explicit instructions." He growled at her contemplatively. "Pack up your things, Black. Get out of my class."
"What?" Estella gawked at him in shock. Wherever she thought her Uncle was going with this, she didn't think it would lead to this.
"I will not teach students who insist upon undermining my authority." Severus gave her a pointed look, the slight shimmer of feeling in them betraying his outward features. "Now get out."
Estella stared open-mouthed at her Uncle in bewilderment. She didn't like things the way they were, sure, but she'd kind of got used to the idea of it; even starting to look forward to their misleading banter in class. Now he was kicking her out? When would she get to see him? When would she get to learn potions? The confused girl was halfway out of class when her Uncle called her back.
"Black. Come back here." Her Uncle intoned gruffly from his desk. Estella approached with a almost hopeful look in her eyes – could she stay?
"Take this letter to the Headmaster immediately." Was all he said, handing her a sealed piece of parchment. As his fingers deliberately brushed against her own, Estella jolted as though an electric current had just passed between them. But as soon as it had come between them, it was gone; and when Estella blinked her eyes back into focus, her Uncle was already pouring over his work, leaving her standing there, hand outstretched, like some idiot.
Spinning on her heels obstinately, Estella swept out of the room, her hands laden with her hastily cleaned potions equipment and a curious piece of parchment in her hand. When she reached the stone gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office, the eccentric old man was there, waiting for her.
"Ah, right on time I see, Miss Black." He said by way of greeting. "Come."
"He planned this, didn't he?" Estella whispered in awe as the staircase they were on spiralled up the tower to the headmaster's office. Remembering the parchment she had in her hand, she held it out to him. "He asked me to give you this."
"Oh no, child." The headmaster smiled at her sadly. "That letter is for you."
"What?" Estella blurted before it could sink in. "Oh…"
"It cannot leave this office, however." Professor Dumbledore explained as he gestured for her to take a seat. "I will leave you alone to your thoughts while you read it. Shall I fetch us some tea?"
"Um, thank you." Estella said distractedly, her fingers itching to see what her uncle could have had to write to her that it warranted such an elaborate delivery. "Yes please, I would love some tea."
The headmaster nodded serenely and disappeared into a side room off his main office. Alone in the room, Estella settled in the big comfortable chair in front of the headmaster's desk and tore open the seal impatiently.
'Dear Estella' The letter began in her Uncle's finest script… not many people were aware of it, but her Uncle truly did possess a beautiful hand when he applied himself. It was nothing like the impatient chicken scrawls that ran angrily like spontaneous streaks of blood over his student's essays.
'As I am sure by now your astute Ravenclaw mind has begun to appreciate the necessity of such precautions, I will not explain how this letter has come to be delivered this way.'
Estella snorted. "Duh." She muttered, reading on.
'I regret to inform you that you will no longer attend my Potions class with your peers.'
Estella gasped.
'The pressure on myself to extricate you from the school and have you held accountable for past events is insurmountable. I will not take the risk of giving Lucius cause to doubt my loyalties in the acknowledgement that to do so would put you at even greater risk. Nor will I continue to insult your intelligence and waste valuable class time with the required charades.'
Estella snorted… recognising her Uncle's veiled apology immediately.
'Therefore I have arranged with your headmaster and an old associate of mine for you to be privately tutored. You will be meeting him momentarily; and let me assure you I will be keeping a close eye on your progress.'
Estella's eyes widened. Who would her Uncle send for to tutor her?
'On the matter of our continued correspondence I propose that you compose a response within the Headmaster's office and leave it with him. Trust that I will then do the same. It is imperative that any evidence of our correspondence NEVER leaves the Headmaster's office. People are watching, Estella.'
Estella rolled her eyes… melodrama, much? Her eyes misted, however, when she saw her Uncle's parting words… which, judging by the shaky hand and change of ink, was what he had hastily added in the time that she was preparing to leave his class.
'I do love you, Estella.'
"Oh Uncle Sev!" Estella smiled sadly, comforted in the knowledge that her Uncle was evidently feeling the strain of their separation as much as she was.
"Lemon drop?" The Headmaster was sat across the table from her, holding out a small velvet pouch of his favourite sweets.
'When had he got back?' Estella wondered, tossing her head quickly to shake the thoughts in her mind as she politely declined the sour treat.
"Further to your Uncle's letter, there are several other directives that he wished to impart." Professor Dumbledore explained to her. "We're all out to preserve your safety."
"What do I have to do now." Estella groaned, leaning back in her chair heavily.
"Ah, I did anticipate that you would be somewhat displeased by the implementation of such special impositions." Dumbledore smiled at her knowingly, his blue eyes sparkling at something behind Estella. "Hence I have called upon an old friend to go over them with you."
Following her headmaster's line of sight, Estella turned around in her chair to come face to face with her father.
"Dad!" Estella cried out. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, nice to see you too, kiddo." Sirius said, looking affronted. "Why, I'm here to do my fatherly duties and set you in line."
"Oh?" Estella cocked a brow at her father… her father whose number one rule had predominantly been: "No rules."
"I'm serious, kiddo." Sirius reprimanded his daughter's blasé approach, cringing at the unintended pun.
"Yes, I know you're Sirius." Estella smirked… but her father wasn't laughing. "Oh, you really are, aren't you?"
"There are certain things even I won't kid about." Sirius said, his face radiating a intimidating strength that would have sent witches and wizards her father had confronted in his time as an Auror running. "One of them being your safety."
"Am I not safe at the school?" Estella asked, an almost hopeful lilt to her voice. "Do I have to come home?"
Sirius sighed. "It's not as safe here as it should be." He said. "But if you follow a few simple rules, you will be fine."
"Are you saying that I, as your daughter, have to follow the rules?" Estella asked incredulously. "You really must be serious."
"They aren't restrictive rules, don't worry." Sirius assured her, sitting next to her on the chair. "But I must insist that they be followed. You don't want to make your Uncle Remus any more greyer than he is."
"Just Uncle Remus?" Estella raised a brow, recognising her father's indirect way of expressing his worry for her.
"Padfoot too." Sirius admitted, meeting her eyes. "He's quite old in doggy-years you know. I don't think his heart could take the strain."
"What do I have to do?" Estella asked with as much sincerity as the occasion called for.
As it turned out, the directions imposed upon Estella were quite reasonable: No going outside after dark. No wandering around the corridors by herself. Don't pick up anything that could be a charmed Portkey. Stay away from the Slytherins and go directly to Dumbledore if she ever saw anything suspicious.
"What about Hogsmeade?" Estella asked hopefully. "Will I still be able to go?"
"So long as you stay in public places." Sirius said, at war with himself – part of him wanted to wrap his child up in cotton wool so tight that there would never be a risk to her; but the other part of him still wanted to have some semblance of a normal childhood; and that included Hogsmeade privileges. "No nostalgic trips down alleys."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Estella shuddered.
"Well that's settled then." Dumbledore clasped his hands together in delight. "Now, regarding your potions tuition… allow me to introduce an old friend… Sirius?"
"All right, I'm leaving." Sirius sighed regretfully, saying a brief farewell to his daughter before flooing away; not before assuring the child that he would see her again soon and that he would keep himself safe.
The Potions Master assigned to privately tutor her was none other than her Uncle's childhood Potions teacher – the one she too had studied under during her trip to the past. The extremely old man had retired after her Uncle had competently completed his apprenticeship, retaining a close confidence with his successor and offering his services as a third party mediator on select student's assessments – namely, hers. Given a Potion Master's propensity of recognising distinct brewing styles, the trusted man had been made privy to Estella's recent adventure; and he was notably excited to finally be able to explore and nurture the child's potential.
"I always had a feeling that you were holding back in my class, child." The authoritative man asserted.
"Well I couldn't very well let it be known that I was raised by a Potions Master at the time." Estella explained.
"Indeed." The old professor agreed, smiling at the child's chameleon like abilities. "A Slytherin one at that."
Estella smirked.
"Your Uncle has kept me closely informed on your progress over the years." He continued. "I daresay he is prouder of you than he cares to let on."
At this, Estella was shocked. For fear of giving his niece a 'head as big as a planet' her Uncle had been very sparing and aloof in dealing his praise; so the thought of him bragging about her to his esteemed predecessor was almost an unfathomable thought.
Seeing the look of disbelief on the child's face, the Potions Master shook his head. "I've known the man for over 30 years, he didn't have to say it."
A warm feeling flooded through Estella's heart – her Uncle was proud of her.
"So, about how this will work…" Estella questioned, the group then going into logistics about where and when she would have her private lessons.
As arranged, Estella was waiting for Harry in the library at the end of classes – after trailing along there with a group of peers, of course.
"You look like death, Harry." Estella eyed the sunken eyes of her newly reacquainted friend, feeling slightly guilty for keeping him up so late the night before.
"Oh, hello to you too." Harry yawned and took a seat besides Estella at the table. "Why were you in Dumbledore's office this afternoon? You, er, had some rather curious company."
Harry was evidently mindful of any eavesdropping ears.
"I cast a privacy bubble, Potter." Estella smirked at him. "You don't have to be so cryptic."
"OK, why were you there with him?" He asked, a little affronted at the prospect of being left out of something important. "What's happened? Did they find Pettigrew? Is his name cleared?"
"Oh, Harry." Estella gasped, seeing where Harry was coming from. "You would have been there too if it was anything like that." She paused. "Dumbledore just wanted to go over some rules with me and had Dad there to give them credibility."
"What rules?" Harry looked at her sharply.
"Oh just rules to ensure that I am kept safe and don't get nabbed or something." Estella said, frowning slightly. "Just stuff like 'don't wander the school alone' and 'be on your guard'." She grinned. "On second thoughts, I'm surprised you weren't called up to Dumbledore's office to hear it too! So what, you see it on the Map?"
"Ah yes, about that." Harry rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Do you want it?"
"What? You're offering me the map?" Estella stared at him in shock. "Why?"
"Well you have just as much of a claim to it as I do…" Harry said awkwardly, referring to who had made it.
"So? I know my way around the school better than you." Estella said, giving the matter some thought. "You keep it. I'm sure you'd let me borrow it if I needed it."
"Of course." Harry assured her, the look of relief on his face betraying his reluctance to part with it. "So, what did you want to meet me here for?"
"Well, there's this charm…" Estella began, going on to explain to him about a spell her Godfather had taught her that would enable a living memory to be concealed within a letter. "…so…" She continued. "What do you think? Would you mind sharing the memory of the match with him? It would be the biggest surprise for him!"
"Tell me what I have to do." Harry said agreeably, pulling out his wand.
Severus had night duty two nights of the week… Tuesday and Friday. On those nights he was explicably absent from his private rooms, likely to be found prowling the corridors at any point in the school. It was therefore the perfect opportunity to sneak into the Ravenclaw rooms to check on his niece.
With the assistance of a invisibility potion – a substance that while not overly difficult to brew was somewhat obscure in its knowledge and entirely unpredictable if not properly administered – Severus let himself into the Ravenclaw Common Room and stole his way down the hallway in the direction of his niece's dorm. One of the perils of using a invisibility potion, as opposed to a invisibility cloak, was that once ingested, one had to let the potion run its course. Many wizards had been maimed and killed by unsuspecting friends or family after said ally was unable to identify who was hiding amongst them. Many more wizards had met with a grisly end after a imbibed invisibility potion wore off whilst in the middle of a expedition into enemy territory. Thankfully, as a highly competent Potions Master, Severus was able to adequately anticipate the potion's effects and orchestrate his plan accordingly. He would have about 15 minutes to get in and out of the Ravenclaw rooms – he could not, by any circumstances, be seen leaving or entering their common room.
Creeping into the third year girl's dormitory, Severus made a beeline for his niece's dishevelled bed and drew the curtains closed, casting a privacy bubble for added peace of mind. Before he could reach down and pull the covers over his niece like he had done so habitually for the ten straight years she had resided with him, his niece's eyes flew open and her hand shot out, reflexively wrapping around his invisible wrist.
Ever since Estella had recovered from the physical injuries she sustained that day in the alley, the girl had become a very light sleeper – one who was always on her guard.
"Who is there?" Estella asked, fear lacing her tone as her other hand shot out from under her pillow blindly stabbing her wand in the air. "Lumos."
It both pained and prided Severus to see his niece be so observant and cautious of her surroundings. He was pained because such vigilance marked an end to her innocence – no child should have to fear being taken in the night – but it prided him to know that she could handle herself.
"Uncle Sev, what are you doing here?" She asked finally, lowering her wand, but not relinquishing the grip on his wrist.
"How did you know it was me?" Severus asked, genuinely curious.
"Who else could get in here, using a invisibility potion?" Estella said analytically. "The rooms are well protected, and if you were someone with ill intent you would have stunned me before casting that privacy charm… which my Lumos is reflecting off of, by the way."
"You weren't supposed to wake up." Severus said lowly. "Since when do you sleep with a wand under your pillow?"
"Do I even have to answer that?" Estella shook her head, blinking with frustration when she could see no traces of her Uncle's presence. "I feel like I am going crazy, sitting here talking to myself!"
"Well go back to sleep, I cannot stay anyway." Her Uncle intoned his invisible hand gently pulling the blankets over her. "The potion will wear off momentarily and I intend to be away from this part of the school by then."
"You're even more paranoid than Moody, you know that, don't you?" Estella yawned sleepily, indulging her Uncle his desire to tuck her in; her heart warmed by the subtle gesture. "I'd say it was good to see you, but, well, I can't."
"Good night, Estella." Her Uncle said lightly. If she could see him, she would have been surprised by the smile that he had on his face. How he had missed tucking her in at night – even before she started Hogwarts and started staying over with her Godfather, she had increasingly 'outgrown' their nightly routine in the pursuit for independence.
"I love you too, Uncle Sev." The child called after him as he made to remove the privacy charm and pull aside the child's curtains once more.
He said nothing. He didn't have to say the words.
And so it came to be, like clockwork, that her Uncle would visit her in the night, twice a week. As the weeks wore on, however, Estella grew increasingly impatient with the situation; the girl longing to see his face and have a proper conversation with the man… one as they sat in the more conventional climate of the potions lab, brewing potions together, or as they sat in his teaching quarters, curled up in their respective armchairs in front of the fire.
After his lone attempt at expressing himself in that letter she had first received all those weeks ago, the man's covert letters to her since had mainly inquired after her classes and reminded her to be on her guard. She was sick of having to write her letters to him in a confined period of time, unable to write in the privacy of her room or some other place that wasn't the headmaster's desk. She suspected, that her Uncle, just like she, was inwardly sceptical of the integrity of their correspondence. It wasn't that they didn't trust the Headmaster not to read their letters… well all right, maybe they didn't trust him… but it was definitely hard to write the things one wanted to write when under the watchful supervision of the old, meddlesome man.
"There's a vial of invisibility potion in my drawer." Estella said in greeting as she sensed the privacy charm go around her bed like clockwork.
"Estella, you should be asleep." Her Uncle's voice chastised her lightly. "No wonder you've been dozing off in class."
"You've been checking up on me!" Estella narrowed her eyes in the direction of her Uncle's voice.
"I have been keeping a keen eye on your progress, as I always have." Her Uncle revealed to her. "It is pleasing to see your Transfiguration average improve."
"Yeah, well Professor McGonagall knows Dad's innocent now, doesn't she?" Estella snorted. "She's actually been teaching me this year."
"I trust you have been behaving in class." Severus stated.
"Uncle Sev, save it for the letters." Estella sighed. "Can't we use this time to talk about something different?"
"Estella…" her Uncle faltered. "I don't come here to talk to you." He paused, and Estella could feel his weight sink into the side of her bed as he sat down. "As much as it is a inconvenience for us to be apart like this, I do not care to disrupt your sleep."
"But…" Estella pleaded.
"No. No buts." Severus warned his niece. "If I find you awake and waiting for me when I come on Friday it will be the last time I come to check on you."
"Goodnight, Uncle Sev." Estella said huffily, rolling over in her bed. She could tell from the tone of her Uncle's voice that he was serious.
A lingering touch to her shoulder and then her Uncle was gone, the tall man rising from her bed and wordlessly seeing to his exit.
"Uncle Sev?" Estella called out into the darkness, alerted only to her Uncle's continued presence when she heard him exhale softly. "Thank you for coming. I'll be asleep next time, I promise."
"Good night Estella." Her Uncle said in acknowledgement, his next action of opening her curtains signifying to her that the privacy charm was down and that no more words will be spoken.
"So, I am going to sneak into the Prefect's bathroom tonight and see if Cedric's hint will help solve the riddle." Harry explained to her later in that week. "You want to come?"
"You want to bathe with me?" Estella teased. "I think we're a bit old for that, don't you?"
Harry blushed. "No, I, er, thought you could keep watch or something." He muttered, blushing when she gave him a look. "I didn't mean it that way, Merlin you're perverted."
"Harry, I'm only teasing you." She said, grinning victoriously. "I'd love to come, only I promised my Dad I'd not wander around by myself."
"So, I will come pick you up then… we'll go together, under my cloak." He said. "You can even hex Mrs Norris if we see her."
"Oh, so like a real date then." Estella said, straight faced, her resolve only cracking when she saw the horrified look on Harry's face. "Joking… again!" She assured him, ribbing him playfully. "Really, though… why do you want me to come with?"
Harry suddenly found his toes extremely interesting. "I thought it would be something cool that the two of us could share between us, you know, as friends." He explained. "Like I haven't really listened to your advice about things in the past… like brewing the Polyjuice being such a waste of time like it was." He paused. "I could really use your advice on this one."
"Well that's just typical." Estella shook her head. "The one time you show you're open to my ideas, I am not allowed to help you. Harry, you're supposed to solve the task clues by yourself."
"I know… I'm not asking for your help, just your moral support."
"Why, do you have a mortal fear of water or something?" Estella smirked.
"Estella, it's a Prefect's tub, not a ocean." Harry sighed exasperatedly. "Be serious."
"I can't be Sirius, that would just be, wrong." Estella giggled the last of her silliness out of her system. "Alright, what the heck, I'm feeling decidedly Gryffindorkish today so I'll say yes."
"Hey!" Harry hit her lightly on the arm in protest. "I'll tell your father that you were ragging out his house!"
"Well alright, and I am sure he'd love to hear how his godson is luring his daughter out into the hallways at night."
Harry paled… if there was one thing he'd known from the short amount of time he'd spend with his Godfather, it was how he took his daughter's safety very seriously.
"I'll meet you outside your common room at 11." He said. "Don't wait out in the hallway by yourself."
"Oh, yes Dad." Estella rolled her eyes, the date and time of the new generation of marauder's first adventure now set.
The visit to the Prefect's bathroom had proved very productive for Harry. True to what Cedric had hinted, the Egg's song was much more understandable in there. It did, of course, take prompting from Estella to try and listen to it under the water.
"You'll need to put your head under, too." Estella yawned, shaking the awful ringing noise from the egg's wailing pitch as it previously had echoed off the room's stone walls.
Harry scowled at her defensively, but took a deep breath and submerged himself under the water's surface. From her perspective where she sat at the edge of the bath, Estella could hear the garbled noises of the obstinately loud egg, but could not make out any words. Moments later, a breathless Harry pulled his head out of the water.
"Hear it?" She asked him patiently.
"Yeah…'Come seek us where our voices sound…' and if I need persuading… hang on, I need to listen again…" Harry replied, not waiting for a response before ducking back under the water again.
A few more renditions later, and Harry had successfully memorised and recited the Egg's song to Estella.
Come seek us where are voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour – the prospect's black
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.
"I've got to go and look for people who can't use their voices above the ground…" Harry said slowly. "Er… who could that be?"
"Slow, aren't you?" Estella smirked, her eyes darting directly to the portrait of the slumbering mermaid.
Following Estella's gaze, the task became suddenly clear to him. "That's it, isn't it?" said Harry excitedly. "The second task's to go and find the Merpeople in the lake and… and…"
Harry's voice trailed off, and the look of excitement on his face was overcome with a look of terror. Estella watched this change in her friend with curiosity.
"Harry, what's wrong?" Estella frowned.
"How am I supposed to breathe?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Um, Harry… magical world at our disposal." Estella gestured around them blindly. "I'm sure you can think of something."
"You know how, don't you?" Harry looked at her accusatorily.
"What do you suppose they're going to take?" Estella asked suddenly, swiftly changing the subject while Harry climbed out of the tub and spelled his boxers dry, pulling on his pyjamas when he was done. "D'you really think they'd not give it back if you failed the task?"
"I don't know." Harry gulped. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"What the heck?" Estella asked, her eyes flitting over the Marauder's Map in alarm as the pair made their way slowly back to their dorms under the cover of the restrictive invisibility cloak. "Harry, look!"
Harry followed Estella's finger to where it stabbed furiously at the spot on the map that depicted her Uncle's office. "What is Bartemius Crouch doing in my Uncle's office at 1am! Where is my Uncle?"
Shrugging, Harry, gestured silently in the direction of the dungeons and the pair set off to investigate.
They were halfway down a flight of stairs, however, when disaster struck. Harry's foot caught in the trick step, and he dropped the egg, sending it rolling down the stairs with thunderous thuds until it hit the wall opposite and burst into its inauspiciously loud song. Then, somewhere in the haste, Estella dropped the map; and before they could even go into damage control, a unmistakeable war cry broke out.
"PEEVES!" Argus Filch hurried into the scene of the crime, expecting to see his arch nemesis, the poltergeist, but finding nothing. Trapped by the confines of the invisibility cloak and the trick step that had a hold of Harry's foot, Estella and Harry could only watch on in abstract horror as the activated map fluttered innocently on the step below them, just out of reach; the names 'Estella Black' and 'Harry Potter' revealing their location to all who cared to look.
"Egg?" Filch said quietly, picking up the Champion's clue and closing it, stopping its song. "This is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school champion! Peeves, you've been stealing!"
Filch ripped back the tapestry below, and the two children saw his horrible pouchy face, and bulging, pale eyes staring blindly at the seemingly empty staircase.
"Hiding, are you?" he said softly. "I'm coming to get you, Peeves… you've gone and stolen a Triwizard clue, Peeves… Dumbledore'll have you out of here for this, you filthy pilfering poltergeist…"
To their continued dismay, Filch then began to climb the stairs, headed straight for them, his scrawny, dust-coloured cat at his heels. Mrs Norris' lamp-like eyes, so very like her master's, were fixed directly on the concealed children. While Harry pondered if cats were able to see through invisibility cloaks, Estella's eyes flashed as she pulled out her wand. Years of cavorting around the school under the protective jurisdiction of her Uncle, Estella had no reason to fear the grotesque caretaker and his feral cat; even if he were to catch them then and there, much like he was oh so close to doing.
"Filch? What's going on?"
Filch stopped a few steps short of the pair and turned around. At the foot of the stairs stood the only person who could make their situation worse – Snape. He was wearing a long grey nightshirt and he looked livid.
Estella was suddenly assaulted with the image of two sniffer dogs out on a hunt, and she had to stifle a giggle. Biting onto her fist, tears welled up in her eyes as her body wracked uncontrollably with mirth. Her Uncle would no doubt go absolutely spare if he found her out after dark – never mind that she was with Harry and what he would undoubtedly do to him – but she couldn't help but find the situation extremely funny. Perhaps it was the nerves of her pending doom that was causing it, Estella didn't know, but the sight of her uncle looking like he had just woken up and Filch being his comic book villain self and then Harry desperately trying to jerk his leg free, it was all too much. Behind her, Harry couldn't understand her humour, and as he wouldn't dare to even breathe at that moment of his imminent torture, he settled for pinching her back to her senses.
"It's Peeves, Professor." They could hear Filch whisper malevolently. "He threw this egg down the stairs."
Snape climbed the stairs quickly and stopped beside Filch. Behind her, Estella could hear Harry gritting his teeth, fearing the moment where, any minute now, either men would take a few extra steps up and bump into them. Estella, meanwhile, was biting her fist so hard she almost drew blood… for Merlin, how her father would laugh at the irony. Sure, he'd probably be mad that she was 'endangering' herself out of bed, but he'd admit that she'd found a loophole in his rules (by making sure she wasn't alone in the hallway) and find the situation as funny.
"Peeves?" said Snape softly, staring at the egg in Filch's hands. "But Peeves couldn't get into my office…"
"This egg was in your office, Professor?"
"Of course not," Snape snapped, "I heard banging and wailing…"
"Yes, Professor, that was the egg –"
"-I was coming to investigate –"
"-Peeves threw it, Professor –"
"-and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it!"
Estella stopped trembling in silent laughter and paled… her uncle's office had been broken into? Crouch had been in there without permission! Abandoning all cause for concealment, Estella made a move to reveal herself and tell her uncle who had been in his office. She was sure he would overlook their transgression if it meant recovering something of his that had been stolen or locating the intruder the man seemed intent on enlisting Filch's help in capturing. He did not seem too pleased at the prospect of having his private office infiltrated. Anticipating her movement, however, Harry placed a stabilising, warning hand on her shoulder, holding her back. Out of respect for the Gryffindor – who would most definitely face her uncle's wrath no matter which side of the coin the galleon fell, she kept mum.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
All eyes were averted to the approaching form of Professor Moody, whose wooden leg undeniably revealed his identity as he approached, leaning on his staff; his weathered old travel cloak thrown on over his nightshirt.
"Pyjama party, is it?" he growled up the stairs.
"Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor," said Filch at once. "Peeves, the poltergeist, throwing things around as usual – and then Professor Snape discovered that someone had broken into his off-"
"Shut up!" Snape hissed to Filch, cutting the man off.
Professor Moody took a step closer to the foot of the stairs. Estella saw the man's magical eye travel over her uncle and the caretaker in turn before it, unmistakably, landed on them; causing his mouth to fall open in silent surprise and his one good eye to narrow questioningly. Both girl and boy under the cloak shivered.
"Did I hear that correctly, Snape?" The all-seeing Professor asked slowly. "Someone broke into your office?"
"It's unimportant." Snape said coolly.
"On the contrary," growled the old Auror, "it is very important. Who'd want to break into your office? Not hiding anything in there, are you?"
"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody." Estella could barely hear her uncle's response for he was speaking so softly, in a dangerous tone she had long since learnt not to associate herself with. "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."
Now that was news to Estella. Why would an Auror be searching her uncle's office?
"Auror's privilege, Snape." Professor Moody's face twisted into a smile. "Dumbledore told me to keep an eye –"
"Dumbledore happens to trust me," said Snape, through clenched teeth. Unbeknownst the persecuted Potions Master, his niece was but a few feet away glaring at the paranoid Defence teacher before them, gritting her own teeth in derision.
"Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me – I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"
When Estella then saw her uncle convulsively grip his left forearm, a pained look on his face, Harry had to physically hold her back from hexing off the man's remaining leg. The said man having the audacity to laugh at her uncle's self consciousness and tell him to go to bed.
"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Estella's uncle hissed, letting go of his arm defiantly. Inwardly, Estella knew he was referring to more than just the man's right to pack him off to bed. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do."
"Prowl away," said Moody, but his voice was still menacing. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor some time… you've dropped something, by the way…"
Estella gasped at the veiled threat aimed at her Uncle, then withered sickeningly when she realised that the malevolent old man had turned her uncle's attention towards the Marauder's Map, making their discovery imminent. She gripped her wand compulsively – not to hex her Uncle who was steadfastly approaching, but to curse the hell out of the scheming defence teacher who was, at this moment, eying them carefully with his magical eye. Harry, meanwhile, was beside himself as they could see the comprehension dawn on the formidable Potions Master's face… he'd recognised the map.
Apparently, however, it seems Moody changed his mind about having the pair discovered, for he summoned the parchment to himself before Estella's uncle could get a proper grip on it and claimed it as his own, covering for them solicitously. He uncle, however, was not falling for it; his beady black eyes darting from the egg in Filch's hands, to the map in Moody's hand; his mind reaching its own conclusion.
"Potter." He said quietly, his tone full of spite. Unable to help herself, Estella was again struck down with a case of the sillies, her hand flying to her mouth once more to stop her laughter.
"Potter!" He snarled again, more convinced this time. "That egg is Potter's egg. That piece of parchment belongs to Potter. I have seen it before. I recognise it! Potter is here! Potter, in his Invisibility Cloak!"
The sight of her uncle then, stretching his hands out like a blind man, making his way up the stairs towards them, his face a mask of furious determination; was too much for Estella. Tears of silent laughter rolling down her cheeks, she didn't know if she was deliriously happy or obscenely frightened into turning it into a funny situation in order to survive it; but when she saw her uncle's nostrils flaring – actively sniffing them out just like her previous image had depicted – Harry had to clap his hand over her mouth and grab her around the waist to stop her falling forward and into the man in her mirth.
Eventually, Moody convinced Snape and Filch to leave, leaving the egg and map with him respectively. Once the echoing footsteps of the departing staff were no longer audible, Estella threw off the hot and stuffy Invisibility Cloak and yanked Harry out of his trick step, her face a mask of controlled fury, aimed at the ex-Auror who dare antagonise her uncle.
"Close shave, Potter… Black." Professor Moody regarded them closely, Estella in particular.
"Yes, well, we probably would have been right if someone hadn't alerted Professor Snape's attention to our location."
"Yes, yes. What is this thing?" Professor Moody asked, pulling out the Marauder's Map from his pocket and unfolding it. Swiftly, Estella had her wand drawn and had touched the map lightly, muttering the incantation to conceal it's contents from view.
"Ma…" Harry began, but Estella drowned him out.
"Mine." She said, holding her hand out for the map and giving Harry a reproachful look.
"Professor Snape seemed to think it belonged to Harry here." Professor Moody looked at her sternly, his magical eye trying to discern any information from the unyielding piece of parchment. "There's magic imbued in this parchment alright…"
"I didn't say there wasn't." Estella said haughtily. "With all due respect, Professor, it's not your concern."
"Estella!" Harry gaped at Estella openly, astonished at her subordination. "It's just a map, sir. Of the school."
"You didn't happen, by any chance, to see who broke into Snape's office, did you?"
"No-" Estella shook her head
"Yes." Harry said at the same time, ignoring the daggers Estella was giving him. "It was Mr Crouch."
"Crouch." He said, giving Estella a pointed look with his magical eye as though to reprimand her deceit. "That's very interesting."
"Why d'you reckon Mr Crouch wanted to look around Snape's office?" Harry asked shyly. Despite her anger at the boy for being so damn Gryffindor-ishly trusting, Estella's ears pricked up… her own curiosity piqued.
"Put it this way," Moody muttered after considering the question pensively, "they say old Mad-Eye's obsessed with catching Dark wizards… but Mad-Eye's nothing – nothing – compared to Barty Crouch."
Estella paled, an unbidden, fiercely loyal part of her wanted to leap to her uncle's defence and rip the man to pieces; but she held back, not knowing how much she was supposed to know about her uncle's past; let alone how much she was supposed to be seen to agree or disagree with it.
"Odd stuff's been happening lately, hasn't it?" Harry mused aloud. "The Dark Mark at the World Cup and the Death Eaters and everything…"
"Crouch could be thinking along those lines." The Professor said knowingly, his magical eye drifting to Estella. "There have been some funny rumours flying around lately. It's making a lot of people nervous, I reckon." A grim smile twisted in his lop-sided mouth as he looked directly at Estella, the defiant girl matching his intense stare with one of her own. "Oh, if there's one thing I hate," he muttered, trying to bait Estella, "it's a Death Eater who walked free… do you mind if I borrow this Map, Harry?"
Caught of guard, and extremely grateful for the Professor's help in concealing their presence earlier, the foolish Gryffindor agreed; his mind and eyes far too preoccupied trying to suss out what his well-versed Defence teacher had meant by all the references to Dark Wizards and Death Eaters whilst he had been looking at Estella. Was the man having a subtle dig at his Godfather, whom the wider Wizarding World at large still believed to be guilty, or was there something more to it than that?
Estella, meanwhile, was livid. Short of physically tackling it from her Professor and getting herself into worlds of trouble, she could not really protest. Perhaps it was just paranoia and suspicion fuelled by the man's thinly veiled comments about her Uncle's past that simply had her rubbed up the wrong way; but Estella couldn't shake the feeling of dread in her soul… the feeling of foreboding that suggested that the new guardian of the Marauder's Map really would be 'up to no good' with it. Even though they had not told the man the passwords for the Map, that the man now knew what it was, it was only a matter of time before he would crack it – that's if his magical eye didn't see its secrets already.
Once the unpredictable teacher had made his leave and the two students were left alone in the hallway, along which they were headed back to their respective dormitories, Estella let her god-brother have it. Shirking him off as he moved to cover her with half of the invisibility cloak, Estella stepped away.
"If you think I want to be in close quarters with you after what you just did, you have another thing coming!" Estella growled at him. "How could you tell him everything like that? How can you trust him so blindly? He's up to something, Harry, I just know it."
"Estella, it's Mad-Eye Moody! He's always up to something!" Harry sighed exasperatedly.
"What if my father is summoned to the school for another meeting with Dumbledore, huh?" Estella scolded him. "Moody will see him on the map, you daft Gryffindork! You didn't think of that, did you?"
"Oh, shite." Harry cursed, running a hand through his hair irritably. "I didn't think of that."
"That's right, Potter. You didn't think." Estella snapped, sounding altogether like a certain Potions Master. "Merlin you're just as infuriating as James sometimes, you know that? But by Merlin, neither Prongs, Moony or Padfoot would ever willingly have loaned a teacher their Map! Harry, aargh!"
"I'm sorry, all right!" Harry apologised, trotting to keep up with the girl as she stormed off. "You said I could have it… I didn't think that meant I had to consult you on what I wanted to do with it! Had I known it would have upset you so much I wouldn't have done it."
"Don't worry about it, Potter, it's done now, isn't it?" Estella sighed. "I hope for our sakes that I'm wrong on this, but something just tells me you made a big mistake."
"I'll get it back, alright? Come on, Estella, get back under the Invisibility Cloak, I will walk you back to your room… come on, before Filch comes and finds us." Harry pleaded with her desperately.
"Well yes, I guess we won't be able to see him coming, now, will we?" Estella said scathingly. "You go run back to your common room under your Cloak, Harry. I've been around this school long enough to get around without getting caught."
"But you can't be around the school by yourself… your Dad said…" Harry stammered.
"Oh, so now you're worried about the rules." Estella smirked, the extent of their conversation almost bringing them flush with the entrance of the Ravenclaw rooms anyway. "That's rich."
"Merlin, Estella… is it that time of the month or something?" Harry cried out, exasperated by her mood. He was promptly rewarded for his troubles by a light slap to his arm.
"I'll pretend you didn't say that, Harry." Estella admonished him tiredly. "Goodnight, Potter. Good luck with the riddle."
"Yeah… whatever. Goodnight." Harry replied distractedly, disappearing under his cloak once he had seen Estella enter her Common Room safely.
The next morning when Estella awoke, surprisingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, her nocturnal grumbling at Harry was all but forgotten. So what, the infuriatingly rash Gryffindor had leant the map their father's had made to a teacher… it was not the end of the world. Said teacher could have had them strung up by the thumbs in Filch's office, but didn't; and Estella began to wonder that, maybe, just maybe, Prongs and Padfoot would have done the same thing. Course they probably would have been devising ways to steal it back come breakfast, but it was not in the Marauder's Code to let a good deed go unacknowledged; and she could not deny that Moody had helped them – even if it was just by keeping his mouth shut. Just to be sure, though, Estella woke up early and sent her father a letter detailing the night's adventure (for despite his initial concern for her, she knew he'd relish in knowledge that the new generation of Marauders were carrying on with the legacy), making sure to point out that she didn't break her promise to 'not be alone' in the school or 'go outside after dark'; so that he wouldn't get mad. But even if he did get angry at her, Estella knew that it would only be because he cared, and that he wouldn't be able to stay that way for too long. For one, he'd be laughing too hard at the sight of all those feared Hogwarts staffers in their pyjamas, just as she had been. Merlin, she knew she really ought not to encourage her father in poking fun at her Uncle, but well, she was sure if her Uncle could see himself and how he was screaming after Harry like a bloodhound on heat, he'd probably find it funny too – he would never admit it, of course, but how could you not find that performance hilarious?
Bouncing into the Great Hall with Reg and John before the main breakfast had even began, Estella occupied herself listening to her walkman as she waited for the food to come out. Despite the fact that she had barely any sleep the night before, Estella felt absolutely wired, and could not help but to dance along down the aisles between tables and play drums on the bench top. While Reg and John had become accustomed to their exuberant housemate's candour that morning and nonchalantly went about their game of exploding snap, two curious black eyes observed her silently from the head table.
Seeing his niece look so happy gave Severus great, hidden, joy. That she appeared to have overcome the adversity that was keeping them apart and finding happiness with him necessarily out of her life, however, filled the paranoid Slytherin with a self-loathing sense of foreboding. Was his niece really happier without him? He couldn't think of a time he'd seen her that chirpy whilst in his exclusive company. His heart sighed.
Little did he know that he was one of the reasons for Estella's present mood…
"Hey, Harry!" Estella called out suddenly, waving over at the notorious boy-who-lived as he sleepily dragged his feet into the Great Hall with Hermione Granger by her side. Severus could only watch as the boy-he-loathed strutted over to his niece's table, the infuriatingly know-all Granger following.
"Here, listen to this!" Estella offered something to Harry – Severus couldn't quite see – but then realised what it was when the boy foolishly pulled it out of its socket. She had just offered him a headphone from her Muggle music box.
"Oh, this is never going to work." His niece shook her head and pulled out her wand, pointing it at the small device he was more intimately familiar with. "Sonorus."
Music was suddenly emanating from the Ravenclaw table, and Severus was remotely thankful that the child hadn't thought to exploit that particular spell on her Muggle headset while they had been co-habiting.
"Now, listen!" Severus could hear his niece urge the pair of Gryffindors, the dark-haired one in particular. Curious, Severus pricked his own ears.
I heard you crying loud
All the way across town
You've been searching for
that someone and it's me
out on the prowl… (1)
Severus could not hear anymore on account of the alarmed Gryffindor male lunging forward and switching the Muggle walkman off. The wheels in his mind turning, the cogs came into alignment when his eyes crossed paths with the amused look on his niece's face. Searching out Potter's face for any sign of confirmation, the wry Slytherin Housemaster's eyes narrowed into thin slits when he noted that the bespectacled boy was making a point not to look in his direction. But, just as soon as the tension was there, it was gone; and as Estella's Ravenclaw friends began talking to the group, Severus lost interest and returned to his coffee.
Meanwhile, down at the Ravenclaw table, Harry was turning deep shades of red.
"Estella!" He said, trying to avoid his Potions Master's gaze.
"Oh, so it reminded you too, then?" Estella smirked, giving her Uncle a furtive look.
"Reminded you of what, Harry?" Hermione asked, curious.
"Uh, nothing." Both Estella and Harry assured her.
"Just the noise the egg makes." Estella clarified when she could see the unyielding determination on the bushy-haired girl's face.
"Oh, yeah, Estella and I solved it, by the way." Harry said proudly. "It's a riddle."
"Really?" Hermione asked surprisedly, making a note to ask her friend when he and the Ravenclaw had chance to work on the clue together.
That night when Severus went to check up on his niece whilst doing his rounds, the cluey Slytherin had wanted to question the child about that morning's performance – but of course he had insisted to the child upon his last visit that the girl needed to be asleep this time. Of course, she probably planned it that way… sneaky little niece of a Slytherin that she was.
Smirking lightly under the veil of invisibility, Severus pulled the curtain of his niece's bed aside and stepped into the privacy bubble he had erected. Making note of the deep, even tone of his niece's breathing, Severus leant over and brushed his ghostly lips on his niece's brow, relishing the act of tucking her in once more. Unbeknownst to his niece, while they lived together, he'd never gone a night without checking on her before he turned in. How he missed the simplicity of things back then… where there wasn't things like school and fathers and politics to keep them apart. All that time he had Estella to himself where he had ample opportunity to be himself, but didn't; and Severus was regretful. But, witnessing the child's dreamy smile at his presence; it assured the hardened man that he hadn't pushed her away entirely.
With one lingering look at his niece's peacefully resting form, Severus turned away only when he could feel the tingling sensation of the potion wearing off. Before he could step outside the privacy bubble, however, the keenly eared man heard something that made his blood freeze.
"Proooowwwwlll away." His niece's voice cut through the silence like a wand through a potion; the subsequent snort quickly turning into a snore as the child 'slumbered' on. Giving the child another careful look, all the pieces of the puzzle that had been bothering him ever since the events of the night previously fell into place. Estella had been out with Potter that night… and sure enough he was, at that moment, powerless to do anything about it – the potion was wearing off. Sweeping from the room indignantly, Severus' mind lingered on his niece's happiness. Yes… he decided. He would let her have this one. This once.
"Oh for goodness sake!" Estella shook her head in bemusement as she came across the Gryffindor trio buried in books the night before the second task. "Don't tell me you still haven't found a solution?"
"Either help or shut up." Ron grumbled snappishly, the days of fruitless searching taking its toll. Feeling three sets of eyes glaring at him, he sobered slightly. "Sorry. Stress."
"Clearly." Estella smirked and sat down breezily next to Harry. "So, no luck then?"
"No, we found the answer a week ago, we just discovered how fun spending every waking minute in a library could be." Harry drawled sarcastically.
"Oh, so you're a bunch of misplaced Ravens then, are you?" Estella continued smirking. "well you're not doing a very good job of it, guys. Real Ravenclaws know where to look."
Hermione tore her bloodshot eyes from where they were poised barely an inch above an open copy of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes and regarded her with a withering glare, the normally so efficient girl feeling obviously affronted at the Library's failure to provide her with the answer she sought.
"I know what I should have done," said Harry, resting, face down, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. "I should've learnt to be an Animagus like Sirius."
"Well then you're definitely reading the wrong book." Estella shook her head, nudging his head aside with her hand so she could inspect the book's title. "And working with the wrong timeframe."
Three heads thudded against the desk in frustration as the three Gryffindors groaned. As if they needed to be reminded of how little time they had left.
Smiling broadly now, Estella lifted Harry's heavy head so that he was sitting up straight again and looking at her with a look of annoyance.
"You know what I would have done?" Estella asked lightly, a sing-song quality to her voice.
"Oh well fine, be like then." Estella said, pulling away slightly and making to pick up her books and leave. "I won't tell you then that I owled Dad over a week ago and had him send some Gillyweed from my private stores and that Aquila should be back with it either tonight or tomorrow."
"Gillyweed?" Harry made a face. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"Don't you guys pay any attention in Potions?" She asked incredulously. Taking in their blank looks, she sighed. "Evidently you don't listen in Herbology either."
"What's Gillyweed?" Ron asked confusedly, inwardly correlating the name's similarities with 'Ginny Weasley' and filing it away for later reference.
"It's an aquatic plant, dunderheads." Estella imitated her Uncle in a uncannily accurate fashion. "Harry, it will help you breathe underwater."
"Yes, but Estella… even if your owl returns with it tonight, that's hardly enough time to brew the potion…" Hermione gestured her hands wildly at the clock.
"Yes, but Hermione…" Estella mocked the know-not-quite-all Gryffindor good naturedly. "With all due respect I never said anything about brewing any sort of potion."
"What?" Harry and Ron looked at her impatiently.
"Gillyweed's magical properties are potent enough." Estella explained to them, rolling her eyes and wondering just what her Uncle spends his time teaching them. "Harry, all you have to do eat it… and it will help you."
"Really?" Harry asked, not wanting to believe it had all been that simple. Estella nodded. "Gee, Estella… you could have told me that I didn't have to go through all this stress!"
"But where would be the learning in that?" Estella scolded him lightly, rising from her chair to leave. "The school champions ARE supposed to be working independently, you know."
Hermione nodded with agreement. "Estella's right. Accepting our help Harry should only be counted as a last resort." She said… eying the clock. "And I'd say this figures as a last resort."
"Still…" Ron grumbled, rising from his seat and stretching wearily. "Could have ruddy well have been doing other stuff instead of…"
"Ah, just the two people we had been looking for." The Weasley twins appeared from behind a bookshelf, equal smiles of victory on their faces.
"Who, me and Estella?" Harry asked, mindful of Sirius' situation and misinterpreting the looks that the twins were giving them, well Estella.
"Nope, nice try though." Fred smirked.
"Merlin Harry, not everything revolves around you." George smiled mischievously.
"Then what are you here for?" Ron muttered, not in the mood for his brother's antics when his stomach was making enough racket to rival one of those Muggle mechanical birds that his father had always wanted to fly on.
"McGonagall wants to see the girls." Fred answered, looking at Estella and Hermione in turn.
"Mighty good stroke of luck that we found you both in the same place, it is." George said, relieved.
"We tried telling her that we didn't know where to find the young Miss Black." Fred lamented, hand dramatically held at his forehead, palm out.
"But she didn't listen!" George added, pledging his hand over his heart.
"She wouldn't listen." Fred continued, following suit.
"We tried to tell her, that we did." George rounded off their poetic little banter with a jolly-three step.
"Why is Professor McGonagall after Estella and myself?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Dunno… she was looking a bit grim, though." Said Fred, sobering slightly.
"We're supposed to take you down to her office," said George.
"Well you'd better be off then." Harry said resignedly, "Thanks for your help, Estella."
"Don't worry about it." Estella shrugged as she brushed past the Hogwarts Champion, pausing to lean in close to his ears so only he could hear. "If Aquila doesn't get back in time, the password to my Uncle's stores is Jabawookie. You'll find the Gillyweed next to the Gnome skins on the third shelf along on the left."
"Merlin, I hope it doesn't come to that." Harry shivered, nodding his thanks.
"It shouldn't. Aquila is a good, fast Owl." Estella assured him. "And Dad'll come through, I know it. I labelled the Gillyweed jar myself, he won't have been able to miss it."
With that, Estella swept off after Hermione, Fred and George, leaving Harry and Ron alone in the library.
"What'd you think McGonagall wants with them?" Ron asked, thumbing his hand in the direction the girls had left.
"I don't know." Harry said, a horrible feeling like he had a golf ball wedged in his throat. "But I have a bad feeling about this."
All the staff were present in the Deputy Headmistress' office as the Tournament organisers explained the logistics of the following day's task.
"Are you sure there won't be any risk to the children?" Professor Sinistra prattled worriedly. "What if one of the Champions takes longer than an hour…"
"Will the thing they'd sorely miss most really not come back?" Another worried Professor piped up.
"Ladies and Gentleman, please." Albus Dumbledore hushed his audience. "I assure you that measures are in place to ensure the safety of all involved. The Merpeople of the lake have been allies of this fair school since its inception."
"Yes, but why take children hostage?" Professor Flitwick stood on his chair, fighting to be heard. "Why not a favoured book or broomstick…"
"Not all students value books as highly as those in your house." Severus scowled boorishly from where he stood in the shadows, his arms crossed bodily across his chest. Really, he could not understand why the staff were getting so worked up about the latest terms of the tournaments. As if Dumbledore would allow anything to happen to any of his students! What's more, the little Champion-baits will all be under sleeping charms and unaware of their surroundings… Severus could hardly see the cause for concern.
Just then, the squabbling teachers were pulled into line by a subtle knock on the door.
"Ah," Said Professor McGonagall. "Our participants have arrived." Then, in a louder voice that could be heard outside the door, she beckoned. "Children, you may enter."
At that, the door opened to reveal a mixed bag of faces. Severus eyed them disinterestedly until one caught his eye. It was his niece. It was Estella.
"What's up?" The object of his thoughts spoke, breaking the silence that had inexplicably shrouded the room. "What…"
"We're what will be sorely missed, aren't we?" Hermione asked, looking to Professor Dumbledore for clarification.
"Well done, Miss Granger. You are right." Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly.
A horrible look of resignation befell Estella's features while the other two girls – Cho Chang and a little girl that must have been the little sister of one of the other Champions – looked at Hermione in confusion, the pair not being as familiar with the Champion's clue. Locking eyes with her Uncle and seeing how hard he was fighting for self control, Estella took a deep breath.
"Oh boy…"
End Chapter: Secrets of the Twilight
(1) "When I Come Around" by Green Day