Chapter 11 – New faces mean Old names
Meissa woke next morning with a feeling of resolve. She had two options - she could dig herself even further into the mess or she could face this out ... so she decided to give Tonks the benefit of the doubt as she walked into the kitchen to see the pink-haired witch in her seat.
'What are we doing today?' Meissa asked casually, dropping onto the stool beside Lucien 'I'm glad you asked me that... I think it is time you learned more about your heritage - trust me' Remus ignored the face that she pulled on hearing his ideas
So she piled into the back of a cab without questioning him, squashed in beside Tonks and Lucien, with no idea where they were heading or how long for. The journey was a long one, where their cab winded through narrow lanes and forgotten roads as they avoided the main traffic. The cab driver asked no questions - but seemed to take a second glance at Tonks as though alarmed by her bright pink hair.
Very soon they had pulled up into a rather unattractive looking street and Remus was waiting until the cab had pulled off before rummaging in his muggle coat for something. He passed Meissa a small bit of parchment with the words '12 Grimmauld Place' scrawled across it... and no sooner had she read it she looked up to see an image of complete insanity. Slowly wondering if her eyes were deceiving her as she stared at the large, deserted looking house with ivy winding through its windows sitting where there had been a small patch of clearing, she reluctantly followed Remus up its crumbling stone steps.
The front door took a lot of persuasion to open, and emitted a loud creak when it did, giving way into the grottiest looking hallway imaginable. Meissa stepped carefully on the threadbare carpet, pausing beside a veil of red curtains to wait for the others to follow. Tonks had slipped past her to follow Remus deeper into the house, and Meissa was inclined go after them - but only after she had seen what was behind the curtain - her fingers barely skimmed the red material before it ripped apart -'FOUL! DIRTY TRAITOR! HOW DARE YOU NEGLECT YOUR NAME!' the voice screeched insanely and Meissa stumbled backwards, clamping her hands over her ears as the voice wretched louder and louder. Remus and Tonks were back, and had dived at the screaming portrait of the scariest woman Meissa had ever set eyes on, trying to wrench its curtains back but having great difficulty.
'That would be your Great Aunt...' Remus panted slowly, turning away to lead them through the house once more, looking paler in the faint light. They walked through the glum remnants of rooms towards what would have been a dining room - but now had the appearance of a cellar. Amidst the broken furniture, Meissa had already spotted the strange markings on the wall. Tonks' wand tip illuminated the Tapestry... 'The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black'
'Is that..?' Meissa gasped as she studied what looked to be the largest family tree she had ever seen, slowly tracing her fingers along the worn fabric where a single arrow from the names Bellatrix Black and Rudolpus Lestrange were adjoined - her name lay below theirs. 'Yes... said Remus - I believe some names have been blasted off - namely your uncle Si-' Remus broke off, paused and then cleared his throat to start again ' your uncle - who is also in Azkaban' he finished quickly, looking around for something else to say. Meissa turned back to the Tapestry... she had an uncle..?
'What did he do?'
'Murdered a road full of Muggle's - killed another wizard in the blast' Lucien informed her quietly. A shiver ran down her spine and she shuddered slightly, closing her eyes against a sudden image of that green light searing through her eyes - and Alex' body broken on the ground…
'So there were four Blacks in your year at Hogwarts?' Meissa cleared her throat, which felt as though it was restricting her of air, and gazed at Remus incredulously. He nodded and she tried to digest this information, eager to know more '-and three were sisters - Narcissa and Bellatrix' she continued, tracing the lines of silver jointed names, where a burn hole sat beneath the third stem of a line
'-and Andromeda' Remus finished for her.
'-which would make you my cousin' Meissa threw Tonks a questioning glance over her shoulder, before once again studying the names
'Yes...' Tonks gave a small smile
Meissa paused as her eyes darted across the thin, aged material, where the silver ink still shone so brightly, feeling a weight of sadness suddenly fasten around her heart.
Journeys home were always quicker, whether it was down to sheer tiredness or lack of enthusiasm, but Meissa felt different for some reason. The Tapestry had shown her that she was weaved so intricately into the House of Black that she understood why Mrs. Blacks portrait had so much affect on her. You see, Mrs. Black had been right about one thing - Meissa had neglected her name - she had gone to Hogwarts with her head down… perhaps that was what Snape was hinting at… she had as much power and determination as her peers yet she had failed to use it to her advantage. As the car swerved in a particularly muddy patch of road, the weighted ropes around her heart thickened - Alex had died because her powers were not strong enough to save him…she huddled against Lucien's arm as the chill from the cabs air-conditioning bristled her skin.
Meissa wasted no time to find her Astronomy textbook in her trunk when they finally reached the order's house - her home. 'Stars. They're all named after stars' she muttered to herself, pressing her finger along the contents page until she found what she was looking for 'Bellatrix' she whispered as she leafed through the book. 'Bellatrix means Warrioress' murmuring quietly, she paused to listen to a sound outside her door but it was merely the wind rattling through an open window. 'Andromeda means Chained Lady' Tonks had told her the reason Andromeda's name was no longer upon the Tapestry was because she married a muggle, something suddenly dawned upon Meissa. What was her meaning - she ripped through more thin pages of the textbook, her shaking fingers harsh against the fragile parchment, until she found her name. Meissa meant 'Shining' she frowned, this was not a good lead. An idea lurched in the pit of her stomach until she found 'Saith' meaning 'Sword'. The Shining Sword. She closed the textbook with a snap, staggered up as her legs were numb from the awkward position she had been sitting in, and swept out of the room to join Lucien and Remus for a nightcap - or an orange juice as Remus would insist - before she had to face another night of terrors.
Chapter Eleven - Xmas Spirit
Meissa had never looked forward to Christmas, but she already knew that this year she would have a lot more to think about than the endless phoney commercial crap she was used to - this year her thoughts unconsciously drifted toward how Alex if she was not careful, and how his family would be dealing with his… she closed her eyes… funeral. Of course, she already knew that she would be that last person they would want at the funeral, but she had gotten to know Alex quite well in her short term at Hogwarts and she had never gotten to say goodbye. It had been so long since she had been in that wondrous place - yet now she felt banished from its premises….
Her thoughts were also with Claude and the others, she knew now that if they didn't hate her for what had happened to Alex, they would hate her for deserting Hogwarts without one word to any of them. She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head in her arms, it was too much to dwell on these thoughts.
Tell-tale footsteps sounding through her open door told her that Lucien was on his way up. 'You coming down?' he asked casually, leaning against her door with a look of apprehension on his handsome features. 'Yes… I suppose I'll have to' her reply was so crisp that Lucien did not bother to answer. Voices and laughter had been echoing through the house all day, the sickly smell of food had wafted into her room despite her efforts to ignore it, yet she had no inclination to be in the company of these strangers. Members of the Order… it made her so mad… where were they when Alex was killed?
Remus, extremely drunk and in very high spirits, had pulled her into a hug before she could argue. Everything felt so bitter. Just think of Claude or Seth - they won't be laughing right now. It was enough to tug at the ropes weighted around her heart, it was enough to remind her that it just wasn't right for her to be celebrating at a time like this.
As she had expected, no staff from Hogwarts were here, but the other Order members were making up for their absence with double the amount of laughter and a general clatter of noise. Meissa was steered by Lucien towards the table, and he purposefully sat next to her, keen to stop Mundungus from any stupid questioning or any sort of typical Mundungus-comments at all. Remus nearly dropped the cauldron of gravy on his way in, and it was Molly Weasley who sat him the other side of Meissa '-keep an eye on him for me dear'. Meissa merely raised her eyebrows and grinned - she decided that she could put thoughts of Hogwarts to one side, at least until after dessert.
Lucien pulled her to one side at the end of the meal, handing her a small gold package. She looked at him quizzically but he motioned for her to unwrap it. She tore the paper away to reveal a small, velvet box. Opening it, she gasped at the small ring indented in the velvet fabric. It was silver and full of a misty grey substance. 'Try it on' Lucien whispered, with a slightly anxious voice. Its smooth interior slipped easily over her index finger and she gasped as the silver changed to an emerald green. 'It's a mood ring' Lucien said with a slight laugh '-and apparently, your feeling quite calm at the moment'.
'Right, have we got the Wand?'
'Check'
'Keep hold of that Meissa' Remus had dark circles beneath his eyes and he seemed to be suffering a particularly bad hangover 'Cauldron?
'It's all in the trunk Remus' Lucien was leaning against her door looking bored.
'How are we getting there?' Meissa asked hopefully, thinking about that eventful broom ride over here.
'By car…' Lucien told her, grinning at her faltering smile. She raised an eyebrow as she considered the journey back to Hogwarts would probably be a long one. Her stomach kept churning at the mere thought of Hogwarts and she was pleased to see that however unpleasant her behaviour had been this holiday, Remus and Lucien were reluctant to see her going.
However long the cab journey had been, it was too short as far as Meissa was concerned. Walking up the stone steps to the Entrance Hall had been a hard task without the weight of her trunk dragging behind her. Entering the Great Hall had been torture… a silence had fallen over the students and Meissa dared not look at the Gryffindor table. She glanced towards the High Table to see McGonagall lean towards Dumbledore and whisper into his silver hair but it was Snape who was staring back at her across the Hall. She found a seat at the end of the Slytherin table and a general noise of voices and scraping chairs broke out once again. Meissa glanced across the table and her stomach plummeted - Seth was sitting, as composed as usual, still engrossed or so it would seem in his Moste Potente Potions. He did not look up to acknowledge her.
She thought that Claude and Tabby would react the same, but she wrong. Very wrong. She eventually made her way out of the Great Hall once she felt the coast was clear. But as she turned towards the passage that would eventually take her to her common room, a shrill voice rang out across the Entrance Hall '- You BITCH!' causing her to whip around in time to see a streak of red hair and black robes before they collided painfully with her. Overcome by the girl's weight she fell backwards into the quickly dispersing crowd of students, who were either screaming or egging Claudia on.
Claudia! Meissa struggled underneath the older girl's weight but was at that point dragged backwards Meissa collapsed against the floor, breathing heavily and seething.
'-You! You left us!' Claudia was shouting even as Professor McGonagall wrenched her backwards. Mayhem had broken out between the surrounding students, and try as they could none of the Professors' shouts for calm could be heard in the deafening noise. Meissa was being dragged up, out of Claudia's reach, hauled away from the Entrance Hall against her protests.
'What did you expect!' Seth was paler than ever, his expression one of deep mistrust. Meissa shrugged her shoulders, unable to answer that question.
Seth was pacing the deserted common room ' I mean… what happened..? He paused in mid pace to glare at her as she retreated further into her chair '-You just disappeared all through November and December … Alex is dead Meissa! What were you thinking?' for someone who never usually spoke his cheeks had flared scarlet in his endless shouting. Meissa cringed at the thought of the whole house overhearing him and then lent forward to hide her face in her hands.
'Just… who did it Meissa? And why?' there was a note of urgency in his voice which made her huddle further back in her chair. She had to give him and answer and she did… she told him everything there was to know and he listened without interruption. 'You have to understand Seth… I had no choice, how could I stay here after what happened' she gave a shuddering gasp to stop the tears from spilling over her cheeks. 'It'll be ok' he said hollowly, as though he wasn't really sure of what he was promising, 'in the end. It will be ok'.