Disclaimer(s):
I own the plot, I apologize if it's been done before. Harry Potter and everything related belongs to J.K. Rowling.
The mentioned "Muggle Fantasy book; Wizard of the Grove by Tanya Huff" is an actual book, and one I highly recommend, if you like the genre.
AN: Hi! Real AN at the end! Enjoy!
Consanguina by Jess S
Chapter 7: House Elf Problems & Orderly Concerns...
"Vivian!.... Vivian!"
The Auror looked up, toward the inner door of her study to see that it was open slightly with a view of the second kitchen on the other side, almost entirely blocked by a view her aunt's narrow, panicked face. "What is it?" she asked frowning. She cocked her head slightly to the right and raised an eyebrow in response to the older woman's beckoning gestures. "If it helps, Harry isn't here."
"Oh... yes," Petunia nodded, opening the door a little further, "yes, come here!"
Somewhat bemused, and more than a little curious, Vivian complied, moving forward and through the doorway into the kitchen itself, as her aunt backed up to allow her room, and closing the door behind her. "Now what... oh... oh dear..." The Auror blinked several times, simply gaping at the disaster before her.
Flour littered the kitchen floor, walls, counters and ceiling, alongside frosting, sugar, chocolate, and various other food items. Smoke was rising from the oven in heavy black waves that scorched the ceiling, and she could see what appeared to be the remains of several cakes already on the counter, still in what appeared to be the charred remains of their pans...
Vivian shook her head, and stopped herself for a moment, silently counting to ten before speaking. "Umm... Aunt Petunia..." she shook her head again, bringing a hand up to her temple. "Correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't cooking one of your... fortes?"
"Ah... yes... it is..." Petunia replied while shaking her head, and blinking back tears. "Umm... could you...?" she gestured to the oven.
Vivian took out her wand and began waving it around repeatedly, muttering cleaning, repairing and renewing incantations and charms under her breath. A few moments later the kitchen was spotless, the air was breathable and the... remains were gone.
"Th-thank you." Petunia muttered, sitting down heavily. After a moment she managed a weak smile, "handy, that," she commented, motioning to the kitchen.
The witch nodded, waving her wand again and muttering another spell.
Almost immediately, a house elf appeared.
Petunia released a quiet shriek, jerking back in her seat as the small creatures with bat-like ears bowed deeply to Vivian, apparently not noticing Petunia's presence. "May Minny get something for the, Milady?" she asked, raising her wide, pale-green eyes slightly, though not rising from her half curtsy, half bow.
In most Wizarding households, the distinction of the near-curtsy would not have been noticeable. Mainly because almost all house elves wore only the ragged remains of pillowcases and what not. This was not so in the Potter Manor. Almost a hundred years before, one of the Potters had managed to convince the house elves that cleanliness of themselves and upkeep of their 'garments' was just as important as the upkeep of the Manor. Therefore, the house elves had grown accustom to changing pillowcases every day, cleaning and ironing them, so that they were as respectable as was possible. After some time, another Potter had insisted another change. The female elves' pillowcases were to be longer than the males, they had to go all the way down to the ground, like a dress, and then be tied back with a robe, as that was the only thing the house elves would agree to use. The male's pillowcases only went down to their knees, but were still tied at the waist.
"Yes please, Minny," Vivian replied with a smile, "two lemonades with ice."
Minny half-curtsied, half-bowed again, before disappearing. She reappeared half a moment later, bearing a tray with two glasses, a glass jug of lemonade with ice, and a small container with more ice in it. The glasses floated up in the air and settled on the table at the elf's direction, and several ice cubes leapt out of the container and into the glasses, then jug floated up and filled each glass before finally landing silently in the middle of the table beside the ice container.
"May Minny get you anything else, Milady?" the house elf asked, bowing again. The tray she'd been holding had disappeared.
"No, thank you, Minny."
~ * ~
The house on number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London was a rather dingy place. With a battered front door, dirty walls and grimy windows one would not expect it to be anything more than deserted. One would certainly not expect it to be the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, whose members were currently meeting there.
Kreacher, an old, somewhat [AN: *cough* *cough*] crazy house elf who had lived there for many years, would tell you that this was 'the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black'... it was by that right that it belonged to Sirius Black, as he was the only remaining Black still living.
However, Sirius and Kreacher weren't the houses only occupants. Almost the entire Weasley family was now living there, Hermione was staying there as well, and the members of the Order did occasionally spend the night. But it was a rare occasion indeed that the entire Order was present, as it was now present in the Black dining room, the second full meeting since this group's second formation in session.
"I just don't understand," Emmeline Vance complained, shaking her head as she drew her deep green shawl back up around her shoulders. An elegant lady in her late fifties, she was undoubtedly beautiful in her youth, but time and stress had stolen that youthful elegance to replace it with a weary, yes undoubtedly wizened elegance. "How could this happen?" she continued, "We had a watch on the boy's house all day, every day this summer..."
Arabella coughed slightly, drawing attention to herself, which she quickly directed to another member of the order, by sparing him a steely glare. "Fletcher was on duty at the time, I believe..." she commented. She raised an eyebrow as the squat, ginger-haired man fought to not meet the gazes of any member of the Order. "I suppose you had another 'good business opportunity' that you simply couldn't ignore?"
The middle age wizard coughed slightly, clearing his through nervously, apparently oblivious to the stink of alcohol and tobacco that rose off of him. "Well, come now, this certainly can't help the boy..." he offered nervously, raising his bloodshot, baggy eyes to look around the room, pleadingly.
"Mundungus is right," Professor Dumbledore agreed after a moment, nodding and thereby closing the subject. "We must now focus on finding Harry, and pray that he has come to no harm..."
"But..." Nymphadora Tonks, undoubtedly the youngest witch there, glanced around, her dark eyes betraying a small amount of nervousness. After a moment she continued, her pale, heart-shaped face set. "Begging your pardon, sir," she offered, nodding to Dumbledore, and continuing after he nodded, "but, what about the Dark Lord's forces and what not?... We can't just ignore them, right?"
"Of course not," McGonagall cut in, shaking her head. "Fortunately for us, Voldemort appears to be even more interested in discovering Mr. Potter's whereabouts than we are. Correct?" she asked, turning to the right, where both Snape and Dumbledore were clearly in her few.
Snape nodded, "Yes, for the most part the Dark Lord has focused on nothing else... He's become rather... obsessed."
"But he is still gathering his forces?" Kingsley Shacklebolt, a tall, black wizard in Ministry robes inquired, although his tone suggested it wasn't really a question.
Again, the Potions Master nodded, "Of course."
"Has there been any news at the Ministry; Kingsley, Arthur?" Dumbledore asked, gazing serenely at both of them.
Mr. Weasley shook his head sighing.
Shacklebolt nodded slightly, "Yes, the Prophet's become the talk of the town... and there's been some gossips about behind the scene operations and whatnot... and even talk of a possible insurgence."
"Structured insurgence?" McGonagall asked.
Shacklebolt nodded, "It looks like it... not that anyone could prove it."
"Do you have any idea who's behind it?" Remus Lupin asked.
"Established?" the Auror shook his head, "No...."
~ * ~
"Drink that," Vivian ordered, nodding to the lemonade, "it'll help."
With only a small amount of hesitation, Petunia picked the cup up and began drinking the cool drink, starting with small, hesitant sips, and rapidly becoming deep gulps.
"Slow down," Vivian tsked, shaking her head as her Muggle aunt stopped drinking for a minute to take in great, necessary gulps of air in the place of the sweet and semi-sour drink. "Now," she continued, once the older woman appeared slightly calmer. "What is it?" she asked, "What's bothering you?"
"N-nothing..." Petunia shook her head, taking another gulp of her beverage. "Nothing at all–" she shrieked as Minny the house elf appeared in front of them again, dropping her glass, which then dropped down onto the table, spilling, before rolling off the table and shattering into numerous pieces on the finely-waxed, hardwood floor.
This time, the house elf did take notice of the other woman, sparing her a moments glass before quickly turning to the shattered cup and pointing at it. She formed a fist with her tiny hand, and the glass shards glowed a faint blue before vanishing. Minny then snapped her fingers and the spilled lemonade was gone as well. A glass filled only with ice appeared in its place.
"Thank you, Minny," Vivian nodded, appearing quite amused.
"It is a pleasure to serve, Milady."
Vivian rolled her eyes slightly, but offered a small smile. "What is it?"
"Master Harry entered one of the training zones in the fourth wing. Minny wondered if that was safe for Master Harry..." the house elf replied.
"No..." The Auror frowned, "It isn't..."
"Should Minny stop Master Harry?"
After a moment, the witch shook her head. "No... just make sure he doesn't get hurt, please."
"As you wish, Milady." The house elf replied with another curtsy/bow, before vanishing, silently.
"Now..." Vivian turned back to her aunt, "I take it you're afraid of the house elves?" she asked, a glint of humor in her emerald gaze.
Petunia whimpered in response.
~ * ~
Harry walked down the new corridor at a relatively normal pace. He was exploring the Manor again... He hadn't been into this Wing before, and judging by the guard spells that had been in place at the doors that had been blocking it off, he probably wasn't supposed to be. Those spells would've kept anyone else out indefinitely, but they were part of the Potter Manor, and therefore set to obey those of the Potter lineage.
This Wing wasn't like many of the others. He couldn't really explain how it was different, it just... was.
It was unequivocally older... darker and sadder...
He supposed that was an attestation to his sister's character...
While Vivian was approbation and warmth to her friends and family, and while she almost always held a public pretense of flawless neutrality and perfection in place, she did have a cooler... darker side... hidden deep inside her. A vestige of her aphotic and bereaved history...
If the Manor represented her, which he couldn't help but feel it did... than that was what this Wing was... that part of her... the part that no one saw...
Harry jumped back on a pure reflex, startled by a sudden sound from the left side of the corridor.
It was a rather good thing he had that reflex, which had been developed from years of dodging Bludgers during Quidditch practice and games and weeks training under his sister's direction. For it had saved him from being flattened into the wall on the other side of the corridor by a wall of solidified air that had come out of the wall on the left.
After a moment, the Boy-Who-Lived shook his head slightly. Yup... this Wing was a perfect analogy to his older sister... it certainly wasn't lacking in any of her surprises.
~ * ~
"I just don't get it!" Ron complained loudly for the third time that afternoon, as he dropped down onto the twin bed he slept in here in the safety of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. They were located in a gloomy, high-ceilinged room that was just large enough for the pair of beds it held, the night stand and two trunks, although there was only one, located at the end of Ron's bed.
"What?" Hermione asked tiredly, not looking up from the book she was reading, a Muggle Fantasy book called Wizard of the Grove by Tanya Huff, which had clearly been read many times.
The youngest Weasley brother shook his head agitatedly, "Why?"
Now, Hermione did look up. "Why, what?" she asked, frowning slightly, clearly puzzled.
"Why would he do it?" the teenage-boy demanded.
"Who..." Hermione blinked, "Harry?"
"Yes!" Ron nodded, "Why wouldn't he tell us if he needed to get away so badly! Why wouldn't he ask for our help?!" he rose from his position on the bed and started to pace the narrow space between the two beds.
"Wait, wait, wait!" the other Gryffindor shook her head, "What are you talking about?" she asked, "What did Harry do that's suddenly made you so angry at him?" now, she shook her head. "You've been as worried about him as the rest of us these past few weeks, and honestly, nothing's changed, Harry's still missing... so why are you suddenly angry at him?"
"He did it on purpose!" the redhead exclaimed.
"Did what on purpose?" Hermione replied, fighting to keep her tone calm. "You think he went and got himself kidnapped on purpose?"
"Ye-No!" Ron shook his head, "That's just it! Don't you get it?"
"What?"
"He wasn't kidnapped!"
"He wasn't..."
"Yes!" Ron insisted, his ears turning a pale shade of pink as he struggled to convince his friend of his train of thought. "Don't you get it?! It's what Vivian's been saying at every meeting... He may have gone willingly, it hasn't been proven that he was kidnapped... Don't you get it?!"
"So you think Harry wasn't kidnapped because you think Vivian thinks he wasn't kidnapped?" Hermione replied after a moment's consideration.
"Yes!" the boy nodded, his ears now bright red. "She's the best, Hermione! Everybody says so! And she doesn't think he was kidnapped!"
"No..." Hermione frowned, a thoughtful glimmer entering her soft hazel eyes. "She doesn't..."
~ * ~
"Hello, Harry." Vivian greeted her younger brother, fighting to suppress a laugh as he half stumbled, half walked into her study later that morning. "Have an interesting morning?"
Harry glowered at her for a moment, before sitting himself in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "You could say that," he replied, his tone calm and not remotely resembling his attire and his general appearance. The right sleeve of his pale green robe appeared to have been ripped by something. There was a large hole in his pants, by his knee. The front of his vest and the sides of the robe that partially covered it were stained with some type of bright yellow dye. His right boot was also stained, it looked like he'd stepped in a bucket of bright-red paint. Something had turned his hair neon green... and his nose was about twice its usual size.
After several moments of heavy silence, Harry explained; "I went into that wing off the landing on the second floor... the one that was closed off..."
"Did you, now?" Vivian inquired, appearing faintly curious, but undoubtedly quite amused. She returned her attention to the Ministry document she'd been reading prior to sensing her brother's approach, apparently not noticing his... aggravated state. "Did you have fun?"
The Boy-Who-Lived blinked several times, watching as his older sibling twirled a white and gold quill on her fingertips with exacting ease. "You could say that..."
"That's good..." After rereading the document, Vivian signed it and rolled it up, placing it in one of her desk drawers and turning her attention back to her brother, even as she continued to twirl her quill on her fingertips. "Harry... how have your... dreams... been lately. Your visions?" she asked.
Harry blinked in surprised... of all the things she might bring up when he entered her study in this state, he certainly hadn't thought that that might be one of them. Especially considering all of the measures he'd been going through to keep from disturbing her. The dreamless sleep potion he'd taken the liberty of 'borrowing' from her private storage on the third floor had had nearly no affect whatsoever. However the powerful calming potion and pain relievers had had enough of an effect to keep from having her come into his room every night since he'd started taking them every night before bed, starting two weeks prior. Although it had been much easier to fall back to sleep after talking with her, and then drifting off under her watchful eye, sometimes with the help of the lullaby she remembered their mother singing long ago... he didn't want to be a burden.
"I..." he started, then shook his head. "How... how did you know...?"
The Auror sighed, "There has been far too much enigmatical, dark and... iniquitous activity lately for you to have not been having any visions, regardless of the dreamless sleeping potion I assume you've been taking, or the wards I placed around your room..." she shook her head, "My... resources tell me that the Dark Lord is still gathering his strength, and probably won't make his presence known for some time yet... but he is still regaining his former strength, influence and power... and his followers haven't been entirely quiescent..." Her vivid emerald eyes held his own, identical pair. "I understand they tortured a small Muggle family last night... did you see anything?"
Harry closed his eyes, swallowing slightly, before nodding. He remembered that poor family all too well... it had been horrible...
A young couple in their early twenties held under the Cruciatus curse for nearly a half-an-hour... their six-year-old had been fortunate enough to be capable of surviving little more than ten minutes of the treatment...
And he had felt it all...
Not just the young families pain... their confusion... and fear...
But he had been viewing it through Voldemort's eyes... and he'd been forced to feel the sheer pleasure the monster took in the activity... Which had had him on the floor of his bathroom emptying the contents of his stomach from supper into the toilet the moment he was free of the vision and capable of moving... he almost hadn't made it...
"Harry?"
He opened his eyes, staring searchingly into his sister's, only slightly surprised to find that he was no longer in the chair across from her, but held in her gentle embrace. That was one thing that felt had helped him accept his sister so easily after the initial (shock) of discovering her existence. She understood... more than anyone else he knew... even without the decades that hadn't given Dumbledore his wisdom, the last four years that had bound Ron and Hermione to him as something very near siblings... even though she hadn't been there for nearly his entire life... She understood.
And that was more than enough for him.
~ * ~
A heavy silence hung over the dinner table in the dining room of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. Ron bit his lip lightly, and shifted his weight nervously as everyone stared at him. Hermione didn't look nearly as nervous as he felt, but he could see that her knuckles were a little too white where they were wrapped around her eating utensils.
"You are aware, I presume," Professor Dumbledore inquired, his gaze lacking the slight spark of humor they were all so used to seeing there, "of the seriousness of this accusation?"
"Of course we are, sir," Hermione replied, cutting in before Ron could make an attempt to. "But it just makes so much sense!"
"They're right on that point..." Remus offered, taking a small sip from the mug of tea he'd chosen to take with supper.
Madam Vance nodded, her emerald shawl drooping slightly. "Yes," she agreed, shaking her head. "It does make sense... It would certainly explain why an Auror of Potier's stature and repute would be interested in a shunned case..."
"Yes... I..." Professor McGonagall sighed, meeting the Headmaster's eyes. "I suppose it would be wise if we were to at least investigate the possibility..."
After a moment, Dumbledore nodded. "Of course..."
~ * ~
After several moments of holding her younger brother in a comforting embrace, Vivian sighed. "I think that I may know of a way to help you, Harry."
"What?" Harry asked, blinking up at her confusedly. "What'd you mean?"
"If you like... I could begin training you in Occlumency..."
"Occlu-what?" the teen inquired, blinking.
Vivian smiled slightly, "Occlumency, Harry. The magical defense of the mind against external penetration. An obscure, but highly useful branch of magic..."
"'Magical defense of the mind'?" Harry repeated.
"Yes," the Auror nodded, "You see... magic can be harnessed in many ways... but, the bottom line is the will of the caster.... It is said that Merlin was once quoted saying, 'Magic is really very simple. All you have to do is want something... and let yourself have it.' And, technically that is quite true. It certainly isn't that simple, as you have to be magically strong enough to enforce your will, and you have to be physically healthy enough to harness that necessary power." She sighed, pausing for a moment, before continuing. "As I'm sure you've realized, witches and wizards are not all equal... we all have our strengths and weaknesses, some more than others... There are some who are strong enough to use their magic on will, without the use of a wand... They are almost as rare as Parselmouths... It takes a great deal of training, and it certainly isn't easy..."
"Then why would I be able to do it?" Harry asked, half-wishing that he hadn't ask, because he wasn't sure he really wanted to hear the answer.
Vivian met his eyes and held them, her gaze serious. "Because you are not an average wizard, Harry... As much as you try not to be... you're special, you always have been..." she shook her head, "Plus, I am rather accomplished with Occlumency, so there's a good chance you'll be able to pick it up rather quickly... I did." Again, she shook her head slightly. "And I'm not going to be teaching you wandless magic... not yet, anyway. I'm still studying that myself, and while I can do more than most I'm certainly no expert... Occlumency is simply the strengthening of natural defense, it isn't hard to learn if you really want to learn it."
Harry remained silent for several moments before he looked up, meeting her eyes. "Where do we start?"
"Tomorrow." His sister replied.
He blinked, "What?"
"Right now, we'd best be heading to the dining room." Vivian smiled, "Aunt Petunia put so much work into your Birthday Supper... I'd hate to see it wasted..."
~ * ~
It was early the next morning that saw a large gathering before the large fireplace at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The gathering consisted of all of the Weasleys, Professors McGonagall and Snape, the Headmaster, Ex-Aurors Figg and Moody, Remus and Sirius (as Snuffles the dog); everyone closely associated with the search for Harry Potter.
Mrs. Weasley frowned, shaking her head as she surveyed the many redheads in the group. "I still don't think it's a good idea for the children to come..." she insisted.
"Oh, come on, Mum!" Fred whined before anyone else could respond, "we've been helping the whole time with the search!"
"Yeah!" George agreed, "It wouldn't be fair of you to leave us behind now!"
"Perhaps not fair," Mrs. Weasley sniffed, "but it would be smart."
"They have been quite helpful up to now, Molly," Remus offered quietly.
"And besides," Ginny jumped in, "it's not like we're Flooing into a Death Eater's house!"
Everyone looked at her.
"What?" She asked, "I like Vivian!"
"We all do," Dumbledore agreed nodding, his eyes a little sad.
"But she could still be a Death Eater." Bill cut in, sighing.
"It is always possible," Snape agreed, "but very unlikely... considering the Dark Lords reaction to her... and to Potter's disappearance... It could always be a very elaborately designed trap... but that is unlikely."
"Although it would explain why she was having lunch with the Malfoys," Percy cut in.
Everyone shifted uncomfortably at that. They'd never confronted Vivian after seeing her there... but they'd all wondered.
Dumbledore shook his head, "Innocent until proven guilty... Now," he tossed a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace and annunciated, "The Potier Manor." When green flames filled the fireplace, he glanced at the Grim-like dog, "Snuffles?"
'Snuffles' immediately barked, and ran into the flames, which then burst even higher up before disappearing.
The Headmaster held the bag of Floo powder out to Remus.
End of Chapter 7.
AN: Well, that's it for Chapter 7! Sorry for the wait, and I hope everyone liked it!
Translations:
Consanguina - related by blood (Latin)
Response to reviews (Ch.6);
Rachel A. Prongs – I'm glad, and thank you. ^_^
Xirleb70 – Yes, HP5 was certainly different, wasn't it?... I haven't decided if I really like it yet... some parts of it were fantastic... others... *shrugs*, I don't know...
LOL, yes, I've been thinking of having a friend who has had some experience with martial arts help me rewrite that scene... I tried, but it wasn't really up to par....
How did the family function go? Was it worth the grimace? Stuff like that ushually is, but you never know...
I'm glad you liked the chapter. What'd you think of this one?
Everpresent – Hi! ^_^
Yeah, I started this knowing that I would be working on it when HP5 came out, so I was trying to be careful in certain aspects of it... I've changed a few things because of the book, but there weren't too many problems...
LOL... Yes, the "new campaign" was somewhat of a homage to HP5, I guess... although I had actually already had something to that effect planned out, it was really easy to write following HP5's guidelines...
Uh-huh... I love writing, and I've come to enjoy writing fan fiction in particular, but my greatest flaw as a writer is that I'm not organized enough to write a good short story... I can write good stories... but they take awhile.
Liedral – Thank you, I'm glad you like it.... LOL, that's always a possibility... ^_~
Pheonixrising – Thank you. Yes, the visit to the Malfoy Manor should be interesting... once we get there... They're a little preoccupied, but... they should remember that little fact pretty soon...
I liked parts of HP5 to, but there were some parts I'm not too sure of. Dumbledore's explanation was definitely one of them...
Siri Kat – LOL... Thank you. ^_^
No, you're right, French definitely isn't my first language, it's not even a second language really, I don't know that much at all... My parents are semi-fluent, and I have been to France and whatnot before, but I'm far from fluent. Any more advice would be appreciated.
I'm glad you liked it, and I'm sorry it took so long to update... I actually wanted to update yesterday... but FF.net would let me sign in!
Yeah, HP5 was definitely more mature than the others... darker too... but I'm still pretty much 50-50 on it....
Thanks for reviewing!
AND PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!!!
Bye! ^_^
~ Jess S