Disclaimer: The characters and the world in the story belong to J.K. Rowling. I am not earning any profit from it.
Note: I have been a fanfiction reader for quite a lot of years before I gave this fic a shot, so if you see any ideas seeping in that I do not openly acknowledge, just let me know and I will add the credits. I have read too many to keep a track of them but I will try my best.
1) The idea of totems belongs to Catsarecool who is writing A Marauder's plan .
2) The basic idea of dimension travel comes from Hollow Thunder, Vital Lightning by Aariya07. You will see quite a few similarities in the first couple of chapters but it diverges after that.
3) Harry was born a girl as Juniper Anastasia Potter. Everything is as it is in canon except for her romances. This is not because I don't read slash or like it. You will see a lot of them in my favorites but because I don't think that I could do justice to that genre and because I want to do this. If you do not like such fics, do not read. Please do not flame. I will welcome criticisms, I know I am not perfect, just don't meaninglessly bash me for nothing.
4) THE RATING OF THE FIC HAS BEEN CHANGED TO 'M' because of slightly more graphic descriptions of violence. It is mostly a safety measure and does not contain anything triggering yet. Future updates will carry warnings of triggers, if any emerge in the course of the story.
For your references
"Talk"
"Parseltongue"
Previously
Black luck comes into play. As Cordelia is seated in library with Tom, Dorea, Charlie, Evelyn, Walburga, Lucretia, Sebastian, Tiberius II Ogden, Edmund Bones, Mary Abbot, Amara Tufts, Eileen Prince on the 'court table', the conversation moves to ferocity of Cordelia because of delay in Abraxas, Alphard and Zabini's arrivals. The hilarity is interrupted with the arrival of Abraxas, Orion, Alphard, Anastius Zabini, Pierce Nott, Luther Pritchard, Winston Travers and Marvin Jugson who talk about an accident that occurred with Albert Carrow. Dorea, Charlie and Luther then fill the rest of the people on the various incidents through the day. Then Abraxas fills them on the real issue of more grotesque accidents. Political analysis of the events' consequences occurs. Cordelia and Tom are supposed to lead an open court meeting on the upcoming showcase, but they realize that people would want to know more about the accidents and there would be concerns around safety of students etc. In the actual meeting, Tom and Cordelia practice and preach their agenda with careful and ingenious political maneuvering. (I still suggest you go and read the previous chapter, just because since then people have convinced me that it was highly good. :P)
Chapter 31
Roses
Tom's POV
Tom watched as Cordelia tied letters to Zephyr and Quetzalcoatl. Zephyr was carrying a missive to Lord Black because despite the frost between him and Cordelia, Cordelia was not negligent in her duties and a letter apprising him to the situations in Hogwarts was one of them. After handing Lord Black his letter, Zephyr would fly to France to her parents so that they did not needlessly worry about her and her friends' safety.
Tom had easily offered Quetzlecoatl for her missive to Lord Malfoy and her aunt, Lady Callidora Longbottom. According to her, Uncle Polly and Aunt Cassy would not even fret over their daughters, too engaged in their son. And while she was sure that Sebastian and Abraxas would also write to their parents, Cordelia's word carried more weight because adults decreed her to be mature about dangers and reality.
She would write to Cassiopeia, only to tell her the gossip of Carrow and Avery household, but that gossip could wait for a couple more days.
The meeting had ended couple of hours ago. The first half an hour was spent as their inner circle heaped praises on them for their intricate work. Genuine pats and thumps on their backs as they gushed about it.
What had been surprising was when Charlie wrapped him in a manly hug to show his appreciation and enthusiasm. Tom was more used to embraces now because both he and Cordelia loved being wrapped around each other and over the holidays, he had received a couple of hugs from Cordelia's mother as well, but this was the first time he received affection from a brotherly figure. It had felt… nice.
Anastius had been all about popping an alcohol bottle and drinking pegs to celebrate, however, a pointed glare from Dorea, and synchronized rising brows from him and Cordelia had made Anastius withdraw the idea in haste, albeit quite grumpily as Abraxas, Charlie, Sebastian, Lucretia and Orion laughed at the hilarity. Of course, the Gryffindors and Evelyn had to soon rush away because of curfew and that had resulted in an end of the impromptu celebratory meet.
Tom had then aided Cordelia in writing a letter to her Uncle Arcturus. She was having a hard time writing a letter that was not passive aggressive or rude. In the end, when she threw a third draft that called her uncle a black-hearted Black (the earlier ones were worse), Tom had to take over and dictate an appropriate missive which Cordelia scribed word to word, albeit with half-hearted complains, quips and constant eye rolls. Tom had to thwack his fist mildly and gently over the back of her head in a reprimand before she gave up the tirade, tied the scroll with flourish and cheerfully started talking to him about something mundane.
She had a much easier time writing the other three letters and she had even managed to convince him to let her add comments from him to her letter to Lord Malfoy. A sample sentence read like "I am doing fine but Tom says that I over work myself. Even if I do, you should not worry because between Tom, Abraxas and Dorea, I am parented like a baby. Tom says with exasperation that my behavior deems babying. " By the end of it, Tom was red from embarrassment and quite exasperated because there was no sentence where she had not mentioned him and she had been quite unyielding in changing that particular letter. In the end, he had just given up because of how happy that letter writing had made her. So what if it caused him some embarrassment? Hyperion Malfoy was no stranger to his niece's charms, so Tom did not particularly have to worry about his impression on the man.
They had not needed to do anything on the pet end. So, Lia had written letters in leisure and Tom had kept company and pretended to read as he just watched her antics.
Jormy had already gone to sleep in the evening. She hated the rainy, damp weather so she spent most of the day lazily buried under the blankets and the elves had taken care of the kneazles. Nyx and Lux were almost grown to be self-sufficient and could hunt meals and stuff on their own but he and Cordelia could not help but treat them like babies, while promising to do that only for a little while. Today, they were also abed before they arrived in their quarters.
As Cordelia watched the fading outline of the snowy owls against the inky black sky and melting moon from their terrace, Tom firmly wrapped his arms around her and she leaned her back into him with a sigh, clasping his fist in comfort.
"Overall a productive day, hmmm?" She mused in her soft voice and giggled gently when Tom pecked the corner of her lips with his smile in response.
"There is one last thing I would like to get done." Tom admitted as he pulled her along to their bedroom.
Cordelia still had a content expression on her face as he pulled her to a stop right in the center of the room, but when he steadied her and gave her an imploring look, she blinked at him in slight confusion.
"It was a month ago that we began our courtship." Tom admitted and saw as Cordelia's eyes widened in realization and she crooned closer to him without a thought, placing a light hand over her lips and then removing it as she said, "I remembered it till a few days ago but it completely vanished when the whole Carrow debacle began last week."
"Understandable." Tom easily agreed and Cordelia gave him an uncertain smile.
"Let me get out some chocolates, we should celebrate." She clapped her hands a moment later in excitation.
Tom could not help it; he gave out a light chuckle. It still caught him off-guard when Cordelia switched from a prim proper mature Heiress to his Lia with such a childlike innocent enthusiasm.
While he did not mind indulging in her love for chocolate, he had something else in mind so he grasped her arm firmly but lightly to stop her from escaping away from him.
She turned around to face him as she understood that he wished to talk to her, but gave him a puzzled questioning look.
"We never decided which courtship ritual we would use" Tom gently said and before her brief composed face transformed to full scale indignation, he quickly added, "….and I know that you would be furious at their thought because most courtship rituals are very patriarchal and presume that women are less than men and that it is up to men to take charge in a situation and relationship, but I wanted to court you to show you how important you are to me and I have been looking and reading up on different ones…" He trailed off, eyeing her carefully.
Tom knew that her only reason for agreement to a courtship was that it would discourage suitors for both of them. She had not wanted to do anything; as per her, their love could exist and flourish without labels.
Right now, she did not look furious, her face was serious and contemplative and she still seemed to be thinking. When she gave a curt nod, Tom translated it to her willingness to listen to him, albeit she was still against using a ritual at all. He hoped that he could convince her otherwise.
"As you know, I have been reading Slytherin journals. They are not particularly ordered and mostly I have been picking them at random. In one of them, he has written extensively about Helga and her husband and his relationship with them and his thoughts on their union. Helga's husband was a muggle called Puff. Her housename is a mixture of a slang name for a magical plant that induced laughter and her husband's name and people misattribute it as her surname but that is beside the point. When Slytherin met them way before Hogwarts, they had already been married for a few years and were expecting their first child. Apparently Puff had known her nature as a witch and had been reluctant to marry her, not because he shared the dislike or fear of witchcraft that a lot of muggles had, but because he thought that he could never hold Helga's interest as her beloved magic and her magical plants did. Helga loved him a lot and he loved her too, so to convince him she used a courting ritual she had devised to denote the importance of their love to her, going against the tradition. Slytherin calls it the ritual of Moon.
"As Helga loved plants, specifically fluxweed, and Puff deemed them to be more interesting than him, she gave him meaningful courting presents twice every moon cycle, once when the fluxweed bloomed full, that is the full moon, and once when the fluxweed dulled completely, that is the new moon. She used it to signify two things; one, she loved him right along with her love for plants and magic and thought of him despite being engaged with them and two; it did not matter to her how bright or how dull life would be with him, she would love him all the same all the time. Puff did agree and they did get married eventually.
"Then, one of their sons used the same ritual to court a much more magically powerful witch than him, who was also a seer and who would not give him the light of the day. He alluded to the moon to signify different modes of divination. And he did convince her and they did get married too and he moved away to be with her and even took her name." Tom regaled the story to her, carefully observing her expressions as they switched from wariness to interest, wonder, amusement and a little bit of awe.
"But that is not the entirely the point. I am not saying that I am the only one who is entitled to court in our relationship because I am a man, but I simply wish to do it because I want to tell you and the whole world just how much you mean to me and how much our love means to me. I tried having this conversation last night but it delved into more tragedy and subsequently more passion" he allowed himself a slightly mischievous smile as Cordelia's eyes sparked in remembrance, "… than was required for this conversation. And I would be honored if you let me court you using the ritual Helga used for Puff because not only is it a novel ritual, it was also simply based on their love and later their son's love, and not on a patriarchal or matriarchal mindset or who is superior in a relationship."
Tom completed his thoughts and looked at her hopefully. She was silent for a few moments as she just looked at his face. She did not look angry but Tom could not get a read over what she was thinking as well. So, he began blabbering, "Of course, it does not have to mean that you won't or can't give gifts to me. To be honest, you have given me too much of them already….." and he was silenced as Lia's lips ascended on his lips and she yanked his face down by knotting her fingers in his hair and Tom happily responded to the ministrations as his arms automatically encased her and pulled her closer.
Kisses with her were always intoxicating. Tom usually forgot everything as he drowned in the taste and feel of her sweet, glorious lips.
And he did.
And he only regained the thought of what they had been discussing, as her exceptionally bright green eyes looked directly at his hazy ones once they separated and she said gently, "If it means this much to you, then yes, I will be honored to be courted by you. I cannot possibly deny you what you want to do especially when you took so much care about respecting my feelings as you planned this." She said seriously and gave him an affectionate smile and pecked his chin and right cheek gently, as she gently nuzzled her forehead against his cheek and Tom wrapped his arms around her quickly to bury himself and her in a tight hug in his gratitude.
"I love you." She murmured and he replied back, as he placed a gentle kiss on her hair, "love you too, Lia. Love you too!"
"I think I will stick to an unplanned gift giving thing for you though. I am more off an 'on the spur' person." She mused and Tom rolled his eyes but kissed her temple again anyway, "Of course…"
By now, he had understood that dissuading her was a herculean task and he should not attempt it unless she was planning something quite dangerous and harmful to herself or she was planning something really, really crazy.
Unfortunately, giving gifts to him was neither of them.
And honestly, he liked her presents. They were meaningful, thoughtful, practical and useful all at the same time. Except for Jormy, except for that god darned snake who only knew whining. He supposed Jormy made him appreciate humans more, who were definitely less irritating than her, like Zabini.
Tom had gotten used to Alphard over the winter break. Cordelia had this nice, nifty way of dealing with him and Tom had emulated that to great success.
Zabini, though, gosh….that boy could be very irritating and the worst part was that Zabini knew how annoying he was being and continued with his deeds. But even Zabini had nothing on Jormy when she was throwing one of her tantrums.
But he would worry about the snake later, there was one little thing he needed to do before they retired to bed.
"Traditionally, all courtships have a month's probationary period. Once the month ends, the courter offers a present but I am sure you know that and never told me because you did not want to use a ritual," Tom began and he knew she would protest, but he continued on, "And luckily our month's end also coincides with a full moon, so that means that you need to accept your first present today regardless."
Cordelia made a face, but looking at his hopeful expression, it softened to a smile and she stood on her toes, pecked his forehead and nodded.
Tom summoned the small dragonhide pouch from his new trunk.
"The present is inside. You can tie the pouch on a belt that carries your dagger." He said and offered it to her hesitantly.
Tom was not used to buying presents. Christmas had been one tough time. Thankfully, Cordelia had liked both the presents, the book that he had used as a cover and the locket.
But this was not a Christmas present. This was the first present that was supposed to represent his love, affection, respect and protection for her. He wanted to get it right. He supposed that he could have taken Dorea's help but she did not know about them yet and he really wanted Cordelia to be the one person who got to know about the present.
He had discussed it with Erin, but as kind and helpful she was, she was still a snake.
Cordelia took it gently, giving him a concerned look at his nervousness but she tactfully did not mention anything aloud.
Cordelia's POV
Cordelia was concerned about Tom's nervousness, mainly because she did not like that he was worried because he feared her reaction to his presents.
Cordelia could empathize to an extent. Though as Juniper, she never had this kind of pressure. She had never wondered about her first presents to anybody as Ron and Hermione and even Hagrid were easy to buy presents for. The situation was similar with Draco and Sid and Ginny, Luna, Neville…even Molly, Arthur or George.
The first time Cordelia had gotten stuck about a gift was for Tom because she wanted to give him everything. And she was not sure what he would accept from her? Or what he would appreciate?
The familiar and pets were a gamble. She had not been sure if Tom would appreciate taking that kind of authority over him that she chose and named his familiar, or that she chose an owl for him.
And Lux and Nyx, well, she had definitely thought that he would say that she had lost her mind or marbles or something.
But he had not.
Truly, Cordelia had faith in Tom' sense of presents. He was always so thoughtful. His Christmas presents had shown that. And today, the way he had found a ritual that let him do his thing and did not impeach on her sense of self and respect, it was very clear about how much he had cared to not upset her and acknowledge her independence.
So, without much ado, she opened the pouch and pushed her right palm inside and when she felt several cool shapes, she went up to the bed, pulled the bag upside down and let the innards drop onto the bed.
Four warding stones made from Amethyst and carved into shapes of rose buds stared at her. They carried the rune of absorb, obey and protect for storing magic, molding magic at her behest and using that magic for protection.
Warding stones served as one of the most powerful anchors of wards in the world of magic; four stones for each direction or each element: fire, air, earth and water, to be buried or put in the four corners or ends of the place one wished to guard. All old manors had ward stones, she was sure that Hogwarts had several different sets.
The older the stone, the better and what was even better was that all warding stones come from one block of a material. Cordelia was very sure that all the stones in front of her came from a single block of Amethyst and she was sure that the stone was the oldest the Tom could find.
She took one in her palm and felt it in her fingers and she was sure that her awe and wonder was quite apparent on her face.
She looked at Tom, who did not look so nervous anymore, but he still gave her a questioning look.
Cordelia immediately threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. Tom gently lifted her off her feet as he returned her hug.
"I know while you generally lean towards healing, you also have a keen interest in warding. You just do not tell that aloud because it is considered a masculine profession," He said, explaining the reason behind the gift.
She nodded, her eyes getting a wet sheen.
"Well, you don't need to hide it. People will always find something to fault. Always." He gently told her.
"Warding stones are incredibly rare." Cordelia looked at him in a sort of half-hearted complain.
"I did not pay even a knut for them." Tom acknowledged, putting her down on her feet.
"Slytherin had no interest in warding." She said pointedly, hands waving dramatically.
"But he collected rare metals and stones to use as ingredients for his potions and amethyst was very rare until 18th century." Tom told her.
"But you still had to get them carved. These are the fanciest warding stones I have seen, even from everything I saw in the books. I mean they are carved into roses." She said indignantly.
"I carved them on my own." Tom admitted, "Amethyst is easy to cut, mold and polish, although I refrained from making them too shiny. The restricted section has a section of alchemy. A part of that deals with cutting of stones. I practiced on normal quartz and then did it to a block of amethyst that Slytherin had in the vault. They are simply rose shaped because well, roses are roses and you seemed partial towards them. And well, as I said, the choice of stone depended on that. Amethyst is easier to carve and it is purple, a color you are very partial to and you also said is the color of my magic. I considered Jade for your eyes but jade has several magical properties and they would have interfered with any ward you created."
"You carved my first warding stones?" She looked at him like he had grown an extra head or a tail.
"Yeah…I thought you would appreciate them more than any gem encased in jewelry or something else. And I really wanted to do something that I had a hand in. Anybody can get things done, but there are fewer people who put themselves in the thick for you and you have constantly done that for me…." Tom said with a doubtful and uncomfortable stance, as if he was asking her the truth of his belief.
"Appreciate them….I….I don't know how to tell you what this means to me…the amount of thought you put in them…" She cried out with indignation and exasperation.
"So, you like it." He asked with raised brows.
"If these stones were not delicate and I was not afraid to break them or chip them, I would throw them at your head to show you how thick you are being right now…" Cordelia said dangerously.
"You are very creative with your threats." Tom pointed out blandly.
"And don't you ever forget that." She flipped her hair at him in a mocking pretentious pose.
"I shall not." Tom replied dutifully, as his cheeks swelled to show his amused laughter.
"Good, because you have ensured that you will suffer my presence for very, very long…" She patted his head in a mock superior manner.
"I am counting on it…" Tom said softly and dropped a kiss on her forehead.
Scene continued, Tom's POV
Once he pulled away from her forehead, he just pulled her closer simply to hold her.
"I suppose I would also mind if something happened to ruin your fetching fair and that really adorable crease you get on your forehead when you think I am crazy…" Cordelia trailed her finger lightly on his cheek in a coy manner but the effect was contradicted by her teasing smile.
Tom could not resist and had to ask, "Do you think Lyra finds it fetching too?" Tom got a glint in his eyes.
Cordelia's smile vanished like it had never been there and her finger went away as fast, as if she had suffered a burn.
"I am kidding," Tom raised his hands in surrender before it escalated.
"I hope her family's devil's snare wipes off that smug look." She said coolly and started stomping off towards the door.
Tom easily picked her from behind halting her attempt, she barely weighed anything.
"Put me down…" She said, quite irritated and annoyed.
But Tom did not leave her; he carried her like that to their love seat by the fire and settled on it with her on his lap.
"Let me go…" She said with a scowl but otherwise made no movement to leave.
There was hope.
"I am sorry, the joke was in poor taste and I should not have made it." He said sincerely, still worried and concerned. He had not thought that she would take it like this. She quite enjoyed teasing him with allusions to the flirtatious attempts of Greengrass. He knew that she was playfully jealous of it once and he had cleared that up in the chamber and since that she had never shown a sign that she was bothered by Greengrass to this extent.
What occurred next completely floored Tom! Cordelia's face tore up, she clutched his nightshirt tightly and she began to bitterly weep.
"Lia…" He immediately wrapped himself around her.
Cordelia had never out rightly wept quite like this. Sure, she got teary eyes sometimes, but she gained her composure back in a couple of minutes. And she had cried a little harder a couple of times, but that was after she had gotten sad and a little teary. She got sad occasionally too but this, this was different. Tom could tell. Out of the two of them, it was Tom who had cried more and wept like there was no tomorrow when the dementors attacked. Tom had once thought that he was very thick skinned when it came to pain. Compared to Cordelia though, his skin was a flimsy paper to her parchment.
But right now, she was bawling her eyes out with millions of teardrops pouring out of her emeralds.
He was lost for words. He had never had to comfort anybody before her. He could comfort her sometimes and she usually bounced back into her chirpy self in few moments…but today he could not even figure out what had upset her.
This could not be just about Greengrass. The girl irritated her, yes. But he was the one got more annoyed and begged Lia for a reprieve.
What comforted Tom was that she was not moving away from him, her arms had snaked around his neck and she was leaning into him for support, so she was upset but she did not completely hate him yet.
"Lia…" he gently asked again. Her sobs turned softer until they were almost sniffles.
She just moved to bury her head in his shoulder and he immediately cradled her head is his palm in a comforting gesture and quietly asked, "What happened?"
"I love you…" She mumbled.
"I love you as well. But why is that making you cry?" Tom gently asked again.
"I don't know…" She mumbled back, breaking into a couple more, softer sobs. The sound was guttural to Tom. He could not see this or bear this. Cordelia was not supposed to get sad because of him. Today was supposed to be a happy day and just a simple quip from him had destroyed everything.
Tom would devolve into pitiful thoughts later, he needed to get a grip of the situation first.
"What would make you feel better?" He gently asked.
She hugged him tighter, "I am sorry."
"Why are you being sorry?' He asked again.
"I did not mean to get this upset." She cried out.
"Nobody means to get upset Lia. If you are feeling sad, you are allowed to express that to people you care about. You taught me that." He gently rubbed soothing circles on her shoulder and said comfortingly, "What made you sad?"
"I don't like Greengrass." She said, her voice was muffled because of how deeply she had buried her head in the nape of his neck.
"I don't like her either, if I could, I would sew her mouth shut." He seriously said.
"I have been a little jealous by the attention she has been given you and honest to raving mad as well. She just wants your title and money." Cordelia complained in between her sniffles.
"That is perfectly understandable." Tom encouraged her confession.
"I have been avoiding talking or conversing with her at all because I was afraid that I would lose my patience and just do something impulsive…" She confessed.
"Also understandable and very prudent. Although, I suppose we can do something clandestine." Tom nodded and lightly suggested.
He immediately got whacked on his shoulder but Tom did not mind as he knew that Cordelia had at least a ghost of a smile on her lips as she did that, even if he could not see her face.
"Don't test my control." She complained.
"Okay, okay. No jokes and no teasing and no encouraging your anger. Tell me more." Tom prompted.
"I don't know. I was a little miffed when you made that jab. Not at you really…I was merely annoyed that you managed to win the argument, but I had planned on stomping off to Walburga's rooms, get her to tell me some really juicy Greengrass gossip and demand that she be as nasty as possible in her words because the witch upset me. And Walburga would have done it and she would have called Dorea and Lucretia and we would have joked every Greengrass family joke and I would have been happier and I would have come back, cuddled with you and be all better." Cordelia kept sniffling.
Tom's shoulders released a tension he had not realized that he had been holding. If she had planned on cuddling with him, she was not angry at him at all.
But Cordelia was still crying softly, so gently asked, "So, what happened? Are you unhappy that I stopped you?"
"Do you think I am so crazy that I would cry about you trying to talk to me?" She said indignantly, still crying.
"No…" Tom said carefully, "But I am feeling a bit lost about what made you cry?" Tom admitted.
"I don't know…."She cried even more indignantly and separated from him in a huff and Tom got a look at her for the first time.
Her face was puffy, her eyes were completely red from all the crying and her lips were scrunched up in a pitiful grimace, her nose was flushed red and her cheeks had plenty of tears continuously rolling down of them. No, this was definitely different.
If possible, Tom's heart got even more clenched.
"I don't know…." She sniffled, "I was fine and then I felt this unimaginable sorrow and I can't help but cry….and I don't know why I am sad…And I am so sorry I am making you upset…"
And then it clicked in Tom's head, and he quickly reached, pulled back Cordelia in his arms, and cradled her head in himself a little gently and began murmuring, "Shhh, it is okay, I am not upset, don't you worry about that."
"Have the memories from older magicae's coming on to you sooner or faster?" Tom asked.
"I don't know. I wanted to focus on Carrow so I used leglimency to block them for almost a week." She murmured mournfully.
Tom could not help it and he whacked her on her head sharply. She knew blocking memories without processing them had consequences. She was the one who warned him multiple times while teaching him occlumency.
Cordelia looked at him in shock and began weeping with a new found sense of tragedy. Tom was aghast. What had he done?
"I am so sorry, I am so sorry, Lia. I was not thinking…." He immediately began blabbering apologies.
But she just cuddled into him, so he regained his composure and gently began saying, "I think the memories you blocked were particularly tragic and since you blocked them so to speak, they are all bombarding your shield now. The shield has probably gone weaker when your control slipped because of the irritation and the emotions of the memories are leaking through without the actual memory. Salazar mentioned that this sometime occurred with his wife Alessa."
"Oh…" she said a in a small voice, but her voice held the faint note of realization.
"I did not think that you had found anything on magicae or his wife in his journals. You said that he scarcely mentioned her.' She continued in a similar small voice.
Even in her sorrow, she was still as sharp as ever. Just how resilient she could be...
"He does not. But once Rowena was having a very big mental breakdown and none of them could figure out why. Salazar proposed this as a theory when they ran out of stuff to consider. He theorized that as Rowena was a very accomplished Occlumens, she had probably buried some sorrow that was coming back to haunt her." Tom explained gently.
"Oh, did she get better?" Cordelia mumbled, a little calmer now that she was a little distracted by the piece of information.
"She did although that was not what was wrong with her. She had accidentally eaten a depressant herb that she had stumbled in what is now the forbidden forest. Her curiosity for new ingredients for creating her diadem made her a little irresponsible on her excursion. While Godric laughed about it on her face for days, Salazar and Helga pulled her by the ears and scolded her for years about eating plants that she knew nothing about. But of course, when they found out, they merely waited for the herb to lose its effects."
"Wasn't she supposed to be wise?" Cordelia asked timidly; now completely calm with an occasional sniffle.
Listening to old stories distracted her. Good. That he could easily tell.
"She was…but I think she gained most of her wisdom from Helga, Puff and Salazar's mothering as she grew up. She was quite younger than them; nearly half of Helga's age, about 10-11 years younger than Salazar and about 4-5 years younger than Godric. She was very smart and curious and witty. Salazar often complains about her sharp tongue in his entries. She was a very fast learner of magic, she covered all that Salazar knew in about a year while she was also learning from Helga, Godric and even Puff. Puff worked with metals and she was quite curious about smelting and the like. Her penchant for trouble was only second to Godric though. Her curiosity landed her in a lot of trouble. While Godric went to look for trouble for the sake of trouble, Rowena landed in it by drowning in the thought of new knowledge. Salazar also grudgingly acknowledges that the knowledge and information she collected was worth all that trouble and more." Tom chuckled.
Cordelia's sharper eyes gave away her attention to what he was saying, so, Tom continued, "She had a really sharp tongue that even Salazar was afraid of but even she could not tame Godric with her sharp words, no, that job fell to Helga. And Helga only ever listened to Puff when she was on her tirade because of her steadfast nature and Puff was almost always outwitted by Rowena and Rowena was very afraid of Godric and Salazar when they hatched brilliantly valorous and sneaky plans to get her out of her books. So, I guess in that way, they all honed their personal traits by being near each other."
"That sounds nice," Cordelia acknowledged, as she gently tugged on his hair. She sometimes tended to do that when she was thinking something deeply. It was quite an affectionate gesture from her.
"In what way?" Tom was hell bent on keeping her thoughts away from what sorrows those memories would plague her from as he gently pushed her ringlets behind her ear, pecking her temple lightly.
"That despite every tale of greatness, the founders were people too. They had people they cared about and they made mistakes, a whole lot of them before they gained the formidable reputation we know of. And that they were a family. Helga and Puff sound like parents with Salazar doubling as Helga and Rowena's brother and Godric sounds like that naughty nephew or cousin or older brother who needs to create trouble for feeling worthy and of course, Rowena was the baby." Cordelia said, a very small smile gracing her face finally, as she snuggled into him.
"Tell me more…" She gently requested and Tom obliged.
He kept telling incidents from Salazar's journals. Several potion escapades of Helga and Salazar and the way Salazar helped Godric outwit a deal with a particularly malicious and scheming Goblin to get Godric his legendary sword and how Rowena would pester him to translate every goddamn thing that any snake they met ever said, how he and Puff together designed the Slytherin Dorms. Cordelia kept listening, mostly silently, but sometimes with curious questions or clarifications.
It was when Tom was describing the tussle of Helga and Salazar in how they wanted to design the gardens (prior to greenhouses) at Hogwarts that Cordelia's eyes began to drift shut and by the time Tom finished the tale, describing in detail how Rowena and Godric separated the two arguing adults by making them hover in the air and dumping them in the lake while Puff & Helga's eldest daughter and Puff himself watched, hooted and laughed hysterically, Cordelia was fast asleep with a peaceful expression.
He plopped a kiss on her forehead and carried her to their bed.
The warding stones entered the pouch again with his wandless magic and the pouch levitated itself and went into the desk of drawers that had Cordelia's knick knacks.
As Tom lay in bed, still cradling Cordelia in his arms, he realized that his patience today was a testament of how far he had come this year.
He had always held a disdain for crying above all emotional expressions. And despite Cordelia's every assurance, he had mentally berated himself for losing control over the dementor incident. He had thought himself weak and foolish and a sentimentalist. Today though, his mind had not even ventured towards those adjectives, not until now when he reflected on his change of attitude. All he had wanted to know and understand was her sorrow and her reason for crying.
He again bent down and kissed her cheek softly, lightly touching one of her ringlets. Thank goodness that it was just a bunch of residual emotions. The world would woe before he allowed it to make Cordelia cry like that again. It was too heartbreaking for him to tolerate that.
Tom's POV
When Tom woke up next morning, Cordelia had already squiggled out of his arms, but his pillow smelled much more comforting than he remembered. When he felt gentle fingers running through his hair, he realized that his pillow had been replaced with Cordelia's lap. He smiled despite himself and turned himself to face her.
She was engrossed in one of the old journals they had found in Room of requirement.
Honestly, Tom had been too busy gauging the history of Slytherin family through whatever documents and books or journals he had found in the vaults. Cataloguing all the books they had found in the room of hidden things had fallen on Cordelia's shoulders.
And Tom knew that she had found time for it despite being super busy because she eventually wanted to remove questionable and rare things from the room and store it in a respectable, acceptable place.
They had also been contemplating telling at least the inner circle about it, although they were still weighing the pros and cons of that. And Tom knew that she did not want anybody to just stumble around potentially dangerous stuff in the room.
She had plans in place for returning the books to families whose member had left them, or donating them to Hogwarts library. But of course, that was going to come in a bit later.
When Tom shifted his head a little more, it alerted Cordelia of his waking up and he was greeted with a bright, lovely smile. When Tom returned the look lazily and got up, she confessed sheepishly, "You will be pleased to know that sleep helped me settle the memories in place. I no longer feel the urge to cry like a baby."
"That is good to know." Tom nodded.
"Thank you for being so patient." She added.
Tom fixed her with a look, "I love you and I will always be there for you." He said pointedly, repeating her own statement that she had insisted on saying out loud every time Tom expressed the slightest bit of gratefulness for her presence.
He reckoned she would understand the sentiment behind it.
She nodded gingerly.
Just then, the door of the nursery opened and Nyx and Lux bounded towards the bed and Jormy slithered out as well,
"Order me a warm chicken with a hot sauce. I want to feast." She said pointedly.
"Of course, anything else my lady?" Tom barked out sarcastically.
"I suppose you could order some of the elves to polish my scales for me." She hissed back after considering for half a minute.
"With a little bit of fragrant steam." She added as an afterthought.
"Have you been exposed to such services before?" Cordelia asked diplomatically.
"But of course…" Jormy hissed delicately.
"Really, because what you are describing is close to Turkish bath and you have been nowhere near Turkey and your trainer never mentioned that he procured one for you." Cordelia said shrewdly.
"Okay…I lied." Jormy exclaimed melodramatically, "but one of the little companions of my trainer described it and it sounds so glorious, especially in this weather. You must simply do this for me."
"Jormy, come down from your high horse. We do not have time for catering to your excess." Cordelia said sharply, "We have classes to attend and work to do. So do elves. I can ask one of the elves to deliver some chicken to you if they are done with their routine duties. You are supposed to eat a heavy meal once a week and you have already had meals twice this week, that also quite chubby rabbits and you are barely one and half meter long and we still have three full days of a week left. At this rate, you will only feed your gluttonous stomach and lie about lazily all your life, gaining unjust amount of weight, developing several digestive problems and eventually dying because of that. Roam about in the living quarters, a little exercise will also make you warmer. Besides, all the living quarters have a running fire, how cold can you possibly be?"
If snakes could gape, then that is what Jormy was doing. Cordelia had been so endlessly patient with Jormy's incessant demands and habits and so the scolding likely brought a shock.
"Well, you should not have procured a companion if you are this busy." Jormy recovered a little later.
"How about we make a deal? You stop your high and mighty act and start being reasonable or Tom and I go back to following your trainer's instructions and training regime to the dot, which means only uncooked food once a week, a single perch by the fire and a reward based system where you will need to work for every other scrap." Cordelia said decisively.
"But you said that the system was barbaric for someone as sentient as me." Jormy said worryingly.
"Yes, and I stand by that. However, being sentient does not just entitle you privileges and rights, it also comes with duties and responsibilities and so far, Tom and I have only born witness to how gluttonous and spoiled you are. You do not use your intellect or your fast reflexes and you insist on being served hand on foot. You are worse than a non-sentient animal because even non-sentient animals have a regard and respect for their fellow beings and the laws of nature. They work and understand and follow rules even if they are not as intellectually capable as you are. I am afraid that I am putting my foot down now. If you insist on being worse and spoiled, then you deserve a worse kind of attitude and care from us. So until you act responsibly, no privileges!" Cordelia shot furiously.
Let no one tell you that Cordelia's soft heart did not have the kind of steel necessary for a ruling or disciplining hand. She could be quite firm and unyielding when she wanted to be.
And he knew that Jormy had no solution but listening to Cordelia.
"Take time till today's evening and then we will talk." Tom gave a stern look to the snake. She had spoiled his and Cordelia's mood early in the morning.
Erin was so much more reasonable.
Evelyn's POV
Evelyn had the most bizarre Thursday in ages yesterday. The entire incident of Carrow had shocked her beyond words.
Truly, she was no stranger to the woes of alcohol and the effect it had on men(Author note). Her Father's uncle was one such man, who sold out his own estate to feed his need for alcohol, nearly sold his wife and young son off as slaves. His grandfather and father had to step in and yet, her father had earned nothing but scorn from her Great uncle and his son, her cousin uncle. Her great aunt had died early too, very tense and stressed from the life her husband and son created.
Now the cousin uncle was much on the same path, alcohol and even other forms of bad habits, hiring prostitutes and what not… He was but 10 years older than Evelyn and she was well aware that he hoped that her father would name him the successor of the baron hood and the entire businesses and estates of the Adlers, considering Evelyn was his only progeny and of course, according to him, she lacked severely because she was not a man.
She was also aware that her father would rather let the family legacy die rather than leave anything to that bumbling fool.
Which is why, Evelyn had been trained in everything; estate management, politics, inner working of agriculture, diplomacy, dealing with difficult people, high society etiquette for men and on and on.
It had of course been supplemented by her mother's harsh training of female etiquette and lady like pursuits. Evelyn could play instruments, sing, ballet, plan parties, sew, embroider, arrange flowers, speak the language of flowers, manage a house or manor and converse and read in plethora of different languages.
Her father was extremely proud of her. Her mother, less so.
Her father had always joked that even if there was a goddess of etiquette and she graced the Adler Manor with her presence, her mother would still be able to find faults in her. Such was the perfection that Lady Adler practiced and insisted on imparting to her only child.
Evelyn had luckily been brought up in a household that had love and affection. Stern, her mother might be, but heartless she was not and deny as she may in her efforts to remain proper, she was smitten with her father.
Of course, she would never admit it out loud. It was not considered proper to bring such sentiments outside of their bedroom. But it was both her parents who taught her that these things always seeped in your daily habits, from the way you glance at people to the way a lady behaved around a man.
Which is why Evelyn could always tell when her mother was particularly pleased with her father, she always allowed him an extra desert on such occasions and those butter rolls that her father so loved.
Of course, her father showed his affections quite openly, from teasing her mother to giving her flowers on the dining table, her father always had a persistent, cheeky state.
When Evelyn had first seen Cordelia, she had thought that her mother would have loved Cordelia. Such nice manners, such grace, such regard and respect for people around her. That impression had not changed until the last term was ending and this term began, when she saw the mischievous side of Cordelia, her trouble-making nature, her absolute disregard for propriety when it came to Tom. It was then that Evelyn concluded that perhaps, Cordelia would be better liked by her father by her undying loyalty to the people she cared about.
And she knew her mother's entire approval might be a tad bit ambitious, but Baroness Adler would like Cordelia very much, if for nothing else than her headstrong, unyielding nature and the way she navigated the world of men with such a lethal grace.
Baroness Adler might not state it in so many words, but she was exceedingly proud of her husband's decision to bequeath his title to their only daughter. While she had a certain respect and need for propriety, she constantly also emphasized independence.
And Evelyn had never met any woman who was as cultured and independent as Cordelia, who constantly played with the boundaries of propriety, who challenged status quos and men, and never backed down without a fight.
When Cordelia had sat in front of the library ages ago, right after the Charles Potter debacle, and astutely placed Evelyn's position in the muggle world, Cordelia had nailed right on the crux of matter; what was Evelyn doing at Hogwarts when she had such an illustrious reputation in the muggle world. Even more so, how was Evelyn's absence being explained year round?
And the explanation of the absence was a challenge and it had taken her mother's art of deception and steady loyalty towards her daughter and her father's strength and wit and his firm belief in getting the best of education for Evelyn in everything to enable this.
Evelyn was very grateful to her parents.
Her parents had always been patient when weird things occurred around her, always so patient and loving. In fact, when one old maid had the gall to call Evelyn a demon child and shake her badly, her mother's temper had been…. Let us just say that was the only day Evelyn saw her losing composure. The maid was slapped right on the face and threatened to end and back, which was very unusual. All the servants in the house of Adler were entitled dignity, respect and consideration as they were an integral and irreplaceable part of a household. Besides, her mother very rarely even raised her voice; her icy, calm voice was sufficient to unsettle even Prime Minister Churchill. And that man was scary and tough as …
That her mother's temper had resulted in such a corporal reprimand, Evelyn knew that the insinuation of her daughter being compared to a demon must have rattled a lot of nerves.
The old maid was dismissed, that was the only thing Evelyn knew. And in fact Evelyn only knew that because as a child, she had refused to come out of her mother's closet, afraid of the maid who had manhandled her and comforted by the homely smell that encased her mother's wardrobe.
It was her father's gentle prodding and her mother's declaration that the old maid had been sent far away and would not ever return to harass Evelyn, which had made her come out of the closet into the open arms of her mother and she had wept fully in relief as her father put his arms around him for behind.
When Professor Dumbledore had come with an explanation for all the things Evelyn did when she turned 11, he had perhaps expected gratefulness.
He might have gotten that from her parents, if he did not magically confuse several servants when they tried to stop him or dissuade him and scurried right into their private living room where the three family members were spending some time together.
His explanation was that they were not passing his message to Mr. and Mrs. Adler.
"It is Lord and Lady." Her mother had succinctly corrected. Her mother did not usually rub that fact in the face of anyone, but the gall and rudeness of his entry had perhaps induced the righteous desire of teaching him some manners.
"And they were doing their job. We instructed for no disturbances. You could have left your message with them with instructions on how to contact you and we could have scheduled a meeting at a mutually convenient time." Her father had coldly pointed out.
The headmaster had genially pointed out that how he was here for their daughter and magic and how it was wonderful to see them and her, ignoring her father's statement and her mother's correction.
Her parents were exceedingly patient and had dropped everything they had planned for the day and as they listened to the regaling tales of Wizarding world.
They were not impressed, Evelyn could tell. Not because magic was not fascinating or wonderful, but because the man in front of them introducing them to that world was someone that they could see right through.
When Dumbledore had finally claimed that he would escort Evelyn to shopping if they handed her the appropriate funds, her mother had given him a polite smile and simply informed him that their daughter was not venturing into an unknown world with a strange man they had talked for barely an hour. Her father had nodded.
They accompanied her and Dumbledore and while he was a little taken aback, he had simply said that he had made the offer in light of their busy schedules.
"We were busy for strangers, not for our daughter." Her mother had quipped and watched in pleasure as how Dumbledore's congenial smile vanished.
While her mother and father had been very careful to not let their displeasure slip further in the whole trip, they did not take anything the man said at face-value.
While they shopped the Hogwarts list, her father and mother had made several notes about the wizarding world.
And while they returned with Dumbledore without much gusto or questioning, they had eventually traveled to London and visited the Diagon Alley on their own.
Among many things on the second visit, they had established a Gringotts account, subscribed to the Daily Prophet, scoured the local library and brought endless books on wizarding culture, history, current affairs, politics, professions and administration.
The next few months while she spent time of the muggle lessons, her parents had dissected every text and prepared everything that they and she should know before she formally entered the world.
Evelyn had been aware of the sentiment towards muggleborns and she had become aware of Grindelwald's plight to end muggles much before she came to Hogwarts, even though Dumbledore had conveniently hidden all information about the prejudice and the brewing war as he told them about the wonders of magic.
While her parents had been a little afraid, they had talked about it very rationally and practically.
They were not surprised by the hierarchy of pureblood families. They understood aristocracy and nobility much easier after all. They knew Evelyn could deal with the political end of it; she had been navigating the muggle nobility and politics for quite some time then. The only thing she needed to know was the customs of the purebloods and she would be set.
They had been a little apprehensive about the treatment of muggleborns at Hogwarts, but her mother had ultimately said that it would be almost like training for when she took over their estate. Men were bound to look down on her then and purebloods would look down on her when they learned together at Hogwarts and that she must not let that affect her endeavors.
Her mother had also said that while there would be those of staunch beliefs in purebloods, there would also be nicer, humbler nobles and Evelyn should not let one experience color all the people.
She had also said that while the 'light' magicals had good intentions towards muggleborns, they did not understand muggles too much. Their wonder about muggles came from a position of privilege so while they would be sympathetic to her, it would mostly be from pity or from amusement. While that was not as bad as the stance of dark wizards, it was still less than desirable. Curiosity was mostly innocent and quite understandable and she should not let that offend her unless it got invasive and patronizing, however unintentionally.
And of course, both her parents had emphasized that she must tell them if things or bullying got out of hand. It would not matter that they could not do magic, they would find a way to get her back and the school and the wizarding nobility could fumble around with their parlor tricks.
And they had warned her to be wary of Dumbledore, not to antagonize him and catch his attention in other ways and to slip under the radar. So even though Evelyn was a muggleborn, she had never been as enamored by the great Dumbledore as others.
Amara could not stop gushing about the wizard, his introductory visit, his power, his niceness, his wondrous magic; and she somewhat understood Amara's issues. Dumbledore was very clever and very manipulative. If her parents were not trained in politics and were not familiar with his type of schemers, she would have readily bought into the wondrous tales.
But the fact was she did not. Amara had no such insights and while Evelyn monitored Dumbledore's influence on Amara out of concern, she had not actively tried to dissuade her friend too much because the admiration so far had been harmless.
Evelyn had maintained a solid medium E in transfiguration. Neither poor, nor excellent for a Ravenclaw, so it did not ask for much attention. She did know more than she let on and practiced on her own but she had conveniently faded from Dumbledore's interest.
It had not taken much effort. Evelyn observed and understood things, but it did not mean that she was not timid or quiet or that she did not feel a compulsive need to not meet people's eyes unless she was very comfortable around them or needed to do it as a social protocol. Her curiosity could fire up her courage at times and she got brazen on few occasions but that was it. Otherwise, she preferred the shadows.
Dumbledore might have wanted to manipulate her for her status, but he had not. He was either wary of her parents or he had dismissed her.
Whatever it was, Evelyn thanked Merlin and Gods and goddesses all the same.
She had befriended Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors from her year. There was no muggleborn girl in Ravenclaw that was in her class. Ettington (pureblood) and Wildsmith (halfblood) had been friends for years before coming to Hogwarts and while they were very kind and nice, Evelyn never clicked with them as a close friend. It was quite like her state in the muggle world, where she rarely connected with people.
Stratton and McLaird were another story. Stratton was a halfblood, though with an attitude similar to Aimee Parkinson and both she and McLaird could not take their mind away from charming rich, handsome wizards and while they 'tolerated' and pitied Evelyn.
Amanda Halls, the 5th year muggleborn and she spent some time in the dorms together but when she had discovered Evelyn's highborn status, she had all but flung away. Evelyn suspected that her family had been wronged by highborn muggles and while Evelyn was sympathetic, it was not really her personal fault. She could even offer assistance to Halls, had Halls even bothered to look at her when Evelyn tried to engage in conversation since then.
Her friendship with Amara had bloomed in the first flying lesson. Both the witches were quite appalled at the thought of riding a cleaning supply. Amara was not highborn, and was at most, middle class but she had a very stern upbringing about cleanliness and proper behavior. Riding a broom went against that. Evelyn had known about broom riding from before that and while it had not come as a shock, it was still not desirable in the least.
Both of them had managed, giving each other logical arguments and brave encouragements and becoming friends by the end of it.
Her friendship with Mary Abbot was a result of Evelyn finding her softly crying after Leroy Smith had ridiculed her for her love of flowers in October of their first year.
Evelyn did not consider herself very good at cheering people up, but her learning in the language of flowers had come handy as she sat by the fellow witch and regaled different arrangements of flowers and what each meant until the witch forgot the rude, uncouth wizard and started asking curious questions.
Slytherin, of course, had been a house she stayed away from besides her occasional clandestine interest in the well-being of Tom Riddle.
That is, until Cordelia came.
Mary had said nothing but kind words about the witch on the train to Hogwarts in their fourth year as she filled her and Amara with the legends of beauty, wit and charm of the most unbelievable witch.
Which was surprising.
Mary was not a horrible gossip, but like all light magicals she had been affronted by the attitude of majority of Slytherins. The Blacks had sadly been one of them.
While it was true that nobody except Walburga had said anything malicious to them, the Blacks had been condescendingly ignorant of most others from different houses except for noble families, and while Mary was part of one noble family, Blacks had always pretty much glossed over her existence.
But Cordelia had noted Mary and talked to her and entertained her with a story or two about flowers and Veelas every time she met Mary. While it was not a full-fledged friendship with correspondence and the like, it was noteworthy that Cordelia had not only made the effort to seek Mary out in pureblood galas but also dutifully remembered their previous conversations in accurate and great detail over the years.
This sort of kindness or acknowledgment from a witch, who was constantly pulled by everyone: wizards, witches, adults, children, aunts, politicians, journalists, curse breakers and various other admirers, and who did not even live in the same country as Mary or go to the same school, was a testament to how different Cordelia was from the other Blacks.
And Mary was not the only one. Cordelia talked to everybody from all Hogwarts years and graduated groups and toddlers. If not a story, then you, at the very least, were greeted with a personal smile and wave of hand, or an honest, heartwarming compliment as the witch moved her way across the various ballrooms.
A budding socialite, Evelyn had thought then.
Oh, how wrong she was? There was nothing 'budding' about Cordelia Faye Black and if Evelyn had still been left with crumbs of doubt, they were ceremoniously flooded out with Cordelia and Tom's performance in the open meeting of last night.
That…that was the point of this entire trip into her memories of magic.
Cordelia had been right in her assessment: Evelyn was not naive and was quite observant.
And Evelyn was not just observant in some general ways; she understood the high politics of wizarding world and kept up with it the best she could, which was more than Mary did sometimes.
And on top of it, this term she had actively spent time with the Black sisters and Cordelia, who were really embroiled in the deep politics and discussed them like mundane topics and gossips over tea.
So, Evelyn had understood most of the machinations and power juggle of last night's meeting.
And she could not believe how utterly cunning Tom and Cordelia were. Really.
If her mother would have loved the Cordelia that she knew two days ago, then her mother would have showered Cordelia with kisses of appreciation for what she did yesterday.
Such intricate work at the age of 15 and 14, God bless them and God bless their opponents even more because they would need the blessings.
Those who did not catch the careful phrasing of every word the couple had spoken would miss that the couple had given away information intentionally and would not be able to hold them accountable for disowning Carrow publicly. Those who did understand and catch the phrasing would be smarter and refrain from doing so, mainly because there was no way that the wording that Tom and Cordelia gave away their intentions certainly.
You could not hold them accountable for anything but ensuring the calm of Hogwarts and reassuring student body of the continuing safety of the premises.
But they had done so much more…so much more as they tarnished and obliterated the reputation of Carrow, completely.
While Charlie and Burke were anticipating that the true information of Carrow's incident would spread to whole of Hogwarts and Heads of noble families by the end of the weekend, the truth was that Evelyn had since realized that the whole of Hogwarts would know exactly what happened by noon today.
People were talking; quite incessantly.
Noble lines were dissociating themselves from Carrow, other purebloods were doing the same while japing about it, and half-bloods and muggleborn were telling the injuries over and over with glee.
Carrow was more hated than Charlie and Burke had estimated.
While Cordelia had asked Mary and Amara to keep the information discussed to themselves for their personal safety, other noble lines had likely not delayed sending owls to families. Cordelia had not asked Evelyn to be careful because, she likely knew that Evelyn was smarter than that anyway.
Ettington and Wildsmith had made so many jokes about the entire debacle that Evelyn' stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing too much. Of course, they did not share rooms. Slytherins and Ravenclaws valued their privacy and had individual rooms but their rooms were in a single corridor and even the process of reaching your door and opening it, after the excited discussion in common room, was filled with multiple bouts of laughter. Meanwhile in the morning, once the news reached them, Stratton and McLaird could not stop talking about Julia Avery's poor fortune for landing a drunkard for a betrothed.
The entire meeting was a diplomatic victory of the highest order.
There were a few ill effects; Carrow had a younger sister in Ravenclaw and a cousin in Hufflepuff; Tempest Carrow in 1st year and Noah Selwyn, 2nd year respectively and they were under a lot of scrutiny.
Of course, Cordelia being herself had anticipated that.
Abraxas had lightly joked that Cordelia had made it a business to remember nearly every Wizarding family tree and would be able to tell all of them even the names and ages of Carrow third cousins, twice or thrice removed and such. He had received a quite painful stinging hex on his nose from Walburga, and a withering look from Cordelia, who thanked Walburga and proceeded to instruct Ogden and Bagnold about making announcements in their respective houses to stay away from the little members and if anyone even bothered them a little bit, they would be recipient of quite painful hexes apart from detentions and letters to the miscreants' parents.
They had also announced the same in the open meeting while Julia's hysterics were calmed down after a general note to give the aggrieved people space.
Evelyn also knew that Cordelia, Tom, Anastius, Alphard, Tiberius Ogden and Bagnold had met both the younger years a little before breakfast today and assured them of their safety and privacy with a promise that whoever bugged them would deal with consequences. Alphard and Anastius were present because they were not different than children in their tendencies and Tom, Ogden and Bagnold had sterner reputations than Cordelia.
Of course, this too had garnered appreciation from the crowd apart from bewilderment.
While their intention had not been to gain more ammunition for their defense for not defiling Carrow when they did this, it had nonetheless ensured that the school viewed ruling council as a body that cared for all aspects and all houses of Hogwarts.
Of course, that only cemented further because of Avery and Parkinson's indifference to both Selwyn and Tempest Carrow.
Evelyn noted the commotion in the Great hall as she carried her book bag to one free spot at the Ravenclaw table in Great hall to grab some lunch.
Yesterday's meeting had ended with the notification that the court and knights will not interfere with the projects in the Annual Showcase. Though, both of them did encourage people to take benefits from the court; that of of meeting new people from different houses and years, generating new ideas, and did warn people to not steal ideas and other people's work.
If there were more specific questions towards the court, they could be dropped in the court box and a meeting would be scheduled over a time on weekend if the need arose, though Evelyn doubted the necessity of that as she dug a spoon in her stew.
Cordelia and Abraxas immediately plopped in front of her as Evelyn dropped the spoon back in bowl after eating a spoonful. Evelyn hastily swallowed in her surprise.
"Hello Evie." Cordelia greeted her with enjoyment.
Evelyn gave her a confused look, "Is something the matter?" she asked softly.
"Nope," Cordelia popped as she served herself some stew and bread quickly.
"Actually there is. I will talk since Corrie needs to eat lunch and her schedule today is a nightmare." Abraxas quickly said, giving her a questioning look.
Evelyn just blinked at him and Abraxas looked at her patiently.
A motion from Cordelia's hand as she gobbled down a spoonful of food made Abraxas open his mouth and start talking really quickly, "So, Burke, Titania and I were talking and we would like to create a large alliance of different house members and years for the showcase to actually kind of demonstrate the point of it. Every year, as I am sure you have noticed, people only ever pair with close friends or their year mates or siblings. We would like to bring in people from different backgrounds and years and houses and show that while the showcase is about showing your talent, it is also about creating wonders with different people, not just of the magical kind, but of friendships and fun times and...you get the drift?" Abraxas gave her a questioning look.
Evelyn's nerves were starting to act out again so she responded with a faint question, that too to Cordelia as Cordelia put another spoonful in her mouth, "Where is Tom?" as she completely ignored whatever Abraxas had said and asked.
Cordelia's eyes widened in mirth and she started patting the table hysterically as she struggled to keep her mouth closed with all the food inside it.
Abraxas was gaping at Evelyn, looking quite offended.
Evelyn gained her wits quickly and addressed Abraxas, "I had not meant to offend. I was simply curious because…" She trailed off looking for a reasonable reason, "they are always together?" she finished lamely as a question.
'That they are…" Abraxas easily agreed, his scandalized expression disappearing with a thoughtful look. Cordelia quickly swallowed her food with a goblet of water and told Eve, "Do you see Tom talking to 50 odd people individually to get them to work on a project with him?"
Abraxas snorted and Evelyn shook her head. So, Cordelia rolled her eyes upwards and began gobbling down food quickly and prompted Abraxas to speak, but before he could, Evelyn again interrupted, "Where is the train?", wondering Cordelia's lightning flash speed for eating food.
Abraxas turned to look at Cordelia, expecting her to answer and Cordelia looked highly annoyed. So, she quickly swallowed and glared at Abraxas, "What was the use of bringing you if I have to do all the talking?"
"But…" Abraxas sputtered.
Then Cordelia addressed Evelyn, "Were you not listening Evelyn? Nearly 50 people…talking takes time and I have classes and I also have to go and sit in infirmary and do homework and…."
Evelyn put a halt to her tirade with a gesture to stop, "I will be glad to be part of your endeavor. What are we planning and who all are…"
"I will owl you." Abraxas promptly said.
She nodded to show agreeability, though her stomach was doing cartwheels at the thought of receiving his majestic owl again.
"That settles this then. Orion, Abraxas, Lucretia and Irene Cole are handling communication for the project, so any one of them will owl you." Cordelia nodded in agreement, quickly got up, snatched her satchel and started hurrying off while grumbling, "I shall see you in a bit. I have to catch hold of Ian and make him write a letter to his mother. You would think that I am his keeper or something?"
Evelyn's stomach deflated instantly. What was wrong with her?
Then she noticed that Abraxas was still sitting across from her as he laughed after Cordelia's comments.
He sobered up and offered her a smile, "We are meeting for the project at 2 this Saturday as that does not clash with any club meeting or Quidditch practice or wireless quidditch commentaries or other stuff. Even though it is after lunch, we think it might last till 4 or 5 so we will also be serving refreshments. Although I suspect Corrie is going to go overboard and is going to end up having a mini high tea all the same."
Evelyn could not help; she broke a huge smile at his quip.
"She tries to do too much. I was glad that she decided to delegate everything for the project." Abraxas sighed.
"Was it not your, Burke and Titania's idea though?" Evelyn could not help but ask, her curiosity trumping her rebelling nerves.
"That it was…" Abraxas nodded thoughtfully, "but Cordelia has this leadership aura. When we took the idea to her and to others and finished explaining, everyone including Titania and Burke looked towards her for approval and then to plan, and select and gather people. Tom would have gotten similar looks, was he not busy with Jormy. Cordelia had to pointedly tell us that it was our pet and that we better take charge of it and she was merely a violin and not the conductor on this one. When people were still gaping in confusion, she just sighed and took charge because no one was willing to and assigned out duties to everyone and agreed to talk to everyone at Burke's behest." Abraxas shook his head.
"Just how many more people are on the list?" Evelyn asked, concerned now.
"It is more than 50. But well, we finished Slytherin, which had the maximum people; all the 6 Blacks, Tom, Anastius, Irene, Hebe, Prince, Nott, Pritchard, Arch Harper, Titania, Burke and I. Gryffindor has Frobisher, Alixan, Tufts, Bolton, Sebastian, Marks, Doge, Charlie, Hardison, King and Gambol. Hufflepuff has Babbling, Cadwaddler, Whisp, Abigail, Mary, Vector, Wright, Applebee, Bones, Rupert Macmillan, Yeats, Ogden and Podmore. Ravenclaw has you, Shafiq, Foster, Timothy, Ettington, Wildsmith, Ollivander, McKinnon, Gore, Kershaw, Vance and Burbage. We are left with about 30 more people. Cordelia would likely tell Sebastian and Charlie that they are working with us now and Ogden got on board this morning and of course, you agreed. " Abraxas rattled off names from his memory.
Evelyn was quite impressed with his memory and the selection of the people. The group was truly diverse; muggleborns, halfbloods, purebloods and noble purebloods, all were included. It was also evenly distributed across all four houses and the 2 genders. Cordelia's doing, no doubt.
"No first years and second years." She noted.
"We were considering, but it would swell more numbers and a few members are not very comfortable with including them in the development stage. We might rope in them for a few roles later." Abraxas shrugged.
"And no Bagnold either." She pointed out.
"She kind of inspired this. She challenged Burke over the showcase, something about his idea not topping hers." Abraxas admitted.
"So, he planned an inter house bonanza in response." Evelyn asked incredulously.
"Slytherins are known to get competitive." Abraxas answered with a boyish grin, quite pleased to admit that.
"Too right, " Evelyn murmured, "I remember McKinnon laughing over Corner in my first year, something about not betting against a Slytherin."
"Oh, you have no idea. I remember quite leisurely that a previous prefect went as far as to stage a herd of hippogriffs in the great hall to win an argument." Abraxas' smile widened.
"That is quite bold for a Slytherin." Evelyn commented, a little stupefied.
"Oh, no, no! He did not get the hippogriffs physically here by himself." Abraxas shook his head in denial quickly and then grinned with bright eyes, "He got a Gryffindor to do it."
"That explains it." Evelyn admitted, relaxing in relief as if Abraxas' single statement had righted her entire world again.
Just then, Tom dropped by Abraxas' side. Just what was happening today, so many Slytherins on Ravenclaw table.
Tom looked might annoyed as well.
"Where is Lia?" He asked in a short voice.
Abraxas' smile vanished and he looked worried, "She went to look for Sebastian. Something the matter?"
Tom unwittingly relaxed and admitted, "Dumbledore is trying to make trouble. He has been asking around for confirming my and Lia's whereabouts yesterday. I was worried that he had cornered her. We have reason to think he uses mind arts unjustly and while Lia is no slouch, I did not particularly like the idea of him cornering her all the same."
"He is trying to pin Carrow's accidents on you." Abraxas exclaimed with disbelief.
Tom nodded, his mind elsewhere, likely on Cordelia.
Evelyn would admit that even she had thought that Cordelia could have done something to Carrow. Not because she had a cruel streak or anything, but simply because Evelyn had noted that Carrow had dropped the Erumpent fluid in Tom's cauldron. And Cordelia was known to keep grudges and get even. She doubted that other people had such insight into the Black Heiress, so just why Dumbledore would try to pin it on them.
Besides Cordelia had been nowhere near Carrow yesterday. Nor had Tom. Evelyn had classes with Slytherins all day. And honestly, the entire incident was too much….it was too random and all over the place. No way was it planned.
"Well, Dumbledore has never made his disapproval of me a secret and of course, he is after Cordelia. She singlehandedly handed him his probation." Tom murmured, quite clearly bothered.
That was true.
Tom looked so worried and Evelyn knew that this was not because of himself, it was his worry over Cordelia that was handicapping him.
"But he has no proof at all and you both have several witnesses. Besides, if he dares to move against Cordelia, the board of Governors will hand him his dismissal on a platter. Also, Lord Carrow, in his quest of minimizing damages, would not incur the wrath of House of Black and Malfoy by accusing her. It is a political suicide. Cordelia is too well liked," Abraxas astutely pointed out.
"I am afraid getting us convicted or investigated as suspects by DMLE is not his motive Abraxas. Dumbledore is smart enough to know he has no case or probable cause against us. But his snooping would cause rumors and while some people might dismiss them knowing that Dumbledore is an old manipulative codger, there would be those that believe in it, or at least find it credible enough to discuss it. He is trying to discredit us somewhat and while Cordelia and I can deal with Dumbledore and Lord Carrow or Aurors or even ill public opinion, we cannot account for how students will react. I just don't want to let Lia get hurt by some of Carrow's cronies or female admirers or some vigilante justice figure or whatever. While Lord Carrow might distance himself with such shenanigans publicly, he will likely reward any person who believes in the story of Carrow being attacked and propagates it from the shadows." Tom briefed Abraxas quickly and quite agitatedly.
Tom understood the politics just as well as Cordelia and when he put it like that, Evelyn could not deny his words at all. After all, she was well aware of Dumbledore and his manipulations.
"We will accompany her at all times. You share your classes with her and I will even ask Mary and Amara and if she has to use the restrooms or something, we will always accompany her. People are less likely to act with potential witnesses." Evelyn quickly offered.
Abraxas nodded in agreement, "Let's go find her. We can let the inner circle know and we will find some way to counter Dumbledore's underhanded moves. Don't worry, we won't let her get harmed again."
Tom's eyes regained some light and he decisively gave a single, sharp nod.
AN: It had barely been the Valentine's day in my part of the world and for some reason I ended up sleeping early in the evening and then became up like a night owl. I guess the universe wanted the chapter up. But unfortunately then, I came across a rather dogmatic article and started penning a response to it and then slept off again and then the all day of classes. But it is still in time, so be happy!
This was a little break from the political tangent the story is going to take. Rest assured, there will be meaningful fluff like this all through the story but I am not too much into repeated similar fluff (By that I mean, well the fluff will move the story forward in some way and just not function simply as a break in the bigger storyline. That just annoys me, I guess).
As stated in the previous chapter, a directory of characters is posted on my profile. The directory does not tell a story. It is just there to keep track of things like the houses, years and first names of several characters. All the information may or may not be utilized in the story, but if it is important it will come up.
Few previous chapters are in the process of being corrected from inconsistencies. If you remember any, feel free to PM me or leave a review. (The list of them is not up yet, and if it will come up, it will be a tiny section of my profile)
Next update: a month from now.
PLEASE REVIEW.
