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
"What does it say?" Tom would ask as Cordelia poured over the letter.
"It is telling me that we cannot in good conscience leave Carrows alone anymore." Cordelia would say rather ominously, sighing and exchanging a dark look with Tom.
Chapter 38
Tempest
Tom's POV
If Tom were to be honest, he had not paid much thought to what Carrows were upto since Cordelia's rather savage revenge. Their spy network had been able to confirm that the resources of Carrows were going into Albert's rather fraught recovery.
The last news had been that they had been having trouble with his limbs.
They could not possibly have it in them to cause more trouble, not until they were in good hands.
Of course, he had not expected the letter from Cordelia's cousin.
It was not about Albert Carrow at all. It was about his sister, Tempest, who was a first year in Ravenclaw where Kyran was a prefect.
Serial signs of abuse. The girl was afraid of her own shadow.
Most people took it for meekness, as most pureblood daughters are trained to be.
Only Kyran had seen her and her cousin Noah exchanging burn salves and balms like it was a daily routine.
He was not sure about Noah because he was a Hufflepuff but it was getting a little harder to ignore.
Albert had been rather cruel to both of them but Kyran did not know who to involve. His family was decently influential and pureblood but not a noble.
After Albert's accident, things had gotten worse. All the Carrow children had gone home for a bit. Since her return, every time Tempest got a letter from home, she wilted away. Last week Noah's father had been there, and the two cousins were worse off.
Kyran tried to help but they had all but lied away to avoid detection. He was not sure what to do.
But Cordelia's stance on protecting them even after what Carrow did gave him some clue, so after much deliberation he decided to bring it to her and Tom's notice.
"You don't look very surprised." Tom would say.
Cordelia's lips were perused in anger and disgust.
"I know Noah's father. He is capable of this," Cordelia said.
"Lord Selwyn is ascended the lordship after a hostile takeover. He is Lord's Carrow's younger brother. He married the only daughter of Selwyns. It was a manipulated, ghastly affair. The nobles know that she is bound to be unhappy. She is also likely severely abused. But of course, no one says anything because she has never asked for help. To interfere in a noble marriage on mere suspicion is a little foolhardy." Cordelia would inform.
"His brother had been rather proud of Lord Selwyn's machinations. And as you can see from Albert, all of them have a cruel streak. The problem here is not identifying whether it is happening or even convincing the court that it is. It will not be gathering evidence or testimony to make a solid case. It will be their removal through underhanded means. Even with an iron clad case, it is going to be difficult to make them pay. Our best bet is to offer protection to those two without pointing names. If their mothers cooperate." Cordelia would say.
"They won't take it. They won't accept that things are happening. It is a classic tactic." Tom would assert.
"They won't, not in the beginning. Victims of abuse either are extremely influenced by the abusers or seldom give blind trust easily. From what Kyran is describing, they fall into the last category. Also, the fact that we hurt their family is not going to be taken well. The direct aid cannot come from us." Cordelia would say.
"Kyran won't be a good candidate. He is in a position of authority; they will be disinclined towards him. Moreover, they were raised amongst noble politics. They are aware that Kyran has little political clout." Tom would say.
"Gore is too rough, too light. And has no connection to them. Rowle is a man. Not exactly…" Cordelia quickly went through their list.
"Let us sleep on it." Tom would suggest quietly, "We have had a long day. What with King and all this. We are not thinking very clearly. A few hours won't make a difference. Maybe write back to Kyran and set up a meet. He could have insights or know details that he did not include in the letter. This needs careful maneuvering even if we are going to protect those two."
Cordelia's POV
She had written to Kyran, requesting a meet. At this point, they needed more information to strategize before going blind with blazing wands. Tom was right.
She uncoiled an asleep Styx and Ladon from her palms. They both often fell asleep coiled around her, but now that she was heading to bed, she could not risk any injury she might cause them in sleep.
She woke up with a sense of despair in the wee light of the morning, a sad song playing in the deep crevices of her mind. Her magic thrummed.
Tom was asleep, his entire being still exhausted. The revelation of the Carrow bit had weighed on their mind long after they had gone to bed.
At the orphanage, Tom had strangers inflicting things on him.
The fact that pureblooded families who had trouble conceiving children were abusive, she knew Tom felt more than outrage.
Their rage was simmering underneath their wise words and careful suggestions and remarks.
Of course, they had plans. For future, when they would protect these kinds of children, give them home and responsible adults who would be warm and available guardians. Vesta, the one who would never deny you hearth and warmth and protection.
Cordelia had not pictured that they would have to move this soon.
Tom was still a child. A very wise, powerful child.
In fact, living in this body, interacting with their peers, locking her memories away, she had started feeling more like a child each day.
She liked it; the affordances of being a child and being carefree.
They had few precious days of quiet.
It was being snatched away before she was ready to give it away.
And then these thrums of magic, crazy thrum of it. Something was coming.
And then she heard it, a faint, but collective whisper of "We need you Magicae,".
And suddenly, she understood why that song of despair was so familiar. Veelas were dying to protect their nest.
Cordelia used a switching spell to don her armor and dissaparate to the call of the song.
Cordelia's POV
The long duration of the squeeze had given her an inclination, but the icy blasts on wind and the white terrain gave it away. The central nest in Bulgaria was under attack.
There was no blood or fire or screams, but the weight of the magic that did not belong was there.
The attackers were working on the wards. Not to dismantle them but bastardize them, manipulate them into making the nest inhabitable and draw the veela out.
Of course, veela once made to submit, made for excellent sexual slaves.
Cordelia found the entrance, the secret bestowed to her as an honor and duty at a very tender age and she heard the song.
Music was magic. Veela did not use it to merely seduce. The perverted mind of wizardkind just never saw beyond that.
Veela used music as a medium of magic instead of spellwork. In fact, their collective song was one of the finest examples of collective, harmonized magic. The other ones were merfolk.
Right now, their sadness entwined in the song, their love for their home laced their magic.
And that battled and kept the darkness that seeped into aeons old wards made of communal love, peace and stability.
She did not have the time to convene. To ask what was needed of her. There was no time to spare, and she could not break that song .
They were using cursed blood, blood of hate and hunger to chip away the tendrils of the intricate wards. It ate on them like acid and at places; it sucked away the strength of love to power its hate.
Creature magic of the vampires. There was only one clan who was powerful and dared to dabble so expertly in black arts, degrading their lifesource in such a way.
And it seemed like Grindelwald was whispering to them. He himself was not present, but the new formations and runes of blood were beyond the knowledge of vampires.
Veelas alone would stand no chance.
Thankfully , Cordelia could do blood magic and understood wards. She felt love for this singing brethren who had opened their doors and hearts. She felt love for the man whose bed she had left behind. She felt love at the thought of sharing this piece of magic with him.
And she was magicae. Her blood and magic were so potent even without the overwhelming love. Her magic could not merely defeat or overpower other magics, it made other magics its own.
So, she cut her palms on the ward stone and see streams of her blood flow down and them scatter into tiny units until every wall of the nest, the mountainous shelter, all of it had her being, magic and love embedded in it.
It did not fight the vampires, instead it welcomed them, engulfed their blood and magic, until all that was left in the wards was her and the song of veelas.
She would fall. Whether it was sleep or into a haze, it wasn't very apparent. But she would wake with her head nestled into the palms of the veela matriarch.
They would talk once she was looked over.
"How must you love this man for you to pour so much of your love into our wards?" She had whispered to Cordelia.
Cordelia did not deem this with an answer.
"I will be truthful, child. I owe you that. You came here as a whittle child and wormed your way into our hearts. We knew of your potential, but magicaes have come and gone, dying painfully or in obscurity or both, never serving their purposes. We valued you despite it. Your powers meant less to us than the faith you inspired in us."
"I was concerned when you asked that protection for him. Few people know and I would not be surprised if you already know but Veela also have a sight. We see or rather feel the potential feelings of the coming years and the people it surrounds. It is rare. The predictions don't go outside the council. And we only ever rely on the wisdom of it to make larger decisions for our protection.
"We saw your lover and what he would bring about. And then you asked for protection for him. Here I thought, abandoned by a magicae yet again for their mate, like any other magicae before. All of your predecessors had a fatal flaw. They loved too deeply. It is something within your nature, that forgiveness, acceptance and love for things and people and creatures beyond repair. It makes you otherworldly and so kind because you give chances when none would. You see redemption when we would not imagine it. But it has always worked against them. They loved their closest too much to adhere to the magical cause, dying pitifully, magicaes of all genders. Because they did not know how to channel that love, they did not how to grapple with it, those humongous valves of feelings with the duties of what a magicae is supposed to be. It quickly overwhelmed them and their reason.
"I was also aggrieved because you asked protection for such a man. Our sacred ties and magic of love ties protecting and caressing the being that would bring such vileness, such despair…I thought you would be our reckoning, the magicae who would turn to Black Arts for her love instead of simply dying.
"The feelings around you remained the same and we keep an eye on you. I held on to hope and finally an acolyte got a glimpse of feelings that now hanged around him and gone was the vileness. That is why I asked for time. I wasn't just stalling. I needed to know if those feelings last.
"And now you are here, and the love that you hold for that man holds my nest together. Such powerful love that overwhelmed the council; such love that it drowned ages of our harmony song with its power. And I understood the plights of those magicae, oh I understood it. To contain within such love, such unbridled feeling for someone else, no wonder they perished in its endlessness.
"But you also proved me wrong. And you also proved me right. My faith was not wrong when it attached itself to you and fostered hopes where none were plausible. I chose right all these years ago. And I was wrong to stall you, to deny you protection for the one you love. You channeled your love for him to protect us. Your pure feelings for him fought off that vileness. You came at the first call. You did something that no magicae has done before. You did not deny duty while reeling from a love. Your mate is not your weakness but your strength and I will protect and nurture your bond. I will not give you what you asked. The shards of amerlien will not last as your love would pass through it. You must have something stronger."
Cordelia was handed what looked like a hollowed cylinder.
"Tear glass,' Cordelia would murmur as she enclosed it in her fingers.
"It comes from the altar of grief. It is worn down through ages by tears stemming from love even in pain and loss. It has imbibed our song and magic and our love. It will understand your intent to protect your beloved." The Matriarch would say.
"You do not give this lightly?" Cordelia would say; her voice low.
"I do not." Matriarch would nod, "You are thinking I do not understand what you did. Your blood spread through our wards, you protected us for perpetuity."
"It is the job description," Cordelia would say a little coolly. It did not sit well with her to be stalled.
"You are angry." Matriarch would say.
"The problem, High Matriarch Radomira, is that not only did you stall me, you also kept me in dark. You did not just question my integrity but you also knowingly denied help under your veil of precaution. I could have dealt with a rejection from Veelas with your reasoning or without it. I do not deal well with people who try to play me, not when it comes to Tom. I understand you. You are trying to protect your people at all costs. Tom is my person. I will protect him at all costs. I hope you develop empathy for my stance. I am no longer the whittle child. I am Magicae and as much as my allegiance is to magical creatures, their allegiance is to me. Do not forget that." Cordelia whispered in iron tones.
With that, she disapparated. She had lost consciousness briefly. She had not erected wards, just lend them her strength but magic still acted like a muscle. Too much flooding weakened her. She was not even sure how much time had passed.
Tom would be worried.
Cordelia's POV
Turns out, she need not have worried. She made it back by noon and Tom had not questioned her much.
"I thought you were researching on Carrows." He would say. He was in his study, books and tomes scattered everywhere.
She did not correct him. She was exhausted, not just for the use of magic but because of everything the matriarch had said.
Mates were the bane of a magicae.
She had been so angry at the Matriarch. So very angry.
But she also knew the ugly truth.
If it came between choosing Tom or magic, she might just choose Tom. If Tom had not taken her guidance on Black magic, if he had still clung to it, she would be one of those magicae who were great but terrible. Because she would not have struggled to deny magic.
Her love transcended sanity sometimes and it had scared her at one point. But now, the acceptance was easier than breathing.
But she had never taken well to meddlers or people molding her to do things, not even the divine kind. The matriarch would need to make amends.
"The Veela called me. I got the protection." She told him shortly. She died a little because she was emulating Dumbledore. In her quest to keep her secret a little longer, she was keeping things from Tom. She had not lied but she had not told him a whole lot.
He nodded rather distractedly.
"I was looking up clauses that could help us. There is nothing on abuse here. Loads on adultery on behalfs of females. Loads on children who do not obey heads, but nothing on heads who are cruel!" Tom literally threw a book rather harshly on a desk.
"How is it that people who hold so much political and social powers are the ones protected by law? Should it not be the other way around? Catering to those who are vulnerable?" He would rant.
"That is the way of the world, Tom. And you know that. You are just angry because you feel helpless." She said simply, as she removed her snow-laden cloak.
Tom just sighed, "You were right. We do not have a legal case. The best we can do is offer protection without too much fuss. Maybe create a power weight and lean on the Carrows to give guardianship to someone else or allow them to stay somewhere else."
"Well, the only way that would happen is if holding on to their two children becomes a liability for the Carrow brothers. Tempest might be easier because she is a girl and a spare. Noah is the Heir and he carries the Selwyn name unlike his father and the Selwyn blood. If we get him emancipated, he would topple his father. No, Actaceon Carrow will want his son close and subdued. His father cannot know what we are planning until it is too late."
"Then we get him emancipated. He becomes a head. His mother is a regent and they can take in Tempest." Tom said.
"Josephine Selwyn is a tricky idea. She was the only daughter of the main line. A line that has largely been Grey and Hufflepuff. If we go by what was on the grapevine, Actaeon always wanted the headship, but his brother was supposed to get it. Instead of a discord, the two brothers allied up. Actaeon romanced Josephine and used a very strong contract for their marriage, one that not only gave him the headship but stripped her of her vaults, limited her social circle and turned her into a puppet. She does not even have the title of a lady from what I heard. Selwyns have been leaning towards the dark ever since in the wizangomot because Actaeon has been voting. There is nothing wrong in changing political stances but what he supports is not old, dark values. He upholds bigotry and hatred. Uncle can't stand either of the brothers. Calls them a blot on nobility and dark faction. So, Noah's mother Josephine either hates Carrows or she is so subjugated that she might give in our hand." Cordelia filled him in, "But of course, this is vague knowledge. I will write to Aunt Cassy and dig up the real dirt. I will tell her it is a precaution after all the Carrow has pulled up. She will buy it."
"Emancipation!" Tom would assert.
"I am not rejecting the possibility of it but we cannot rely on it as our main play. Emancipation is given under extenuating circumstances before your OWLS even by Goblins: Early magical maturity or line extinction or dangerous circumstances. But even in those scenarios, usually the wisdom of the child is seen by the court and the goblin artefacts. I did not bring it up with you when we were discussing your case because everyone can see the strength of your magic and wisdom. And you were from an ancient line. Noah is too young for magic to judge him capable enough for charge of himself. Moreover, court is not an option but even then, they might not consider it viable because of Josephine. She was emancipated as the last of the line and she married a man and gave over charge of her house to him when she was fifteen. A blunder." Cordelia shook her head.
"Then what the bloody hell do we do?" Tom yelled, raking his fingers in his hair.
Cordelia flinched.
"I am sorry Lia, this is getting to me." Tom would swallow bile and apologize immediately.
"I get it. I would like to speak to Kyran before I jump the gun and I would like to hear back from Aunt Cassiopeia. However, I was thinking of a sponsorship for both of them. Not by Blacks, of course. It is a little different from Evelyn though. The right term would be Fostering. Noble families hosting another noble family's kids. It was done for various reasons, potential courtships, financial gains, learning different magics, strengthening noble ties. The upside is that the guardianship is handed over to the foster family. They pay for their ward, host their ward and take oaths to ensure their well-being. For instance, Tempest would always be a daughter of House Carrow, but she would always be welcome amongst her foster family." Cordelia said.
"Another drastic measure if things don't work out is a powerful blood adoption. The downside is that they would lose their allegiance: Noah would not be a Selwyn and Tempest would not be a Carrow. It is too drastic and frankly, if Actaeon makes Albert his heir, the cycle of Carrows controlling the Selwyn seat will never end. It has larger political implications. But if I get the slightest whiff of Noah being more unsafe, I would prefer to take this call over making a martyr out of him." She would sigh and slump down to the carpet.
She really was exhausted. Magically and emotionally.
She had the strongest urge to snap at Tom. Tell him that she was abused by family in her life as Juniper. He was hurt by strangers, she was...She understood Noah and Tempest probably better than he did. She had their best interests at heart. She just was not losing her head over it.
Of course, there was the fact that she had locked away her emotions attached to the memories. So, she was much, much more pragmatic than Tom right now.
She could not hold this against him.
In fact, this just added on to more guilt of whatever she had done in regards to him. Sure Tom has his lordship and friends. He even had love.
But she had taken his agency away. As much as she loved him and it was a lot by the magic that had poured out her in the veela sanctums, she did not have the strength to face him.
She sometimes wondered if her love and obsession were worth it. With her emotions, she had been convinced that her love was the only thing. With her emotions, she had been convinced that she would follow Tom anywhere, take his hatred if he gave it but still remain at his side.
Now that she had his love, she was not sure if she could even bear to see anger directed at her within his eyes. She had flinched for the same reason.
Tom was not unreasonable in his frustration. It was just hard for her to be a disappointment to him.
Her morbid thoughts were interrupted by him. His arms were wrapped around her.
"I am sorry for yelling. And for just bombarding you with information and …You have not slept at all, have you?" Tom murmured.
She just hugged him tighter. Despite her guilt and shame, Tom was the only source of her comfort in this world.
She would apologize heartily when it came to it.
"No, I did not." She would murmur, "And the song of Veelas can be emotionally draining once it ends."
But the next minute, she had pulled down his head to her lap. It was easier to focus on his pain than hers. Tom wrapped his arms around, snuggling into her belly.
"We will help them, I promise." She murmured.
Tom's POV
They were meeting Kyran for lunch in the kitchen. Most of the Hogwarts that had remained in the castle during the easter break was in Hogsmeade, taking a break from the impending study schedule.
House elves were discrete unlike Three broomsticks' staff. Most importantly, no one would wander and just happen to listen to fragments of their conversation.
"Heir Slytherin, I was expecting my cousin as well..." Kyran was polite but you could tell he was entirely uncertain about this.
"Oh please call me Tom and please join the table, Mr. McKinnon. Cordelia is just speaking to the head elf. He had a couple of requests for her." Tom would say.
"Kyran please and he is not planning on quitting on Hogwarts to work for the Black Heiress, is he?" Kyran made a small joke.
"I doubt it. He adores her, but he is also very dutiful about Hogwarts." Tom would say with a small smile.
"I am so sorry, Kyran, Duncan held me up. You were not waiting long, were you?" Cordelia settled on the third chair of the dining table that had been set up for them.
"I just arrived," Kyran would shake his head.
"Well, I believe formal introductions are in order. Tom, this is my cousin Kyran. The smartest of them all. When we were young, we both used to instigate Alphard to play pranks on Walburga. And we were never caught. When we got older, we threw barbs around at bigoted aunties and uncles." Cordelia would smile through the introduction. Kyran looked embarrassed.
"And Kyran, this is Tom, he is formally my suitor. Informally, he is well, my Tom! He is scary and intimidating but he is big softie for people that I care about." Cordelia would go on to introduce him. He had a sudden, strange empathy for Kyran.
Cordelia had never formally introduced him as her suitor. She had never had to offer introductions. And Kyran was family, so he supposed it was morgana, did she have to make him blush?
And she was fond of Kyran. He could tell.
"How shall we pay you back for that introduction?" Kyran would smile, "She was so adept at intentional magic when we were toddlers that one time she transfigured her pigtails into snakes to scare off Leroy Smith. When he blabbed back to elders, she gave such an innocently wild look with glistening eyes that he got smacked. She even got extra dessert to stop her from crying."
"Which I shared with you, thank you very much." Cordelia harrumphed.
"Were you incidentally there when she threw Renatus across the room?" Tom would ask curiously. Cordelia groaned.
"She told you about that? I was and it was the most delightful thing ever. He went around telling people to stop looking at Cordelia because she was his. He changed his tune very quickly after that." Kyran would laugh.
"As if I would put up with someone so…" Cordelia sobered up.
"My apologies," Kyran would say immediately.
"No, no Kyran. We cannot simply ignore the bad things because they make us uncomfortable. That does not just make us complacent, it makes us complicit." Cordelia would say.
"I know it is a difficult conundrum I have brought to you." Kyran would hesitate.
"Difficult and complex, but righteous." Tom pushed in.
"How much do you know of the Carrow family dynamic? It is fairly well known to me and I filled Tom in somewhat. I am not sure how much is known outside the noble circle." Cordelia would ask.
"Not much. Except the two lords seem to have a cruel streak, something Heir Carrow inherited. They would be the far radical dark faction; the one that gives the association of evil and dark a justification. The family has firmly been in that faction for some time. I am aware that Selwyns and the Carrows could not have happened simply. There is something wrong in the marriage. I scurried old newspapers in the hope of finding the details but I could not find anything. "
"You probably would not. It was a scandal of nobility. They covered it up," Cordelia said gently as their first course appeared.
"My interest is also very nascent. Tempest is a first year and I only came across Noah through her. I took the initial quietness and withdrawal to be something else. You know you don't jump to conclusions, especially about nobles. And it was mere suspicion because it felt odd. First years can be quiet because they are away from home and all the things prefects are made aware of. I saw the bruises accidentally. I actually thought that someone senior was bullying her, but a daughter of Carrows! Who would be foolish enough? I still asked but she made up something and completely switched the conversation. I completely forgot it until I realized that she had deliberately distracted me. I kept my eyes open and started observing patterns. Those two always met outside kitchens the day one of them ran into Albert. Rubbing salves. It was a little after the Potter thing happened and then you fell into…"
Tom stiffened. The memory was not welcome.
The blood, the fall, Cordelia's pale features…
Cordelia got hold of his hand and squeezed it. Tom glanced at her bright eyes and glowing face and remembered that it was long ago.
"My apologies, I did not mean to bring up bad memories. It did not affect me as strongly as it did you but Cordelia is still family. Then the court happened. It was busy," Kyran said.
Tom felt that he was berating himself, trying to convince himself that he had not been lax in his duty.
"We know Kyran. It is not easy being in the OWL year and juggling all these changes. You caught it faster than anybody else. And it seems like they are seasoned at hiding it." Cordelia would say reassurances.
"We still have only speculation. I could not even go to Monroe with this…" Kyran would shake his head.
"I doubt he would interfere in a noble matter. Not after what I have put Dumbledore through. A poor consequence that I had not envisioned." Cordelia began.
"That was not just a noble cause. That was his favoritism for Gryffindor and his version of Light over anything else. You just used the noble hierarchy to get over his weird authority. Someone had to," Kyran would pipe in immediately, "Father was impressed. He thinks Dumbledore has done more damage to Light than…"
"He wrote to me. So, did Aunt Carmela. It was nice to hear from family." Cordelia would say.
"As I was saying, it has been hard to assess the situation. Things have been rather erratic. I have maintained records but they don't prepare you for this. There is nothing in the Prefect module. I slyly tried to inquire things off Madam Underhill but I don't think they have even been in there. That was what confirmed it for me. Those bruises were deep. They would have needed the infirmary but they never went. But the bruises were also weirdly taken care of and hidden. It showed a serial pattern like they had learned how to take care of bruising just enough to stop people from taking note," Kyran would shake his head and produce a small notebook.
"That's worrying…" Cordelia quickly went through the number of entries and their details, swifting through pages.
"I know it is not admissible or anything," Kyran began.
"That is not why we are here." Tom would shake his head, "Yes, we do not like Albert and in combination of this information, we would prefer if he goes down, but the priority is helping the two of them."
"I don't even know where to begin," Kyran would shrug helplessly.
"We have some ideas." Cordelia would exchange a glance with Tom and address Kyran, "But we wanted to speak to you before we decided on any course."
Tom's POV
The meeting with Kyran was very fruitful. Now they knew a variable that they could use.
Joyce Nott was very good friends with Tempest.
Cordelia, Kyran and he were of the mind that if they brought in Pierce Nott, they would get support.
Notts could not sponsor two children. That would be suspicious.
But Joyce and her connection gave them an opening.
"Maybe we could involve the Bones for Noah," Cordelia had mused.
"I don't understand. I mean practically Selwyns are not influential. They follow the lead of Odgens and Bones. I personally feel more confident about Tiberius. Edmund sees things in black and white." Kyran would pipe in.
Cordelia would affirm, "That's a good idea actually. Tiberius would be an incredible resource. But I was referring to something else. I am also related to Macmillans and Bones through grandmother. Now, everybody is related to everybody in purebloods but grandma maintained ties and despite Uncle Arty's penchant for trying to keep only Blacks together, I mixed with all family too. Edmund's uncle Benedict is a curse breaker with Goblins. He has a decade on us. He apprenticed with father a while ago and stayed with us for that period. I know him personally because father trained us together sometimes and well, he lived in my house. He knows me. We even exchange meaningful Christmas presents till date. He also gets along rather well with his brother.
"As much as Odgens and Macmillans have influence on Selwyns, it is Bones who have a lot of financial and social control over them. Several pacts and trade agreements between families. Moreover, the lords and ladies were friends, that is Josephine's parents. If I remember correctly and I will confirm it with Aunt Cassy, Bones even tried to get the marriage between Actaeon and Josephine diluted. She was a regular feature in the main Bones house. She grew up alongside Benedict, probably three years older than him. I don't see him turning Noah away. Maybe, there is something in clauses of those agreements that can be used to our advantage."
"We need allies in this. We cannot navigate this on our own." Tom would nod, "We can use the entire political clout of the inner circle to make it happen once Nott and Bones make some progress, but until then it needs to be closed off."
"The inner circle? Is that what you call your circle of cronies?"Kyran looks amused.
"We invited you. You declined," Cordelia said pointedly.
"To be a crony. Of course, I did." Kyran sends back.
"They are not cronies, more like close advisors," Tom pipes in. He felt this sudden urge to defend.
"He is pulling our leg, Tom. Kyran decidedly stays away from politics. He wants to work for Department of Mysteries and a life of politics takes him away from the mystique of everything." Cordelia told him.
"That and everybody is a bloody idiot in wizangomot," Kyran completes with a sly smile.
Tom could not help the chuckle that escaped from him.
"It really kills brains. I respect your choice Kyran, but our inner circle is literally advisory on a bunch of issues. They helped us take down Dumbledore. We recently evicted a member and there is an active gap, so you have an open invitation. You have more brains than Alphard certainly. Waseem cannot be the only voice of cool reason." Cordelia threw in.
"Can I know who?" Kyran asked.
"Why don't you guess?" Tom threw in. Cordelia bit her laughter.
"That's not fair, Tom." Kyran made a face.
Unlike every other family member of Cordelia, Kyran had not known his earlier reputation. To him, Tom was a half-blood who had risen to power. He was much more easygoing around him.
Sebastian was in similar boat but he never matched up on wit.
"Well, by the process of elimination and an educated guess, it has to be King. He was a dunce in the first Dueling club meeting. And even more rowdy in the second one." Kyran proclaimed.
"I told you people were noting." Tom said.
"I never disagreed with that," Cordelia gulped down her water quickly.
Tom and Kyran chuckled at that.
"You will write to Benedict Bones then?" Kyran sobered up.
"And speak to Pierce Nott," Cordelia confirmed.
Tom's POV
While Cordelia and he were waiting for everyone to return from the village in the common room, they were accosted by Walburga who proceeded to hurriedly whisper to Cordelia. Cordelia promptly turned, whispered to him to not to wait up for her at night because Dorea was ill and in infirmary.
"I will tell Orion and…"
"No, don't. We will deal with it. Just don't worry," Cordelia assured him and left.
Tom had followed one of those requests. He did not tell anybody.
He did worry and he did wait up.
Cordelia came back late and she was not entirely surprised to see him up and about.
"I presume you are looking up ideas for what to gift those goddarn goblins," She mock grumbled.
She was giving him an out. She really did not want to talk about it.
"Is she going to be okay?" Tom asked quietly.
"Yes," She replied shortly.
"Is there a chance of relapse or it happening again or was Madam Underhill able to fix it?" Tom asked.
"There is no way to fix it. And yes, it will happen again and again." Cordelia chuckled without humor.
Tom waited.
Cordelia sighed, "You know it is private, Tom. As much as I love you, I am not about to divulge private information about my sister's health."
"Is she pregnant?" Tom blurted out. Charlie and Dorea were quite cozy.
Cordelia asked slowly, "What makes you think that?"
"She was vomiting. She has gained a bit of weight. She kept checking the calendar. Alphard said she ate something and her stomach hurts." Tom was honest.
"She is not pregnant," Cordelia said shortly and ran her fingers through her hair, "She is…She is having her monthly cycle. It can be excruciatingly painful for some women, with consequences like vomiting and bloating and aches all over. Most women generally gain weight around the time they are about to start it."
Tom blinked.
"You don't look squeamish," Cordelia pointed out.
"Should I be?" Tom counter-asked.
"No, it is biology. Frankly, the taboo around it is ridiculous." Cordelia conceded.
"Is it painful for you? Have you been hiding and covering it up? Because you don't need to," Tom gently asked.
"No, I mean it once was. I barely feel them now." She told him.
"I don't mean to make you uncomfortable," Tom softly added.
"I am not!" Cordelia's eyes blazed, "I am not uncomfortable. I am just angry."
"Did someone say something?" Tom asked.
"No," She shook her head, kicked off her shoes and jumped on the bed in her day clothes.
Tom waited.
"It pisses me off. The whole thing. The pain is so bad for people that when they give birth to children, those contractions seem less painful. It happens every month and no one gives a shit. We are always exaggerating, always being hypochondriacs. You know what really happens: every month women's uterus prepares itself with a blood lining to hold an egg. It is that thick. And that gets shed when we menstruate. We are nauseated. Our backs and legs ache. Our bellies feel like they are on fire. Not for everybody but for majority of people. But all women are shedding blood and experience fatigue. And then we are asked to pretend like it does not happen or if we say it aloud, even healers say that we are making it up or we need to suffer through it. Hushing about it, getting embarrassed or ashamed about it, I don't get why it is like this, "Cordelia got too angry and words lost her.
Tom still stayed quiet. He did not know much about it to say anything.
"You know that girl Orla, from the time when Dorea and I stayed up all night in infirmary. It was her first time. No one had told her that she should expect to bleed out. Just vague words about becoming a woman. And she was terrified because blood. On top of it, her pains were worse than Dorea. And you know the world's best healer could have only done as much as I could. That's how bad the development is in healing. No one knows or wants to help. And that vague trap about becoming a woman, it is basically telling an 11 year old girl that she can get pregnant now. As if our womanhood is tied to that, as if… And then they are told that the pain is normal, that if they are good women, they would bear it and quietly so as not to inconvenience their family or later their husbands. And that transcends to everything, every kind of pain. We are told to expect it everywhere and to be okay with it. That is why, people like Tempest Nott stay quiet and take familiar abuse. That is why women Josephine fall for abusive men and make excuses for them. Why does it happen? Why is our pain so secondary?"
Tom really did not know what to say. He had read about menstruation in a book of anatomy. Of course, he did not know the cultural or lived experience of it. And he had never asked, it was one of those things that had never occurred to him.
Cordelia was right. It was so hushed, so hidden.
"It should not be secondary, Lia." He only said that much. It was the only thing he was certain about.
He could not imagine a world where Lia was less than him, where people ignored her pain over his.
She sighed, "I am sorry. I should not have taken it out on you. It is not your fault. I just lost my wits."
"I would rather you tell me about things we need to change rather than stewing in anger like this," Tom blinked.
"Dorea was sobbing so much. She really wanted Charlie there. But she could not ask him to be there because it is inappropriate. She cannot have Alphard there to make her laugh or… You know you are dying from pain but you are supposed to think about social norms…I just got really angry. Nobody needed to say anything," Cordelia said in a much lower tone.
"Why is it such a big issue? I mean why do people ignore it," Tom asked, crooking his neck.
"Because men are better. Women are hysterical and below men. And because our sexuality and our bodily systems are one way to control us. You know 30 years ago, they said that women are less intelligent because we have smaller brains. That's a lie. It is okay for men to frequent brothels but positively scandalous if women even express desire. I like kissing you and you know they are going to call me a whore for it. It is an entire system that is meant to keep us in our places, below men." She picked a pillow and threw it across the room, "I mean I am so angry that I am not even making coherent or related arguments."
"I like kissing you. I like it that you like kissing me," Tom would say, "And of course, you are angry Lia. Have you ever met anyone else who is as capable as you? I also remember how people treated the court. I know how many of them said that you would be too temperamental or too…they just could not get over it. And it is unfair. I was angry. I cannot even imagine how you felt," Tom would honestly answer back.
"You are a sweetheart unlike the rest of the world," She would throw her hands in the air. Tom merely rolled his eyes.
"Talk to me about it, make me talk about it. We can begin with us. And later take it outside. I know it is going to be easy and if there are going to be more angry rants, let them happen. I rant all the time about how I am taught substandard things. It is trivial but you hear me out. Let me hear you out," Tom would say.
"Do you think you can charm dummies for me? I am itching for a fight," She would ask him.
"How about we utilize our animagi forms and run around in the Hogwarts grounds instead?" Tom would ask.
"You are smart, Heir Slytherin," Cordelia would say.
Then they would be bounding down their rooms and into the grounds.
Evelyn
"You can cover decorum with Dorea and Walburga will tell you who is who. She has taken a liking to you. Her approval will garner you some attention." Cordelia had broke into a list of ideas the minute she had affirmed her consent last night.
They had signed the contract and everything and were just discussing the way forward.
"Hey Corrie, Hey Evelyn," Abraxas had joined their walk , "Are you heading to the hall for the public dance lessons?"
"Yes Abe, we are. And remind me Evelyn, we will need to coordinate your robes for Lucy's wedding. You cannot wear a different color or texture than us!"
"Evelyn is going to be at Lucretia's wedding?" Abraxas asked.
"I was going to invite her regardless but now she has to be," Cordelia said off-handedly, "Did you see Tom? Because I am not letting anyone else touch me."
"He is on his way. And it is a waltz. You will go around in a circle and other men will touch you, you know when we spin you." Abraxas told her.
And then stopped and asked, "What do you mean she has to?" Why was he so inquisitive? And so hostile?
"She is now a daughter of House of Black. She cannot ignore a family function. Moreover, we will be using it to present her," Cordelia said nonchalantly.
Evelyn was getting dizzy. She had not meant to stir things even though Cordelia had warned that might happen.
"Present her for what?" Abraxas asked.
"Oh, I offered Evie a sponsorship with house Black. She accepted." Cordelia would say, "Come Evelyn, I see Tom."
Cordelia grabbed her fingers and pulled her away.
Abraxas followed.
"You offered her a what? Are you sure? Lord Black is already angry at you. Did you have to be so radical?" He was hyperventilating and then he softly added, "No offense intended Evelyn."
"A sponsorship to the House of Black. It is none of your concern. I am a Heiress. I am allowed to offer it. I did not break any rule," Cordelia shot back.
"But he is already mad!" Abraxas emphasized.
"Why is he mad?" Evelyn would ask hesitantly.
"Oh because I did not tell him about Tom's heritage. It was none of his business but he was still offended. One day I need to figure out why men get so agitated over something that has nothing to do with them!" Cordelia was annoyed now.
Evelyn realized that Abraxas was on thin line. He was questioning Cordelia's wisdom again.
"I don't want you getting hurt," Abraxas would say gently.
"Noted," Cordelia said in a clipped tone, "Come Evelyn, you must help me with Sebastian. He has three left feet with the way he dances. He could use your grace to pass this."
They did start Waltzing. The inner circle made a separate circle because Cordelia refused to dance with strange men, especially Lestrange or Parkinson. Evelyn suspected that most women shared the thought but had been unable to vocalize it as strongly as Cordelia.
Later, when they were swinging in the circle, she would land in arms of Abraxas, "I have nothing against you, you know that Evelyn. I am just concerned about Cordelia. She put herself in line for Tom and she is doing it again for you…I am not sure, I am just worried about my sister. I did not mean to insult you or anything. In fact, if Corrie chose you for a sponsorship, I should congratulate you and praise you because my sister has rather high standards. You must have really impressed her and I guess your skills speak for yourself, five languages, where ever did you learn all that?"
Before she could answer, she was spun and was in the arms of Timothy Rowle, "Evelyn," he would nod.
"Heir Rowle," She would incline her head. She had a working relationship with him.
And then she was in arms of Tom, who was a very graceful dancer, "Was Abraxas giving you grief?" He softly asked as they matched their steps.
"Rambling a bit but no heat. He is concerned about Cordelia," Evelyn would shake her head. It was strange how Tom had grown over her. She was not as afraid in his presence. In fact, she dared to say that she felt safe.
"I guess Abraxas needs to understand that his cousin or you are not little girls. Most arguments about restricting movement of women are based around their safety. It is a benign way of curtailing freedom. You will prove all of them wrong, Evelyn. Just wait and watch," Tom would nod in confidence.
And Evelyn realized just why Cordelia put herself on the line for this boy, why she loved him so much.
Evelyn would give him a free grateful smile. Those things did not come easy to her, but Tom deserved it.
A very Merry Christmas people!
This is a long, convoluted chapter. I hope you enjoy it because it took a long time to get out.
Reviews please! Because I am concerned about my writing style.
Also, I have put up a Crossover fic (HP/ASOIAF) with Rhaegar/femHarry. If you are interested, check it out. It is called Valor.
