Disclaimer: Hopefully Ms. Rowling remembers that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Chapter 13 - Christmas Gifts
"Am I going to understand why you lured Grindelwald into Nicholas' laboratory?" Elijah asked impatiently.
"I didn't. It was never my intention to set the trap this evening," Albus responded. "It was by a sheer stroke of luck that I had finished the spell work and was ready when Lorelei brought him in."
"Do you mean to say that Lorelei..." Nicholas stopped abruptly as the full weight of the situation finally struck him. He inhaled loudly and looked horror-stricken. "Did you know immediately?"
"He entered the lab first and attacked. He ordered her in during the fight to put me off balance, and it worked."
Elijah shook his head violently from side to side and waved his hands. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Are you saying she was under Grindelwald's control and that he used her to reveal the location of the lab?"
"Precisely," Albus said, wishing that it had not been so. She might still be alive – they might still be alive then.
"But how did he ever get in a position to work a spell on Lorelei?" Elijah pressed.
"He knew her weaknesses," Albus explained.
"Arabella?" Elijah suggested.
"Indeed. Lorelei is -- was someone who would charge a dragon with a bucket of water if it meant defending someone dear to her heart. It was how she was able to break free of the spell too, but much too late to stop the wheels of fate." He breathed deeply, trying to force back the swelling grief, aware that soon it would consume him despite his efforts.
"She broke free?" Nicholas exclaimed, surprised.
"Yes, she broke free," Albus answered, though the sudden resurgence of sorrow had kept him from explaining the circumstances. He probably should have explained that Grindelwald had directed Lorelei to attack, and that he had briefly attempted to deflect her spells before she broke free of Grindelwald's curse, but it was as though Albus had run out of voice.
"After Christmas, he probably should have realized that she would do anything for a loved one," Nicholas observed sagely. "I doubt very much if Grindelwald understands much of love though."
That seemed an understatement to Albus. It was true, Christmas probably should have taught the man that Lorelei could be fierce when protecting those she loved – she had very nearly killed Grindelwald then. If only she had, then she would be alive and safe and they would be embarking on a future together. Albus could have also finished Grindelwald then; but at Christmas it had seemed like murder. Somehow his high morals appeared cowardice in light of his losses. How he wished to go back and relive that time, when he could have remapped the future by changing a split second decision. He had questioned himself then, but Lorelei had assured him that it showed character. Character seemed a small consolation now.
"What happened at Christmas?" Elijah asked. Albus grimaced, even though some part of him had known that Elijah would be curious.
His mind drifted back and he found himself wishing he could reside there, not in the time of the battle, but to those private, cherished memories that came before and had kept him from lamenting Christmas. For all that had taken place, it was a happy time – possibly the happiest he would ever know now that she was gone.
Christmas 1944 had dawned to fresh snow and a heap of gifts larger than any Albus could remember. Both he and Lorelei had gone a bit overboard in shopping for Hagrid; they had given him enough presents to make Father Christmas feel outdone. But also, Lorelei had become a very popular teacher. Her class roles were abnormally large considering the subject matter. The portraits had also confided that more than a few of the male students had a bit of a crush on the pretty blond; several of those students had demonstrated their affection for her by presenting her with Christmas packages.
Albus could picture the small room that adjoined his sleeping quarters to Hagrid's. They had gathered there to exchange gifts and the house elves had been kind enough to deliver Lorelei's gifts there rather than to her own office and sleeping chamber, where she almost never stayed. They had put up a minuscule Christmas tree and a few assorted decorations – nothing so elaborate as what decorated most of the rest of Hogwarts. Shortly after they'd awakened, the room had been littered with bits of brightly colored wrappings, discarded boxes, and large ribbons. Albus was facing another large stack of books and contemplating magically stretching another bookcase to hold them.
"You missed one," Lorelei had teased, tossing him a small, soft package.
He'd unwrapped a large pack of purple socks. "Were you feeling my feet were neglected?" he'd inquired, barely containing a grin.
"At least it's not another book," she'd replied, with a huge grin.
"Why purple?" he asked.
"Remember what you wore when we went bowling?" she had responded.
He laughed loudly. She had managed to find the exact shade of purple that his suit was. "I thought you had declared that suit to be awful."
"What can I say, it grew on me. Now I can't imagine removing it from your wardrobe. It's officially part of your endearing quirks, Albus."
"I have no quirks; I'm completely normal, to the point of being boring." He'd known he was risking being bombarded with the list of his quirks, but it had been some time since he'd seen the big smile she was wearing. She had put on a brave front in public, but Lorelei had been mostly down since her father's birthday party.
"Are you kidding?" she'd shot back, taking a seat on the arm of the chair he'd settled into. "If you didn't already have three middle names, I'd say 'Quirky' should be added to your monogram." She'd grabbed a handful of his long hair and twitched the ends against his nose as proof.
"Would you prefer I cut it all off?" he'd asked mildly.
Her brow creased and she shook her head. "It simply wouldn't be you. Besides, the hair and beard drive my mother crazy – a fact that I love. And I'm not complaining. I'm quite fond of your quirks, so don't change them, please."
The mention of her mother, though, had made Albus wonder. "Lorelei, do you – do you sometimes wish you could have your parents' approval? It would be much less uncomfortable for you."
She looked slightly irritated. "Albus, my parents have no taste, so why on Earth would I seek to please them? They thought Grindelwald was a good match for Arabella!"
"We cannot be sure that's what they thought at any point," he'd reminded her. "Perhaps if they were free to express their true opinions, they wouldn't have liked him at all."
"Albus, I know you sincerely worry about my relationship with my family, but don't forget, I grew up there. I know that the control he has on them is recent – what you saw before of them was their real, tasteless dispositions. My parents thought it was all right to berate squibs right in front of their own squib-daughter! If my mother was herself and you shaved every whisker and gave yourself a crewcut, she would still find something to dislike about you, just to irritate me. Nothing would make her warm to you either – not once she's decided to be contrary. You're not my first beau, Albus. She didn't like any of them for one reason or another. In some cases she turned out to be right, in others she caused the rifts that ended things. Most often, she just disapproved of anyone I liked. But nothing she could say or do would change how I feel about you, so there's no point altering yourself, unless you just want to irritate me." Her face was set in her most stubborn expression – the same one she wore when she argued about elf rights with the other faculty members, or when she had told Horace that the quality of a life was not directly proportionate to how well-known they became. Albus couldn't help but smile. He supposed that was one of her quirks that he found endearing.
"Why are you grinning at me like that?" Lorelei asked.
"You've eloquently defended me to me," he had answered, then promptly laughed at the absurdity of it.
She smirked. "When you put it like that, it sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?" She laughed too and slid from the arm of the chair into his lap, hardly noticing as Hagrid chased after some pet he'd brought in. Hagrid was now so large that any pursuit became a haphazard attempt to not knock things down. Albus and Lorelei had managed to distract each other from the chase sufficiently, until the niffler climbed up between them sniffing wildly at the inner pockets of Albus' robes.
"Hagrid!" Albus called after he'd paralyzed it. "Nifflers should not be inside the castle. If they went after the headmaster's trinkets, I'd be hard-pressed to convince him to let you continue staying with me.
Hagrid mumbled, "Sorry," as he came to retrieve the creature. Hagrid pried the small box from the niffler's frozen jaws and handed it back to Albus with a penitent expression.
"What's this?" Lorelei asked, touching the mangled package.
"Take it outside, please," Albus directed Hagrid, releasing the niffler with the flick of his wand. He waited until Hagrid disappeared out the doorway before addressing Lorelei's question. "It was a gift for later. I was waiting for a private moment I suppose, or perhaps some assurance that this was what you wanted."
Her eyes locked on the mangled package and she blinked slowly. Her hand reached cautiously toward the small box as though he might pull it away. He let her take it, wondering what she'd say or if she already understood what was inside. She removed the partially ripped paper and opened the protective box to stare at the ring inside. That brief pause was all the hesitation there was. She pulled the ring out and slid it onto her finger in one fluid motion. "Guess we'll be changing my monogram," she said with a smouldering look.
The bit of bliss that was the morning disappeared in a blink. The two had stayed briefly for festivities at Hogwarts, with plans to visit Nicholas, Perenelle, Minerva, Howard and Nate. Those were upended by the owl that landed in front of Lorelei at dinner.
- Dear Lory,
-
- I woke up this morning and don't know how I've come to be here. I cannot
- remember anything since Summer. I'm frightened. I hid with Lolly in the
- basement, but he will find me, I know it. I need help.
- Bella
Albus knew it was a trap and told Lorelei as much, reminding her of the orders she'd given Lolly and that Lolly would have come to her immediately. The direct order meant that Lolly did not have a choice, and her magic was different enough that she could apparate into Hogwarts if she so chose. Lorelei could not be dissuaded though and he couldn't let her go alone.
The pair had chosen to apparate to Manchester and hurried to the edge of Hogwarts with that purpose in mind, having only taken enough time to notify Nicholas of their plans and to double protections on the school in case it was the point to lure them out. Albus might have tried to convince Dippet to do it, but it seemed a fruitless effort, despite the fact that rumors of Grindelwald's shady side were beginning to spread.
Albus had used his most powerful disillusionment charm on the pair of them and they had approached the home in Manchester with great caution and wands at the ready, looking for some sign of what was to come.
The spells that had been placed on the home were numerous and quite strong. Once again, no fidelius charm had been used and Albus found that fact slightly hopeful. Perhaps Grindelwald had a few limits to the scope of his power. No sooner had the thought formed in his mind then a purple shot of light flew right at them.
Albus quickly deflected it, sending his own paralyzing spell in the direction whence it had come, but the sender had disapparated. Albus pointed his wand toward the garden, hoping to find a few gnomes still hanging about. At his summoning spell, two of the tiny creatures flew through the air, landing softly in front of him. Albus didn't take time to think it through. He transfigured the pair into manticores. "That should provide adequate distraction," he remarked, before grasping Lorelei's arm and turning swiftly in side-along apparition to keep the pair of them together.
They landed smoothly on the roof of the home, just over the east eave – a spot where a much younger Lorelei had often scrambled to via her bedroom window when she'd needed privacy. Albus didn't expect it to be easy to gain entrance, especially as Grindelwald already knew they were there. He tested for spells and found several sealing all exits. Luckily, his own prodigious skills could disarm them if he had enough time.
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Sorry for the cliffy, it just turned out that way. More soon! I promise!