6. Work Before Pleasure
The paper arrived at breakfast, and I once again found myself surprised how leaky the Ministry had become. The second surprise was the accuracy of the news, but I was coming to learn that Rita Skeeter was an exception there, though she was far from the only one.
Ollivander Attacked! by Lucretia Elderberry
Reports say that yesterday, in broad daylight, three men entered the wand shop at Diagon Alley, and none walked back out. Taken together with a report or Aurors being dispatched at that time, saw this reporter visit the DMLE for a statement. An Auror had this to say.
"We got a call from Ollivander saying they had three attackers bound and waiting for pickup. It was a surprise, certainly, but me and my partner arrived to find exactly that. As it turns out, these three gentlemen, one a marked Death Eater, came to coerce Mister Ollivander to join You-Know-Who. Ollivander's wards were up, and he calmly told them so, and that he would never join. The two men without the Mark attacked at the order of their leader and promptly saw their wands explode. When they then tried to flee, the apprentice used three stunners to lay them out on the floor."
Upon asking who this apprentice was, we learned it was none other than Iris White, the wandless wonder witch from recent memory. Whether she used a wand or not is immaterial at this point, we can all be glad she was there to help out.
Experts say this was likely not a sanctioned attack, because it was so sloppily executed. Whether or not it was or wasn't sanctioned doesn't matter, Mister Ollivander had his wards up and we can only applaud his foresight. Perhaps this is a good signal to do the same if you have that option. If not, remember to call the Aurors. See who did it and what will happen to them on page 2. More about measures for self-protection on page 4.
I was quite pleased with how small my role was in the article, actually. My apprenticeship was out now too, but that was something that couldn't be avoided. I'd be surprised if interested parties hadn't known that beforehand anyway. The Ministry had been informed a few weeks ago, after all.
A feeling of awareness informed me that someone was floo-calling me, so I moved to the living-room and found Lily's face in the flames. "Hi, Iris! I was ready and thought to ask you if you would be okay with me coming over now."
"Why not, I'm ready as well. You can come through, Lily." I agreed with a shrug. A minute later, she arrived in a whoosh of flames, soot covering her brown mane. One swipe of my hand with a cleaning charm solved that, and she thanked me with a grin.
"So, welcome to my home." I smiled. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
Tea was served and conversation started haltingly, as we sat opposite each other in comfy chairs next to the window. "I live alone, yes." I answered her unasked question. "My parents are dead, and I grew up quite isolated. As it was, the isolation made me move here in the first place."
Lily paused at the heavy topic and gave me a searching look. "I guess I shouldn't be afraid to ask. I remember you saying you didn't like boys, and well, I like both boys and girls. The point I'm trying to make is, I like you, Iris. Your letters also make me want to respond instantly, even when I have nothing to share, which is rare."
I smiled with a small blush. "I like you as well, Lily. Like that, certainly. You seem to be a kind person and you're very pretty to look at too."
"Ah…" She halted with uncertainty. "May I kiss you? I'm told it would feel really good if we were compatible in a wholesome way."
My eyebrows lifted at her apparent belief in that statement, like it was fact. "I certainly wouldn't mind, but I have to ask. Do you mean like a magical feeling that somehow determines the chance of a successful relationship? Because that's what it sounds like."
She nodded seriously. "Yes, it's a thing that sometimes happens in my family. We Moons almost never find ourselves in abusive relationships because of it."
I opened my mind to say something but stopped, decided the couch was a better place and beckoned her to join me. She did, took my hand to hold and very slowly pressed closer as I did the same. Our lips met and a rush of warmth rose up from my gut before splitting in two and meeting with Lily through our hands and lips. It certainly felt wholesome! My eyes flew open to meet her deep dark brown ones, and I could see the affection and hope in there as I was sure my own eyes reflected. She broke the kiss with a soft gasp, and I couldn't hold back from smiling.
This was so unlike my kiss with Cho I could cry from happiness. As it was, my eyes were suspiciously wet already. Damn those hormones, even if I could only feel very happy right now. "I'm guessing that was a good indicator?" I laughed wetly.
Her answering smile was blinding. "Definitely."
"What happens now?" I asked, still looking her right in the eyes and now holding both her hands.
She sighed. "I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but now we discuss the future and our dreams to see if those match too. Even if we don't agree on enough to last forever, I still want to be your girlfriend at some point, if you'll have me."
"But what?" I asked, genuinely curious. "I admit, I don't fully understand the rules here, how people look at same-sex couples in magical Britain, the laws, etcetera. I'm a half-blood whose parents died too soon, and my tutor skipped all that."
"Half-blood then, as I suspected. Both parents were magical?" I nodded. "Mmm, good enough to shut anyone up, I guess. Not that I care." She smiled a lot more naturally now. "The short of it is, so long as you're not expected to provide an heir, people don't care what you do. I don't have to provide an heir, so we should expect no backlash."
She sat back against the couch and held out her arm invitingly, to which I responded by curling up against her. "Alright, there will always be people who want to insult us, and their go-to will probably involve stuff about us being gay for each other. Laws? Are not that different, we could get married, if that's in our future."
I nodded and squeezed her hand. "And what if I do want us to have children? Would you be up for that?"
"Yes. I've always wanted children." She said softly, but joyfully. "They won't inherit from my side, but I'm sure we can manage a living with my family stipend and a likely job."
My lips curled up as I thought about my vaults. "Trust me, if it gets to that, we'll have plenty of money to live on. I might not be able to access all the vaults, but I also get a stipend."
"Hmmm?" Lily grinned. "Good, no worries for any future financial issues then. Let's talk about dreams. What do you see yourself doing in your future?"
"Well, I actually like being a wandmaker, and I can see myself doing that, just not full-time, but I could just as easily see myself as a teacher as well. As for what I see myself doing, I'd like to be a mother, or at least have children to take care of. What I want most of all is a family." I finished emotionally.
She hugged me closer and kissed my hair. "I'd like that too. As for a job, I'm actually not doing all that well at school aside from the theoretical parts. I'm very interested in Arithmancy and Runes for example, because of the sheer range of possible things you could do with them. On the other hand, I just can't bring myself to study hard to learn animal related transfiguration or fighting oriented spells, potions that I'll never see myself using, and every hands-on subject that doesn't have an immediate use, like herbology. I'm not motivated enough for those. Fighting, not something I want to do or think I'll be good at. I guess with my interests, I could learn how to enchant things, or keep the books?"
I nodded along when she spoke and found myself understanding her perspective, if not agreeing with it. She had grown up with magic and just wanted to learn useful stuff. I hadn't and wanted to learn as much as I found interesting. Fighting might have been a necessity on my part, but I had also genuinely enjoyed learning how to do it. "Well, that sounds like a plan, doesn't it?"
She snorted. "I basically just admitted I had no plan."
"Perhaps, but you also mentioned enchanting and bookkeeping. Keeping the books could be more of a job while enchanting could be either that or a hobby, something to keep you entertained?" I just thought aloud. "I'm just saying, but if I took over Ollivander's and closed it for most of the week outside the holidays, you could do the books, and that would be enough. If you want to use your arithmancy and runes to rustle up some handy tools or shelves to make my life easier, that will never go amiss either. Say you'll find an interest in enchanting, you could find something useful to make and sell via owl-order during the year to keep you busy. We could both be moms in the meantime."
"You aren't disappointed that I'm a Slytherin without ambitions?" She asked softly.
I scoffed. "Of course not. The way I hear it, the hat takes personal preferences into account more than anything else. How else could families be sorted in one house consistently? I don't know if or why you asked for Slytherin, but your house doesn't matter to me in the slightest."
She leaned her head against mine gratefully and explained. "I wanted to make my father proud. I was eleven, and I had all these plans, you see. The hat said I could be great in Slytherin. That might have been true in other years, but not with the current crop of Slytherins in my year, or with our Head of House, Severus Snape. I'm not one to shout out and was therefore quickly relegated to the background. Not that I minded that, because I didn't want to gain the attention of the bad elements, but my dreams never really took off because of it. After five years there, there's not much left of my ambition."
"You did make friends there though, didn't you?" I asked.
"Yeah, all upper years and mostly the ones who felt the same as me. We banded together and kept an eye out for each other. I was lucky and they helped me a lot. Now I'm helping the younger students, and that's worth something too." She snorted. "I'm basically a Hufflepuff in the house of snakes now, because some people really need a support system there, and there's no one else to provide."
That sucks balls. She laughed, startled. "Oh, did I say that out loud?" I blushed. "It's just, when you say there's no support in the best school in Britain, how good can you really call that school, right?"
"True." She agreed, still amused. "Let's talk about other things. I want today to be happy."
I grinned as I recalled the sunning pit Dobby and I had installed last week. "Would you like to get a suntan?"
Lily's eyes widened. "In this weather?"
I stood and held out my hand. "Want to see?"
She agreed and I showed her the pit next to the pond. It was a circular hole about four feet deep, with enough space to stretch out completely, filled with one large circular pillow with tiny holes that was spelled impervious by the elves to keep clean and dry. "There's no wind in there, so it should be quite comfortable in the sun."
Thank Merlin the sun was out. "We could enjoy a brunch here if you'd like that?"
With a short laugh, Lily nodded her head. "That sounds perfect."
And it was. The whole afternoon was filled with pleasant conversation, good food, and laughter. Winky was overjoyed to serve us, and the afternoon sun actually required us to protect our skin from burning. It was brilliant.
"I have to go; my father wants me home in time for dinner." Lily told me with a touch of reluctance. "I should tell you, I had a lot of fun, Iris. Thank you for inviting me."
I smiled at that. "Yes, it was nice, wasn't it? That kiss was also illuminating. I suppose we'll write a lot, won't we?" School started in two days, after all. This was it, for now.
She nodded, and her expression could only be called pleased. "Yes, we definitely will."
"Let me see you off then." I stood and held out my hand for her to take. The contact was ever so sweet and lasted right up until we reached the floo. There it turned into bliss as she kissed me again. I stood, touching my fingers to my tingling lips as she floo'd out with one last grin.
Yes, this was the start of something good.
-..-
Another month passed as I got used to working more and more unsupervised at Ollivander's shop, studying on the days I didn't. He was now certain I could transfigure perfectly without a wand and without changing the weight if I wanted, so he was letting me shape a few wands before walking me through the core matching process step by step. It was remarkably like matching wands to customers, just more tedious, because the magic involved was much more subtle. I realised that when I mastered this, there would never be an issue matching wands to magically weak children anymore. Compared to matching woods and cores, that would be positively easy.
Garrick admitted that he still made mistakes in that process, but that some people actually required a slightly mismatched core when they themselves didn't feel rightly matched with their bodies or even gender in rare cases, so it was never a waste.
It required pressing wand and core together in my hand covered by my aura to notice the compatibility as best I could, and considering how many possibilities there were, that usually took five to ten mind-numbing minutes on average. Some cores wouldn't be matched at all, so I had to set them aside to test with newer wand woods.
Still, I had now gone through every bit of the whole wandmaker business, Garrick told me, and it was obvious I could do it by myself if I was so inclined. He still had tons of locations and connections to wand trees and animals to share before I could really start producing wands, but the knowledge that I could do it all by myself was very gratifying. It made me realise I could not only do this, but I was also doing it already. For a sixteen-year-old, that was a major confidence boost!
Letters to Clarisse were sent every fortnight or so, and we were both very happy with the correspondence. She was amazed at my luck for finding a girl so quickly, as was I, and I was very happy for her when she wrote how amazing her boyfriend was treating her.
Lily's letters arrived at least two to three times a week these days, and when Hedwig was gone, I had Winky send them via the postal service in Diagon Alley instead. It was great, and I found myself eagerly awaiting the next one, or taking an hour to write out my feelings, all the while feeling giddy like a schoolgirl on the telly.
While that was something I would never have expected even as short as a year ago, it felt too good to protest, so I didn't. There was a freedom in acting like that, and I revelled in it!
Business was slow at the wand shop, and I asked Garrick about it, he chuckled in response. "Oh, I sell on average one hundred to one-hundred and fifty wands per year, Iris, most of them during the summer holidays. The rest of the year is usually spent building up stock, while staying open one or two days a week for when mishaps happen."
"Then why have we been open more this year?" I asked again.
"Well, you're here now, so we can." He admitted. "It's not like we're doing nothing while we're waiting for customers either. Also, with your help, our stock is growing at an astounding rate, which is good, since I imagine the coming war is going to increase business at some point."
True enough, lots of people were losing wands or breaking them in war, but it also meant death and a smaller base of customers… Hmm, Garrick would know, he's been in business for seventy plus years, I figured.
"That's good. On the other hand, will that be enough to keep both of us busy?"
He shrugged. "I've also been making a bunch of wand holsters; they're just waiting to be enchanted. It's a side business that sells just as well as wands even if the profits are lesser. I'll be teaching you that too at some point, but it's not that hard, truthfully."
My lips quirked upward. "So that's what you were doing." I smiled. He had been occupying himself somehow, I knew, but every time I went to find him he was ready with some more work for me to do. The wards told him I was coming, and it had turned into a small game between us who would last longer. "Alright, just tell me when you need help."
"I've got it covered for now, you just focus on the wands." He grinned unrepentantly. "Also, I'm taking the afternoon to nip over to the dragon reserve in Wales, they've got some heartstrings to sell to me, and I may be able to get some strips of dragonhide for more holsters as well. I trust you'll be fine?"
I refrained from rolling my eyes and nodded. "Of course." Because we were usually switching off these days, to keep one in the shop at all times on days we were open. I was quite used to it by now, and I had to admit, manning the shop was less tedious as I had imagined it. The one thing I still needed to learn was how to read and use the wards more naturally than I did now. Or we needed to get a bell installed at the front door, that would work as well… Yeah, I didn't think so.
That night, the question I had been waiting for had finally arrived. I was nervous but excited, and I was almost vibrating in anticipation.
Dear Iris,
I loved your last letter, and how open you were with your feelings. My own are a close match, you should know. My two closest friends at the school are very aware of you, and I told them they should go to Hogsmeade without me, because I would very much like to go with you this time. Will you, please? It's the next weekend, and I could meet you at the Three Broomsticks at ten?
They tease me, you know, because I'm unusually happy these days. Unusual because the atmosphere at Hogwarts is growing darker with fear, and they had been expecting me to act slightly depressed because Violet and Patricia graduated last year. Instead, I've been smiling after every one of your letters, and people have been noticing, especially Rosalie and Cameron. Speaking of those two, they have been very good friends this year, even if it was less needed than I expected. The usual annoyances, Draco and Pansy, have been unusually quiet this year, even fearful, I think. Instead of loudly proclaiming their faith in the purebloods, they have been whispering in quiet corners and looking worried, even haggard at times. I couldn't say what caused this, but I suspect they're in trouble.
No. I know they're in trouble. Lucius Malfoy got sprung from jail apparently, and yet Draco was not gloating! It's the world turned upside down, I'm telling you! So weird, I can hardly believe it.
Anyway, should you be willing to join me on Saturday, please let me know, and I'll send a letter to Rosmerta to get us a private room. I've been itching to kiss you again, it's a craving I'm determined to indulge. Waking up wet from a brilliant dream featuring your green eyes every other day leaves a witch unsatisfied. I know this might seem like I'm whining, but I'm pretty sure you feel the same way. See you then, I hope.
With love,
Lily Moon
PS: How's your health?
Dear Lily,
Unlike you, I'm free to diddle myself without fear of disturbing my dormmates when I wake up, and yes, I'm abusing the privilege to the fullest. Still, you are completely right, I've been itching to kiss you as well. From the second you left me standing there with that saucy grin on your lips, I must admit.
On the subject of my health, I have good news. My second period is coming along nicely, and the healer says it should be regular from now on, so I'm no longer expected to visit her.
Oh, I suppose I should leave you in suspense no longer. Of course I'll be there! Saturday at ten, I'll be sitting at the bar in the Three Broomsticks waiting for you, looking pretty!
About those annoyances, they are Death Eater kids, aren't they? I'm just speculating, but perhaps they're in deeper than you'd expect. They could even have a mission they're failing for all we know. I know you already do exactly that, but please keep your distance. As a Slytherin, you should be fairly safe from that end, but it's better to avoid attracting attention. It is highly disturbing to know Azkaban was breached and the kids knew before the Daily Prophet reported it, but from what I've read this morning, they got off without even losing a single man. So much for the unassailable prison of Azkaban, or the proud Auror corpse. With the dementors on their side, the Aurors will have their hands full just corralling those amortal beasts while the DE's move along unimpeded.
I think this war is being lost, but your observation about Dumbledore looking pleased with himself these days might indicate differently. We lowly students won't know until it's all over, I suppose. I can imagine it looks disturbing to see the old man looking pleased with himself when all around him is turning to shit.
Give my best to Rosalie and Cameron if you see the opportunity. Perhaps we'll even meet in Hogsmeade. I am curious to meet your friends, and hope they'll like me when they do.
Sweet dreams,
Iris White
-..-
"Hello dear, how can I help you?" Rosmerta smiled as I sat down on the stool.
I smiled back at her. "May I have a butterbeer? I'm waiting for a friend of mine, who should be here in ten minutes."
"Boyfriend? You're looking all prettied up." She queried. I shook my head. "Girlfriend, if she'll have me. I was planning on making it official today."
Rosmerta looked surprised, but pleasantly so. "Well, I wish you good luck, young lady. If she's got eyes in her head, I imagine she'll say yes." She grinned toothily.
My cheeks heated up on their own accord, in record speed too. "Ah, thank you, Madam." I muttered softly. "I don't know though; this will only be our second date. Lots of letters in between, but I'm still nervous about asking her."
Rosmerta was clearly amused. "You'll do fine, lass. Just have a good time and ask her, there's nothing else to it. Most often when this sort of thing happens, the other party is thinking exactly the same." She laughed. "All that anxiety and nervousness helps nobody."
That was actually a helpful way to think about it, and I felt myself calm down. Yes, she would be thinking the same thing, given how she believed in what that kiss told us. There really was little to fear on that front. My muscles relaxed and I took a nice sip of my cool butterbeer, relaxing some more. "Thanks, Rosmerta, that helped a lot."
"No problem, dear, who are you, anyway?"
I realised I hadn't exchanged names and looked at her sheepishly. "Ah, sorry about that, my name is Iris White. I've heard and read about you countless times, so I forgot the introductions were necessary."
Rosmerta's surprise was barely visible, but it was there. "No worries, Iris, I don't mind. So, who're you meeting today?"
"Lily Moon." I told her with a smile. "She's a brunette, sixth year Slytherin, but the good kind."
"Ah. I believe she's rented a room for you two." Rosmerta winked. "A private room."
I snorted with a blush. "Get your head out of the gutter, we'll be kissing at most."
Rosmerta's eyebrows wiggled. "Those can be very hot too, you know, especially between two lovely girls." She cackled at my expression and explained. "I've been known to appreciate both, so I should know."
I had no answer to that, so I just drank my butterbeer while she went to serve another customer. Five minutes later, there was a tap on my shoulder and there she was. "Lily!"
Lily was beaming happily, and she brought her two friends, who I presumed were Rosalie and Cameron. "Hi, Iris. You look lovely today! Meet Rosalie and Cameron, they'll be leaving in a minute, but they wanted to see you first, if you don't mind."
I shook my head in amusement. "Of course I don't mind. It's nice to meet you two. I hear you've been very good friends with Lily this year."
Rosalie grinned happily while Cameron just tilted his head in the affirmative. "We take care of our own."
Lily smacked his shoulder lightly. "Always so dreadfully serious. Go take care of Rosalie today, you man, you! I'll see you two later."
Cameron smirked and dragged Rosalie away by her hand that I hadn't even noticed he was holding. "Hey!" Rosalie protested half-heartedly. "Have fun, you two!"
"They're together then?" I asked Lily after they had left the door.
She nodded. "I think they will be after today, but they haven't said anything just yet. It's confusing really, they're so clearly a couple, why can't they see it?"
I shrugged, thinking of Hermione and Ron. "Sometimes people are too blind to see how their crushes feel about them in return, and that makes them hesitant to acknowledge what they have." Which was good in Ron's case, because what they had was an abusive relationship. This was the perfect prompt, and I had to say it. "But I do realise what I have here with you, and it is amazing, which is why I would like to see you as my girlfriend. With your blessing?"
Lily looked gobsmacked, but she recovered her wits to peck me on the lips and hug me. "Of course, Iris! I was actually planning to ask you later on, I was really nervous about it, actually."
That made me smile. "I figured, someone pointed out to me that all that anxiety was probably happening on both ends, and thus unnecessary. I'm glad to see she was right." I pecked her on the lips to celebrate when a cough interrupted us.
"I'm glad to see you working out, ladies, but you are attracting attention. Shall we move this into your private room?" Rosmerta offered with a knowing grin.
"Errr, yes, please." Lily managed through her embarrassment. I looked around to see three younger Hufflepuff girls staring at us and winked, making them turn away in embarrassment themselves.
We let ourselves be ushered into the room and ordered some refreshments, before jumping right back into the kissing. After getting it out of our system for a bit, I took a deep breath and laughed. "Yes, I enjoyed that quite a lot."
Lily agreed with a wide smile on her face. "We're definitely doing that again."
We talked about everything under the sun, from classes to studying to wand making and the war, all the things that weren't worth putting into writing now found expression anyways. Rosmerta brought a filling tray of goodies and tea to tide us over and we found ourselves walking through Hogsmeade not much later.
Nobody bothered us, which actually managed to surprise the hell out of me until I realised that most people didn't know me, and Lily was a fairly inconspicuous student, a well-liked student at that. It was a revelation, this quiet walk around town, and I realised that I had been craving this all my life. The normality and peace of it all that had always been so far out of reach now came freely to me instead, and I found myself quietly enjoying it as I followed Lily's lead, my hand in hers.
I was content to let her lead in this, even if I thought I knew the town well enough. She quickly taught me how wrong I was on that score when we visited shop after shop I had never even noticed. Beauty products and feminine wear were obvious enough in why I hadn't noticed them before, but I had missed the enchanter's shop, a curio shop, and even a shoe shop too. If I had known about those as Harry, I would have long ago bought fitting shoes at minimum. That told me I hadn't been nearly as observant as I'd thought before, it was a little lesson in humility that I felt I needed. Here was Lily Moon, the girl who professed to have lost her ambition, but she obviously knew a ton more about this world than I did, and she also had a gift for making friends that I lacked. There was a lot I could still learn from her, and I was better off not forgetting that.
"Thank you, Lily, today was great!" I whispered as we kissed goodbye.
She looked pleased, and happy too. "Then I'll see you next Hogsmeade weekend. Current circumstances mean I can only send you the date when it's close by most likely, will you be able to make it?"
I shrugged. "Highly likely, Garrick has admitted that we're doing better than he had originally expected with the preparations for next summer. Besides, he happens to be a fan of our relationship, so he will be happy to let me go."
Lily squeezed my hand and let go. "You better write, girlfriend!"
"I intend to, girlfriend." I grinned back. "See you later." With that said, I apparated right back to my patio and sighed contentedly. All my hopes for this day had panned out, and I was very happy.
-..-
Two more months had passed, and with it three Hogsmeade weekends, the other had been cancelled unexpectedly.
Garrick's suppliers and such were running dry, so he advised me to go looking for my own. He also wanted me to start a storage for my own experiments at home. As it was, we only opened once a week now, and on appointment.
My advice to spend more time with his family was taken seriously, and Garrick's son was very pleased to hear how my apprenticeship was going, to the point that he started inviting Garrick to family days again. We easily found the time for that, and I took over where necessary.
If I hurried, I could get by with only one day a week to gather ingredients, one day a week to keep up the shop and make wands and holsters. That left only dealing with the customers, which were usually only one or two people per week. Garrick was hardly necessary anymore, but he had a hard time letting go. Our compromise was to split the work evenly, which gave me enormous amounts of time to focus on my studies.
My studies were progressing accordingly, of course, but I needed a distraction. That distraction came in the form of my experiments with making magical trees more magical, and the search for new magical creatures I could get materials from. I knew of the Acromantula in the forbidden forest, and while Garrick didn't think any materials gotten from them could be used as a core, their poison mixed with their webbing made a surprisingly good mixture to use inside of the wands to submerge the core in.
It was a dangerous proposition, until you factored in my invisibility cloak and greatly increased transfiguration skills. After some doing, I managed to make fake animals that once bitten, changed back into a container filled with the poison. Creating a dozen of those, releasing them in the direction of the colony, waiting an hour, and then summoning those and the webbing they were wrapped in was easy as pie, and gave me access to perfectly fresh and high-quality ingredients. I didn't think the spiders enjoyed my work, but then again, who cared about them?
If I had to kill a few to keep my doings a secret from the rest of the colony, again, who cared? They were flesh eating monsters living right next to a school, and already tried to eat me once. There was little guilt from my end, and I got some nice Acromantula blood at the same time.
My one other success in that matter had been a small one, in that I had visited a pet shop and been forcefully reminded that I was a Parseltongue. There were a ton of magical snake breeds and most of them were useful in a number of ways.
Runespoors, for example, had three heads and lots of teeth that grew back and held different magical specialties. Garrick said they were used in African wands, powdered and mixed in with the venom and blood to make very versatile wands. However, that practice wasn't widespread because of the difficulty in harvesting anything from those critters, not to mention the absolute lethality of their bites. In short, it was too hazardous to try.
I disagreed. For one, I could speak with them, and secondly, my tactic for the Acromantula would work here too if they wouldn't listen. That said, I tracked down a breeding pair and had an impressive cage built for them on the edge of my property.
Dobby had a blast feeding them and otherwise taking care of them, and the way the cage was set up, there was no possibility of escape or falling into the cage, just the way I liked it. Either way, there would be no need for me to approach the snakes closely enough to get bitten. Garrick was sceptical when he visited, but when I showed him how to milk the snakes, he had to admit he was impressed. Admitting I was doing the same with the Acromantula had him less impressed, but he just said to be careful.
Naturally, this peaceful period had to end someday, and it so happened to be on a Hogsmeade outing when that end came.
"It's freezing out." Lily shivered as we left the three broomsticks.
It really shouldn't have been that cold yet, and that clued me in to what was coming next. "Dementors! There's so many! Aaahh!" Shouts were heard from further up the street. I turned to Lily who was already shaking her head. "No, I can't do a Patronus. We should evacuate though; it sounds like there are many."
I hesitated but quickly made a decision. Lifting my wand, I cast a Patronus with all the power I could spare. "Expecto Patronum!" A huge unicorn erupted from my wand, glowing with barely constrained power.
Even more so than at the end of my third year, it pulsed violently, a white bubble of power exploded outward and drove the cold and dreary feelings away like dust in the wind. I glanced from Lily to the unicorn and ordered. "Go find those monsters and destroy them if you can."
The unicorn trotted off immediately in the direction of the scream from earlier, leaving me satisfied with my contribution and ready to go. I found Lily staring at me with her mouth open, and she wasn't the only one either. "Err, we should evacuate?"
That snapped her out of it. "You heard her, let's go! Back to the castle!"
I was dragged to the castle by Lily, who wouldn't hear of me going off by myself, even if I could be home in a second by apparition. Not willing to go against her obvious desire to keep me close by, I let it happen with an amused smile on my lips and a warm feeling in my chest.
Before I knew it, I was sitting at the Slytherin table- a place I had never expected to feel welcome at, but here I was, and nobody was objecting beyond a few considering looks.
"I'm telling you; I almost got my soul sucked out until that unicorn arrived!" A Hufflepuff said loudly. "This is no safe place; we need to learn to defend ourselves."
That was a discussion I welcomed, until someone pointed at me as the caster. I sighed when heads turned my way and looked at Lily. "How I wished to avoid this. The chance of me appearing in the Prophet tomorrow is high, I guess."
Lily looked at me with an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry, Iris, I just wasn't ready to let you go."
Her hand squeezing mine reminded me that it was true, I snorted. "Yeah, I get that. Before the faculty notices me, are you ready to let me go now?"
"Too late." Another Slytherin fake coughed.
A glance toward the teachers table showed me that it was Slughorn, who I knew to be the new Head of Slytherin. "Young lady, I don't think I've seen you in my House before, have I?" He smiled a huge smile, it was almost genuine, a very good effort that was completely wasted on me.
I shook my head tiredly. "I was just leaving, Professor. I happened to be visiting Lily here when the attack happened, and she wouldn't let me go, you see."
"There's no need to rush-" "No there is, I should be going. I'll see you next Hogsmeade Weekend, Lily." I smiled at her and turned back to Slughorn. "I'll see myself out, Professor."
Sadly, the man didn't take the hint. "Nonsense, dear girl, I would be glad to escort you to the gates."
I mentally counted to ten and motioned for him to lead. "Please lead the way then, Professor."
Lily shot me a commiserating look and mimed writing, to which I nodded once, before following Slughorn out the doors of the great hall. "Are you the girlfriend I've heard spoken about, Miss?"
"I am, if you meant Lily's girlfriend, Professor." I purposefully didn't introduce myself, not liking the man's glib demeanour. He seemed like a less threatening and more successful version of Lockhart, and that could never be a good comparison to me.
"Oh, good. Good." He muttered. "And may I have your name?"
"Iris." I managed to say without gritting my teeth. "Sir."
Thankfully, he got the hint and didn't ask for my last name. The silence lasted until we left the castle proper. "If I may ask, Iris, what do you have against Hogwarts?"
Way too insightful a question in my book, and another thing I didn't like about this man. "Whatever do you mean, Professor? How can I dislike a castle I've only visited today for the first time in my life?"
"You seemed to want to get out quickly, once attention turned your way, dear. I wasn't alluding to anything but that single observation of mine." He replied easily.
I sighed. "I happen to dislike most people, and especially in groups, Sir. Having the attention of more than a few at a time is something I try to avoid."
"Then why, Miss White, did you fire that magnificent Patronus charm today?" He finally dropped his fake attitude as well as stopped walking entirely, forcing me to stop as well.
"Because, Sir, as far as I could tell, people were dying!" I hissed. "There need be no other reason. I can find my way to the gate, I'm sure. Good day."
He didn't follow, but I did catch his final words. "Such a rare person to find these days. Good day to you as well, Miss White."
I didn't break my stride as I apparated perfectly without a sound and walked into my home to crash angrily into the couch. I wasn't going to go back to that castle if I could help it.
-..-
Surprisingly, news of my involvement in the events of the attack didn't break the news until a week had passed, and then I was forced to send a strongly worded letter to the Prophet with a statement of my own.
Someone, and I didn't need to guess whom, as the headmaster's quote was quite clear, thought it would be great to claim me as a fighter for the light in a national forum. I did not appreciate his claims and felt the need to refute them before the other side retaliated.
Another day passed before my name once again graced the papers.
Miss White Speaks Out
This, dear readers, is not going to be a story solely written by me, I'm merely passing on the word of a disgruntled young woman before briefly commenting on it. Without further ado, this is a letter printed completely unedited as Miss White sent it in, as requested.
Dear Readers of the Prophet,
I am not picking sides in this stupid war that's breaking the whole country apart because some old men can't get their asses in gear and fight out their differences themselves. Let me explain.
This whole war started back in the day because one side was losing in the Wizengamot, and felt they had to use violence to tilt the scales in their favour again. The only reason this didn't make their case harder as it should have, is because the government had its head so far up its ass that they actually helped the criminals instead of hindering them, all because of a little bit of gold. Their propaganda would have you believe they were doing it because of the pureblood cause, but half of them died out because of that same cause. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
Now, the children are getting hurt instead, and still, nobody seems to care. All the kids were in danger of losing their souls that day, not just muggleborns or blood traitors like the Dark Lord always seems to be claiming. Sending soul rending demons to visit a school is a threat that should have a country up in arms in days, but that's not what we see here.
Albus Dumbledore did absolutely nothing to protect the students in Hogsmeade last week. As far as I could tell, he was just sitting in his office doing whatever he usually does, playing the politician or eating his muggle candy, I don't know.
I cast a single spell to drive away a couple of dementors and he immediately used that to claim me as a 'warrior fighting for the light'. I happen to dislike his claims for multiple reasons. To start with, I think his stance on the Light and the Dark are completely useless. If anything, I'd be gray, but I'm not even going there. The point that is most prominent here is that he's portraying himself as some kind of general on the Light side, and then does nothing to fight the war. He actually wrote to invite me to his secret Order of the Phoenix, to which I replied with a resounding NO. Now he's trying to force me to join his 'Light' side, by claiming me in a public forum, probably hoping that the resulting backlash from the 'Dark' side, forces me to come crawling back to him. I will not!
I believe in neither side in this war, I believe in law and order. I believe there should be an abolishment of corruption in the government, to revive some trust in this dying system. The ridiculous politics involved makes me dislike both sides equally, to be frank, so why would I fight for either? I helped in Hogsmeade because I dislike seeing people get hurt right in front of me when I could do something to stop it. Does that make me a hero, a 'light' sider? I don't think so, it makes me a decent human being.
Adults always tell children to leave it to them, but so far, I haven't seen much evidence to support the implied promise that they can handle it. The government is the exact same. Every single person not directly involved in the war is still in great danger, and less than a percent of them can cast a Patronus charm reliably when faced with a dementor. That needs to change. Don't think anyone else will save you either, because chances are they won't. Be your own salvation. When someone with a mask comes at you firing curses, you should damn well shoot your own right back at them. I know these are just the ramblings of a sixteen-year-old girl, but I hope they will finally break through some thick heads in Britain.
Sincerely,
Iris White.
There you have it, people, that girl just called us out. This reporter just happens to agree with most of what she wrote. What about you? And more pertinent yet, what are you going to do about it?
I was quite happy with the article, as I felt I made my point. That done, I got back to work without a single further thought as to the repercussions.
-..-
Albus Dumbledore was livid as he read the paper at breakfast. The faster readers among the student body were already carefully scrutinizing him from afar. He quickly made his excuses and retreated to his office, where he read it again without fear of someone spotting his mounting anger.
That girl! Who did she think she was! So, what if he was floo-calling the minister at the time of the attack, so what if he was sucking on a lemon drop. He, Albus Dumbledore, was doing more for this war than anyone else!
Already, two of Tom's horcruxes fell to his wand, the Ring and the Locket, and he was in negotiations for the third with Gringotts. Sirius' death was actually a hindrance now instead of a blessing, as he could have used his status as the Lord Black to get that blasted cup otherwise.
Albus was dying, already having given his life for the cause by way of a curse on the ring, and that girl had the audacity to call him useless and old. So, he had called her out, this reaction was wholly out of proportion. Now the whole country was getting involved. For whatever reason he couldn't comprehend, they were actually listening to Miss White's words and requesting lessons on casting a Patronus. Like he had the time to waste on that sort of nonsense. No, he needed to stop the Ministry from collapsing around its ears because of those same words from that spiteful little bitch.
Fudge was out, and his successor was jumping right on the bandwagon by clearing out the DMLE and Wizengamot from supporters of the Dark Lord. It was incredibly ill-timed. If only he had been given more time to put Tom to rest, all those ill-led purebloods could have been redeemed. If Albus didn't have his way, some of them could even end up losing their lives! That would be a true disaster, the bloodlines were disappearing too fast as it was.
There was so much work to be done before he died, he just didn't have enough time.
-..-
Lord Voldemort read the paper and felt amusement and annoyance in equal measure. Yes, Miss White called out his tactics and tried to make the people defend themselves, but she also called out that old fool in front of the whole of Britain.
He had never understood why people didn't fight back when attacked, so he figured there was little reason to fear that would change. Sheep were sheep, no matter how hard they were bleating at any given moment. Miss White though, wasn't a sheep. By the words of his spies, her Patronus had single-handedly destroyed the dementor attack, and even killed two of the demons, a feat he had thought impossible before that day.
By her own account, she hated both sides, so that was alright. Reading between the lines told him she also despised the current ministry, so there would be no collaboration to mop up the filthy creatures and end them once and for all. Lord Voldemort hated those beasts too, it had to be said, but they were just so incredibly useful at the moment. Ah well, he'd let Miss White do what she wanted. If nothing else, she continued to surprise him, in both good and bad ways. It was a pleasant distraction for an immortal like him.
"My Lord, the men, they are expressing their agreement with some of what the paper said, particularly the part where all the children were in danger, Sir." Wormtail whimpered at his feet.
He should have expected this, but his men were all in too deep for any misgivings. He owned them, body and soul, so they just had to deal with it. With a cold laugh, he looked at the snivelling worm at his feet. "Tell them the next attack will be in Diagon Alley, and they are all going to be there."
"Yes, My Lord." Pettigrew scampered away quickly, leaving Lord Voldemort to his thoughts. He had been feeling marginally weaker these past six months, and that feeling wasn't going away. If not for the fact that his body responded perfectly, he would have felt a more urgent worry. For now, he felt it would pass eventually.
