A/N: I do not own any original characters or this universe; only the characters I created.
Pay attention to the backstories of the characters you'll see here, because they will be back and are extremely important. They will get much more detail later, but a brief introduction was needed before jumping into the present timeline of this story.
May, 1925
Theodora Gaunt, a Hufflepuff seventh year, walked the halls of Hogwarts leading to the library. Her ice blue eyes stared straight ahead, narrowed as she thought about the last Quidditch game of the season— actually, ever as a soon-to-be graduate— against Slytherin.
"Gaunt," she heard, jumping a little at the playful nudge on her left shoulder. She looked up, meeting the gaze of Evander Lestrange— Slytherin's seventh year prefect and seeker. They had met their third year, when she crash-landed into him during a Hufflepuff Quidditch practice while he was walking by to visit a professor's office. After that, they were seated next to each other in potions class, and quickly became close friends before eventually becoming a couple at the end of their fifth year. He had the looks, the high intelligence, the athletic ability— but it was all a masked from his dark past as a Lestrange. She was the only person he shared anything with after four years of attending Hogwarts, and was the girl who softened his heart to save him from a much more dangerous path.
Their relationship was a surprise to the students— them being rival seekers and some of the most gifted Hogwarts has seen since it was founded— but the two of them worked perfectly together. They laughed, bickered, were competitive; but most importantly, considerate, patient, and loyal to each other. They were best friends before anything else, and it carried them through thick and thin.
"You look worried. Like you think I'm going to win the game that's taking place in, what is it—" he said, his Irish accent unusually cheerful as he checked his watch, then added, "three hours."
"Whatever," she responded flatly, then his smirk disappeared.
"What's wrong?" He asked, his expression concerned as he stopped walking beside her. She stopped as well, letting out a sigh to turn back to him.
"Well, I got a letter from my cousin Merope," Theodora said, and Evander raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Really? I thought her father cut any contact she had with the rest of the family," Evander told her, and Theodora nodded.
"He did, that's why I was so surprised."
"What did she have to say?" He asked, and Theodora blinked a few times as if she was still processing the news while saying, "she's coming to the final Quidditch game."
"What?" Evander managed to utter, his greenish-brown eyes wide as he remembed the things Theodora had told him about Merope's family.
Theodora's father was Marvolo Gaunt's brother, and to say the two of them had a strained relationship was an understatement. Maven Gaunt was a man of ambition, but kind-hearted and open-minded. He married a half-blooded woman he had met during his schooling at Hogwarts from Ravenclaw, which greatly disappointed the purebloods of the Gaunt family. He was estranged, living successfully as a high-level ministry man without the more traditional and twisted family interfering with his life. Theodora had met Merope a few times in her life, taking a liking to the girl out of pity. The last time they were caught communicating, Merope's father began to mistreat her more terribly than before. Most of his words to his daughter were insults about her lack of magical ability, and he became physically abusive. Merope begged Theodora to leave her be, not wanting her cousin to be sucked back into the life Maven Gaunt tried so hard to escape for the sake of his family.
"I'm just as surprised as you are. I guess I'm meeting her after the game," Theodora told Evander, pulling out the folded letter Merope had sent her from her robe pocket. Evander scanned it over, then said, "I suppose so. Well, let me know how it goes. I hope everything's alright with her."
"I will, I'm worried too," Theodora said with a frown. Evander's heart sank, not used to seeing Theodora looking so glum. He extended an arm, and she walked in to hug his torso. He squeezed her tightly, giving her shoulder a warm rub, saying, "let me know if there's anything I can do for you."
"I will," she said, and he kissed her forehead before letting her go. Usually she would've had some snarky retort, which showed how concerned she was.
"Good luck out there," he said, slipping a flower into her hand as they usually did before a game. Evander would often finish his work early and sketched flowers when he was done or during lectures when bored, making it a game to have Theodora guess the meaning of each flower he drew. It became somewhat of an inside joke for them yet romantic, often ending up with them giggling quietly during lectures in the back of the classroom.
"A viscaria. 'Dance with me?'" She inquired, looking up from it as he walked away with his hands in his pockets.
"You better," he toyed, pointing to the Quidditch field in the distance, then smirked as she grinned shyly to him. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair, the sunlight catching gold and red undertones of his Irish lineage. Theodora still finds herself mesmerized by his looks at times, finding the contrast of them with his cynical personality endearing.
He turned his back as he walked, his Slytherin robes swirling gracefully as he disappeared around a corner.
Theodora wove the viscarira into the crystal clip holding the front left strands of her hair off of her face, then walked to the library.
Merope had always been different, but Theodora couldn't help but love her. She always seemed like she wanted friends or a better life, but just didn't know how to go about it.
Whatever she was visiting for— it was probably serious.
After the Quidditch game, Theodora and Evander walked back into the school wearing their normal house robes. The game was tied after a long three hours of playing, and a final decider match was arranged in the next two weeks.
"There you are!" the two of them heard, seeing a girl rise from where she was seated in the hallway.
"Merope? How'd you get in here?" Theodora called as she caught the girl in a tight embrace.
"I just walked in! I've been able to use magic lately, so it wasn't hard," she said excitedly, finally letting go of Theodora.
"You have? Since when?" Theodora asked hesitantly. Evander looked at the two of them inquisitively, remaining completely silent as he studied Theodora's cousin.
"My dad and brother are in Azkaban, and it just kind of happened after they were gone," she said, making Theodora gasp in shock.
"They're in Azkaban?!" Theodora cried, and Merope nodded with glistening eyes. Whether they were sad or happy— Evander and Theodora couldn't tell.
"They assaulted Ministry employees, then they were gone," she said quietly, and the two listening remained silent. Merope seemed positively emotionless over something this serious. She had been dependent on them, yet they abused her to no end; a reaction of some sort would surely be appropriate. Evander felt the same level of discomfort as Theodora, realizing this girl was dangerously odd.
"Well, are you doing okay? Since they're, gone?" Theodora asked, not sure how she should be reacting.
"Much better, actually. I'm married," she said bluntly, holding her left hand to reveal a ring on her third finger. Theodora's jaw remained dropped, and Evander tried his best to keep his expression even. She was definitely as odd as Theodora mentioned she would be, but he wasn't sure in what way until now.
"You are?" Theodora forced out, and Merope nodded excitedly.
"I am. He's so handsome, I just fell in love with him at first sight. His name's Tom," she said, pulling a picture out of her purse. Theodora and Evander looked at the handsome man in it, seeing dark hair, chiseled features, and strikingly captivating eyes.
"He is, wow," Theodora commented, seeing a man with looks on-par with Evander in the picture. Her eyes focused on something beyond the photograph suddenly, then she said, "Merope, are you pregnant?"
Merope placed a hand over her stomach, a wide smile appearing on her face with an excited nod of her head.
"I am. About two months," she said, making Theodora and Evander's shocked stares look down to her stomach that was beginning to show the baby.
"Congratulations, I can't believe I'm hearing all this!" Theodora said with a strained smile, and Merope giggled. Theodora looked to Evander, making a face to indicate she was behaving very strangely.
"Oh, Merope, this is Evander. My boyfriend," Theodora said, motioning to Evander to change the subject from being creeped out by Merope's smitten laughter. Evander offered a polite bow of his head, with which Merope returned with a small curtsey as they exchanged the standard "nice to meet you."
"I can't believe this, you're so beautiful Theodora! It's been too long since I've seen you. And you've grown up— you're taller than me, you've got him—" Merope said excitedly, motioning to Evander as the two of them smiled.
"I know, it's been far too long. I'm happy to see you're doing well," Theodora said with a polite smile.
"Thank you for visiting. We apologize the match ended up tied, after all that—" Evander said, flashing Merope his charming smile that made every girl at Hogwarts melt. She grinned in response, saying, "it's alright. I never knew much about Quidditch either way. I'm just happy I came to see the school I heard so much about."
Evander saw pain in the girl's smile, evident of the abuse her father and brother had pelted her with by repeatedly reminding her she was a "squib." Nevertheless, he offered her another smile, then said to Theodora, "you two have a lot to catch up on. I can't intrude."
"Oh, are you leaving so soon?" Merope asked, her expression looking like a sad puppy's. Evander found himself frowning slightly, and he said, "I have some things to attend to. The head of the house would like to discuss some things with the prefects of Slytherin that we've been having issues with. It sounds like we need to crack down on some rules soon."
"What a shame!" Merope cried, and Evander chuckled saying, "it's nothing too bad. Hopefully people will listen so I don't have to do write-ups in the middle of the night anymore."
"He's seen it all, Merope. Although, too bad they waited until the end of your seventh year to finally make some changes," Theodora said, then looked up at Evander who shrugged and grumbled, "I've learned that three hours of sleep is sufficient enough. It's about the silver linings in life."
"Look at you being all positive!" Theodora exclaimed with a playful nudge, and he grumbled, "I'm trying to be polite. Let me be sulky."
Theodora laughed with Merope, the two of them seeing Evander's more normal stoic and serious nature trying its best to come forth.
"Well, it was nice meeting you," Merope said, quickly curtseying again as Evander nodded to her.
"The pleasure was mine, Miss Gaunt," he said, then turned and walked away to the meeting he actually did have. As soon as he was out of sight, the calm smile he had was replaced by a look of concern, feeling something was very wrong with the girl. She didn't seem nearly as quiet and timid as Theodora had described, but rather slaphappy.
Evander found his focus to be beyond poor during the meeting, constantly checking the clock as he eagerly awaited his usual meet-up time with Theodora in the library. He definitely was wondering if she was able to pick Merope's brain, and if she could explain the complete change in personality.
"Any questions, Mr. Lestrange?" He heard, seeing the professor looking at him as well as his fellow prefects.
"No sir," Evander said with a shake of his head, hoping the professor didn't explicitly notice his lack of focus.
"Just to make sure, how many points are being deducted when you catch a student after hours," the professor asked, and Evander nearly sighed audibly with relief.
"It's up to 70 points, sir," he said, happy that the professor asked him the one thing he listened to in the past hour.
"Alright, you're all dismissed," he told the students, and they left the classroom going their separate ways. Evander hurried to the library, finding Theodora seated at their usual table, bent over a book as she wrote answers on a piece of paper.
"Thea!" he called as he walked up to the table. She turned around, offering him a strained smile as he sat down.
"So your cousin," he said, and she shook her head with a sigh.
"Where do I even begin?" she groaned, setting down her quill and leaned back with her arms crossed in the chair.
"I've never seen her that… giddy? Happy? Confident?" Theodora told him, and Evander nodded saying, "she was described as being the opposite of the young lady I met today."
"It was creepy, Evander! She told me some things that were really— and I mean REALLY— concerning," Theodora said, leaning closer to him with her voice now a whisper. He raised an eyebrow, leaning a little closer as she looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone.
"I asked how she met her husband, and she said something about him living nearby the past couple of years. She was vague about it at first, but then said that she took an old wand the family had and considered a love potion or a spell. She couldn't even tell me which one she did, but it's either Amortentia or the Imperius curse."
"What the hell?" Evander exclaimed as quietly as he could, and Theodora nodded.
"Long story short, she described the dynamics to where I think I figured out what happened. If you agree with me, then I know my theory is right since you're the best strategist I know.
"She kind of fell in love at first sight. And you saw the picture, the man is exceptionally handsome. His family is wealthy, but she failed to mention his last name in her rambling. He's a muggle man, and she couldn't associate with him while her brother and father were home. Once they were out of the picture, it sounds like she released the fear that suppressed her magic. The Gaunt bloodline is powerful, I always knew she couldn't be a Squib. That means that she's incredibly powerful— she never studied at a wizarding school, and she entranced a man to not only marry but impregnate her as a mere novice. And you know what else? She's a parselmouth like me."
Evander was silent from shock from what he was hearing, seeing Theodora's expression contorted with concern.
"Does that scare you, Thea?" He asked, resting a hand over one of hers. She shuddered, nodding.
"Let me tell you a secret about myself, Evander," she said. He sat up straighter, feeling like they were being watched, looking around but finding them to be alone.
"When I was at Ilvermorny, you probably assumed I was in the Pukwudgie house since that's closest to Hufflepuff. But actually, I was a Thunderbird."
"You were in Ilvermorny's version of Slytherin?!" He asked, his eyebrows raising in surprise. She nodded, and said, "Yes. Because of the Gaunt lineage, and I have a lot of Slytherin/Thunderbird traits. The statues fought for me during the sorting ceremony, and I went with Thunderbird from my gut feel. But when I came here, I pushed my into Hufflepuff, for a few reasons. One, my father and his distaste for the Gaunts. When he was here as a Slytherin, the Malfoys, Blacks, Gaunts, and Lestranges were all fighting for being the most noble of the pureblood families, and I didn't want to deal with any of that. And… I wanted to hide."
Evander always knew she had Slytherin traits, but never realized how strong they were until that last sentence she spoke. He fully understood her feelings, and would've likely done the same thing if he had known much about his own family's history of the house before attending school.
"My point is, we have some strong power in our family, and Merope inherited it. But she's not all there," Theodora said, pointing to her own brain.
"She suddenly became sad during our conversation— I did not tell her to fess up to her husband about how he became entranced with her— she felt guilt on her own out of nowhere! I think she's going to tell him, but she took off in a hurry so I have no clue what she's planning. I have no idea where she lives or any way to contact her if he rejects her."
"Her letter had no return address?" Evander asked, and Theodora shook her head no.
"That's strange," he said, and Theodora nodded aggressively in agreement.
"She even told me about some freaky new dark spell she found that somehow would get her pregnant without actually—" she said, turning a little red and lowered her voice to say, "doing it. But nevertheless, it would be a way for her to say 'hey, I'm pregnant with your child' if she hadn't enchanted him."
"That type of thing exists?" Evander asked, and Theodora nodded.
"And in what way would that work out for her if she had gone that route?" He asked, almost sounding annoyed.
"It wouldn't have. She's so infatuated that she isn't thinking anymore. She wanted to be married with him, I think to avoid—" Theodora began, then stopped and bit her lip.
"I'm so sorry," she said to him, putting her hands on his arms as he shook his had.
"It's alright, Thea," he said sweetly, then his smile dropped as he snarled to the boy who appeared from around the shelf behind her.
"What a coincidence to see my brother!" The Slytherin boy said, and Theodora turned around.
"Half-brother," Evander barked as the boy slid into a seat next to him. Theodora's stomach flipped nervously, knowing Evander's half-brother Cornelius was trying to create trouble as usual. The only similarity the two of them shared was their fair complexion, but Cornelius was a combination of their father and his mother whereas Evander solely resembled his mother.
"Right, you're the son of Lucien Lestrange and— what's her name— the prostitute? Theodora, you mustn't compare your cousin to Evander's mother. Selling yourself is different than temptation," Cornelius sneered, and Evander shot him a glare that made Theodora recede in her chair.
"If I wasn't sitting in the school library, wearing a prefect badge, I would have punched you to Mars," Evander's voice said with an eerie calmness.
"Piss off, Cornelius," Theodora barked, and his cold gray eyes trailed over to her. She stared him down defiantly with a glare, not phased by the sociopathic look in his eyes. He reached to her hair, unclipping it and said, "your hair is loose. Allow me to fix it."
"Absolutely not!" She cried, attempting to snatch back her clip.
"It'll take only a second," he said, gently lifting her section of soft black hair back and clipping it up elegantly.
"There you are, much better," he said, and she audibly sighed with a roll of her eyes.
"You were so careful a moment ago to not shame Breean Donovan and her pregnancy, but you're so harsh to me!" He said sarcastically, referring to Evander's mother.
"Oh, you suddenly remember her name?!" Evander argued, and Theodora decided to interject to prevent a fight between them.
"I would've done a lot more than prostitute myself if I had starving siblings and no parents like she did. I respect Evander's mother, she's the bravest and kindest woman I've ever met. And if I had been in her shoes, you would've been at the top of my hit list," Theodora snarled, her eyes staring him down like he was prey.
"First Maven Gaunt with our father and Uncle Corvus, and the tradition just continues with the two of us," Cornelius replied, and Evander slowly turned with a spiteful glare to look him in the eyes.
"You really try my patience. Luckily, my mother raised me and not yours."
"Is that a threat?" Cornelius asked with an unnerving smile, then Evander growled, then switched gears saying, "what the hell do you want?"
"Hm, not much actually. I heard you two talking— and thought I'd congratulate you on the Quidditch game. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I couldn't pick who I should be rooting for," he said, and Theodora's eyes narrowed in response.
"Thanks, noted. Please leave now," she said, and Cornelius laughed.
"Wow, she's as cold as she is beautiful!" Cornelius cried, rising from the chair and pushing it in.
"Good, that's what I'm going for," Theodora said dryly, and Cornelius offered her an empty smile.
"I hope everything works out with your cousin," he said, then reached to ruffle Evander's hair from behind. Evander jumped in surprise, smacking his hand away, then yelping in pain.
"Good day, you two," Cornelius said, bowing his head with a hand over his heart, walking away. Other than his words and dead eyes, he and Evander had refined manners from their aristocratic lineage.
"What a bitch, he pulled out some of my hair," Evander huffed, running his hand over the back of his head.
"I'm sorry he said those things to you. Your mother doesn't deserve that," she said, and Evander shrugged.
"He's said worse about her. They've left me alone since I blackmailed my father and his illegal potion business," Evander said, then Theodora's eyes widened.
"Oops, I never told you," he said, and she shook her head with her jaw dropping.
"That's a story for another time, my dear," he said nervously, and she laughed with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, I'm just glad you two have each other. You two have really been through a lot. And I know this will probably embarrass you, but when I've seen you two together, you're like a different person. I can tell you two love each other more than anything," Theodora said, a warm and reminiscent smile on her face. Evander blushed a little, like she predicted, then said, "yeah, I guess I can't deny it. I've had a happy life with her. I loved living with her in our apartment much more than the time I spent at the Lestrange estate."
"Next time your mom gets heat from the Lestrange family, tell her that I hope to be a mother like her one day," Theodora said, her Hufflepuff side showing with a gentle smile that made Evander feel suddenly shy.
"I will, she'll be happy to hear that," he murmured as he suppressed a smile.
"But anyway, Thea. As much as I'd like to get into my past with you, we have more pressing issues with Merope."
"I wish there was more I could do, but it seemed like she was being really vague on purpose. Which scares me," Theodora told him, and Evander could only sigh as his brain began calculating her motives.
"I think she's about to tell him the truth," he finally said, and Theodora raised an eyebrow.
"Why is that?" she asked hesitantly, nervous to hear what Evander had to say. He had a knack for figuring things out and predicting them accurately, and felt trepidation over what he was about to say about her cousin. His face gave it away, he was worried.
"It'll sound crazy, but I think she was being vague so that Tom won't have anyone to dump the child on if the two of them split up. If she gave you or your family any information about her son, he would say, 'perfect— the witch's son can be raised with that side of the family, not mine.' She's hoping that he'll have no choice but to raise their son from pity if things go south with them. Because what father would abandon their child? Especially in a family like his where his reputation is at stake. Old money has its unspoken laws: if even my father can try— even if it's to use me for personal gain— then I would hope most others would and follow through."
Theodora held her heart beginning to pound from nerves, and she shook her head. The world of aristocrats was definitely different, where everything was public and every behavior had to be perfectly calculated.
"I hope I'm wrong," Evander said quickly, realizing how uneasy she seemed. Theodora looked to him, her eyes sad with the acceptance of Evander's theory
"You never are, Evander. And probably never will be."
A/N: Thank you for reading! As I mentioned at the top of this page, the characters here will be seen again and you will find out much more about them later. I had this introduction be brief to show Merope's family (obviously my own characters at this point), and the Lestranges. Next will be getting to Tom's introduction.
Just wanted to mention that I am aware that there may be grammar mistakes, I'm not an expert and use this site for sharing my ideas. I hope this pilot chapter wasn't too confusing, but I promise things will make more sense the more you read. I prefer to be kept guessing when I read something, and wanted to go for that in my own work. It's been ages since I've shared anything, and I wanted to use this to start my profile fresh again.
Please comment! If there's anything I blatantly miss in grammar or something just really stands out, please let me know. Since I haven't written in a while, I may be a bit rusty. If you have questions about anything related to characters or plot, I'll try my best to answer them in an author's note or you can just PM me.
This is a story I've posted at some point before but took it down to make some necessary changes, if it seems familiar. I keep going back and forth on what I want to have happen in the plot lol.
Thank you again,
sapphire-stars579
