The Following Afternoon...
"Ella, you okay?"
Eleonora rubbed her temples and squinted at the voice to her right, seeing Eva put an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm alright," she grunted with a forced smile. Eva pouted, sitting next to her saying, "what's wrong?"
Eleonora barely heard what Eva said, blinking slowly to see Isidore and Tom a little ways in front of her. She had misplaced a pair of earrings she needed to block her legillimency ability. Various articles of jewelry served as limiters. For example, a necklace may prevent her from blasting someone to the next room with the expelliarmus spell, and a ring may control the strength of her limbs when she is using non-wand-casted magic.
"You have a headache?" Isidore asked, somewhere above her. Eleonora slowly shook her head no, shutting her eyes as if the sense of sight was making everything worse.
"You know how my legillimency is out of control?" Eleonora croaked, and they all nodded. She swallowed with a calm exhale, remembering to spare details. They didn't know her true lineage to Merlin, but knew enough to see she was very powerful.
"I have a set of earrings that work as limiters. The rubies are able to block the noise. I took them out to clean them for five minutes, went to the bathroom, and they were gone once I got back. I can hear everyone's thoughts in this school and half of Hogsmeade. Simultaneously."
"Geez," Isidore grunted, his face contorting as he cringed. They all offered a similar reaction, and Eleonora grunted with annoyance.
"And because I can hear everyone's thoughts, I think the culprit disappeared. I can't hear anyone who is thinking about my earrings. I'm going to go insane, they've been missing since last night. I didn't sleep at all."
"Oh no!" Eva cried, giving Eleonora a hug from the side.
"Someone make it stop," Eleonora moaned, receding into Eva's shoulder. Isidore and Tom exchanged a look, then Tom said, "let's go see the Madam Cross. Maybe she has some alchemy substitutes that can help until we find your earrings."
"Okay," Eleonora mumbled, rising slowly with Eva. They accompanied her as she trudged along to the infirmary, finding the young matron at a desk organizing vials of potions.
"Madam Cross!"
The white vail she wore twirled as she turned to the sound of Eva's voice. She wore the traditional uniform of a Hogwarts matron, a veil covered her brown hair and she wore a long maroon dress and white apron, resembling a nurse from the first world war. She looked clean, as a medical professional should, with light amounts of makeup over her attractive feminine features.
She offered a smile, her calm blue eyes trailing over to the sound of them walking in. Right away, she frowned and hurried to Eleonora's side. She was one of the few people at Hogwarts who knew the full truth about Eleonora.
"My earrings that control the legilimency went missing last night," Eleonora told her as she was handed off to Madam Cross's arms.
"Oh you poor thing, you must be going crazy," she responded tenderly, sitting Eleonora in a chair.
"Do you have anything that'll work until I can find them?"
Madam Cross grimaced a little as she looked to her shelves nearby, scanning the variety of potions, medicines, and objects from alchemists for a variety of ailments. She knew she didn't have anything with the strength of Eleonora's power.
"I didn't need to ask, I can hear that I'm out of luck," Eleonora said hearing Madam Cross's thoughts.
"I'm sorry," Madam Cross said.
"Wait, I can get a stone in Hogsmeade?" Eleonora asked, and everyone looked to Madam Cross in anticipation for her explanation.
"Um, yes... there's an alchemist who lives there but she's hosting a party tonight. Or rather, an auction of sorts for some of his items. But here-"
Madam Cross walked to a drawer, pulling out a vial filled with lavender and a titanium coin.
"I was supposed to drop this medicine at his home on my day off. He's a wealthy man, and has guards at the entrances of his property. Show them the coin, and you'll be let in."
Eleonora took both objects, studying the engraving of seven stars on the coin. It was a familiar seal; this particular family sold a variety of gems and items of alchemy, stamping it with the seven stars like a signature.
"What's that about?" Isidore asked, leaning over to look at the coin's pattern.
"Pleiades star cluster. According to Madam Cross's thoughts, this coin became an invitation to her family's parties. There were seven girls borne to the parents; hence, 'the seven sisters.'"
Tom looked at her, raising an eyebrow, and she reddened as she read his thoughts.
"Tom, thank you for the compliment, I just am not used to you being impressed," she mumbled. Tom's expression dropped, and he visibly reddened to his ears, not ever having his emotions revealed.
"I, uh-" he stuttered, and Eleonora waved a hand.
"It's alright, I know this stuff embarrasses you," she told him, flashing him a toothy grin.
"Anyway, I should probably tell the rest of you, you're allowed to go this evening as long as you're in a group of four. Do you have someone you can pull to go with you?"
"Four? What are we, children?" Eva exclaimed, and Isidore flatly replied, "yes."
"You technically are," Madam Cross said quietly as she nodded, then Eva frowned at the floor, helping Eleonora up. Eleonora let out a quiet yawn, stretching high in an attempt to wake up a little.
"Here's the address, I'll let the headmaster know you're leaving," she said. Eleonora knew Madam Cross was only letting them go because her case was urgent, and that the headmaster would understand.
"Thank you, Madam Cross," Eleonora chimed. She nodded with a smile, leading them out of the infirmary as they went their separate ways.
"Let's change out of our uniforms. Grab your scarves and gloves! I think it snowed earlier," Eva said, squinting out the dark window next to her.
"We'll take care of her. We'll meet you in the Viaduct Courtyard," Tom said, offering Eleonora his elbow.
"Okay, see you all soon!" Eva called, scurrying down the hall with a bounce in her step.
"Oh, I envy that girl," Eleonora muttered.
"Pardon?" Tom asked, next to her. Isidore heard as well, and frowned as he looked to her annoyed expression.
"I wish I had half the enthusiasm and energy she does."
"Why?" Isidore asked, his expression showing genuine bewilderment.
"Huh? Why wouldn't I?"
"Because you wouldn't be you," he answered simply, and she felt herself freeze. They looked at each other for a moment, her expression remaining even despite what she was thinking.
Geez Isidore, I'm glad it's me reading everyone's thoughts and not you. Otherwise you'd know that you made my heart pound.
"Are we there yet? My face hurts," Eleonora complained as the frigid wind pushed against them.
"I think it's just around this corner," Tom grunted, nodding to the end of the road.
"I wonder what kind of things they're auctioning. They're probably all expensive," Eva wondered, and Isidore snorted.
"Everyone who goes to these things is prepared to sell their souls. These items cost an arm and a leg, from what I've heard," he said.
"Really? Have you been to one?" Eva asked him.
"Yes, a long time ago. It was shortly before my mom was incarcerated. There was this niffler there, and I- oh,"
They all heard music, seeing a brightly lit three-story Victorian home another 25 yards down the street from them.
"This place is huge," Tom exclaimed, surprised to see such a large home in Hogsmeade.
They approached the guards at the front gate, showing him the invitation. He immediately led them inside, leaving them in the massive parlor.
"I know where she is. It's Morgana Black I'm looking for," Eleonora told them, and they followed her to the stairs.
"How many people are here?" Eva asked.
"279," Eleonora answered. They all were impressed she could manage to focus on a specific person with all the background noise she was hearing from her ears and her mind.
"Hang on," Eleonora suddenly said, halting as they were passing a hallway. She looked down to the right, and they followed her gaze, not seeing anything but three rooms on each side leading to a window at the end. It was dark, looking like nobody was there or meant to be there for the party.
"Is she this way?" Tom asked, pointing to it, and Eleonora nodded.
"We can forget Morgana for now, you guys need to see this," she said quickly, grabbing Tom's arm to pull him along. Eva and Isidore looked at each other, then followed after her.
The noise of the guests was quickly drowned out as they went down the dark corridor. Eleonora stopped them, pointing to another hallway in between two doors.
"We should hide here in case they come out of that door," she whispered, and they each lined up against the wall in the even darker corridor.
"Hang on everyone, I'll let you hear and see," Eleonora said, placing her hand to the wall. The three with her no longer saw the dark hallway, but were seeing a view of the inside of the room. Two men stood inside, each glaring daggers at each other from opposite ends of the room.
"Dear brother, I didn't expect to see you here," the shorter man said, adjusting his white bowtie with gloved hands. From where he was standing, the room was too dark to reveal his face clearly.
"I'm here to protect people from crooks like you," the other said with a snarl. The other smirked, swirling the wine in his glass nonchalantly before setting it down on the table nearby, and gave him a tired sigh.
"The Department of Mysteries... giving a man like you a security job. Nobody knows the job description for that department unless they work for it. Your senses are refined, better than some assassins I've met. I wonder just what kind of work you do."
He stepped closer, his smirk disappearing, saying, "we both know father loved that brain of yours too much for you to be doing something like this."
"Oh-" the other said, then to everyone's surprised, he laughed hard for a few seconds.
"Goodness, you're right. I lied, don't you see? You really think they'd need someone from the Department of Mysteries to deal with security for a place that is already swimming with guards? I'm not here for work, although I pretended to be."
His smile changed, almost seeming slightly crazed.
"If you had of brain, it'd die of loneliness."
Eleonora audibly snorted with laughter, slamming a hand over her mouth, then was relieved to see that the men didn't hear her through the thin wall.
"I'm sure you aren't here to insult me."
"I wish I was. Regretfully, I'm here to speak with you."
"About...?"
"What the hell did you do to Theodora?"
There was silence. Isidore held his breath, feeling his stomach drop and like his throat was dry.
"So you saw her, Evander?" Cornelius Lestrange said, stepping into the light with a grin that sickened Evander and the onlookers. Evander grit his teeth, visibly fuming with something close to hatred burning in his eyes.
"Answer my question."
"She was sentenced for using an unforgivable curse against me. You know that's a life sentence automatically-"
"Don't give me that shit!" Evander yelled, surprising his brother with the outburst.
"Oh my, I've never heard you yell-" Cornelius said, half serious but with a mocking tone.
"Care to explain to me how my girlfriend of two years randomly forgets our relationship suddenly, thinking that she was with you all that time?! Then you marry her right when school ends, and she's already had a child the following February?"
"I'd rather not," Cornelius answered. Evander then crossed the room, instantly twisting Cornelius's arms like a trained fighter. He threw him onto the couch nearby, aiming his wand with a booming, "Legilimens!"
May, 1925
Cornelius Lestrange wore a scowl on his face as he saw Evander walking with Theodora down the hallway. He hid around the corner, listening as a girl stood up from the ground to greet them.
"There you are!"
"Merope? How'd you get in here?"
The girl scurried up to them, her smile unnervingly wide with dead-looking eyes. She was dressed in a simple dark brown tunic-type dress, hiding the early showings of her pregnant stomach quite well. Her clothes seemed basic, but were of high quality. Her hair was neatly curled and styled into the headband that rested across her forehead- a staple of 1920s fashion. Everything about her seemed refined, aside from the crazed smile she wore and deranged look in her eyes.
Cornelius was then seen listening to Evander and Theodora. Evander looked around, feeling that they were being watched but didn't see anyone. Cornelius had barely avoided Evander's eagle eyes. He held the book of dark magic close to his chest, paging through it to find the spell that Theodora had mentioned about childbearing that her cousin Merope considered using.
Cornelius quickly read the steps, then snarled as he heard the mention of Evander's mother. Evander's mother was beautiful, highly intelligent, kind-hearted, and strong. She was a nurse during the war, from January of 1917 through November of 1918 when it ended. All Cornelius's mother did was criticize him, comparing him to his far-superior elder brother. He was athletically gifted, smarter, stronger in magical ability, and she even stooped to compliment Evander's looks.
She treats him terribly, yet thinks of him so highly. So what does that make me? Cornelius sneered.
Cornelius looked back at the two of them, then his eyes widened with an idea so terrible, it was sure to destroy them.
To destroy Evander.
Not long after his idea, and his strained conversation with the two seekers, he was leaving with the required hair samples he needed for the spell.
The last day of their seventh year at Hogwarts, Cornelius found Theodora walking by herself in an outdoor corridor. She held a hand over her stomach, the light nausea she had been experiencing for the past month back at its usual time in the morning. It was tolerable enough for her to go about her day, but noticeable enough for her to be concerned about.
"Cornelius, you startled me," she said, turning to him, clearly wary of him.
His silence scared her, as he gave her an unreadable stare.
We're alone.
That was the last thought he had as he said, "Imperio."
She went into a trance, staring at him devoid of emotion. The words he had been waiting to say finally escaped his lips, "you don't love Evander Lestrange. You love me."
"I love you," her voice echoed.
"Yes, and you will marry me this July. Not Evander."
"I'll marry you in July."
"You're a month pregnant, by a spell. You will know him as my son, not Evander's."
"He's your son."
And years later, Theodora was raising Evander's children alone.
Evander had been over to visit, infuriating Cornelius as he saw the wavering emotion in Theodora's eyes.
Her love for Evander was overpowering the Imperius curse.
I have to get him out of here.
So he threatened to harm a two year-old boy in Evander's arms if he was ever caught with Theodora again. So he left, as any sane person would, his heart breaking as he left the woman and children he had grown to love.
Evander released Cornelius, staring him down as he heaved air into his lungs from the pain of the spell.
"You..." Evander whispered, so indescribably infuriated with the man in front of him that he went quiet.
"Yes, I did all that! It's true! I couldn't best you in anything, so I resorted to the one thing that I knew would destroy you- I stole the woman you loved!" Cornelius spat, his teeth gritted as he gave Evander a furious glare.
"And let me guess. The spell you found would produce the ultimate combination of the two parents. It would be obvious that the children were mine once they got older because they'd be spitting images of me and her."
Evander paused, stepping closer before saying, "you would then sabotage the both of us."
"You'd frame your wife as adulterous, and your brother as the one behind her actions, making you look virtuous as you let her have not one, but three children with me?! You would seem like an angel that had to put up with such a horrible deed done to you by your own brother and wife," Evander snarled, his voice growing louder as he grabbed Cornelius's collar roughly.
"Congratulations, you figured it out like you do with everything, dear brother," Cornelius hissed, a disgusted snarl spreading over his features as he stared into Evander's ferocious eyes.
"You fucking bastard," Evander fumed, his voice a growl, roughly shaking Cornelius once against the back of the couch.
"Where are my children?! I left to protect them but I never knew they were my own!" Evander thundered.
"Who knows? I left them to survive on the streets. They may be dead."
Eva fought the tears that tried so very much to spill out of her eyes. Eleonora wasn't so lucky.
She found Isidore behind her, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. She approached him, hearing every thought that ran through his head, sobbing into a hand as the other reached to cup his face.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, pulling him into a hug. Her embrace was strong, but she felt delicate against Isidore's arms, realizing how thin she was. He was numb, yet felt comforted by her warmth. And all he did was hold her, staring ahead at nothing in particular for who knows how long.
Tom, meanwhile, tried his best to process everything. Evander was indeed an older version of himself in many ways, and he had every right to become a feared wizard with what he's gone through.
The real test was just beginning. What would he do now that he knows the truth?
Wrath would be felt. Would the man who caused it take on all of it, or were they at Evander's point of no return?
Eleonora, still without her earrings, had her powers surge from the overwhelming emotions she was feeling. They all saw Evander and Cornelius again, catching the end of this argument.
"You'll regret this. You'll regret ever being born," Evander told his brother coldly.
"More than I already do?!" Cornelius laughed, silencing Evander for a moment.
"Oh yes," Evander finally murmured, leaning down to his brother's eye level. Cornelius felt a chill going down his spine, almost regretting the fact that he challenged a man far superior to him.
"The most dangerous opponent you can have is one with nothing to lose," Cornelius told him defiantly. Evander then grinned an empty smile, saying "Oh, I know."
His smile disappeared, and he added, "because I was about to tell you the same thing."
Cornelius's lips twitched as he resisted making an fearful expression, and he felt dread that any little movement would be used against him. That's how it always was with Evander. And Evander clearly saw the uneasiness in Cornelius's eyes. He continued to stare at him, enjoying the sight of him growing more uncomfortable with each agonizingly long second.
"I'm going to make things right," Evander finally said, remaining quite vague with the serenity in his voice. His eyes remained emotionless, his expression unreadable. He patiently stared at his brother, studying every inch of his face, already calculating his moves.
"This is where we begin our fighting?"
"Oh please," Evander scoffed, standing back up to his full height and walking to the door.
"We've been at war since we were seven. This is just an official declaration."
A/N: I know, this story is kinda plot-twist central right now. This was the big bombshell, so you all can relax a little. :)
Maybe. :) :)
Because, is Theodora still under the Imperius curse or not? What did she and Evander talk about during his visit to Azkaban?
You'll have to wait and see! :) :) :)
Seriously, thank you again for reading! See you next chapter~
