All J.K. Rowling. - Alex

OOO

Atria gave Charlie a reassuring smile and shouldered her duffle bag. Muggles were walking around them and others were boarding the train.

"I have to go." Atria sighed.

"But you can't tell me where you're going?" Charlie huffed and the train whistled.

"I told you... I'm going to France." Atria argued and took a sneaky step toward the train. Charlie glared at her.

"Reckless behavior isn't just riding a dragon, it's also going off to a foreign country alone and no one knows where you are. You could at least tell me what city, an address-"

"I'm just going on a one day vacation. I'll see you at work tomorrow." Atria took a few steps closer to the compartment door. She laughed at the fact that Charlie was worried about where she was going. In truth, she was worried too but not for the same reasons. She could handle herself in a foreign country, but she was worried about handling herself in her own home.

"Ginny is not going to be happy." Charlie groaned and rubbed his temple.

"She doesn't need to know. I'll be in France for twelve hours, hardly anything to get worked up over." Atria said and then boarded the train without giving Charlie a chance to argue with her. She put her duffle in an overhead bunk and then took a seat.

Now that she was on the train, she started to freak out a bit. Yes, she was technically a Lestrange, but she was also technically not a Lestrange. She was a Lestrange by marriage not blood, and that could be dangerous. The last time she had been there it was with her mother and father. They had been one small somewhat happy family. Until her mum had killed her dad. Oh, happy days.

But how would the enchantments react to her? Her picture was hanging with the rest of her family. It had been automatically added when she had been born and grew with her and changed as she had. That made her think about what Scorpius had told her.

It couldn't possibly be true that the Aurors didn't know who they had placed in Azkaban. If the Death Eaters had stayed silent that whole time... well, that was good for her secret but bad for the general wizarding population. The Aurors had no idea who they were even searching for. And there were other things that didn't make sense. How had they gotten out?

Atria hadn't wanted to think about it that much, but now that she was it didn't make sense. Her mum wasn't powerful enough to overcome dementors and she wasn't smart enough to plan ahead. At least, not that Atria knew. Those last few years, she barely recognized her mum, so who knew what she was capable of. The more she thought about it, though, the more she was convinced they had to have a man on the inside and the more she was convinced that man was Salvatore.

Maybe Al was right and she should put a stop her Rose and Sal. The problem was that if Atria was wrong, Rose would never forgive her. If she didn't support Rose, she would never forgive Atria. But if Atria was right, she would never forgive herself for not doing something. No, Atria would have to wait for proof and then as soon as she did, Atria would let the Aurors take care of Sal.

"Miss."

Atria opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She looked around and the train was empty except for the conductor looking down on her.

"Paris, France… last stop." He told her and then walked away. Atria took a deep breath, amazed at how quickly the ride had passed. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head, then stood up and grabbed her duffle bag from the crate overhead.

The air on the platform smelled like smoke and Atria coughed, pulling her coat collar over her nose. All around people were smoking and she was relieved to get out of the terminal and into the fresh air.

Now she had to get to Castel Lestrange from here. She had never come in from the muggle world before, but she imagined it would be similar to entering from the wizarding world. Even if you flooed to Paris, instead of taking the train, there was still quite a bit of hike until you reached the estate.

Atria took a cab to the outskirts of Paris.

"This is where you will be wanting?" The cabbie asked in thick French accent. Atria looked over the countryside where there wasn't a house in sight and nodded.

"Yes."

The cabbie shook his head and then drove off.

Atria closed her eyes as her lip trembled and she could feel the tears stinging in her eyes. She quickly wiped the wetness off her face, unsure why she was even crying. Was it because she was afraid walk into her family's mansion, and it might be the last thing she ever did? The spells and charms placed on Castel Lestrange might see her as impure now.

Or was it because she missed it? She missed her mother… her old mother and she missed the life they used to have. Atria wished that she could have with her mother was she had with the Potter's.

She apparated from hilltop to hilltop until she reached the old willow tree.

Dear Merlin, it had withered since she had last been here. It didn't look half as enchanting as she remembered. She took that as a sign that her mother hadn't been here in awhile.

Atria pulled out her wand and took a deep breath, blinking several times. She touched the tip of her wand to a notch in the tree. To any passerby it could just look like an interesting bark pattern, but as she drew her wand down the center of the symbol the tree began to crack open. The first time she went to Diagon Alley, it had reminded her of this.

As she stepped through the barrier, she came face to face with the black metal gate, or as she liked to call it nowadays The Entrance to Hell.

Now, it was do or die time. She never quite understood this part. Her mother had explained that the house could tell, it knew if you were worthy, but she had never gotten it.

She placed her palm against the large circular pattern that was connecting the gates. She could already spot the rose gardens that surrounded the front of the house. Her palm burned a little as the gate glowed beneath her hands and she could feel that sensation travel all the way up her arm and over her chest, then to her brain.

Atria shut her eyes and waited for the biting pricks to secede.

She opened her eyes when the pricking stopped and the heat died starting in her head and began to fade over the rest of her body.

"Guess I'm worthy." Atria muttered and felt a twinge of guilt. Did this mean that in the back of her head she still believed all of the rubbish her parents had spouted? No, that was impossible.

She loved Rose, who was a half-blood, and the rest of the Wotter clan. When she looked at a person she hardly even thought about whether or not they were a pureblood.

The gate slowly creaked open and Atria grasped her wand tighter. She slowly walked towards rose bushes that came to life. One of the branches snapped and Atria jumped away from the thorns.

"AHH!" She cried out as something sharp came around her wrist. Her wand fired off defensively and the pretty flowers backed away from her and the pain in her wrist became less pressing.

When the snapping sound came back, Atria took a deep breath…

And then ran like hell towards the front door. Little pricks bit into her as she out ran all the thorns and evil roses

Before Atria even reached the tall front doors, they slowly opened creating a three foot wide crack. Just as she was running up the marble steps, the doors started to close.

"No!" Atria screamed and she slid in feet first.

The doors slammed behind her head and Atria breathed deeply. She smiled.

Then she was swallowed by the tile floor and fell into black hole.

Amanda smiled as she listened to Rose rant about the wedding.

"Sounds like quite the affair." Amanda pulled her hair up, and looked at herself in the mirror. Rose came out of her bathroom in a green and pink flowery sundress.

"That looks good." Rose told Amanda. "You have a nice neck."

A laugh bubbled up in Amanda. "A nice neck?"

"Yes, you should show it off." Rose grinned and sat down on her bed. "What are you going to wear?" Amanda frowned at herself in the mirror.

She was wearing ripped jean shorts and an old boating T-Shirt her dad had gotten her. She had extra hair bands around her wrist and flip flops that showed her chipped blue nail polish. " "I was planning on wearing this." Amanda said. Rose raised her eyebrows.

"I told you we were going out to lunch!" Rose protested.

"You asked if I wanted to have lunch with you!" Amanda argued. "I didn't know that meant getting dressed up and going out."

Rose smiled. "We're having lunch with Albus, James, Scorpius, and Freddie."

Amanda froze and spun around. "I'm not prepared for a lunch with… everyone!"

Rose jumped up and rushed over to her closet. "That's why you're going to change." She giggled and pulled a red shirt frilly shirt. "You can keep on the shorts, but the shirt and shoes have to go." She tossed the shirt at Amanda's face.

"These flip flops-"

"Are flip flops." Rose cut her off and held up a pair of strappy sandals that had a two inch heel. "These are much cuter."

"Where are we going?" Amanda changed her shirt and smiled at her reflection. She took the shoes from Rose and kicked off her flip flops.

"Some muggle place in London. We're going to floo to a nearby place." Rose said while pinning the front pieces of her hair to the back of her head.

"And Scorpius is coming?" Amanda looked sideways at Rose.

"Yes, we spoke at the wedding." Rose's ears turned a bit red. "Everything's alright now. I can't even remember what we were fighting about really." She chuckled awkwardly.

"You pissed because he was putting his libido above your friendship."

Rose choked out a laugh. "Thanks for reminding me."

"We should go. What time are we supposed to be there?" Amanda looked at her phone.

"One o'clock."

Amanda did a double take at her phone. "It's almost one thirty."

"I know." Rose draped a bag over her shoulder. "We're late."

Amanda barked out a short laugh. "Come on then."

When they got down stairs Mrs. Weasley asked where they were going.

"We're meeting James and a few other friends for lunch." Rose told her mum. "And we're late so we're going to rush off." She kissed Mrs. Weasley on the cheek.

"Nice to see you again Amanda." Hermione smiled and started folding laundry. "Feel free to stay after you get back. We're having chicken for dinner."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."

Rose apparated them both to a back alley that Amanda was unfamiliar with.

"It's a few blocks from here, but this is a popular place to apparate to because it's so hidden." Rose explained as she ran a few fingers through her hair. "Did apparating mess up my hair?" She asked nervously.

"No, your hair is brilliant, as always." Amanda smirked. "Besides who cares?" Amanda laughed carelessly and Rose smiled shyly. Amanda opened her mouth to ask Rose why she had a secretive smile on her face, but when Rose turned away Amanda shut her mouth. Suddenly Rose was trying to impress someone?

Amanda frowned. Her cousins? We're having lunch with her cousins… Amanda's eyes widened. And Scorpius.

It all fell into place. Rose had been furious, and hurt, when Scorpius started messing around with that hag Jenny. She had been jealous and now that they finally fixed it…

Amanda grinned. Rosie and Scorpius! Together! She jogged to catch up with Rose.

"So are you excited to see Scorpius?" Amanda blurted. Scorpius had certainly been pissy enough when Rose hadn't ben speaking to him.

Rose blushed. "Of course. It was horrible not talking to him. I missed him."

Amanda eyed her knowingly, but Rose stared straight ahead. "Well, it's a good thing you're on the same page because you're going to be living together this year." Rose sputtered.

"What do you mean?"

"You're going to be Head's." Duh.

Rose scoffed. "We don't know that."

"Everyone knows that."

Rose tried to conceal a grin. "Maybe." She shrugged casually, but Amanda knew she was thrilled to hear that. "Here it is." They stopped outside of little cafe where people were sitting outside, an unusual occurrence in rainy London.

The door was propped open and a menu was taped to the window. As soon as they walked in Amanda noticed the boys immediately. Scorpius's platinum blonde cap was a dead giveaway and so was the preppy blonde waitress who was flipping her hair and batty her eyes at James.

"Hey." Rose bounced over to their table, probably not even noticing the waitress who was giving her a dirty look. It was understandable - the waitress probably wasn't used to stunningly beautiful redheads interrupting her flirting.

"Rosie!" James jumped up and threw his arms open, nearly smacking the waitress in the face. "How have you been?"

Rose rolled her eyes and hugged James. "I saw you two days ago." Did it make Amanda a bad person that she wished James had smacked the waitress?

"And nothing life altering has happened in the last two days?" James joked.

"Not particularly." Rose sat down in the chair Scorpius pulled out next to him. James moved to hug Amanda and she suppressed a smile. She wasn't really a giggler, but she was feeling so giddy she had to suppress a giggle as well.

Amanda wasn't quite sure why she wanted to laugh, but she did. Somehow everything seemed perfect in that moment. Everyone was safe and having lunch in a muggle cafe, despite everything that happened. Atria was off making friends with dragons and the Aurors were hunting down the Death Eaters.

All worry seemed to suspend.

At least until she caught sight of the red-faced waitress.

Amanda couldn't help but smirk when she said to the waitress, "I'll take a coffee please."

The waitress twirled around and flounced off before Rose could put her order in.

"Aw, I wanted a tea." Rose slumped into her chair and Scorpius threw his arm around her.

"Have some of mine." He pushed his cup in front of her. Amanda studied Scorpius and noted his slightly flushed cheeks and it seemed like he was trying not to look at Rose, even when he spoke to her. What was that about? I thought they were friends again. Amanda smiled to herself. Possibly more than friends...

"So how have things been?" Albus asked Amanda. "I haven't seen you all summer. Are you feeling alright?"

Amanda sighed. "I'm perfectly alright, but I wish everyone else would believe it. It took so much begging for my parents to let me leave the house."

"They let you come to my match." James frowned.

"Yes and that took a lot of begging as well." Amanda looked sideways at him and his eyes flared.

She looked away quickly and focused on Rose and Scorpius. Scorpius still had his arm around the back of Rose's chair and still wasn't making eye contact with her.

Freddie interrupted her thoughts, "It's weird not to be going back to Hogwarts this year."

James nodded, "Never thought I would miss school."

Albus groaned, "I'm not excited for N.E.W.T.'s."

"Not to mention Qui- I mean um… leg ball." James coughed and Amanda rolled her eyes. She seemed to be rolling her eyes a lot in James's presence.

"Football." She corrected him.

James pointed his fork at Albus. "You'd better win."

"You didn't." said Albus and James gasped.

"Not my fault. It seems our seeker had a little problem seeking." James drawled out and Amanda smacked his arm.

"Slytherin is just better," She stated smugly. "It's not that you lot are bad, we're justing excellent." Freddie laughed in agreement. James gave her a reproachful look.

Rose huffed, "Really, can we talk about something other than Quidditch?"

Amanda's eyes lit up. "I thought you would be interested in Quidditch after that fit player on James's team chatted you up." She watch Scorpius turned his head and frown at Rose, finally looking at her. Albus seemed to notice Rose and Scorpius too, if him leaning back in his chair to watch the show was any indication. Did he realize that they fancied each other or was he just confused by Scorpius's behaviour?

"Who was this?"

Rose sighed. "No one really." She insisted and Scorpius lowered his eyebrows. "I hardly remember him."

"I remember him." Amanda said cheerfully, "He was absolutely gorgeous and tall and muscular-"

"Sounds wonderful." Freddie rolled his eyes.

Albus laughed, "Maybe you should date him." He suggested.

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Amanda's heart jumped. "Rose is right, I get enough Quidditch at work. This conversation is starting to hurt my head." The waitress finally came back with a coffee set it down roughly on the table.

"Well, the weather is lovely today." Rose remarked and everyone groaned.

"The weather? Seriously?" Albus shook his head.

Rose stuck her chin up. "Well, it is."

James sighed. "This is what we've been reduced to." Amanda rolled her eyes and folded her arms, biting her cheek to keep from grinning.

Atria's screamed was trapped in her throat.

Her grandfather's eyes boring into her soul and the darkness made the red glow all the more frightening.

Bellatrix's cackle echoed in the pitch black and Atria whirled around but saw nothing. When she turned back Voldemort was gone. She was alone standing in a sea of black unable to scream. Everything she once felt seemed to be a different life. Her memories were dimming and becoming hazy.

Albus she thought and her heart jumped. She remember the first time they met and the darkness seemed to fall away. She thought of Rose and Scorpius and that seemed to clear away more of the haze.

Her eyes snapped open. She hadn't even realized they were shut. She was standing in the Hall of Portraits where a painting of every Lestrange family member was, including hers.

"Bloody hell." She breathed and put her hands to her cheeks. Atria wasn't sure why she did that, maybe to make sure she was real and it wasn't a nightmare.

Light shown on the pictures from the pointed glass ceiling and she started walking down the hall.

"Who is this?" A voice hissed. Based on the ancient dress she guessed it was a long dead ancestor of the Lestrange Family. There were large portraits and small ones, each representing a member of the Lestrange Family. There were extended family, family by marriage, and then people like her - children by marriage. Technically only her mother was a Lestrange and she had been married in.

"It's that girl at the end of the hall." A woman said pointedly.

As she reached the end of the hall, A tria saw her mother. She fumed and stormed by.

And then paused when her mum didn't even say anything to her. Not even a where have you been and why didn't you break me out of turned around and took a step closer to where her mother's medium sized portrait hung.

"What the hell?" Atria muttered and stared at her mum's unmoving portrait.

"She's been like that for years." A portrait of a man eating grapes told her.

Atria's eyes wided. "What's wrong?"

"No idea. One morning I woke up and she was frozen. Very strange." He shook his head.

Atria poked the painting with the rip of her wand, but nothing happened.

For the next half hour, she recalled every spell she could think of that would bring the painting back to life.

"How long has she been stuck like this." Atria asked feverently.

The man in the painting shrugged. "Let's see… six or seven years I supose. Right around the time the Ministry decided werewolves should be considered wizarding citizens." The man sneered and gave her a disgusted look. She ignored him and her eyes went wide with realization.

That had been around the time that her father died. What does that mean?

After that Atria went around the house but it was all a blur. The important thing was that it looked like no one had lived there for a while. Aside from when a suit of armour tried to attack her, everything went alright. Castel Lestrange was exactly as cold as she remembered it to be.

By the time she made it past the killer roses and back to the tree it was completely dark. When she touched the tree with her wand the light that came out seemed so much brighter in the inky darkness.

Charlie would be pleased. For once she would be on time and everything had gone according to plan.