Chapter Five

Arriving back home Anastase wasted no time in seizing both his shopping bags and younger brothers and dragging all upstairs with him, out of Irinel's sight. Flinging up his bedroom door, he chucked the bags onto the floor before swiftly turning to lock the door.

'You. Will. Not. Believe! What Mamă told me today', Anastase started, 'She basically said outright that Camil drove Luminița insane, and then dropped some hefty hints that he killed Tata as well.'

The room fell deathly silent. Kronid and Liniște both frozen in shock. Anastase was breathing heavily with the relief of getting the dreadful suspicions off his chest.

'So', Liniște whispered softly, 'Our theory that Mamă's sudden desire to see Luminița after seven years was caused by Unchiule Camil's letter was right.'

'Don't call him that', Anastase snapped, 'He's no family of mine, not anymore. You have no idea what Luminița's like. The visit was awful.'

He then solemnly recounted the whole sorry story of the disastrous visit, including his and Irinel's screaming match in front of the ward and Matron – 'I was more embarrassed about her that the patients, they were mostly out of it anyway'-, his meeting with the boy Locryn – 'It was really nice meeting someone my age who I wasn't related to and just talking. Makes me wonder what Mamă's really so scared of, because Camil can't control everyone'-, Luminița's crazed pronouncement of revenge on her family – 'You'd think that if Camil was the one who drove her mad, she'd want him dead not the rest of us'-, and finally Irinel's attempt to defend her isolation of her children with the claim that it protected them from Camil.'

'Which is a load of rubbish', Anastase concluded, 'I pretended to agree with her and even told her that we'd been worried that something was up and had talked about it, but if it's because of Camil and Luminița then why are we still living in the exact same house as Mamă, Lăcrămioara, and Camil did when they were children? If your trying to hide from someone then moving house seems like a pretty obvious place to start, or even putting up protective spells, of which this house has none.'

Liniște frowned in thought, 'I agree. Kronid and I also spoke to Decebal and Simu, and they said that they'd had the same isolated life too. Decebal apparently hasn't made any friends at Hogwarts either, I'm not totally sure but I think that most parents might be a bit worried if their child didn't make any friends at all, Mircea did mention it to us but he said it like it was a joke. If this is about Camil then it's not just us, it's our cousins too. We also came up with the idea that the adults had driven Luminița mad, you just confirmed it for us. The major problem we found when it came to telling someone about all this is that we are children. No adult will think that we know better than them, and while there is ample proof of Mamă, Mircea, and Lăcrămioara being involved in something illegal, emotional abuse of us, for example, we don't have any for Camil. If our parents got arrested he would be our only adult relative which might put us in more danger than if we didn't say anything at all and just worked on it ourselves.'

'I see what you mean', Anastase said, 'I guess, now all we can do is wait, watch and listen.'

As it turned out the reality of their plan was more waiting with not a lot of watching or listening, and in the intervening days and weeks that followed the brothers found themselves with vast amounts of free time on their hands. This wasn't really unusual for them, but it seemed worse now that they were actively waiting for something, anything to happen.

Anastase took it upon himself to brew the, perfectly safe, Calming Draft that the twins requested he make for Simu so that he didn't have a panic attack while talking to his parents. The regular, timed motions of potions making were something that Anastase found soothing and passed the time quickly. Sneaking the prepared draft past Irinel, into Zgripțor's talons, and then sending it off hoping that it would be received and opened by Decebal or Simu well out of their parents' gazes, was somewhat nerve-wracking, until the owl returned bearing Decebal's thanks and short report of the, lack of, activity in the Grecueanu household. He also tore through his course books, memorising every spell and date he came across. If Kronid and Liniște had quoted what Decebal said correctly, which they generally did, then History of Magic was a bit of a joke class, so self-study might be the best way to go about it.

Kronid buried himself in his new books barely bothering to interact with anyone aside from Liniște, who was equally preoccupied with the Lunascope, both of them up at all hours of the night reading and moongazing respectfully.

It wasn't until late July almost a month after the fateful arrival of the Hogwarts letter that Irinel casually dropped the news that Decebal, Simu, both of their's parents, and Camil would all be coming to stay with them until the end of summer.

CRASH! Anastase let out a sharp gasp as Liniște's bowl of porridge slid from his nerveless fingers and fell the floor with a loud bang. Kronid eyed his brother and mother warily, while Anastase forced his face into expressionlessness. Irinel's faced pinched with annoyance, by this time she was fully aware that she was still in Anastase's bad graces and was under the, not unreasonable, assumption that this was causing the twins distance from her. The constant need to walk on eggshells around her sons was beginning to wear on her patients.

She jabbed her wand at the broken dish, 'Reparo. Wingardium Leviosa.'

Liniște winced at her angry tone, as the bowl repaired itself and the porridge flew off the floor and into the bin. Before meeting his brothers' faces. It was time, everything they'd been planning for, it was going to be tested.

Scrambling away from the kitchen as soon as they could, they reconvened in Anastase's bedroom for the first time since June.

Anastase locked his door before spinning back to the twins, 'This is it. It's happening. Whatever those letters were, Mamă and Lăcrămioara are going to discuss it and then confront Camil.'

'We can also see how much Mircea knows too', Kronid said, 'It's a good thing Decebal and Simu will be here because they can still keep an eye on their parents while we watch Camil.'

'Bearing in mind that we're going to have the more dangerous job', Liniște pointed out, 'Seeing as we agreed that he was probably behind everything.'

'All that means is that the smartest people should be the ones watching', Anastase smirked, 'And that's you two. I'll stick with Mamă, she's been desperate to get me to stop being angry with her, so if I decide to spend more time with her she'll jump on it.'

Liniște hummed in agreement, 'Yes, that's good, very good.'

Kronid smiled, Anastase closed his eyes and hoped.

The next day dawned bright and sunny, a harsh contradiction to the brothers' ominous feelings as they waited for their relatives to arrive.

Mircea, Lăcrămioara, Decebal and Simu appeared first, the crack of Apparition splitting the morning silence.

'Soră', Lăcrămioara cried as she walked towards them, 'It has been far too long since we have properly talked. You left in such a hurry last time.'

The look she shot Anastase said clearly that she blamed him for that. Personally, Anastase couldn't dispute that he had been involved in the fight that had driven Irinel to tears, and had been the one to end Kronid and Liniște's visit to their house so abruptly.

'Has your brother arrived yet?' Mircea asked, wishing to break the tension between nephew and aunt.

'No, he hasn't Unchiule Mircea', Anastase's tone was sickly sweet as he privately mocked both his aunt, who still didn't have a clue what had happened unless Mamă had contacted her about it – which he knew she hadn't after spying on her for the past month, and Camil, the one ultimately responsible for everything – Anastase couldn't wait until they had enough proof to get Camil caught with their parents so they could go to the Ministry.

Mircea and the sisters had only just settled down and started chatting when Camil appeared at the gate and began walking up the path.

Anastase rose to his feet, the twins flanking him. Decebal rocked back on his heels slightly before steadying himself, hand dropping to his pocket and wand. Simu grasped the back of Decebal's robes and tensed.

'Buna ziua, Camil', Irinel said, walking up to greet him.

He picked up her right hand in his own and kissed it, 'It has been a long-time sister. I see that your sons are well.'

'What a creep', Decebal hissed lowly.

Anastase bared his teeth at Camil in a cold grin, 'We are very well Camil, unfortunately out own sister is not nearly so. But then, you know all about that don't you?'

Camil blinked an affronted look on his face, 'If you are referring to the fact that I was the only member of this family to bother visiting her in seven years Anastase, then yes. I am fully aware of your sister's ill health. Though I must say I am surprised that neither you not your brothers ever seemed to care for her, I did think you better than that.'

'Never wondered if Mamă prevented us from seeing her then?' Anastase replied, a slight note of triumph in his voice.

'I'm afraid I don't know where you're going with this', Camil sounded genuinely confused.

'What do you mean you prevented them from seeing Luminița, Irinel?' Lăcrămioara's gaze flickered between Anastase, Camil, and Irinel, eyes wide with shock.

'I'm the only one of us who can remember Luminița', Anastase snarled, 'Kronid and Liniște didn't even know she existed until last year! Mamă forbade me from telling them about her. The only reason she ever explained herself was because I started a fight in the middle of St Mungo's Janus Thickly Ward! Of course, she never let us see her.'

'Why would you do such a thing?' Mircea was appalled, 'And that also explains why you were crying when you got to our house, Anastase had just confronted you about it!'

'Camil, Lăcrămioara, I invited you here for a reason. I will explain everything, I promise', Irinel whispered, 'Please, let us talk.'

'We certainly need to', Lăcrămioara sounded like she was about to spit fire.

Camil simply nodded before turning to Mircea, 'You should come with us, it will save Mio from having to explain later.'

Irinel looked at the cousins still standing on the steps, 'Wait out here until we're done, alright? Just talk or…something.' She hurried off flustered.

Anastase only waited a few seconds before following her into the house. If they ever were going to get any proof of wrongdoing it was now.

'Wait!', Liniște grabbed his hand, 'That door creaks, they'll hear us.'

'We have to be able to hear them though', Simu said, 'Are you sure they're through here?'

Anastase sighed, 'I forgot about that, and yes Simu they are though here, well not straight through, this door leads into an anteroom, our parents will be in the room beyond that, and I can't remember what that's called.'

'Is there another way in?' Decebal asked.

'No, there isn't', Kronid started, he paused, 'But you have your wand with you!'

'Uh, yeah. Why?' Decebal frowned.

'Silencing Charm', Kronid explained, 'I don't know if you've covered it yet, but I've read about it. The incantation is Silencio, the wand movement is a sharp jab.'

'I can't do magic outside school though, I'll get caught', Decebal pointed out.

Anastase shook his head, 'Doesn't work like that. The Trace, what the MOM uses to catch underaged wizardry, can't tell if you're casting the spell or if Mamă or one of your parents is. It works brilliantly in Muggleborn homes, which I guess is where it's most important, but it means that in Wizarding Homes we can cast almost anything and not get in trouble.'

Decebal and Simu gaped, 'Why haven't Mum and Dad told us this?' Decebal squawked.

'Probably didn't want you taking advantage of it like we are now', Anastase shrugged, 'Now do it.'

'Okay', Decebal looked nervous as he pointed his wand at the door, 'I've never done this before or even heard of it but… Silencio!'

Nothing happened.

'How do we know if it's worked?' Simu asked.

'Not a clue', Anastase replied before opening the door.

It slid back without a sound. Anastase gasped in quiet relief. Decebal went wide-eyed with joy over his success.

'I'm glad that worked, and on my first go too! I've never been able to do that before', he grinned.

'Good', Liniște whispered, 'Now quite. They're only through the next door.' He pointed at it.

The cousins crept across the carpeted floor. Anastase pressed his eye to the keyhole and looked in.

The drawing room, as Anastase could now recall, was one of the few rooms in the house that was as lavishly decorated as the exterior of the building might suggest. Elegant settees with matching footrests sat on a plush, cream coloured carpet, while the walls were covered in fleur-de-lis patterned paper. Large windows on the far wall gave an excellent view over the back garden. An enormous dining table was the centrepiece of the room, Anastase could only feel grateful that they'd never actually used it for eating instead using the one in the kitchen.

It was around this table that Irinel, Camil, Mircea, and Lăcrămioara sat. Camil at the head, Irinel directly opposite him, with the other two sitting in between looking highly uncomfortable.

They seemed to be in the middle of a discussion of some sort, Anastase realised as he picked through at them.

'This is wrong!', Lăcrămioara protested, 'I agreed to keep my children shut away from the rest of the world only so that they would be safe from you! I married Mircea because I didn't agree with this madness.'

'Leave us alone', Mircea pleaded, 'We won't tell the boys what's going on, we won't even report you to the Ministry, though Merlin knows we should, and for more than one reason.'

Camil sneered at them, 'Are you really that stupid or are you just deaf? Did you not hear a single word I just said? The Dark Lord – Voldemort – is back. He never died that Halloween night ten years ago. He fled and now he has returned. You know that I spend time in Europe, searching for our family's legacy, and it was in Albania that I first sensed him. Now he has moved from there, and he is coming to Britain. What he follows I do not know, but this will change all.'

Anastase jolted back from the door and slumped to the floor in a dazed mix of shock and horror. Voldemort, what did Camil have to do with him? Of all of the possible explanations for Camil's threatening presence in their lives and nightmarish treatment of Luminița, him being involved with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had not occurred to them. Was he a Death Eater? No, that didn't fit, like the rest of the family Camil was no blood purist, and he would have helped You-Know-Who in that case, not run back to Britain to tell his sisters. What legacy was he talking about? Anastase could not for the life of him recall any ancestor who had been rich or famous enough to leave a legacy of any kind.

'Anastase!'

Anastase gasped, heading jerking up as he realised that Liniște had been whisper-shouting his name for the past couple of minutes.

'What is it?', Decebal asked worried, 'You went really pale. What's going on?'

'You won't believe what Camil just said', Anastase rasped out.

'Why? What did he say?' Kronid gazed deep into his eyes.

'Voldemort's back, according to Camil he never died in the first place, he fled, ran away to Albania, but now something's brought him back to England', Anastase could hear the dead flatness in his own voice, as he repeated Camil's words.

'What?!', Decebal tried to keep his voice down, 'Voldemort? Are you sure? What's he got to do with all this?' Incredulity swamped him.

Liniște pressed his own ear to the door, shushing him.

'Your obsession with the Astarákos legacy will be your downfall', Lăcrămioara said coldly, 'Just as it was Radoslav's.'

'Don't you dare say that soră!' Irinel suddenly shouted, 'Keep my husband out of it!'

Simu, Kronid, and Decebal all went wide-eyed at her bellow, what was going on in there?

'Enough of all this!', Mircea cried, 'I cannot believe that you hid this from me Mio! I knew my family distanced itself from yours for a reason but this insanity?! Your brother drove our nice insane by using her in a Dark Magic ritual when she was two months old - I didn't even know that rituals existed outside of theory! - Radoslav killed himself trying to reverse the damage when she was six and obviously failed, and then Irinel sent Luminița away under the deluded belief that it would keep her safe, which also failed, as Camil – the one who used her in the first place – was the only person to visit her there and continued to twist her! And now he thinks that Voldemort returning is a good thing and marks the perfect time to retry his ritual! You're all mad and I want nothing more to do with any of this', he paused blinking tears out of his eyes, 'Lăcrămioara, either end this madness and go to the Ministry, or I will take the boys and go myself. I cannot condone this, ever.'

'Soră, if you betray us I will never forgive you', Irinel howled.

Liniște gasped his fingers tightening on the door frame, she was crazy, he thought dimly, they all were.

'Mircea', Lăcrămioara shook utterly devastated, 'I'm so sorry.'

Liniște looked on in horror as she drew out her wand.

'What?' Mircea wasn't looking at her.

Liniște wanted to yell at him to move.

Lăcrămioara lifted her wand up and pointed it at him. Mircea slowly twisted around to face it.

'So, it has come to this', Camil seemed almost delighted.

'Mio, please', Mircea whispered, 'Think of our sons-'

'Obliviate!'

Liniște clapped a hand over his mouth to prevent a scream.

Mircea collapsed back against his chair, eyes fogging over as his memories of the last hour slipped away.

Kronid grabbed Liniște and shook him, 'What is it? What's going on?' Panic filled his voice as he glanced back and forwards between his frozen twin and still shaking older brother.

Liniște waved him off, hushing him frantically as he continued to watch the scene unfold.

'I will keep this secret', Lăcrămioara hissed, 'But you will keep both Mircea and myself out of this. Do you understand brother?!' her voice became a high scream.

'We understand, don't we Camil', Irinel said icily, 'You and your precious husband can stay safe and cosy in your own happy little world.'

'You have lost so much sister', Lăcrămioara replied, 'And I feel sorry for you, but I feel more sorrow for your sons who must live with you as you become a twisted, bitter shrew of a woman.'

'Get out!' Irinel spat, 'I have had enough of your attitude! I wish you and all your family would burn! Now, out! Out of my house!'

Liniște lept back from the door, dragging his twin with him, and urgently gesturing to Simu, Decebal and Anastase. They'd only barely made it out of the anteroom, into the corridor, and onto the stairs when Irinel flung the drawing-room door open, shoving Lăcrămioara in front of her. Camil stood just behind her, pulling along a limp looking Mircea.

Catching sight of the cousins huddled on the stairs, Irinel's face darken, 'Take the brats with you!' she snarled at her sister.

'Mum! What's going on?' Decebal gaped at the state of them.

'Decebal, Simu, we're leaving, now', Lăcrămioara hurried them down towards the door, before pausing on the front steps, 'You need not fear Irinel. I will never set foot in this accursed house again. If you or Camil ever come near me again, I shall make you wish you'd never been born!'

With those final parting words, she turned on her heels and swept her sons and husband into a Side-Along Apparition.

Irinel spun to stare at the brothers still standing on the stairs, 'Up to your rooms now! All of you! Don't argue just go!'

Unwilling to test her patience they ran. Scrambling into Anastase's bedroom they carefully locked the door before collapsing onto the bed.

'What in Moşul's name happened down there?' Kronid demanded, 'Why did Mamă throw Lăcrămioara out, and what was wrong with Mircea? He looked really dazed or something!'

Liniște shook his head, 'I didn't understand all of it, I did hear, but Lăcrămioara was saying that Camil was obsessed with the Astarákos legacy and that it would kill him like it did Tata. Mamă was furious with her for saying that, we all know she's still enamoured with his memory, and started screaming at her, I think you all heard that. Then Mircea was going on about everything Lăcrămioara had hidden from him, we were right you see, he was innocent. Camil…made, a ritual, a Dark Magic ritual, and he used Luminița in it when she was a couple of months old. That's what drove her mad. Tata tried to reverse it when she was six-'

'And I think I know why he tried', Anastase interrupted, 'When I was four, she nearly killed me, not on purpose, but she was scared, didn't know who I was, and didn't know her own strength. I was a child and it ended with me unconscious for three days. It was less than a month after that when Mamă found his body lying in the garden. I never made the connection before, never had any reason to.'

Liniște paused, imagining what must have gone through Radoslav's head, one child almost killing another, family falling apart, it must have seemed like a good option.

'Well, whatever the cause, that attempt was what killed him. Reversing the ritual, not much is known about rituals in general, much less one that Camil invented himself. It probably just backfired before he even knew something was going wrong', Liniște pondered, 'Mamă really did think that sending Luminița away would keep her safe, it failed but was done in good faith. What Mircea was really against though was Camil believing that Voldemort's return marked the perfect time for retrying his ritual. He threatened to go to the Ministry and… Lăcrămioara Obliviated him. That was why he was all limp. He won't remember any of today or maybe even yesterday depending on how strong the spell was. Lăcrămioara said that Mamă and Camil could do whatever they wanted to, as long as they left her and Mircea alone.' Liniște let out a long breath, 'We really are in deep trouble now. This isn't a silly game anymore.'

'No', Anastase rasped, 'It never should have been. What do we do now? Are we still safe here?'

Kronid was white with shock, 'I don't know the answers to any of that, but we do need to contact Simu and Decebal. Neither of them knows any of this. We have to warn them because I don't know if it was deliberate or if she knew what she'd done, but when Lăcrămioara was telling Camil and Mamă to leave Mircea alone she didn't mention our cousins! Perhaps Camil also failed to realise that but I didn't and that means that either he or Mamă might notice, and that will put them in danger.'

If we had a normal family we could go to someone', Anastase nearly wailed.

'If we had a normal family we wouldn't be having this conversation, Anastase, so stop crying!', Liniște snapped harshly, 'We need to be smart about this, we have to be.'

Kronid, the least in shock due to having heard all the news second hand, was the one who ran downstairs to interrogate Irinel and Camil about why the cousins had left so swiftly.

Barging straight into the drawing room, he ignored Irinel's angry splutter and Camil's muttered comment about teaching children manner, if Camil's idea of manners was totally crazy then he could stick his "teachings" where the sun didn't shine in Kronid's opinion.

'Kronid, I told you to go upstairs, now go', Irinel ordered.

'No, I won't go!' Kronid made his voice as stroppy and childish as he could, adding a hard foot stomp to compound it, 'I want to know why Simu and Decebal had to leave so soon, we'd barely started talking!' He inwardly winced at the sheer whininess in his own words, it was almost physically painful!

'Kronid, don't try me please!' Irinel growled, 'Now do as your told!'

'No!' Kronid yelled, 'I want to know! I won't go!' He clenched his hands into fists and scrunched his face up as if he were about to have a tantrum, it took every millimetre of self-control not to collapse howling with laughter. How did some children do this for real, he wondered?

'Oh, shut up you infernal brat!' Camil roared at him.

Kronid fell silent instantly, tensing his body to run. Without a wand, he didn't stand a chance against Camil in a head-on fight but if he dodged quickly enough, he might just buy himself enough time to flee.

Irinel leapt to her feet and shoved herself between them, 'No, brother, you will not touch any of my children. Not again. Leave them alone', she turned around to face Kronid before kneeling to look him in the eye, 'Kronid, I know you must be so confused at the moment, but please do as I say and go upstairs. Everything will be alright, I'll make sure of it. Now, go and be with your brothers.'

'Yes Mamă, I'll go and be with Liniște and Anastase', Kronid parroted her words softly.

Rushing back to Anastase's room he internally shuddered. Camil was outright dangerous, Mamă, on the other hand, couldn't seem to decide between caring mother and complete madwoman.

One-week later Camil was still staying in the Atarescu house and the brothers had never been more grateful for its large size. Sneaking about the place and avoiding Mamă had become part of everyday life now, and Anastase has started joking that they would all turn into moles if they weren't careful. Liniște personally wasn't sure about moles, but ghouls seemed very likely.

He slipped lightly through the back door, clutching a letter in his hand. It was addressed for Decebal and Simu and held all the details of the Atarescu and Grecueanu adults' conversation from the previous Saturday written down as a warning to the cousins. The letter had been ready to be sent the night after the conversation had taken place, but the brothers hadn't dared sent it until they were sure they wouldn't get caught. Even as Liniște hurried down the garden and into the owlery, Anastase was running interference with Irinel and Camil in the kitchen, while Kronid served as a lookout from the hallway.

'Zgripțor', Liniște hissed, calling the owl to him, 'A letter for Decebal and Simu, you must make sure it gets to them, and do not let Mircea or Lăcrămioara take it. You understand?'

Zgripțor blinked large yellow eyes at him and hooted, almost like he was replying. He ruffled his feathers in a reassuringly business-like fashion before spreading his wings and taking flight.

Liniște stood in the doorway to the owlery and watched as he disappeared over the rooftops of London. Whatever path they would take now, lay in the owl's claws, and the reply he would hopefully bare back.

Decebal rolled over in his bed, he was restless and unable to sleep. He sat up and rubbed his eyes wearily, what was going on back with his cousins? He'd been waiting for something, anything to come from them, but a week later, nothing. Simu was frantic about them, though the one upshot of the fiasco was that Simu no longer needed to take Calming Drafts as it was perfectly understandable for him to be stressed and panicked considering they had been literally thrown out of their relative's house.

A quite tapping at his windowsill made him jump, he whirled to face it, and froze.

'You', Decebal gasped, 'I've been waiting to see you arrive. You just had to pick the middle of the night to show up, didn't you?'

Zgripțor, the Atarescu's family owl hovered outside his room. Opening the window, Decebal leaned out to catch the bird on his arm and drew him in. Placing Zgripţor on the headrest of his bed, Decebal retrieved the letter that was tied around the owl's leg.

Pulling it open he began to read and felt his insides turn to solid ice. The parchment dropped from suddenly nerveless fingers and he scrambled for a quill.

Finding one, he ripped a corner of the original letter off and scribbled on the back of it:

Dear Cousins,

Simu and I are well. The news you have given me is terrible. I will burn the letter and tell Simu what you've sent.

Stay safe.

Decebal

He wrapped the scrap of parchment up and tied it back onto Zgripțor leg.

'Fly fast, fly safe. Do not let anyone other than Anastase, Liniște or Kronid take this, or we are all dead', Mair whispered to the owl.

As he had with Liniște, Zgripțor let out a cool, haughty hoot as if to say when have I ever let anyone, but the intended recipient take a letter?

'I don't know', Decebal informed the owl, 'But better safe than sorry.'

Reassured by confirming the others good health, Anastase, Liniște, and Kronid started to focus more of their efforts to pretending that everything was perfectly fine and normal, while also doing their best to eavesdrop on as many conversations as they could and remain in contact with their, now taboo to mention, cousins.

It was, Anastase mused, a very fine balance to keep.