Being aware of your fear is smart. Overcoming it is the mark of a successful person.
Seth Godin
Chapter Fourteen: Rising Tensions
Arden and Sirius walked side by side down main street, just as the sun was beginning shine over the peaks of the mountains. They still had their gear with them, but they were not wearing their armor. Instead, they were wearing large, thick coats and wool hats that Emmaline had loaned them. They were heading to the market place.
"This is a good plan." Arden said, snuggling into his coat. "This is a good, warm plan. I hate armor."
"I feel like this should be the new armor." Sirius agreed, pulling his hat down a bit farther and enjoying the fact that he could still feel his ears. "The last few days I've been more worried about freezing to death than being impaled by another man's sword. I don't think that's ever been the case before now."
"I don't think a sword could get through this." Arden pulled his coat out and inspected it. "It's pretty thick. What do you think it's made of?"
"Dragon." Sirius said solemnly. Arden laughed.
"Right. The last known dragon sighting was almost a century ago and we're wearing it's hide to keep warm."
"So you're saying that it's not impossible?"
"That's not what I'm saying." Arden shook his head, still smiling. "Do you think this is going to work?"
"It's the best we've got." Sirius shrugged. They market came into view and the venders were just starting to get their products set up. "And it's not a horrible plan."
"I know." Arden sighed. "It would be better if we weren't all sleep deprived and almost entirely in the dark about what the townsmen have planned."
"We know that they're going to do something." Sirius shrugged. "That's better than thinking that everything is going to go smoothly only to have our arses handed to us. This way, when our arses are handed to us, we'll be expecting it. We can act slightly dignified still." Arden rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Honestly, I'd rather not know. I feel like people are going to jump out at us at any moment." He looked down an alley. "Or, thanks to Dory, I keep imagining being mauled by an army of rabbits."
"That's a possibility." Sirius shrugged. "A massive army of adorable rabbits will maul us to death."
"I know that you're joking right now, but you're doing nothing to calm my nerves."
"That's not my job, mate." Sirius laughed. "Besides, we're going out to see what people know. We're doing what we can to find out information. I'm sure there will be very few, if any, rabbits involved." Arden still wasn't pleased, but there was nothing else Sirius could say, he wasn't entirely comfortable with the plan either. He was good at improvising, but he had never been a part of a team before, he had never had to work together with others to survive. A large part of him wanted to bolt, to get on a horse and run like he had been doing for years. He couldn't though, he couldn't leave Remus or James or even Arden.
Once they reached the market, they came upon a very short man, no taller than three feet, setting up a cart of books. Sirius tried to read a few of the titles, but they all seemed to be in a language that he wasn't familiar with. He seemed like a good place to start. "Excuse me, sir?" He stopped Arden with a tap on the arm and then nodded towards the short man.
"My name is Flitwick. Can I help you with something, lads?" The man asked, his voice a higher octave than any man that Sirius had ever met, and he had a beard that was the size of his torso. "People don't normally come around this early." He eyed them both suspiciously.
"We're looking for a man named Dolohov." Sirius said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Flitwick instantly tensed when he heard his name. He started fiddling with the books on his cart. "What business do you have with a man like that?"
"What do you mean?" Arden asked. "What has he done?"
Flitwick looked over his shoulder and then pulled the collar of his coat up a bit higher. "Well, for starters he intimidates everyone in town who doesn't agree with him, starts fights with anyone who tries to move here… He's just a load of trouble and I wouldn't get mixed up with him if I were you."
"Thanks for the advice." Sirius said, giving Flitwick a smile. "But we're knights of Camelot." He pulled open his coat to reveal the Potter coat of arms on his vest.
"Knights?" Flitwick asked, taking a step back and clenching his fists at his side. "While I'll be…" He shook his head and then readjusted his glasses.
"Yes, knights." Arden nodded. "You wouldn't happen to know who asked us to come out here would you? Or why we were asked out here?"
"I haven't a clue as to who asked you out here, but I wouldn't go around telling just anyone who you are. There are a lot of people in this town that would love to see some of your heads falling for a change." His voice took on a slight edge when he said this. Then he sighed and his shoulders dropped. "Of course, fighting fire with fire has never really done any good. I suppose it's what got us into this mess in the first place."
"What are you-"
"I know that we're not very popular." Sirius interrupted Arden, not knowing how the knight would respond if Sirius was right and Flitwick did have magic. Flitwick cast a curious look at Sirius, but Sirius ignored it and tried to get back on task. The others were waiting for them. "But we rode in yesterday and everyone already knows that we're here. Prince James is with us."
"Oh dear." Flitwick put a hand over his mouth and went back to shaking his head. "Prince James? I knew his mother, before she was queen. She lived here, you know. Her and her family had a cottage just past the church." He nodded towards a white stone building not far from where they were standing.
"James' mum lived here?"
Flitwick smiled at him. "She didn't have magic if that's what you're wondering. She was a sweet girl though. Elizabeth Dearborn."
"Do you have any idea what Dolohov could have planned?" Arden asked, not too interested in the late queen. Sirius shook his head and tried to get back on task. Though he tucked away this new bit of information for later, he was sure that James would want to know more about his mum.
Flitwick thought for a moment and then shook his head. "I'm just a school teacher, and I spend my time avoiding men like Dolohov. Maybe you should talk to the Crouches. Barty is the town judge. He might now something, and he's a good man. He'd be more than willing to help you boys out."
They thanked Flitwick and then headed for the courthouse. Flitwick told them they might have to wait a while for Barty to get there, but when they arrived the doors were unlocked and a fire had already been started. There was shouting going on in the room just to the right of the hallway they had entered.
"You can't just sit back and do nothing!" Someone was shouting. "You have to pick a side, there isn't time for you to be impassive any longer."
"I'm not impassive, and I've made my views on your new friend very clear. There is a right and a wrong way to gain our freedom, and killing people to get what you want is never the right way."
"You're weak."
"You're naïve. If you are following this man thinking that he is going to protect you, that he somehow values your life when he carelessly tosses aside the lives of others, then you are naïve and ignorant. Tom Riddle is a power hungry man who's only goal is to-"
"Do not speak that name. He is Lord Voldemort, or the Dark Lord. He is a great man and he deserves our respect." Sirius's blood had run cold upon mention of Tom's name. He had not heard anyone mention Tom Riddle in close to six years, not since the death of his brother. Arden must have noticed a shift in his demeanor because the knight reached out for Sirius's shoulder and gave him a look. Sirius shook him off and charged into the room.
"That's who's behind all of this? Tom Riddle?" Both men in the room froze and looked at him with wide eyes. One man, the older one, was seated at a large desk, a pair of glasses resting on his long, thin nose and a large, thick mustache sat quivering over his top lip. The second man, who Sirius guessed was his son, looked just as his father did, but without the mustache or glasses.
"I think you should leave, son." The man behind the desk said, sitting up straight and readjusting his glasses.
"Perhaps." He went to move towards the door and that's when Arden walked in, looking much burlier than normal thanks to the thick coat he was wearing.
"Let him pass." The man behind the desk waved his hand and Arden stepped aside.
"Who's Tom?" Arden asked as he stepped up next to Sirius.
"Where is he?" Sirius asked, leaning down over the desk. "Where is Tom?"
"I'm terribly sorry about this," The man said, standing up. "But I have to protect my son, even if he is a bit… well, I'm sorry." He waved his hand in Sirius and Arden's direction and Sirius felt as though his mind was being clouded over. He didn't understand the word that the man spoke, but when the fog cleared from his mind her shook his head and looked up at him. He was smiling brightly.
"What can I do for you gentlemen?"
Sirius hesitated, "Flitwick," He said slowly. "Flitwick said that Barty Crouch could help us."
"Well, I'm Barty Crouch." Barty held out his hand and Sirius reached for it. "What did he say I could help you with?"
"We're looking for Dolohov." Arden supplied. Sirius looked over at him, but he didn't look confused. Sirius felt as though they had been here for a while, but he remembered only walking in.
"Antonin Dolohov? Why would you be looking for him? He's nothing but trouble."
"So we've heard." Sirius said, trying to shake the strange feeling he had. "We're kn-"
"We just need to talk to him." Arden interrupted. Sirius was glad that he did, he hadn't been paying attention to what he was saying and he couldn't decide if this man was trustworthy or not.
"Well, he's probably around town somewhere. I'd tell you to check his house, but that's half a day's ride south and since the Prince is in town, I'm sure he spent the night here. I'm afraid all I can do is guess though."
"He's leading the charge against the prince, yes?" Arden asked. "We were hoping to be around when that happens." Barty sighed and sat back in his chair.
"Yes, well, he's not the only one who's ready to stand up to the prince." He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "I've been up all night talking with one person after the next. They'd prefer dealing with the king, but of course he sent his son and… You boys aren't from around here, are you?"
"My family is from Lorkeep." Sirius said, hoping that this insinuated what the man was trying to find out. "I grew up with the king's ward actually." He added for safe measure.
"So you've come here to seek vengeance then? Or maybe just to watch it. The prince is innocent of any crimes as of now. But those in town with magic… some of them can't see reason. And I understand some of them, they've lost children, or parents, or siblings to the king's crusade."
"How many people are there in town with magic?" Arden asked, luckily saying the word as though it wasn't normally spat out of his mouth.
"Is there really as many as they say?" Sirius added.
"Well," Barty looked up towards the ceiling and thought for a moment. "Just about everyone I'd say."
"Everyone?" Both knights whispered, turning to look at each other quickly.
"A few squibs of course, or muggle parents but yes, and while most of them are ready for some sort of fight, only a small few want the prince to pay for his father's mistakes. I hope you two aren't among them."
"No." Arden said quickly.
"Good. The Hollows has been a safe place for people with magic for a very long time. And you two are welcomed as long as you don't start stirring up trouble. If you head down the road a bit to Mundungus Fletcher, he can show you around town. Make sure you watch your coins around that one though. Bit of a- Well, he's a thief." He then excused himself, saying he had to get to work and left the knights with more questions than answers.
oOoOo
"Are you going to be angry with me forever?" Remus asked, following James as the prince led him down the staircase of the tavern. The main room was empty now, closed for the day after Tom was given a large sum of money.
Arden and Amos stood around a table near the fireplace, a goblet in Arden's hand. Arden had just returned with Sirius and Amos had returned from his own walk around the town.
"It's a bit early for that, don't you think?" James asked loudly, ignoring Remus's question.
"You don't know what we just learned." Amos said, picking up a goblet himself and taking a large swig. "Do you know what this town is known for?" He asked the prince, putting one hand on his hip. "Do you have any clue what we've just walked into?"
"What did you find out?" James asked, eyes narrowing.
"Godric's Hollow is a safe haven for people with magic." Sirius answered, walking into the tavern with a grimace on his face. "It's a bloody safe haven for people who have magic."
"How is that possible?" Remus asked, looking between Arden and Sirius. "How did we not know that?"
"What do you mean a safe haven?" James asked.
"The people here live by a different set of rules." Arden said. "Sirius and I talked to the town judge, Barty Crouch. He told us that nearly everyone in town has magic and that they're all prepared to fight against us if it should come to that."
"What?" James was paling. "I mean, I knew that the people here were more lenient when it came to magic, and that the whole town is pretty lawless-"
"No." Sirius interrupted. "That's not true. The town is actually extremely safe. The last murder committed in Godric's Hollow was by your father. These people are extremely displeased with the current king. This town is like a kingdom all its own. They even have a school set up where children can go to learn to use their magic."
"They all have magic?" James asked quietly.
"No. Just most of them." Arden said. "Barty couldn't seem to think of anyone who didn't have magic actually."
"I went to the blacksmith's like you asked, and there were hardly any weapons in the shop at all. One sword that couldn't hold its own against the worst steel back home and an axe."
"I don't think that's as important-"
"There were however, a great number of iron pots." Amos interrupted. "The blacksmith called them cauldrons."
Lance and Dory walked through the door and James turned to Dory. "What did Hestia have to say?" He asked, not giving them time to walk into the building or get settled at all. Sending them to talk to Mary's cousin had seemed like a good idea because she would more than likely be friendly towards Dory and Lance, but now she seemed like an even more useful person to talk to.
"She didn't have much to say." Dory sighed, pulling her scarf off and running her fingers through her hair. "She tends to avoid Antonin and his men. She did say that there had been quite a few-"
"Does she have magic?" James cut her off. "I need to talk to someone who has magic." Dory looked over James' shoulder and locked eyes with Remus, looking at him as though he would know how she was supposed to answer that question. Remus shrugged and Dory looked back at the prince. "Before you tell me that she doesn't have magic, I now have very strong reason to believe that if you don't have magic, you wouldn't have much reason to live in this town."
Dory still looked uncomfortable and Lance stepped forward. "Why do you need to talk to someone with magic?"
"They will be able to explain to me what is going on."
"The people here are angry, that's what's going on." Dory said. "And it's not my place to tell another's secrets."
"They're angry, fine, but why are they so angry? What are they planning-"
"We're angry because your father keeps going around and chopping off our heads!" Dory shrieked. All eyes were on her in a very brief amount of time. James' mouth was still open, his words frozen in his throat. "Do you have any idea what it's like to live your life in constant fear? What it's like to have to hide who you are because it could get you killed? My family disowned me when they found out I had magic, and that's better than most. People's families turn them into the crown and watch them bleed dry or kill them themselves to spare their name the embarrassment.
We're angry because we're forced to live in the woods, or in secret in this wretched town. We're angry because none of us truly know how to practice magic because we're all too afraid to learn. We're angry because our grandparents tell us stories about how it used to be and we envy them." She pursed her lips and shook her head. "We want what all your people want, your highness. We want to be safe."
oOoOo
Mary MacDonald was a witch, but she was more than that. She was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and that was what she was most proud of. Of course, you couldn't very well be a member without being a witch, but still, she had been accepted into the Order and that always put a smile on her face.
The number of people in the Order seemed to be growing as of late; the addition of her cousins Hestia and Gwenog Jones gave her more reason to be proud. She was technically a Muggle-born witch, because while her mother was a muggle, her father was a true Muggle-born, born of two muggles; It was pure coincidence that her mother's sister happened to be a Muggle-born, though maybe not much of coincidence when she thought about it. Her parents had grown up next door to one another on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. Being a Muggle-born witch, she always felt the need to prove herself in a way that her cousins did not understand. And even Dory didn't fully understand it, because her circumstances were different still. Being a member of the Order, a member that had relatives in the Order, that made her feel as though she was actually rooted into the magical community.
Lately however, Mary had been woefully out of the loop when it came to updates and information regarding the Order or the magical community. She hadn't received any word from anyone in a few weeks now. Dory hadn't seemed to think much of it, so concerned was she with Marlene and the knights and Sirius. Mary had tried to remind her that they hadn't joined up with Lance in order to groom a new knight for Camelot, but Dory wouldn't listen.
It didn't help her feelings of unease that there didn't seem to be any other people with magic in all of Camelot.
Mary knew that this had to be untrue, that of course there were witches and wizards in a city this large, but none of them were making themselves known as most of their kind did in other cities. There were no elm wood twigs laying on the windowsill or lone moly flowers placed on the door. There wasn't even a black market as far as Mary could tell, and she had looked for one.
With no way to contact her world, and with her friends off on a witch hunt with the prince, Mary had been forced to find a new friend in Lily Evans, a blacksmith's daughter, who was entirely muggle.
"I keep looking for him." Lily said, shaking her head after looking out her window for about the dozen-th time that day. Mary was sitting on Lily's bed, watching her chop ingredients for a vegetable soup.
"They've only been gone a few days, Lily." Mary said, running her fingers over the tattered quilt that just barely managed to cover the wooden frame. She was still shocked at how poor Lily and her family were.
"Remus and I have been spending nearly all our time together since he moved here though." Lily said, pushing her hair out of her face. She was wearing it down today, which was different than usual.
"And I lived with Lance and Dory in the woods for months before we came here. It's still only been a few days."
"So you don't miss them?" Lily quirked her brow and stuck Mary with a look.
"Of course I do, but I'm not looking out the window for them to magically appear." She noticed the tension in Lily's jaw that wasn't there a moment ago and refrained from rolling her eyes, even when she saw Lily's eyes dart back to the window.
"Is any word relating to magic illegal as well?" Mary asked, pushing herself off the bed and walking over to the fireplace.
"I just wish you would be more cautious." Lily sighed. Mary reached over and grabbed the end of a carrot that Lily was cutting and took a bite off the end. Lily picked up another carrot from her pile and didn't say anything about it.
"You worry too much."
"And you don't worry enough."
"Maybe not, but I'm not a ball of pent up anger and aggression."
"And I'm not going to have my head chopped off." For a few moments, the only sound that filled the small room was that of the knife hitting the chopping board. Mary took another bite of her carrot and then Lily cleared her throat.
"That's the way to go though, isn't it?"
"Excuse me?" Lily turned to look at Mary as though she was mad.
"Well, if you have to go somehow, getting your head sliced off is quick, painless and really dramatic. I'm only saying that if I was going to be killed somehow, I would want to be beheaded."
Lily sighed and deflated a bit as she did. "Please don't do anything that will get you killed. I quite like having more than one friend."
"Again, you worry too much." She set the carrot down and pursed her lips. "Though, I feel like there are things that you're not telling me."
Lily looked up and raised her brows. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you seem like you're extremely on edge, and no one is this on edge without a reason." Mary crossed her arms over her chest. "What's your reason?" Lily set the knife down and turned to face Mary.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She shrugged. "I've told you before that I've seen what happens to people in the castle when they aren't careful-"
"Bullshite." Mary interrupted.
"Excuse me?"
"I said 'bullshite' and I'll say it again if you need me to." Mary cocked her head to the side. "I've always had a knack for knowing when people were lying to me, and while I've been letting you get away with it for the last few days that we've been friends-"
"I'm not lying to you. I've had friends up at the castle that-"
"Don't interrupt me." Mary shook her head and shifted from one foot to the other.
"Don't interrupt me." Lily said, now crossing her arms over her chest as well. Her voice got a bit louder and a bit firmer. "I shouldn't need to have some big secret causing me to want to keep you safe. I've always been good at worrying, and if I'm friends with you, I'm going to worry about you, you can ask Remus when he gets back. I know that you don't like most of the things that our king does, and that you disagree with how he handles things, but you can't say some of the things that you say! You can't speak about our king like that or someone is going to hear you, accuse you of possessing magic and then you're going to be killed for it! All it takes is the word of one peeved passerby, and your life will be ended, Mary. I don't want that to happen, so until you learn to hold your tongue, I'm going to continue to worry about you."
Mary thought about dropping it for a moment; letting Lily keep whatever secrets she was keeping, but she couldn't do it. The prince was teaching her to read, Lady Bellatrix had fired her, and she spent about as much time with the knights as Mary did. And she never talked about these things. "That's fine. You can worry about me enough for the both of us, but trust me when I say that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to her vegetables. "Why did you get fired?" She saw the tension come back to Lily's jaw. She straightened up a bit more and ran her finger along the hilt of the knife. "You can preach about how just living in this city has made you into a worrier, but if I got fired from a job that I'd had for five or six years, I would want to talk- shout about it actually. Bash my employer a bit maybe."
Lily was quiet for a moment. She chopped up the rest of the carrot she had been working on and the scooped up the pieces, dropping them into the pot. "I did something that I shouldn't have."
"Just vague enough to be true." Mary allowed. "What did you do?"
Lily set down her knife again and wiped her hands on her dress. This time when she looked at Mary, it looked as though she really did want to tell her everything. She glanced out the window again and sighed. "I'm really not the person that you think I am." She said quietly.
Mary looked her over for a few seconds and then made up her mind. "Let's go to Hagrid's. He's out all day with that heard of deer he's adopted, so we'll have privacy there."
"I've got to finish dinner-"
"Your sister can do it." Mary said. She had only met Lily's older sister once and she didn't much care for the girl at all. She took hold of Lily's hand and walked them out into the street. Petunia Evans was seated in the shade of their small house, working on some needlepoint project with her friend Yvette. Mary looked at Lily and Lily sighed.
"Petunia, I need you to finish dinner for me. I've already chopped most of the vegetables."
"I'm busy, Lily." Petunia said without looking up from her project.
"You look very busy." Mary muttered.
"Where did we get vegetables from anyhow? I didn't know that we could afford that. Especially now that you've gotten yourself fired." Yvette tittered and Petunia smirked. Lily went red, and Mary was finding it extremely tempting to use her magic right about now. Unfortunately, the only spell she could think of at the moment was one that would turn Petunia into a frog and she thought that using that spell might show her hand.
"Hagrid's." Lily said through clenched teeth. "And I'm going back to get some more right now, so I need you to finish dinner for me."
"Yes, alright." Petunia gave a dramatic sigh, as though she had just agreed to something much more important than finishing dinner. "I suppose I have time to finish your job."
"Thank you." Mary didn't wait for the sisters to exchange anything else and instead started pulling Lily down the road and towards Hagrid's hut.
When they had finally reached the ground's keeper's property, Mary took a seat on the front steps and Lily took a seat beside her. "What happened?" Mary asked.
"I followed Bellatrix on a ride one afternoon when she told me that I couldn't tell anyone that she was leaving the castle. She doesn't know this, but the things that I found out..."
Mary thought about everything that she knew about Bellatrix and her family, the house of Black. Bella's family had had magic, her father and both of her sisters, but the king taking in Bella had made everyone quite sure that the youngest of the Black sisters didn't possess any magic of her own. "She's a witch?" Mary guessed.
Lily nodded and started ringing her hands together. "That's not the worst of it though." She said quietly. "Both of her sisters are still alive." Mary couldn't say that she was surprised to hear this. Killing an entire family of witches and wizards wasn't the easiest task, especially if the one doing it didn't have any magic. "Not that her family being alive is a bad thing. But she was talking with her sister and I overheard her saying that…" She took a deep breath and Mary suppressed the urge to shake her. "She was talking to her sister and- she does magic in the castle. She says that she can't help herself because it's a part of who she is, but when she gets caught, she blames other people and lets them die for her carelessness."
Mary kept waiting for Lily to condemn magic, or blame Bella's misgivings on her magic, but she didn't do that. She was clearly frightened of Bella, but Mary couldn't honestly say that she wasn't frightened just a wee bit. Maybe Lily had been right in saying that Mary had misjudged her. Lily hadn't seemed to want to talk a whole lot about the king, or the unjust laws in Camelot, but that didn't mean that she was ignorant or naive. It didn't mean that she wasn't angry, just unwilling to die or get her family into trouble.
"And I was there, Mary! I remember there being strange things happening that no one could explain, and I remember ignoring it until someone else pointed it out. I remember the king being summoned and someone being called a sorcerer. I even remember Bellatrix pointing out the bits of magic at times. She pointed out her own magic so that someone else would die for it." Mary flinched at this. "I mean, if you need to do magic, fine. Obviously, I don't understand what it's like to have magic, but I don't think it requires you to be a psychopath."
"Cheers to that." Mary muttered, running a hand through her hair.
"And the worst of it all-"
"Worse than-"
"Yes, worse than everything I just told you. She tried to kill the king." Lily looked up at the sky and bit her upper lip. Mary openly blanched at this piece of information.
"Holy shite." She said. "Holy shite." She repeated. "What do you mean she tried to kill the king!"
"She poisoned him. When he was sick, it was because of her. You and Dory and Marlene were joking about Bella having been behind it, and I got upset with you because I didn't want to believe it, but she was behind it. She tried to kill him!" She shook her head and sighed. "Though maybe that's not worse than having innocent people killed. At least the king-" She shook her head again.
"He deserves it." Mary finished for her. "He really does. But Bella tried to do it! Magic or no magic, he adopted her into his family."
"He also killed her family though." Mary gave a sharp nod and extended her pointer finger.
"That is a very good point. So it was some type of revenge plan?"
"That's what it sounded like."
"Is she going to try again?"
"Yes." Lily nodded.
"We have to do something." Mary said, jumping to her feet. "If Bella kills King Charles, that will only give James a reason to hate magic and then what? He's going to go around and chop off everyone's head and that will put us all in the same situation that we're in right now."
"You think magic should be legal?" Lily asked.
"You don't?" Mary flipped the question around to her. "Do you like living how we are now? Where we have to always look over our shoulder and watch what we say for fear of pissing someone off, being called a witch and losing our head for it?"
"Magic can be dangerous; it wouldn't be illegal if that wasn't true. It is the reason the queen died after all." Mary all but rolled her eyes at that.
"The queen died because her and the king didn't follow the rules. You can't make something out of nothing, that's fairly common knowledge. They wanted a son, they used magic to create a life, so a life had to be taken in its place. Should the witch have explained herself a bit more? Sure, but it was their king and queens fault when you stop and think about it."
Lily looked at her for a moment and then shrugged. "Well, if magic were to be made legal, there should be laws to regulate it."
"There already are." She muttered, unable to stop the eye roll this time. Then she looked at Lily and realized what she had just said. "Or so I'd assume."
"Right." Lily nodded. "I don't really want to know, okay? I've got enough things I'm not allowed to tell anyone right now." She pushed her hair back and Mary returned to her spot on the step. "Remus was with me when I overheard her telling her sister all of this, and then he reacted similar to you. Convinced me that I needed to tell James, but when I did tell James… Well you can imagine how upsetting it would be to hear that your sister tried to kill your father with magic that she uses to hurt others."
"If Bella is trying to kill the king and the prince knows about it, then why is he off who knows where, instead of protecting his dad?"
"His dad is the one that sent him off." Lily said. "I haven't been to the castle in a few days, but I can imagine that the king is being heavily guarded at the moment."
Mary nodded. "You still didn't tell me why Bella fired you. Obviously if she knew that you knew any of that… she'd have done worse than fire you."
"James asked her to fire me." Lily said with a grin. "He told me it was too dangerous for me to continue working for her and fired me. Got a nice severance deal out of it though."
"Him teaching you to read is a sev-"
"No. He gave me gold. Him teaching me to read is just-"
"Him fancying you." Mary nodded.
"He doesn't fancy me anymore. You'd think I wouldn't have to say that in the middle of this serious conversation that we're having."
"I think we're about at the end of it. Unless there's more?"
"Not really. I keep waiting to get news about Bella disappearing or the king dying or something else equally as frightening."
"Well, until then…" Mary trailed off. She really hoped that the prince got back soon.
oOoOo
Bella had decided that she needed to do this before James returned. She needed to poison the king, before James came back and she had to look into his eyes and see how much she was hurting him by doing this. Out of all the mistakes she made the first time around, having James around was up there at the top.
She had asked Alice to dress her this morning in a simple, yet beautiful gown the color of pink roses and had wrestled with her hair until it lay flat and neat. Her shoes were small and pinched her toes, her cheeks were tinted red and she smelled of apple blossoms.
She was going to visit the king today.
She had prepared a tray of tea in her room and emptied the vial that Voldemort had given her into one of the cups. She delicately picked up the tray, checked her reflection in the mirror once more, and then headed toward the king's chambers.
The walk wasn't a long one and once she was there, she knocked on the door only to be answered by one of the king's guardsmen. Kingsley Shacklebolt was a very intimidating man, and Bella had never been able to relax around him. She had the feeling that he could tell what she was thinking, or what she had done in the past. His eyes were dark and looked as though they had seen more than his young age would suggest. The king had appointed him to head of his personal guard when he was only seventeen, and Bella had never heard the story of what he had done to get the job.
"I'm here to see, King Charles." She said politely, giving the man a smile. He looked down at her tea tray and then back at her.
"You may enter." He said, his voice was deep and made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. He stepped aside and Bella entered the chambers. The king was seated at the head of a long table directly across from the door. There were papers scattered all over, maps, letters, proposals and what not. He was hunched over one particular document and hadn't seemed to notice that she had entered.
"Good morning, my lord." She said, walking up beside him and setting her tray on top of many papers. The king looked up, surprised to see her and then beamed. He stood up and opened his arms.
"Bellatrix." He said softly, enveloping her in a hug. She smiled as she breathed in the scent of peppermint and tea, hoping that it was the last time that she would be forced to hug the man that had taken everything from her.
"I'm made you some tea. I hope you're not too busy for a chat with your ward."
"I'm never too busy for you, and you know that you are more than a ward to me. You're like the daughter I never had." Bella pressed her lips together in a grin and then pushed the teacup laced with an unknown potion towards the king.
"And I've grown to think of you as a father." She said, looking down at her own teacup. She didn't think that she would be able to tell that lie to his face if she was forced to look at him while she did it. "Which is why I worry about how hard you've been working lately."
"You have nothing to worry about my dear." He reached over and placed a hand on Bella's arm. "I'm fine."
"You almost died." She said, looking him in the eyes. He looked weak, and she relished in it. Whatever Voldemort had given her would work quickly on this old man.
"But I did not." He took his hand away and Bella noticed that it was shaking slightly. "What have you been up too lately?" He asked, picking up the parchment that he had been looking at and setting it aside.
"Worrying about James." Bella said. "I didn't know you had sent him to Godric's Hollow until the feast the other day. Why didn't you send more men with him?"
"That would have made it seem like the town had done something wrong." The king said. "And the town shouldn't be punished for the lawless acts of a few."
"Lawless acts?" Bella asked.
The king nodded. "Lord Yaxley, for all the grief he gives me, rode through the town the other day and witnessed some unsavory acts of magic." Bella couldn't help but chuckle at this and when the king gave her a questioning look, she shook her head.
"Unsavory acts of magic?" She raised her brow. "Aren't all acts of magic unsavory?"
The king smiled at her and nodded. "I'm not a fool, Bella. I know that many of the people who live in Godric's Hollow used to practice magic before it was outlawed. And I don't normally send knights out to the town whenever I hear about someone… slipping up. But what Yaxley told me… well, I couldn't ignore that."
"You know that there's a town where magic is practiced and you don't do anything about it?"
"Magic is dangerous." The king said softly. "And not just anyone should be allowed to practice it. But it does have its uses, I would be a fool to say otherwise."
Bella narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "But you- You killed my family for having magic."
"I attempted to execute your father for murdering people he deemed of 'lesser blood'."
"Lesser blood?"
The king sighed. "I knew you were going to ask questions one day, so I made sure that I had all the information that I would need to answer them." He turned and looked at Kingsley. "You may leave us." He said. Kingsley nodded and then motioned for the two other guards in the room to follow him to the corridor.
Charles took a deep breath and looked down at the table. "You have to understand that I didn't outlaw magic simply because of what happened to James' mother. People seem to think that I'm an irrational man when it comes to magic, but I'm not. What happened to Elizabeth was… it was simply that last straw."
"What else happened?" Bella asked, finding that she was curious despite herself.
"Magic was everywhere," He smiled. "And for the most part, it was good. People used magic to heal injuries and build homes, put out fires, and protect crops… but not everyone- it's complicated, but a lot of it has to do with blood.
"There were men and women like your father, who were called Purebloods. This meant that they came from parents who both had magical blood, their blood wasn't tainted by people who didn't have magic. They believed that if you came from parents without magic, then you wouldn't be as powerful or that you didn't have a right to practice magic, you were called a Muggle-born, muggles being people like me. People without magic. Your mother, was neither a Pureblood nor a Muggle-born, which made her a half-blood."
"One parent with magic." Bella said, old conversations with her parents resurfacing as the king spoke. Her father had been extremely proud of the fact that he was a Pureblood, an ancient Pureblood. "I remember."
"Of course you do." The king smiled sadly. "I sometimes think that you've been here longer than you have. You were hardly a child when you came to live with James and myself. Do you remember, or maybe I should ask were you aware of the things that your father used his magic for?" Bella bit her lip and thought about his question. She didn't often think about her family, usually feeling nothing but rage and contempt when she did, but she allowed her mind to sift through her memories until it found her father. He had been a harsh man, who didn't believe in fun and games. She had been expected to do school work from sunrise until midafternoon, and then she spent the remainder of the day with her mother, making house calls and doing needlepoint.
Her father had been gone a lot, coming back home looking worn and angry. His clothes were sometimes torn, his eyes always shadowed. Bella remembered being frightened of him most days, but she couldn't remember if she had a reason or if it was just a feeling she got when she looked at him.
"There was a boy staying with us once," Bella said, speaking as the memory came to her. "A stable hand or something. I called him into the house one day, and he wasn't supposed to be there, but he came because I had asked him to help me," Her voice got thick and she started speaking faster. "He wasn't supposed to be there, father kept shouting it over and over. The boy's hair burst to flames, but he kept shouting at him." Bella looked up at the king. "It was my fault. The boy was my friend."
"It was not your fault." The king said softly, putting a hand on Bella's arm again. He squeezed comfortingly, and for the first time since Bella found out her sisters were still alive, she felt something other than hatred towards the old man. "Cygnus Black was a powerful and corrupt man. He didn't follow anyone's laws, mine or the laws of magic.
I thought that outlawing magic of all kinds would put an end to the reign of terror that people like Cygnus were putting people through. People think I'm irrational, but we can't go back to how it was before."
"But you've been so caviler about it lately!" Bella said, pulling her arm away and standing up from the table. "If you even have the slightest of suspicions you chop off people's heads! That's not right!"
"Maybe not," The king allowed, standing from his chair. "But I've heard whispers, and I'm afraid that I've let my fear get the best of me. These men… if they came back now, they'd come back for my throne, for my son's blood, for vengeance and power. I can't put the people of Camelot through that. I can't make them pay for the things that I did. No matter what my intentions, the outcome has been more bloody than anticipated. I know that I've spilt both innocent and guilty blood, and while one would think it would be more dangerous to spill innocent blood- Well, some of these sorcerers don't give two wits about people who don't have magic." He finally reached for his tea and Bella was suddenly terrified.
"Don't drink that!" She sputtered, picking up the teacup right before the king, and quickly placing it back on the tray that she had brought it in on. The king gave her a look but she just shook her head. "It's cold now, we've been talking for too long. I'll have someone brew you a fresh pot."
"Are you leaving?"
"You've given me a lot to think about." She muttered, picking up the tray and spinning around. She reached the door when she thought of one more question she'd like to ask. "What happened to my sisters? Why didn't you save them?"
"You don't remember?" The king asked, looking slightly heartbroken. Bella shook her head and steeled herself. "I tried, but your father wouldn't let me."
"What do you mean, he wouldn't let you? I thought you killed him?"
"The fire killed him."
"You carried me out of the house…" Bella said, her head aching from all the straining to remember things that she had been trying so hard to forget. "What do you mean he wouldn't let you save them?"
"Please," The king sighed, taking a few steps towards her. He stopped when Bella took a step back. "Please don't make me tell you what he said." Bella closed her eyes and then left before he could see her crying.
She ran through the corridors until she reached her room. She picked up the king's cup of tea and threw the entire cup against the wall with a scream of frustration. She watched the cup shatter into a thousand little pieces, bouncing off the wall and heading in every direction, and the dark liquid slid in streams down the wall, pooling on the floor.
One of the shards had broken off and flew towards her, slicing open her cheek.
She stood in her room, breathing heavily and bleeding for what felt like hours before Alice came in and found her.
"Ma'am?" Alice cried, seeing the blood dripping off her face. "What happened? Did someone hurt you?"
"Why is everything falling apart?" Bella asked, before collapsing into a sobbing heap at Alice's feet.
AN: I'm sorry. I know that it's been a month, but it's summer now, and I've written almost 10k words just today. I added around 1.5k to this chapter alone, because it was too short and then because I needed to add some more information. I'm having a lot of fun pulling Bella apart. and I promise that James will be friends with Remus again soon(ish).
Reviews are amazing