Edelweiss
Chapter Three: Wounded
Please read the A/N at the bottom of the chapter (or at least the first paragraph). Thank You.
Aludra was bored; no, bored didn't even begin to cover what she was experiencing. She wanted to rip her hair out, just because it was something to do. She sat in her second period class, yearning for the bell to ring and dismiss her to lunch. She felt as if her stomach was going to eat her liver, and she blamed the Weasley's who made her help them set up another prank for an unsuspecting Filch instead of letting her enjoy breakfast. Binns was droning on and on, and Aludra was about to yank her hair out; she found history fascinating, but Binns had no personality!
'If I'm a ghost, then I want to have a personality,' she thought, before grinning slightly, 'like Peeves!'
Then the bell rang, and she dashed into the Great Hall and snagged the first seat she could. She piled her plate with food, and was about to take her first bite when she heard the 'thump' of someone setting down, and lifted her eyes to see Harry and Ron setting down, faces slightly flushed and their eyes narrowed.
"What's wrong with you two?" she asked. Ron spoke up first.
"Professor Snape is possibly the most foul, evil git to have ever existed on this earth," Harry said angrily. Aludra raised her eyebrows, and chuckled.
"Maybe I should have warned you," she said with a shrug, "Sorry." She blinked, and when she opened her eyes she heard two thumps and saw two familiar red-heads take their seats on either side of her with identical grins.
"He fell for it,"
"Didn't seem to pleased,"
"Got ourselves a detention," Fred finished before swiping some of her food. She groaned.
"I didn't have breakfast," she said, "Why do you have to go and steal my food?" Fred just grinned while George piled food onto his plate.
"We missed breakfast too, you know," George said, before digging in. Aludra rolled her eyes and averted her attention back to Harry and Ron.
"So, how have you liked classes so far?" She asked, "everything going well? Anyone I need to beat up? Aside from Harry?" Ron laughed, while Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head at her.
"No, besides, if you tried to beat me up Adelaide and Sirius would ground you fasted then you could say 'Oops'." He reasoned, "and I don't need you to stick up for me, I can do it perfectly well on my own, thank you." They returned to their lunches, and Aludra snickered. She opened her mouth to retaliate, when a soft voice interrupted her.
"Aludra?" a girl whispered shyly. Aludra turned and spotted a second year girl in Slytherin with curly black hair and sparkling black eyes. Her skin was tanned and she was very small and it looked as if she would crumble if you squeezed her too tightly.
"Yeah?" she asked. The girl shifted her weight.
"Um, I was wondering if you could help me with my transfiguration homework," she murmured, "I mean, you don't have to, but I really need to pass, and I don't know anyone who would help, and-,"
"Calm down, first of all," Aludra cut in, "Don't give yourself a heart attack. Second off, do I know you?" The girl turned a vibrant red and shifted awkwardly.
"U-um, I'm Caralise Mulciber-,"
"Didn't my dad put your dad in jail?" Aludra blurted suddenly, and her eyes narrowed, "fuck off-,"
"Ally!" Harry said in shock, but she ignored him.
"-I don't need any miniature death eaters following me around." Aludra turned without a second thought and returned to her meal, while tears built up in the girls eyes before she ran out of the hall. Fred and George both shared slightly wary looks.
"Don't you think that was kind of harsh?" Fred asked.
"She was just asking for help," George put in, "and if she was like her father then she would have rather eaten her shoe then spoken civilly to a Gryffindor." Aludra looked at them incredulously.
"You're siding with her?" she asked. The twins nodded, and Ron and Harry also agreed silently, "Why? She's a Slytherin! No one good comes out of Slytherin."
"Tonks' mum was in Slytherin, and she married a muggle-born," Fred pointed out, "she seems like a good person."
"You're a Black," Harry added, "You should know about prejudice's more then anyone." Aludra stared at everyone with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Since when have you decided to preach about fairness and all that mumbo jumbo?" she asked angrily, "You've pranked plenty of Slytherins!"
"They all deserved it," George defended, "she was asking you for help."
All the sudden, Aludra didn't feel so hungry anymore. She stood up, murmured a vague excuse, before leaving the hall and ignoring their calls. She hurried towards the stairs, only to trip over the same girl, who had taken a seat on the floor and curled up, pressing her face into her knees. Aludra froze, before taking a seat beside her and crossing her legs. They were completely silent for a good ten minutes.
"I'm sorry," Aludra finally said, "Not just for tripping over you, but for what I said in the great hall. I didn't really listen to you, and I judged you when I didn't have any right to." The girl sniffled and shrugged. Aludra sighed and banged her head gently against the wall, "Look, if you still want help with that transfiguration-."
"Fuck off," the girl murmured angrily, "I don't want a bitch following me around." Aludra's heart stopped beating for a moment, and all her instincts screamed at her to retaliate angrily, to make the girl wish she had never said that.
Instead, she stood up and walked away with an almost unbearable heat building behind her face, and her eyes stinging as she attempted to stop herself from crying.
The days following Aludra's outburst was very awkward, especially since Harry knew he should attempt to comfort her despite their dislike for each other. She acted the same as always, but there was a very distant tone to her eyes and she never really focused on any of their conversation. Fred and George didn't even try to ask her to pull pranks with them, and she didn't seem to mind. She actually seemed too distracted to even think of doing anything other then wallowing in self pity.
All that was erased from his mind, though, when the twelfth rolled around and Gryffindor's had their first flying lessons with the Slytherin's. Of course, Harry already knew how to fly (with James as a father and Sirius as a godfather, it would have been a miracle if he didn't) but he didn't have his own broom, a Silver Arrow, a brand that was becoming increasingly rare to find, and he was slightly nervous about using a school broom. His nerves were heightened when he spotted the quality of the brooms.
"Oh merlin, I'm going to die," he murmured. Ron laughed and slapped him on the back.
"You're over reacting," he said, "They'll work just fine."
Madame Hooch was a no-nonsense woman, and as she barked out instructions everyone felt obligated to follow them with the fear of getting expelled firm in their minds. Harry hadn't planned on breaking those rules. He hadn't planned on Neville breaking his wrist. He hadn't planned on mounting a broom and flying after Neville's Remembrall because of that git Malfoy, and he definately hadn't planned to get caught by McGonagall either.
To say he was in trouble was a very, very big understatement.
-
"It's so quiet," Lily whispered. Adelaide nodded, while James, Sirius, and Remus all murmured very quiet responses. They were at the Potters in Godrics Hallow, and Noah and Aster were passed out on the floor in front of the hearthwhile Ryan had snuggled up with a pillow that had been tossed onto the floor. The silent was very odd, since just minutes previously Noah and Aster had gotten into a very vocal argument over something (they had already forgotten what) and suddenly, there was silence.
"It is rather queer," Remus put in after a pause, "hanging out with you, I would have expected there to be more noise." They all snickered, and Adelaide let out a content sigh before leaning against Sirius.
"We haven't gotten any letters home," she murmured, "that's a good sign, right?"
"No news is good news," Remus recited, "well, when it comes to school." Lily let her head fall back and she stared up at the ceiling.
"I don't know what to do," she said, "I'm so used to noise, that the quiet is unsettling." Adelaide and Sirius both murmured their agreements. Adelaide glanced at the time and sighed.
"I wonder what the kids are doing," she mused. Sirius shrugged.
"I think the first years have flying practice," he said, "at least, I think that's what Ally said."
"Have you noticed something off with her letters?" Adelaide asked suddenly, "She's not nearly as sarcastic as she used to be. She really sounds like she's a robot."
"Harry said that she got hit with a dose of reality," James out in, "His words, not mine."
"Elaborate, please," Adelaide asked.
"Well, he said that she was rude to another second year and when they all sided against her, she left the hall. They don't know what happened, but according to Harry she hasn't even tried to harass him." Adelaide and Sirius shared concerned looks.
"Should we ask her what's wrong?" Adelaide asked, worrying her lip, "I don't think she'll tell us on her own. She's always been very independent." No one answered, though, because at that moment a barn owl swooped in, dropped a letter in James' lap, and flew off without a second glance. James raised his eyebrows, before opening the letter.
"It's from McGonagall," he said, and the others straightened.
"What's it say?" Lily asked. James began to read aloud:
"Dear Lily and James Potter, wow, she's being rather formal isn't she?"
"Just read," Lily snapped. James shrugged, and continued:
"During flying practice today, Harry performed some marvelous feats in an attempt to return Neville Longbottoms Remembrallto safety after a fellow student threw it towards the forest. With your permission, I would like to haveHarry become the teams Seeker. Though it is a rarity that we give a first year a chance to play Quidditch, I think it would be best if you let him begin as early as possible. That, and with Harry on the team we will most definitely bring home the Quidditch cup. This is amazing!" James blurted excitedly, "She wants Harry to be the teams seeker!"
"That's great!" Sirius said with a grin, "Wish Ally could have tried out…"
"It's dangerous!" Lily protested with a shake of her head, "He could get serious injuries!"
"How can he injure me?" Sirius asked, and everyone ignored him to his chagrin. Adelaide patted his shoulder, though, and rolled her eyes slightly before murmuring,
"You're loosing your touch, dear, best quit while you're ahead." Remus snickered, but James and Lily continued to debate.
"That's a risk all Quidditch players take," James reasoned, "Sirius and I were on the team and we turned out fine." Lily worried her lip, and concentrated on the letter in his hands. James took a shot, "Harry really loves Quidditch. He would want to play." Lily groaned, and everyone knew that James had won.
"Fine," Lily agreed, "he can join the team." James and Sirius shared a high-five with shouts of 'yes' while Adelaide and Remus both rolled their eyes. James glanced back at the letter, before he jerked in surprise.
"I think McGonagall is my favorite professor," he said, "She already got him a broom, a Nimbus 2000!"
"What? Are you serious?" Lily asked. Sirius opened his mouth, but with a look from Adelaide and Remus, he closed it and leaned over to look at the letter.
"Yeah, it's right here in the post script," James said, pointing to the letter, "Since I expect you to say yes, I've already taken the liberty of purchasing a new broom, a Nimbus 2000. Short and too the point, exactly like McGonagall!" Lily shook her head.
"We're paying her-,"
"Nope, she mentioned that in the post script too," Adelaide said idly, pointing at the corner of the letter, "Try again." Lily groaned.
"We have to repay her some how!" she groaned.
"I think having Harry play will be enough for her," Remus ventured, "she thinks that he's a gift from god, is he's as amazing as we think he is." The others laughed, and Lily frowned slightly in an attempt to keep down her smile, but it didn't work and she let a small smile slip onto her face.
-
Harry never really knew how much he hated Draco Malfoy until he tried to get them caught by Filch, and indirectly sent them into the jaws of a vicious three-headed dog.
"Why on earth would they have a thing like that in a school!?" Ron asked in an angry whisper as they hurried to the common room. Hermione Granger, a fellow first year with bushy brown hair, rolled her eyes.
"That's why Dumbledore said the third floor corridor was forbidden," she reasoned, "besides, didn't you see what it was standing on?"
"I was a bit preoccupied with it's heads!" Harry said breathlessly, while Neville and Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione rolled her eyes again.
"It was standing on a trap door," she explained, "he was guarding something."
"What would Dumbledoreneed to guard?" Neville asked anxiously as they stumbled into the common room, pausing only to give the portrait the password. Hermione sighed.
"I don't know, but I do know one thing," she said. They boys half expected her to say something about the door, about what might be hiding under it, but they were sorely disappointed, "I'm going to bed, before you get us killed. Or worse, expelled." She stormed back to the girls dormitories, and the boys shared looks.
"She needs to get her priorities straight," Ron said, and both Neville and Harry agreed.
-
There were no lights on outside as Lucius Malfoy made his way down his large and ornate staircase. He was in a sour mood now, because he had been almost asleep when the houses alarm sounded, alerting him to another presence on the property. He waited patiently at the door, his mind idly traveling to how Draco was faring, when there was a thunderous knocking at the door. He strolled foreword as dignified as he could dressed in his pajamas, and pulled open the door. His eyebrows rose.
"Hello, Bertucci," he drawled, "I hope you have a reason for dropping in when all reasonable people would be asleep."
"It's only eleven o'clock," she said sharply with no traces of humor in her voice, "Suck it up." Lucius immediately knew something was wrong and he stepped aside, allowing her to enter. She was wearing a teal blue dress underneath a large black cape, and the hood hid her features from her face. Lucius closed the door behind her and leaned against it idly while she turned to face him again, before lowering her hood. He resisted the urge to gap.
Even he had to admit that Annalisa had once been a very beautiful woman, but right now he would have thought her to have just escaped from Azkaban itself. Her hair hung limply around her pale and sunken face, dark bags prominent under her eyes and he could see her collar bone as clear as day. Shadows stretchedmenacingly across her face and curved along the hallows of her cheeks. A series of small faint scars littered her neck and the right side of her face in a nonsensical pattern, all marks pale and faded from age and of varying lengths, the longest located along her jawline and stretching from her ear to her chin.
"What on earth happened to you?" he asked, and he began to grow irritated, "I haven't heard of you in almost five years, and when I do you have scars and look as if you've been placed under the cruciatus-."
"I know I look like shit," she snapped, before softening, "I'm sorry for dropping in on you. How is Narcissa? And Draco?"
"Narcissais fine, and Draco is at Hogwarts," he said witha small wave of his hand, "What are you doing here?"
"I need a favor," she said honestly, "You have connections in the ministry, right?" Lucius nodded hesitantly, "I need you to get Austin out of Azkaban." His eyebrows rose higher then she thought possible, and he laughed as he shook his head.
"You think that they trust me enough to get a death eater out of Azkaban?" he asked, "Remember, Annalisa dear, that I was also a death eater. They have no reason to release him simply because I asked for it. How-"
"Bribe someone, I don't care how you do it!" she snapped, "I'vebeen raising three children on my own for the past five years!" she softened again and groaned as she ran her hands down her face, "Look, I'm sorry, but you're the only one I can trust! You've helped me so much since I graduated-," she choked off suddenly and wiped furiously at her eyes, before continuing, "a-and you have always understood me more th-then any of the other death eaters; you know where I'm coming from! You actually love your family!"
"My love for my family has nothing to do with this," Lucius said, "You want me to help because I helped you before, and that was only because I could tell that by living that life you were driving yourself to insanity, and the Dark Lord has no use-!"
"Shut up," she groaned, throwing her hands up in the air with a laugh. She glared suddenly and pointed a long, thin finger at him, "you know that he has plenty of use for nutcases. Look at Bella, she's about as crazy as you get! The less sanity someone clings to, the more they will be willing to do." Lucius was silent, mainly because he knew that she was right. Annalisa saw this, and she sunk to the floor in a heap, tears spilling down her face.
"Annalisa…"
"Look at me, Lucius!" she cried, "I'm horrendous! I haven't eaten a full meal in months, I've been trying to take care of a four year old and a nine year old, while the ministry has decided that I'm a terrible mother and are threatening to take my kids away! Just because I was a death eater! I can't even take the time to try and look good because the person I want to look good for is imprisoned!" she sobbed, and Lucius hesitantly helped her to her feet and sat her on the couch.
"Calm down, Annalisa," he said stoically. She sniffed, and her breath caught several times, but otherwise her tears stopped, "I'll do what I can. I can't promise you anything, so do not get your hopes up. I will try and get him out, but more then likely it will not work. There are many people who want him imprisoned for the rest of his life." Annalisalooked at him withslightly brighter eyes, and she let out a shaky breath and hiccupped softly.
"Th-thank you," she whispered, before the tears spilled over, "Thank y-you so much." Lucius grimaced slightly, but nodded.
"You need to leave before Narcissa realizes you're here," he cautioned, "She's never been fond of you." She stood and made her way to the door in silence. The door opened smoothly and silently, and it was only then that she turned and offered him a jagged smile.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not very fond of myself either."
-
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all things concerning belong to J.K. Rowling. I own Adelaide Black, Annalisa Bertucci, Aludra Hope Black, Ryan Sirius Black, Aster Lily Potter, and Noah Antares Black.
A/N: OK, I have an important question. Do you want Edelweiss to focus around Aludra, Noah Ryan, Harry, and Aster, or the Adults? Or a mixture of both? If I focused mostly on the kids the chapters would take a bit longer to get out, but they will probably have more going on. If it's a mixture it will not take as long, and if it's just the adults the chapters will be a tad bit shorter. What do you think?
Another point: The reason Aludra acts as she does, AKA a brat, is because I always see stories where an OCchild is the perfect angel, with no personality flaws or anything. Aludra's honestly a good person, she just is a bit bratty in comparison to a lot of the other characters. I had her be a bitch in the beginning to show that she's starting to realize that it isn't all about her, and that she has to grow up.
It's Annalisa!!!!! Originally, she was going to show up in chapter 7 (Go Girlkitsune!!) but I decided to stick this in, because I miss Annalisa. :"(
Song of the Chapter: "Stripped" by Shiny Toy Guns. I think this applies to Annalisa a lot in this chapter. :D
Yours truly,
B.E.N.
P.S: Reasoning behind my constantly switching tones in my AN's. Recently, I've realized how last year I took a personality change for the worst, and I basically turned into something I hated. I'm on the mend, I guess you could say, and have started with accepting all apologies, releasing all my grudges, and saying sorry to anyone I have upset. I'm fixing myself for the better, so my AN's will constantly have switching tones. Sorry 'bout that. And sorry it's not as long as the last two chapters, but I thought you might be tired of waiting. :D