Chapter 9- Family Deductions, Introductions and Seductions
A Twin in Mine Shadow
Over the next few days, life at Potter Manor had grown so worse for Lizzie that she could not even describe it. She felt that at times when her parents were not bossing her around, she was being forced to go hungry from the lack of food she was permitted.
'Well they call it a 'diet' but what they really mean is intended starvation,' she mused.
Gazing up at a painting of her great-grandmother Priscilla, Lizzie wondered to herself whether her parents' intentions were to bring her up like all the other unloyal members of the paintings they owned.
Scanning her eyes at another great aunt that had begun to scold her for staring, Lizzie wondered why her father had felt the need to break apart from his family all those years ago.
'The weak link in the chain,' she recalled her grandfather's words that had been aimed at her father when she was five. It was not until she had finally learnt of pureblood histories many years later, that Lizzie had come to understand what the words had meant.
Ignoring the framed hag that had suddenly started to threat her, Lizzie smiled at her father's inanity, knowing full well what scandal he had besmirched upon their family and name. Before his disownment, the Potter family had been at constant rivalry between the Blacks and Rookwoods. Back then the Malfoys had been far from reaching their status, seeing as they had been formed many centuries later that the oldest of families; a term Lizzie's grandmother, Kathleen, had come to describe as 'new blood.'
But now thanks to Jonathan Potter's tampered conscience, his children had lost their standing in society and had come to be known as creatures fowler than mugglefolk.
'And that's a nice way of putting it.'
"Didn't I tell you not to stare, young lady? It is quite an unladylike thing to do," her screaming great-aunt Regina began to scold again.
"Oh shut up you old hag," Lizzie retorted in return, making the old woman mutter a loud 'hymph.'
"Tell me, do they teach lessons on what to wear in these finishing schools? You certainly could do with a touch of common sense," the hag added with a smirk.
"For things like composing myself in front of portraits of the dead elderly? I think I'll pass," Lizzie replied before she strode away.
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The first week of the holidays had passed in the most awkward tension surrounding Lizzie. However, Sunday lunch had turned into a sudden cause for excitement from the young witch.
The Potters had been seated in the Dining room, halfway through enjoying a lovely-cooked Roast dish, when an ebony owl with the brightest of eyes had flown in through the window and landed in Jonathan Potter's gravy. After a scowling look that silenced James and Lizzie's laughter, their father's voice had revealed to them that the sender had been Duncan Potter.
After several surprised glances from their mother, the letter had turned out to be an invitation to their aunt Gemini Rookwood's upcoming ball. The invitation had instructed that every single member of the Potter family was to attend, and other pureblood families including the Rookwoods, Blacks and Malfoys had also been invited.
Lizzie had found it quite funny when her father had been left no choice but to accept, seeing as Gemini Rookwood (formerly Potter) was his only sister and the relationship between them was still quite strong. His wife's ever-growing fondness of balls was the other reason why he could not possibly decline the invitation.
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The robe shopping sprees and hat hunting that followed had certainly not been to Lizzie's delight, but she felt she wasn't going to be enjoying herself anytime soon in this reality.
The rest of the days passed in vein and when the morning of the ball finally came, Lizzie mistook the blinding sunshine for the magic of her hearts bidding. When the Potters sat down to breakfast that morning, Lizzie hastened to conceal the smile that kept creeping onto her face, but from her mother's threatening gaze she realised how poor her attempts were.
"Lizzie, stop playing with your food. It wouldn't do to turn this into a habit to show off at the ball," Alexandra Potter instructed her only daughter.
Lizzie tried to hide away the sudden hurt she felt at her mother's outburst, though nevertheless replied "Yes mother."
"James darling, you've finished already. Would you like some more potatoes?" Their mother echoed fondly.
"Thank you mother," James replied as a house elf dropped a scoop of mash on his plate, followed by a long bow. With a small smirk at Lizzie, James returned to his beautiful way of feeding himself, that could be only described in three words:
'Stuffing his face.'
After breakfast, Lizzie was scheduled to have an appointment with a nearby Witches Beauty Parlour, a place that her mother had arranged to visit without Lizzie's knowledge. They used floo powder to get there, only to find that their time would have to wait seeing as the room was overly vacated. From afar, Lizzie noticed the glint of blonde at the front of the line but quickly looked away when she felt her mother's eye on her.
Lizzie and her mother did not wait for long before Gemini Rookwood walked through the door of the Parlour. As soon as she noticed her niece and sister-in-law lingering near the back of the queue, the middle-aged witch immediately took hold of both their arms and marched straight forward. So an hour later, their hair was finally sorted and every bit of their faces was coated with shimmering make-up.
When they got home, Lizzie was dragged into her mother's boudoir to be dressed and accessorised, with her mother close by to add the finishing touches. As soon as both women were ready, they made their way to the hall to descend the scarlet-carpeted stairs at the front of the manor. Though Lizzie was supporting a disdainful look due to the breath-restricting qualities of her corset, she was quite taken aback when her father paid her a short compliment on her attire.
Though she though it must have been out of his generosity, Lizzie had to admit that she did feel quite the princess at the moment. The dress she wore beneath her robes consisted of two thin spaghetti straps that held the red stain fabric of her dress in place. The ends of it reached passed her toes and barely swept the carpet as she twirled. For the arrival, she wore robes of a more darker scarlet over he dress, that matched her plum-coloured lips under all the embroidery. The bouncing curls that were securely sealed atop her head did nothing but complete the look, giving onlookers the impression of a dark, mythological goddess.
Since the host of the ball was of the Potters' close relation, Lizzie and her family arrived unfashionably early in order to help with the set-up of the ball and the assortments to go with it.
Because the portkeys were too much of a hassle and equally as messy as apparating, Alexandra insisted that they use the floo network for the sake of hers and her daughter's hairdo. After a long debate of the best positions to stand in the fireplace so that her curls would not get ruined, Lizzie finally flood to her aunt's, and emerged out of their grand fireplace without a single speck of dust or soot. A house elf greeted her shortly after, and directed her to the parlour in which her aunt and uncle were currently seated.
As soon as she walked through the doors, Lizzie was greeted with the warmest of welcomes from the small group of Potters that had already arrived. When her aunt caught sight of her, she ushered her husband and sons over and embraced her beloved niece in a most piercing hug. Her Uncle Augustus in turn settled with a short bow, and her cousin Algernon (or 'Algae' as he was commonly referred to), placed a small kiss on the palm of her hand. As soon as Lizzie bent down to greet her five-year old cousin Romeo the rest of her family emerged, though the welcomes and greetings they received were not as genuine or as warm as Lizzie had received upon her entrance. After everyone had finally settled down, Lizzie and her parents learnt that all the extra work had been done and that, the ball now relied on the work of the house elves.
Seeing that their presence was no longer needed, James and Algae (who was the same age as the twins) left the parlour to go exploring, leaving Lizzie alone with Algae's younger brother.
After a small conversation between the two that consisted mainly of Romeo's toys and childish interests, the Rookwoods were the first purebloods that arrived. Shortly after, they were followed by the Lestranges (who were also of close relation to the Potters), then the Malfoys, who had been invited only for the sake of their alliances with Duncan Potter. The first of the Blacks arrived fashionably late, and were soon followed by the Snapes, Halliwells and Flints.
Once the ballroom was so full that no one could be seen, Lizzie sneaked away from her mother's side to wander over to where her friends were standing. Once she was directly opposite to where her family stood, she caught a glimpse of long blonde hair surrounded by three brunettes, which hinted she had sought out one of her friends. Awkwardly, she made her way over to Narcissa, careful not to attract the attention of the rest of the Blacks. Straightening her posture and adding a malicious smirk to her features, Lizzie gently tugged on her friend's elbow then ducked to greet her from her other side.
"Oh, Lizzie it's you!" Narcissa squealed with slight haste. By now Lizzie had attracted the attention of Narcissa's mother and her two elder sisters. After sharing a short hug with her friend, Lizzie desperately wished she could vanish on the spot, until Narcissa's mother Cassandra spoke.
"Cissa, do introduce us to your pretty friend," she spoke with a small smile. Andromeda and Bellatrix had no choice but to smile along, and Lizzie was relieved that they did not recognise her from the times they'd caught her and Cissa hanging out at Hogwarts.
Narcissa looked towards Lizzie slightly panicked, and it was only a second later that Lizzie realised it was because of how Narcissa would introduce her as a Potter.
" Of.. of course. Mother, this is a close friend from school, Eliza, -" but Narcissa was suddenly interrupted before she could finish her sentence.
"Oh Lizzie, there you are. Your mother has been looking for you everywhere and I said you must have wondered off to talk to Rodolphus… Ah, Lady Cassandra, how lovely it is to meet you once again," Duncan Potter remarked before bowing in recognition. A short giggle was emitted from Narcissa's mother before she offered her hand to Lizzie's grandfather, for him to place a short kiss.
"Always a pleasure to be of your acquaintance, Mr Potter," Cassandra Black replied in a melodic tune. When the two turned to eye the children, they were surprised to find Lizzie and Narcissa stoned to the floor. Lizzie was so frozen that she did not see Rodolphus follow her grandfather to where they were standing, nor the short smirk he sent her way.
"Ah, and these must be your lovely daughters," Lizzie grandfather remarked with delight before greeting each one in turn and placing kisses on their silk gloves.
As soon as he'd finished with the greeting, Duncan turned away from them to eye his granddaughter who was still frozen from shock.
"Lizzie, are you all right?" He enquired with concern, though he was doing a bad job of hiding the amusement in his eyes.
"Yes, grandfather," she managed to breath out.
"Oh, so this must be your granddaughter, Mr Potter," Narcissa's mother emitted with new-found respect for Lizzie.
"Yes, I thought you had already been acquainted," Duncan Potter replied apologetically.
"We were on the verge of being introduced before you arrived, Mr Potter."
Lizzie looked away from the two to Rodolphus, pleading with her eyes for him to rescue her from the situation. She knew he probably would not do it, seeing that she still owed him for making him the subject of a humiliating prank last summer. True to her word, he gave a small smirk before looking away, and shooting appreciating glances at Narcissa's eldest sister, Bellatrix.
"Yes, well, if you don't mind I'll need to borrow my granddaughter for a short moment. It seems my daughter's snake has gone wild in the entrance hall, and none of our other parselmouths seem to be able to calm the creature down."
Lizzie was suddenly put on the spot when every face nearby turned to look directly at her. Narcissa's mother's eyes had gone wide and the neighbouring Blacks started to eye her with curiosity. Lizzie gave a quick bow to Narcissa's mother so that she could be steered away by her grandfather as soon as possible.
But as she departed from the family, Lizzie could not help but notice that Rodolphus did not accompany her, but more so stayed where she had been stood and introduced himself to Cassandra Black. The last glimpse she got of him was as he walked on to the dance floor, Bellatrix Black's hand resting in the crook of his arm.
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Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys rock!
Here are a few more additions to the list of characters:
Eliza ('Lizzie') Potter: Main character or protagonist of this fic, also the twin sister of James Potter, and Harry Potter's aunt (in a fic to be published in the future!).
David Grimly: Hangs out with the Slytherins and Lizzie, and is their only friend in Ravenclaw.
Isabella Darkwell: a popular girl in Ravenclaw who's not really important, but fancies Dave Grimly even though he's out of her league.
Diana Nebula: Sirius' current girlfriend, most popular girl in school who also hangs out with Isabelle.
Jonathan Davies: Ravenclaw jock, also a friend of the Gryffindor jocks. In my world, he's actually Roger Davies' dad.
Nicholas Chang: Cho Chang's dad, also a Ravenclaw jock in Lizzie and James' year.
Bob Mathews: Annoying Fourth year Gryffindor with an ego the size of Hogwarts and a height the size of a mushroom.
Duncan Potter: Lizzie and James' grandfather, also known as one of the richest purebloods in Britain. The Potter line dates back to the same time the Black family came into exist, so there is quite a lot of competition between the two families. But Duncan Potter is mainly respected because of his many alliances with old pureblood families.
Aunt Elladora: Narcissa's second aunt who is not Sirius' mother, but in fact his aunt too, if you get what I mean.
Jonathan and Alexandra Potter: James and Lizzie's parents. Jonathan is the eldest son of Duncan Potter, but because of the fragile relationship between the two Jonathan is no longer the heir of the Potter fortune, though he is already rich through the company he runs. The reason why this came to be was because Jonathan disagreed with his father's negative attitudes towards the muggle folk, kind of like Sirius in a way.
Gemini Rookwood: Jonathan Potter's sister, and wife of Augustus Rookwood. She is also the mother of Algernon (14) and Romeo (5).
Cassandra Black: My derivation from 'Cassiopeia,' Andromeda's mother in Greek Mythology.
Rodolphus Lestrange: Lizzie's second cousin through her father's side. Rodolphus and her have been playmates since Lizzie was a toddler, though there is quite a big age gap.