The seed had been planted. Elizabeth had tricked her cousin, Anthea Prince, into letting slip to Rabastan Lestrange, the younger brother of Rodolphus, Elizabeth's hiding place, and after ensuring that Severus would arrive in time to collect Esme, Elizabeth waited in her home. She was in her daughter's bedroom, watching Esme play on the floor quietly. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she swallowed hard. Severus would be arriving in ten minutes, so she didn't have long to say goodbye.
"Esme, sweetheart, can you come here?" she asked quietly, gritting her teeth as she tried to stay strong. Esme looked up at her mother, her blue eyes full of curiosity. It was clear that she was surprised she couldn't read her mother's mind and didn't understand why there were devastated tears slowly forming in the corners of her eyes. She didn't know that Elizabeth had her hand on her wand and was silently performing Legilimency so Esme would never be able to discover what Elizabeth had done.
"Mummy, why are you crying?" Esme asked as she walked over to her mother and was lifted up onto her lap. She turned to face Elizabeth, and the young mother almost succumbed to the huge sob that was rising at the sight of her innocent daughter's confusion.
"Esme, I need you to listen to me," she said quickly, hoping to distract her tears. "Mummy's brother will be coming soon and he is going to take you somewhere safe."
"Where?" Esme asked immediately, and her brow furrowed as she stared into her mother's eyes. Elizabeth instinctively looked away, refusing to allow Esme to realise the truth.
"I don't know, darling, but you'll be safe there."
"Are you coming too?"
Elizabeth shook her head sadly, biting her lip so hard that she felt it bleed.
"No, Mummy will be staying here for some time, darling. But, I need you to promise something. If anything happens, if any bad people come, you need to become your animal form. A small animal, like a butterfly, all right? Esme, I need you to promise me."
"I promise, Mummy," Esme said earnestly, nodding her head. "I promise."
"Good girl," Elizabeth whispered and kissed her daughter on the cheek, holding her close. Another glance at the clock told her she was quickly losing time. "I also need you to know something, my darling."
Esme continued staring at her mother, listening intently, her pale hands holding onto Elizabeth's arms.
"Your father and I love you so much," Elizabeth whispered, a tear now rolling down her cheek as she fought silently to keep composure. "You are the best thing that happened to us. We love you more than anything, my darling."
Esme's gaze didn't avert as Elizabeth clenched her teeth again and sniffed hard. Instead, she stared deeply into her mother's eyes and smiled.
"I know, Mummy," she said quietly, hugging Elizabeth's chest. "I love you too."
Elizabeth closed her eyes and cried silently, tears dripping onto Esme's dark hair as she held her daughter close. Was she making a mistake? Should she just take Esme and run? Did she have time?
BOOM!
Elizabeth's eyes snapped open as the house shook slightly. There were lights coming from outside the window, and sparks were flying around the midnight air.
"Esme, stay here," Elizabeth ordered quietly and rose up from the bed, shutting the door behind her as she left the room. There was a whooshing noise from downstairs and Elizabeth silently cursed herself when she realised that she had left her wand in Esme's bedroom.
"Elizabeth, it's Severus," a familiar voice called up from downstairs but Elizabeth paid no attention to it. The whooshing noise was most likely Severus Apparating into the house, but the deafening noise from outside on the street was someone trying to get through the weak protective charms she had put up that morning. Bellatrix and Rodolphus had found her.
"Severus, are they coming?" Elizabeth called out, rushing down the stairs. Her brother looked paler than usual, his eyes filled with unfamiliar fear.
"Lexi, where's Esme?" he asked, looking around for his niece.
"Upstairs, in her room," Elizabeth replied, terror creeping in like a deceptive snake. She had put her daughter in danger. Her plan hadn't worked. She had underestimated how quickly Bellatrix would find her, and even with Severus' help, there was no chance of getting Esme out of there in time. "Severus, please don't let them hurt her."
Tears filled her eyes as she struggled to breathe properly, and she noticed that Severus was looking somewhere behind her. She turned around to see Esme at the top of the stairs, scared and confused.
"Lexi, they'll be able to get in soon," Severus whispered hurriedly, and a rush of gratitude flew into Elizabeth's heart. Despite their differences, Severus had still arrived to warn her. "You need to get Esme out of here –"
He had no time to finish as there was a loud bang and the front door. Without another word, Severus Disapparated and Elizabeth turned on her heel, rushing up the stairs, grabbing Esme as she ran. She carried her daughter into her bedroom, breathing heavily, ignoring the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Sweetheart, you need to hide," she said, crouching down to talk to Esme. "Mummy'll find you soon. Remember what I said, O.K?"
Esme nodded, although still scared, and a second later the young girl had disappeared, and in her place, was a beautiful black and blue butterfly, which daintily floated into the open cupboard and Elizabeth silently shut the door behind it.
"Lizzie, where are you?" a voice mocked from outside the room and Elizabeth's insides churned. Bellatrix Lestrange was in her house. Grabbing her wand, Elizabeth held it tightly but before she could cast any spell, the door was blasted open and the female Death Eater sauntered in, a manic smile dancing on her deranged face.
"Where's the brat?" she asked, her wand lazily flicking away the broken pieces of door.
"Somewhere you can't get her," Elizabeth replied, thinking of anything except her daughter, as she knew that Bellatrix was as very skilled Legilimens. "Why are you here, Bellatrix?"
"You know how to bring the Dark Lord back," Bellatrix said casually, although her eyes were dancing around the room, no doubt looking for Esme. Her husband followed her into the bedroom, his mouth curling into a sneer. "And you're going to tell us how," Bellatrix continued, "or we'll kill your dear little daughter."
"You're not getting near her," Elizabeth growled, a deep feeling of dread settling in her stomach. Bellatrix was near the cupboard now, and if Elizabeth didn't act, the Death Eater would find her daughter. With a split second glance at the cupboard, and an agonising stab of mixed regret and love for Esme, Elizabeth raised her wand and cast her spell.
"Stupefy!"
Bellatrix immediately dodged, her black hair flying wildly as she moved.
"Stupefy!" she snarled, but Elizabeth cast a Shield Charm and deflected it into the opposite wall. However, she couldn't cast anymore spells. She needed them to kill her, so they would believe that Esme wasn't in the house, because surely if she was, Elizabeth would simply have Apparated out of there with her.
Rodolphus raised his wand and before he even said the words, Elizabeth knew that it was over.
"Avada Kedavra!" he roared and the last thing Elizabeth Black saw was a flash of green light. She crumpled to the ground, the life leaving her eyes as her wand clattered to the floor, no longer serving its master.
Esme cowered in the cupboard, having transformed back into her human form. Unbeknown to her mother, she had watched the whole scene unfold through the crack between the cupboard doors, confused as the strangers' identities.
"Rodolphus!" Bellatrix screamed as Esme watched her mother, waiting for her to get back on her feet. "We were supposed to get information out of her, not kill her!"
"Never mind that," Rodolphus replied, looking around the room. "Where's the brat?"
"She must have gone into hiding somewhere else," Bellatrix spat, her dark eyes flashing dangerously. Esme looked at the strange woman and cowered slightly at the sight of her. She was scowling at her husband, her wand still held out as though anticipating an attack. Esme took a silent step back in the cupboard, praying the woman wouldn't find her. There was a whooshing sound and the voices silenced, but still Esme didn't come out of her hiding place. Instead, she slumped to the floor, cowering as terror gripped her.
Suddenly the cupboard door opened slowly and Esme looked up, terrified that the strange people were going to hurt her. However, it wasn't Bellatrix or Rodolphus. Instead, Esme recognised the hook nose and greasy hair of her uncle as the light from the lamp shone on his face.
"Esme," he said softly, in a voice that didn't match his harsh face. "Esme, you need to come with me."
Esme looked past him and turned her attention to her mother, lying lifeless on the bedroom floor, her dark hair strewn on the dark carpet.
"What happened to Mummy?" she asked quietly, silently wishing that Elizabeth would jump up and laugh, as though the whole thing had been a joke.
"Esme, we have to go," Severus said quietly and he gently lifted her into his arms. She didn't resist, but her eyes filled with tears as she stared at her mother. Elizabeth's eyes were still open, but they were glassy, as though she had never lived. All the laughter was gone from her beautiful face, but it soon twisted out of sight as she realised Severus was taking her away from this place…
She jolted in her uncle's arms as they landed somewhere dark. It was an odd street – she hadn't been here before. She bit her lip, incredibly uncomfortable, and shivered slightly in the cold night's air. There was flash of blue light next to her and she glanced around. Her uncle had held his wand out and some big and slim had shot out of it, galloping down the street. He nodded his head, watching the shimmery animal as it rushed away. Satisfied that it was going to do its job, Severus set Esme down on the pavement and took hold of her hand, firmly leading her to a large house in the middle of the house. He knocked on the door gently, as he felt his hand being held tightly by the little girl by his side. He impatiently waited for an answer, the sights he had just seen still fresh in his mind. Elizabeth, lifeless on the floor, her blue eyes glassy, wand lying pathetically on the floor next to her. Esme cowering in the wardrobe, no doubt on her mother's orders, so the Death Eaters wouldn't be able to see her.
The door chain being pushed away snapped Severus out of his painful thoughts and Dumbledore appeared at the door, his twinkling eyes greeting his visitor. However, he saw the forlorn expression on Severus' face and glanced down at the terrified young girl by the Potion Master's side, and guessed what had happened.
"Elizabeth…" he said gravelly and Severus nodded silently. Dumbledore opened the door wide to allow Severus and Esme past, the latter of whom was unsure of her surroundings. She was being led into a stranger's house by an uncle she hardly ever saw. And, her mother had been hurt. She needed to see her mother…
"Who did it?" she heard Dumbledore asked quietly and Severus glanced at Esme, who cowered in the shadows of the hallway.
"Rodolphus," Severus replied. "I was too late to warn her that he and Bellatrix had discovered her hiding place. Elizabeth tried to fight them off, but they were too quick for her. No doubt, she thought that if they took her down quickly, they would leave, thinking that Esme was elsewhere."
"They didn't know she didn't have the pendant anymore?" Dumbledore asked and Severus shook his head.
"I believe that they think Esme has it," Severus answered and Dumbledore finally looked at the young girl, who was confused by their conversation. The old man appeared to be thinking and she shamefully looked away, worried he was trying to analyse her.
"In that case, we need to keep Esme safe," the stranger finally said, after looking back to Severus. "You left Elizabeth in the house?"
Severus nodded, although it was obviously he hadn't liked his own actions. This didn't go unnoticed by Dumbledore.
"You had to, Severus," he said kindly. "It would have been difficult to explain how you had known the Lestranges were coming, and it would also mean that Esme would have had to remain there, putting her in more danger. I honestly believe your sister would have wanted you to put her daughter first."
Severus nodded but kept silent, still not looking at his niece.
"When is your mother due back?" Dumbledore asked gravelly.
"In the morning," Severus replied quietly. "I have sent a Patronus to let her what has happened. She will find Elizabeth and alert everyone."
"Good," Dumbledore agreed. "When she does, I will tell Fudge that Esme wasn't in the house when it happened, that she was at Lupin's."
"Lupin's?" Severus demanded, his dark eyes snapping to search the old face for a hint of amusement, as though it was a joke. "You're involving the werewolf in this, Albus?"
"Remus was a dear friend of Elizabeth's," Dumbledore said softly, but there was a hint of a threat in his voice. "He cared for both her and Esme. I am sure that he will make an excellent guardian."
"Esme can't be looked after by a werewolf," Severus hissed, looking at his niece, who was blankly staring out of the window. There were still tear trails on her face. "He might hurt her."
"I have it all worked out, Severus," Dumbledore assured him, but Severus somehow, wasn't convinced. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, as though amused at Severus' sudden concern for his sister's child. "It was what Elizabeth wanted. Upon discovering that she was marked for death, she set about procuring Esme's safety. She was a mother, Severus, and wanted what was best for her child."
Severus looked away, knowing exactly what Dumbledore was suggesting. Elizabeth had been well hidden in his parents' home, and they shouldn't have been able to get through the protective charms Elizabeth had casted. In fact, the only way they could have got through was if Elizabeth had lowered the effectiveness of them…
"You believe that Elizabeth allowed them into the house?" Severus asked quietly, almost without his mouth moving. He glanced at Esme, who thankfully wasn't listening.
"I believe that Elizabeth did what she thought was best for Esme," Dumbledore replied, and Severus clenched his teeth at the old wizard's elusiveness. "Much like Lily Potter did for her son."
Severus froze, his eyes flashing angrily.
"Your sister and Lily Potter were very similar, Severus," Dumbledore continued. "They both died for their children, albeit in different situations."
Esme looked up suddenly, as though she had heard something significant, her eyes filled with anxiety. She wanted to leave. She didn't like it here. The old man seemed kind enough, but she hardly knew him. As far as she was concerned, he was a friend of her mother's, not her.
"Can I go back to Mummy now?" she asked quietly, nervously playing with her t-shirt. "I want to see Mummy."
Both of the wizards looked at her, different emotions on their faces; Severus' eyes were cold as they stared at her and she cowered in his presence, but Dumbledore smiled kindly at her, his eyes filled with pity.
"You can't go back to your mother, Esme," he said softly, his voice low as he spoke. "Instead, we're going to take you somewhere safe."