Hey! So it took me two weeks to update this time. This have to be a new record. I don't know if I will be able to keep it up but I'm quite proud of myself. Cue patting myself on the shoulder.
Anyway, I should have mentioned this before but, I am aware the age of some of my characters do not match up with cannon. Sorry for that. However, just for the sake of the story let's just all assume for a moment that Bellatrix is only a year older than the Marauders.
Enough with me, enjoy the chapter!
-6-
Viper's Nest
White noise.
It filled Amelia's ears, it blared in her mind until it was all she could think about. The hissing sound invaded her thoughts, mangling them and making it impossible for the girl to hold onto one of them for long. It never left her alone, it turned her deaf to the world evolving around her and tampered with her sleep patterns, therefore affecting her moods. Sometimes a high screech, similar to the whistle of a kettle, would tear her brains apart and it was all she could do not to hold her head into her hands and cry out in pain.
This was not the first time it happened. Pain was Amelia's long-time enemy. One that she thought she had left behind. The witch knew exactly what this was about, it had been unavoidable after all, but she was determined not to do anything about it until inactivity was no longer an option. She would not drag anyone else into this. She owed it to him.
For now, mistrust and fear were the only things that got her to focus, she was swimming in dangerous waters and needed all her wits to fight off the indecent number of people that were attempting to make her their own. Anxiety was a double-edged sword. If it did not overpower her, it kept her sufficiently on her toes to deal with the hungry wolves that strolled across Hogwarts' halls disguised as students.
Beauxbatons truly had been a nest of vipers but somehow things in Britain had taken a turn for the worst. It was not so much the noisy purebloods. Although she could have lived without their constant pestering, it had not came as a surprise. Amelia was used by now to nobles being under the illusion she owed it to them to live up to their standards and expectations.
The difference lay elsewhere. It was in the suspicious looks pupils casted at each other, it was in the troubled whispering in the Great Hall as morning post arrived day after day, it was in the way muggleborns stood out like sore thumbs in the crowd, walking briskly among the purebloods with their head held high and their hands near their wand at all time.
Rumours in France had been true. A dark menace hovered over the British magical community.
Distrust of muggleborns and muggles were recurrent in the wizarding society. All around Europe, Purebloods families talked of the slow integration of children born to non-magical folks with disgust and a hint of apprehension. However, in Britain, this mounting alarm was taken to a whole new level.
Amelia and her mother had been invited to various Pureblood's households numerous times during the summer. Ladies of high societies never missed a chance to flaunt their wealth and compare it to newcomers. Large gatherings of women, all jewelled up and dressed to the nines, met up regularly in tearooms, gossiping and plotting friends' downfall. Being who she was, Amelia could barely make it to tea before she needed to get some fresh air. Any air was good enough as long as she did not have to share it with these bootlicking, backstabbing harpies.
Therefore Amelia had made it a habit of hers to eclipse herself not long after having suffered through the farce of exchanging pleasantries, bowing and smiling till her cheeks hurt. Then, with all the arrogance that came with being a girl from a well-heeled family, she wandered from room to room, picking up books from libraries, giving cheek to haughty looking portraits, sitting on the masters' bed, shuffling through letters and correspondences.
There were not many advantages to being the only heiress of the noblest pureblood dynasty still alive. It was more of a burden than anything else. However, she could not deny that it gave her the right to act as freely and with as much effrontery as she wished most of the time. Whatever she felt like doing she could, and that, with impunity.
It was during one of her little escapades that Amelia had come to realise just how much prejudice against muggles had escaladed on the British territory.
Amelia ran a hand over the smooth wooden surface of the writing desk that stood at the far end of the study room she had let herself in. The girl could not quite remember the name of her current hostess, or her appearance even, but she had to admit that, for once, this one had taste. Of all the manors and summer houses she had visited in the previous weeks, this one was by far her favorite. Purebloods usually opted for extravagance without being able to draw the line between impressive and tacky.
Maybe it had been the wall-length bookcase or the light that filtered past the veil that stood in front of the French doors leading to the back garden, but something in this room had appealed to Amelia. After checking quickly around her to ensure that the hallway was empty and that no one had seen her leave the ballroom, the witch had pushed past the doors and entered the study, noticing absentmindedly another entrance on her right. Assuming it lead to a bedroom, Amelia did not pay more attention to it.
She relished the silence for a moment. The absence of nagging, snide whispering and overall bragging was a blessing in itself and she was determined to make the most of it. She was slowly making her way to the book shelves when a loud crack resounded behind her, startling her.
Quickly turning around, Amelia faced the source of the disturbance. Two men had appeared out of thin air, but something was obviously wrong; one of them was hunched over, putting all of his weight on his companion who seemed to struggle to stay upright. Taking advantage of the fact their backs were turned, Amelia made a fast retreat and hid behind the door that was the closest to her.
Finding herself standing in a dark bedroom as she had predicted, Amelia dithered slightly, unsure of what to do. Under other circumstances the girl would not have minded being found in such a predicament, it was not the first time she had been making herself at home in houses in which she was only a guest and she had enough gall to ease her way out of such an indiscretion. However her guts were telling her she had just walked in on the only thing she was not supposed to witness. Looking around frantically, she came to the conclusion there was not any other exit. She would have to wait it out. Getting closer to the door, she opened it a crack and peered through.
The man had cleared the writing desk of books and quills and had laid his injured friend on top. Bent over him, he seemed to be talking to him softly while petting his hair as one would do for a sick child. The wounded man then turned his head in Amelia's direction and was seized by a coughing fit, each spasms sending shivers through his whole body. Something red and thick left his mouth and crashed on the floor.
It was then that Amelia smelled it. The metallic, throat clamping smell of blood. Leaning on the wooden door for support, the young lady closed her eyes and tried to swallow down the lump that blocked her airways. Now was not the time to get sick all over the floor. She balled her hands into trembling fists and tried to ignore the unsettling feeling in her stomach.
"Fanny!"
A popping noise was heard and a snivelling creature with bat-like ears apparated in the center of the room, responding to its master's call.
"Master Rabastan has asked for Fanny?"
"Yes. Go and get Miss Bellatrix immediately. Tell her it is urgent." the man's voice was cold but Amelia could detect the underlying fear.
Unfortunately, the house elf had caught sight of the man on the table and seemed too shocked to move. Losing his patience, Rabastan closed the distance between Fanny and him in two strides and gave the elf a swift kick that sent the poor thing flying across the room with a yelp of pain. The servant met the wall with a muffled thud and got miserably back on its feet.
"Hurry up, will you! Do you not see he is hurting!" roared Rabastan, face distorted by anger. Then, not minding the creature any longer, he returned to his comrade's side. "Do not worry Rodolphus, Bella will know what to do. She is the best healer there is."
Well, it made sense now. If she remembered well, Amelia could recall getting informed of Rodolphus Lestrange's and Bellatrix Black's engagement. She must have been in Lestrange Manor.
It seemed like forever before Bellatrix came strolling in, her robes flowing behind her and her usual aura of malice surrounding her like a cloak. It did not take long before she made sense of the scene in front of her. To Amelia's surprise, her face showed some concern when she identified the harmed man. Crossing the room in a heartbeat, she had her wand out and had it waving over her fiancé in no time. Taking a step back, Rabastan observed her work, looking quite distraught.
"What happened?" the tone was hard and made Rabastan, who was absorbed in the contemplation of his brother, jump out of his skin.
"I…" stuttered the wizard.
Looking up from Rodolphus' wounds, Bellatrix pinned him with an unpitying glare. "If you are to be an useless lump, Rabastan, you might as well leave."
Squaring his shoulders, the man seemed to recover a bit of his self-control. "The Prewett twins. One of them, I do not know which one, got Roldolphus with some kind of cutting curse. Nasty pieces of work these two are."
Bellatrix made a non-committal sound and went back to the healing process. Silence fell upon them, interrupted from time to time by Rodolphus' weak moans or Bellatrix' occasional mumbling. The ticking of the clock resting on the wall echoed all around the room and Amelia hold onto it desperately as if it could help her get her heart, flustering like a bird trapped in a cage, under control.
After a while, Bellatrix leaned back and exhaled calmly. Rabastan who had sunk into a chair by his brother's head shot to his feet. "What is going on?"
"He will make it. All there is to do now is let him sleep. Carry him to his bedroom."
Eyes widening, Amelia realized two seconds before it was too late what was about to happen. Searching for a hiding place, she caught sight of the canopy bed. Although she was painfully aware her behaviour was incredibly unladylike and left her with no escape route was she to be discovered, Amelia did the only thing she could think of at this point.
She dropped to her hands and knees and, as Rabastan entered, wand raised as to keep his brother hovering in the air, the girl rolled under the bed. She had not done this in years, not ever since she used to play hide and seek with Tecky, her house elf. Her outfit did not make the crawling easy and for a terrifying moment, Amelia thought Bellatrix, who followed suit to Rabastan, would catch a glimpse of her gown sticking out from her hideout.
She hold her breath and waited for the outburst, but nothing of the sort happened. The mattress squeaked over her when Rodolphus was finally laid down on it and a second later, overpriced leather boots dirtied by mud and blood as well as tips of black high heels shoes could be seen at the edge of the bed. The witch and wizard seemed content to simply watch Rodolphus sleep in silence for a while until Bellatrix spoke.
"Were you successful?" whispered Bellatrix barely masking her trepidation.
"Oh yes. The Dark Lord will be pleased. Lucius is a genius. Attacking in broad daylight completely took them by surprise. By the time they got there, the roof had collapsed and we had cut off all exits."
"It would have been stupid to keep leading the raids at dusk. Dumbledore's minions were fools to believe we would allow ourselves to become that predictable." said the dark haired witch with condescension.
"They were shaken up all right." replied Rabastan with grim satisfaction. "Although that could have been the sight of the orphanage going up in flames too."
Amelia's hand flew to her mouth to muffle the gasp that threatened to escape her. What was this madness?
Bellatrix chuckled quietly. "The Prophet will have trouble hushing this one for sure."
"The whole Ministry will have trouble keeping this under wraps. Our little bonfire attracted quite the attention, what with the smell of burning flesh and the screams. Filthy little pigs gave me a headache by squealing the way they did." added Rabastan in mock irritation.
Trembling from head to toes, Amelia fought against the dry heaves that assaulted her. Choking on a sob, the witch forced herself to control her breathing, being found out now would be the death of her.
"Well, I am guessing they will obliviate the muggle witnesses and find a cover story to explain the building's destruction, but the warning has been sent to Dumbledore. No one will dare ignore our cause now, nor will they belittle our actions any longer." stated Bellatrix in a no non-sense tone.
Rabastan stayed silent, but Amelia could imagine him nodding in agreement. The two of them stood there for some more time before Bellatrix told her future brother-in-law they were better let Rodolphus get some rest. Amelia remained hidden long after their departure, anxious about being caught red handed were they to come back unexpectedly. When she felt confident enough that slipping out from her hiding place was safe, she bolted from the room and, after making sure her appearance did not give away her whereabouts for the previous hour, she strode into the ballroom with as much cockiness as she could muster. Going straight for her mother, she faked some weakness or another and after some convincing, they were back to their manor in London.
It took her three days before she found the courage to step out of her bedroom once again.
The burning of the muggle orphanage had been all over the news by morning. For Amelia, who until then knew nothing about death eaters and their aspirations, it had been a wakeup call.
The hate of muggles was no longer faceless. It breathed, it walked and it sowed death everywhere it went, showing no mercy, sparing no soul.
It had a name. One that people on the streets only dared to whisper. Some out of fear. Others out of respect.
At first, Amelia thought the murders and destruction were the works of a lunatic. A maniac with enough charisma to drag vulnerable souls into his descent into violence. The girl soon had to face reality however. The Dark Lord was on warpath and he left no one indifferent.
This kind of evil did not allow people to stay on the side-lines.
It poisoned conversations at family diners, it crawled into people's hearts and it tore friends apart. It even seeped in between the stones of Hogwarts' walls, causing fight and duels in the hallways.
More often than not, innocents unfortunately were caught in the crossfire.
"Watch out!"
A bright purple light shot over Amelia, missing her head by a millimeter, tearing through the air with a sizzling sound. Shards of stones rained on her, a whole section of the wall behind her blowing up and sending debris flying in all directions as the curse hit it. The witch raised her arms above her brow to protect her eyes from harm.
In seconds, the corridor was dense with magic, hexes flying left and right, lighting up the small space with a thousand colors. All around her cries and screams filled the air, girls screeching in distress, older students shouting out to their friends while others, unlucky, yelled out in pain as they got inadvertently hit by some stray jinxes.
Bodies pressed into each other as teenagers tried to escape the center of the mayhem. A shoulder collided with Amelia's chest and the witch was roughly shoved, stumbling backwards until she hit the wall. Beside her, Lily, who had offered to walk her to the transfiguration classroom, received the same treatment and got the wind knocked out of her. Blinking in confusion, the redhead shook her head and swore softly as chaos unfolded in front of her.
"What in the world..."
Before any of the girls could react, a boy with sandy hair spurted out of the mess of limbs, hand gripping firmly the shoulder of what seemed to be a shell-shocked first year.
"Remus." exclaimed Lily, grabbing a hold the tiny girl the young wizard had presumably saved from being squashed to death. "What's going on?"
Remus was obviously on high alert, eyes shifting quickly from side to side and wand at the ready. "I don't really know. It happened really fast." the teen said urgently without meeting their gazes. "What I do know is that there's a hell of a lot of firsties in there, Lily. Some of the spells that have been casted are ugly too. Wouldn't be surprised if there was dark magic involved."
Lily's expression became grim and she started rolling up her sleeves. "Well then, we have to put an end to this before someone gets hurt. Stun or tie up anyone you see holding a wand and shouting curses. Anyone, Remus." emphasized the girl staring at Lupin with a pointed look. The 'even your friends' was left unsaid but, Amelia knew by the boy's uneasy expression that the message had gotten through.
As Remus threw himself into the fray once again, Lily knelt in front of the eleven year old girl and told her to stay on the sides until she came back for her. The first year's head bobbed up and down and, as her lip began to quiver, Amelia realized with a start this was the same kid she had saved from the lake's cold waters a few days back.
Lily wasted no more time and disappeared as quickly as Remus had done. Putting a hand on the younger girl's frail frame, Amelia pushed her behind her and positioned herself to hid the child from view. She swallowed nervously and tried to calm the trembling of her hands.
All these flashes of lights and these overwhelming noises were doing her no good. Her heartbeats were becoming frantic and she could feel her head being squeezed in a vice, the familiar buzzing overcoming her train of thoughts as she desperately tried to find a way out of this catastrophe.
She could not afford to lose her senses. Amelia struggled to stay on her feet as the floor seemed to shift under her. Blinking, she tried to see through the dust that floated about, occasionally glowing and surrounding objects as well as people with a ghostly halo when a spell passed by. The atmosphere was crackling with magic, the girl could almost taste it on the tip of her tongue. It crawled on Amelia's skin, caressing it almost longingly.
Suddenly, the witch felt it, the unmistakeable wave of burning fire that sprang from a point buried deep in her stomach and that travelled all the way up to her heart at lightning speed, spreading out and pulsing through her veins till it reached her fingertips. Her extremities brusquely felt like ice and a bead of sweat ran down the length of her neck.
No. thought Amelia in a panic. This cannot be.
It was like her magical core had lain dormant all though summer, intentionally becoming comatose as faith left her along with her willpower. Now enveloped by supernatural power, intense and rampant, her body responded to it in the only way it knew how. Quite violently.
Too troubled to notice the hex that came hurtling towards her, Amelia reacted too late, the force of the curse lifting her feet from the ground and projecting her in the air, away from the teenage girl she was supposed to protect. Landing roughly on her back, Amelia's head snapped back and hit the stone floor hard.
The world spun and the witch forgot to breathe for a second. Her hearing became dulled, sounds seemingly getting distant as if she sank into deep waters. Down and down she went, silence growing more and more oppressive until it was deafening and she could not bear it any longer. Her pulse was the only noise resounding in her skull, each heartbeat echoing in her head and destabilizing her.
An anger that was not quite her own nestled into Amelia's heart. Right in this moment, her magic was like a monster and the monster wanted out. Immediately.
The surge of power was terrifying. Amelia knew what would happen if she allowed the dam to break; there would be no going back. Taking deep shuddering breaths, Amelia tried to gain control over the sparks of involuntary magic that coursed through her body. Raising weakly her head and resting heavily on her elbows, the girl surveyed her surroundings.
Belligerents seemed to be moving in slow motion and Amelia idly wondered just how serious her concussion was. The duels were still ongoing and panic was on everybody's face. Then, someone fell few feet away from her and lay, unconscious. Amelia's breath caught in her throat and she tasted bile.
"Amelia do something!"
His voice boomed inside her head, urgent and desperate. He was never one to let people get hurt in front of him. The exact opposite of her.
"I... I can't."
"What do you mean, you can't?! Are you kidding me? You could stop this madness in seconds!"
Amelia nearly moaned. He did not understand. He did not get it. Could he not see her whole hands cramping and twitching with suppressed magic? If she let it go now, it would be a carnage.
"Bloody hell, can't you see I won't be able to restrain myself?!" she practically yelled in her head.
"This is no ordinary school fight, Amelia. You know that as well as I do. If you don't do something now, there will be casualties."
"If I intervene now, then there will be casualties."
Her head was about to split in two and the white noise came back with a vengeance. It would not be long before she became incoherent.
"God, Amelia. What have they done to you? You used to be past that. We worked on it together; you're able to do this."
Amelia's ire tasted like iron. He could not be this naive, could he? This level of obliviousness was impossible. How dare he sound so disappointed? The pity in his tone made Amelia's blood boil.
"What have they done? WHAT have they done? This is not a matter of what they have done to me! You're not by my side anymore. That's what this is about. You went and left me, and now I can't use my magic without being afraid of blowing the whole place up!"
It was his turn to let his fury known. Although Amelia was aware her friend had quite a short fuse and was accustomed to his outbursts, the witch still winced at his harsh words.
"Stop acting like a wimp and get your shit together, Deauclair!"
Gritting her teeth, she decided to humor him. However, as she raised her wand to indulge him, the crowd parted and an empty space appeared in her range of vision, clear of students battling and of innocent onlookers. Seizing her chance, Amelia brought down her arm and twirled her wand.
The magic left her arm with a bang and the amount of power getting torn from her so abruptly caused pain to go shooting up her forearm.
At first, nothing happened.
Then, all of a sudden, an invisible force sent people soaring through the air, away from the spot she had sent her spell to. Bodies stayed suspended in midair for a second before they crashed on the cold hard ground with grunts. Groans were then heard all around her as students tried to comprehend what had just occurred.
A strangled yell broke the new founded peace and as Amelia whirled around to face the commotion, she saw Sirius Black get unsteadily to his feet and point his wand at some unknown boy sprawled near him, his features marred with rage. Before he could do any damage though, a figure rose from beside him and slammed him into the wall.
"Enough!" shouted James Potter, blood trickling down his forehead.
Black's eyes turned to stare at his best friend, his expression twisting in betrayal. "Let go of me!" he snarled shoving Potter in the chest.
The bespectacled boy was onto him though and spoke to him in low tones, clearly attempting to knock some sense into the wizard. Unbeknownst to James, the teen Sirius had been menacing and whom Amelia vaguely recognized as one of the Slytherin prefects, aimed his wand at his back.
The attack was nipped in the bud though as the Slytherin quickly found himself on the receiving end of a wand himself. Startled, the greasy-haired boy looked up to an infuriated Lily Evans.
"I would not think of it, if I were you." hissed the redhead.
Hurt swiftly appeared on the boy's face before it was replaced by anger. "They started it." he snarled as if it justified his actions.
Until now people had been too engrossed by the confrontation between James and Sirius to notice anything else, but that soon changed and, in seconds, all eyes were riveted on Lily's hard expression. Potter seemed shocked, although if it was either due to Evans coming to his rescue or the fact the help had been needed in the first place was not certain.
"I have no doubt in that. However, it doesn't justify the use of some of the curses I witnessed you casting, Snape." replied Lily with cold fury.
The two teenagers glared at each other as if having a silent and devastating argument until the wizard's face broke into a hateful sneer. "Playing favorites now, I see." he spat with venom.
"Hardly."
The showdown was interrupted by the arrival of Professor McGonagall whose screeches of rage soon filled the crowded hallway. In minutes, those who needed medical attention were sent to Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, with the promise that those involved in the fight would face the consequences of their actions as soon as they were adequately patched up.
Amelia, who had obediently followed a group of students heading to the medical ward, made herself scarce before they reached the doors of the Madam Pomfrey's sanctuary. Her headache had somewhat diminished in intensity the moment she had released some of her magic and her state had come back to its relative normalcy, which was honestly not that great. It would have to do for now though.
The witch was determined to avoid the infirmary for as long as possible. It would not do anyone any good if she went.
Amelia was on the third floor, on her way to the Gryffindor tower, and looking for a staircase that would eventually lead her to the upper floors when a gargoyle on her right suddenly stepped aside. Taken by surprise, the girl took a few steps back.
Professor Dumbledore's purple robes came into view and were soon followed by the man himself as he walked down the steps of the staircase the stone statue had previously kept hidden.
"Ah, Miss Deauclair. I was just about to seek you out. How convenient." the old man stated with a fatherly smile.
"Can't help but agree with him on that."
"Shut up, I'm still mad at you."
"Merlin's balls, Amelia. Get over it."
"What is it you wanted with me, Headmaster?" said Amelia shaking her head to dismiss the internal conversation.
"Well, you see my dear, your mother just spoke to me through my personal floo. She seemed quite distressed. Apparently she had not been informed of your sorting in the Gryffindor house until this morning." The last sentence was phrased as a question and Amelia stared defiantly into Dumbledore's twinkling eyes.
"I see. One of my comrades must have taken the liberty of writing to my parents without my knowing. I will have to get in touch with my mother to enlighten her on where things stand." answered Amelia, seething.
There would be blood.
"Oh there is no need, child. It seems as if your mother was so deeply concerned with what was going on that she took matters into her own hands. She is currently waiting for us in my office." the aging Headmaster told her, motioning for her to follow him up the stairs.
"Well, crap."
"My thoughts exactly."
So... Cliffhanger! Sorry for those who can't stand them but I happen to LOVE leaving people guessing.
What did you think of Amelia now? This was my first attempt at an action-filled sequence so I hope it was believable!
Thank you once again for the reviews. They are greatly appreciated and keep me motivated!