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The Purple Black
Nymphadora had never been very liked at school. She was unsure of the exact cause, whether it be her blood that was clearly not pure enough for most of her Slytherin cohorts, what her Dad called her 'larger than life' personality that could be intimidating, her 'unique' choice of hair colours, envy at her excellent Transfiguration grades—perhaps it was a mixture of it all, perhaps it was none of it. Either way, Nymphadora was beyond caring. She had now dealt with nearly five and a half years of it, there were a few people who would make polite conversation with her or even seek her company every once in a while. Her Aunt had warned her to be wary of people though, they could befriend her to use her powers to their advantage. It was a warning her mother had given her many times in the past, though her Aunt was different, she clearly trusted Nymphadora's judgement in such people.
She slung her satchel over her shoulder as she took the first opportunity to leave her Defence Against the Dark Arts class when the Professor dismissed them. It was the last lesson of the day and her Aunt had promised her that she would talk to her on her two-way mirror tonight. There was a particularly difficult essay about Inferi due that Bellatrix had assured her she would go over with her. Dora did appreciate her Aunts extensive knowledge of the Dark Arts, something that she had been slowly bestowing upon herself. It always amused her slightly when her Aunt went on about how she saw no use for defence against the Dark Arts, that Dora clearly benefited more from her own teachings.
Dora was soon snapped from her thoughts though as collided with someone down the secret passageway to the Slytherin common room. With a muttered apology, she leant down to pick up her book, though soon sighed in annoyance as it went sliding away from her with a hex.
"Tonks."
"Rosier." Dora rolled her eyes, looking at the girl before her, "How can I help you?"
"You hexed me." She hissed.
"Yes, Ebony." Dora replied, "That was the point. We were in class. I can't help it if you can't grasp the concept of silent spells enough to pull up a shield. Now if you'll excuse me, you're in my way." Dora silently summoned her book, raising an eyebrow at the girls "See, silent spells."
"You think you're so clever." Ebony hissed. "You and your 'perfect grades'—you're probably fucking the professor."
"No, I simply work hard, I know that is a concept that is difficult for you to understand. Though thank you for sharing how you plan to survive your N.E.W.T exams—Hey!" Dora winced as Ebony grabbed her and threw her against the wall.
"Insolent little bitch!" she hissed, "You're pathetic! You waltz around like you own the place—"
"I do not!" Dora glared, feeling her hair turning a bright red.
"Shut up!" Ebony screeched, "You think you're so special! The truth is no-one cares about you! No-one wants to be your friend! You're a half-blood piece of freakish scum, your mother is a blood traitor whore, your father is a mudblood—your kind doesn't belong here. Your whole family is a disgrace."
"You do realise that we're related, Rosier?" Dora sighed, "My Grandmother was a Rosier, therefore we're distantly related."
"I am not related to any such scum as you!" Ebony growled, "You wouldn't last five seconds around any of your mother's previous family. They would kill you sooner than call you a relation of theirs."
Dora growled in annoyance, kneeing the girl in the stomach to shove her away from her before she pushed her to the floor. "Get the hell off of me, you don't know anything about me."
"How dare you!" Ebony screeched.
"Piss off." Dora seethed, storming past the girl, though with a sudden hiss of pain she stopped and turned back to the girl on the floor. "Did you just throw a hex at me?"
"So, what if I did?" Ebony glared.
"You—You—"
"What are you going to do about it?" Ebony sneered, pulling herself to her feet. "You wouldn't dare—You have as much daring in you as a flobberworm."
Dora saw red. It was a step too far, she was strong, she was powerful and she was not about to let an annoying little girl like Ebony Rosier get the better of her. Looking back on what happened next, she was probably letting her 'Black anger' show through. She pointed her wand at the girl, then with all her might, she focused on the curse her Aunt favoured most. She was screaming, writhing on the floor, grasping at her robes in a desperate attempt for relief. She didn't hear her name yelled, though when a hand grasped onto her shoulder to pull her away she instantly stopped, panting in her fury.
"Dora, what the hell are you doing?" Gibbon asked, going over to the girl on the floor.
"She cursed me! She-She used an unforgivable!" Ebony whimpered.
"Dora?" Gibbon looked to the girl with shocked accusation.
"I—I—I need to go." She ran.
She ran down the corridor, down to the dungeons, screamed the password at the portrait, ignored the confused looks of the few Slytherins in the common room as she almost fell flat on her face and slammed the door of her dormitory behind her. She ripped open the draw to her bedside table, grabbing her two-way mirror, jumping on the bed and hastily closing the curtains of her bed closed as she brought up privacy wards.
"Bellatrix Lestrange!" She yelled at the mirror. She tried to control her breathing, suddenly aware that her brow was wet with sweat, her hair was pure white and she generally looked like she had just seen a ghost.
Her Aunt appeared in her mirror, the dark-haired witch not paying attention to the glass as she had clearly placed it next to her own dressing table mirror whilst she put on her make-up. "Really Dora," Bellatrix sighed with an air of annoyance, "I expected you at least five minutes ago, I do have places to go tonight—as much as I adore talking to you—Rodolphus is already rushing me. Have you got your ess—" Bellatrix frowned as she finally looked to the two-way mirror, putting down her mascara as she picked the mirror up. "What's happened?"
"I messed up." Dora panted, "I got angry and-and—It was Rosier's fault! She made me do it!"
"What did you do?" Bellatrix asked carefully.
"I—I used an unforgivable." Dora spluttered.
A sound of glass smashing and hurried footsteps came from her Aunt's side of the mirror, the woman hissing as she shot a glare at the other occupant of her room before she calmed her gaze to look back to her niece. "Nymphadora . . . What unforgivable?"
"The C-Cruciatus." Dora winced.
"On the Rosier girl? Ebony Rosier?" Bellatrix let out a small breath as Dora nodded in reply, "Were you caught?"
"G-Gibbon walked in, he stopped me but I ran off—I know you said not to use them at school. I'm sorry!" Dora pleaded, "I swear I'll never do it again! Ebony said horrible things and I just got so angry! She hexed me! She dared me to retaliate—near enough! She deserved it! But I broke the law on school grounds and Gibbon saw and even though I didn't say the curse it's not exactly a subtle one, I'll get expelled! Aunt Bella, tell me what to do, I can't—I—My Mum—Shit!"
"Calm down." Bellatrix spoke firmly, waiting for the girl to take a few calming breaths before she carried on, "It will be okay. They may not tell anyone, for starters."
"She will! She said I don't even belong at Hogwarts, she'll jump at any excuse to get me expelled!" Dora groaned "She's going to get me thrown in Azkaban."
"Don't be stupid." Bellatrix rolled her eyes, "She can't get you thrown in Azkaban, Merlin knows I used it enough at school and got away with it."
"Bellatrix." Her Uncles voice sounded from the mirror, hissing, "Don't encourage it, if—"
"Shush!" Bellatrix snapped at him, "Dora, you will be fine."
"But what if I'm not?" Dora asked, "What if she tells a teacher? What if she tells Dumbledore! What if my mother finds out!? What if—"
"Stop worrying about 'what ifs' and worry about now." Bellatrix interjected, "Go have dinner."
"What!?"
"Go have dinner." Bellatrix repeated more slowly, "Morph the white out of your hair, calm yourself and go to the Great Hall. You need to act as normally as possible, divert suspicion. If the Rosier or Gibbon report you then you act dumb. Say you did throw a curse at her, but not an unforgivable of course, she hexed you first. That's all that matters, you tell as much as the truth as possible though lie about that detail. The mere idea of knowing how to perform an unforgivable curse must be shocking to you—unthinkable. I've taught you Occlumency, so use it."
"And what if they don't believe it?" Dora asked, much calmer now that her Aunt was helping her, "What if the fact that I used an unforgivable is undeniable?"
"Well . . . Rodolphus!" Bellatrix hissed as the mirror was twisted in her hand so that he could be seen within the glass.
"If that happens, you did not learn it from us, understood?" Rodolphus spoke firmly, "There are books in the restricted section, Secrets of the Darkest Art, Magick Moste Evile, they both reference the theoretical side of performing a Cruciatus curse, you learnt it from there. You got angry and didn't realise what you were doing. Understood? . . . Understood?"
"Y-Yes." Dora nodded shakily.
"Dora," Bellatrix said, pulling the mirror away from her husband as it was only her own face in the mirror again, "you will be fine. Now go, do as I told you. Call for me in the mirror again tomorrow, okay? But be careful."
Dora nodded again, muttering agreement to her Aunt. She put the mirror down as the woman faded from view. She would be okay, she wouldn't get expelled or thrown into Azkaban. So long as she could do as her Aunt told her.
"I knew this was a bad idea from the start, Bellatrix!" Rodolphus snapped, now pacing the room as Bellatrix continued to put her makeup on as if her Niece had not just told her she had broken the law. She was seemingly already bored with the whole affair. "Bellatrix!"
"What?" Bellatrix sighed.
"Why are you just sitting there, pay attention Bellatrix, this is important."
Bellatrix finished putting on her lipstick before she slowly placed the lid back on, placing it back on the table before she slowly turned to her husband with her hands clasped in her lap. "Really, Rodolphus, if you want me to actually be ready to go to this Merlin forsaken event I do need to actually finish getting ready."
"This is serious, Bellatrix." Rodolphus growled, "You shouldn't have gone anywhere near that half-blood in the first place—I shouldn't have let you. Now she's going to be found out for using an illegal spell that you taught her and we will suffer for it."
"We taught her." Bellatrix smirked, returning to her mirror as she began to pull her hair into place, "You said she didn't learn it from 'us' Rodolphus."
Rodolphus let out a yell of anger, storming over to his wife and grabbing her chin harshly as he forced her to look up at him, "This is all your fault, Bellatrix and if we're found out through her—"
"We won't be found out," Bellatrix narrowed her eyes at the man, "I have trained her well enough to keep her mouth shut. Come on, Roddy." Bellatrix sighed, reaching out for the hand that was currently still gripping onto her chin. "You remember school, we used unforgivables all the time. No-one dared to mess with us. We had a few close shaves but we were always fine, weren't we?" Bella grinned mischievously, snaking an arm around the man's waist, "Remember the time we got hold of Tonks? We got caught with that one and we were okay."
"Your sister walking in on us does not count." Rodolphus said.
"Well, it was amusing." Bella sighed, gently pulling her husband's grip from her chin as she kissed his fingers. "Come now, Roddy. She won't talk—I doubt she'll even get into much trouble."
"You better be right." Rodolphus growled as he pulled his wife closer to himself.
"I'm always right." Bellatrix purred, pressing her lips against his own as she kissed him passionately. She pulled away just as he wrapped both of his arms around her. She smirked mischievously as she returned to finish her hair. "Come on, we're going to be late."
It wasn't the first time she had been called to the headmaster's office, an unfortunate incident where she had been caught morphed into Professor Snape trying to get into his potions supplies when she thought he was at dinner had landed here before. Though she had a distinct feeling she would not be getting away with merely scrubbing cauldrons for a fortnight in this instance. She stopped before she knocked on the door of the headmaster, screwing her eyes shut to morph her hair to a more innocent-seeming pale blonde whilst trying to morph some more colour into her cheeks. She took one deep breath and knocked on the door, waiting for Albus Dumbledore to call out to her before she carefully opened the door.
"Professor—Dad, Mum?" Dora gawped.
"Miss Tonks," Dumbledore gestured to the empty chair beside her mother, "thank you for joining us, I do hope you had a chance to finish your dinner."
"Yes . . . thanks." Dora said carefully, slipping into her seat. Her mother sat prim and proper beside her, an emotionless mask across her features as she looked forward to the headmaster. Her father was easier to read, he looked slightly confused. This was it, she was done for. It took more courage than she dared admit to look to the man herself. "I—Can I ask why my parents are here?"
Professor Dumbledore smiled sadly, looking over his glasses at the girl for a few moments "Miss Tonks, I have just been back from the hospital wing. You see, I was on my way down to the grounds of the school for a stroll when I ran into Professor Snape. He informed me that he was on his way to fetch you as on his way to his own office he had encountered Miss Rosier and Mr Gibbon. Miss Rosier claims that you used the Cruciatus Curse on her."
"What?" Dora feigned confusion, bringing up every last ounce of skill she had ever gained from Occlumency. "The Cruciatus?"
"My daughter does not know the Cruciatus Curse, Headmaster." Andromeda said plainly, though from the corner of her eye Dora could see her mothers grip on the arm of her chair had tightened.
"I know it seems shocking, Mrs Tonks." Dumbledore said in his usual calm and soft voice. "I am simply repeating what Miss Rosier claims."
"Dora is not the sort of kid to break the law." Ted spoke up, shaking his head in disbelief. "She wouldn't."
"You have the evidence of a child's words, Professor Dumbledore." Andromeda said, "There is no evidence for a short-lived Cruciatus, Miss Rosier probably knows this and is trying to frame my daughter. She has had difficulties making friends since she started at this school and I would bet good money that girl made this story up to try and get my daughter into trouble. Her and young Mr Gibbon are probably working together with some clever trick to try and get her expelled."
"Mr Gibbon does not support Miss Rosier's story." Dumbledore said.
"So why are we here?" Ted asked, "I'm sorry Professor but this all seems ridiculous."
"Quite." Andromeda said, Nymphadora watching her mother discreetly slip her hand onto her father's lap, a clear sign that she wanted to deal with this alone. It wasn't the first time she had seen her use that small gesture in front of people. She silently wondered if her mother knew how similar she was to her sister when she put on this small façade in public.
"Mr Gibbon claims that Nymphadora simply hexed the girl." Dumbledore smiled sadly at Andromeda, "Though you are correct that I cannot prove that your daughter used an unforgivable curse on Miss Rosier—perhaps I could check to see the last spell on her wand—" Dora's heart skipped a bit, forcing herself to keep a straight face, "she is a smart girl, I'm sure she would have used more spells after to bury the trace of it. But hexing classmates in the hallways and putting them in the hospital wing is against the rules, nonetheless."
"We will deal with her." Andromeda nodded, before looking to her daughter, the girl faltered in her charade of being unafraid for a flicker of a moment as her mum gave her that look. "You will not be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas this year, you can come home for once."
Dora nodded, not even thinking about her disappointment in not being able to spend Christmas at Lestrange manor as she simply took in the relief of not getting expelled. Though that relief was overshadowed by the overwhelming feeling that she was going to get in when she got home. Though at least that wasn't for a couple of days.
"Shall we take her now?" Andromeda asked the headmaster. "There's only . . . one more day of lessons? Perhaps it is best anyway, give both Nymphadora and the Rosier girl time to cool down."
"I see no problem with that." Dumbledore agreed before looking over his spectacles at the young Slytherin. "We will see you again after the holiday's Nymphadora. Would you like for me to escort you to the Slytherin common room for her things, Mr and Mrs Tonks?"
"No, thank you." Andromeda forced a sweet smile, standing up from her seat and gesturing for Nymphadora to join her. "Ted, why don't you meet us at home, I can help Nymphadora with her things."
"If you're sure . . ." Ted sighed after a moment, waiting for Dumbledore to stand before he shook his hand, "Thank you, sir." He turned to Andromeda, kissing her cheek, "I'll see you two at home."
Nymphadora watched as her father disappeared through the fire, though was hardly surprised as her mother placed a hand on her shoulder and led her from the office without another word. They walked the halls in silence on their way to the dungeons, the sixteen-year-old struggling to keep up with her mothers strong and steady stride.
"You don't like Professor Dumbledore, do you?" Nymphadora couldn't help but ask, wincing as Andromeda's eye twitched slightly at her daughter's words.
"I suggest you don't speak to me until we get home, Nymphadora." Andromeda said, the coolness in her tone so deceivingly calm.
Dora nodded, they didn't speak. They didn't speak as they reached the common room, they didn't speak as they went into her dorm room, they only words they exchanged were once Andromeda asked if her daughter had finished packing. After she replied after a few minutes she took her from the castle, outside of the grounds where she grabbed her arm firmly and disapparated outside of the Tonks household.
Andromeda flicked her wand, sending her daughter's case through the front door and up to her room before leading her into the living room.
"Mum I didn't—Get off me!" Nymphadora shrieked as Andromeda grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look into her eyes.
"Did you use the Cruciatus curse?" Andromeda demanded.
"Mum I don't know h—"
"Did you use it!?" Andromeda asked again.
"Andromeda—" Ted froze as his wife turned to glare at him.
"Get off!" Nymphadora yelled again, pushing her mother away from her.
Andromeda took a deep breath before she turned back to her daughter "When did you learn Occlumency, Nymphadora?"
"When did you learn legilimency?" Dora glared back at her mother, "How long have you been trying to read my thoughts?"
"I do not! This is an entirely different matter!" Andromeda yelled, "I need to know where you learnt that spell!"
"Why are you so adamant that I did it!?" Dora argued, "Dumbledore said Gibbon told him I hexed her!"
"I know when you're lying, Nymphadora." Andromeda glared, "You have a tell. You can't lie to me."
"That's what you think." Dora scoffed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Andromeda asked, suddenly quietly serious.
"Nothing." Dora said quickly.
"Don't lie." Andromeda said. "That old crook Dumbledore might have pretended to believe you but that is all it is. He doesn't want a student expelled for such a thing, I've seen him do it before. He knows you used that curse just as much as I do. You cannot lie to me!"
Dora couldn't help but laugh, "Can't I? What do you care if I learned it somewhere or not?! You know it, don't you? All the pureblood families do, I'm not an idiot!"
"Who taught you it!?" Andromeda screamed at the girl.
"Books!" Nymphadora replied.
"You can't learn it just from a book, there's more to it than that."
"Maybe I'm just smarter than you." Nymphadora glared.
"It is not smart or clever to use that curse!"
"Dora, it's illegal." Ted murmured from the armchair he had sunken into.
"Oh is it!?" Dora asked sarcastically, crossing her arms as she looked to her mother with an accusing gaze, "And how many times did you break the law growing up Mummy dearest?"
The sound of Andromeda's hand colliding with her daughter's cheek echoed throughout the room. Both witches froze for a moment, neither one willing to say a word as Nymphadora stared ahead wide-eyed in shock. It seemed like silence hung in the air for minutes at the least before someone finally spoke again.
"Go to your room." Andromeda practically whispered, unable to look at her daughter anymore as she stared at the floor, "Come talk to me when you want to tell me something."
". . . I hate you." Dora croaked, blinking back the tears in her eyes as she ran up to her room.
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