So this is much much much earlier than usual, I was planning on getting back to the two week plan (and I will, eventually). It seems that a 30+ hour trip, a lack of sleep and emotional distress is like pestcontrol against my writer's block. Not really the time for this but it gets my head on other topics. Which is useful since I'm trying to support my mum and grandma.
I should also be doing schoolwork but fuck that. The heat is getting to my head.
I am ever so grateful towards all the people who sent support or well wishes, so here's a shoutout to wildflowers-and-sun, Amelia-bella1 and blue117. Also to the other people who reviewed but these three were so nice. Also wildflowers-and-sun was my 100th reviewer so YAY for you! and YAY for me!
I am handling things a little too well, I think.
This chapter was slightly more emotional (for obvious reasons). I hope you enjoy it and please review even if you don't! (though I wouldn't know why you'd still be reading a story you don't like)
Lucius held the door open for Narcissa and Anna, falling into step beside them seconds later. The halls were quiet and dark and cool.
"Are we still going to be talking about who has been alerted, who has come back and what trash the Prophet and the Minister have been saying?" Anna asked. "Or maybe about Dumbledore and whatever it is that the Dark Lord wants with the Department of Mysteries? Or are actually going to discuss something worthwhile?"
"I believe we rounded that off last meeting." Narcissa informed her. "Right after you started doing your summer homework and discussing it with Severus."
"Was that rude?" Anna hummed.
"Slightly." Lucius confirmed. "But nobody listens to Jugson anymore. You might as well do something useful with your time."
Anna chuckled. "So the floor is open for new topics then?"
"Are you sure about this, Anna?"
"Just-" She sighed in slight annoyance. "just tell me, uncle, is it doable?"
"Of course it is. I doubt there'll be a single problem." He answered. "She'll be perfectly under control."
"Then just make sure to do that."
Lucius grabbed her arm, though they kept walking. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Yes, I do. Do you trust me?"
"Obviously-"
"And do you support me no matter what?"
"Yes, darling." Narcissa soothed.
"Then it will work. I understand him. He'll agree." Anna insisted.
The doors opened for them and they stepped in, paying no mind to the Death Eaters streaming in through the other door and taking their seats by the huge dining table. Anna quickly sat down on the Dark Lord's right, Severus on her other side, and Lucius and Narcissa sat on their master's left.
As the Death Eaters start to greet their lord, Anna turned to Severus.
"Don't appoint me as Prefect. I know it's usually the best female and male student, but not me." She muttered. "I don't want to attract too much attention. Give it to Pansy."
He looked at her strangely for a second before nodding. "As you wish. Specifically miss Parkinson?"
"Yes, I need her in a position of power." She whispered as Avery started reporting his investigation on Azkaban security. He was only stating what they all already knew; the dementors would be on their side if approached.
Anna listened idly as they moved on to Unspeakables, which was a more interesting topic. Unfortunately all of the Unspeakables had to keep their identities a secret because they handled extremely delicate and important experiments (mostly specifically ordered by the ministry itself) so it was rather tricky to actually find out who they were. The only one who knew all of their identities was the Minister for Magic and even he wasn't stupid enough to just tell someone who they were.
By the time Dawlish started talking about Dumbledore, Anna was filing her nails.
"The old man can't do anything. Fudge is as stubborn as a mule." He jeered. Obviously, the man hadn't gotten this far with his wits, rather with large sums of money and a particularly strong stomach for unpleasantry.
Anna snorted at his assumption.
The Dark Lord's eyes turned to her in surprise, she never made a sound during the meetings. She supposed that was a normal reaction, seeing as the others had also fallen silent, so she looked up. Dawlish was slightly red in the face but quiet.
"That's stupid." She drawled. "Dumbledore can deal with Fudge like one would deal with an impertinent child. This is merely an inconvenience to him; Fudge'll be gone before the year is over if this goes on. And then where do you suppose our anonymity will be? Nowhere if you continue not taking the necessary steps to secure it."
A small tinkling sound filled the air and Severus took a small bell from his pocket. It was shining.
"Well, speak of the the devil." Anna murmured. "I believe you must go, Severus."
Without a word, the potions master put the bell back in his pocket, stood, bowed to both of them and left the room.
"You were saying, Annabelle?" Voldemort placed a hand on her neck, his grip slightly more tight than was comfortable.
Anna cleared her throat, working away some of the pressure caused by his fingers. "Yes, godfather. I was merely thinking that it would be best for us if Dumbledore was kept busy. He can't do everything at once, but Fudge is too much of an idiot to take advantage of the situation. However, we could use the old man's predicament to get our affairs in order."
"Affairs such as?" He prodded.
"Such as the Department of Mysteries, Azkaban, giants, werewolves and other such projects." She studied her nails. "Fixing the Dumbledore situation would give us room to breathe."
Voldemort bared his teeth is a smile-like expression. "Dumbledore is certainly an issue I would want resolved. It is not a pressing matter, however. We can continue without using the energy of my Death Eaters."
"Godfather," She insisted. "It could be a side project. Give me limited means and... you could see it as practice for when you actually give me something productive to do."
His eyes narrowed in amusement. "And how would you do that?"
"As long as Fudge is in office, we have more than enough Death Eaters close to him to practice a certain influence. If I take the school away from Dumbledore's control, little by little, using Fudge, doing it legally, he would be too busy to put up too much of a fight to you."
"Legally?" By that time, it had turned into a semi-private conversation. "Go on."
"I found-" Daphne found, but it was best to keep her out of sight for as long as possible. " a law that states that is the headmaster can't find a teacher, the government will assign one. Few people wanted to take the job of DADA teacher before, I suppose Barty's treatment of Moody and Dumbledore's public opinion will have done quite a job of discouraging other applicants for the post. I just have to make sure Fudge sends someone who will inspect the school, who will step in and write new rules... distract Dumbledore, if you wil. Someone who is independent enough that I won't have to keep my eyes fixed on them but still controllable. Someone less than... child-friendly who Dumbledore will not want in the school."
"It certainly sounds like you have someone in mind." He extended a hand and Wortail placed a wineglass in it.
"Dolores Umbridge. Utter vermin of course, but she's useful and desperate for recognition from the Minister."
"Who will you be using to whisper into Fudge's ear? Doing it yourself is out of the question."
"Uncle Lucius will be doing me a favor." She smiled.
"Will you, Lucius?" He sipped his drink.
"If you allow it, my Lord." Lucius offered. "It might be a good warm-up for her."
The Dark Lord held out his glass for Wormtail to fill. When it happened he kept drinking, his eyes occasionally flickering to the sleeping snake in the corner.
"Very well... Do it." He finally announced. "Lucius, Antonin and Gibbon will be under your command, though try not to take too much time from them." He started stroking her hair as if she were a pet. "Have fun, child."
"Thank you, godfather. I will." Anna took the glass of wine offered to her by Wormtail with a smile.
Anna laughed as Theo pulled her away from the dance floor. She wiped glitter off her bare shoulders, Merlin she loved glitter. Apparently Draco had convinced Aunt Narcissa to get some for her party. Goodness knew how he'd managed that as glitter stuck to everything until the end of days and Aunt Narcissa would be less than pleased. It would forever remain a mystery.
The birthday cake, lemon, was set on a large dining table, right beside the drinks, other assorted sweet food, and the presents. All her friends were here, most Death Eaters too, and other people she didn't know. Barty was there too, with his face transfigured of course since there were flyers with his face everywhere. He insisted on keeping an eye on her.
"Come on." Theo laughed, lacing their fingers together and pulling her to the open balcony.
They stood outside. It was dark and the wind was cooling down, but the warmth of the room still reached them and the coloured lights lit them up from behind.
Careful to face away from the window, Anna slid off the skin-tight, elbow-length gloves that she had to wear to hide her Dark Mark. As much as she hated gloves she'd have to keep it hidden somehow and since her dress didn't have sleeves this had been the only choice.
The boy was standing very close to her and watching her movements with a rapt fascination she'd rarely seen in his eyes. Anna had never felt self conscious in front of Theo, but the way he was observing her made her smooth down her dress and put stray hairs back into her knot. Then she swallowed away the ridiculous feeling and stared right back.
He stepped even closer until their chest were almost touching.
"How have you been?" Theo asked, stroking her cheek.
"Oh, alright." She chuckled. "Pansy gave me these gloves yesterday for the ball. They change colour and don't actually feel like they inhibit my dexterity too much so I suppose they're not all that bad."
"That's good." He swallowed. "I guess you'll be needing more gloves now."
Anna nodded, biting her lip, and looked away into the garden. She'd hoped he wouldn't bring it up again. When he'd found out about the Mark he'd gone slightly berserk, shouting and cursing everything he could lay eyes on. She knew he wasn't angry at her, it wasn't her fault, but it still stung. And he knew it.
Theo sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just... bitter about it all."
"I know. Me too." She rested her head on his shoulder and he automatically wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
After a small while he whispered "Happy birthday." and pulled back.
"Thank you." Anna smiled.
He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before reaching into his inner robe-pocket. " I know it's customary to leave all presents on the table until the end of the party, but I thought you might want to open this in private." He took out a slender black box with a white ribbon around it.
"Oh Theo, that's so rude." She joked.
Anna took the small present and set it down on the stone railing gently. Her fingers stroked it, feeling small dents on the box forming a pattern. She slipped the ribbon around the corners and took off the lid. Even in the dark she could see a small locket laying on a purple cloth. It wasn't made of silver or gold, rather it looked like ordinary metal, and the front was carved with flowers. Chrysanthemums, probably. She knew they signified death in many cultures, but she just thought they were pretty.
With hesitant hands she picked it up and opened it, on the inside Annabelle Lestrange was carved in tiny letters, almost too small to make out in the dark. Other than that there was nothing else, no picture, no more words, nothing. It was simple and modest. She liked it.
"It's lovely, Theo." She whispered. "But should you have had something engraved? Isn't that-"
"It's yours." He interrupted her.
Anna frowned in confusion. "I know that-"
"No, Anna." He mumbled, closing her fingers around it. "Everything you have... you don't see it as yours. Your other jewels are all heirlooms, not originally yours. Your clothes are bought to impress others, to look good, to make a good impression. Also not for you. Your magic, your body, your soul... nobody has ever treated them as yours. Well, this is only yours. I had it made for you, not to impress anyone else, not to hand down, just for you."
Anna was speechless. Her eyes trailed down to the small locket in her hand. Suddenly the diamond necklace she was wearing felt too heavy and uncomfortable.
"Take this off for me." She mumbled, touching the jewels with a finger.
Without a word, Theo reached up and unclipped it, holding it carefully in one hand.
"Tippy." She called.
A house elf appeared, bowing and still holding a platter from the party.
"Yes, mistress?" The creature squeaked.
"Please take the necklace to my room." Anna asked.
The little house elf accepted the heavy chain from Theo and popped away with a final bow, still carefully balancing the tray with drinks.
"Put it on me." Anna whispered.
He did so.
The locket's chain was long and the small disc fell into her neckline. That was best, she didn't feel like sharing it. It was hers. She turned to Theo and kissed him, deeply, lovingly, leaning her whole body against him. She didn't have words for what she felt, it was more than gratitude, it was more than happiness. It was more than anything and it was good, it was right. For the first time in ages, she was calm.
Anna stared at her uncle, more than a bit dumbfounded it seemed. "You've got to be joking."
Lucius sighed. "Unfortunately Anna, I am not. She was a tad overzealous, I suppose."
"You could say that." She snapped. "You could also say she fucked up. Royally."
Antonin and Gibbon raised their eyebrows but the Malfoy scion was not surprised at her choice of words.
"It has been taken care of so please, calm yourself." He soothed. "His expulsion has been ruled out, and he's going to be given a hearing. It's not the first time the boy does magic outside of school, but this is the first time he's actually been reprimanded. That might make Fudge even more enthusiastic but it'll all be fine."
"Merlin." Anna groaned. "Though I suppose Dumbledore will get him off the hook. What the fuck was she thinking? Sending dementors after him? Trying to 'get rid of the problem'?" Anna grimaced. "Are you sure it's too late to change candidates? She sounds like she's more trouble than she's worth."
Lucius waved it off. "The boy will be fine. She's a fool and didn't think her actions through, but she'll be useful at the school. Besides, Fudge has already told Dumbledore she'll be the teacher. Not that they're not still arguing about that but the old man has less than a week to find a proper candidate and he's not going to succeed."
"Fan-fucking-tastic, uncle." She rubbed her temples. "What did you say was going to be done, Antonin?"
The man cleared his throat. "The classes she gives will be completely theory oriented, and even then utterly basic. Fudge is under the impression that Dumbledore is planning to overthrow him and I've managed to convince him that the old man might be creating an army of students for exactly that purpose. The Headmaster will obviously be troubled with the declining of the quality of the curriculum and argue even more with Fudge, furthering the animosity between them. Umbridge will then be appointed High Inquisitor and she'll start investigating the other classes and teachers, firing the ones she finds incapable of giving a proper class. Then she'll start implementing Educational Decrees from the ministry which will take Dumbledore's control away even more." He smile a self-satisfied smirk. "It will all increase the tension between Dumbledore and Fudge, making it harder for either of them to pay any attention to us."
Anna nodded. "Good. What will the educational decrees entail?"
Dolohov shrugged. "Mostly what Umbridge asks for at the time, but it'll all have to be approved by the Minister himself."
"Do you have enough influence over him to manipulate his decisions on them?"
He nodded. "Mere comments here and there could be made. Gibbon, Malfoy and I could change his opinion easily that way and make him think he is choosing what he wants. He's always been very vulnerable to stronger, more powerful people."
"I suppose you'll want to have something to say on the matter?" Gibbon stepped in.
"Indeed." Anna answered. "However, communicating by owl would take too long so I'll have to get something to work around that. Are two-way mirrors reliable enough?"
Lucius hummed. "Most are. If you buy a pair I can use the other and inform you on any pending decrees."
"That'd be great." She smiled. "I think we're done here for today. Keep an eye on the hearing for me, alright?"
As the men stood to leave Anna hurried to her feet and grabbed her uncle's hand. "Please wait a second, uncle."
Lucius gave her a confused look but nodded and stepped to the side. Once they were alone he placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the seats closer to the window where he sat right beside her. Usually he wasn't one to show any affection outwardly but his niece was in a fragile state, he could see, and if it was what she needed then he would provide. Like he did for the rest of his family.
"What is it, Anna?" He prodded softly.
The girl pursed her lips slightly, deep in thought, then she shrugged. "A couple of things. Firstly, though, do you think Fudge will last long?"
If that was what she wanted to discuss first then fine by him. For now. "Not really. A couple of years at the most, certainly not much after the truth comes out. Why?"
Anna swallowed. "When he's kicked out of office, because he will be, we'll lose what influence we have over the ministry. The new Minister will definitely not listen to 'ex-Death Eaters', except if he's under our full control. But if he's under our control he won't be elected. That's a problem."
Lucius nodded. "Our Lord has been pondering this. What are your thoughts on the matter?"
"If... if we got a candidate and supported him from the shadows... just enough to come in second seeing as if we support him enough to be elected first it will be too obvious who's behind it and it'll all fail... then we can let the new Minister do as he pleases for a short while. Calm down the people and such. Then if we take care of him or her our candidate will be 'forced' to take their place, effectively leaving a Minister in charge who was democratically chosen by the people and is still in our control." She turned to him. "Do you think that's a reasonable idea? We'd need a lot of people in the ministry, but the recruiting is going well I hear. And it'd take a long time, but we have that for now."
Lucius considered it in silence for a short while. It was a plan. A delicate plan, but still very feasible. It'd be tricky to find a candidate, even trickier to support them without being noticed, but then again... he was who he was and he had many people indebted to him. And he didn't have to do it alone either. It could be done.
"It's not a terrible idea, I suppose." He allowed.
"So, theoretically speaking, you could look into possible candidates for me? Just until I talk to the Dark Lord about this?"
"And when would that be?"
"... When the time is right? I'd say when I start to get results with Umbridge and he values my input a bit more." Anna mumbled.
He nodded. "I could, theoretically speaking. Would you like a list sometime before the Yule holidays?"
His niece licked his lips. "Yeah. That'd be good."
"Alright then." Lucius cleared his throat. "Now for the more pressing matter of... you."
"M- me?" She stammered.
"Yes. Don't think I'm blind or deaf or a fool or apathetic, child." He admonished, going straight to the point. "I can very well see that you are not fine and while my wife and son might want to coddle you into confiding with them in your own time I believe they are forgetting one thing."
"And what's that?" Anna pouted.
"That we do not have the time for you to be ready to talk. Emotional instability leads to confusion and bad choices. You can't take your time to be alright and while you're not alright things could go very, very wrong." He pressed. "So speak. I am your uncle and I am here to help."
There was something she wasn't telling him and he was going to find out what.
For a second she just stared at him before nodding. "You're right." She seemed to admit to herself. She continued as if thinking out loud. "I don't have the time. I've talked about it to myself, pondered it all over and over but... I always hit a dead end. It's no good to argue with yourself as your subconscious has already made up its mind. But you might be able to help me, uncle Lucius."
Then she seemed to consider her words very carefully. Her hands were clenched, her eyes were flickering to the sides... Clearly, she was uncomfortable with what she was about to say.
"I... don't want to do this." She said, and the announcement chilled him to the bone. "I know that... that my parents and you and aunt Narcissa all want to serve the Dark Lord as you did before even if you didn't exactly have a great time but... but serving him was never my choice. I may be a pureblood and I may dislike muggles and not trust muggleborns but that is... no reason for me to follow him. He frightens me uncle Lucius, and it frightens me even more that he has so much control over me and over the people I love. It frightens me that he might change who I am to the point where I lose myself and it frightens me that if I don't change he might end me and all of you. It frightens me that I want to please my parents when I've never met them and the most they've ever done for me is getting locked up so as to not pollute my mind. It frightens me that I already both adore and despise them. It frightens me that I want to be loyal to them while I am also disgusted by the mere idea of who they are. It frightens me that even though I might love them and want to please them they might choose him over me if I decide not to follow. It frightens me that I have to do this and that I'm trying to get out and that I know I'll die trying to get out before I obey him but... but I'm frightened of dying too. It frightens me that I might have to choose between my family and myself and that even if I end up choosing either way I might loose both."
By then she was crying and refusing to look at him, sitting straight up in her seat and holding on to her knees tightly.
"I'm terrified uncle. I don't want to do this but I don't want to lose you." Anna hiccuped. "I don't know what to do."
Then it was silent and Anna's words echoed in his head. She didn't speak, just tried to muffle her rushed breathing and waited for his answer. What could he answer though? What she was saying was... more than what he'd though, more than he'd ever expected. He should have expected it, though. She'd only just turned fifteen it was more than normal for her to be overwhelmed. It was more than normal for her to resist after what the Dark Lord had made her do, not just with Karkaroff. That incident in itself had been cruel, he'd played with her and pretended it was a reward. But in general his treatment of her -while better than to others- was... abhorrent. He treated her like a pet or a toy, like a belonging.
His niece was afraid. Rightly so. How could she not be? Afraid of the Dark Lord... of changing after what she'd gone through, that was understandable... but of them? How could she think they would ever abandon her?
The answer popped into his head quite suddenly. Sirius and Andromeda. Family, strictly speaking. Family that chose to not follow, to rebel... and they'd cast them away. Of course she was afraid of what he and Narcissa would say, it was even more natural that she was afraid of what her parents would say. There were few people more fanatical than them. He'd be afraid if he were in her place too.
So he knew what he wanted to say.
"Anna." Lucius cupped her face, wiping away tears with his thumbs. "I want you to listen carefully because this is not something I say often, alright? It is definitely not something I plan on repeating any time soon."
She nodded.
"I love you, child." He admitted. "You are my niece, you are my family and yes, that has never been a guarantee with us, but neither I nor your aunt will ever cast you aside. In the past our whole family has been loyal to the Dark Lord but nothing like this has ever happened in before. Child, what you are going through is something nobody should have to experience and if you want to leave... then we will go with you."
He could see her eyes slowly lighting up.
"As for your parents... I do not know what to tell you. I do not know how they will be when they get out of Azkaban. I do not know how they will react to you but I can assure you that neither of them have any right to exercise any authority over you. They have been absent for fifteen years and they cannot walk in and start ordering you about. One could even go as far as to say that they do not yet have the right to call themselves your parents." He sighed. Give them a chance. I know what they have done and not done is horrible to you, and you are right, but they might surprise you."
"But what if-" She started.
"No ifs, Anna." He hushed her. "Bellatrix and Rodolphus may or may not stay with you through all of this, that is up to them, but you must not let your actions be ruled by them. You will never forgive yourself otherwise."
Anna looked away but crept closer and he supposed that he could hug the girl just this once.
Harry scowled as he trudged down the stairs. He'd just been called down to dinner and, well, he wasn't too happy about mingling yet. He was still upset about being kept in the dark, he was nervous about the hearing and Merlin if he wasn't-
Wait.
His head snapped to the side to look into a room to his left. The door was ajar and through it could see a face he know only too well. Was that Malfoy?
Lighting up his wand he stepped inside and, sure enough, there was Draco Malfoy's face on a tapestry. It looked like a family tree, faces hanging off the sewn branches with long names written in cursive writing. The branches were all tangled up in some places though, and he supposed that meant in-family marriages.
Silently he poured more magic into the spell and lit up the whole room. It was Sirius' family tree, his name was slightly larger than the rest. Maybe because he was the current head of House Black?
Shaking his head, Harry's eyes trailed to the face that had called him there. Malfoy was related to Sirius? Holy fuck. His eyes wandered away from the blond git, upwards to his mother Narcissa Black. Beside the woman were another two, Bellatrix and Andromeda, though Andromeda was just a scorch mark. Under Andromeda was Nymphadora... Tonks? As in Tonks Tonks?
With wide eyes he kept looking. Under Bellatrix was... the picture of a baby. Annabelle Lestrange. He knew that name. Where did he know it from?
It took a little sifting through his memories to properly remember. He'd seen her name on the map last year... he'd been with Barty Crouch. Crouch the Death Eater... But that was a picture of a baby. Lestrange couldn't be a baby anymore if she'd been involved with last year... So why was she depicted as such? She couldn't be dead, he'd seen her alive, he'd seen her move on the map!
"You here, Harry?"
The boy jumped at his godfather's sudden entry.
"Yeah, I was just looking." He turned back to the tapestry. "You're related to Malfoy and Tonks?"
"Oh, yeah. Narcissa and Andromeda are my cousins, along with Bellatrix. Can't say I'm thrilled about Narcissa though she was always... prissy. Andy was my favourite cousin, marvellous woman that one."
"And Bellatrix?" Harry swallowed. He knew what they'd done to Neville's parents. Dumbledore had told him last year when he'd identified Barty Crouch jr. "What about her?"
"Oh, she was my mother's favourite. Good pureblood marriage, insane, just like dear old mum." Sirius shrugged. "Bellatrix is as bad as they come, Harry. I shouldn't have to tell you that I don't like making my relation to her a known fact, though there are few who don't know considering the whole Azkaban ordeal."
The boy swallowed. "Suppose not." His eyes never left the baby. "And her?"
Sirius seemed to deflate. "Oh, that's Bella's little girl Annabelle. My niece."
"The niece Fred and George told me about?" He spluttered.
"What did they say?" Somehow, Sirius seemed more alarmed than Harry was, which was weird.
Harry shrugged. "Not much. The extendable ears were still a work in progress at the time so they only caught that she'd done something, not what, and that mrs Weasley was angry at Dumbledore? I don't know, that's all they told me though they seemed to be hiding something."
Sirius sighed. "Yeah, about that... Annabelle is trouble alright, though she's not completely in control of her actions. Uhm... she's older than you, but she looks like a baby on that thing because the charms connecting her to the tapestry were blocked by Dumbledore when he... stole her."
"Dumbledore stole her?" Harry mumbled aghast. "Why?"
"Well, she wouldn't have grown up right with the parents she had, you know? But it might have done more bad than good in the end." His godfather raked a hand through his hair. "She's not a good person Harry, but she's not a bad one either. She's human, just like the rest of us."
Harry looked back at the picture. Somehow she looked familiar. He didn't ask any more questions, though, and let himself be pulled away to the kitchen.