Chapter 11, Crucio
In what felt like a blink, Christmas was nearly upon them, and it was time for holiday shopping. Every year since starting at Hogwarts, Hydra's holiday shopping always had to wait until she was home for Christmas break. There was just no time to shop before then unless one did it in Hogsmeade, and that was just no way to find good surprises for the magical people on one's shopping list. Everyone went to Hogsmeade, so if one saw something they wanted while there, they simply bought it. Therefore finding them a gift from the place they went all the time was basically pointless. It was better to shop on the Muggle net with Millicent or in one of the wizarding malls in Germany. Wolfgang, the German half giant who Millicent had married before the twins were even born, was always willing to take them shopping. He excelled at finding the best places to buy rare and interesting magical items. Though Loughness often went along as well, this time he'd begged off, saying he'd already finished his shopping and wasn't in the mood for crowds.
James, Sortia and Guillermo had come to visit the twins for the day, and they were all eager to see wizarding malls in Germany. The day was long and magical, and as could be expected, full of shopping. They all bought themselves at least as many things as they'd gotten for everyone on their shopping lists combined. "Hey it's fine to Christmas shop for yourself," Millicent said with a laugh as they sat cooling their heals in the food court of the final mall they'd visited. Their chairs were surrounded by everyone's brightly colored shopping bags as they filled up on large delicious bowls of cheesy chili. "It means you'll for sure like what you get."
"Well if you judge by the size of my shopping bags, I was definitely a good boy this year," Guillermo quipped, grinning cheerfully over at Millicent. Everyone was full of delicious holiday mall food and tired out from shopping when they returned to #12 Grimmauld Place. James, Guillermo and Sortia went to put their bags down in the parlor while Hydra hurried hers upstairs to her room. When she rejoined her friends in the Parlor, Guillermo was in the process of wondering aloud where Loughness was.
"Let's check the library," Hydra said. "Should I ask Stormy to bring us some hot chocolate in there? He makes a fabulous gingerbread hot chocolate."
"I remember that one from last year," James said enthusiastically. "Sure, I'd love some."
"So would I if I weren't so full," Sortia said.
"I'm with Sortia, but James is never ever full," Guillermo said, jabbing the other boy in the ribs as he headed out of the room.
"I'll ring for Stormy once we're in the library," Hydra said. When they arrived, they found the library door closed. Hydra frowned. Usually when the door was closed, it meant that the daddies could be in there being improper aka disgusting. Currently, they were chatting with Millicent and Wolfgang in the parlor, though, so that couldn't be the case. Hydra opened the door and stepped inside to quite the shock.
"Crucio!" Loughness flew back across the room, nearly crashing into Hydra as he grunted in pain.
"Crucio," he growled in return.
A slender wild-haired woman clad in black dodged out of the way, smirking. "Try harder. I dodged aside from that far too easily. If you used your wand, you could direct it better."
"But elves don't need wands, and I am trying to make this elf shit stronger," Loughness said. "If I can learn to send several crucios to several enemies with rapid fire speed, it'll be far easier to manage without a wand."
"True," Hydra said thoughtfully. "What on earth are you and Bellatrix doing? Or rather why, because what is obvious."
"He wanted defense training," Bellatrix said flatly. "This is how I do it. He needs to learn how to handle the worst spells that anyone can throw at him."
"But wouldn't that be Avada Kedavra," James asked. "And you're Bellatrix Lestrange. Actually Bellatrix Lestrange, WOW."
"Very well, he needs to learn to handle almost all the worst spells that anyone can throw at him so that he can prevent those that could kill him," Bellatrix amended. "And thanks for reminding me of who I am, Kid. I do frequently get confused on that."
Noticing the open fear on the faces of Guillermo and Sortia, Hydra bit back a foul oath of the likes of which even Daddy Kreacher would've been proud. She'd entirely forgotten that Bellatrix was supposed to be dead."Um," she began carefully. "We need all of you not to mention this to anyone, please. Bella is working Shadow Ops with her family. It's legal and the Ministry knows, I swear, but it's all top secret. Loughness, why didn't you practice at hers," she demanded, giving her brother a frustrated glare.
"Because you weren't supposed to be back for hours yet," Loughness complained.
"I like it better here," Bellatrix added. "If shit breaks while spells are flying, it isn't mine." She smirked. "I have some very nice things, you know."
"Reasonable," James nodded sagely.
"I thought Molly Weasley killed you," Guillermo said. "I mean I don't know her or anything, but it was in the paper."
"In the paper before you were born," Bellatrix said, lip curling as she gave Guillermo an assessing look. She didn't appear to be much impressed by what she saw.
"Yeah, well I read old papers," Guillermo replied.
"Molly Weasley attempted to kill me with a spell I could've easily dodged," Bellatrix drawled. "I would've done too, had about ten Aurors not struck me from behind. They knocked me down a split second before her spell flew, and they gave her the credit for my demise. Even she believes it, the dumb cow. They wanted us Lestranges to work Shadow Ops for them but they knew bloody well that the gentle souls of society wouldn't rest easy with that, so they allowed the world to believe me dead and Roddy and Rabastan safely tucked back away in Azkaban to rot."
"The government just decided to hire you why," Guillermo asked, clearly fascinated.
"They knew they had failed at offing The Dark Lord on their own with Dumbledore's help. They became wise enough to understand that catching criminals demands help from the best Dark criminals, that clearly being us."
"Yeah but the government is thick. What made them wise up to that novel if logical concept," James asked.
Bella's lips twitched up into a slight smile as she nodded at him. "You're a sharp one. Regi vamped them a little into some common sense, because he didn't want to see us on the run or locked back up again. He had cause to know The Dark Lord was going down and he made certain the Aurors told us as much when they brought us in. Don't ever apparate someone after having them hit by approximately ten stunners by the by, unless you fancy them throwing up all over your carpet."
James snickered. "Thanks for the heads up. Good to know. And it's awesome you puked on the Ministry's carpet." Can we train too?"
At the question, Sortia and Guillermo exchanged a horrified look, each taking a step back.
"I'm not exactly into getting hurt," Guillermo said. "It's not my thing."
"Well learn how to not get hurt," Loughness shot back.
"By getting hurt," Guillermo demanded incredulously.
"Indeed." It was Bella who replied. "If you're in a battle, and someone hits you with something that you are too much of a baby to handle, you cave, scream, and get killed because while you are busy caving and screaming, your enemy will be taking advantage of that weakness to end you."
Her eyes narrowed as she regarded Sortia. "You look like your dad, but not as ugly."
"Same to you," Sortia shot back. Hydra knew for a fact that Sortia had never even seen a picture of Cygnus Black, but you'd never know it from the confident way in which she spoke her retort. Bellatrix chuckled. "So why'd you serve Voldemort," Sortia asked.
"Because we believed stupidly that he'd pick up where Grindelwald left off," Bellatrix said, looking suddenly tired.
"And the Horcruxes," Sortia asked.
"We had no idea until Regi told us when he returned," Bellatrix said.
"Were you okay with his making them," Guillermo clarified, and Sortia gave a slight nod.
Bella's lips tightened as she tossed her head. "Of bloody course not. None of us had any idea who he was. Now do you prats want to train or not?"
"I am very full from mall food, so likely not fast enough on my feet," Guillermo mused. "On the other hand, I could be forced into a battle when I am very full, so sure. Let's do it."