INTERLUDE III
Upon learning of her prestigious record, most voiced their surprise at her lack of wizarding lineage. They were either flabbergasted or appalled to find that she had hardly any magical relatives at all.
Alexandra Solace was the second daughter of two Muggle-born Aurors.
As a child, her mother and father had been her heroes, and she took every opportunity to brag about them, both at Pendle's and at Hogwarts. This continued to an age where it was no longer socially acceptable to do so but she didn't care. Speaking about her parents made her feel closer to them whenever they were away for long periods.
That joy ended when they were killed in action.
Her sister, Felicia, a rising star in her own right, got permission to pull back from the front lines to take care of Alexandra. However, this was merely an excuse. She did little to take care of her younger sister and used the opportunity to discharge from the Corps altogether when the year came to an end.
No matter how many times she asked, Felicia never explained what happened to their parents. This was unfortunate as Alexandra was left to find out the hard way when she returned to Hogwarts the following September.
Bullies had a habit of sniffing out vulnerabilities, and the ones in her year were in top form. They quickly noticed how she ceased mentioning her parents at any given opportunity. Someone, perhaps a parent or an older sibling, must have let slip what happened because word got around school and they didn't waste any time throwing it in her face.
"They weren't even punished for leaving your parents behind." A boy had said, his name and face long forgotten in her memory, but his cruel words remained. "The higher-ups know that mudbloods aren't worth protecting."
The boy had said this to get a reaction, but he wasn't delighted by the one she gave him. She jumped on him and attacked him as viciously as she could.
Alexandra had been suspended for the wounds she had clawed into his face, but she didn't mind. It allowed her to go home and confront her sister, but she quickly wished she hadn't returned at all. Felicia's avoidance of the question let her know it was the truth.
Her parents had been abandoned by their comrades.
This wasn't enough to stop her enlisting when her Third Year arrived, much to Felicia's dismay. Alexandra felt a burning need to prove- both to herself and to all those who doubted muggle-borns- that someone could be great without a long lineage to back them up.
Unfortunately, it was her foolhardiness that attracted the attention of a Death Eater that her newly initiated squad didn't stand a chance against. Somehow, she was the only one to survive.
The brutal, bloody end to her first squad was due to her recklessness. She had kept it a secret for all these years.
It was a truth known only by her and the Acolyte that had killed them.