The blond with the curled hair and strong make-up blinked rapidly, before licking her lips once and getting to her feet. She brushed the dust off her skirt, before smiling at the gathered people. Still, her nervousness was showing.
"Lord Black, Miss McGonagall, Lord Peverell, what a pleasant surprise this is." She said in what appeared to be a soothing voice full of fake surprise. McGonagall stepped forward, her face filled with a deep frown.
"Miss Skeeter, what are you doing here?" She asked, the confusion still winning over her anger.
The blond reporter brushed through her hair, trying to arrange it in an orderly manner. Her smile didn't waver much.
"Ah you see Miss McGonagall, Hogwarts is such an interesting place, rich in history and stories I just though-"
"You mean you were spying on my godson." Sirius cut her off, glaring daggers while he stepped a little closer. He pointed at Harry, who still sat in his bed, pulling the curious Dawn to his chest. The blond woman shook her head a little nervous still smiling.
"Oh no, you must be mistaken, Lord Black. Have I mentioned that those robes really highlight your eyes? I was just following the noise of dear Miss McGonagall chasing a black dog through the school."
At that Minerva cut in. "A school in which you have no business of being. As you are well aware Miss Skeeter, besides official tournament occasions the school is closed to the press. As I told you on two occasions before this year and many more over the years."
Skeeter didn't miss a beat as she stepped back towards the doors.
"Ah yes, I remember. Silly me it must have slipped my mind. I'm terribly sorry about that Miss McGonagall."
She stepped another step to the door. McGonagall nodded angrily.
"Don't you think you will not be held accountable for trespassing. Again."
Skeeter inched closer to the door. "Of course, of course, I'm terribly sorry." She wasn't everybody could see it. But she moved closer to the door again. These idiots didn't seem to have any idea how many problems they could cause her with what they had at hand.
"Wonderful. Deputy Headmistress, would you mind if I escorted Miss Skeeter of the school boundaries? I have to leave too, my Lord you understand?" Skeeters eyes turned to Narcissa Black as the woman spoke and her eyes narrowed. She couldn't believe her luck. They would let her off the hook just like that? Sirius Black and Minerva McGonagall were dangerous. Narcissa Black was just the former trophy wife of Lucius Malfoy, not a threat at all. And she had this juicy article to write. Yet Skeeter thought with a slight shudder, the way the black and blond woman was eyeing her like she was some cockroach that crawled out from under her bed was making her a little nervous. But then again she was some pureblood princess with no idea of the real world.
And she didn't like the bright smile that Lord Black got as he looked over to his cousin. "Oh of course Cissy. Take care of this. I think that is a wonderful idea." Skeeter wasn't sure but when the man turned his gaze towards her it was almost like there was pity in it.
McGonagall turned to the black and blond woman. "See that she is off the premise please Miss Black. I don't want her lurking about around my students."
At that, Narcissa Black moved over to Skeeter, directing her to the door. "Oh don't worry Deputy headmistress. I believe she will never come back here uninvited." And then she smiled at Rita. It was difficult, but she could handle a trophy wife after all. Of all the people in the room, she was the one Rita was sure she could handle. And then she would worm her way out of this, Rita Skeeter, best reporter for the Daily Prophet had done this countless times.
Both women left the infirmary and moved down the somewhat cold Hogwarts corridors. Such a large castle was always drafty in the winters no matter how many heating charms were etched into the stone walls. Miss Black walked just beside her, her hands clasped behind her back. Neither of them said a word for a while, just the sound of their shoes on the stone floor could be heard.
"You know, Miss Skeeter, this is a lucky accident. I wanted to meet you for quite some time now." Miss Black finally broke the silence. Rita raised an eyebrow.
"You do? And what for might I ask?"
Narcissa Black smiled at her, this modulated pureblood smile which didn't tell you anything about the emotions of the smiling person. "Oh, such an esteemed and interesting reporter as yourself, you would make a lovely friend." She said in a sweet tone, that had Rita blinking for a moment. Then she returned the smile.
"Oh, I would love to be your friend." She said as sweet as Black did. That woman might be a perfect source of pristine information. Being the former wife of Malfoy and part of the house of Black. There was so much juicy gossip, Rita could almost smell it.
Black's eyes lit up and her smile widened. "Oh, that is wonderful. I'm sure we will have a great time together."
Again they moved side by side in quiet for a while. The Narcissa almost turned an innocent look over.
"Rita, you don't mind if I call you Rita right?" She asked. Skeeter nodded.
"Of course Narcissa. What is it?" Might be easier to pull something from the woman than she thought it would be.
"I was wondering. Could you perhaps stop writing so personal details about Lord Peverell? He was pretty upset about it."
Rita eyed the woman. Was she played? No, this woman seemed o eager and open, like she had no idea how the dance worked. Then her mind lit up. That woman was dumb! She could use this soooo well.
She smiled again, as they came around a corner. "I'm sorry Narcissa, I would love to but the readers deserve to learn the truth and it is my duty as a reporter to find it. I wish I could help you."
Narcissa sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Oh well, and here I was hoping you could help out a friend."
Rita smiled."Maybe I can. I could try to work in a different direction, in case you have something interesting. On Lord Malfoy perhaps or Lord Black."
Narcissa tipped her chin for a moment, thinking. Then she shook her head. "I guess I could, but then I don't need you to destroy my ex-husband and I won't betray my Lords confidence. Sooooo, no I think we will have a different route. I mean I know things about you too, Rita, things I don't think you want to be known."
Rita snorted. There it was. That was that bitches play? Maybe she should show her how this was really played. "You do? Do you mean the animagus thing? Sure it will be a little bit unpleasant to register and the fine would be a bit nasty, but in the end, I am a successful reporter, I can effort it. Probably the Prophet will pay for it anyway, I make that kind of money for them in a week after all. There is no way I will be blackmailed by this."
Narcissa's smile didn't waver at all. It didn't change at all. But somehow, Rita wasn't sure how it changed. Warming and charming as it was before now it was cold and downright scary. A smile for which the Dark Lord himself would have killed to have it. Narcissa raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
"Oh no, Rita my dear, who said I was talking about the animagus thing. I know you spinless bitch can worm your way out of that. Does the name Ragnok ring a bell for you?"
Rita almost stumbled. "What? No...sounds like a goblin name."
Narcissa nodded still smiling. "Oh yes, it is. Ragnok the thirteenth to be more correct. He is the Black account manager and a dear friend of ours. We have talked a lot over time and I do tend to listen to him. About two months ago, I met him and we talked a little. He bemoaned that a deal with House Smith had dropped out and while he was doing so, he said the reason was an article by "Lois Born". You don't happen to know that name right?" Her tone was ice cold now like her smile.
Rita gulped hard. That was one of her pen names. I fact it was her pen name for stories to dangerous to write in her real name, quite frankly because it involved dangerous topics and or espionage. No one knew that she was Lois Born, beside her publisher and he would never tell on her.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Rita said, feeling sweat in her neck. Narcissa stopped, crossing her arms.
"Oh pleeeeease Rita, of course, you do. In case you are wondering, let's say your publisher does like southern women and Lady Zabini is a dear friend of mine. And she is such a gossip. When I asked her about you and what she could tell me, she was all too eager. My dear friend has set her sights on my cousin and therefore it was quite easy to get it out of her. She gets another dinner with Sirius, so she isn't complaining really. Anyways, I know you are Lois Born and I don't think you want Gringotts to know that you are stealing their secrets don't you? But then again, Lord Ragnok is a dear family friend sooooo..." She trailed off smiling still like a shark.
Rita swallowed hard. "What do you want?"
Narcissa dropped the smile, raising her chin. "You stop your smear campaign against house Peverell and Black. House Greengrass as our allies is also off the table. Every article you write about either of our houses will go through my hands. So you better find the nicest words in your empty head about our houses. And you might step up your game and find out who are our friends and who are our enemies. It would do you good not to smear those that are dear to us as well. Do you understand?"
Rita blinked hard. "My publisher will want to have answers. I can't just-"
"Yes, you can. Yes, your sales will go back a little but remember, better worse sales than a goblin blade in your back. Or maybe someone else you have insulted while being 'Lois'. So, are we friends?"
Rita licked her lips nervous for a moment, thinking about a way out of this. Then she sighed, sagging in herself and looking a lot older than the twenty-five she insisted was her age. Well, it was her age, if you subtracted twelve from the real number.
"We are friends." She ground out. Narcissa smiled, linking their arms together.
"That is wonderful. And don't worry, there might be one or two bones I will throw your way. I look out for my friends."
Rita sighed. "Never thought I would be blackmailed by the light side."
Narcissa laughed loudly at that. "Honey, remember my name and ask yourself why it is called black mail in the first place."
Her bell-like laughter echoed through the corridors of Hogwarts.
Harry had the hands folded behind his back, while Dawn was perched on his shoulder, curiously staring. Harry stood in front of the large windows and the first snow of the year was falling, the first snow the young phoenix had ever seen. It had started just now but it was already thickening. Pretty sure in half an hour the entire castle would be covered in a thick white blanket. Sirius and McGonagall had left him alone for a little bit, they were outside, talking about some things apparently. The phoenix on his shoulder was fluttering her wings, curious to look at this bizarre and unfamiliar event of something white falling slowly from the sky. But then again he was not alone for long.
"Har!" A female voice called out to him from the entrance. The raven-haired boy turned his head, seeing Ginny moving quickly through the room. Her red hair was open, falling over her back.
Harry turned around entirely. "Hey Gin ufff." He barely got his arms out, catching Ginny as she jumped into his arms hugging him. Dawn could barely hold on to his shoulder, chirping loudly and Harry could feel her annoyance through their bond. Harry pulled back, his hand flying up to steady the black bird, not that she really needed it.
"Careful, you almost knocked down Dawn." He admonished the girl, while he was still more concentrated on the phoenix. Ginny blushed a little, her hands flying to her mouth.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She hastily blurted out, blinking rapidly. Harry sighed, shaking his head.
"It's okay, nothing happened after all." Still, his fingers lingered in the dark plumage for a little moment longer. Both of them were quiet for a moment before Ginny stepped a little closer leaning her head against Harry's shoulder.
"How are you love?" She asked in a quiet voice. Harry blinked for a short moment, then he shook his head.
"I wish people wouldn't ask me all the time."
Ginny lifted her head looking at him in surprise. "Oh, sorry." Again she blushed a little. Harry shook his head.
"Never mind, you couldn't know. I'm fine, I guess. I speak with Andromeda, you know, Sirius cousin?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah, we met her two days ago...she...well she said to us...how to handle your...situation." Her voice was careful and slow like she was talking to a wounded animal. Harry couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"Well great. Now I must be handled like an unboiled egg?" He huffed in annoyance. Ginny frowned.
"I'm sorry that I am worried about my boyfriend." She said a little angry. Harry frowned back at her.
"Do you have any idea what it is like to be treated like you are made out of glass?"
Ginny crossed her arms. "I don't know, let's think about it. I'm not allowed on a broom because that is too dangerous for a girl. I have to be home before it gets dark and I'm thirteen. Oh yeah and then there is that summer when I had not a single minute to myself because of that stupid diary. My mother slept in my room that summer in case I would have a nightmare! So yeah, I think I know what it is like when people treat you like a child."
The silence between the two of them was deafening until Harry sagged into himself.
"I'm sorry Ginny. I didn't mean to snap at you just...I'm sorry. It's a lot right now, a lot to think about." He leaned against the window, not looking at the girl. Ginny blinked then turned a little red.
"It's okay, I understand. I am here for you if you want to talk." She leaned against him again. Harry felt weird when she snuggled up against him. It was the same as the weeks before but for some reason it felt a lot different right now. He had no idea why or how but he felt a little uncomfortable by the way Ginny's fingers glided over his forearm.
He cleared his throat. "I don't think so but thanks. I will leave anyways tomorrow." He stated. Ginny raised her eyebrow.
"I thought you would stay until the start of the holidays leaving on the train."
Harry shook his head and rubbed Dawn's tummy with his index finger. "That was the plan. But now with Dumbledore gon and...Sirius wants me home, where he knows that I am safe and I think it is good for me too. Being away from Hogwarts for a while, to collect my thoughts."
Ginny snuggled closer to his side. "I will visit you, don't worry. I could come with you, Mum and Dad won't mind, I'm sure." Her finger glided over his forearm again.
Harry shook his head a second time. "I don't think that is a good idea." He had no plan for this conversation, but he listened to his gut right now.
Now Ginny lifted her head from Harry's shoulder, looking at him in surprise. "Why not? I'm your girlfriend!"
Harry looked ahead for a while, not sure what to say, there was really no reason why she shouldn't visit. It just was the case that he didn't want her there. And he had no idea why. Ginny was fun and smart and nice. She was an awesome snog and her fierce temperament was something incredible. She was his girlfriend.
So why didn't he want her to be there? Harry stared out into the distance, not sure what to say or what to do. He could only turn to Ginny and the girl's eyes widened when she saw the sadness in his gaze. Apparently, his gaze showed his thoughts.
"No." She whispered out, suddenly realising something that Harry hadn't realised yet. Her own eyes filled with tears. And as she said no, Harry did realise why he didn't want Ginny to visit, to come with him. Yes, she was fun and smart and funny. She was fun being around and challenging. But he didn't love her. He had no idea why or why he didn't see it before but like a light that was lid in his mind, he couldn't help but see it. Like something seen that can't be unseen.
He didn't love her.
Sad in his realisation, he nodded slowly. "I'm sorry Ginny."
The redhead blinked trying to stem the tears. "Y-You are b-breaking up with me?" She blurted out.
Harry nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you, but keeping this going wouldn't be fair. Not for you and not for me. I...I don't know what to say other than I'm sorry."
Ginny blinked once more, then her red-eyed face turned into a snarl, while new tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I hate you!" She spat out and with a swirl of red hair, she spun on her heel and rann down the infirmary, sobbing into her arm. Her hand pushed open the door, not looking where she was running, even ignoring McGonagall and Sirius outside. Harry took a step, reaching out with his hand, but he faltered, dropping it to his side. He still stood next to the window, not sure what he should do. Dawn quietly rubbed her head against his in an attempt to comfort him. Harry's eyes were unfocused and he wasn't thinking anything special. He didn't even notice when Sirius moved inside, walking up to him.
"You okay Prongslet?"
Harry just stared at the door.
"Prongslet?"
"Hrmmm?" Harry jerked his head around, suddenly noticing Sirius presence in the room. The older man stepped closer, leaning a little down to get on eye level to his shorter godson.
"Everything okay Harry? Ginny just ran past us, looked like she cried."
Harry was still a little lost. "Yeah, we..." His voice trailed off and finally he actually really saw Sirius.
Harry sagged in on himself, shaking his head. "I think I just broke up with her."
Sirius blinked in surprise. "You think?" He blurted out. Harry shook his head.
"No, I'm sure." He mumbled out, mindlessly rubbing Dawn's tummy. Sirius stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulder, careful to not knock his godsons familiar from her human perch.
"I'm sorry to hear that pup. You okay?"
Harry nodded. Then he slowly looked up to his godfather. "Yeah, I'm fine. Can we go home please?"
Sirius looked down. "Don't want to stay till tomorrow?"
Harry shook his head.
Together both of them walked down the middle of the infirmary. Time to go home.
Somewhere far away, there was a house. A house made from red stone and dark shingles on the roof. The windows were large and had white rims. Around the house was a park, wide lawns. A fountain was in the middle of a circle of stone. Birch trees lined the way to the steps, which in return led to the white door with the brazen lion knocker.
It was an old house. Build in the year 1795 by Earl Thaddäus Montgomery Krupp of Bohlen and Halbach in Falkenberg when he was still young. Coming from Germany trough marriage, the Earl was a curious man. His life was a normal noble life until he turned into his seventies. Then he developed strange interests. He travelled through the land, to haunted houses, to places where 'satanic rituals' had been held, followed every lead. The Earl was dead set on the idea that there was another world, that there was more to our life than the naked eye can see. That there are demons and witchcraft, that magic seeped into our world and needed to be found out. He even wrote a book about this, after he and three other men from London "solved" a murder on Morriton Manor.
Funnily while he was, as we know, somewhat right, he never in his life found real magic. All the artefacts, all the places he visited and the stories he listened, he never once came into contact with the real magical world. Some would think that a man with his resources and time investment would be bond to find at least something. Like a cosmic joke the one man who was probably more eager than anyone else in the world to find the hidden magical world didn't see it, while in other parts of the world some families get obliviated almost every other week, living close to bigger magical communities.
When Earl Montgomery died in 1862 he had no heirs. His wife had died during childbirth and the single child that came out of it, his son Willow had died during the British colonisation of the Falkland Islands, without having a wife and children of his own. It might be that after that, that the earl was searching for the mystics and the otherworldly powers, without ever finding his answer. The only other person, his manservant Wilson, who lived in the house at the time of the earl's death, didn't stay in the grand house, not without taking a few of the more valuable pieces.
After that the house was empty. The red stone darkened, a few shingles fell from the roof. Windows broke and the white rims turned brown. The lawns overgrew, the fountain filled with old leaves and rain and during a storm in 1935 two of the birch trees were unrooted. The house decayed slowly but steady, without a hand to keep in in check, too far from the next settlement to be of interest for buyers. No one came to Krupp-Hall anymore.
But now a person walked down the path followed by two others. The person at the from walked without fear or nervousness, something that could not be said about the other two who eyed the leading person with twitchy eyes.
The leading person was tall and thin. Like a twig you would say, with pale skin, almost white. Dark veins could be seen underneath the skin, especially on the hairless head. There wasn't a real nose on the face, just two vertical slits underneath burning red eyes. A hand appeared from the depth of a black robe and between the pale, spider-like fingers was a stick. A wand. And not special. Not especially ornated, nor of special wood. It was a wand-like there were thousands. There was nothing on it that would identify it as the wand of one of the most powerful wizards of the world, if not the most powerful. If something was special at all, it was the fact, that there was no scratch on it. This was the wand of a person who cared for it a lot almost obsessively. With the utmost care, the fingers turned the wind and flicked it to the side in a lazy flick.
In contrast to the laziness of the motion, the two dropped trees that had been torn down were flung into the air and returned to their places in the rows. Both followers flinched at the display of power.
Lord Voldemort nodded to himself and eyed the decayed house in front of him. He raised his wand almost eager. Ever since his return to a bodily form four days ago he had been eager to use his powers. Magic sang to him and like a maiden in her youth all too willing to do his bidding.
"I think, my servants, we can stay here for a while. Of course, this muddy house will not do for all the time, but for now, it will be enough. And of course, it isn't fitting of the Dark Lord, don't you think?"
Alecto and Amycus almost fell over themselves to agree with their master but paid them no heed. Instead, he turned to the last being in presents.
"What do you say Nagini?" He whispered down at the enormous python. The dark snake raised her head and hissed quietly, making him chuckle.
"Yes, there will be a warm place for you." He said with a smile that some people would even call love. The snake started gliding towards the house, eager to get out of the cold. The snow was falling from the sky and Alecto and Amycus had pulled thick cloaks around themselves, shivering anyways.
Voldemort didn't notice the cold as his bare feet stepped over the stones of the drive-way. He waved his wand and the world changed. Dirty crumbled from the walls, windows repaired themselves, the lawn was cut in one motion and lamps started glowing.
The door sprang open, ready to greet the new visitors and Lord Voldemort stepped inside. Nagini instantly glided down the all towards the flickering light of a burning hearth. Alecto and Amycus followed their master, carefully closing the door. Both tried to make as little noise as they could. Their lord seemed to be in a good mood but that could change at any moment. Still, they sighed in relief as the warmth of the house started building.
The tall thin man ignored his followers as he walked down the corridor, his fingers gliding over the covers of books and a showcase filled with plunder. He chuckled slightly. This man seemed to have been some kind of collector. He moved into the sitting room and froze.
With a snarl, he looked up at the coat of arms over the burning hearth. A standing lion with an anchor in his paws. The man once called Tom Riddle raised his wand and blasted the darn picture from the wall. The explosion shook the house and in the room next door Alector and Amycus froze, holding on to each other. Their master had been moody since his rebirth and both of them had felt the pain of his wand tip already.
"Alecto." The cold voice of their master came quietly through the door. The siblings looked at each other nervous, but her brother nodded.
"Go." He whispered, pushing Alecto in direction of the door. It wasn't wise to let their master wait. The woman hurried herself to the door, only blinking and freezing in the door for a moment. She had seen the sitting room out of the corner of her eye before, but it was nothing like it. The floor was ebony, so clean and polished you could see yourself in it. The walls were dark green and silver. The windows were covered in dark green velvet curtains. Gone were the armchairs and couches. Only one chair stood, a throne out of dark wood, silver and green velvet. The backrest was formed out of silver snakes circling skulls. Over the hearth was a coat of arms, a silver skull circled by a silver snake on an emerald backdrop.
Lord Voldemort sat on the throne, his legs crossed, petting the head of his giant snake. The creature opened its maw and displayed large curved fangs while it yawned lazily. Still, the woman knew how fast this snake could strike and she was reluctant to get to close. Alecto inched closer, kneeling down in front of the Dark Lord.
"My Lord." She whispered out, watching the Snake out of the corner of her eye.
"Your arm, woman." The cold voice rang through the room. Alecto licked her lips nervously before stretching out her right arm. Roughly the Dark Lord pulled back the sleeve, revealing the same symbol that was over the hearth, only inked on her forearm. One of the spidery white fingers stretched out and pressed into the mark with a gleeful turn. Alecto couldn't help but hiss in pain. It felt like a burning poker was dragged through her skin. Luckily the Dark Lord only kept the contact for a few seconds before letting go. Alecto cradled her arm against her chest, forcing down the tears of pain in it.
"And now we wait and see who is loyal..." The Dark Lord whispered with amusement.
And done. Sorry for the long wait, I wasn't feeling like writing the last two weeks and thought I should take my time. And it was well that I did, this chapter just flowed out of me.
First I wanted to call this chapter "Three women." or "Two unwanted and one wanted" for Rita, Ginny and Bellatrix. But then the whole thing with Tom took longer than I first thought because it is really fun to describe something like the house of Earl Mon and I knew Bellas return to him would take time so I kept it there at the end.
Rita was mostly written for satisfaction. It might be a little dumb of her to underestimate Cissy since I think Rita is a rather clever person but I wanted to blindside her. Also, I don't think that Lucius allowed Cissy much of a public display other than his arm-candy, so I think she should be a little bit of a wild card there. Also, I didn't want to use the Animagus card here. That was just the icing on the cake. As Cissy said, she was already ready to move against Skeeter, for Harry. Getting her in this position was only a nice to have. She would have stopped by her in the future anyway sort of thing.
I purposely keep the whole Dumbs thing out of here yet. One chapter will probably be in between before we will see what that is all about.
Ginny. I talked about her quite a lot by now, how I feel about her. Sometimes in other fics, she is a slut, or Harry's dream girl or anything like that. I tried, I hope I got it right, to make her more human. She has a crush on harry and wants to stay with him, but she is still temperamental and proud. She is a teenage girl and I have never been one so I can't really say I know what I am writing about. And I wanted to end this. It is really hard writing a relationship that isn't meant to be in the long run. On the one hand, you don't want your main character to be too much of an asshole. But I didn't want Ginny to be a total bitch, because why would Harry be with her without looking stupid? So yeah I ended it here, also because I need Harry to be alone for a bit. This felt like the right point to end it.
Lastly Voldemort. I haven't really written much about him et and part of that is because I'm still figuring out his motivation and style for me. I always thought he was kind of a bad villain in HP to be honest. All he is missing is twirling his moustache the entire time to be a cartoon villain. For me, a good villain is one you understand. Not one that is evil because he wants to be evil but because he THINKS he is doing the right thing. One you can relate to, best of all wanting the same thing as the protagonist but came to a different conclusion and goes down the wrong path. A path the protagonist is dangerously close to following himself. I think about it what to do really because Harry's goal in my fic is family. This is a family fic so I still need to figure this out. I got some ideas but that might be too out there. Might be better to stick with the source.
graf thaddäus montgomery krupp von bohlen und halbach zu falkenberg btw is a character that I took just for fun. Maybe someone recognises him. We will see, he will not come up again, was just a small nod.
Next up: A return home