A/N: One little caveat here: there is a minor scene of a drunken rage in this chapter. No one is hurt or anything, but just in case anyone who reads this is bothered by such things, I wanted to mention it. Also, if anyone isn't sure what the "Dis" is that is mentioned in that poem fragment at the beginning, Dis is the name of the city that occupies the 6th through the 9th circles of Hell. Anywho, enjoy.
THREE WISE WOMEN
"Once, I think I half remember,
Ere the grey skies of November quenched my youth's aspiring ember
Lived there such a thing as bliss;
Skies that now are dark were beaming; Golden, azure, splendid seeming!
Till I learned it all was dreaming—
Deadly drowsiness of Dis."
Andromeda ended the floo call with Daphne and sighed. "Oh, William." She hurried to her room and changed into traveling clothes. Grabbing a small bag from the closet, she filled it with enough items to hold her over for a few days. If it was getting as bad as it had been before, she knew she wouldn't dare to leave Will alone in the house for a while.
Ted leaned against the doorframe and folded his arms across his chest as he watched his wife scurry around their room. "You know, Andi, if I was the jealous type, I'd swear you and Will had a thing for each other."
Andromeda turned and gave him what he called "the Black Stare". "Well, if you're so jealous, darling, why don't you come along with me and keep an eye on us." Her voice was mockingly sweet, as if she was talking to a child. It was times like this when Ted was reminded that Andi and Bella were indeed sisters.
He smirked. "No thanks, I'll pass. Besides, I have work in the morning."
Returning his smirk with one of her own, she walked up to him and gave him a lingering kiss. "If that doesn't convince you my heart is yours, I don't know what will."
Ted grinned and wagged his eyebrows. "Oh, I can think of a couple things." He pulled his wife closer.
Andromeda laughed and smacked his arm, then pulled him in for a hug. "Not now, my love. Anticipation makes pleasure more intense, as they say." She kissed him again.
"Besides, William needs help. He's about the closest thing to a brother I've ever had. And after Sirius, William was the only family member who didn't reject me when I married you. He's always supported us. I owe him for that. Daphne and Astoria need me there, too. They need a functioning father, not a drunken, emotional mess of one. They've been through this once already. I can't let them go through it again."
She lowered her voice. "And I owe it to Bella, as well. The Bella who used to be. The big sister who always looked out for us. I'll do what I can to help the man she loved because I—I still love her." Tears gathered in Andromeda's eyes as her mind went back to the days of their childhood.
Ted hugged her closer to him. "You do, don't you?" His voice was soft.
Andromeda nodded. "I do. In spite it all—despite the terrible things she's done, despite how she treated us in the past, despite what she's become—I still love her." Stepping out of the hug, she turned and took a coat out of the closet. Zipping it up, she gave Ted one last kiss. "I'm not certain how long I'll be gone, love, but you know where to reach me." She walked into the back garden and down the porch steps. About half way along the path she disappeared with a pop.
Protecting the Greengrass estate were some of the most powerful wards known in magical society. No one that the Greengrass family didn't want getting through could do so. Many had tried over the years, and without fail, they had all been killed by the magic within the wards. Andromeda, however, had been keyed to them since she was young, being that she was a close relative.
Aparating just outside the boundary of the estate, she walked through the wards and up to the gate leading into to the front lane. The gate swung open for her as she approached. Apprehension filled her the closer she got to the house, not knowing what to expect and frightened at what she would find. Andromeda had seen William at his worst. And if Daphne's tearful floo cal was any indication, she feared it might be almost as bad as the previous time.
she walked up the front porch steps, and before she could even knock, the door was opened by a sobbing Lizzy.
"Oh, Mistress Andromeda! Lizzy is so thankful you are here! Lizzy doesn't know what to do with poor Master! Lizzy fears he may die!" The poor elf was frantic. Closing the door, she took Andromeda's coat.
"Where is he, Lizzy?" Andromeda asked.
"Poor Master is in the study! Oh, Lizzy is so worried! Master hasn't been this bad since poor Mistress Mary died!" The elf began tugging her ears in dismay.
Apprehension filled Andromeda at Lizzy's comment on William's state of mind. She knelt down and hugged the sobbing creature. "It will be alright, Lizzy. You are a good elf, and we all love you. Now, can you please go and make me some tea?"
"Yes, Mistress Andromeda," Lizzy replied. "Oh, Lizzy is so very glad you are here!" She squeezed Andromeda's hand and scurried away to the kitchen.
Andromeda took a deep breath as she approached the study. Entering the room, she closed the door and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dimness. The only light came from a fire burning low in the grate. A chair had been pulled close to the fireplace. William sat hunched forward in the chair, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, staring into the flames. He didn't make any indication that he had heard her enter the room. The number of empty fire whiskey bottle scattered on the floor around his chair might have explained that… and judging by the broken glass on the hearth he must have smashed at least one into the fireplace.
The room smelled like an unwashed man. Andromeda noted that William was sporting a beard. Not merely stubble, as if he hadn't shaved for a couple of days, but rather a full beard.
"Will?" She said. Still no response. Andromeda moved around so that she was standing in front of him, blocking his view of the fire. And still he sat there, looking through her as though she were invisible. His eyes had a blank, vacant look to them. "Will?" She tried again, and again got no response.
Taking him by the shoulders, she said "William!" in a loud voice.
He stirred, turning blurry eyes to her face. He blinked and squinted, then a smile spread across his face, and he exclaimed, "Bella?! Is that you?" Shooting to his feet he reached out towards her.
Andromeda, taken off guard, stepped back from him as he lurched in her direction, until he paused and frowned. "A-Andi? Andi, why are you here?" His speech was slurred.
William's face twisted in to a glare of rage. "DAMN IT, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO LOOK SO MUCH LIKE HER?" Turning with a movement much more fluid than a drunken man should have, he scooped one of the empty bottles off the floor and hurled it into the fireplace.
Andromeda jumped to the side, shock and horror in her expression. William tottered back towards the chair but didn't make it, collapsing to his knees on the floor and starting to sob. "Oh, Andi, I think I'm losing my mind!"
Andromeda knelt beside him and took him into her arms, rocking him like a child as he cried on her shoulder. "Shhh, I'm here, Will. I'm not going anywhere until I help you get through this."
Andromeda half lifted William off the floor and led him to the sofa, helping him lie down on it. She gave him one of the Dreamless Sleep potions she had brought with her, and he fell asleep almost at once. She moved to cover him with the blanket he had dropped, but decided against it as her nose wrinkled in disgust from the smell. She called Lizzy and asked for a clean blanket. Then she settled into the armchair near the window to make certain William remained asleep.
Next morning, when Will woke up, he had a massive hangover, as Andromeda had assumed he would. Dipping once more into the supply of potions she had brought, she gave him one for hangovers, and another one for headaches. Once the potions took effect, she made him drink two cups of coffee followed by a glass of water. Then she sent him to his room to clean up.
"Oh, and Will?" Andromeda called as he started down out of the dining room.
He paused, and turned toward her.
"Please make sure you shave, too. That beard just doesn't suit you."
William instinctively moved to his hand his face and rubbed his chin and jaw. "Yes, ma'am," he replied as he exited the room. Andromeda smirked.
(XXX)
True to her word, Andromeda stayed for over two weeks. The first thing she had done, after contacting a very worried and frightened Daphne and telling her that her father was going to be alright, was have Lizzy remove all the firewhiskey from the house. In fact, Andromeda told Lizzy to remove all the alcohol in the house—even the butterbeer. There had been some feeble protest from William about this, but Andromeda had curtailed it by giving William the "Black Stare", and he had lapsed into sullen silence.
She then put William on a very strict diet, high in complex carbohydrates and dairy with smaller amounts of protein thrown in. She had also brought along various potions for him that would help with detox. She only allowed him coffee, tea, and water to drink. His improvement was rapid.
Andromeda was happy that she had gotten to him before he became as bad as he had after Mary died. William was not as far gone as he had been then. And this current downward spiral of losing himself to alcohol was not brought on by depression. After he'd been sober for a few days and was showing signs of becoming more like himself, she had sat in the study with him one evening and they talked.
"I think I might understand the cause of these dreams you keep experiencing, Will. I've done a bit of research and I think I may have an answer." A couple nights after Andromeda had arrived, once William was first sober, he had told her in depth about the dreams he was having, and that the dreams had been the reason for his drinking, as he had been hoping the alcohol would suppress the dreams. And how instead of suppressing them, it had made the dreams worse and more lucid.
"Now, please hear me out." Andromeda was a little nervous because she knew how touchy the subject of Bella and William's love was. But he needed to hear what she had discovered.
"There is a belief that when two people are in love, their souls become…bonded to one another. When one is hurting, the other hurts. When one suffers, the other suffers. When one is happy, the other is happy. And so on. And if something becomes too intense for one to handle on their own, they will reach out to their other half and cry for help. I think that's what's happening to you, Will. I think those dreams are Bella reaching out to you and crying for help."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Andi! Whatever Bella and I had, it's in the past. Listen to yourself! What are you trying to say, that she and I are soul mates or some nonsense?"
Andromeda shrugged. "Yes, that is what I think.
In a rage, William Shouted, "DAMN IT, ANDi, I LOVED MARY!"
"I KNOW YOU DID, WILL!" replied an equally angry Andromeda. "BUT YOU LOVED BELLA, TOO!"
William stood there, his mouth hanging open as realization dawned on him. Yet still his mind refused to accept it…a person couldn't love two people with the same amount of love. It was ludicrous! Wasn't it?
Andromeda sighed, and put her face in her hands a moment to compose herself. When she resumed speaking, her voice was soft.
"Soul mates isn't a pre-existing condition, something that helps you find your 'other half'. It happens when two people love each other with every fiber of their being. It develops after the love bond is built, not before. That's where everyone gets it wrong. Do you remember what happened to you after you lost Mary?"
"Don't be stupid, Andi! Of course I do!" William muttered.
"Well allow me explain what happened to Bella after she lost you. The day she lost you, the day our father sold Bella to that…that beast of a manLestrange, she died inside. She ceased being the big sister who always looked out for Narcissa and me. When you two were torn apart, her mind began to cave in on itself, and the hate and fear and anger and rage and emptiness all came pouring in. The day she became Bellatrix Lestrange was the day Bellatrix Black died."
She looked at him. "You know what I'm talking about, William…you've enough Black inside you to feel that swirling vortex of rage and madness. I certainly feel it inside of me. When my family disowned me I nearly gave in to it myself. But I had Ted, and Sirius, and a few other friends to help me get through it. You almost succumbed to it as well, but fought against it. Like me, you had friends that helped you. Poor Bella had no one to help her, so she succumbed to the darkness. How could she not?
"Bella used to owl me once a week, even after I was kicked out of the family. After a while, the owls became farther apart, two weeks, a month, two months…then they just stopped. And every letter became more disjointed, more hurtful. She railed against father and mother. She railed against Rudolphus and his idiot brother. She railed against me. She even railed against the Dark Lord himself! But she never railed against you, Will. Not once. At first she would ask how you were, and eventually she stopped. But never did she say anything negative about you."
Andromeda fell silent, letting her words sink in to William's brain.
"Bella is reaching out to you, Will," Andromeda said. "Her soul sought yours in her anguish. She's crying for help, begging you to save her. To rescue her from that living hell she's been condemned to. And I'm afraid the dreams won't stop until you do save her, or descend into madness yourself."
"And how exactly do you expect me to rescue Bella, Andi? I can't very well just stroll up to the gates of Azkaban and politely ask the Dementors to release her. And the Ministry is not going to help me either." William dropped onto the sofa, resting his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands.
Andromeda sat down beside him. "The Greengrass magic," she said in a low voice. "The Greengrasses are one of the most power families in all of magical society, in Britain or anywhere else. And there are old legends amongst the other pureblood families about the incredible, almost primal magic that the Greengrasses are said to possess." She touched William's arm. "Use that magic and save my sister. Please!" She sounded almost frantic.
William shot an incredulous stare at her. "You don't know what you're asking!"
Andromeda leaned closer. "Can you do it, Will? Can you save her?"
Agitated William stood up again and began pacing. "Maybe," he conceded. "But, Andi, you're not making any sense! I might be able to…to get her out. But what that would require is something I don't know if I should let loose on the world! And even if it was successful, Bella is gone, she's crazy! I mean, you don't see her in those dreams, Andi—hysterical, muttering, rocking back and forth, screaming. And you know what's she did before she was sent to Azkaban, the horrible things she was accused of. She'd probably kill me and try to go back to Voldermort."
Andromeda flinched a little at Voldermort's name. She stood and went to William. "No one knows what happened for certain during those times she was accused of committing those atrocities. Oh, I have no doubt that at least some of them are true. Perhaps all of them, but I don't believe that. I know my sister's still in there somewhere, Will. Stuck inside that shell of a mad woman that she's become. I know it. I feel it! If there's any chance to save her—any chance at all—I want that chance!"
William stopped his pacing and stared out the window into the darkness. He was quiet for several moments. "I'll think about it, Andi. OK? That's the best I can promise you. There's so much that could go wrong, so much at stake that I can't make any other promises. But Hecate knows I owe you that much at least, after everything you've done for me and the girls."
Andromeda squeezed his arm. "Thank you, Will. That's all I can ask for. I've made my pitch, and I'll accept your decision, whatever it may be." She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "And now I think I'll go up to bed. I have a splitting headache. Good night, Will."
"Night, Andi." William remained standing at the window for several minutes after Andromeda had left before he too headed up to his room. Downing another dreamless sleep potion, he drifted into oblivion.
(XXX)
The next day after lunch, William was sitting in his study reading the Daily Prophet. Or trying to. His conversation with Andromeda from the previous night kept playing through his head, making it difficult to concentrate. Finally he gave it up and set the paper on the small table beside his chair. Leaning back, he closed his eyes. The room was silent except for the ticking of the clock on his desk near the window. He let the peace of the quiet early afternoon envelope him.
"You've been asleep for too long, Will. It's time for you to wake up."
William jerked in his chair. It was the same room, the same time of day with the same sunlight streaming in through the windows. But the room was no longer empty. Across from him on the sofa sat Mary. His wife. Looking every bit as beautiful as she had the day she was taken from him ten years earlier. She was reading a book, but looked up at him and smiled.
"M-Mary?" He rasped. He started to stand, to rush over and take her in his arms and kiss her with the pent up long of ten years. But he stopped halfway to his feet and sank down on the chair again. "No, it isn't you. Not really. Just another stupid dream," he muttered.
Mary shrugged, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I do know one thing, Will. You need to listen to Andi. She's right. You still love Bellatrix. And the two of you need each other."
"Oh for Merlin's sake," William growled. "Now even my guilty conscience is taunting me." He looked the apparition of Mary in the eye. "I loved you, Mary. And I still do! Not a day passes that I don't think of you."
Mary smiled. "I know you loved me, Will. You showed me that every day we were together, my darling. But you loved Bella first. And you are such a wonderful and giving man that there is more than enough room in your heart for you to love two women with equal amounts of passion. Stop beating yourself up about it."
Mary stood. Setting her book on the sofa, she walked over and knelt in front of William. Taking his hands in her own, she looked him in the eyes and smiled again…smiled that beautiful smile he'd missed for so long.
"Oh, my sweet husband. Please stop grieving for me. You gave me more than I could have ever dreamed of. The decade we spent as husband and wife were the best years of my life. We made two beautiful, precious daughters together. I'm sorry I couldn't stay here for them and for you. But if I had it to do all over again, even if it ended the same way once more…I wouldn't change a thing. However there is something I need you to do for me, Will."
William's mouth was so dry he could barely speak "What?" He managed to croak. "I'll do anything for you, Mary! Just name it!"
"Live. Stop dwelling in the past. Live for me. Live for our girls, and always be there for them. Love our grandchildren. Save Bella. Let her love you and you love her back. Grow old together. Be happy. And when the time comes for you to pass beyond the Gate—which had better be a very long time from now!—I'll be waiting for you."
Mary leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss. Then, resting her forehead against his and looking him in the eye, she whispered, "Wake up, Will!"
William jerked again, and sat bolt upright in his chair. Mary was gone. Bird songs filtered in through the window. The clock was still ticking on the desk. He swept a rapid glance around the room and found it empty. With a sigh, he collapsed back into the chair. "It was just a dream after all," he mumbled. Then his gaze fell on the sofa across from him, where Mary had been sitting. His eyes widened and he made a noise that that was something between a sob and a laugh, he lurched out of the chair and staggered over to the sofa, dropping to his knees in front of it.
There sat the very book Mary had been reading, closed and in the exact spot where she had set it. William hugged the book to himself and squeezed his eyes shut. "I love you, Mary," he whispered. "And I'm sorry." He began to sob.
Andromeda, passing by in the hallway, heard him sobbing and rushed into the room. Kneeling beside him, she put her arms around him. "Will?! What is it? What's wrong? Are you all right?"
He forced himself to stop crying. Taking a couple of very deep breaths, he smiled at Andromeda. 'Yeah, I think I'm going to be ok now, Andi." She helped him to his feet and he wiped his eyes. Glancing down at the book, he smiled again. "Everything is going to work out." He sighed and looked at Andromeda. "I'm going to take a little walk around the gardens. Get some air." He handed the book to a very perplexed Andromeda , walked through the dining room and out the back door.
He took his time wandering across the estate grounds before arriving at the gigantic oak near the back of the Greengrass property. Will sat down against the tree overlooking the large pond and closed his eyes. This was the spot he went to when he needed peace. Only animal noises and water sounds reached him here. He had to think. First the talk with Andi and then the lucid dream about Mary…if it was a dream. He wanted to sort things out.
William sighed, leaning his head back against the oak and stretching his legs out in front of him. Birds sang in the trees above. Fish made plopping noises as they ate insects unlucky enough to land on the surface of the pond. The autumn breeze sighed through the grass, which was getting rather tall. He'd have to have the elves trim it down a bit.
What to do about Bella. Should he really send them to rescue her from Azkaban? That would bring an entirely new set of difficulties. He was quite sure that Andi didn't grasp the full power of the magic he had at his disposal. But it was still disconcerting that she had any idea at all. Because if she did, it was certain that others had made educated guesses as well. That idiot Headmaster, for instance. And if they broke Bellatrix out and brought her here, Dumbledore's eyes would be directed towards William.
And Bella…if Andi was right, and William could think of no sound reason why she wasn't, he and Bella were somehow connected on a spiritual level. Connected by the soul, perhaps. Preposterous! Such things didn't happen. If he saved her, the dreams might stop. Might. But then, he'd have a crazy woman to deal with. Was there even anything left of the woman he loved inside the mind of that poor wretched creature he saw rocking and muttering in the corner of her cell? Andi believed there was.
Azkaban. The entire place was vile. He had felt for years that sending anyone there was cruel and unusual punishment. He was surprised that Sirius had turned out as well as he had. Azkaban should be torn down and destroyed, once and for all.
William became aware of a gentle splashing sound from the pond. It sounded as though someone were wading up out of the water and heading to shore. His heart leaped, but he didn't move, still sitting with his eyes closed. Whoever it was had reached the shore now. Footsteps headed toward him, crunching on the leaves that had already fallen from the oak.
The footsteps paused a couple feet from him. A shadow fell across his face, blocking the sunlight. He held his breath. There was silence for several moments. The shadow didn't move. "Hello, William," someone said. The voice was gentle, female, and had an almost musical quality to it.
He smiled. "I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see you again," he replied. "It's been quite a while."
Musical laughter, and the shadow moved. Someone sat down on the grass next to him. "Indeed it has, my boy. But I've seen you here many a day these last several years. The girls are growing into beautiful and intelligent young ladies. You've done well."
He opened his eyes and turned his head toward the woman. She looked exactly the same as she had the other three times he'd seen her: wavy, nut brown hair that fell almost to her waist, crowned with water lilies on her brow, ice-blue eyes (which he always believed was where Daphne and Astoria got their eye color from), shimmery green dress dropping to her ankles, bare feet…she never changed, despite the fact that she must be nearly two thousand years old now.
"The girls seldom come out here to the pond, Lady. How is it you've seen them?"
She laughed her musical laugh again. "There is a lake at Hogwarts, after all. I watch over my children wherever they are. I will allow nothing to harm my offspring. You and the girls are the last of my line, for now."
William glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "For now? What's that supposed to mean?"
The Lady shrugged, the corner of her mouth tugging upwards. "I'm quite certain Daphne and Astoria will have children some day. And beyond that, well…one never knows, does one? 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy,' as they say. However, the immediate thing is to rescue your love from that horrible place."
William snorted. "If she even remembers me after all this time, and with her mind gone." His voice was low.
The Lady put her arm across his shoulders. "Do not lose your resolve, dear one. Love is, after all, the strongest of magics by far. The Creator tells us that 'Love is as strong as death'. I think you will find that the heart never truly forgets."
The Lady leaned her head against William's. "Listen to what her sister told you. Save her, she needs you…and you need her, my dear boy. The Greengrasses need her. Bring her here. She has gone mad, but you are the key to her healing. And she is the key to your peace. Your love for her and her love for you, together with our magic, will heal the evil that was done to her."
William looked at her. "The only way to free Bella is by calling on the Dark Dwellers. No one has invoked them for what, a thousand years?"
The Lady pondered a moment, tapping her chin in thought. "In faith, I'd say closer to two thousand. It was I who called upon them the last time. But what of it? As the muggles say: 'desperate times call for desperate measures.' Are you afraid to call them up?"
William shifted uncomfortably. "Well, yes, a bit. Once they've done their job, will they just go back?"
The Lady's musical laugh rang out again. "They are bound to me and my line. They will do as they are told. We have the words that call them up, after all. Our family and no other. True, they can be somewhat dangerous and rather unpredictable at times. But they are tools, nothing more. And they cannot harm us."
She could tell that William was still unconvinced. She put her hand on his arm and spoke in a gentle voice. "The key, William dear, is to use the dark without becoming dark yourself. I know that the darkness swirls in your mind. You get that from your grandmother. It runs like a curse in the blood of the Black family. Poor Bellatrix is closer to that darkness, even without her time in that hellish prison. It will be difficult for both of you. That is why they will bring her here. Together we will heal her."
William was close to conceding, but he still had one card left to play. "If I do this, it won't be long before one or the other of the two sides, or probably both sides, figure out how she escaped and where she is. Then their attention will be directed here. They will come and try to take her from me."
The Lady scoffed. "Let them try! My magic lies upon this land. It is the seat of our power. No one can enter here or harm you. If anyone tries, Nature herself will rise in open warfare against them! Every blade of grass shall become a sword beneath their feet! The branches of the trees will turn to spears, and the trees will walk in anger! The wild things of the woods shall devour them! The unblessed spirits of the night will drive them mad! The wind shall become a gale and blow their bones into the sea!" Her voice had risen and become an almost primal growl. Her eyes were turned from their calm blue into a swirling red fury, her body was glowing, and an almost manic smile was spread across her face.
"That was how your father destroyed those pathetic fools who thought they could drag their war onto our lands," she continued. "Nothing can touch us here. Nothing and no one! Our power, our magic comes from the earth itself! Nothing but the Creator Themselves is stronger than that!"
"What of the girls? Once others find out, they could target the girls in order to get at me and Bella."
Again the Lady laughed. "Oh, William. The girls carry my power within them, even as you do. Even as all Greengrasses have since the family first began. Nature will rise up to protect them, wherever they may be. Yes, outside of the boundaries here it is a bit less safe for them. I am neither omnipotent nor omnipresent. Those attributes belong only to the Creator. And yet, they have my blood, and are therefore safer than other families."
William sighed. "I…what you say is all true. But…"
"But you still need some time to think it through," she finished for him.
He nodded.
The Lady smiled. "Very well. But your decision must be made soon. Time is slipping away, and things are proceeding rapidly towards their conclusion. Yhat is one reason I have come to speak with you. The stars say the potential for success is now at its peak. And that, after all, is the first thing the Creator made the stars for: 'Let them be for signs and for seasons.' It pays to always listen to the Creator when They speak to us."
She paused and looked down the path leading towards the house, cocking her head as though she was listening. She smiled. "Your 'sister' is on the way to tell you that supper is ready. I will leave you for now. But do not fear: once your love is brought here, you will see me again. I shall not abandon you." She stood. Leaning down she kissed the top of William's head. "Goodbye for now, dear one." Then she turned and waded back into the pond, disappearing just as Andromeda appeared on the path, calling for William.
(Later that night…)
William sat in his study, fingers steepled, staring at the fireplace. Andromeda had returned home after supper, and the house was once again empty; save for Lizzy in the kitchen. Somewhere in the house, a clock struck the half hour. His eyes kept dropping to the piece of parchment on the desk in front of him. The tea in the cup beside his right hand had long since gone cold. And still he sat on in the half-light of the dying fire.
In the last 24 hours, no less than three women had told him, each in no uncertain terms, that Bella needed him…and that he needed her as well. If they had been just random women, he would have laughed them off. But these three women were the most important to him, outside of his daughters. Not even Liz, as close as he was to her, was quite on a par with them: His "sister", a distant ancestor, and his beloved wife.
Andi wanted her sister back and for Will to be at peace; The Lady said Bella needed him, and indeed not just he but his entire family needed Bella; And Mary…Mary had told him to save Bella, and be happy. If the first two reasons weren't enough, which indeed they were, it was Mary's plea that pushed him out of his indecision.
The words on the parchment gave him the power to get Bella out of Azkaban. Yet even now, there was a slight reservation in him. But the voices of the three women played on a constant loop in his mind: "She needs you…you need her…save her…bring her back…set her free."
With a single nod of his head, it was decided. "If that's what it takes to end the dreams and save her, then so be it!" Before he could start second guessing himself again, William stood. Grabbing the parchment, a dagger from a drawer of the desk, and a candle from the end table, he strode out of his office and went up the back staircase. As he passed the clock in the hallway, it began striking Midnight. William's lips twitched up at their corners. Midnight—what muggles called the Witching Hour. He found it rather appropriate.
Reaching the unused third floor, he climbed the rickety ladder at the end of the hallway, and stepped out onto the roof as the muffled sounds of the clock in the second floor hallway struck the last chimes of the hour. Perfect timing for what he was about to do.
Gusts of wind swirled around him, so William lit the candle and set it in an alcove below the railing that ran around the edge of the roof. He placed the parchment at his feet. Clouds scutted across the moon, which was not yet at its half. Facing east, William held his left hand up in a commanding gesture. Taking a deep breath, he began to speak in a language that had not been spoken aloud in almost two thousand years:
"Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!"
He took the dagger and cut across the palm of his left hand. Blood dripped down onto the parchment at his feet. He stooped, rolled up the parchment, and held it over the flame of the candle. The parchment caught and disappeared in a burst of flames. William blew the candle out.
Then he waited. The wind died down and stopped. No sounds came to him from the forest below. Without warning, the wind sprang back to life, a gale of an east wind blowing against his face. The temperature began to plummet, and he knew they were coming.
After several moments, as suddenly as it had sprung up, the wind died again. It was cold enough for William to see his breath, though it was only late September. three shapes appeared across the roof from him, tall and dark. So dark that they looked like shadows of emptiness against the stars. One of the shapes moved towards him, stopping about ten feet away. William could see two eyes, very cold though lit with a pale blue light that seemed to come from some remote distance.
"Long years have we waited to be summoned once more," said a voice, deep and cold, that seemed to come out of the ground. "What does the Keeper of the Words require of us?"
William moved closer to the dark shape. "Do you know Azkaban?"
There were angry hisses from the shadowy figures across the roof. "Yes," replied the cold voice of the being in front of him. "It is the place where our enemies dwell."
"There is a woman, Bellatrix. She is a prisoner there, being tormented by your enemies. She is….very precious to me. Find her, and bring her to me safely." William moved even closer to the being, lowering his voice. "And kill anything that gets in your way!" His voice was cold, almost as cold as the voice of the being in front of him.
There were more hisses from the creatures across the roof, but this time they hissed with laughter, and the glow of their eyes increased.
The figure in front of him inclined its head. "It shall be done as you ask, Keeper of the Words." The figure rejoined the two across the roof. A horrifying screech that sounded like some huge animal in agony emanated from the lead being, and the three took to the air. Off in the distance, the screech was echoed. And from the forest dozens more of the dark figures rose into the air joining the three already in flight. Like a solid mass of Midnight, the creatures sped away to the north and east…
William watched until they faded into the darkness of the night, and even after he lost sight of them, he stood there a good while. The noises of Nature started again once the creatures were gone.
"Soon, Bella. Soon you will be free and we will be together once again." He turned and walked towards the trapdoor in the roof. As he started down the ladder, William swore he heard singing from the direction of the pond, carried to his ears on the night wind, and he smiled…
(The following evening)
The Headmaster had just returned to his study after supper after another grueling day dealing with that intolerable Umbridge woman. The other professors were ready to revolt against her tyrannical "educational decrees" that seemed to increase by the day. The Ministry was so desperate to deny the return of the Dark Lord that they were starting to act like him in many ways.
An incessant tapping at his window interrupted him in the act of sitting down behind his desk. Sighing, he stood back up and opened the window. And owl hopped in, and Albus took the rolled up piece of parchment from its leg. It was from Kingsley Shacklebolt, a senior Auror and secret member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Unrolling it, he realized it was charmed so that only the recipient could read what it actually said. He tapped his wand on it, and the letters rearranged themselves into a coherent message. Albus read it, let out a soft gasp, read it again, sat down in his chair, and read it once more. Sighing, he dropped the paper on his desk and buried his head in his hands.
"Fawkes, would you be so kind as to get Minerva for me?" He asked the Phoenix on its perch nest to him. The bird trilled and disappeared.
A few minutes later, Minerva entered his office, Her placid expression turned to one of worry when she saw the Headmaster sitting with his head in his hands. "What is it, Albus? What's wrong?"
Dumbledore gestured at the parchment that lay on the desk in front of him, but didn't look up. Frowning, Minerva picked the parchment up and read it. It was a short message:
Bellatrix Lestrange has escaped from Azkaban. Three Dementors are dead. Will keep you informed.
Minerva's eyes went wide, shock and a trace of fear were evident on her face. "Was it…him, Albus?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, not even Tom has the strength to kill a Dementor, let alone three of them. Besides, if Tom were going to go to the trouble of attacking Azkaban, and had that kind of power, I'm quite certain he would have broken more than just Bellatrix out. Many of his other most loyal Deatheaters are there as well."
Minerva collapsed into the chair across from the Headmaster. "How? How is this possible? I thought Dementors were unkillable!"
"They are, for humans and most other magical creatures. Even Unicorns or griffins cannot kill a Dementor. There are only two things that have ever been said that possess the ability to kill a Dementor. And both of those are thought to only be myth. It seems we were wrong." He sighed. "I am at a loss for an explanation."
Sighing again, Albus leaned back in his chair and looked at the unflappable Minerva McGonagall. She didn't look unflappable at the moment-her face was pale and her hands shook.
The Headmaster shook his head. "It seems a new player has entered the game."
A/N: ok, so the "Dark Dwellers" and the spell William used to summon them I borrowed from another fandom. Curious as to whether or not anyone can figure out which fandom they're from. Also, I'm curious to know if anyone can figure out who "The Lady" is, as I borrowed her from actual legends. The poem fragment at the beginning is the second stanza of the poem "Despair" by H. P. Lovecraft. Otherwise, again, I hope whoever read this chapter enjoyed it.