La Vie en Rose
Summary: The best thing about being seen as nothing more than pitiful, traumatized children is that no one would believe it possible for any of them to conspire with the Fae to kidnap the Girl-Who-Lived. FemHarry.
Just a warning: FemHarry, AU, Language, Clichés, Non-Cannon Character Death, More in the Future…
Just so you know (Name): FemHarry's name is Andromeda Rhoswen Potter. The name Andromeda means "Ruler/Protector of Men" and was the name of an Ethiopian princess whose mother angered the gods. To placate the gods, Andromeda was fastened to a rock to be used as a sacrifice to a sea monster, from which she was rescued by Perseus. In astronomy, Andromeda is a large northern constellation between Perseus and Pegasus as well a galaxy located two inmillion light years away. Rhoswen is a Welsh name meaning "White Rose" as well as "Fair/Blessed Rose".
I don't own anything related to Twisted Wonderland or Harry Potter!
Chapter 8. Begonia for Patron of Science
ANDROMEDA
The very air around her seemed to change with every step she took. Walking in silence, Andromeda ignored the whispers coming from the shadows clinging to her pleated skirt, trying to entice her away from her path with secrets and words thrumming with power that only the most desperate would dare to seek.
Their attempts were almost laughable.
Power was something she had never wanted. And secrets? Secrets were useless for someone like her. Andromeda had no need for them now that the war was over, and she was sent away from Hogwarts.
She stopped abruptly at the reminder, closing her eyes as she took a deep, shuddering breath.
Her eyes burned with unshed tears, heart squeezing painfully against her chest as thought about why she had found herself walking through the seemingly endless corridor of shadows for the past hour.
"Ron sent me away," she whispered weakly, lips curling in a bittersweet grimace.
A part of her wished she didn't understand why he had done such thing but, as resigned and heartbroken as she was for having another choice being taken from her by someone she trusted, Andromeda did understand.
Ron loved her. From the moment he took her hand in King's Cross Station when they were nothing more than two small eleven-years old, promising to always stay by her side, Andromeda never saw herself doubting him. And because he loved her, the red-haired wizard wasn't afraid of taking matters into his own hands if he thought it would keep her safe – He wasn't afraid of ignoring all logic and all the threats made by their own government so he could act like her overly emotional older brother instead of her paranoid strategist.
So, she did understand why he had chosen to get her out of the situation when they found themselves backed to a corner. It wasn't the first time he had done such thing, much less the last (She still felt a wave of sheer terror whenever she recalled the scared but brave – so very brave – boy who pushed her away so he could face Aragon and his children on his own). Unfortunately, understanding and resigned acceptance didn't mean she had to like it.
Especially when she couldn't help but wonder if sending her away was even worth all the trouble it would cause.
Sighing softly, Andromeda rubbed her face with a trembling hand.
As much as she hated this situation, she knew that it was for the best. By this point, she was far too broken to stand up for herself and all she was doing was hurt her family. So, she shoved her fears and doubts aside in favor of believing that Ron was capable enough to deal with any obstacle that crossed his and the D.A's path before he joined her wherever she was going (And he would come. Of that she had no doubt). And, although she still didn't know what she was meant to do aside from trying to stay for her brother's sake, Andromeda could and would adapt until then.
She blinked, snapping herself out of her thoughts when the shadows started pulling at her skirt excitedly, the whispers barely recognizable to her ears.
Raising her head, Andromeda noticed the way some of the shadows started dancing, familiar footsteps getting closer and closer. She relaxed a little, waiting until a familiar being with eyes identical to hers stepped from the shadows to tower over her.
"I honestly expected you to fight Ignatius a little," he cooed. "But to my surprise, you actually complied to his wishes."
"It's Ron," she said as though that explained everything that was going through her head.
And to her Grandfather, it did.
"Of course," the Fair One chuckled, echoes of laugher reverberating through the dark corridor.
Some of the shadows rose from their feet as he stepped close to her, twisting and curling around their legs and pulsing with power. If she took the time to listen, Andromeda knew that under the excited whispers and pleading surrounding them, she would've heard the familiar sound of hearts beating in unison.
"Are you ready to go, my Rose?" her Grandfather asked, reaching to gently raise her head so he could have a better look of her face.
Andromeda closed her eyes, thinking for a moment before she asked, " Where are we going?"
The Lord of the Shadows hummed.
Then, he opened his mouth to answer. It wasn't with his own voice that he spoke though – It was Ron's. Andromeda blinked rapidly upon hearing the familiar cadence of his voice, a tear streaming down her face as her eyes glimmered with a mixture of longing and melancholy.
When was the last time she saw him? Two hours ago? Maybe less? Not that it didn't matter – She already missed him (But she could wait, Andromeda reminded herself. She would wait).
"I want you to send her somewhere, anywhere, no one in Britain aside from the D.A. will be able to find her," her Grandfather said, repeating the words Ron gave him when sealing his side of the deal. "Somewhere Andy can find finish her education and find a better future for herself away from those who'll try to use her. Somewhere she'll be safe. Somewhere she won't be alone," She blinked as her best friend's – her brother's – voice started to fade away, cracking with every word as though he was trying to not cry, "Somewhere she'll find a reason to hope again."
Andromeda shook her head slowly, heart heavy. Finishing her education was easy (Something that Herm – That she would surely approve). But the small witch didn't think the other parts of his requests was even possible.
How could she possibly think of a possible future when she could no longer bring herself to even think about it? How could she interact with anyone when she was far too scared to drag more people in the tragic mess that was her life? And hope…?
A heartbroken laugh left her lips.
She wasn't going to make the mistake of believing she has a chance of hoping. Andromeda had already allowed herself to fall for that trap with Headmaster Dumbledore, only for Kingsley to prove that it was nothing but lie.
Doing so again would just break her more.
"No, Rhoswen, do not make that face," her Grandfather let out a sweet, soft warble, making her look at him again.
She relaxed at sound, the same one that has never stopped to bring her a sense of comfort ever since she was nothing more than a small seven-years old little girl the Lord of Shadows once found freezing to death in a fairy ring.
"I do so hate that face," Grandfather continued. "You are meant to smile, my dear."
Andromeda looked at him sadly.
"I'm sorry," the green-eyed witch whispered.
"You've nothing to apologize for," he patted her cheeks lovingly. "But now I can see why Ignatius wanted more than just your safety."
The small girl didn't say a word, unsure by what he meant with that. Recognizing this, the Fae shook his head and gave her a look she had seen a lot on Ron's face before, one that she had yet to decipher.
Wishing to wipe that look away, Andromeda pointed out gently, "You have yet to tell me where we're going…"
There was a paused.
His mood changed in a blink of the eyes. Slowly, his lips curled up in a smile that won't have looked too out of place on a cat.
"Ah, yes," he said. "Forgive me, lovely."
He waved a hand, and the shadows beneath their feet seemed to freeze for a second. Then, a moment later, the shadows coalesced in the space next to them, twisting and turning until a door outlined by a faint silver aura stood in their place. It was made from elder wood, weathered and worn by the passage of time, holding an air of mystery that beckoned those that saw it to turn the doorknob and learn its secrets.
"What is this?" Andromeda asked, stepping back until she was caged in her Grandfather's arms.
"Well," the Lord of Shadows said, resting his chin against her head. "A door."
She made a face.
"Grandfather…"
He chuckled. The answer she got was accompanied by a laugh, the sound reverberating through the corridor as the shadows echoed their master. And, unsurprisingly, it clarified absolutely nothing.
"Very well… Allow me to tell you about Twisted Wonderland."
YMIR
He knew something wasn't right from the moment he woke up that morning and headed to his lab.
Ymir was a man of science and had little to no interest in matters of divination but, the more incidents happened, the harder it was for him to ignore the signs. Especially when said sings were practically being thrown into his face one after the other; from his coffee machine refusing to work to his favorite pair of earrings going missing.
Allowing a low curse to leave his lips, Ymir gave up on trying to threaten his coffee machine into working and looked around angrily, mouth open and ready to start ranting about his how rotten morning was proving to be.
But the purple-haired man stopped, making a long pause before a frown made its way to his face.
He had only now noticed that there was no one else there in the room with him to hear his compliments like usual. Which wasn't right – Where had his buffoon of an assistant gone? The empty-headed mountain of muscles was always the first one to wake up and head to the kitchen in the morning.
"Baldur!" he called. There was no answer. Not even a single sound. " BALDUR!"
Ymir took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly in an attempt of not losing his cool. Nothing happened, he reassured himself. Everything was perfectly fine – It was more likely that the idiot had saw a squirrel in the garden again and decided to stop for a chat. Again.
Keeping that in mind, he ran a pale hand through his long hair and stomped out of the kitchen. Ymir made a pause when he reached the front door, thinking about it for a moment before turning around and making his way towards his room. The balcony had a good view of the back garden where Ymir knew – hoped – he would find Baldur.
Much like the madman he knew people called him behind his back, Ymir threw the glass doors of the balcony open and leaned against the railing, digging his nails into the stones as he scanned the garden in search of B. And when he did find his idiotic assistant, the scientist felt his apprehension (Never fear – He refused to admit being scared of anything other than those accursed creatures) vanish in an instant.
Despite calling Baldur some not nice names at times, Ymir believed the buffoon to have a brain under all the mass of muscles. The tall, slim man thought he had hammered enough warnings in the idiot's thick skull to make Baldur understand the dangers of throwing caution to the winds whenever dealing with strangers. And yet, there he was, talking in surprisingly low tones and exuberant enthusiasm with what seemed to be a noble man. Honestly, just the sight of them together was enough to make Ymir want to scream and tear something apart. Who was that man, and what gave him the right to intrude in his private property and talk to his assistant? Was he why his morning hadn't been going as well as Ymir would've liked?
Ymir opened his mouth to tell the noblemen to leave but something caught his eyes. He could feel his skin paling, ears ringing as he stared at the shadows dancing beneath the intruder feet. That, he thought a little hysterical, wasn't a stranger, much less a man.
No.
That was a Fae – One that Ymir wished he never had the misfortune of meeting.
"Good Morrow, Ymir Tecuampil," the creature said, raising his head slowly to look at him with dark amusement. He more than likely found the expression on the scientist's face to be entertaining. "I've been waiting for you."
No, Ymir wanted to scream. No!
Terror burned in his veins as he stared at the marble-like face of High Lord of Shadows, the Fair One known by mortals only as Lord Raven. The creature smirked and Ymir almost doubled over, a sick feeling clogging his throat he saw it. That smirk was the same one that had refused to leave his nightmares for the past twenty years, and the purple-haired man had fight to collapse in a pile of nerves right there and then.
He jumped when someone snapped their fingers. Ymir blinked, waiting for the black spots that had appeared on his vision to disappear before taking a deep breath in a poor attempt of retain even if only a little semblance of calm. Under all his fear, he felt a spark of anger and cursed himself for losing control in this manner and allowing himself to be seen as weak (Ymir just knew the creature was going to use this to his advantage later on somehow).
"Why?" he choked on the word, wondering if opening his mouth hadn't been a grave mistake while biting his tongue to keep himself from saying anything that could and would get him killed or cursed. "Why are you here?"
What had Ymir done now?
He blinked, and Lord Raven was suddenly perched in the stone railing much like the bird Ymir knew he was. Elegantly, he rested a chin against the palm of his hand and tilted his head.
"I do believe you own me," the Fair One said, looking down at him as though he was dealing with a misbehaving preschooler. Every word that came out of his mouth sounded more like poison to Ymir, making him flinch, "I know how weak the memories of mortals can be, but you didn't forget about it… Did you?" he asked nonchalantly, managing to make it sound threatening.
Forget?
Ymir sank his teeth into his tongue to stop the bitter laugher from leaving his lips. Ha! As though that was even a possibility for him! As though he could forget the Fae that had ruined everything with tricks and sweet deals, twisting his thoughts until Ymir could do nothing aside from questioning his own sanity. In the end, the purple-haired mage had turned into the mad and paranoid bastard everyone once accused him to be, being left only with a ruined reputation, a banishment and a punishment worse than death (And whenever he was alone without anything to distract the direction his thoughts were heading, Ymir wondered what would have happened, what he would've done, had his foolish, idiotic Baldur decided to abandon him to his fate as well).
Clenching his hands in an attempt of grounding himself as unwanted images flashed before his eyes. Ymir opened and closed his mouth until managed to force himself to answer.
"No. I didn't," he said, voice coming out a little strange.
There was paused before he added:
"My Lord."
Lord Raven gave him a look, lips curling up in a smile filled with dark amusement as otherworldly, cold green eyes glowing with power.
A part of him balked at the sight, wishing nothing more than to grab Baldur and run as far as humanly possible. But another part, one that was far weaker but always present in the back of his mind, wanted nothing more than to sink his nails into the creature's face and rip that disgusting smile with his bare hands.
"What –" Ymir licked his fry lips, taking a deep breath and choosing to ignore both parts for now. "What can I do for you, Lord Raven?"
That was the right thing to say because the Lord of Shadows hummed in acknowledgment and jumped from the railing, standing far too close to Ymir for his liking. By the corner of his eyes, the shadows around them flickered, making the dark-purple eyed man gave a step back instinctively before he noticed what he was doing and forced himself to stop. It won't do for him to show more weakness than he already had.
Having yet to move from his spot in the garden, Baldur stared up at them with an uncharacteristic frown on his face. Ymir didn't even get the chance of starting to contemplate what could be possibly going through the buffoon's head before the Fair One started speaking once more.
"You'll be happy to know that your application for the position as Head Healer in Night Raven College has been accepted," Lord Raven clapped mockingly. "Congratulations."
There was long and uncomfortable moment of silence. Ymir's face twisted, eyes staring at the Fair One with confusion until it clicked. A few months ago, he remembered, Baldur came to him to talk about NRC and how the arcane school was looking for new additions to the staff. He hadn't paid too much attention to it at the time, far too more preoccupied with the highly volatile boiling in his cauldron to do more than hum and nod his head impatiently whenever his assistant asked about him something...
Wait...
He didn't, Ymir thought, eyes wide in horror as he turned to look at Baldur who gave him a stupidly happy grin. He did... The buffoon really did it.
"I think there was a mistake," Ymir tried to deny through gritted teeth, his mind trying and failing to understand why the job was important and what the Fair One had to do with it. "I hadn't worked as a Healer in more than ten years."
"And now you will work in the field again," the green-eyed Fae stated, uncaring. "Isn't it wonderful?"
Ymir chocked in anger.
This just didn't make sense to him. How was the Lord of Shadows involved with NRC and why did he want him to take this job? It had to be extremely important, and it almost physically pained Ymir to not know the answers for those questions. The feeling of uncertainty, the fear of what was going to happen to him, far was too much for him and, before his brain even registered what was happening, his mouth was already moving.
"Why I'm even getting this job? What do you want?!"
The scientist cursed himself, hoping the Fae didn't take offense and wondering if there was way for him to keep him from opening his mouth ever again. He truly wasn't too eager to walk to death so early in life – No. Death was actually a pretty good alternative over everything the Fair One could do to him in retaliation; he was still traumatized from what happened last time (Even after all those years, he still couldn't bring himself to look at his idiotic nephew without having nightmares about tuna cans, hairballs and yarn).
Fortunately (Or maybe it was unfortunately), the Fae didn't take offense. Ymir felt a shiver run down his spine when Lord Raven bared his teeth in a large, nightmarish smile and his otherworldly green eyes glowering with malicious glee and the shadows rose from all corners around them.
"I'm so happy you asked," he said with a purr.
Ymir really needed to learn how to shut up.
Hope you liked it and please, don't forget to:
Review, Favorite or Follow and if you have questions/suggestions, just send me a PM.
– Cissnei.