Chapter 44, Where Beginnings And Endings Meet

Showing up at Hogwarts for breakfast directly after napping in Ballan's coffin was a rather novel experience and one Hydra had not particularly expected to have. She supposed she had not expected to end up with Ballan in an overnight capacity until she had graduated Hogwarts. She had not thought it out, though, and sometimes these things just happened and when they did, one had to go with them. It was about grabbing life by the horns and going for the ride as it were. Being of age made one more tempted to live even if one had not graduated from school yet. That was what Hydra told Sortia at breakfast. The Slytherin held a pumpkin pastie in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other as she stood interrogation style behind Hydra's chair at the Ravenclaw table.

"It's just so odd, because you're usually the reserved one," Sortia marveled. "Are you aware that your hair is extremely mussed?" She asked dryly. "I don't think I've ever seen you with a hair out of place."

"It's the quiet ones you gotta watch out for don't ya know," James commented to Sortia around a full mouth of scrambled egg. He was seated beside Hydra as usual, and as usual equally dividing his focus between his food and the conversation his friends were having. More than once, Hydra had wondered how he managed to stay so wiry thin and eat like he did.

"Apparently," Sortia drawled. "So what's this Ballan like anyway?"

Hydra sighed dreamily."He was everything I knew he would be. It was amazing."

Sortia made a face and James guffawed.

"One day you'll find a bloke to go all Gaga over, Sortia," he said and Sortia shook her head, making another face.

"I dislike people too much to want to get too up close and touchy with any of them," she drawled.

"Guillermo swears you have knives up there anyway,"James snickered, then ducked as if expecting a hex. Guillermo had graduated the previous year, and not having him about felt weird. Today, though, Hydra was grateful for it, as she was certain his comments regarding her and Ballan would be uncomfortable and embarrassing.

"I shall have to speak to Professor Flitwick about making up whatever house points I probably cost our house by being out all night," Hydra told James, smoothly changing the subject before Sortia hexed him into next week.

"Actually, Loughness spoke to Filius last night, so you're good," Sortia said. "He said that you were helping deal with discoveries in the Elf Woods. Of course he left out the fact that you were also shagging your new vampire boyfriend." Sortia waggled her brows expressively and Hydra laughed.

"I owe Loughness big time. He helped out with Elf Woods things himself."

"Yes, I heard," Sortia said.

"I didn't yet though," James said before shoving half a wedge of toast into his mouth. "So dish!"

"Loughness can later," Sortia said. "It was his thing, so he would tell it better. It's a lot of elf stuff we probably can't help with anyway, but I like to be aware just in case." James nodded sagely. Hydra noticed that they'd all gotten more lax about making elf comments. With Delphini dead and school about to end for good, hiding didn't seem to really matter. Especially with elves free and beginning to take their place in society. "You did not answer my question, Hydra," Sortia said. "I asked what Ballan is like, not about yucky personal stuff. Let's talk about his personality, shall we?"

"Well he's," Hydra paused as she struggled for words. "He is brutal and violent when he hunts because he dislikes people. He seems to work out his aggression that way, and I guess it works for him. He's tough, and though he's had a hard life, he is not broken and he is no victim."

"A hard life," James asked before slurping his pumpkin juice.

Hydra shrugged. "It's his personal stuff that I'd rather not get into, but he was beaten up a lot by his former master."

"People are so evil sometimes," Sortia said. "People like that really do deserve a special place in hell. I hate bullies."

Hydra nodded. "He's funny, though, and smart, but he isn't comfortable around most people. And by people I mean elves, goblins, humans, whatever." She shrugged.

"Well he doesn't sound much like you," Sortia observed. "It's nearly time for class, James. Better hurry and shove the rest of that heaping plate down your gullet." Her lips twitched and James grinned.

"Right! I might starve before lunch if I don't."

"Sortia, do you think you can get me some energy potion from Severus before class," Hydra asked plaintively. "I gave myself an hour long sleep charm when the sun rose and that's all I've had."

"Sure, if you Apparate me to the dungeons. I don't have the time or inclination to go dashing about hoping I make it back in time not to be late for class."

"Of course," Hydra said hastily. She realized then fully how tired she was not to have suggested as much herself. "Sorry. We'll duck into that side corridor just outside The Great Hall, and no one shall see me Apparating us. Come on."

Ten minutes later, she sat beside Sortia in first period Defense Against The Dark Arts, feeling quite alert thanks to Severus's Pepper-Up Potion. She remained energized throughout the day, only waning when studying for her N.E.W.T.S after dinner that evening. Idly she wondered if she should write Ballan, then decided against it. She had nothing to say, as nothing interesting was going on. She did not wish to be one of those annoying clingy girls. Did she miss him a bit and would it be fun to hang out with him? Sure, but that wasn't practical until she graduated.

Then she would have all the time in the world to explore their relationship and practice with her band. For now, though, she would focus on N.E.W.T.S and only write to Ballan when she had any news about the situation with the Elf Woods. Of course at various moments throughout the next several days, her mind would interrupt itself in whatever it was doing to wonder idly if Ballan was thinking about her and if so what he was thinking precisely.

N.E.W.T.S weren't difficult as it happened, but truly she hadn't expected them to be. Of course the exams could've had surprise twist questions, but Hydra studied all the time and had high marks as a result, so felt ready for anything that any exam could throw her way when it came to her favorite subjects. At this point in her education, being free to choose her classes, her favorite subjects were all she chose to study. If she hadn't learned to like or appreciate a class by her sixth year, she saw no point in continuing to burden her mind with it. Unlike Loughness, she'd never liked Care Of Magical Creatures or Herbology. Her marks were always high in both, but she never enjoyed them. The next few weeks passed quickly, even though she spent most of the time studying. As she'd suspected, the N.E.W.T.S weren't even hard, so she need not have bothered. Ah well, it had been something to do.

To her shock, Ballan showed up at her graduation, sitting a little stiffly between Daddy Kreacher and Graven who had come with Wulfric to support Hydra, Loughness and Sortia. Guillermo was there as well, sitting beside the three Lestranges. His presence was a pleasant surprise. He'd written Loughness about traveling with his parents, so it was touching that he'd still returned from his travels for his friends graduation. A final unexpected moment of sentiment hit her as she walked across the stage to take her diploma from Albus.

It was the last time. The last time for anything at Hogwarts. Though she'd longed for this day so that she could finally be free to be an adult, facing Dumbledore in front of everyone had her choked up. He must have caught the feelings of the moment, for as he handed her the crisp sheet of parchment with a proud smile, he reached with his free arm to pull her close in a hug. "There's my favorite Ravenclaw," he murmured to her. "You have such a bright future ahead of you, Hydra. Hogwarts has been lucky to have you." Tears sprang to her eyes as she clung to him for a moment like a child. Such was all too easy, for she'd known the wise old headmaster her entire life. "I think I'm a little frightened," she choked out.

"The elf forest," he asked, and she gave a small nod. It was the concept of beginning life in general, though until that moment she had felt no fear over that in the least. It was mostly the unknowns of the Elf Woods that could be potentially dangerous. "We shall all sort it out," he reassured, before they stepped apart. Then it was Loughness's turn, and Hydra watched her brother take his diploma from Albus with a proud grin on her face that she just couldn't contain. Loughness wore a similar expression as Albus clapped him on the shoulder. Hydra was equally proud as she and her brother watched James and Sortia get their diplomas. Last year they'd all attended Guillermo's graduation, but it hadn't truly felt real. Albus whispered something to Sortia when it was her turn and she laughed. "What'd he say," Hydra asked when she joined them.

"That he finally took the tracker off my wand," Sortia grumped, but she was still smiling as she wiped at her eyes. Hydra understood well the mixed jumble of emotions her friend was feeling. She supposed graduation just brought that out. It was a huge stepping stone from careless youth into adulthood. When the final student, a Ravenclaw named Atticus Young, got his diploma from Albus, the entire seventh year body crossed the stage for a final time, and then it was into the boats for their ride across the lake.

"It's like dying," Sortia commented as she, Loughness, James and Hydra settled into a boat together.

"I thought you were gonna say that it's like the train compartment," James said. "Because it's always just us. Gods, Sortia, you're weird." He chuckled, gazing fondly over at her as he did.

Sortia shrugged. "No. It is like the cycle of life because we come in on the boats as first years and then leave in the boats as seventh years who have just graduated."

"Okay but the cycle of life is not the same as death," Loughness said.

"Tell that to a phoenix," Sortia said with a toss of her dark hair. Hydra smiled to herself, supposing that indulging in a bit of philosophy was the perfect way to leave school forever. The boats reached the other side of the lake quickly, and students began to embark, joining family and friends on the shore who had come to see them graduate. With that, the ceremony was at last over. "There is a party at the Hog's Head," Wulfric said as Hydra, Loughness, Sortia and James joined him, Graven and Guillermo. "Dad is so happy to be done here that he'll probably even get on with Aberforth for a minute," he added dryly. "You lot looked great, by the way!"

"Yeah," Graven agreed, looking bored. It was then that Hydra noticed that Ballan was not with them. What with so many things going on at once, and all the throngs of people, she had lost track of him. Glancing around hurriedly, she spotted him standing between her parents and still looking rather uncomfortable. She opened her mouth to tell him that there would be a party, but then realized that these would not be reassuring words. Ballan would hate a party!

He could not eat or drink, at least not without causing Aberforth Dumbledore some major problems, and he would not enjoy being surrounded by people he hardly knew. Not even if she shared her joke about Aberforth not being happy if he turned some of the Hog's Head customers into refreshments. She couldn't just skip out on the party, though. Should she tell him that they would catch up later that night and that if he did not wish to come, it was alright? Yes, that would probably be the kind thing to do, but what if it made him feel unwanted? Oh hell, but this was complicated!"Well, Girly, you're finished here! Are you ready for the big bad world?" Bellatrix's hand came down on Hydra's shoulder as the older witch spoke from behind her.

Hydra turned toward her and smiled. "Bella! It was so nice that you three made it."

"Of course we would. We're family," Bellatrix said dismissively. "Lyra extends her apologies for not coming. She's down with some sort of flu, and trust me, you don't want it. I've kept well away from her myself. She looks and sounds like death warmed over."

"Doesn't she live with you?"

Bella smirked. "It's a big manor, remember? Plenty big enough to avoid one's daughter when one wishes. She's complaining that Roddy and I aren't fussing over her, but we sent the goblin healers to attend and trust me they're expensive. They gave her meds and something to keep her sleeping through it and something for hydration. It cost us two-thousand Galleons, but is she grateful?" She shook her head, answering her own question with the gesture.

"Well I hope she feels better soon," Hydra said. "Send her our 'get well soon' wishes. I'll get her a card tomorrow."

"I'm sure she will like that," Bellatrix said dryly. "She enjoys such silly wastes of sentiment." Her face suddenly grew somber. "At times, I am almost beginning to feel that she stopped hating us for our choices that left her growing up in Australia."

"Did she not have a good life there with Rodolphus's cousins," Hydra asked, surprised.

"She did and she loves them nearly like her parents," Bella said. "Still, this does not stop her having resentment issues with us for making the mistake of following Voldemort." She shrugged. "We missed the teenage years, so perhaps she is simply making certain that we get them anyway." She glanced away. "Enough of that. It is your day. I just wanted to explain why she wasn't here. Let's go get drunk at the Hog's Head, shall we?"

That brought Hydra's thoughts back to Ballan. How was he going to do that? Suddenly she wondered if Bella might have some advice. "I," she began awkwardly. "I wonder if it would be too uncomfortable for my boyfriend at the Hog's Head? I want him to be there, but I don't want to be selfish. If he'd be miserable, I don't want that. I know he will have party anxiety because he doesn't like to be around a lot of people."

Bellatrix followed her gaze to Ballan, and smirked. "Yes, Regi did say you and he were an item now. Interesting! Why won't he enjoy the party? I hate most people, but I can enjoy a good party. Just force a lot of Firewhisky down a Muggle's throat, have your boyfriend feed from said Muggle, and he'll be as drunk as the rest of us. We've done that for Regi and Kreacher before, and it works fine."

Hydra brightened. "I shall suggest that to him. Thank you, Bella." She chuckled. "Now that you mention it, I do vaguely remember them being tipsy at a few Christmas parties and you saying you'd helped them out. I suppose I thought you meant you donated blood after getting drunk."

Bella chuckled. "No. I only did that after taking magic mushrooms. Something like that only requires a little blood for them to share in the experience. To be drunk, though, vampires need far more so it is more like dinner than a few sips from a wrist. If it's just the magic mushrooms, Rodolphus and I are always glad to help out, though."

It was nearly surreal standing here as other students met with their families to depart Hogwarts forever and talking about giving vampires blood so that they could get drunk or trip mushrooms. Things were never normal with the Lestranges, though, and Hydra supposed that was alright. Not normal was sometimes a good thing. Most of the time in her experience it was a good thing.

She and Loughness certainly weren't normal, after all. There were no other half elves running about. Though some surely existed somewhere, she had never met one. "Come on, then," Bellatrix said. "Let us get this show on the road. I shall help you to convince your new boyfriend to come along by assuring him that he will not be the craziest motherfucker in the room if he parties at the Hog's Head tonight." Hydra drew in a deep breath, then laughed. Either Ballan would run the other way, or Bellatrix would set him at ease. As it happened, neither was the case. He simply stared at Bellatrix skeptically, then shrugged. "Fine."

"Roddy and Rabastan and I are happy to funnel Firewhisky down the throats of a few homeless Muggles for you. Get good and drunk then people are far less annoying."

"I am aware," Ballan said.

"Hydra's band is playing too, so there will be dancing. I'm sure Mag can sing some and carry things while the two of you dance," she added, turning to Hydra.

Hydra was not aware that her band was playing. How had Mag not thought to mention as much? "Congratulations for graduating or whatever it is that one is supposed to say," Ballan told Hydra awkwardly.

Hydra grinned, reaching to hug him. "I have no idea what one is supposed to say, but thank you. I am so glad you're here, though I honestly did not expect it." She kissed his cheek and he flushed, though her embrace had seemed to calm him as his stiff posture relaxed.

"Alright, everyone," Bellatrix yelled. "To the Hog's Head."