Dissindere Temporalis
So I'm back!
It took a hot minute to get settled from the big international move, and then it took yet another hot minute to get my head back in the game but it is back and things are flowing again.
This isn't a perfect chapter, but it needed to come out, and it leads us into the next phase.
Fourth year was a ride...
Hope you're all well, and believe me, reading your reviews kept me sane, and kept me excited to come back.
Love you all,
Enjoy chapter 31!
Quaest Corvorum
"The Only Way to Truly Fail, Is To Give Up."
- Emily Rodda
There was dead silence in the Room of Requirement after Sebastian sheepishly shared what he'd learned from his mother.
Glancing around the room, Victoria catalogued the expressions, which ranged from horrified, to amused.
Ron was one of those who looked horrified, blue eyes wide and cheeks pale under his freckles. Druella also looked a bit sick, which was understandable considering that one of the people she was 'married' to was her twin brother.
Tom's face was impassive, and surprisingly Hermione also looked more thoughtful than shocked.
Aurora however…
She radiated joy.
Her eyes were shining, cheeks lightly flushed, and a smile bright on her lips. Understandably so, considering the looming betrothal to Lestrange. She was freed from that magical contract now, and her family couldn't renew it without her permission, and all of theirs too.
She was safe.
Tierra's eyes were flashing around the room, looking at everyone's reaction much like she was, but where Victoria was assessing dispassionately, she could see the concern in every line of the Hufflepuff's seated pose.
"So…" Harry broke the silence, face concerned, "We're all married? How does that even work?"
"Not married like your religious, muggle marriages, Potter," Draco drawled, but his eyebrows were slightly furrowed. "This will be the… more ancient version."
Tom's head turned towards Malfoy, expression shifting more towards curiosity now, "Explain."
Draco leaned back in his chair and considered his words carefully before he spoke, "Marriage in the magical world has had many iterations. The modern, muggle influenced, version is the white gown, handfasting, shared vows of faithfulness." His grey eyes flicked towards Aurora in a gesture so quick Victoria was sure most of them would have missed it.
She had not.
"Pureblood marriage is a contract, a way of keeping bloodlines 'pure' and does not allow personal feelings or preferences to interfere. The two are bound by a vow made by their parents or guardians when they are young, and there are very few ways to break it. They are married before they reach their majority, and once they are married they are bound for life."
Aurora shuddered.
"Pre-medieval tradition…which I believe is what we're talking about. Was far more… flexible and is now, naturally, far more obscure. I looked into it… after everything. Let me tell you this I worried my parents had made arrangements for my future."
For a split millisecond his gaze flicked towards Tom and then returned to Harry.
"Why naturally more obscure?" Kara asked, obviously curious.
Druella sniffed, "Because Pureblood society would not want their young progeny knowing there were other options than the path laid out for them."
Victoria eyed the beautiful Slytherin girl. Something had shifted in her since the bonding, since the Coven had been formed. There was something freer about her now, like she wasn't quite so worried about what people thought. No longer so tied up being perfect.
Victoria was glad that her family hadn't had nearly so many expectations of her.
Or rather she was glad she'd never had those expectations of herself.
Draco looked towards Druella, a small wry smile on his lips, and Victoria was reminded forcefully that Druella was Draco's grandmother, Sebastian was his great uncle. And he was… married to them.
She valiantly tried not to snicker.
Judging by Ross' side eye she had failed miserably.
"So what is… 'our kind of married' then?" Tom asked smoothly, voice completely unruffled.
Draco sighed
"It's not really 'married', but that is probably the closest modern equivalent. We've tied ourselves together magically, and socially. It isn't about romance… or reproduction but protection and a common, shared purpose or family. I guess the better way to say it is that we have all become family, be that siblings, adopted or… spousal. The choice is yours. We've become the people who have a say in our lives. We're now technically of age…we can't be bound in a conflicting vow. But it doesn't necessarily have to be a romantic or familial connection. It is what you choose it to be."
"Are you sure?" Abraxas asked, voice quiet, "I mean, I like all of you, but I…"
He looked so acutely uncomfortable she couldn't help twisting the dagger a little deeper.
"Don't want to shag us?"
"'Toria!" Kel whispered, scandalised, but Victoria felt a smirk slide over her lips at the dark flush creeping up Abraxas' pale skin.
"I don't see the problem." She informed her friends, haughtily, "I'd happily sleep with any of you when I'm older. Though…perhaps for my first time."
Her gaze trailed over the gentler members of the group, before finally resting on Harry.
He stared back, flummoxed.
The rest of the group looked adorably flustered.
She grinned, "My how scandalised you all look!"
Draco coughed with a laugh, "She's not wrong. The idea of bloodlines was more of an aristocratic thing. Before that mattered… any magical union was blessed, and by union I mean… "
He made a hand motion that made Ron choke on his oxygen and Abraxas' head disappear into his hands. But it left no illusions about what he was referring to.
"It makes sense." Victoria couldn't resist adding, enjoying the flustered atmosphere, "A witch sleeps with a number of magical partners, gets pregnant, the child is raised by the village. Or coven, I suppose."
"Except in our world now, bloodlines do matter." Abraxas managed to lift his head slightly to say, "The ancient families…"
"Have all intermarried so much that they all basically share the same… bodily makeup." Hermione pointed out, hesitating on the world, "In the future, science has proven that. Magic is linked to the traits we pass to our children, yes, but too close a pool of relatives and you get deformities, madness, and a raft of other incredibly unhealthy traits."
"Like the Gaunts," Tierra's voice was soft, but Victoria saw Tom's head snap towards her. Interestingly she didn't look at him, her eyes were distant and a little sad, "Grandfather always said that his family seemed cursed, fanatical… mad and twisted. Mum said that his family had thought he was a blessing, because he was a handsome boy. Until they realised he was… blind. Then they reviled him." she sighed softly, "They all married only the most hardline purists. So Black, Lestrange, Nott… or their own kin."
"It is the same with the Blacks," Abraxas' voice was very quiet, but they all heard, "They like to marry each other. I hear Walburga is actually contracted to one of her younger cousins."
Everyone shuddered. They might not like her, but such a fate was to be pitied.
If you were soft hearted.
Victoria was not. She shuddered imagining it, but otherwise felt no pity for the Slytherin girl.
She'd targeted Kel, someone Victoria felt very protective over, she'd hurt Ross, someone VIctoria felt very close to. She'd used the Cruciatus curse on Kara. For no reason other than the fact that the girl came from another way of life.
Personally Victoria agreed with Aurora, the girl needed a harsher retribution that what they had given her, and when the other Ravenclaw was ready to inflict it, she would be by her side assisting.
Abraxas meanwhile was frowning, "So what does marrying family have to do with… all that?"
Hermione sighed gustily.
"Muggle science proves that human bodies are made up of strands called genes." Harry explained carefully. What followed was a crash course in how inheritance was influenced by these genes, but what Victoria noticed was that Harry had a way of explaining things in a way that made sense.
He'd be a good teacher one day, she thought to herself as she considered what he'd shared.
Abraxas, meanwhile, was pale, "So in our attempts to strengthen the magic…"
"You've been destroying it." Draco nodded, "I had the same reaction Brax, it shook everything that I knew. I didn't believe it until they showed it to me and I studied it for myself."
"I was the same," Ron murmured, "Our hair colour, our eyes, our skin colour, our nose shapes… they are inherited."
Everyone fell silent, considering the lesson.
Aurora was the one to start laughing, and everyone else looked at her like she was absolutely mad.
"They hate Muggleborns because they see them as not Pure." She laughed, bleakly, "But Muggleborns make us strong. It's so sad it's funny. Look at Tom, and Harry, the most powerful in our year. Half-blood boys. It's ironic…. It's delightful."
Victoria snickered, she enjoyed Aurora's dark humour.
And then they heard Sebastian's quiet rumble of a laugh and then Tom's rich chuckle. Soon the entire group was laughing, because what else could they do?
It was so tragic that it was now comedic.
Weeks passed in relative quiet, allowing them all to focus on their studies as the end of their Fourth year approached.
All of them were careful not to expose their new bond, especially since the Ostara ritual had increased and deepened their magical pools. They still needed to learn, to study, but all of them found that they were less tired after complex spellwork, and that their defensive and offensive spellwork was stronger.
Charms was Victoria's favourite subject, and it was one that she tended to focus on to the exclusion of the others, and so it was there that she noticed the biggest jump in her ability.
It also gave her time to consider something she hadn't really mentioned to the others. Back at the beginning of the year they had begun work into looking for the hidden secrets of the Founders. They'd found the Chamber of Secrets, and they'd already learned of Slytherin's Scriptorium from the Diary of Ominis Gaunt.
Personally Victoria was far more interested in Ravenclaw's Repository. A place of knowledge, artefacts and lost power, but also a mystery to solve. She was less interested in the treasures within, than she was of the problem finding it.
One other remembered their initial plans.
And she was an excellent ally. Aurora was intelligent, fiercely so… but Victoria couldn't help but wonder if she was a little… too Slytherin for the task.
Where Victoria saw a complex lock, with clever tricks and quips to unlocking it, Aurora was always looking out for treachery. She couldn't help it, her brain inevitably schemed.
"It is a test for Ravenclaws." Victoria reminded her Housemate as they sat out on the grass. Spring had sprung and although the air was still cool and crisp, there was the wonderful smell of flowers in the air, "Wits, cleverness, research, logic, clear-headed thought."
Aurora rolled her eyes, tossing her satin dark hair over her shoulder with a soft huff, "It cannot be that simple or someone would have discovered it."
"Perhaps people have," Victoria sighed, "And kept it to themselves. Sometimes the very act of discovery is as much of value as the actual object."
Aurora sniffed, "I like results."
"That's because you've got a lot of Slytherin in you."
The dark eyed beauty smirked faintly, "How rude of you to say."
Victoria rolled her eyes with a smile, and turned back to the tome before her.
The conversation lingered with her however, and she found herself thinking about it after the exams were finished and everyone was enjoying the days of early summer.
It was a heady time of year, with clear blue skies.
And without the pressure of academics, even Victoria's ambitious friends found time to relax and enjoy the sunshine, freedom and each other's company.
One such afternoon she found herself next to Kara as they all lounged on the grass. The boys were playing some made up game involving a floating spell and twigs and a grass ball. Harry was laughing, and even Tom was smiling, those rare, real, smiles that he only really gave to them.
Nearby Ron was leaning against a tree, Druella was nestled against him. But interestingly, Weasley's blue eyes were looking over at Kelanna who was pale but smiling at the game, and Druella's gaze was lingering on the boy with the Lightning scar.
Victoria simply took note of it, and then continued to scan the group.
Abraxas was speaking quietly with Hermione, handsome face intent and openly honest. He was too good a man for the Pureblood politics, she could far too easily see how he would have been eaten alive in that other reality.
His only hope would have been marrying someone like Aurora, a wife who would have been able to play the political game as ruthlessly as possible and support him. All he'd had was Voldemort, and that was a scant comfort.
Especially when his eyes always lingered a second too long on the redheaded, muggleborn girl sitting beside Victoria herself.
Prompted by her thoughts, she glanced over and saw Kara was reading a book.
The Hobbit.
What a strange title.
"It's a muggle book." Kara had clearly noticed her looking at the paperback in her hands, "It's actually rather wonderful, he's created this whole world…"
"What's a hobbit?" She found herself asking, bored enough to be curious.
"It's a small person with hairy feet, they live in a place of green rolling hills, love good food and growing things. Peaceful folk."
Victoria frowned slightly, "Why would that make for an interesting story?"
Kara smiled, "Because this particular Hobbit, Bilbo, goes on an adventure, further than any Hobbit with dwarves and elves and dragons. He goes even though he is afraid."
Something tickled in Victoria's head and she looked up at Kara once more, "Do you read many of these… sort of stories?"
"Oh yes," Kara nodded, grinning, "I've always been a sucker for a grand adventure. The mysteries, the dangers, the riddles…"
"Riddles?" Victoria's ears definitely perked up now, "How does one begin on a quest Kara?"
The red haired Gryffindor blinked at her, bemused, "Well usually the quest is given to them by someone, someone wise or ancient or knowledgeable."
Victoria's mind raced, "Oh."
She was jolted from her whirling thoughts by a gentle hand touching her shoulder and she looked up into Kara's worried gaze, "You alright?"
"Yes," she smiled reassuringly, "You've just given me an idea."
She walked the halls in the dead of night.
Tomorrow was the last day of the school year, tomorrow evening was the end of school feast where the winners of the House Cup would be announced.
Not that that was in question. Slytherin had thrashed everyone for the fourth year in a row.
Then the following morning they would be gone for the summer.
She had to have this answered before then.
It was a quiet tower with intricate moving stairs where she found the famous portrait. One of a beautiful woman with long heavy hair, dark intelligent eyes and with a silver circlet on her brow.
"Hello little one," She greeted warmly, her voice a wonderfully soothing, rich scottish burr, "I wondered when one of you would come speak to me."
Victoria blinked, "You, know of me?"
"Dearest," Ravenclaw laughed softly, "There is very little that goes on in this castle that I do not know of. I just do not share it. Intrigue and politics are for the living, and my time has passed. Of course I know of you, and your friends, and while I cannot be sure, I suspect the first true coven since Arthur's court." her eyes saddened then, "Sweet boy. Driven, determined, Merlin as well…but in the end, made all the wrong choices."
Victoria moved forward, "We have… seen things about Arthur, and about Merlin."
"Indeed," Ravenclaw murmured softly, voice sad, "It was a turbulent time, with young passionate people determined to change the world. Much like your own young Coven. And yet… so very different."
Victoria bit her lip, on one hand she wanted to know so much more. She wanted to know everything about that time, because something was tying them together. There was some link between Arthur and Albion and them. And the mystery was frustrating.
But this was not the mystery she had come here to solve.
Lady Ravenclaw smiled softly at her conflicted face.
"Dear one, you may always return to speak with me. I always welcome one of my little fledglings. Especially one as… free thinking as you."
"Some call it apathy. Laziness."
That drew a laugh from the painting, "Better to know your mind, your passion than pursue skills with little value to you. Many discoveries have been made with wide ranging interests… but more still have been found with obsession."
Victoria licked her lips slightly.
"I have come because… I believe you can set me on the path to your Repository."
Ravenclaw's dark eyes gleamed.
"You do not simply wish me to tell you where it be?"
Victoria's nose wrinkled without her permission and Rowena laughed warmly.
"Clever girl. You know the value of discovering for yourself. Very well."
She settled and smiled softly.
"Listen then little apprentice." she closed her eyes and then she began to speak her voice almost incanting, like a spell, like a verse, like a song.
"To find your path you must ascend
To the home of a feathered friend.
There you'll find the guardians four
Choose wisely, or else choose no more.
So dear bird take care which one you take
For each one can cause a heart to break.
One is cruel, one isn't fair.
One is a sacrifice, one is a snare.
Choose wisdom, choose and then it may
Open and set you on your way."
Victoria sighed.
"You made the Sorting Hat sing its silly songs didn't you?"
Rowena's eyes crinkled at the corners.
"Be sure to come back, once your quest is complete, little bird." she murmured with a fond smile, "Once you return… you will be ready to hear of Arthur… and the shadows of the past."
And the painting went still.
No matter what Victoria said, or tried, nothing would make it move once more.
The next day, the last day before summer, she was conflicted. Did she share the riddle? Did she ask for help from the others?
Or did she keep it to herself, as a part of her jealously wanted to.
This was her thing, her right as a Ravenclaw.
But Harry had shared the Room of Requirement and the Chamber of Secrets.
Was she being selfish?
"You seem pre-occupied." Kel's sweet voice was gentle as she sat beside her, soft doe eyes full of concern. On the other side she felt warmth, and smelled the comforting scent of woods in spring. Tierra.
"I'm having weighty thoughts and my soul isn't used to the exercise." Victoria retorted fondly and sighed, "I… found something. About Ravenclaw's Repository. I got given a clue…to find it. Or at least start finding it."
Kel's eyes widened, "You did?"
"Yes." Victoria looked down, "And now… now I find myself torn. Because a part of me wishes to share. To converse and gain the knowledge of my peers, and the other part…"
"Wishes to seek it yourself, without needing to share the glory?" Kel sounded a little too understanding.
She groaned and let her head thump down, "I am a bad person aren't I?"
"No." Tierra nudged her gently, "I think, you have not had many things to be passionate about in your life. You're too smart, too shrewd, too analytical." she brushed her fingers through a stray strand of Victoria's hair, "Finally you have something that interests you, excites you… you do not wish the dominating personalities we love to take it over."
"You're such a Hufflepuff," Victoria muttered, even as she knew that the other girl was right, "What should I do?"
"That is your choice Victoria," Kel lightly kissed her temple, "You have begun the quest. It is yours to share. But we are here if you need us."
A quick glance at the 'Puff, revealed that she was nodding too.
"You two are no help," she grumbled, and continued to even as both of them hugged her.
She put the choice to the side for now, and decided to consider the riddle over the Summer hols. If she was still stumped come Fifth Year… then she might have to reconsider her options.
The train ride back to London was full of laughter and smiles.
But there was a tension underneath it too.
They'd all gotten used to each other being close by. Their Coven bond seemed to find reassurance in that fact.
But now they will be apart for two months.
This summer Tom was going with Harry to the Potter home, along with Ron. Hermione was staying with her grandfather, Draco with his adopted parents.
The rest of them would be going home, and both Abraxas and Aurora looked a little tense and nervous over that was no longer bound to the Lestrange match, and Abraxas… had had his entire world view upended.
Ron and Druella were holding hands, cuddled up comfortably.
Girls kept stopping by the carriage to wish Tom a good holiday, and his smirk was getting ever more insufferable.
Until Eli Diggory stopped by, handsome and sweet.
"See you next year Miss T," he said, eyes locked on Tierra's face, "I'll write to you yeah?"
"Yeah." Tierra blushed prettily, and as soon as Diggory was gone, the girls pounced. Questions flew.
But Victoria found her gaze flicking instinctively to Tom's face.
He looked like he was sucking on a lemon, and the Ravenclaw rather thought if Tom was inclined, Diggory would be getting a sharp and savage lesson in spellwork.
"To find your path you must ascend
To the home of a feathered friend.
There you'll find the guardians four
Choose wisely, or else choose no more.
So dear bird take care which one you take
For each one can cause a heart to break.
One is cruel, one isn't fair.
One is a sacrifice, one is a snare.
Choose wisdom, choose and then it may
Open and set you on your way."
Victoria murmured to herself, back home in her family manor, a full week after the end of term. Her parents and her younger brother and sister were asleep, the house was quiet.
But her brain was awake.
She hadn't slept in days. Not really.
"Ascend…" she murmured, "To ascend is to go up…to the Owlery of course!" she snapped her fingers, "The home of a feathered friend. An Owl. But… guardians…? There's nothing interesting in the Owlery…?"
Or maybe there was, and she just hadn't paid it any kind of attention.
She was honestly struggling to remember what it looked like.
"To find your path you must ascend
To the home of a feathered friend.
There you'll find the guardians four
Choose wisely, or else choose no more.
So dear bird take care which one you take
For each one can cause a heart to break.
One is cruel, one isn't fair.
One is a sacrifice, one is a snare.
Choose wisdom, choose and then it may
Open and set you on your way."
She heard a soft whoosh from the fire and looked around with a smile, to take in the sight of Ross, all tousled curls and cheeky grin, wearing his sleepshirt.
"I can't believe that actually worked," he whispered, brushing ash off his clothes, "I thought for sure it would still be blocked. Like all parental control spells."
"Oh I found my way around it years ago," Victoria shifted over in bed and smiled as Ross clambered in, wrapping his arms around her. He was still slender, but she rather thought he'd have his big growth spurt next year, "I'm just very careful."
"You're very smart is what you are." Ross grinned and pressed a kiss to her forehead, the two of them soaking in the comfort of being close to at least one of their Covenmates. "I was glad you reached out to me."
"Don't get too cocky." she huffed at him, even as she snuggled herself even closer, "I would have taken anyone."
Ross grinned against her hair, "Liar. We both know I'm your favourite."
She pinched him, and the two of them giggled together before they finally fell asleep.
As they did Victoria felt like she could sense each of the others. Each like an individual star in the firmament.
Each… safe and sound.
And it made her smile, even as she finally succumbed to the sweet restoration of sleep.
TBC
No review responses today, too much time between drinks, but the responses will be back next chapter!
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