The Mysterious Department
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's. Still.
AN: The Discord server's still up, running, and steadily growing. Do come join us!
You can find the links to the audiobooks hosted on Spotify and Apple Podcasts via my website or my discord! The audiobook chapters have now got all the way to the end of the fourth book!
Early access chapters are all on my website, but, of course, require a detour through the-site-that-must-not-be-named.
discord. gg / 7D7dWjzKac alltheblankcanvas. com
This is the FFN approved version of this chapter, if you want the short bit off the end, you'll find it on my website where it breaks no rules! It's not the sort of writing I usually do and isn't crucial to the story, though I have designed this bit and those that will follow on to add more to the story than just cheap smut, but I like to try new things and this seemed as good a place as any to experiment. The choice is all yours!
The Mysterious Department
The gold and red hangings trembled in the faint breeze from the window. A tally of scratches marked the frame above his head. A dull rustle of clothes and sheets drifted from beyond his gaudy curtain.
"Did you manage to get any of your essays done after I went to bed?" Neville's voice carried through the hangings.
"No." Harry pulled his robes on and dragged himself out of bed. A faint ache sapped his limbs.
Today will be a quiet day.
"It's due after lunch," Neville said.
"I'll finish it in Transfiguration." Harry pressed his hair down with both hands. The tufts sprang back up the instant he removed his fingers. "Breakfast first!"
Katie warmed her feet in one of the chairs by the fire. "Morning Harry, morning Neville." She giggled. "Nice hair, Harry."
"Thanks." Harry smoothed it down, but dislodged his bag from his shoulder, spilling his Astronomy books onto the floor. "It's just going to be one of those days, isn't it?"
Katie bounded from her chair and handed his book back to him, then led the way out of the room toward the Great Hall.
Might as well hold onto it and do some while we eat. As long as Katie doesn't spill anything, I can add an extra inch or so.
"Planning to get some done during breakfast?" Neville asked.
"Yeah. I reckon I can get a few inches in on Callisto's craters before we have to go to transfiguration and then I'll finish on Ganymede."
"That should get you all the way."
"I remember my Owl year astronomy." Katie sighed. "George and Fred developed the punching telescope that year, I'm sure it ruined the class" grades."
"Is that why the three of you were always wearing eyeshadow?" Harry asked.
A touch of red coloured Katie's cheeks. No. I might've been trying to catch someone's attention and Alicia and Angelina sort of emulated me."
"Well, I did notice."
Katie's blush turned a little darker. "Who said it was you?"
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Fine. It was."
"I knew it." Harry grinned. "It did make you look cute."
"Cute?" Katie scrunched up her face. "I didn't want to look cute, it was supposed to make me sexy. "
Harry chuckled. "It didn't work."
"Oh look," Nev remarked. "First year Hufflepuffs."
"No, Nev, don't encourage her-"
Katie took off cackling and casting corridor jinxes after them.
"She'd been so good until you reminded her," Harry chided. "Barely an attack in the last few days."
The first years escaped into the Great Hall and Katie stopped to wait by the entrance.
"Bad Katie." Harry wagged his finger at her as they found a space to sit. "You're supposed to have been reformed."
"No real Dark Lady ever reforms. Once you've chosen something, you've got to stick to it." Katie helped herself to orange juice. "Especially if it's something important to you."
Too true. Harry moved her goblet to the opposite side of her plate, away from his essay. He scanned the table for papers, but found only the one copy of Teen Witch Weekly. Which I will never read. Ever.
Katie gathered the toast, butter, and the bacon plate. Harry eyed her sandwich materials.
"If you touch my sandwich again, I'll castrate you with this." She waved the butter-smeared knife under his nose. "Bacon thief."
"Won't that just lead to you being disappointed later, Katie?" Nev asked.
Katie turned crimson and took a huge bite out of her sandwich.
Harry laughed. "And finally, after weeks of being teased about Hermione, Nev gets his revenge."
He tugged out a quill and some ink. Now what rubbish shall I write about Callisto?
"Either of you know anything about Callisto?" Harry glanced between
Neville and Katie. "Literally anything will do."
"What's it worth?" Katie demanded. "I'll take payment in sexual favours…"
Harry chuckled. "Not from me, you won't. Especially not after you've castrated me with that knife."
"You have to come to the next DA meeting and teach the Patronus Charm," Nev said.
Katie nodded. "That or the sexual favours."
"Fine." Harry pointed his quill at Katie. "To the DA meeting. Not whatever twisted fantasy you're coming up with over there." She pouted. "You can only resist for so long, Harry!"
"You two are a weird pair." Nev shook his head. "Anyway, Harry's not been to a meeting since the first time and it's almost the beginning of the Christmas Holidays."
"Have they all got the hang of Shield Charms?" Harry asked.
"Everyone's capable of casting most of the OWL level spells," Nev said. "I've been getting them to practice dueling with each other." "That's a good idea," Harry said.
"Patronus is next." Nev grimaced. "Hermione keeps bugging me about it."
"I'll come and teach it, then." Harry tapped his essay. "Now, about Callisto?"
"I wrote a whole paragraph about its naming and how old it is compared to other satellites," Nev said. "Try and use lots of long words to stretch things out, Ron repeated the word the twice every time he needed it to make it longer. He claims that nobody ever notices."
"Has anyone?" Harry asked.
"Hermione noticed straight away. She made him rewrite it last night before you came back from detention."
"That's a shame." Harry brushed crumbs off his essay. "I would've quite liked to see what Professor Sinistra did."
"She gets very strict when anyone disrespects her subject," Katie said. "I heard that at the end of our OWL year she collected all the punching telescopes that Fred and George made, mixed them in with the others, and then gave them a detention separating them for all the disruption they caused."
"I think that was just a rumour," Nev said.
"Maybe." Katie took another bite out of her sandwich as she turned to Harry, scattering a few more crumbs across his essay. "Still a good story, though."
Harry swept the crumbs off. "I will steal it if it goes on my essay…"
"Sorry." She finished it in several bites and gulped down some orange juice, then leant close and peered into his face. "Are you really wearing pieces of plastic in your eyes, Harry? Hermione was telling everyone that must be what you'd done if you weren't wearing glasses anymore."
"They're called contact lenses," Harry said. "It's like wearing really small glasses on your eye."
"That's kind of weird," Katie said. "But you do look better without them, nobody will mistake you for Myrtle's descendant now." "Thanks," Harry said. "You do remember we dated, right?"
Katie pulled a weak grin onto her face. "I try not to think about it, actually." She shifted on the bench. "You two should probably go. You don't want to be late and then get caught writing an essay for Sinistra in McGonagall's lesson."
Harry tucked his essay back into his bag and got up. "I'm still an inch or so short."
Katie cackled. "Don't worry, Harry. Not every girl's obsessed with length. Girth's important too!"
He choked. "What?"
"What?" She beamed back at him, all bright innocence and cheer.
Nev turned red and swung himself out from under the bench. "I'm still here, you two."
"Well, I'm not. I'll see you later, degenerate Katie."
"You love it, Harry." Katie gave him a wave and knocked her goblet over everything nearby. "Damn it!"
"Narrow miss that," Harry said as they headed toward the Middle Courtyard.
"She has a thing for forgetting where she's put her drink, doesn't she." Nev laughed. "Normally, I'm the clumsy one."
"You still are, Nev. Last time we had Potions, you nearly knocked over our cauldron and melted a desk. Katie just hates goblets for some reason."
Harry grabbed a seat at the back of the class and tucked his homework beneath his classwork. "Right. One last inch or so and I'm done." He tapped the quill on the desk.
"Run out of ideas?" Nev whispered. "This doubling charm thing seems tricky…"
"I feel like I'm trying to explain what's in the teacup to Trelawney. It's painful," Harry complained.
"It's probably a Grim." Nev smiled. "Astronomy isn't that bad, though.
The only things Trelawney ever predicted successfully were Hermione leaving her class and me breaking her teacup."
And Pettigrew's escape. Harry sliced a thin sliver of parchment off the top and bottom, then stuffed his homework back in his bag. That'll do.
"My Gran's friend, Griselda Marchbanks, is on the Wizengamot and head of the examinations board," Neville muttered. "I heard her tell Gran that the Divination OWL exam is her least favourite because the students just make stuff up and they have to pretend it's right because there's no real way of checking. She said the only real prophecies are in some mysterious department of the Ministry."
A jolt of cold rippled through Harry. A mysterious department, or a Department of Mysteries?
"What department?" Harry asked.
Professor McGonagall began to hand out bottle caps of Ogden's Whiskey to practise on. A faint whiff of alcohol reached Harry's nose when she placed his on the desk.
"The Department of Mysteries," Nev said. "It's supposed to have loads of weird bits of magic nobody can explain in it, but only the
Unspeakables are allowed down there because of how dangerous things are."
"Do you reckon they'd send you to Azkaban for getting caught down there?" Harry asked.
"Probably," Nev said. "If it's as high security as it sounds."
Fleur wants to work at the Bureau d"Énigmes. That sounds awfully similar. She might know about it. He cursed under his breath. I should've asked her.
"Sounds interesting."
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Longbottom, I severely doubt that you're discussing the Doubling Charm, so I suggest you get on and start practising," Professor McGonagall called.
Harry glanced at the explanation on the board. Seems simple enough.
"Gemino," he muttered, flicking his wand at the bottle-cap and envisioning a second cap beside it.
A second bottle top formed; blurred letters marked its stop and when Harry poked it beside the original, he noticed the colours weren't quite right.
More focus and I'll have that down with a bit of practice.
Nev repeated the spell next to him, flicking his wand. He caught the tip on the desk and dropped it. The bottle caps continued to multiply, showering off the desk and onto Nev who'd bent to retrieve his wand.
Professor McGonagall swept over. "End the spell, Mr. Longbottom." "Finite," Nev muttered.
"That's the perfect example of the as yet unexplained mystery of this charm," Professor McGonagall said. "If the caster is interrupted before the spell ends, the item continues to multiply. More practise, Mr. Longbottom." She bustled away to deal with Ron, who'd managed to turn his top into what appeared to be a button mushroom.
Harry redid the spell, producing a perfect replica of the cap. I should really just stop coming to lessons. He pressed his fingertips to the acorn necklace beneath his robes. I wish I could just leave and go to France. A soft melancholy swelled up within his chest. Hogwarts no longer feels like home. The willow tree's where my heart is now.
"Can you tell Professor Sinistra that I'm feeling ill?" Harry asked.
"Are you even feeling sick?" Nev paused in his attempt to cast the charm. Bottle caps spilt everywhere. "Bloody hell. Finite. "
"Of a sort," Harry said.
Homesick. He passed Nev his homework essay and watched the clock tick. Not so long, then I can leave. He closed his eyes and imagined the feel of the breeze and the smell of the willow. Fleur's warm smile crept in amongst them.
A soft chime came from the clock.
Harry stuffed everything back into his bag and slipped out as everyone tidied, hurrying toward the chamber. He splashed across Myrtle's bathroom, the acorn already in his hand, and closed the entrance behind him.
"Azure." The necklace flowed into the form of a mirror.
Fleur's face appeared. A gleam of worry hovered in her blue eyes. "Harry?"
Harry felt a flood of warmth wash through him. "I just needed to talk to you."
I missed you.
"That's an interesting coincidence." Fleur's voice trembled. "I ought to talk to you, too."
"I'll be at the willow in a moment," he said.
Fleur's face vanished.
Harry's stomach knotted and his mouth turned dry. Is she angry with me? Did I do something? An awful chill crept down his spine and crushed the breath from his lungs. Does she want to leave?
He strode into the study, grappling with a tight ball of panic, and grabbed the portkey drawing. "Argent."
Rain drummed down on him, soaking into his robes. Harry transfigured a fallen stick into an umbrella large enough for two and waited.
Fleur apparated in, her face taut and her lips thin. The rain pattered on her shoulders and silver hair, then rose off her as a veil of steam.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. "Fleur?"
"I did something stupid," she whispered.
Harry's heart plummeted and the umbrella shivered, spilling small streams of water onto the ground around him. Perfect wishes never come true. He smothered the flood of despair. No. She's not said what. Don't repeat your mistakes.
"What did you do?" he whispered.
" No. " Fleur stepped under the umbrella and cupped his face in her hands. "Nothing like that. You are mine. And that means that I'm yours."
Relief swooped through Harry's stomach. She didn't betray me. She's not leaving.
"What happened?" he asked. "Is Gabby ok? Your parents?"
"They're fine," Fleur said. "I did something stupid, is all. One of the girls here, one who came to Hogwarts, she has family in England, a cousin, and she was talking on and on about what the Daily Prophet has been spouting." Her hands slipped from his face to his shoulders, pulling him against her. "I was so angry with her. I still am. I used Cassandra's Curse, but I didn't hold back. The mediwitch thinks that the effects might last for almost a month."
That's nothing. The girl will be fine.
"So?" Harry tilted her chin up with his fingertip and held her gaze. "You told me you didn't care what I did so long as I was yours, Fleur. I feel the same."
"I am in a lot of trouble," she whispered. "The school has suspended me. I can take my exams, but if I fail I can't return and do them at the same time as everyone else. They wrote to my parents, too."
"You won't fail." Harry held her close. "You never fail."
"But my parents, they will be angry with you for being the reason I did it." Fleur buried her face in his neck. "I'm sorry. I made things even harder for you."
"I quite like that you wanted to defend me." He kissed her on the top of the head. "And someone once told me that the more it hurts to get something, the more satisfying getting it is."
She huffed. "Well, at least you're listening to someone smarter than yourself." She sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "I was going to ask you to come here for Christmas. I was really looking forward to you being around all the time, but now…"
"If you want me here and I'm allowed to stay, then I'll come," Harry murmured. "I can ignore anything I have to."
Fleur's fingers tightened in his robes. "Merci, mon Cœur."
He gave her a little squeeze and held her tight. Faint, sweet marzipan drifted to his nose and the heat of her melted into him.
Fleur leant her head back. "Why did you want to speak with me?"
He smiled. "I just have a question. What do you know about the Bureau d"Énigmes?"
Fleur's brow creased. "A little. It's a secret what they actually do, but most people know about the general fields, the mysteries are famous."
"Oh?" Harry bumped her nose with his. "Care to share?"
"The bureau was created by an English wizard who came to France after marrying a French witch. He designed the Bureau d"Énigmes based on your Department of Mysteries, though the bureau is a half a century younger. Why do you want to know?"
"Are there prophecies in the Bureau d"Énigmes?" Harry asked.
"Yes. The witnesses of the prediction are obligated to leave a memory in the bureau, there's some spell that notifies them if a prophecy is made. I've no idea how that works. Some kind of trace on those capable, perhaps. There're only prophecies about French wizards and witches there, though. The Bureau d"Énigmes has no authority to keep any others."
"But if there are prophecies in the Bureau d"Énigmes, then there are likely ones in the Department of Mysteries as well," Harry murmured.
Fleur narrowed her eyes. "Why're you interested?"
"When I escaped from Voldemort, I surprised him with how much stronger I'd grown since our last encounter. He mentioned a prophecy and implied that it was about, or at least mentioned, me."
"You want to hear it," Fleur said. "Why not ask? You're legally entitled to listen to a prophecy that is relevant to you in France, I'm sure it's the same in Britain."
"The Ministry would never allow me to view a prophecy that's connected with Voldemort, not when they're doing everything they can to cover his return up."
I'll have to take it myself.
Fleur's eyes darkened a touch. "Tell me you're not planning to steal
it."
"I don't want to lie to you," Harry whispered. "I need to know what it says. Voldemort knows."
"How would you even get in?" Her eyes shifted to midnight blue and small white tufts slipped from the skin on the back of her neck. "How would you get out?! "
"I don't know." Harry shrugged. "I only learnt about the Department of Mysteries today. I might be able to get my godfather to help. He and the rest of Albus Dumbledore's followers are secretly guarding the department, though whether it's the prophecy or something else, I don't know."
"Don't rush in and do something reckless," Fleur hissed. "I will not have you die, or get sent to Azkaban because you wanted to hear some prophecy that might not even help you."
A ball of emotion stuck in Harry's throat. "I'll be careful, I promise. There's no point winning anything if it loses me you. That's - that's just not winning anymore."
"And you'll tell me what it says." Fleur's eyes faded to summer blue and the feather tips slid back beneath her skin. "I can't help you if you keep me in the dark."
Harry grinned and eyed her up. "The dark's the last place you should be."
Pink blossomed on Fleur's cheeks. "Are you sure, mon Cœur?" She snared his fingers in hers and drew them down to her waist, then up until his knuckles grazed her breasts. "There are all sorts of things we could do in the dark."
AN: Do come join our growing Discord community for parody vids, audiobook links, all my other writing, and more! You can also find details about all the early access chapters and so on there!
Peacock Hunting
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's. Still.
AN: The Discord server's still up, running, and steadily growing. Do come join us!
You can find the links to the audiobooks hosted on Spotify and Apple Podcasts via my website or my discord! The audiobook chapters have now got all the way to the end of the fourth book!
Early access chapters are all on my website, but, of course, require a detour through the-site-that-must-not-be-named.
discord. gg / 7D7dWjzKac alltheblankcanvas. com This one's Bella!
Peacock Hunting
Dusk hung over the neat lawns and tall, trimmed hedges. A soft halflight settled over Malfoy's manor and grounds with a cool mist. Faint birdsong chorused from all around and distant stars flickered against a moonless backdrop of deepest velvet.
"Boring." Bella kicked her bare feet through the dew-laden grass between the neat topiary and the white roses. She swung her boots back and forth in her hand, batting at a patch of geraniums. "Boring. Boring. Boring."
White petals drifted down into the dew. Bella squished them into the grass with her toes.
Find something to do, Bella. She huffed and brushed her curls back over her shoulders. But there's nothing to do in baby Cissy's silly cage, Bell.
A peacock cried from the other side of the hedge.
Bella giggled. "One of Cissy's silly birds."
Let's grab it, Bell.
She crept along the line of the hedge, sticking to the shadow and tiptoeing past marble busts. In the deep shade, the grass turned ice cold on her toes. A second cry echoed past the last pale stone statue.
It'll see us, Bella! She plucked her wand out and disillusioned herself. Not anymore, Bell.
A shimmer padded through the grass where her feet had been as she slipped "round the bust and corner of the hedge. Cool grass tickled her toes. The breeze flattened her dress against her skin, sending little ripples down the silk. A large, white bird strutted along the edge of a small pond, bobbing its head.
Bella giggled and prowled a couple of steps closer. I'm gonna get you birdy!
A blur lunged from the base of the hedge past Bella's feet. Nagini seized the peacock by the neck with its fangs; its white wings beat against smooth, dark scales. The peacock screamed, then shuddered and fell still. Nagini dragged the bird into the long grass and unhinged her jaw, swallowing the peacock a few inches at a time.
"Silly birds." Bella dispelled her charm. "Pretty and stupid and easy prey."
A small, dark bird fluttered down from the dusk and alighted on
Bella's hand. It spilt into ink upon her palm and twisted into words.
"Number five, Church Road, Hasketon, Woodbridge." Bella giggled. "Found you, Andi!"
A useful muggle, Bella. She pouted. Even boring cattle have uses from time to time, Bell.
The ink seeped into her skin. A red-tiled, flint-walled, round-towered church and a neat row of houses behind a green common and scattered trees flashed through her mind.
More than enough to apparate to.
Bella smiled and bounced on her feet. "Now, I'll make you come back to baby Cissy and I." She pictured the image the ink raven had given her and apparated.
A small, neat house with a white fence, door, and windows sat midway in an identical row. Striped grass flanked a small stone path and above the black letter five on the door swung a small raven wind-chime.
"Andi!" Bella darted across the grass.
Don't let anyone see us, Bella. She froze and ducked behind the hedge. Why not? Andi'll be happy to see us! She's our sister.
Bella frowned. "But Cissy did say she was being silly, marrying a mudblood and living in the muggle world. She might refuse to talk to us."
She peered through the hedge and into the window. A tall man stood with his back to her. A slim, pale pair of arms wrapped "round his chest and dark curls hung past his right shoulder.
Andi! Bella edged closer. A little fire bubbled up in her blood at the way those small fingers clung to the mudblood. Time to come back and be a weird sister with us again, Andi. We need to cheer up itty bitty baby Cissy and make her fun again.
Her forearm burnt and stung. She huffed and tugged her indigo sleeve back. The serpent writhed around the skull beneath her skin.
"Awwwww." Bella hurled her boots into the hedge and watched them bounce back across the grass. "I wanted to see Andi."
We can wait, Bell. She stomped across and shoved her feet into her boots. We already waited for fifteen years, Bella.
Bella cocked her head and dried her feet with a flick of her wand. "I guess we can wait a few days longer, Bell."
She apparated back into the main hall of the mansion.
The Dark Lord stood in the faint light of the oculus. A silhouette of dark silk framed the soft glow of slitted, crimson eyes. Malfoy, Rookwood, and Strange Boy knelt in the shadows around him, their shining silver masks in their hands.
"Bella." The Dark Lord crooked a finger. "You're late."
"Sorry." She skipped across to join them. "I was watching Nagini eat a peacock."
A quiet groan slipped through Malfoy's lips.
She giggled. "Cissy's not very happy the snake keeps eating her pretty pets."
The Dark Lord's lips twitched. "I'm sure Lucius can procure more peacocks, his fortune has grown great while others languished in Azkaban…" He waved a hand. The air shimmered, and the other three were drawn upright. "Now. You have been making plans, Lucius."
"Of course, my lord." Malfoy dipped his head. "I've bribed an official to let myself and Bellatrix-"
"Just Bella!"
The Dark Lord tutted and his crimson eyes flicked up to Bella's. A faint, dry heat washed over them. "Hush, Bella. I wish to hear Lucius" plan uninterrupted. "
Strange Boy sidled a little closer, shaking his head.
What does he want? Bella gave him a shrug. Oh well, Bell.
Malfoy swallowed. "Severus informed me that Dumbledore's sycophants are spread thin and tied down. The official I bribed will be absent from the atrium, so we'll be able to descend straight down to the entrance to the Department of Mysteries unimpeded."
"Adequate." The Dark Lord turned to Rookwood. "I will inspect the doorway myself in the coming days. Should it prove necessary, I will send you along with Bella and Lucius to remove any key wards." He raised a long, pale finger when Rookwood opened his mouth. "That's all, Augustus. You may leave."
"Yes, my lord." Rookwood bowed and scrambled out.
The Dark Lord extended a black-sleeved arm at Strange Boy. "You as well."
Strange Boy shot a look at Bella, then bowed and retreated back into the gloom of the mansion's corridors.
"The next step, Lucius." The Dark Lord stared up through the oculus at the stars. "I trust that there is one."
"Of course, my lord." Malfoy tugged at the collar of his robes. A faint sheen of sweat gleamed at his temples. "Once the key wards on the door are removed, my lord, either one of us can use fiendfyre to enter. We merely have to make sure Dumbledore's guard is taken
care of first."
A little thrill swept through Bella and she beamed. "Fun. Fun. Fun."
"Yes, Bella." The Dark Lord's lips curled into a thin smile. "A little game for you."
Win or die, Bella. She curled her fingers round her wand. Feel alive, or lose, Bell.
Malfoy shifted his feet. "Once we're inside, my lord. Is there anything you wish from us?"
The Dark Lord contemplated Malfoy like a viper studying a mouse.
"Yes. Once you've cleared the entrance, you must find the Hall of
Prophecies. Ensure there's nothing untoward lurking there, Dumbledore would love to trap me for the world to see and undo the progress we've made in the shadows." His wand slipped from his sleeve. The tip hovered before Malfoy's eyes. "Do not fail me, Lucius. Or there will be consequences."
"I would never, my lord."
The Dark Lord's wand vanished. "Then you also may leave."
Bella cocked her head. "And what about me?"
"Bella." The Dark Lord's crimson gaze swept over her. "You've not been taking the potions Severus prepared for you. Word has reached me you… refused."
Stupid Strange Boy tattled! Bella balled her hands into fists. I hate those silly, lumpy, bitter drinks.
She screwed up her face. "They taste icky."
"They're good for you." The Dark Lord raised his hand. "You will take them, Bella. If you don't, you will spend your time here rather than playing with my opponents."
Bella pouted and buried the brief heat that bubbled up in her blood. "Fine. I'll take them."
"I suspect there's a good chance Dumbledore will attempt to trap me into a confrontation at the Ministry." The Dark Lord's red eyes gleamed bright. "He knows if the truth is not revealed soon, it will be too late to stop me…"
It's already too late, Bella. Dumbledore's all old. Bella giggled. His game's nearly over anyway, Bell.
"You want me to play with him instead?" she asked.
"No," the Dark Lord whispered. "When the path is clear, you will use the mark I gave you to notify me. I will slip in undetected and retrieve the prophecy myself. No other can remove it save Harry Potter himself and I doubt Dumbledore will risk his most valuable pawn being lost to the Ministry's justice." He steepled his long fingers. "Should there be any other unwelcome guests, you're to kill them, all of them, save for Dumbledore himself. If the old fool arrives, you're to get yourself out by any means you can. Leave Lucius if necessary."
But imagine what a great game that would be, Bell. The pain, the struggle, then sweet victory. She stifled a small sigh. But he won't let us, Bella. He wants to play that game himself.
Disappointment ate at Bella. "Awww."
The Dark Lord's lips curved into a cold grin. "I know you wish to play with the old teacher, but I don't intend to risk losing such a valuable follower as you." The slight smile faded. "Now, there's another matter I wish to discuss with you, Bella."
"Oh?" Bella bounced on her heels. "A game?"
"Someone cast the Dark Mark at Godric's Hollow." The Dark Lord's crimson eyes burnt with fury. "I have allowed my followers to believe it was myself, but one of my inner circle is to blame. They've either shared the spell I created for them, or risked exposing us before I have commanded it."
"Who was it?" A brief, cool rush coursed through her veins. Bella licked her lips. "Can I play with them?"
"Only if they're proven guilty or it happens again." The Dark Lord reached out and caught her shoulder. His fingers were cold as the scales of a snake and so tight they dug into her skin. "Keep an eye on Lucius. He has the most to lose of those who follow me. If it's truly a betrayal, it's most likely to come from Lucius hoping to cast me down before any conflict arises to cost him his influence or riches."
"Cissy will be upset if I beat Lucius." She shrugged. "But he's made her sad, so maybe beating him will cheer her up. She can buy her own peacocks, then!"
"Perhaps." The Dark Lord's lips curved into a thin smile. "Keep your eyes open for whomever's responsible, Bella. The longer we can move in the shadows, the easier our victory will be."
"Is that it?" Bella swayed back and forth on the spot. "When are we going to the Department of Mysteries?"
"Lucius has chosen a date." The Dark Lord's red eyes met hers. "You won't be doing anything other than recovering, Bella. I will summon you when it's time."
Nope. A little smile crept onto Bella's lips. We're going to find Andi and bring her back to us, Bell. Sisters are forever.
She giggled. "Of course."
"Good." The Dark Lord's whisper came soft as the brush of his silk robes across the marble floor. "I would be displeased if I learnt you risked my venture for some childish whim, Bella. Very displeased. " He vanished with a soft snap.
Bella stuck her tongue out at where he'd stood. He's more boring than he used to be, Bell.
"But he's the best player." She tapped her heel on the marble and listened to the click echo back off the empty walls. "So he makes the rules, Bella."
Until another player comes to beat him, Bell. She fingered her wand. A faint thrill coursed through her veins. Everyone loses in the end, Bella.
Bella nodded. "Even us, Bell."
The room echoed the words back at her as she stood alone beneath the glass dome.
Even us, Bella.
AN: Do come join our growing Discord community for parody vids, audiobook links, all my other writing, and more! You can also find details about all the early access chapters and so on there!