It has been a couple of days since the ritual. Hydra was now in possession of one ring with
resurrection stone attached as well as other invaluable trinkets Tom used as containers for
his soul shards. Hydra did not know what to do with them yet so she left them be.
It was
time to go down to breakfast and she was anticipating at least a letter from Bellatrix or
Narcissa. The silence was torturous for Hydra.
When she entered the room she froze for a bit mid step because it seemed all the Blacks
were present again. Surprisingly after being scared for a millisecond she felt happiness wash
over her. She was quite happy to see all of them alive and well. They greeted her with smiles
and laughs. Hydra sat at the end of the table near Sirius, James and Regulus. It seemed the
brothers were having a lively conversation before Hydra appeared and smiles were still
lingering on their lips.
"And here is the woman of the day! Welcome, welcome Hydra! Remember all of you we are
here today because this fair lady decided that she wanted to help us. We drink in your
honour, Hydra!" Arcturus's booming voice made Hydra jump at first.
"What the hell is happening? Is that mimosas you're drinking?" Hydra looked around
suspiciously and found most of the table already half drunk, with what she had no idea.
"Ah I forget you are new here. Take this! It's orange juice and champagne. And what in
Morgana's name is mimosas?" Sirius on her right looked at her as if she was from another
planet.
"Never mind. So are you two gonna tell me what happened?" She eyed Regulus and Sirius
with suspicion again.
"We got a letter from Cissa! You are not gonna believe it. The Dark Lord healed Bellatrix.
Narcissa is with her at the moment but she told us they will come as soon as it will be
possible. They do not know yet how sentient Bellatrix will be but it will be better than before.
And The Dark Lord disbanded Death Eaters! And reinstated the Knights of Walpurgis."
Regulus whispered to Hydra. She was certain his whisper was heard all the way at the top of
the table.
"Hydra, my congratulations. I must confess I doubted you in the beginning. But you have
proven yourself time and time again. You are a force to be reckoned with.
You succeeded in
your tasks and thanks to you The Dark will rise!" Arcturus once again addressed her. When
she looked up to thank Arturus for his kind words she was met with a dozen happy faces all
smiling down at her, grey eyes filled with joy. She suddenly felt her nose tingle and her vision
swam. She pulled herself together and decided to thank them all as well.
"Thank you Lord Black for your kind words. I must say that this was a joint effort. I thank you
all for helping me. It has truly been a magical month."
"To Hydra!" Cassiopeia and Callidora said one more time with huge grins on their faces.
Hydra started to feel uncomfortable. She really did not know how to process this correctly.
Finally everyone calmed down and Hydra was able to hold a normal conversation.
"Regulus, how were your exams by the way? You are in your final year right?"
"I took my last exam yesterday and came straight here. We are going to stay here with
Father for the summer."
"When I heard it I could not resist and decided to stay here for the summer as well. Not
gonna leave my little brother to enjoy summer without me." Sirius said laughing at the same
time.
"Hear, hear. Me and Cassiopea decided the same after hearing those two planning and
scheming. Somebody needs to look after these two." Callidora said from somewhere on the
right.
"This is marvellous! James, you are free to stay as well. As long as Dorea is okay with that of
course." Melania said looking at Dorea who sat on the left in the middle of the table.
"Can I visit with Lily? She is so very curious about the Black Family Library." James asked
pleadingly.
"Of course. You can stay here with her if you like." Arcturus answered straight away.
It all was very heartwarming to see for Hydra. She was extremely happy about the outcome
of the ritual. She could not wait and see what changes Tom will implement next.
"It seems we are missing Lucretia and Ignatius. Where are they?" Hydra asked Regulus who
was seated across from her.
"Oh they are in their family estate in Tregaron which is in Wales. They will visit of course but
otherwise they live there when not travelling."
"Good to know. I have not spoken to Lucretia much. I would love to get to know her better."
"How is your duelling and studies going Hydra?" James asked. Everyone heard about
Hydra's progress in duelling from Arcturus.
"I am progressing too slow for my liking. There is simply not enough time to move faster
through the material. I am enjoying all my lessons immensely. Honestly duelling is my
favourite time of the day. However I still can't master Apparition." Hydra sighed and looked
down. It was really embarrassing for her to admit that she failed at something.
"I can help you here Hydra. I taught Regulus and Sirius how to apparate at the tender age of
fourteen. I know all the tricks. Let's go to the garden after breakfast to practise." Orion said
after some consideration.
"I would appreciate all the help I can get. Let's do it!" Hydra was finishing her third glass by
this point. She thought it was definitely not safe to apparate while drunk.
"Should we practise while we are drunk?" She asked everyone at the table. Roaring laughter
was an answer to her question.
"We're going to take a Sobering Draught at the end of the meal." Orion said while wiping
tears from his eyes.
After some time draughts were consumed and Hydra followed Orion, Regulus, James and
Sirius to the garden. The boys settled on the ornate benches while Hydra stood in the middle
of the opening with Orion standing close to the bushes.
"Hydra, try to apparate further from me to the other side. I want to see how you do it."
Hydra doubted that Orion could find the root of her problem just by looking at her. She tried
nevertheless. He stopped her right away.
"You are not confident enough. I can see it in your movement. That is your problem."
"What? Confidence?"She was baffled.
"Yes. Eliminate doubts and you will be able to apparate. It usually takes a couple of tries. So
let's see. Try one more time." Orion was smiling triumphantly at her. Hydra on the other hand
was feeling doomed. She was not confident full stop. That was one thing she knew about
herself and could not change.
She tried and tried and absolutely nothing happened. Orion was now sitting quietly next to
the boys. Hydra was beyond angry. While standing there in the middle of the opening she
had a couple of thoughts about her past life in the future. These thoughts were like pictures,
pictures of distant memories. Her ex-boyfriend laughing at her for assuming they loved each
other, her friend not inviting her to her wedding, failing an important test at university, getting
fired from her dream job. Rage started to consume Hydra. Rage and shame. Her magic
started to leak out of her. Somewhere in the distance she heard her name being spoken. It
helped to get her out of the whirlpool of negative thoughts. She looked up and saw Orion in
front of her. His brows were knitted together and he was visibly worried about something.
"Orion, what happened? Is everything okay?" She thought maybe she missed something
while she was thinking about her past.
"I want to ask the same question! Your magic is leaking! Look, the grass turned grey! I
thought something terrible happened to you."
The grass indeed withered away and turned grey. Her magic, Death's magic, was very
potent.
"I think I should go lie down. I don't feel so good to be honest." Hydra smiled sadly at Orion
and departed towards the castle.
"Father,what happened?" Regulus asked Orion while Sirius and James were looking at each
other with brows furrowed high.
"I think it will be best if we leave it alone, Regulus. It is none of our business." With that he
left quickly towards the castle. He had urgent business to take care of.
Orion however had absolutely no intentions of leaving Hydra alone with her demons. Oh he
understood what was happening. He was master Occlumens and Legilimens as almost all in
the Black family were. So he saw the pain in Hydra's eyes. Something was causing her great
distress. Coming to a stop near his father's study he collected himself and knocked on the
door.
"Come in"
"Father, do you have a moment?" Orion walked into the study and stopped near the sofa.
"Of course. Is something the matter?"
"It's Hydra. I am worried about her. We tried apparition today. She was so overwhelmed with
emotions that her magic leaked out. It's dangerous with her power levels."
"So what do you suggest exactly?"
"Mindhealer. Morgana knows what that girl went through in her past."
"You better than anyone know that you can force someone to see mindhealer. She needs to
agree to this."
"Yes, father. I understand. I will talk with her."
"Very well."
Hydra was sitting in the library for quite some time. She did not have a book in her hands.
Just a cup of tea.
She felt completely out of sorts after their apparition lesson. It was not
something new to her. All her mistakes haunted her for as long as she could remember.
They piled on top of each other and when she thought about them everything fell apart. So
she simply refused to think about it. After her outbursts she felt empty and numb. So she just
sat in the library in silence watching gardens through the window. That's how Orion found
her.
"Hydra, there you are! I was looking all over for you. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, Orion. Thank you."
Orion stood for a bit in front of her looking indecisive. Finally he sat down next to Hydra.
"I will be frank with you. I am worried about you. Our control of magic is connected to our
emotions. Occlumency usually helps with that. However if the person had trauma in their
past, Occlumency is simply not enough."
He paused looking intently at her.
"What are you suggesting, Orion?"
"You need to see a Mindhealer. Please think about it." With that Orion departed very quickly.
The talk was indeed uncomfortable for everyone involved.
Hydra was intrigued by the preposition. She was in therapy before so she knew it potentially
could help her. She was interested to see the difference between muggle therapist and
mindhealer.
Next day she woke up feeling much better. All thoughts about therapy were forgotten of
course. Breakfast went smoothly with no drinks this time. Thinking back on apparition fiasco
Hydra decided to try again and headed straight for the gardens after breakfast.
She tried and tried and nothing came out of it. That's how Regulus found her, tired and
frustrated beyond reason.
"Hydra! Hydra! You must come at once. Cousin Bella is here!" Regulus was almost running
towards her.
"Regulus, what's the rush! Surely she is staying here for a bit, yes?"
"Well yes but.. Anyway, let's go!"
They went across the immaculate grass beds to shorten the way. Regulus was basically
dragging Hydra by her arm. Hydra did not know what to expect. Narcissa and Bellatrix had
not left the best impression on here. She understood that she did not know them well. She
did not know them at all to be honest. So she decided to wait and see. When they entered
Bellatrix recognised Hydra immediately. Everyone fell silent and waited with baited breath for
what was about to transpire.
"Lady Peverell… "
"Lady Lestrange …"
"Oh for the love of Merlin will you two stop that." Callidora said. She apparently hated all the
formalities.
"Bellatrix I am happy to see you healthy and whole."
"Thank you Hydra." Bellatrix answered, inclining her head a bit. She did not have the same
craziness in her eyes. She indeed looked healthy.
"Bella, dear, how did Rabastan and Rodolphus take the news?" Melania inquired. All the
Blacks were present at the moment. It was hard to find a seat in the room with so many
people already inside.
"They are extremely happy… We want to hold a handfasting ceremony during the Summer
Solstice. In my madness I was a less than perfect wife in our triad. We want a new start to
our union."
"It will be held here. Solstice is perfect for handfasting. I approve, Bella." Lord Black was
visibly proud of her.