Sorry I've been gone for so long! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)
Instead of floo'ing straight to the Leaky Cauldron, Druella Black decided she would take her children —Fred, Bellatrix and Narcissa— and Sirius her nephew, on a walk all the way to the Leaky Cauldron. It was a sunny day in London that day and she was simply dying to get away from the grim house where her sister-in-law was constantly screaming and shouting out her lungs at anything and everything that bothered her in the slightest.
Sure, when they arrived Bellatrix's skin may have burnt a bit in the sun, but the hour-long walk had done all five of them some good, all the while Druella thought that it was a wonderful way to exhaust their energy so they wouldn't create a fuss or argue with her or go off running like other kids their age.
After quite some time, they finally arrived at the dusty pub where she couldn't help but be amused by her son's facial reaction to Bellatrix turning red and Narcissa's gasp and barely silent giggles. Sirius simply kept quiet, looking away to stop himself from laughing. Well, it certainly had been her eldest daughter's fault for wearing all black on such a nice hot day, Druella mused to herself.
"Madam Black, good to see ya 'gain!" the barkeep waved enthusiastically, "Day out with yer kids, I see?" She brought them along to the bar, one of the waitresses bringing a plate of small sweet tarts and fruit for the four children.
She took a seat and pulled a small pouch from her pocket, placing a few galleons on the table. "They're the ones who requested to come, so why not. It's a wonderful day outside. Fresh air never hurts."
"Is it? Been 'ere since dawn. Reckon it'd hurt me eyes if I step out." He joked. Druella gave a small laugh, snatching one of the sweets her youngest daughter had attempted to grab, then sticking her tongue out momentarily and popped the pink sweet into her mouth. "Enjoy yer day, all the shops are open. Fortescue's busy I 'eard. All the kids're goin' there today." Once she placed the empty place onto the counter and waved him goodbye, Druella motioned the children over to the wall and tapped her wand a few times, allowing the wall to open and show the magical alley.
"We'll stop at Gringotts first, then we'll purchase what it is you want, understood?" She told them, each of them nodding and following her quick pace down the cobblestone road. Druella had expected one of her children to pull at her sleeve anytime now, as per usual whenever they passed a shop, and as per usual, the first was a small pull. . "Yes dear?" She looked to Narcissa.
It took her about two or three seconds of silence before she actually spoke. "Could I get a bracelet or a necklace?"
"We'll see." Narcissa nodded and followed along, skipping and humming to herself, content with the answer she'd received.
Next it was Bellatrix's turn to tug on her sleeve, this time it was quicker. "Can we take the Knight Bus back? when we're done here?"
"NO." Druella told her daughter. She looked incredulously at her daughter, confusion on her face."Why would you ever want to do such a thing?"
"Annabelle told me it's fun, so I want to try it." Bellatrix shrugged and kept up the pace.
"Who's Annabelle?" Then it dawned on her. "Annabelle Abbott?" Bellatrix nodded. Her mother laughed inwardly. "No Knight Bus." Bellatrix groaned and muttered an understanding of her words.
Reaching the bank hadn't taken long and the trip down had been quite short. Of course, they were on one of the lowest levels of the bank, but it seemed they had the steepest dips on the way down. Fred had to catch Narcissa before she was almost thrown overboard during the sharp turns and the hasty halt of the creaky metal cart. There hadn't been any brakes or slowing of speed, simply an abrupt stop. Sirius lurched forward violently, bumping into his calm aunt and Fred had braced himself with his hands on both sides.
The goblin opened the cart and let out the dizzy children and the woman to the front of a large metal gate where their family insignia was molten into it. The line Toujours pur were clear as day.
"Your vault, Madam Black." He said courteously, going back to the cart and sitting patiently.
Druella placed her ring and her left hand flat onto the door. The creaking echoed loudly through the cavern; the surrounding walls shook lightly as the large door opened heavily.
Fred almost gawked at the ridiculously large piles of golden coins lining every corner of the deep vault, though he stopped himself before anyone could notice. There were finely crafted drawers and cabinets closed securely, most likely concealing heirloom gems and jewellery, and large immobile muggle portraits lined behind the two large bookshelves. The vault itself was impressive, but the contents were even more so.
"Narcissa, you may choose one piece of jewellery." She stressed and pointed to the maroon desk, where Narcissa smiled brightly and ran towards one of the cabinets, delicately opening the first drawer to inspect the contents. She turned to her nephew and motioned inside. "Sirius, is there something you desired? You may pick an item." She didn't miss the way his widened a bit and the slight curl of his lip at her words. "Frederick, you may pick something as well. Bellatrix, what is it you wanted?"
"Books. I already know what I want." Was all she said, walking confidently to the nearby bookshelf where she inspected every sleeve and smiled, her teeth showing momentarily before slipping a book out of the shelf and hiding it away from the others, flashing it to her mother to receive her permission to withdraw.
Fred looked around quite a bit, moving around the bookshelves and drawers in an attempt to spot something that might catch his eye. It was in the far corner where he spotted what seemed to be an old, rolled up, and obviously used, dark rug. He touched it and immediately pulled his hand back, surprised at the magical object shaking with energy. While it didn't move out of its place, it was now very evident to him that it was a flying carpet. "Wicked."
"Leave the carpet Frederick. Pick something else."
"Damn..." Was all he could think of before moving on to the drawers where Narcissa was still sorting through the various jewels. He looked at some of it, some not quite as feminine as he'd first imagined. Some were men's rings, not quite as showy as the women's but still quite evident that the person had wealth, while others were chains with single rocks or small metal decorative piece where runes were discreetly carved into said pieces, most likely to add a protective spell for the wearer or owner. He also didn't doubt that some of them would horribly curse or disfigure someone if they weren't a Black or pureblood.
Narcissa momentarily stopped her search and noticed Fred looking around, fidgeting around with a few. "I like this one here. I think it would look nice on you." She pointed to a small chain with a carved twilight sapphire as its centre piece. He picked it up and inspected the rune. 'Algiz...' He looked towards his mother and turned to show her the necklace. "Mum, what does the rune Algiz mean again?"
His mother made her way over and picked up the necklace, bringing it close to her face to inspect the rune. "I think it's Strength." She said, unsure before correcting herself almost immediately. "No, that's Eihwaz. Algiz is protection." Now sure of herself, she added: "A fine piece to wear for yourself."
"I told you so!" Narcissa exclaimed with pride. "I think it would be marvellous on him." His mother unclipped the back and brought it around Fred's neck, fastening it securely and letting it hang.
"Excellent pick, my dear." She rubbed Narcissa's shoulder affectionately. "One of my favourite runes, truly. It will protect you from danger." She then turned to Narcissa and placed a hand on her cheek, smiling softly. "A wonderful choice for him, dear." Narcissa's smile grew brighter before pulling her mother over to the drawer and questioned her intensively on the other pieces and their runes, their meanings and even abilities.
Fred watched the two in the distance interact as Narcissa would delicately pick up an occasional bracelet or pendant and earrings and show them to her mum before picking up the stoner from his new chain and watching the glimmer shine in the torches. 'How did she become so... dark during the war...' It was so hard to think about, she seemed to innocent for such a dark fate that awaited her in her supposed future. From how Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa behaved, comparing one to the second, then to the third, Fred realised that they were all black sheep in their own way; Bellatrix had become the dangerously loyal fanatic; Andromeda had left legacies of family for love; and Narcissa seemed to be the purest and openly loving of the three. It felt like the girl simply oozed out affection and love wherever she went.
In such a notoriously dark family, that was dangerous. All three of them held dangerous positions: Narcissa and her heart and affections on display for the world to see, Andromeda choosing a man would come to destroy the single sane connection between the then-insane Bellatrix and Narcissa. The bridge had been destroyed and, while Bellatrix did hold her family's beliefs, they had been too extreme for their scale and she had unintentionally and at the same time, intentionally caused the downfall of the male line of her own House because of her own ideals. The once-largest House that boasted its blood and heirs had been brought down by the one who was the proudest of them simply because of her upbringing and insanely twisted blood-purist ideals.
He wouldn't cease thinking about this situation until they finally emerged from the bank and his sister having to knock him out of his state of silent, yet depressing train of thought.
Fred had quickly discovered that escaping his mother's grasp was more difficult than he had initially assumed. The woman was constantly watching him like a hawk: one step away from her side and she shot him her signature tight-lipped, shame-inducing frown that would slowly bring any child back to her side. But for his sisters and cousin, it seemed as if distractions came in abundance!
First it was for Bellatrix in the form of a twelve-year-old girl with blonde hair that had appeared out of thin air with a miniature version of herself. Annabelle greeted his mother and pulled Bellatrix away by dragging her away almost forcefully. Then, as if on command, another child appeared. This time a boy with messy dark hair, dark eyes with specs and a caramel skin tone. He was being accompanied by a woman whose appearance highly contrasted his own. Fred's gaze lingered on the boy for a bit, wondering why he seemed so familiar.
"Druella, is that you?" An older woman approached the other woman slowly and carefully before she retook her previous posture and beamed. "It's been quite a bit since I've last seen you!" The woman quickly turned to Fred, Narcissa and Sirius. "It's me, your aunt Dorea!"
Dorea. Aunt Dorea... Dorea Potter...
Fred's eyes went right back to the boy's face and it all clicked into place. 'Sweet Merlin..., It's James... How could I not tell...? He looks just like Harry now that I think of it...' He continued to wonder why he hadn't seen it initially. 'Maybe it's the skin... No, Harry wasn't much lighter, just a bit...' He continued to think. 'The eyes maybe?' He attempted to recall the boy's more specific facial features, but all that appeared was a blurred image the features too fuzzy to distinguish. 'Not again...' He thought. He had to remember to mention the fogging memories to Hermione...
When Dorea finished catching up with his mother, she turned and saw that the majority of the children had vanished, safe for himself and Narcissa, who was glancing curiously at the shops from her mother's side, staying put quietly.
After Druella convinced herself that the kids would be alright, they continued off to the apothecary. Approaching the entrance to Knockturn alley, Fred noticed Druella take her daughter's hand and motion him closer to her side, almost holding his shoulder so he wouldn't run off.
He had to think of a way to broach the subject of ingredients for a potion his mother had surely never heard of. He knew if he wasn't careful, she would ask questions, and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. They soon arrived at the Apothecary right around the corner of the entrance where the door had been propped open due to the nice weather when Narcissa drew a vivid frown and her nose scrunched up, causing her to plug her nose using her fingers. "Mother, I'll stay outside." She told her, not leaving any room for insistence to follow.
She simply waved her hand. "Alright dear, stay where I can easily find you." Narcissa nodded and walked away from the door of the shop and off in the direction of the sweeter area of Diagon Alley. Entering the dark apothecary, his mother turned to Fred. "Now, Frederick, what did you want to say? You've been fidgeting for the last minute there."
Fred gulped. 'Nothing like straight-forward conversation.' He felt the piercing gaze of his mother on him, staring deep into his dark eyes, enough to make him look away instead of the defiant staring contest he might have attempted in another time. "I need a few ingredients." He started, quietly.
"Gee, I had no idea." Her unchanging expression left him suppressing his laughter. "Which ones? For what potion?" She asked, bringing him deeper inside and standing to the side where she picked a jar fitted with seven smaller different compartments. When Fred gave a semi-innocent smile, she sighed and went to the first ingredient. "Tell me which ones. Your father won't know."
Nodding his head slowly and walking along the ingredients, he began pointing to certain compartments, some lovely and some simply nauseating; Beetle eyes, Peppermint, Sprigs of Lavender, the grosser ones being Horned Slugs and Bat Spleens.
"Sweet Merlin Frederick," His mother mumbled as she closed the lid on the jar and held her face away. "What in the world are you brewing?" Her rhetorical question caused him to snort in response, not answering the obvious sarcasm.
"Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies." He simply said as his mother approached the counter.
"Definitely a Rosier, that's for sure." She muttered under her breath. "Understood, but I will be there when you're brewing, for safety's sake." She told him. That much was understandable so he nodded with no questions or suspicions verbalised afterwards. She dropped a few galleons onto the counter and took the change and the questionable ingredients with her, stashing it into her handbag and leaving the apothecary with her son now in search of her two daughters and nephew who had all separately ran off in differing directions.
It surprised neither of them that they found Bellatrix near Knockturn Alley's dark artefacts antique shop, the only person stopping her was the Hufflepuff trying to drag her away from the tempting shop. It honestly surprised him that Bellatrix managed to bring her this far to begin with, and thankfully, Sirius had been found in a more innocent, yet mischievous area of the safer Alley.
"Sirius Orion Black, put that dungbomb back this instance." had been the first thing his mother said upon laying her eyes on his cousin who had taken a dungbomb and had been attempting to place it near an old wizard's bony ankle. He quickly put it back, the elderly wizard giving him the stink eye and quickly walking away from the child.
Returning in the direction of the Apothecary, it seemed to surprise Sirius just how she knew exactly where all her children where. Walking past the ingredients shop, they easily spotted Narcissa seated in Florean Fortescue's Ice cream parlour, enjoying a nice sundae. Entering the shop, Druella quickly noticed the presence of Abraxas and Lucius Malfoy, the latter sitting with her youngest while enjoying his own treat.
"Where's Hermione?" Bellatrix asked Fred discreetly. He shrugged and looked around to see if he could spot her, but there was no success. He and Bellatrix approached the table and sat across from Lucius and their sister. Abraxas had been standing at the other end of the parlour, a small cup of black cherry ice cream in his hands, watching his son and the young girl. "Enjoying your ice cream Cissy?" Bellatrix winked with a toothy grin. This caused Narcissa to turn a bit pink—It could have been a possible sunburn though highly unlikely —and she became quiet and looked down in embarrassment.
"How are you Lucius?" Fred greeted him.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Fred sweat-dropped at the man across from him. He had looked straight at his little sister as he had said this. Sure, it might have been discreet, but he had had completely dismissed his question with an off-comment-or-question on his sister.
"Uh huh..." He hummed quietly. "Hey—Uh— Where's Hermione?" he looked around again, just to make sure he hadn't missed her in case she had to step out or go to the loo.
Fred caught the tone shift in his expression. His expression had gone stone cold "She's staying with grandfather. Etiquette lessons, I've been told." Lucius said, almost hesitantly. He looked to his father who was now facing away from them. "I haven't seen her in the last few weeks."
"A few weeks? Etiquette lessons? I don't know... That doesn't sound very plausible Lucius..." Fred admitted. Hermione wouldn't willingly let that happen, she just wasn't the type of girls to let herself go through that kind of lesson or torture—and for weeks at a time—it just didn't make sense.
"I'm not the one who made the decision." Fred glanced to where Lucius' eyes had flickered: to Abraxas who was deep in conversation with Druella. "I'd bring her home if I could, but I'm not in charge. My owls keep coming back unanswered."
"So he's not allowing any contact with her?"
"Absolutely none, I'm afraid. It's quite silent at the manor. It's only father and I." Fred raised a brow at the words. He was being suspicious. "Though I've noticed Lord Nott's visits are increasingly frequent."
"Freddie, we should go visit them! We could keep them company!" Narcissa quickly jumped into the conversation, having finished her ice cream.
Fred lost the air of seriousness and ruffled his sister's hair teasingly, bringing her into a headlock. "Alright, we'll keep your boyfriend company then."
"He's not my boyfriend!" She turned red and squealed at the knuckle rubbing roughly on her head.
"Oh, I know" He said joyfully before saying seriously: "Too young for boys." He released her from the headlock and helped her flatten the blonde hair gracefully, letting it flow down her shoulders as it had before. "Let's go, mum's bringing us home." She frowned but nonetheless said goodbye to Lucius, thanking him for the company and leaving him to finish his own small sundae.
They stopped at Sugarplum's sweet shop and then the Leaky cauldron for tea before returning to their home.
Upon their arrival at Grimmauld place, they were all met with Cygnus standing at the door, arms crossed and ready to interrogate. Asking why she'd taken so much time, she simply stated that it'd been a nice day to go to Diagon Alley and using the floo would be a waste of a perfect day. She brandished a bag of candies labelled filled with cauldron cakes and liquorice wands and had additionally mentioned needing some dress robes for an upcoming social event. At the mention of dresses, Cygnus groaned and walked away, Druella smiling faintly for a split second before hiding it once more. She shoo'ed Fred off with the hidden jar and Bellatrix, Narcissa and Sirius all retreated up to the attic to converge and plan their next step.
Hermione watched amused as her cousin gawked at anything and everything. She had to stop her from running off to each shop or stall along the old-fashioned village. With Pandora so excited to simply see new things, Hermione was sure they were pulling attention from small crowd away from the stall. 'Definitely a Ravenclaw.' She thought, watching her cousin ask one of the stall keepers about the O-shaped pieces of fried dough he was selling. 'Doughnuts... They're just doughnuts...' Hermione had to keep her laughter down.
Pandora turned, her skirt twirling around her and a grin stretched across her lips. "Hermione! Look! The sir says they are down-nuts!" She held up the thin golden pastry up for her to see. She took a small bite and hummed pleasantly. "Oh, they're delectable sir! Thank you!"
"Doughnuts, dear." The elderly stall corrected her with a hearty laugh. "And you're very welcome, young lady." He tipped his hat down politely at her. "Does your lovely sister want one as well?" He offered, motioning Hermione over to the small stall. She strolled over and carefully accepted one with a small thank you. "Say, you girls just move in? I've never seen either of you around before." The man inquired.
"Visiting family!" Pandora exclaimed happily, still taking small bites of her treat. "And this is my cousin."
The man glanced in disbelief between the two cousins, his gaze going between the two for a few seconds. "Not sisters? Does that hair run in the family then? Anyone would think you two were identical." Hermione and Pandora looked at each other and giggle quietly. The pure white colour of their hair was sure to pull attention, they knew that. "Ooh," He seemed to come to a realisation. "Your folks are Scandinavians, aren't they?" Pandora shook her head with the same energy she'd had earlier. "No? My goodness. Well, I hope you enjoy the village. Say, if you girls are still in town next week, we've got a festival starting. You should come and check it for yourselves."
Before Hermione could reply, Pandora gasped and the spark of excitement returned to her grey-blue eyes. "A festival? For what? What are we celebrating? Will there be more of these tin-nuts?"
The elderly man laughed again. "Doughnuts, sweetheart." He corrected her again. "And there'll be all kinds of food to try. Games too, the whole village will be out." It seemed the more the man spoke, the more energy he was transferring to her cousin.
Pandora turned to Hermione; Pandora seemed to be bouncing with energy, the pure excitement of a muggle social event driving her to her ends. "Please Hermione? Can we go? Please?" She began begging incessantly until Hermione finally stopped her, Pandora attempting to use her puppy-dog eyes on her.
"You have to ask Grandfather!" Hermione muttered, trying to get her to slowly tone down her excitement little by little. She doubted even Merlin realised why Pandora, a 16-year-old, was asking the permission of her, a 12-year-old, if she could go. In a normal setting, the roles would have been reversed.
After waving goodbye to the seller and continuing along the main road, Hermione almost laughed while Pandora kept glancing and asking her about the cars driving by, which Hermione pretended to be none the wiser and tell her she didn't know what they were either. She quite enjoyed the well-kept cars with their bright colours passing in their best conditions.
They saw multiple people—mainly parents—around the town hanging garlands, children playing outside on their bicycles, hiding and playing tag with their friends, while some waved at the two girls and glanced curiously towards them.
After walking through the town for a good portion of the hour, they soon found themselves near a small stream. The two sat in the grass, minding their skirts, and took off their shoes to let their feet sit in the cool flowing water, a welcomed sensation from the hot day.
"Hermione, there's something I need to tell you." Pandora kept her eyes on the water, watching as a fish flew by. Hermione looked at her cousin in confusion, surprised that all the excitement had left the atmosphere right there. "Your mother, Alexandra. Do you know where she is?" She inquired, a tinge of sadness in her voice.
Hermione sighed and looked up to the clouds, knowing this was not going to be an amusing conversation. "I don't. I haven't heard of her in a few months. I've received nothing; no letter, parcel or even a single slip of paper."
"She is in France." Pandora said almost immediately.
"How do you know this?"
Pandora seemed to stay quiet for what seemed to be minutes before answering quietly and in a low voice. "She is staying at one of our family homes, though I am unable to tell you the exact location." Hermione stayed quiet while Pandora continued to speak softly, carefully explaining why Alexandra Malfoy couldn't stay at a Malfoy home. "My grandmother Vinda has allowed her to stay at one of our homes near Switzerland. It is the most I am able to say without giving its location."
"Vinda?" Hermione asked. The name seemed familiar enough but she couldn't pinpoint where.
"Vinda Rosier." Pandora told her. "She is your relative, I simply do not remember if she is your great or great-great aunt, Hermione. How could you forget her?"
"It slipped my mind." Hermione answered quickly. 'I didn't know the Rosiers were related to us... Well, then again, all the purebloods are somehow... I shouldn't be so surprised...'
Just as Hermione was opening her mouth to ask for further details, three owls were flying towards them at full speed, carrying more than one letter each. The vanished excitement reappeared instantly, the heavier conversation having vanished instead as Pandora wondered avidly about for whom the letters were and from whom they were coming.
Anyone notice anything... interesting?
Also, what did you guys think of this update? I was thoroughly impressed by myself after finishing this and I'm actually proud of myself.