Subtleties
December 23rd 2000
"Caspian Lorenzo Riddle? Well that's a bit of a mouthful don't you think?" Theo chuckled before pulling the bottle of gin to his lips and taking a generous swig of it.
I shot a stinging jinx at his shoulder and he jumped, almost dropping the bottle but steadied it at the last second. "Watch it, Nott."
The three of us were sat around the veranda, passing a bottle and trying to take my mind off of the fact that I now have a child of my own to protect.
It's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying...
Don't get me wrong- I'm obsessed with the little boy- and just two days ago I was so ready for him to be here, but with the return of my father it makes me wish he was still safely inside of his mother where he would be protected and not out in the world with the threat of the dark lord looming overhead.
"I get it now." I mumbled and looked over at Draco. His eyes narrowed in confusion and he cocked his head to the side. "I get why you two faked Nova's death."
Draco sighed and gave me a weak smile, "It was different with her than it is with Caspian. Your father forced a pregnancy on us in hopes it would be a girl for him to use and abuse as he did with Ember." He stood and brushed off his robes, "Count yourself lucky mate." His voice cracked a bit before he turned quickly and walked away.
The circumstances surrounding Nova's existence was always a sore subject with him. In the past few years he's only spoken about it once when he was completely smashed on Ember's 20th birthday and that conversation ended with him putting his fist through the bathroom mirror and having to be sedated for three days after.
"You of all people should know not to bring up your sister around him this close to her birthday." Theo accioed the bottle from my hand and leaned back against the railing. "He's been a mess since her portrait spoke last night."
I almost choked, "Wait, what did you just say? Her portrait... the one in the sitting room? But she hasn't spoken a word- ever."
Theo smiled sadly, "She thought it necessary- given the circumstances."
I jumped up and took off toward the manor. I had to hear her voice for myself. I had so many things I wanted to talk to her about- so many things left unsaid before she died and in the aftermath I sat in front of her portrait for hours willing her to speak but she never did. She just stood there staring back at me, completely silent.
When I entered the room I saw Draco sitting in front of the couch with a glass of fire whiskey in his hand. He had placed her portrait on the floor in front of him and he was just staring at her.
I slid down beside him and watched as she nervously played with one of her curls and kept her gaze away from us.
"She won't talk. I've tried and she just... it was only the one time I guess." He shrugged and downed the rest of his drink, waving his hand and filling the glass up again.
"What did she say?" I choked on the words while I tried to keep my composure.
"Don't do it, Draco." He smirked and threw his head back, "She thought I was going to go after him by myself."
"Well weren't you?"
"Obviously." He said flippantly.
January 8th 2001
With there finally being a short break from the heavy snowfall and with no new developments in the mystery of the dark lords return, Draco and I decided to get Nova out of the manor for a bit and go into Diagon Alley to pick up a few things.
Even with as big as the manor and the grounds are, she still gets antsy when she's cooped up there for too long and it had been almost 3 weeks since we last ventured out with her.
We arrived by floo into The Leaky Cauldron and quickly stepped out onto the bustling pathway. The two of us were on high alert as we made our way amongst the crowd of people down to Flourish and Blotts. Once we stepped inside the silencing charm that blocked out the sounds of the outside world I felt myself relax a little more.
The bookstore was always a little escape- especially in off season when it isn't the hub for all school book purchases. Ember always spent her free time here; what little of it she actually had and Draco consistently brought Nova here to peruse around and would end up leaving with a whole new library's worth of books each time. It's become somewhat of a thing for them whenever he takes her out shopping, that whatever she touches he buys without giving it a second thought. She truly wants for nothing.
"Daddy! Look it's Aunty Ginny!" Nova screeched and squirmed her way out of Draco's grip before taking off toward a stack of books and a flash of bright red hair.
"Nova, darling- you can't just take off like that." Draco called after her as the two of us darted in her direction. When we rounded the corner, the woman who did bear a striking resemblance to the Weasley sister, was knelt down in front of Nova; running a finger through a knot in her curls.
The women flashed us both a bright smile and pointed toward us. "I'm assuming this little dove belongs to the two of you?" She sang as she stood and turned Nova around. Her soft, sage green robes swished as she did. When Draco didn't answer I turned and noticed he was frozen in place, eyes wide and mouth hung open slightly. It was only then that I took another look at the witch in front of us and her scent hit me. Vanilla and rose with a hint of mint... Embers scent.
She looked like her too in almost every way aside from the color of her hair which was a rich burnt orange and her eyes were a clear, crystal blue.
"Apologies, Miss..." I choked out, trying to appear calm as if I wasn't staring at my dead sister's face.
"Lawson. Daisy Lawson." She delicately stuck her hand out and I gently shook it. "Is your friend here alright? He looks as if he's seen a ghost." She giggled.
"I'm not entirely sure I haven't." Draco whispered and I elbowed him in the side as subtly as I could. He grunted in response and tried to play it off as a cough.
"Miss Lawson- again I do apologize. My niece here mistook you for a friend of ours." I knelt down and picked Nova up. She buried her head in my shoulder trying to act shyly.
"Daisy- there you are." A tall man with sandy blonde hair came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. I froze instantly- a deep icy chill taking up residence in my veins and a buzzing began in my ears. We needed to leave immediately. Something about him wasn't right. "Who's this?" The man asked- his brown eyes trailing us both.
"Well we would love to stay and chat but we really must be going now. My wife would be livid if we were late for dinner. It was nice meeting you Miss Lawson." I grabbed Draco by his coat sleeve and yanked him behind me. He still couldn't take his eyes off of Daisy. I turned back once more before we stepped out the door and noticed she and the man with her were whispering to each other and she appeared to be getting frustrated with something.
Once we were outside in the frigid January air we hurriedly pushed through the crowd which had since grown and ducked into The Leaky Cauldron.
🟢🟢🟢
"Are you alright?" Theo asked as he lit up a cigarette and threw himself down on the armchair behind us.
Neither of us answered him. After he put Nova to bed; the two of us now sat on the floor in front of her portrait again- not speaking.
I can't describe the feeling that washed over me being near those two people. Especially when the man walked up. It was like being near a dementor and all the happiness and warmth had been sucked out from the surrounding space. They didn't look menacing in any way but the energy that radiated off of them was something I had only felt in the presence of high ranking death eaters during the war that were drenched in the essence of dark magic.
"Draco?" I nudged his side and he jumped slightly. "Draco it wasn't her. It can't be. Ember's dead-"
He choked out a pained laugh and shook his head. "You think I don't know that!? I of all people know she is dead and buried in that wretched cemetery out back." He wiped a stray tear and ran his hand through his hair the way he did when he was trying to calm himself. "I know it wasn't her- but you can't tell me you didn't feel what I felt when you saw her. Everything about that woman was her aside from the hair and eye color. She even smelled like her Mattheo."
"Riddle? What is he going on about? What happened in Diagon?" Theo sat up, his face going pale.
Mattheo... Draco never used my first name unless it was something serious. This wasn't that serious was it? Who am I kidding of course it's serious. Everything that happens now has to be looked through with a fine tooth comb until we figure out who we can and can't trust.
After we informed Potter of the return of the mark he had been doing his own little side investigation into everyone. He was just as scared of the return of the dark lord- or perhaps someone even worse- if that was even a possibility. Could someone be worse than Voldemort?
Before him there was Grinndelwald and before him there were several other "dark lords" that had popped up over the last centuries since the age of Salazar Slytherin himself; but none were as terrifying and disastrous as my father. None were as cold blooded and depraved.
It was a possibility that it was someone else who had manipulated the marks to return in order to throw everyone off their scent- but it was the least likely possibility.
"I need you to look into someone for me. Name is Lawson, Daisy Lawson." I glanced up at Theo who shot back a confused look but after a minute he shook his head and headed for the Floo. Most likely heading to the research library at the ministry.
"It's not her. It can't be her. She's dead... she's dead." Draco murmured over and over while trying to reassure himself.
I let myself go down that rabbit hole for a minute just to test out the possibility. She could've easily faked her death- polyjuiced someone to look like her. The body can't break down potions once it's dead so the effects of it would basically be frozen, causing the person she gave it to, to remain in her body.
If that were the case then maybe Voldemort faked his death as well. It would explain why I got the same chill when that man walked up as I used to get with him. It would explain almost everything that the two of them were still alive and charming themselves to look like other people to stay hidden.
Or all do this was just a coincidence and I was loosing my fucking mind. My sister would never in a million years turn sides and support that monster and the fact that I was entertaining this idea really was a testament to the unresolved grief I had. To believe my sister was alive this whole time and working with the enemy? Fuck.
"She's dead Draco. It wasn't her. She's not coming back. She's gone."
🟢🟢🟢
January 15th 2001
"Someone broke into Grimmauld place?!" Draco exclaimed and jumped up from this seat at the table.
"But you have wards set up! How is that even possible unless..."
"Unless it's someone who's magic has been accepted by the wards before. The house had several ancient wards when it was passed down to me and I only added some but never changed the ones that were already in place. I didn't see it necessary as all the people that I didn't want there were dead." Harry sat back in his chair and took his glasses off of his face, cleaning them on his robes.
"Did they take anything?" I questioned.
Harry breathed a laugh and then his face hardened. "The only thing that was taken was my invisibility cloak."