1977 to 1978
October 1st, 1977
"Dear Agnes,
I am in London. Meet me tonight.
A.DG"
Agnes had just received an owl early at dawn. She had been woken up with a crusty looking owl, who seemed old and tired. It had crushed into her window, making a loud sound.
Antoine has sent the letter.
He had received her previous mails and had responded at last.
She had been back from Russia since a few weeks. Her whole journey there had seemed almost surreal. Alexei Dragomirov was still in Moscow, now working for the ministry, while she was in London, back at the Dunbars. Their affair had remained a good memory for both of them, only they knew it could not be more than a one time adventure.
She had told him :
- You hold a dear place in my heart. And I hope to see you again. I wish you greatness in your life and career.
- I will never forget you, Agnes Lenoir. Be safe.
And they had parted ways in a final smile.
It was better this way. Although she liked to think of the night they had spent together from time to time. It had been thrilling.
But back to Antoine!
She read the paper over and over, turning it in all sides to see whether they was any additional information, but nothing. Antoine was asking to see her, but had not given any detials on where nor when to meet?
She thought it through. Outside, the sun was slowly rising in the sky, leaving the darkness of the night behind to welcome another sunny summer day. She reached for her wand which was resting on a chair near her bed and pointed it at the letter, uncertain.
Revelio.
Slowly, black ink started to stain the paper in an intelligible manner, making up words to form a sentence. An address. And a time.
"Murray Grove, London. The Laundrette. Midnight"
Agnes had waited the whole day for night to come, so she could finally escape from the Dunbars to get to the meeting spot Antoine had chosen. Time seemed to go by slowly, and she had to focus her attention on something else to forget she was finally going to see her friend again. She had to persuade him to stop putting himself in danger and go back to FRance to his family. Messing with the wrong people would be the end of him.
When the sun had finally set and everyone was fast asleep in their bed, Agnes stepped out of the house, and flew on her broom to the meeting point. The city was calmer than during the day. It took her a few dozens of minutes to get to Murray Grove. There, she carefully landed in a dark street before crossing the pavement to reach the laundromat. It was a small shop deserted by its customers. A weak light was brightening the inside. She pushed the door slowly and was surprised to see it opened. She sat down on the bench and waited.
Minutes later, Antoine apparated right in front of her. The young wizard was wearing normal clothes and his hair had been cut a little shorter than before. At once, the two friends hugged each other.
- You scared us, Antoine! We really thought something had happened to you. Agnes said, holding her friend's hands.
- I am sorry. It was safer for you not to be aware of my location. Look, I received you owls and I know you want to make sure I am fine. That is why I asked you to meet me here tonight.
- What is going on, Antoine?
- Death eaters are everywhere in Britain and the Dark wizard leading them is recruiting pure bloods from other countries now. When I heard that some Beauxbatons students had been approached after their graduation, I knew I had to do something. We are not safe anymore as muggle borns, or half-blood, Agnes. Someone's gotta stop this madness. And I met someone who introduced me to a group who's fighting against these criminals. That's what I've been doing for the past months. Look, Agnes. I think you could be a great asset if you joined us. You are a powerful witch with a lot of influence in the Wizarding world now. People look up at you and they trust you. Your voice as a pure blood could be the key to slow down the indoctrination.
- Wait, wait, slow down. I came here to meet you, Antoine. To make sure you were okay, and to ask you to go back to your parents. They're also worried about you. You vanished one day and stopped visiting, and answering owls! You are putting yourself in danger. You must stop this now and go home.
- Do you think this is a game? Do you think I left my family and my country out of urge for adventure? I'm here because I don't have the choice. I cannot let people like me get killed because of their blood heritage, nor because of their wish for equality between muggles and wizards. Do you even know what is going on or are you only reading what the Daily Prophet relates? Because what you see on the news is only the tip of the iceberg, Agnes. People are dying. And I came here to help stop these crimes to occur.
- I- I understand but... Can't you just let someone else do it? Why does it have to be you? The young witch begged.
- God, Agnes. When have you become so egoistic? I really thought, you out of everyone else, would understand how it feels to lose people you love, and want to prevent it. There is a war going on. And I am taking part in it whether you like it or not.
- Let's talk about it. Maybe you could tell me about this group you joined. Or how can I reach out to you now?
- I think you know enough. Goodbye, Agnes. Take care.
The next second, Antoine had vanished, leaving her alone in the empty laundromat, a few minutes after midnight had passed.
She flew home after that, her head hurting from replaying the conversation over and over again. She was egoistic. It was true. But she just wanted her friend to be safe. She was a pure blood, and she had never suffered from discrimination whatsover regarding her heritage, besides her mum having raised her on her own.
She was priviledged in that sense. But did that mean she was blinded by the current events? She did not think so.
She fell asleep only a few hours before the sun rose, feeling angry at her friend and at herself.
***
December 27th, 1977
Joshua and Jimmy were finally home for the holidays, and Agnes had came back from the Lenoir manoir where she had spent most of the autumn season. She had needed to clear her thoughts and had some business to handle there, so she had promised she would be back for the end of the year.
London was colder than usual, and a lot of snow had fallen on the streets, changing the usual grey and dark roads into bright white grounds. Agnes liked the snow. Her and her brothers had made a strange sculpture in the garden, supposedly ressembling Mr Dunbar, but it looked more like Cosmey.
- How is everyone doing? Agnes asked, while clapping her palms together to get rid of the snow.
- Well, Sirius is still the same as usual, Remus spends a lot of time in the nursery, 's been quite sick during the first term. Don't know why. Peter lost dozens of points to Gryffindor because he messed up a whole year-long project of Slughorn's. And James well, you cannot find him without Lily now! They're the new hot thing in school.
- Ahh, glad to hear about those two. Too bad for Pettigrew, 'isn't the brightest but he seems to want to do his best. As for Remus, you really don't know what he caught?
- Well, you know he has his secrets.. I'm not that close to him, I know James better. Maybe he has a fragile health or something. Always comes back with weird scratches and stuffs.
Agnes did not ask further questions as Joshua seemed to get bored with it. They joined Jimmy back inside for some tea, and she helped them work on their school projects due in January.
***
February 10th, 1978
"Dear Agnes,
Still no news from Antoine? Here, Pierre is starting to think we should all join you in London to look for him.
You know, I understand your statement. I also wish Antoine would come home. But what if he was right? What if we were really blinded by our privilidge and refused to see what is truly going on? Pierre is getting worried for his family and our friends from Beauxbatons.
Let me know what you think. I can come to Britain next month.
Ps: Fleur is growing up so fast, she even said my name the other day!
J.DLC"
***
March 4th, 1978
Agnes had just celebrated her 20th birthday. A lot of people had made it to the party organized by the Dunbars. A few journalists had taken photos and asked herquestions on her career, and she had talked to so many witches and wizards she found it hard to remember everyone's face at the end of the night.
Turning twenty was something. She felt stronger and more adult, yet there was something missing.
Jeanne had joined her for a few days, and they had discussed about Antoine. Agnes was feeling more and more guilty. Antoine had trusted her and put himself in more danger when deciding to meet her that night at the laundromat. But she had just swiped his opinion off the table and had stated her own.
Maybe she really had to get involved, after all. But she was scared. Scared that her magic would be revealed, scared that her loved ones would get hurt if she was too committed to chase those death eaters.
- Agnes, I must tell you something. Jeanne had said, hesitantly.
- I'm all ears.
- You know how Pierre and I have been spending a lot of time together since you and Antoine left.
Agnes waited for the rest, starting to get an idea of the direction it was taking.
- Well, last summer, we kinda... starting to date. And it's been REALLY good ever since. I am sorry I didn't tell you then, but I wanted to make sure it was serious and it wouldn't affect our friendship!
- Oh. My. God. Jeanne Delacour! You little!!!
Agnes jumped on her best friend and hugged her passionately, laughing happily at her news. It was beautiful. She couldn't have hoped for a better partner for Jeanne than Pierre Leroy himself. He was a trustworthy man and always had a soft spot for Jeanne. It seemed natural. How could had she not seen it?
The following weeks, Agnes had decided to train with her elemental magic again. She had remembered Dumbledore's words saying:
"Danger can appear in different manners, and it is tricky to see it coming. All we can do is train ourselves to be stronger and gather a circle of trustful people. My advice for now, is to keep trainingMy advice for now, is to keep training."
Yes, the only thing she could really do now was getting stronger in case of any attack, in case she would have to defend her friends.
So, every day, she apparated in the woods a little far from London. She meditated to reconnect with the elements, to feel them around her and communicate with them. After a few days only, she could build a huge mud wall by doing a few hand movement only. She had managed to make a full body on fire, and could also breathe underwater. On her way back home, she had flown so fast thanks to the wind she was controlling, it felt so liberating. She could feel everything.
"Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I am reaching out to you after a long time of absence. I am sure you are busy with business at Hogwarts and the current critical situation occuring in the Wizarding World.
I am writing this letter bceause I do not know who to reach out to now. I have been practicing my 'magic' again. While doing it, I felt stronger and more in control. But I seem to need a purpose regarding performing attacking and defensive magic. I do not know whether I should use such magic for the better good? Do you reckon I should expose myself now?
I hope we can talk about this.
Sincerely,
A.L"
***
April 7th, 1978
"Dear Agnes,
You can come see me at Hogwarts in my office sometime this week.
I expect your visit.
A.Dumbledore"
Two days later, Agnes was dressing up early in the morning, ready to go.
She was going back to Hogwarts.