I - GHOST
Her icy gray eyes look cold and hollow as it reflects the fire from the hearth. She smoked her cigarettes as she blew the smokes around her, clouding her eyes for a moment as a shadow of a cold hand clutching into her neck tightly. She let out a heavy breath as she frantically waved the smokes and brushed her long black hair in frustration.
"Why haven't you sleep yet, ma fille chérie?" Asked a tired voice that belonged to a man in his late thirties.
The girl looks at the man slowly and says "How could I sleep when the ghost of my friends is haunting me in my dreams?" She says softly, her voice sounds like a crack in the ice,
- like she could just crumble and turn into nothingness.
"Leora..." He called as he took a seat beside her, the man slowly brought both his daughter's hand on his, "I love you, and it pained me so much to see you like this. And I feel - I feel that I have failed you because I can't protect you when you need me the most. But I, despite my flaws, are still your father and I wish, - I do really wish I could help you my darling daughter. Please... Please, talk to me..." He said, there's a hint of sorrow and desperation in his voice.
A single tear fell from her eyes as she looked at her father.
A man that she thought she lost when she was seven because the world declared him as a missing person.
A man who is stuck in the time loops that when he comes back to her, he looks like he didn't age.
A man who she thought she hated for leaving her alone with her cruel grandmother but actually she misses him a lot.
A man who despite almost dying so many times still manages to come back safely to her.
A man that she call her father,
Regulus Arcturus Black.
There are no words that she could use to describe her feelings right now. But Regulus understood, slowly he took the cigarettes from her hand and threw it into the fireplace. Tenderly he brought her into his embrace as he stroked her long black hair. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry Leia... I'm sorry ..." He whispered in sadness.
The 14 years old girl cried as she clutched into her father's shirt tightly like it was her life line. Her ears suddenly ringing as a sharp scream rang and clouded all her senses, she saw a body, a cold body belonging to a beautiful girl with a starry night in her eyes.
The moon, her moon, her beloved sister, Silena Beaugard lay there helplessly as she whispered her name as her last words. And then her body dissolves into nothingness, and reformed into a young man whose hair looked like it was kissed by the sun. His eyes full of regrets as he apologizes for everything that he did.
Luke, his name is Luke, the son of Hermes who starts a war that leads to the death of many, - many of her siblings. But in the end she cannot hate him.
The loud scream keeps ringing in her ears as she frantically tries to cover her ears in desperation. Trying to block the sound until she realized the scream was her all along. Crying and wailing in her father's embrace as her young soul was tortured by the ghost of the war.
The shadow is long and it carries misery, looming over her and ready to devour her. But then a melancholic voice pierce into the dark night.
"We lay my love and I, beneath the weeping willow, But now alone I lie and weep beside the tree."
It was a song,
A song that Pandora sings to him every time Regulus has a mental breakdown.
A Song that Regulus sings in Pandora graveyard as he hold three years old Leora in his arms
A song that Regulus sings to a little Leora whenever she was having a difficult time sleeping because of the storms.
It was Pandora's song, Regulus's song, and now Leora's song.
Regulus kept singing while stroking his daughter's hair in the long night, waiting for her storm to end as he hoped that he could remove the weight of the war on her little shoulder.
"Singing 'Oh willow waly' by the tree that weeps with me. Singing 'Oh willow waly' till my lover return to me."
Eventually the little demigod finally sleeps in her father's arms, as her father kisses the top of her head and whispers the last lyric of the song in prayer.
"We lay my love and I beneath the weeping willow. A broken heart have I. Oh, Willow I die. "
***
Leora Pandora Black, look at her reflection in the mirror with annoyance. Her eyes are swollen and look puffy because of what happened last night. She hurriedly applied her makeup on her face, hoping to cover the dark circle under her eyes.
When she finished, she smiled in satisfaction at her reflection. She looks stunning wearing a black blazzer with matching palazzo pants. She let her long hair loose freely on her back.
Her horrible cruel mother would be proud of her.
"Traitor! Embarrassment to my family! Die! Die! Die!" A high pitched scream was heard from outside her door.
"Shut up or I'll burn you old hag!" Shout a man followed by a rough screech and the loud thud as the screaming finally stops.
Leora smiles in amusement as she walks towards the source of commotion. "What a loud morning, uncle. Did my beloved Grandmother trouble you again?" Asked Leora as she peered at her grandmother's painting and gave her a middle finger and immediately shut the curtain before that wretched woman would scream again.
Leora didn't have good memories about Walburga Black. When she was seven, Regulus went missing, he was off to do some mission for Dumbledore and searching for Peter Pettigrew in hope he could clear his brother's name and free him from Azkaban.
She didn't know what kind of mission that Dumbledore gave him, but her father ended up stuck in a hollow dimension where he was traped in a loophole. Last year, her father managed to get out from the loophole but unfortunately he failed to catch Pettigrew but still managed to help Sirius escaped and sneak him into the Grimmauld place.
Leora was happy seeing her father again, but also furious, because he left her with her Grandmother. Walburga raised her for five years, from the age of seven until twelve before that wretched woman eventually died from old age. After that there is a battle of custody between two of Leora's aunts, Narcissa Mafoy and Andromeda Tonks.
Andromeda eventually won, with the help of Dumbledore. Leora loves her Aunt Cissa, but Her aunt Andy knows her secret as a demigod from Dumbledore and it was safer that way. It's not that they didn't trust Narcissa, Leora knows her aunt will protect her secret with her own life but the problem is Narcissa's husband, Lucius Malfoy.
That's why she chose to stay with her aunt Andy but still pay a visit to Malfoy manor from time to time to see her cousin and aunt.
Then Regulus came back in her third year and took her back from aunt Andy and she lived with him again. But before Regulus could shield his daughter from Demigod's life, he was too late.
His daughter was already broken and torn into pieces from the war. He regrets leaving her, but he will never give up to help her pick all her pieces and heal her as much as he can.
"She is a nightmare, a horrible hag. " Said Sirius as he grimaced at the painting, he then looked at his nephew in a hidden sadness.
Sirius heard her scream and cry last night, he knew her other life as a Demigod. To think such a young girl is already fighting in a war...
"Don't look at me like that." Said Leora suddenly,
"W-What?" Asked Sirus in surprise.
"I mean, I'm fine uncle. Where is father anyway?" Asked Leora, trying to change the topic.
"I'm here, sweetheart. Are you ready?" Asked her father as he came from behind her, slowly he tucked her hair behind her ears.
"Of course I am, I'm ready to give my heart for Ireland." She said jokingly at her father. "Are you sure you didn't want to come, Uncle?"
Sirius shakes his head as he tries to smile despite his disappointment, "Too many ministry people in there, It's too risky ..." He grimaced when he said 'Risky', he hated it, hated that he even thought about what was risky and what not, he used to be daring and up to any challenge, but now-
"Alright then, we will be back in the morning. Also I will tell Harry, you say hello."
"Thank you, Leia." Sirius said as he ruffled his nephew's hair fondly in which the girl immediately swatted his hand away. "Not my hair, uncle!" She warn him as she pout
But Sirius only laughs playfully, while Regulus looks at his brother and daughter fondly. "Come, Leia. We are going to be late." Said Regulus as he offered his hand to her.
Leora gracefully took her father's hand and hooked her hand around his arms. And both of them immediately go to the living room where Kreacher is already waiting for them.
"My lord, My young lady. Kreacher is please to see you and will dispatch you safely." Said the house elf as he bowed at his liege,
Leora nods kindly and says, "We will be in your hand, Krecher."
Regulus and Leora then take Kreacher's hand as they are teleported immediately to the campsite where people will stay during the Quidditch world cup. When they arrived, they heard a loud thud as some people fell gracelessly not far from them. A familiar redhead and dark curly one greet their sight as Leora smirks and approaches them.
"Well well, look what I found! A bunch of Gryffindorks falling ungracefully on their little butt. May as well roll yourself from here to the campsite, it will be a lovely sight." Said Leora as she playfully taunted them.
Regulus smiles in amusement at his daughter's snarks, it reminds him of the old days when he used to taunt James and the Marauders. Harry on the other side, grinned when he saw Leora.
"Well, if your majesty the queen of snakes, commands this humble servant to roll, - then roll he will be." Said Harry as he bowed dramatically at Leora who laughed and immediately hugged him.
"Oh! how I miss you and your stupid smile, Potter!"
"I miss you too as well, Black." He said as he hugged her back.
Leora then pulled away from the hug and immediately hugged Hermione and Ginny as the girls laughed and hugged her back. "You two have become more beautiful since the last time I saw you, especially you, Ginny! you grow so much. You used to be this little, how come now you are the same height as mine?"
Ginny chuckles softly as she smiles at Leora, The Black heiress always has the soft spot in her heart because she saved her in her first year from The Chamber of Secret. Well, it's mostly Harry who saves her but Leora comforts her alot after the incident. "Well, I grew up and the skins product you give me helps me a lot dealing with pimples and stuff. But I will never be able to get rid of these freckles."
Leora immediately pulled away from hugging Ginny and gasped dramatically. "How dare you! You can't and you will never get rid of those beautiful things on your faces. Said it with me, your freckles are the most beautiful asset that you have!"
Ginny only rolls her eyes as the twins immediately interrupt them, "You are not going to hug us? Black?" Said Fred as both of them looked offended that she didn't hug them first.
Leora playfully sticks out her tongue as she hugs Ron instead, "I'm hugging our little Ronald first."
Ron groans but still manages to smile fondly at Leora while the twins gasp loudly as they shout in synchronization. "Blasphemy!"
Regulus smiles softly as he watches his daughter laugh and interacts with the Weasley. It's relieving seeing her smile again after last night. The Weasley helped Andromeda take care of Leora when Regulus was absent. That's when they get close with each other, their bond becomes even stronger when Leora helps Harry save Ginny from the chamber of secrets two years ago.
"It reminds you of the old days isn't it? The day when the whole school was shocked due to one of Slytherin's princes joining the Marauders." Said Arthur Weasley when he approach Regulus,
Regulus lets a low chuckle as his gaze looks far away for a moment, "Yes... I miss the old days. But the truth is I never joined the Marauders, I had my own group that time, it's just when I was in my fifth year, I had a truce with the Marauders and reconciled with Sirius with the help from James and Pandora." As he said that, he can't help thinking about the people that he lost, Evan, Barty, Pandora, Lily, James...
James.
His icy gray eyes landed on the exact replica of James Potter who is currently talking with his daughter, he noted despite having James curls and jawline, little Potter has Lily eyes. Regulus misses both of them.
James and Regulus used to be an odd couple, its indeed enemy to lovers. But they are not an end game, it's a mutual decision and Regulus was happy when James decided to marry Lily evans. She was a wonderful woman and one of Regulus' favourite, they often talked about potions and mixing weird potions together. Lily was the one who lifted his prejudice against the muggleborns by simply introducing him to a brilliant muggle novel namely Sherlock Holmes. Also muggle has better music and he was so fascinated by muggle movies, Regulus remembers how he used to be obsessed with Star Wars.
It's actually funny because the three of them kind of love each other and in Polyamory situation. At first it was just Regulus and James, then somehow Lily come in their life, both James and Regulus love her and treat her like a princess, sometimes it was Lily ans James who pampering Regulus because he is the youngest among them, and then most of the times Lily ans Regulus team up to bully James.
James want to marry both of them and it was stupid because Regulus will never wear 'Potter' as his last name, and you just can't marrying two people at the same time, although not gonna lie, Regulus also want to marry both Lily and James.
But, he can't, he is the heir of Black house, he can't end the family lines despite how dysfunctional his family is. So James ended up marrying Lily, but Regulus remain as their lovers.
It was such a huge lost, a devasting moment, after Regulus lost Evan, he lost both his lovers, James and Lily.
"If James were still here, he would be Leora's godfather... and I will be their daughter's Godfather as they promised me... but little Lily never even got the chance to be born..." Said Regulus sadly, Arthur can see the agony in his gray eyes.
"It's truly lamentable, but... their legacies are here."
"Indeed."
***
It's her,
the one who he's been missing the whole summer. His breath hitched as he saw his universe through her eyes, the silver dust of wonders swirling beautifully making all the stars above them jealous by her light. When the wind blew the mass of black sea in her head, formed a black crown that emphasized more of her beauty. She is so unreal, it's like she came out from a painting.
She is heaven itself, she is...
"Leia."
Leora Black looks up and naturally smiles as she lets herself wander in the forest of his eyes. The Lion in the jungle.
"Theo!" She called as she wrapped both of her arms around him.
He is home, he feels so full and right, he belongs there, in her arms.
Theodore affectionately kisses the top of her hair, making Leora blush as her Father starts coughing furiously. Draco Malfoy, Leora's cousin, immediately yanks Theodore's shirt by the back of his collar before his uncle murder his best friend.
"Ahem!" Regulus clears his throat as he glares menacingly at Theodore who only smiles innocently at him.
"I have missed you terribly, Theodore, my Theodore. How's your summer? And of course I miss you as well, cousin." Said Leora as she also greeted her cousin who rolled his eyes because he was slightly annoyed that Leora chose to greet Theodore first before him.
"I miss you too, Leia. And my summer is dull without your company but I have a good time reading the books that you recommended for me."
Theodore and Leora continue to talk, they are all currently in the top box of Quidditch cup arena, the box was exclusive only for people from the ministry higher up and some noble pureblood house. Regulus then nudged Leora softly, told her to greet her uncle and aunt like a proper lady from house of Black. Leora nods and elegantly approaches the Malfoys, she give the Malfoys a simple curtsy.
"Uncle Lucius, Aunt Cissa. It's a pleasure to meet you again." She said politely as the Malfoys greeted her too.
Leora and Narcissa then share a glance before both of them immediately chuckle and joyfully start to hug each other.
"I miss you, aunt Cissa! I'm sorry I can't come to the manor this summer and also the previous summer, I caught up with something." Said Leora as Narcissa stroked her hair fondly and cooes at her.
"It's okay dear, I know you have a lot to catch up with your father after he has been missing to who knows where." Narcissa clearly gives Regulus a hidden criticism for leaving Leora.
Regulus ignores his cousin and only smiles politely as he greets Lucius and some people from the ministry. To be honest he didn't like politics but he knows how useful the network is, especially if he wants to clear Sirius's name and put Pattigrew in Azkaban as soon as he catches that rat.
One by one Leora sees her friends and housemate, they manage to get a seat too in the top box due to their family's influence just like Leora. She was a bit disappointed because Daphne can't come, the blonde beauty didn't enjoy Quidditch as much as Leora did, the same goes to Lorenzo, that sweet boy prefers books and duelists instead of Quidditch. But Alois and Pansy are here, also the Weasley, Harry and Hermione, so it's enough.
Leora was hugging Pansy and making snarky remarks about Alois' last letter when suddenly her ears perked up at her cousin's voices. She looked around and saw her cousin bickering again with Harry and Weasley. A tired sigh immediately slipped from her lips.
"Aren't they tired of this? I mean at this point if they suddenly start dating each other I won't be surprised." Said Leora as Alois and Pansy laughed and nodded in agreement.
"Oh Daphne will murder Draco for this." Sais Alois as he watches Draco and Harry looks like they would strangle each other.
"Yeah, so much sexual tension there." Commented Pansy that caused Leora to whip her head to look at her in curiosity.
"Huh? You are not jealous? I thought you had a crush on Draco?" Asked Leora that made Pansy instantly blush because Leora's face was too close to her when she asked this.
"Ahem! I... I'm not the jealous type?" Said Pansy as Alois snickering beside her, and Pansy cruely pinched Alois' side in warning as she glared at him. Alois in turn playfully makes a zipping motion towards his mouth.
"I see, that's good for you because I can assure you, I'm very much a jealous type. I mean not just when I'm in a relationship with someone, but I get teritorial when it comes to the people I cherish." Declare Leora completely oblivious with Alois and Pansy little interaction.
They continue to watch Draco and Harry bickering and it somehow escalates to Lucius and Arthur glaring at each other while throwing insults. Before a fight breaks out among them, Regulus with the help of Narcissa steps up and stops them before they can cause any major commotion.
Suddenly, Leora felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and saw Theodore smile softly at her. "Will you sit with me, Leia?" he said as he gave her his hand.
Leora was about to take his hand but suddenly Pansy hugged her from behind, "She is going to sit with me, piss off Nott!"
Theodore's smile instantly fell as he scoffed and looked at Pansy in disbelief, "No way Parkinson, I ask her first. Why do you want to sit with Leora anyway, you can just sit with Draco or Alois."
"Because, apparently I'm a jealous type." She gritted as Alois started to laugh behind her back.
"Guys, we all can just sit together, come on!" Said Leora as she dragged both Pansy and Theodore's hand.
They sit in the first row where The Malfoys and Regulus are already waiting for them, Leora sits beside Regulus as her father smiles at her, Theodore quickly sits on Leora other side, Pansy gives a low hiss as she sits beside Draco and Alois.
***
Ludo Bagman whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.
"Ladies and gentlemen . . . welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty second Quidditch World Cup!"
The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message (Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans - A Risk With Every Mouthful!) and now showed
BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce . . . the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"
The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.
Leora suddenly muffled a shriek when she saw a hundred veela were now gliding out onto the field, she immediately hid her face on her father's shoulder making Theodore give her a questioning look.
"Leia, are you alright?" Asked Theodore worriedly,
"She is ... she is fine, she just didn't like veela." Explained Regulus as he tried to calm her down by brushing her hair with his fingers.
The truth is, she is not scared of Veela, it's more like The Veela was her mother's servant just like the Empousa served Hecate. They will sniff and know Leora is Aphrodite's daughter and it can't cause unwanted attention if they Suddenly approach her and worship her. It actually happened when she visited France a few years ago.
And true to her thought, suddenly three Veela approach her stand, Leora who can feel their presence is near immediately cursed in ancient greek so fast that only her father notices it. Leora finally look up from her Father's embrace and see some peoples are drooling and even attempt to go to the Veela, but Theodore only look at her in concern, he didn't care about the Veela, instead of fawning over the Veela like most men are, Theodore glare at them instead, because he really thought The Veela scared Leora.
Leora on the other side had enough of this, she stood and glared at the Veela, using her charmspeak in earnest as she spoke in ancient greek. "Leave me be."
The Veela eyes immediately glaze over as they suddenly turn around and leave their box. Leora breathes a sigh of relief as she finally looks at Theodore who looks at her in wonder.
"Did you just use your power to make them go away?" He asked in amusement, Theodore knew about her gift, the charmspeak, but he didn't know she was a demigod.
It's not unusual for a pureblood wizard to have unique gifts, like Salazar being a Parselmouth, her cousin Nymphadora is metamorphmagus, and also some people are Legilimens. So Theodore and the rest of her friends just assume that she is gifted with the power that resembles an imperius curse.
"Yeah, can't help it, sorry? I know I'm not supposed to do that..." Said Leora as Theodore chuckles.
"Nah, It's fine, you mean no harm. But why do you curse in greek again?"
Leora laughed as she answered, "It's just happened..."
"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air . . . for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arched suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering sham-rock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands.
Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it -
"A Leprechauns! Father, that's a Leprechauns!" Shout Leora excitedly as Regulus watches his daughter in fondness.
"Yes it is, my darling daughter. Do you want me to catch some gold for you?" He asked
Leora shakes her head as she laughs, "No, I know it's just an illusion, I can see the mist..."
"The mist?" Theodore asked curiously, didn't understand what she meant by the 'Mist'. Leora realized her mistake as she smiled sheepishly, "Um...nothing." And she proceeds to talk about something else to make Theodore forget what she says before, and it quite works well especially when she playfully kisses his cheek, he completely forgot about the 'Mist' things like a helpless fool.
The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgar-ian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov!"
A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.
"Ivanova!" A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.
"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!"
Despite coming as an Ireland supporter, when Krum shows up, Regulus and Leora immediately cheer. Both Regulus and Leora play seeker so they know how good Krum is as a seeker.
"That's him! That's Victor Krum!" Shout Leora as Theodore watches her in amusement as he removes some of her hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear.
"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!"
Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Harry spun a small dial on the side of his Omnioculars and slowed the players down enough to read the word "Firebolt" on each of their brooms and see their names, embroidered in silver, upon their backs.
"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!" A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a mustache.
A silver whistle was protruding
from under the mustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick under the other. Leora spun the speed dial on his Omnioculars back to normal, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open - four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.
"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"
"Merlin! It's so intense, for the love of Zeus' mustache! the Irish team is so good!!!" Commented Leora excitedly as she watched the match, Regulus and Theodore laughed while listening to her habit of cursing in ancient Greek whenever she was excited or mad. Both men also enjoyed watching the match and cheer for Ireland.
"TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"
"Troy my man!!!! If I'm not fall in love with the snitch, I will try to play chaser next year!" Said Leora as Regulus mocked a gasp, dramatically.
"Traitor, how dare you choose James over me." Said Regulus as Leora laughed wholeheartedly, "Harry's father is a chaser?" Asked Leora.
"He is. A brilliant chaser, it actually surprised me that Harry plays seeker, if James is still alive I will rub that fact on his face."
"Don't be too mean to my Godfather."
"You really are a naughty little traitor."
Both Father and Daughter eventually start to laugh as Theodore watches them with a loving smile.
"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh I say!" roared Bagman.
One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes
without parachutes.
"Holy shit! Holy shit! Hades! he is going to crash!!!" Shout Leora
"No, ... it's feinting." Said Her father full of certainty.
True to his words, Krum really is feinting and Leora immediately laughs in amazement.
The match continued as it got more intense from time to time, a fight almost broke when one of the team did some violation that caused them to get a warning and a foul. But eventually the match come to an end when Krum finally spot the snitch.
Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.
The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170
across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what had hap-pened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder
and erupted into screams of delight.
"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match.
"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS - good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"
"HADES!!! THEY WON!!! OMG THEY WON BUT KRUM IS SO COOL, HE GOT THE SNITCH!!!!" Leora shouts in euphoria as she hugs her father who also grins from ear to ear, she also hugs Theodore next who laughs happily.
The moment feels so amazing that Leora forgot about all her pain and trauma that she suffered from the last war. All she could think at the moment was how beautiful Theodore's forest green eyes were whenever he looked at her.
***
"Leia! - Leia wake up!"
Leora hears voices, a familiar voice that she eventually notices is her Father's voice trying to wake her up from her sleep. Groggily she opened her eyes and saw her father frantic looks as he looked so pale, almost like a ghost. For a moments Leora thought she is in Underworld again talking to the ghost of Silena for the last time before she gone forever.
"Father?" She asked in a tired voice, after the match she celebrated the Ireland victory with her friends and had a little party at Alois tent since he only came with his cousin without any parents.
"We need to go, Leia. We need to go." Said Regulus again as he gently pulled Leora and sat her on the side of her bed.
Faintly Leora could hear Regulus muttering a protection spell over her as he tenderly wrapped a coat on her body to cover her nightgown. Regulus then took her hand as they walked towards the tent entrance. They need to go outside the camp site so Regulus can apparate two of them safely because they cannot apparate on the campsite due to some security ward.
When Leora outside her tent, she finally snapped out from her sleepiness and became alert as she heard a lot of people screaming and some tents burning. Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came
a burst of strong green light, which illuminated the scene.
A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field.
"W-What happened?" She asked nervously as she immediately grabbed her wand.
"No time to explain, we need to go now." Said Regulus, he looks sick and pale by the commotion like he is a ghost drowning in his past.
They manage to get out from the crowds and camp site and arrive safely outside the tent, but they didn't immediately apparate because Regulus is freezing.
He looks like he just seen a ghost as his pupil dilated and he forgot to breathe.
"Barty?" He said softly as his voice cracked like he was in pain.
Leora frowns and trailed her gaze over to the spot where her father landed his eyes. But before she could see anyone, without warning, a chilling voice and a spark of green blinded her for a moment as someone shouts
"MORSMORDRE!"
And something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Leora's eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it
flew up over the treetops and into the sky. it was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue. As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.
And she realized in horror, that's a dark mark.
"No! Don't look!" Leora heard her father shouts as he covered her face and brought her into his embrace, she then heard a lot of booming sound and a shouts. Leora tries to pry herself from her father's embrace but he is too strong, physical talent never being her forte.
When Regulus finally calmed himself he finally let her go, and then she saw Harry, Hermione and Ron surrounded by the people from the ministry.
"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognized. "STOP! That's my son!"
"Ron - Harry" - his voice sounded shaky - "Hermione - are you all right?"
"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice.
It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Harry got to his feet to face them. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.
"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured Dark Mark?"
"We didn't do that!" said Harry, gesturing up at the skull.
Mr.Crouch was about to touch Harry again when Regulus stopped his hand and Leora protectively shoved Harry behind her back.
"Don't touch James' son." Hissed Regulus as he threatened Barty Crouch Senior.
Regulus never liked Crouch senior, he is a cold hearted man that always abused his own son, Barty. It was his fault that Barty ended up like that. Barty is one of Regulus dear friends, it pained him when they stopped being friends after Barty chose to join the death eater. Evan, who always goes to wherever Barty goes, also joined the Death Eater and left young living baby Alois at one month old.
Just like Regulus didn't like Crouch, Mr. Crouch also didn't like Regulus. Because Regulus is Sirius' brother and in his eyes Sirius is a criminal. Not to mention, Regulus is one of his son's closest friends.
"I see, so it was you then who conjured the dark mark? Let's lock you up in Azkaban shall we? You will be a fine replacement for your brother." Said Mr.Crouch that cause Leora to immediately snarl and grab his collar.
"Don't you dare talk to my father that way!!!"
A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout.
"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's - but - blimey . . ."
"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"
They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Harry recognized the tea towel at once. It was Winky.
Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky.
Then he appeared to come to life again.
"This - cannot - be," he said jerkily. "No -" He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky.
"No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there." But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it.
They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching.
"Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house-elf . . . I mean to say . . ."
"Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf ? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."
"Yeah," said Mr. Diggory, "and she had a wand."
"What?" said Mr. Weasley.
"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."
Just then there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling upward at the emerald-green skull.
The ministry begins to discuss and interrogate the house elf until Harry finally notices something.
"Hey - that's mine!" he said.
Everyone in the clearing looked at him.
"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, incredulously.
"That's my wand!" said Harry. "I dropped it!"
"You dropped it?" repeated Mr. Diggory in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"
"Amos, think who you're talking to!" said Mr. Weasley, very angrily.
"Is Harry Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?" Said Regulus in a clipped tone, Diggory sounds so ridiculous to him right now.
"Er - of course not," mumbled Mr. Diggory. "Sorry . . . carried away . . ."
"I didn't drop it there, anyway," said Harry, jerking his thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."
"So," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf ? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"
"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squealed Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is . . . I is . . . I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"
"It wasn't her!" said Hermione. She looked very nervous, speaking up in front of all these Ministry wizards, yet determined all the same. "Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!"
She looked around at Harry and Ron, appealing for their support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"
"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."
"Yeah, it was a human voice," said Ron.
"Well, we'll soon see," growled Mr.Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?" Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr.Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Harry's.
"Prior Incantato!" roared Mr. Diggory.
Hermione gasp, horrified, as a gigantic serpent tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell.
"Deletrius!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke.
"So," said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking convulsively.
"I is not doing it!" she squealed, her eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"
"You've been caught red-handed, elf !" Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand !"
"Amos," said Mr. Weasley loudly, "think about it . . . precious few wizards know how to do that spell. . . . Where would she have learned it?"
"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," said Mr. Crouch, cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the
Dark Mark?"
There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory looked horrified. "Mr. Crouch . . . not . . . not at all . . ."
"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this
clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barked Mr. Crouch. "Harry Potter - and myself ! I suppose you are familiar with the boy's story, Amos?"
"Of course - everyone knows -" muttered Mr. Diggory, look-ing highly discomforted.
As the ministry kept arguing back and forth, Leora suddenly said, loud enough to be heard by everyone there and abruptly stopped the conversation. "Father, aren't you seen someone earlier, you mentioned a name?"
People then look at Regulus in anticipation, "Who did you see, Regulus?" Asked Arthur.
"No... I thought I saw someone but It's impossible... " Said Regulus as he frowns, " I must be really tired from the world cup before - I start seeing something impossible."
"What do you mean by that?" Asked Mr. Diggory, "Just tell us who did you see?"
"A ghost... " Said Regulus as he frowned, slowly he looked at Mr.Crouch as he said, "I see Barty Crouch ... junior."
People were stunned when they heard that. Leora, Harry, Ron, Hermione certainly looks confused because they come from the newer generation.
"That's why I said it's impossible, he is dead already there is no way he is here." Said Regulus.
"Right... are you perhaps a little tipsy, Lord Black?" Ask Mr.Diggory curiously while Regulus rolled his eyes in annoyance, "I don't drink, Diggory."
"This is utterly nonsense." Said Mr.Crouch
The ministry debated again about Winky and Mr.Crouch said that he would sack the poor house elf. Hermione, bless her bleeding heart, tries to save the poor elf but It's gone fruitless.
Regulus' attention was no longer on the ministry worker as he approached Harry and put his arms on his shoulder. "Potter, listen. Do you still have constant dreams?"
Harry frowned as he said, "H-How... How did you know?"
"Listen James- sorry, I mean Potter- as soon as you leave this place I want you to owl Dumbledore and tell him everything about your dream in detail. Do you understand?" Asked Regulus, his gray eyes piercing deep into Harry that cause him to shiver slightly from the intense pressure.
"Yes sir, I will."
"Good." Said Regulus as he nodded and let his shoulder go, Regulus then took his daughter's hand and hugged her again. "Let's go home." He said softly
"Yes, let's go home."