15 - Ostara with the Blacks
21 March 1996
Black Castle
Alhena was bouncing with uncharacteristic energy, incapable of keeping a grin off her face as she walked through Black Castle. It was everyone except Orion and Sirius’ first proper time celebrating Ostara, and they were excited. Not only was there a large feast planned – and the scent of lamb and pork filled the halls, making everyone’s mouths water – but everyone present at the Black Family Meeting (except Muriel, who had rightfully been barred) was there.
Laughter drifted in from the back garden through open windows, from people trading stories and anecdotes, and something deep and profound settled in Alhena’s chest with a weight that brought tears to her eyes. It just felt right, having her extended family surrounding her and being able to hear them, sense them. It was very different from the girl that had had only her brother for company in Privet Drive (on her side, at least), and who couldn’t chase away the loneliness at Hogwarts.
“Why are you crying, child?” Her great-grandmother, Hesper’s voice pierced through the haze of emotions surrounding Alhena, and she looked up at her portrait.
“You have no idea how overwhelming it is, being surrounded by family like this, family that genuinely wants you and values your opinions and company, after fourteen years of scorn,” Alhena said softly. “My surviving maternal relatives didn’t like either my cousin or I, to put it mildly. And this… Hearing the laughter and stories being exchanged, opinions and issues put to the wayside… I can’t begin to explain the way it settled in my chest.”
Hesper smiled, and her smile was soft and warm. “The feel of familial magic, of having your entire family with you, even for a day, is overwhelming by nature, Alhena. Because familial magic, especially when one of the things you feel for most of them is profound love, is a powerful thing. Few know how powerful it actually is.”
“Powerful enough to stop a Killing Curse, I daresay,” Alhena said with a small smile as she wiped her eyes. “Happy Ostara, Grandmother.”
Hesper returned the greeting, and Alhena started slowly making her way out to the party outside. But she stopped in front of the large glass doors, watching everyone outside. Her awareness prickled at an unfamiliar presence, and she turned around.
Regulus’ spirit was leaning against a wall, looking his brother’s double for all their subtle differences, and smiling at Alhena.
“Reggie…” The nickname – habit after so much time in Sirius and Orion’s company – came out as a whisper.
“Alhena.” The way her brother said her name made the tears start flowing again, and he came over, brushing her dark hair back from her face. “Please don’t cry.”
“How is it possible for me to miss someone I’ve never known, except through stories told by others?” Alhena whispered.
“Because you came to care for that person through those stories, sister,” Regulus’ tone was gentle. “Often, that can be enough.”
“Why are you here?” Green-grey eyes locked on silvery grey.
“I couldn’t help but come, since this is the first Black Family celebration since before my death,” Regulus spoke softly, even though Alhena was the only one that could hear him. “The magic is strong today, and I suspect it will be stronger on Litha, and even more so on Yule. Your Silver Quartet heralded the dawn of a new era, and it’s making waves even those of us beyond the veil can feel.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Keep making waves, sister. Someday, the world won’t be what it used to be, and be all the better for it. Even for the House of Black.” He vanished.
“Alhena? The Lestranges have arrived! Aren’t you…” Sirius’ voice cut off abruptly as he saw the expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Reggie… He showed up.” Alhena didn’t need to say much more, because Sirius pulled her into a hug, and the two of them stood there, hugging each other, until Mintaka showed up, poking the duo with her tail. “Mistress Alhena’s sire and mates are asking after her.”
The siblings let go of each other, and Alhena cast a freshening charm. “Thanks, Mintaka. Shall I carry you?”
Mintaka curled the tip of her tail around Alhena’s ankle for a moment before letting go. “I appreciate the offer, but it’s warm enough today.”
Alhena chuckled as she set off for the back garden, Sirius and Mintaka following behind. She barely caught sight of Rodolphus and Rabastan before she was wrapped up in a hug from her soulmates. “Hello. Sorry I took so long, today has been a little heavy on sudden revelations.”
“It’s alright. We were content to wait,” Rodolphus said with a chuckle, holding Alhena to himself. “The way the magic swirls around the estate is impressive.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Alhena smiled, leaning against him.
“Am I late?” The sound of Thomas’ baritone made Alhena laugh softly.
“Not at all, old friend,” Orion said as he stood. “This is the biggest celebration the estate has seen since we graduated.”
Alhena silently watched the people socialise, standing between her soulmates.
“Knut for your thoughts?” Rabastan’s voice penetrated the haze around Alhena’s mind.
She shook her head, leaning against him. “It’s just… This is surreal. A year ago, if someone walked up to me and said, you’ll be witnessing an Ostara celebration with your entire extended family while betrothed to two of the most attractive wizards in Britain, I would have politely suggested they go to the Janus Thickey ward, seer or not.”
“I understand,” Rabastan replied with a soft laugh. “A year ago, if literally anyone in Azkaban came up to me and said, oh, you’ll be out of here and standing in the sunshine, as a free man, within the year, I’d have laughed all the way back to my cell.”
The three of them settled down on the grass, and started talking about the differences in their respective upbringings, which somehow turned into a discussion of their hopes and dreams for the future, and it ended up turning to their past and present studies.
“OWLs were a pain, I’ll say that much,” Rodolphus groused, “but NEWTs were straight up torture. Seriously, draw a basic protection array as the last question on my NEWT Runes paper? By that point, I just wanted the exam to be over so I could go sleep.”
“I never want to think about my History NEWT,” Rabastan confessed. “When all you learn for seven years is goblin wars, your brain just forgets what war happened when. My favourite part was most likely the write an essay on a topic of your choice part of the paper. I just wrote about an obscure part of the Witch Trials, because for some reason a part from third year History stuck with me.”
“Hermione is getting started on her infamous study schedules and revision plans,” Alhena said with a weak laugh. “I’m liberally using Parseltongue translation charms on every single note I have, and I double checked to see what charms you can apply to your OWL exam papers. So far, the only conclusive results of my search are as follows: erasing charms, translation charms, and charms that make the paper easier to read.” Alhena huffed. “Which is lucky.”
“What’s your best class?”
Alhena looked up at Rodolphus. “Runes, Arithmancy, and Potions. Yours?”
Rodolphus hummed quietly, smiling at her. “Runes and Charms. Rabastan’s was Transfiguration and History.”
“Vincent is good with numbers, and we pretty much delegated the entirety of the creating flashcards for History revision task to him. Neville is brilliant at Herbology, and so it’s delegated to him – and thank Circe for duplication charms, so he only needs to make one set – while Draco and I decided to collaborate on the Potions flashcards.” Alhena chuckled quietly as she remembered the massive brainstorming session in the library. “Hermione and Daphne are collaborating on Runes, while Tracey and Millicent are responsible for Arithmancy. At this point, we decided to just throw house boundaries to the wind and made it a school-wide OWL and NEWT revision project. Terry and Susan are doing Transfiguration notes, along with Dean. Lavender and Parvati are doing the Divination portion, with some contributions on my part. It’s honestly started to break down the house barriers, but Dumbledore can’t do anything about it now that Umbridge is gone.”
“Good, the house barriers are pesky things. Barty and Reggie spent a lot of time glowering at the head table during mealtimes, simply because Dumbledore had made it impossible to maintain inter-house study groups,” Rabastan said with a weak chuckle.
“It’s easier to just let it happen if it’s basically a school-wide thing,” Alhena confessed with a laugh. “It started with us Slytherins, then we realised we were pretty much all Acceptable at best when it comes to Herbology, and recruited Neville. Then Harry and Ron mentioned they remember nothing from Trelawney’s classes, so Neville asked Parvati and Lavender. Then Susan and Terry found out about it from Lavender, and the next thing we know, pretty much everyone in our year was involved, and the NEWTs group copied it.”
“Long live the Revolution, indeed,” Rodolphus muttered. “So, your secret to an inter-house study group is basically to make it cover an entire year, twice over, and thus make it nigh-impossible to stop because it will result in two separate highly annoyed year-groups if told to cease?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” Alhena nodded.
After that, the celebrations continued, and everyone seemed to relax. Altair and Rigel roped Dora, Ellen, Ted and Vela into a very dramatic re-enactment of a scene from Merchant of Venice, then Alhena – after much goading from Hermione – stood to re-enact one of her favourite pieces from Macbeth.
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets its hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
They feasted, traded stories, and played silly games. Some of the more artistically inclined folks dyed eggs, and the quidditch players – past and present – attempted to balance eggs on the end of their broomsticks. Some of the musically inclined folks ended up playing instruments, such as Angela with her lyre, or Sirius at the piano.
As the day wound down, Alhena ended up sitting on a conjured blanket between her soulmates, with Mintaka dozing on her lap, and looking around at everyone present, dead and alive. “I don’t think you know just how many spirits wander around when we don’t think they do.”
“Sometimes, I wish we could see what you do,” Rabastan said softly. “But, for now, tell me who’s here that we’ve lost.”
Alhena looked around, smiling wistfully at the sight of the spirits. “Reggie is dancing with Barty to the piano. Lily and James are too, along with Dorea and Charlus. Ambrose Longbottom is lurking behind Algernon, nothing new there. I’m pretty sure I saw Arcturus and Melania at one point.” She didn’t attempt to stop the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Fabian and Gideon are lurking in the vicinity of their namesakes, Cedrella and Charis are standing behind Callidora’s seat. Mum just joined Lily, and James is dancing with Dorcas now. I’m not counting how many Gaunts are present – there are too many – but one in particular is shadowing Thomas.” She groaned. “And there the Peverell triplets go again… Why I bother I’ll never know. And I’m sure Godric is only here to annoy Salazar, but by Circe, those robes are clashing with his hair.”
“Okay, I would pay to see that,” Rabastan declared.
“Give me your hands, then.” Once Alhena had a firm enough grasp on the brothers’ hands, she pushed just enough of her magic into the bond to allow them to temporarily see what she did.
Sure enough, they fell over laughing, and Alhena rolled her eyes, smiling up at the sky. The world outside the wards might be hellish, but she would treasure this little slice of heaven while she could, even if it was punctuated by whatever the dead could find to squabble over.