Chapter 24
September 20th 1978
Regulus
"Why on Salazar's name does your cousin insist on waking everyone up at five thirty in the morning, every bloody morning!" Crouch groans from underneath his pillow as I flip through my charms textbook to prepare for today's lesson.
I roll my eyes at his dramatics. "Probably because she knows the likes of you, won't wake up otherwise and my dear cousin values Slytherin's reputation too much for you to be late every day." I mutter as I flip the page, my eyes quickly scanning it for the major details before moving on.
He throws one of his pillows at me which I quickly block with a wave of my hand. He groans, shoving his face back into his other pillow dramatically. "Bloody Elemental." He grumbles under his breath, making me grin. Severus watches us silently, an odd look on his face. "Nothing to say, Severus?" I ask, trying to gain his attention instead of the forgone look in his eyes.
"Nothing of consequence." He mumbles before entering our in suite bathroom, just as Lucius walks in the room, his uniform polished and ready. I raise a brow. "Going somewhere? Breakfast doesn't start for another—"
I flick my wrist, checking the watch the adorns it, seeing that it is only six o'clock, I turn back to him. "—thirty minutes." He nods, collecting his school satchel. "Yes, well, there is a prefect meeting in fifteen minutes. Cissy, Draco, Andromeda, and I must be going. We will hopefully be done in time to meet you for breakfast. We are just to be getting the most fundamental things in order, nightly rounds and such." He waves his hand around.
"Why we must do so at six in the morning, however, is unbeknownst to me." He grumbles and Crouch scoffs, finally having sat up. "At least you get to be a prefect!—Notice how the only Slytherins that were chosen for that honor were Malfoys—quite unfair if you ask me." Lucius and I share a look.
I turn to Barty, rolling my eyes. "Sometimes I wonder if you were dropped on your head as a child because it is almost impossible for someone to be born this daft." Lucius Snorts. "You do realize in that tiny brain of yours, that Narcissa and Andromeda are Blacks, right?" I ask with a sneer.
He waves my words away. "Oh put a sock in it, Narcissa is months away from becoming a Malfoy and Marrying Lucius and Andromed a barely even counts as a black—she's missing the trademark madness." He smirks, and this time it's me who throws a pillow at him. He laughs and Lucius smirks.
Just then the door opens and Sev comes billowing in from the bathroom. Crouch smirks at me. "Feisty! Just like that lady friend of yours! Don't think I didn't see those marks on your neck, Who is she, anyway?" Sev and I both stiffen. My jaw clenches. "No one, just a random witch from ravenclaw, didn't catch her name." I lie through my teeth as me and Severus share a glance.
Crouch doesn't buy it. "Oh come on—" Just then the door opens for a second time, this time welcoming Nott Jr. "Well hello, boys. is Draco in?" At our collective chorus of "No"'s he gives a dramatic sigh. "Too bad, I thought I'd show him my knew treasure." He smirks, holding up a shiny badge.
A prefects badge.
Crouch gasps in outrage as Lucius scoffs. "You, made prefect?" He raises an aristocratic brow as Nott Jr. smirks. "That's right, Lord Malfoy!" He grins mischievously as I hear Severus grumble the words, "What has the world come to?" under his breath. I snort.
Barty is suddenly standing and waving an outraged finger at him. "So this bloke, who has been here for two weeks in chosen over me to be prefect—a man who has slaved over—" I snort. "And honored—" Yeah right. "and respected—" Like hell. "This school!" He exclaims dramatically as we all roll our eyes.
Nott gives him a toothy grin, shrugging. "Well, if it makes you feel better, they just wanted prefects from the nineties and Blaise would rather die then be a prefect, so that left it between me and Goyle—and he would burn the school to the ground if he got the chance, so there really wasn't much of a choice."
Luc gives a faux smile. "Wonderful, the honor of being prefect has been reduced to who won't kill us all!" He huffs in annoyance.
A knock sounds at the door. Nott Jr opens it. Behind the the door is the Parkinson heir, Penelope, I believe her name was. Nott Jr. grins at the sight of her, despite her bored eyes and clearly displeased expression. "Pansy!" He exclaims excitedly. I was close enough.
He opens the door further. "How can I help you on this fine day?" He asks with a grin as we all watch in amusement. She purses her lips with a glare, grabbing him by the tie. "You can get you're idiotic arse down stairs and take Mr. Malfoy over there with you, because Narcissa looks like she's about to kill someone if we're late—which we already are thanks to you lads—because if you haven't noticed, the meeting starts at 6:15 and it's on the only side of the castle, and it is currently—"
She pulls up his sleeve, showing his wristwatch to the entire room. "6:10!" She exclaims, obviously aggravated. "So I suggest you walk your scrawny little ass downstairs before Narcissa feeds us all to the werewolves!" She lets go of his tie, making him stumble.
He pouts. "My ass is not small!"
Not even a second passes before she smacks him upside the head, making him yelp. "Downstairs, now!" She yells, shoving him out the door before looking at Lucius. "You too." She glares before following behind Theodore.
I chuckle, the little spitfire reminding me a bit of Marly—though only if Marly had become Narcissa's protégé. I snort.
That would be the day.
We arrive at the prefects meeting to find the ravenclaws and gryffendors already at their respective sides of the table. The head girl and head boy, the golden haired little witch and Frank longbottom, sit at the head of the table, an empty chair to the left of both of them for their counterparts. The nineties prefects are Potter's boy and an Indian girl with dark long hair and eyes, whom I don't know the name of as of yet.
The seventies prefect are to no surprise, Evans and lupin, the most tolerable of the gryffendors, and for some reason potter sits beside them. "What is he doing here?" I ask, an eyebrow raised in question as I look my brother's brother up and down.
The little witch we now call our head girl scowls. "Yes James, what are you doing here?" She practically growls. Potter grins like a maniac, bringing his head to rest on his interlocked fingers. "Well, Hermione dearest, I find that I am bored of sitting in the common room and all of my friends are here—other than Sirius whose currently brooding, so I find myself here at your mercy!" He says dramatically making almost everyone present roll their eyes.
The witch waves him away as one would do to a fly. "Just sit down and be quiet. Malfoy, Ton—black, if you would take a seat so we can get the meeting started—I'm sure many of you would like to get out of here before breakfast is over." The head girl says softly. We all take a seat in our respective places when Lucius decides to speak up.
"Where exactly are the Hufflepuff prefects? The meeting started at 6:15 and it is currently—" He dramatically whips out his watch from under his sleeve, "—6:20." The head girl nods. "Yes well, I told them that the meeting started at 5:45 so they should be here any minute." We all share a collective chuckle, the house's collective lateness nothing new to any of us.
"Right well, I say we get on with it. I'd like to begin with the night time rounds. I've developed a schedule with the help of professor McGonagle. Monday—today—is Lucius and remus, Tuesday is andromeda and Frank, wednsday is me and nott, thursday is Narcissa and lily, friday is Malfoy and Harry—Not a word from either of you, Professor McGonagle requested it!" She scolds the two boys just before they can utter a word of complaint.
Both the boys shut their mouths with a snap and pout and grumble as she continues. "Black and James are saterday—" This time it is me and potter who immediantly rise to defense. "What! I'm not even a prefect!" Potter exclaims and I am quick to second him. The head girl smiles cruelly at him. "Well me and the proffessor decided that since you drag yourself along to the prefect meetings every year and bother everyone present that you should at least make yourself useful while doing so."
I am quick to contradict the little witch. "That is completely preposterous, why should I be stuck with that buffoon simply because he decided to annoy everyone with his presence!" The witches eyes glaze over and she sits down, ignoring my question. What the fuck? Lupin rises and turns to face me. "There aren't enough prefects for the schedule, it's supposed to be a slytherin and a gryffendor every other week and the a hufflepuff and a ravenclaw the following week. en plus there is an extra slytherin because they couldn't choose between you and Lucius. this is the only way for it to be even."
I huff and sit back in my chair, me and potter both glaring at each other angrily. The head girl sighs. "Now, as I was saying, Sunday will be pansy and padma—"
She goes on to give the names of the ravenclaws and hufflepuffs who will be on rounds the following week before turning the meeting over to Andromeda who discussed the plans for the upcoming yule ball, asking for suggestions for themes and the sorts. we decide on a "winter palace." theme, a bit on the nose but none of us gave enough of a shit to come up with anything better.
Andromeda stands. "Right well if no one has anything else to discuss—" She looks to the other three heads who all shake their heads. "Right, well meeting adjourned, you should all have time to catch breakfast before class starts, remember your patrols and We'll see you all next week for our next meeting." Everyone quickly shuffles out of the room after that.
I get up from my seat and grab my satchel, heading for the door. "Won't you be joining us for breakfast?" Cissa asks but I shake my head. "I have some things to take care of in the green house." After that I am quick to scurry off.
A few minutes later I'm walking into the greenhouse, A girl with golden hair as my beckon.
My lovely savior.
Hermione
I slip away from everyone, hoping to get out of them room unnoticed. Before I can make it out the door discreetly, James flings his arm around my shoulder, the other quickly following suit as all the gryffendors crowd around us. "Where you off to princess? we still have time for breakfast."
I avoid eye contact as the excuse tumbles from my lips. "I..wanted to do some research for a bit before class—don't worry, I'll ask an elf to bring something to my room—see you later, tell Sirius not to freak out and that I'm fine!" I don't give any of them a chance to respond as I'm already walking away and out the doors.
What they don't know won't hurt them.
I climb up the ravenclaw tower, the answer to the portraits puzzle unsurprisingly accurate. I make it past their common room, ignoring the stares and surprised glances as I make my way up the stairs to the boys dormitories. I get to the top of the steps and count the rooms. 1,2,3,4..got it. Roger Davies room. I immediately push the door open, only to find the man still sleeping soundly in his bed.
I see a glass vase sitting on his nightstand, I move over to examine it. I search it for any historical marks of significance then assess its material but come to the conclusion that it's simply cheap room decor. So I broke it.
I throw the vase against the wall across from me, watching as it shatters into a hundred pieces and listening to the loud crash of fake glass shattering. Davies shoots up like he's under attack. If I was more sane, less pissed, less Black-blooded, maybe I would have taken into account that we had all just lived in a time where noises like those meant you were waking up to an attack on your life.
But I wasn't sane and I didn't have time for niceties.
"What the fuck Granger!" He boomed, jumping up from his bed, his wand in hand. "Are you fucking insane? Have you gone bloody mental?!" He yelled in my face. I shrug, ignoring the smoke coming out of his ears and his face being practically as red as a tomato. "Most likely." I say nonchalantly. must run in the family. I think with a snort. "You can't just—"
"I need Laetus elixir." I cut him off.
His mouth snaps shut, he stands there silent for a moment and just as I open my mouth to repeat myself he starts slowly shaking his head. The pace at which his head is shaking back and forth slowly speeds up until he's whipping his heads back and forth as he paces in circles. "No, no, no—See I knew this was going to happen, I did! But I didn't listen to myself—told myself this time it would be different—that it was just a one time thing—but I warned you, I'm not giving it to you again granger, no, no, I am not. You do crazy things when you're on it—things like locking people in jars and leading them into the forbidden forest to be attacked by centaurs!" He exclaims, having run his hand through his hair so much he looks like an absolute madman who just got electrocuted.
"I need it." He continues to ramble, not paying any attention to my words. I huff an wordlessly cause a book to crash into the window, shattering the glass and getting his attention once more. "Granger what the fuck!" He yells, rushing over to the window. "Great, now that I have your attention, please provide my potion so I can be on my way and off to breakfast." I give him a sickly sweet smile.
He turns back to face me, his head shaking as he laughs manically. "You're crazy!" He laughs hysterically. "No, you're not crazy because at this point we're all a little crazy, no, you're FUCKING INSANE!" He bellows, throwing his hands up in the air.
I sigh, my patience even shorter due to how early in the morning it is. "I don't have the time for your dramatics, give me what I'm here for or I'll tell the aurors that you are selling dark potions to students." I say blandly, quite ready to be done with this conversation.
He stills. "You wouldn't.." He says, the statement is firm but his tone isn't, it holds uncertainty. I stare at him emotionlessly. "I learned a couple years ago that I would do almost anything to get what I want." I say quietly, looking into his eyes. "I don't want to do this but I have to." To survive. I have to to survive. "You're only doing this because of the effects of the potion." He sighs. "I told you, it's extremely addictive—causes Anger, violence, obsession, mood swings, mania—"
I raise a hand, stopping him in his tracks. "I know. But I don't have much of an option, and neither do you." I point out. I see his resolve crack and he finally huffs and moves to open his closet. He pulls out a box of potion bottles from the floor of his closet and hands it to me. "There. take it." He says quietly. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Yeah. I do too."
Regulus
I see Marlene hovering over a potted plant, a vine of pale pink roses coming out of it, it's leaves an unusual color, red at its root then green at its tip. I slide my arms around her waist, my face nuzzling her neck. "Well hello there.." I whisper, planting a small kiss right below her ear. I feel her laugh vibrate through her body. "Hello my diligent stalker." She greets in return, on of her hands reaching down to hold mine as her other fiddles with the flowers.
"What's that?" I ask, my hand gripping hers as I relish in the feeling of her body so close to mine, a million pleasurable fireworks going off inside me at the feeling of her proximity. I press another kiss to her neck as I inhale her beautiful scent. She smelled like sunshine and citrus, with just a tiny bit of cloves. perfect. "My favorite flower, it's quite rare, hard to find. So I thought I'd attempt to grow it."
"And what flower would that be, darling?" I smirk, tugging at a stand of her hair playfully. She pinches my side and I laugh, squirming away from her reach. she tries to do it again, both of us laughing as I jerk away.
She grabs my face in her hands, smiling up at me. "it's called the Rosa 'Ausrumba." she tells me. "it has another name too, something after a character from a muggle book but I always forget what it is." I nod slowly, giving a low hum, twirling a stand of her hair with my fingers. She pushes on my chest, getting my attention. "I'm sorry, darling, am I boring you?" She raises a brow, crossing her arms. I grin.
"Why of course not Dearest, I was just admiring your beauty." She sighs, shaking her head. "Men, always too distracted by pretty things to see it's value." I laugh. "Are you calling yourself, 'a pretty thing' then?" She hits me upside the head. I really have to get her to stop doing that. "I—" My voice catches, hearing footsteps. My eyes widen and meet hers as the footsteps get closer.
I quickly whip my head around to look for somewhere to hide. I see a door in the corner of the green room, the storage closet for the seeds used in class. "Come!" I whisper to marlene, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the closet as the footsteps get closer, accompanied by two voices, the longbottoms. I close the door behind us, marlene pressed up against me as I sigh in relief.
"That was a close one."
Harry
"Harry, you need to finish your breakfast, darling. You barely ate!" Mum says, gesturing to my plate. I just roll my eyes playfully. "You sound like Mrs. Weasley." I laugh, remembering how the Weasley matriarch was always piling food onto me and Hermiones plates when we stayed at the borrow.
"Well, she sounds like a smart women." She says, chucking a bread roll at my head. I dodge it, laughing as dad pats me on the back. "The crazy bat is right son, you're a growing boy!" He grins teasingly. "I'm older than you." I remind him. He waves his hand dismissively. "Semantics." We all laugh.
"I'm starting to think that's you and sirius's favorite word." I turn, hearing Hermione's voice at my back and see her approaching the table to sit down. Dad grins. "You can blame that on dearest Moony." Mary scoffs from beside my mum. "He used it in a sentence one time in fifth year and obviously had to explain what it meant and ever since then they've used it whenever they say something that makes zero sense."
Sirius scoffs, pointing his fork at her. "That is a complete lie. you know how I know?" He asks, taking a bite of the potato at the end of said fork. Mary plays along, leaning forward to hear what he has to say. "Why?"
Sirius smirks. "Because everything I say makes sense!" we all collectively roll our eyes. Mione takes a seat beside me. "You good?" I ask.
"Never better."
Anonymous
I rush through the manor, the fresh print of the daily profit crumpled in my hand as I run down the stairs, my breaths coming out in erratic puffs. flashes of a little girl go through my mind as I run through the halls of my home.
"Do I know you?" I ask the girl, her honey brown eyes gazing into mine, the warmth of her hands strong contrast to the coldness of my pale skin. "Not yet." She breathes, the words almost a faint whisper, her gaze on our joined hands. they suddenly rise to meet mine, the look in them almost frightening. "But you will."
I quickly turn the corner, running past all of the yelling paintings talking about me disparaging their legacy by being so reckless and wild. I don't give a damn. Their voices barely register in my mind, their voices far away as my vision begins to blur.
"What have you done, child?" I ask, shaking the young girl by her shoulders, my eyes wide as I look at the now corpse next to the girl. "What have you done!" I yell, taking in the wand, now transfigured knife that is clutched in the little girls hand, fresh blood still dripping from it as she looks up at me with cold emotionless eyes. "I don't know."
Her screams echo in my head, sharp like a razor blade, cutting my soul like nothing else could, her eyes haunt me, grey—no, brown! Her hair tangled around her in long golden—no black, curls. She stares up at me from the floor of the malfoy's drawing room, only a little girl—no older. I don't know anymore, the images blend together in my mind—The prophecy!
destruction shall rain, kingdoms shall crumble and worlds shall burn, from it three heirs with rise from the ashes of what was once golden. The savior, The dragon, and The flower, destined for power, destined for death. They shall face shadows and give them light, face light and take them out of the dark, bring death to one world to bring forth another.
I throw open the doors to the study, frantically running to the door at the end of the room, throwing it open and rushing in. I'm met with the hundreds of drawings, all of them hung together on the wall, pieces of paper with writing sticking to them but I don't have time to read them, I don't have time.
I push the table and chair out of my way so I can reach the wall. I frantically pin the front page of the profit to the wall—I'm running out of time, I'm running out of time, I'm running out of—I quickly scan the profit, looking at the picture of the group of children before circling her face. She doesn't look right, that's not the color of her hair—Yes it is—No, her hair is supposed to be bla—gold.
I shake my head, the voices—the screaming—too loud. I grab a then pen once I'm done circling her face and grab a little piece of parchment from off the table, my hand moving as fast as possible trying to write it all down. I'm running out of time, I'm running out of time, I'm running out of time, I'm running out of—
My pen drops.
I drop
My head is thumping. It feels like I've been hit in the head with a chair—or had too much firewhiskey. I blink several times before my vision comes into focus and I groan, finding myself on the floor—the very dirty floor.
I slowly sit up, my hand clutching my throbbing head as I slowly get to my feet, clutching onto the black wooden chair. My eyes go to the bulletin board in front of the table and chair, the only thing that frequents this tiny hole in the wall room—though I often forget why. There is a new piece added to the board today, one that makes me freeze, because this one isn't just a drawing, it's a picture.
I rush to the bulletin board to get a closer look at the piece of paper, what looks to be the cover of the daily profit. I grab it to get a closer look, the picture was taken at Hogwarts, it's a picture of a group of kids, some of them I've seen before at the train platform, others are unfamiliar to me. But the one that gets my attention is the one that is circled in red ink. It's her.
I quickly grab the note that is a long side it, my breath bated.
destruction shall rain, kingdoms shall crumble and worlds shall burn, from it three heirs with rise from the ashes of what was once golden. The savior, The dragon, and The flow—SHE'S HERE.
My breath hitches.
She's here.
4430 words
Well shit, hi folks. Been a while, like six months. But it's cool cause you love me enough to stay—I hope—I'm absolutely so sorry it took this long for an update, you can't possibly believe the shit storm that has become my life. I never believed in the Ao3 curse until I started writing fanfic but damn yall this shit came down hard on me. I might end up writing a chapter just dedicated to why it took me so long to update cause yall it's so like unreal. Like when I think about it it sounds interesting enough to be its own fic. Anyway to this of you who are still reading thank you so much, I know many will have stopped reading just because it's been so long they forgot about it but thanks to those who are still reading, love yall. And tell me what you think of the chapter!!!!