Jubilee
Great Britain’s landscape is one of many forms. Widespread countryside, dark moors, quiet little villages, big industrial cities, a rugged coastline. Voldemort and Barty had sought refuge in a big cave, not unlike the one where Voldemort had hidden his locket Horcrux. There was shelter from the elements, plenty of water and Barty would go to the nearest city for food. For himself that was, Voldemort needed no food. Being on the run from two Endless was rather time consuming and both man and wraith had enough. Voldemort still wanted a form of body and again they tried to make a homunculus.
The ritual was completed and within several hours, Voldemort then transferred himself into the baby-like body. He wondered why it had worked this time. The previous times either Death or that other being had interfered.
It was nearly nightfall and Barty was sound asleep, for once not being haunted by nightmares. Voldemort was wrapped up in blankets and was thinking. What to do now? There was another ritual to give him an actual body, one that would not need constant care like this one. But being on the run meant he could not perform that. The wind had picked up inside the cave and Voldemort squinted his eyes when something seemed to materialize before him.
‘You desire a body? I can understand that…because this…’ the being made a gesture at him, ‘is rather pitiful.’
At that moment, Barty woke and pointed his wand at the person standing over his Lord. ‘Stupify!’ The spell simply went through the being and it laughed. It was not a nice laugh and Barty felt chills run up and down his spine. Momentarily stunned, he looked at his wand. This was impossible. Maybe this was a ghost?
‘I am not a ghost, foolish boy!’ The being giggled and grinned while becoming more corporeal and both man and homunculus witnessed how a man, no, a woman conjured a chair and sat down. The creature, because Voldemort and Barty had no idea whether it was a man or a woman, had white hair, bright red lips, and intense eyes. Dressed in red, with a necklace around its, their?? neck and some rings on its, their?? fingers, the creature was a remarkable sight.
‘I smell desperation. Not a nice smell and so...undesirable, for someone of your...strength. Or what it used to be.’
The creature made a hand movement that seemed as if everything Voldemort had previously achieved was nothing. The tone in which it was said angered Voldemort, but there was little he could do about it. He was too weak and he hated it.
‘State your business or leave.’ He wanted it to sound powerful, but he knew it came out like a whine.
‘My business, well, that is a very long story. But to put it in simple terms, my affairs and your...desires are similar, to a certain extent that is. I want revenge, you want your old powers back. I can help you. I know Death and Dream won't give you a moment's rest. The fact that you have now managed to achieve one of your goals is because a small, let's say...incident, happened and both of them were busy with it.’
The creature laughed. Voldemort grimaced and Barty once again was at a loss.
‘What can you offer me?’
‘Time. Time to give yourself a new body, without being disturbed by others. But I want something in return, wizard.’
‘What?’ Already Voldemort was planning to find out everything he could about this bitch. How dare she/he, whatever talk to him this way?
‘Let's not talk about that yet. My proposal is simple. I'll help you for now, or I'll leave you to my relative, Despair. A few weeks and she's done with you and you're left with nothing. No scary little baby body, no help, nothing. Or you accept my help and later you do something for me. Deal?’
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
After Sirius and Severus ordered breakfast from the House Elves, they sent word to the others. Something had entered Severus' chambers, that should not have been possible.
Once everyone had arrived, there was a debate about what it could have been. It was Minerva who remarked that it might be another Endless. Reggie sat on her lap, trying not to fall asleep. She listened to the adults around her offer idea after idea.
'Another Endless? Could be, but who?’ Lucius mused.
Minerva shrugged. ‘It wasn't a ghost, I don't know what else it could be. Maybe we can ask when Death of Dream comes?’
‘When Dream comes I'll have a hearty word with him,’ Sirius said grimly. How dare that jerk treat his goddaughter like that.
‘Don't be an idiot Black, he'll crush you before you get a chance.’ Severus sneered at him. Filius and Remus saw the argument developing and Remus intervened. He suggested that Sirius come with him and Filius asked Severus about the latest research into a potion that Severus was working on. Minerva picked Reggie up and asked her if she wanted to go with her. Reggie agreed to this and everyone went their separate ways.
It was a few hours later that there was a knock on the door of Minerva's room. Draco and Hermione walked in and Minerva smiled at them. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘Is Reggie here, Professor?’ Draco asked. ‘We can't find her anywhere and went to my father who said she was with you.’ Minerva pointed to the window frame, where Reggie was sitting on a book. The book was open and it was clear that the little raven was reading. She looked up when she heard Draco's voice and flew towards him.
‘Are you okay?’ Both Reggie and Draco asked it at the same time, causing Hermione to giggle. ‘Al healed up,’ Draco said while stroking Reggie. ‘May I go with them ma’am?’ Reggie asked. ‘Of course dear, you are free to go, just remember to stay inside and preferably in the common rooms. I don’t like to see you wandering around.’
Minerva watched the two students and the raven go but something didn’t sit right with her and she followed them. Hermione saw her and paused. ‘Professor?’
Placing her hand on Hermione’s shoulder, Minerva stated that she would drop them off at the Ravenclaw common room. When the children had gone inside, she turned around and happened to look up. Isis was perched on top of a staircase and looked intently at her.
‘Is she okay?’ Minerva nodded. ‘She refuses to go to sleep, but physically she is fine. Emotionally, I am not so sure.’ She walked closer to the bigger raven and waited. ‘Just so you know, as much as I understand why you did what you did, I am far from pleased with you.’
Isis looked at the older woman. ‘I myself had doubts, about my actions. I have asked my brethren if I acted too harshly. They did not find this to be the case.’ Isis paused. ‘But in hindsight, you are correct. I kept my oath, but still, it bothers me, what I did and what was the result. Not only the boy but the rift between the King and the girl. I take it she is still not pleased with me?’
‘I admit I do not know.’ Minerva removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt a headache coming up. ‘Perhaps it’s better to clear the air with her, she is inside. I could let you in but I need your word no more students will be harmed.’ A shadow landed next to Isis before she could reply. Another raven had come to Hogwarts. ‘Jubilee?’ Isis inquired.
The other raven was a female and a rather well-known raven, for she, like Isis, was a Tower raven. She was the tamest of them all and often allowed visitors to come quite close to her. She adored children and after the ravens' council, she had become curious about the school. Having met the girl already, she thought it wise to act as counsel to both her and Isis. ‘Greetings Professor, my name is Jubilee. If Isis would like to and I would get also your permission, I would like to stay for a while.’
‘It’s not solely my decision, for I am not the Head of the school. For now, yes, you can stay, but I must insist, no students are harmed.’ Jubilee spread her feathers wide and bowed to the elderly Scottish woman. ‘You have my word.’ With that promise, Minerva left and went to find Filius.
The two ravens remained behind. Isis waited for Jubilee to speak. ‘Forgive me, I felt that the outcome of the council was not what you expected. I think you yourself think your actions went too far, although I think I would have done the same. And I think there's something else going on, so I've come to help you. Do you want to talk about it?’
Isis flew up and Jubilee followed her. They flew out together and landed just at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There, near a larger tree, Isis arranged some feathers and stared into the distance, over the lake.
‘When Dream asked if I wanted to protect her, I immediately said yes. I think she's sweet, she's really sweet and I take my promises seriously. After that boy attacked her with his stick and she fell down, I stopped thinking logically and did what I would instinctively do if someone attacked my own children. I didn't expect Regina to get so angry, but I also didn't expect Dream to react like that. He asked me to keep her safe and his attitude towards her was threatening. And then I said to him that he made me make a promise and then he disappeared. Not only have I disappointed her, but I don't think the king is happy with me now either.’
Jubilee was silent for a moment, waiting for Isis to continue. Sometimes it is better to listen and not immediately give your opinion about something. ‘We know what he is like. He can get terribly angry and he does not forgive easily. And yet I feel worse when I think she might not forgive me.’ Isis sounded sad.
Looking at her sister, Jubilee thought about it. ‘The way I see it, Dream will get over it, I suspect he knows that his actions towards the girl are not right, and if he doesn't think logically himself, then Death is still there. Regina is still very young. I think she was mainly mad at you because Dream was mad at her and she's not really mad about what happened to that boy. ‘If you would like, we go to her together?’
Isis explained that Reggie was in one of the towers and together the ravens flew towards the castle. The right tower was quickly found and they landed on the ledge near one of the windows. Jubilee tapped her beak on the glass and one of the students saw her.
‘Wow, look at that, two ravens are sitting by the window!’ he shouted enthusiastically to his friends. ‘Shit man, I think that's Isis. He attacked that Gryffindor boy.’ One of his friends spoke carefully. ‘Yeah, because that idiot attacked Snape's raven.’ The boy who spotted the birds first got up and opened the window. 'Hi beautiful bird. Do you want to come in?'
Jubilee hopped over the edge and Isis followed her. Jubilee looked around trying to find Reggie, but she didn't see her. The boy had closed the window again and was looking at the two ravens with an excited expression. Jubilee hopped over. She tilted her head and saw the boy laughing. ‘Do you know where Reggie is?’
The boy pointed to the stairs to the left next to the door. ‘She went to the bedroom with Draco and Hermione.’
‘Do you mind if we take a look?’ Isis had come closer and saw the other students looking warily. So everyone already knew what had happened. ‘You're not going to…um, well, what happened with Weasley, that um…’
‘No young man, we simply need a word with Reggie. No one will be harmed, I assure you.’ With that promise, both birds took off and flew across the room to the staircase. The door to the bedroom was slightly ajar and Jubilee and Isis were able to enter through it. Draco sat on one of the beds with Hermione across from him and Reggie in the middle. They were playing chess and Reggie was nodding off. She had been awake for a long time and was getting more and more tired, but tried to stay awake. Isis made a noise that made the two children and the raven look up. Isis and Jubilee flew over to the bed and landed on the table next to the bed.
‘Hello, little one.’
Reggie looked at Isis wearily. ‘Hi…’
‘Do you remember who this is?’ Isis looked sideways at Jubilee who was standing beside her. Reggie shook her head. ‘M sorry, no.’ Jubilee hopped a bit closer. ‘That’s all right honey, my name is Jubilee, we met when you visited the Tower. With Dream, remember?’
‘Jubilee came here to help me take care of you. I wanted to apologize to you for what I did and to tell you that I am very sorry about all of it.’ Reggie hopped over the chess game and came closer. Seeing the little bird so exhausted, Isis didn’t know what to do. ‘Child, you need to sleep.’
‘No ma’am…can’t sleep. He is so mad at me.’ Draco and Hermione watched the two large ravens. Hermione wiggled her fingers, causing Jubilee to look at her. Hermione then made a head gesture, indicating Jubilee to follow her. She got off the bed and walked over to the door. ‘Be right back, have to pee.’
Draco understood what Hermione was trying to do and coughed. ‘Smart, I will go to, then we can finish the game. He too, got up from the bed and walked away. Jubilee followed the children and when they left the room, Hermione softly closed the door. ‘Are you like Isis?’ she inquired.
‘I am a raven if that is what you mean.’ Draco stepped in. ‘What she meant was, are you like Isis and will you help Reggie.’ ‘In a way, yes.’ Jubilee explained some things to the children while Isis and Reggie had their own conversation.
‘M sorry to ma’am. I was scared and upset and I should not have yelled at you.’ Isis hopped closer and nuzzled the little raven. ‘Then we are both sorry.’ Reggie snuggled closer to Isis and surrounded by her warmth, she could no longer hold back sleep. When Jubilee returned with Hermione and Draco, they found a sleeping Reggie under one of Isis' wings.