The Lady of (New) Avalon

Of course Bella, being herself, was back on her feet the next day, sooner than ought to have been humanly possible. She spent the majority of the week, as I recall, dealing with goblins — renegotiating certain stewardship agreements, which was a thing which had to be done on the transferring of the lordship of any House, and drawing up the contract to make my adoption official. A slightly smaller proportion of the week was spent attempting to break off her engagement with Dolph Lestrange without seriously offending Robert, their Lord at the time.

My understanding of the situation is, Bella had originally proposed the arrangement because de Mort asked her to find a way to gain control of the Lestranges' fortune, which Robert had been reluctant to invest as the Death Eaters wished, despite both of his sons pressuring him to do so. In the usual course of things, if a lord died, contracts under negotiation might suffer a bit of a hiccough of sorts, perhaps be dissolved if the new lord disagreed with the alliance — but that was relatively rare, since most lords of a certain age began to involve their chosen successor in their plans to ensure a smooth transfer of power.

Since Bella was not Arcturus's chosen successor, it wouldn't have been unexpected for her to dissolve the as-yet-unsigned contract between herself and Lestrange if he had been the motivating force behind it (no one was surprised that she called off negotiations with Malfoy over Cissy), and obviously Lady Black couldn't marry into another family, taking their name and so on, which would have been an equally good reason to call it all off... Except, Bella was the one who had proposed it all, and when she told Dolph that, oh, drat, can't marry out of the House, now, he promptly went to his father and requested permission for himself to take the Black name, which was just...no.

No.

The House of Black has standards, especially for its Lord (or its Lady's consort), and Rudolphus Lestrange did not meet those standards. And while the Death Eaters really didn't need the Lestranges' money since Bella, as Lady Black, could freely access our own vaults, rendering de Mort's original request moot, breaking things off with him would still cause problems within the organisation. Dolph and Bastian were relatively influential within the Death Eaters and, more importantly, actually good field officers — all of the Death Eaters might be taught to fight, but not all of them were good at it, and even fewer were suited to command.

I'm still not entirely certain how it happened. One day I heard that Robert's opinion on the whole matter was that a marriage with the Blacks was still a marriage with the Blacks, and Bastian could inherit the House of Lestrange as easily as Dolph, and the next that was completely unacceptable, but I suspect mind magic was involved.

Especially since Thom de Mort was officially announced as the consort of the Lady Black in the Prophet on the morning of my seventeenth birthday. (Whatever else I might say about "Lord Sparklebum" — and yes, I know, I say a great many unflattering things about him — he does meet the standards the House holds for the magical ability and ruthlessness of its leaders.)

Arcturus was livid when he found out, but Arcturus is not Bella, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it when he finally recovered from the ordeal of having the Family Magic stripped away from him three days after the announcement. (It's possible Bella made a point of getting as much of the administrative dragonshite out of the way before he woke up for exactly that reason.)

There is, by the way, an actual ritual to do that, without seriously risking the health and mental faculties of both the former and the future Lords of the House, Evans. A challenge to the authority of the Lord of the House isn't meant to be issued and dealt with so...informally. It's almost the same as the difference between calling someone to a public duel and just walking up and knifing them in the street. Granted, that is how it used to be done back in the years immediately following the establishment of the Covenant, each Lord stripping the magic away from the last essentially by brute force. But by the Nineteen-Seventies, no one had done that for centuries. I suspect the only reason Arcturus didn't die was that the Family Magic had already been relying on him as little as possible for years by that point.

That was what it said, when it spoke to them: We have waited so long for you to welcome us again, chaos-child. Is it time, now?

Walburga used to tell a story, when I was acting particularly Bella-esque as a child, about trying to take me back from her in the wake of Orion's attack on me, and Bella, star-eyed, telling her to piss off, that I was hers, as of that moment. I loved that story because I loved Bella, I would have been overjoyed if I'd been allowed to live with her instead of Walburga. (Even if she had been, as she later pointed out, still in school at the time.) I'm sure she told it in more of a you're a lost cause, this is me throwing up my hands attitude, but that's hardly the point. Until Bella stripped the Family Magic from Arcturus — actually, for quite some time after that, maybe until I was telling Seth about it the first time? — I thought Bella had still been possessed by the Dark when she claimed me as her own. But when the Dark possesses someone, if it doesn't glamour them, their eyes are black.

Now, I strongly suspect that the Family Magic tried to abandon Arcturus that night, in favour of Bella. Perhaps I was aware of it on some unconscious level — I had told Reggie more than once in the intervening years that if she'd wanted to be Lady Black she could have had it then. In truth, though, I was only thinking of the way she made her demands of him regarding Orion, and he just agreed. Bella must have told it that she wanted to keep her freedom, rather than be locked into the position of Lady of the House at the age of seventeen. I know for a fact that she wasn't the least bit disappointed that Arcturus had decided to train me as an heir instead of her, though she had still been acting as his designated successor, leading the Yule ritual with him. (Obviously, Cygnus and Orion were each as bad as the other, and I was far too small to execute anyone, at least with any degree of dignity.)

Obviously she was still a favourite of the Family Magic, though, even if she had turned it down. It didn't even seem to mind that she was practically, for all metaphysical purposes, married to de Mort — though it did apparently demand that he swear to align his goals and priorities with the House of Black as a whole...but I'm getting ahead of myself, now. That little ritual took place on my seventeenth birthday too, but after my adoption and Evans's, and the naming of Zee as Evans's godmother, and Cissy and Reggie's informal betrothal, and their slightly less informal agreement to stand as Bella's heirs, and well after the end of the party which was the public celebration of these events.

"Come on, we're going to be late!" Narcissa snapped, leading the way through Aster's favourite hidden passage toward Hogsmeade.

Aster scowled at the back of her cloaked and hooded head. She could barely see it, with Reggie, Snape, Evan, Alice, and Violette between them. She and Evans were bringing up the rear because it was almost the new moon, but still...not...quite. (It was driving her mad, being injured.) "I really don't think my birthday party is going to start without me, Cissy," she called back.

My depressingly Slytherin birthday party...

Well, Vi was a Ravenclaw, and Remy had promised to come too (he was already at Ancient House, he couldn't very well refuse), but she hadn't exactly been able to invite any of her more casual friends from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Alice was only here because Aunt Lucy had mentioned that Aster was being re-inherited at her birthday party, and aren't you two friends? Not that they weren't friends, exactly, they just didn't spend all that much time hanging out together outside of the occasional Hufflepuff House party. Alice was one of the little cohort of students in Aster's year who had decided to take their NEWTs with the idea of applying to the Aurors in mind, but she was a little too much like Molly for Aster to really enjoy spending time with her. Too buttoned down and serious and rules-following-y.

Though she supposed Alice did actually seem to be serious about the Auror thing, joining Marley and Amy and Jane in their quest to convince Cassie to teach them good self-defence spells. (Cassie was very annoyed. She might find Aster insufferably...Aster, at times, but at least she wasn't a rank novice Cassie felt obligated to help when they asked. She and Aster could actually have a half-decent sparring session, especially now Aster's magic was aligned properly. Alice and her friends...not so much.) Aster thought that suggested that Allie might actually be more like Fabian and Gideon than Molly, after all — all of whom Aunt Lucy had also invited, apparently unaware that Bella and de Mort were going to be there. Or possibly just not caring, honestly.

Aunt Lucy was still enough of a Black to think that they ought to all be able to put their silly little war aside for an evening to have cake and congratulate Bella on becoming Lady Black, and Aster on making it to the official age of majority without getting herself killed. But Molly and Bella had never gotten on — Bella had given her a rude nickname in Gobbledygook and everything — and the twins had joined the Aurors as well as Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix after leaving school four years ago. They might not know that de Mort was actually the Dark Lord, but they definitely knew that Bella and de Mort were somehow mixed up in the Death Eaters. So that was going to be...awkward. Especially if they stuck around for Evans's adoption. (Not that they were actually invited, Bella wasn't an idiot.)

Pretty much everyone else likely to be there would be Blacks and Rosiers. Not Walburga (or Orion) — she'd sent a letter explicitly informing Aster that she didn't give a shite about her being re-inherited, she was still no kin to them. And hopefully not Auntie Dru. She tended to avoid Black family gatherings, and Bella hadn't invited her, but Narcissa had, so there was an outside chance that she might show up to say something vaguely disapproving about Bella taking over as Lady Black. And Arcturus was still unconscious, of course.

Aunt Cassie and Aunt Andi — Walburga's sisters — might come, they both had kids about Bella's age and liked to catch up and gossip whenever they had an excuse. Cassiopeia was a Nott now, and Andromeda a Burke, so they didn't see each other all too often. And of course Nash and Danny and Electra, they were always up for a good party. Meissa and Delphi didn't like Bella, and were probably in Italy anyway. Actually, Delphi might be married now? All of Uncle Regor and Uncle Reggie's kids would probably come. That'd be good, it had been ages since Aster had seen Gemma. ...Maybe Cousin Julie? Her maternal grandmother had been a Black, and she'd married a Rosier a couple of years ago now. She'd also been in Bella's class at Hogwarts — if Bella hadn't invited her, Zee probably had, because they'd actually kind of been friends.

Whatever, probably not more than a couple dozen, all told. Anyone Zee had managed to get in touch with since Monday who hadn't already had plans for a Friday evening, likely weighted toward the younger, more fun side of the Family and their associates. There would be a big official Family Meeting with all the old boring people to acknowledge Bella as Lady Black after Arcturus woke up. Zee, of course, was doing the vast majority of the planning for both of these things, because Zee was the closest thing Bella had to a wife to do all the Society shite and take care of the seneschal-esque duties that would belong to the Lady or consort or some closely-related female relative of the Lord in most Houses. And also because Zee had been decorating offices and planning parties and designing costumes and shite for Bella since before they'd left school. She actually liked that sort of thing.

It certainly wouldn't be anything near the largest party Ancient House had ever seen, but enough people that whichever ballroom or garden Zee had designated as the Party Zone wouldn't feel empty. (Though she would have chosen said ballroom or garden with an eye to the number of guests, anyway. Whatever.) Too many adults and stuck-up arses like Reg and Evan to have good music, and Aster couldn't really dance at the moment anyway, but there would be enough charming, entertaining people and alcohol that they probably wouldn't be lacking in conversational topics. Ones that wouldn't lead to Fabian, Gideon, and Molly picking a fight with Bella, hopefully. Plus cake.

And if it ended up being totally lame, she could hold a real party next weekend, when she wasn't herself totally lame.

"How much farther?" Alice asked, interrupting Reggie's attempt to convince Evans to not make him treat her like any other muggleborn in front of Bella and de Mort. (She had decided that that was to be his punishment — not just tonight, but until she informed him otherwise — and so far it was incredibly entertaining, watching Reg try to swallow the instinct to kowtow to someone he knew had him by the balls.)

"A couple more minutes?" Aster hazarded a guess. Normally it didn't take nearly this long to walk to town, but she was still injured, and Violette, Snape, and Evans weren't nearly as athletic as the rest of them.

"And we're flooing from the Three Brooms, right?"

"Yes...?"

"D'you think Rosmerta would let me use the loo without buying anything? I didn't bring my purse..."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Prewett, stop whinging and I'll buy you a butterbeer," Evan drawled.

"Rosier, if you want to take a girl out for a drink, there are better ways to ask her," Snape snarked. "Even I know that..."

Aster wasn't sure in the flickering wandlight, but she thought Evan's ears might've gone a bit pink. "Piss off, Snape."

"Aww, baby cousin fancies you, Prewett," Violette giggled. "Don't break his heart, now."

"Are you Snakes even allowed to fancy Hufflepuffs?" Alice snarked, which was rather weak, Aster thought, but bantering wasn't really Alice's thing.

"That's what makes it exciting," Evans intimated...loudly enough for everyone to hear.

Alice was going fairly red herself, now. "Oh, come on, Evans, you're going to make poor Prewett think he's only in it for the naughtiness," Violette needled her.

"Doubt it," Aster chimed in. "Alice knows she's plenty fanciable on her own merits. Especially when the girls wear muggle trousers for quidditch practice."

"Oh, shut up, Aster! That was a purely practical decision, we weren't—"

"Trying to show off exactly how nice your arse looks in those jeans?" She ducked Alice's weak attempt to smack her, because, "That was a compliment, damn it!"

"Are you trying to get in my knickers?" she asked, sounding absolutely shocked. Aster was laughing (trying not to laugh because ow) too hard to answer, so she immediately turned to everyone else. "Is Aster trying to get in my knickers?"

"Is my dear cousin ever not trying to get in everyone's knickers, Prewett?" Narcissa said, with a rather pitying, how can you not know this tone, which was...fair. Yeah, that was fair.

"Um, no offence, Black, but you know we're cousins, right?"

"Of course I know we're cousins. Ask Cissy whether that matters."

"You hit on— Ew, Black. Just ew."

"That wasn't what she was trying to imply," Evan informed the Hufflepuff.

"If you value your life, Rosier, you'll stop talking right now," Reggie warned him.

"Who's threatening me? You?" Evan laughed. (Reggie wasn't a poor duelist, but he really didn't like hurting people he liked...even if he was equally reluctant to admit that he actually liked them. Slytherins didn't have friends, see.)

"Of course not. Narcissa is more than capable of defending her own honour," Aster's brother shot back, not quite managing to make it sound as though he hadn't just tried to intercede on her behalf. "I'm just...warning you out of, ah..."

"Concern," Aster put in. "Reg fancies you, Evan. Poor Cissy's love is entirely unrequited." Cissy's retaliatory hex was a lot harder to dodge than Alice's half-hearted swipe. Aster actually lost her balance, tipping into Evans for a second. "Way to make it obvious, Cissy!"

"Oh, hush, you know Bella's planning on announcing their engagement tonight anyway," Evans chided her.

"I knew no such thing! Cissy! Reg! Have you been holding out on me?" There was really no point asking how Evans knew that, she and Bella had been exchanging letters pretty much constantly as Evans asked more questions about the technical aspects of the blood-adoption ritual, which Aster neither knew nor cared about.

"Er...what?"

"Narcissa and Regulus are being betrothed, because Bella doesn't give a shite about the scandal," Violette explained to the very confused Alice.

"How did you know if I didn't know?!"

"Well, everyone knows Bella doesn't care what Society thinks of your House," she giggled. "And almost everyone knows those two have been pretending not to be totally star-crossed for each other for ages. The rest of it I just found out too, don't get your knickers in a twist."

"But—"

"We're not actually cousins, Prewett," Narcissa snapped. "Do I look like a Black?"

"Well, I guess, but still..."

Wait, was she annoyed because everyone was going to know she fancied her cousin, or because everyone would be talking about her being a bastard? Before Aster could think of a suitably mocking way to ask, they reached the end of the tunnel, emerging from the (fake) outhouse behind the Hog's Head — which, no, there was no explanation for the existence of a non-functional outhouse when the Hog's Head had a perfectly serviceable head indoors, aside from Aberforth Dumbledore having a weird sense of humour — making a beeline for the tavern down the street before they could be trapped into a conversation about goat husbandry. (Really weird sense of humour. And this was coming from Aster.)

The party had, in fact, started without them, though Aster thought that might be for the best. It meant they got to skip the awkward part at the beginning of the party where the only people who didn't arrive fashionably late were the aunts you least cared to talk to, and it wasn't yet appropriate to be drunk, because slow down, dear, the party's only just begun...

When they did finally meander out onto the terrace Zee had chosen for the event, they only had time to exchange pleasantries with the Prewett twins hovering awkwardly by the door (Molly had begged off, probably for the best) and Julie and Antony (Antonius Rosier, not to be confused with Antony "Tony" Rosier, who was four years younger and related to Zee...and quite possibly also here, somewhere, if he and Morgana were still in Britain — Aunt Cassie was his mother-in-law...), who had apparently volunteered to mix cocktails for everyone who couldn't think of anything more adventurous than gin and tonic when put on the spot (Alice), before the Main Event began. Such as it was.

Aster said surprise me and ended up sipping at a very tasty, very green concoction (mostly absinthe) as Zee tinged a glass to get their attention for de Mort, who said a few words congratulating Bella, and then Bella said a few words announcing Cissy and Reg now officially being betrothed ("Everybody drink!"), and congratulated Aster on not being dead ("Everybody drink!") before wishing her happy birthday and demanding she get her arse over to the table where Zee had laid out the official adoption forms she needed to sign with an almost sarcastic degree of formality.

Actually, probably not almost — this was Zee, she knew her audience. And her audience was far more interested in mocking Aster for needing to be adopted back onto the family tree ("How the fuck does someone get disinherited from the House of Black?!"), or making generally unfunny would-be jokes about Bella being shockingly young to have a child already leaving Hogwarts, or the odd off-colour mother-daughter incest joke — Aster didn't catch who suggested the guests ought to all clear out and let the Blacks get down to celebrating as a family, probably be at it all night, you know them...but she was leaning toward Evan — than they were in any silly legal formalities. Aster accordingly played it up a bit, but she was also hardly interested in taking several minutes longer than necessary to complete Ministry forms, so not that much.

Party time was a bit weird, Aster thought. Not in the same way time was weird as a dog, though there was a certain similarity, insofar as things, events, sort of smeared into one another. It was more in how she got caught up in one conversation and then another, laughing (still ow, but she'd long since ceased to really care) and flirting, and teasing Remus for never enjoying himself, losing herself in everyone else loosening up and being fun for once, and before she knew it it had been three hours and she was on her fourth drink, and people were starting to talk about going home or back to the school.

Which was according to plan. They weren't exactly going to do a major blood-magic adoption ritual in front of literal Aurors, after all, and it gave Evan a good excuse to get a minute with Alice, walking her back — Cissy and Reggie and Snape were staying here, so once Vi headed back up toward Ravenclaw they'd have almost five whole minutes of sneaking back down to the dungeons alone together. A gentleman would obviously see a lady to Hufflepuff, it was even on the way, and if she decided not to be a lady, well, far be it from Aster to say that Alice Prewett really needed to get laid, but.

Still, it was a little disappointing when things started winding down. If Aster had been running this show, this would be right about the time they started passing around the second round of miscellaneous muggle drugs, and things started getting interesting. But she wasn't. They'd gotten a bit too loud for the tinking of a glass to be heard over the crowd, so Zee hopped up on a chair to shout them down.

Someone gave a wolf-whistle as the chatter died away, becoming that one awkward guy shouting "Take it off, Zabini!" over a crowd that quite suddenly didn't require shouting to be heard over, to widespread laughter.

"I'm a married woman at the moment, Ambrose!" Her husband wasn't here though, and Aster wasn't the only one who thought it wouldn't make much difference if he were. "Hey, hey, that's enough!" she called over the slight up-tick in noise — teasing and propositions, mostly. "No, stop it— I'm trying to say something, damn it! Quiet down! Thank you! And thank you all for coming out tonight! I know it was rather short notice, but we do love to see you all. And before you head home, you know this wouldn't be a Black Family Event if there weren't blood and fire involved at some point — everyone please congratulate Bella on not stabbing anyone tonight—" She paused for laughter, a few dutiful congratulations, and Bella to flip her off. "But Aster, get over here and let's actually make this official!"

Aster giggled, threading her way over to the table Zee, Bella, and Thom had cleared of glasses and half-eaten plates of cake, right at the very edge of the terrace. They weren't actually doing a proper blood adoption for her — she and Bella were already practically identical, making Bella a parent to her by blood seemed kind of redundant. No, they were just summoning the Family Magic — which was probably already watching anyway, she thought she'd felt it moving among the party-goers a few times tonight — and calling on it to witness them claiming each other as mother and daughter, in a little ritual adapted from one often used to strengthen bonds between comrades-in-arms — what Aster had been referring to when she'd suggested that Bella should claim Zee as her sister-in-blood.

De Mort dimmed the light-globes enough to be suitably dramatic, conjuring a candle in the centre of the table. Aster raised an eyebrow at Bella. "I presume you brought a knife." She certainly hadn't — it was a party, and it wasn't like there weren't already enough sharp objects in this house to arm a bloody battalion or three. Well, okay, she did have one, a little silver potions knife, for the ritual with Evans later, but that had already been purified for use in that ritual, using it now would be...gauche. Not that that would actually stop her, but Evans would be put out with her profaning the ritual equipment. Aster didn't want to ruin her special night.

"Not for this," she said, grinning and holding her left hand out, palm turned up.

Aster did the same, allowing her to trace a fingertip softly over her skin, paralleling a scar which no longer existed — the one from the night of Aster's first Yule ritual, from Bella slitting her wrists to establish a sympathetic bond between them, calling the Dark to burn the two of them alive and maybe save Aster's soul. A deep cut opened in its wake, blood welling to the surface immediately, though it declined to fall, the slightest pressure and tingle of magic holding it back. A quick glance showed de Mort glaring imperiously at the wound, as though daring physics and biology to ruin this ritual by bleeding before it was called for. It was all Aster could do not to laugh at his expression as she mirrored the motion. Her contact cutting charm wasn't as good as Bella's, of course — she used little wandless charms like this to create fire far more often than direct physical force — but it was good enough for this.

Three, two, one, Bella mouthed, and then, in unison, they made the invocation. "We stand beneath the stars, calling out to the space between them, to the Darkness and the spirits of our ancestors — come to us and bear witness!" The candle lit, indicating the presence of the Family Magic for everyone who couldn't feel it, a blue lick of dark anti-fire, drawing light and warmth into itself, making the space around them seem darker even as it illuminated their faces for the several dozen human witnesses, watching with what felt like bated breath.

Bella smirked at her as they locked their fingers around each other's forearms, pressing the wounds together. It was largely a symbolic act, it was hardly as though there was much actual exchange of blood, but that was what ritual magic was, symbolism. Even if the blood-brother ritual hadn't called for it, it echoed that night nearly ten years ago, lending more weight to it. Reminding Magic that Bella had once put her soul on the line for Aster. That they had once been all but one person, that Aster owed her life to Bella's. She didn't put much stock in Arcturus's claim that Bella had twisted her soul to echo her own — her soul had already echoed Bella's pretty fucking closely. But it was true that in a very real way, Aster had been reborn that night.

"Under open sky, before our family and allies, before the spirit of our House and the Dark Itself, I claim you, Bellatrix Asteria, my daughter." She paused as though to let it sink in, just for a moment. "By blood, by magic, by my choice and yours, let us be known as mother and child. Bound by affection and trust, by loyalty and love, I give you my guidance, my protection, and a place in the family which is now yours as it is mine, until death and beyond." Another brief pause, this one probably just for effect. It wasn't as though Aster wasn't already part of the Family. "As it is witnessed, so shall it be, the bond between us unassailable, and recognised by all. Twice and thrice sworn, before Magic, our kinsmen, and the stars."

Right. No going back now...

"Under open sky, before our family and allies, before the spirit of our House and the Dark Itself, I claim you, Bellatrix Druella, my mother." Fuck, that's weird... Not the magic intensifying around them, she'd kind of expected that, but the idea of Bella, as a parent. "By blood, by magic, by my choice and yours, let us be known as mother and child. I accept your guidance, your protection, and the place you offer." Guidance, protection, and a position in the social fabric of Britain — not just Society, but in general — kind of seemed like an adoptee would be getting a lot more out of this sort of thing than their parent or the House, but as she'd explained to Evans there were a lot of unspecified responsibilities which went along with becoming a Black. Personally, Aster thought the next line, "I accept your family as my own, and so shall I act, a dutiful daughter of the House of Black unto my final breath," more than balanced out the advantages an adoption into the House granted. "Bound by trust and affection, by love and loyalty, as it is witnessed, so shall it be, unassailable and recognised by all. Twice and thrice sworn, before Magic, our kinsmen, and the stars."

A drop of comingled blood fell into the icy flame, as the sense of magic paying attention to them grew even sharper and the witnesses seemed to hold their collective breath. (Most everyone here was far too upstanding to see anyone do anything like this on a regular basis. The more distantly related Blacks would have been raised with Yule, but that was Yule — just imagine, doing ritual blood magic so casually — almost publicly! My goodness, how daring! How scandalous!) A second drop was followed quickly by a third, and then the flame licked upward, coiling around their still-clasped hands, abandoning the candle entirely to sink into their skin. Aster tried not to wince at the darkness of the magic. That was going to leave a mark, she thought.

De Mort brought the lights back up slightly. Not entirely, but enough to make Bella's eyes sparkle, grinning at her with pride and amusement...

Now, kiss, de Mort whispered at the back of her mind, his own amusement equally obvious.

Right. Yes. The kiss of homage. Aster had just gotten distracted, because, well. Because Bella was very pretty, mostly. And also this moment felt a little surreal. And yes, she knew how silly it was to be distracted from kissing someone by the fact that they're really pretty and you kind of want to kiss them, de Mort didn't need to point that out, thanks very much. It wasn't supposed to be that kind of kiss, just a chaste brush of lips in recognition of their new relationship.

Of course, just because it wasn't supposed to be that kind of kiss didn't mean it didn't end up being that kind of kiss. In Aster's defence, she was slightly drunk and Bella smelled nice and tasted like chocolate spice cake, and totally went along with it rather than pulling away when Aster kind of forgot exactly what they were doing here and leaned into her, deepening the kiss into something not really chaste at all, which might be more properly referred to as a snog.

Bella, Aster noted tipsily, was surprisingly good at kissing. Warm and soft and (unsurprisingly) assertive, cold fingers slipping around the back of her neck, threading into her hair as Aster's free hand instinctively pulled them closer together, wrapping around Bella's waist, their still-clasped left forearms trapped between them, preventing Aster from just melting into her.

Mira's going to get jealous, Lord Sparklebum interrupted, breaking the moment. When Aster pulled back and opened her eyes, he was leaning against the balustrade that defined the edge of the terrace with Evans (slightly exasperated and not the least bit surprised) and Snape (trying not to look guilty for enjoying the sight), smirking in a very un-snake-like, might be considering a threesome or an erotic photography session or something way, which was not happening — damn it, Aster, your brain sometimes... Zee, far from being jealous, was wearing a very similar expression, with a slightly rawer, I want to be part of this edge to it.

That would be the jealousy.

Piss off, de Mort, Aster thought at him, though she was a bit too content at the moment to really care whether he did or not. She also decidedly didn't care about the spike in giggles and joking and general amusement between their table and the house because House of Black, what did you expect?

Zee, after a moment, recovered sufficiently to take the party back in hand. "Obviously, it's also not a Black Family Event until we have cousins putting on a floor show," she announced, an edge of laughter inviting the rest of them to join in.

Bella clicked her tongue in mock disapproval. "Pay attention, Zee — Aster's my daughter now."

"Oh, I stand corrected, that makes snogging her far less improper. Carry on." Any response Bella or Aster might have made — not that Bella seemed to have a come-back any more than Aster did — was drowned out by laughter, a few invitations to help them make the whole thing even less 'improper', and a few very clear, very loud declarations that certain people (presumably the most boring ones, like Remus and Aunt Caroline) were leaving before this whole party turned into an orgy.

It didn't, of course. Aster was fairly certain that de Mort was choreographing its dissolution, subconsciously urging people to get the fuck out so they could get on with the programme. There were a few final toasts, and perhaps half an hour where people circulated, offering their farewells to Bella and Zee, a few more personal words of congratulation for Aster and (from those who'd noted the announcement in the Prophet officially naming him as Bella's consort) de Mort. Presumably Cissy and Reg would have gotten a few as well, but they seemed to have mysteriously disappeared at some point during the course of the party. A flurry of shaken hands and kissed cheeks and then, seemingly suddenly — well before midnight — everyone who wasn't invited to the latter half of the celebration had gone.

Evans's adoption was to be a much more intimate affair, for the House of Black and its closest associates only. And Snape, because no one in their right mind would suggest to Evans that he didn't have a right to witness her adoption, and Remus, because he was Evans's friend too, and staying here anyway, and in any case was hardly in a position to report anyone to the Aurors for conducting or participating in blood-alchemy rituals.

Zee was slated to be tied to Bella as a co-parent to Evans and Aster herself before the end of the night, and de Mort as her consort (officially). They, along with Cissy and Reggie (when they eventually found their way back from Cissy's bedroom, or wherever they'd been), rounded out the attendees, the nine of them led by Bella parading out to a twisted copse of yew trees which might have been a circle when the oldest foundations of Ancient House were laid, but which had become so overgrown in the intervening centuries that it was practically impossible to tell where one tree ended and the next began. The elves, over the past eighty or ninety years, had pruned and shaped it to form a sort of natural, not-quite-house-like structure, a relic of Pollux and Castor's childhood here — Aster's grandfather and great-uncle used to use it as a play-castle when they were children. Of course, they were long dead now, killed in Grindelwald's War and an unfortunate run-in with a quintaped respectively, but it was a thing elves did, taking a place that someone especially loved and keeping it up as a memorial to them, long after they were gone.

There were all sorts of little places like this across the Black properties, spots that one child or another had made their own (often with extensive help from the elves) and then abandoned, only to be rediscovered decades or centuries later by a grandchild or great-grandchild, shared with their siblings and cousins (but not parents, obviously), holding a secret sort of specialiness simply because they were both magnificent and forgotten. Aster, when she was little — already cursed by Orion, but not yet at Hogwarts — used to spend hours sneaking around looking for good hiding spots to avoid Walburga, imagining that one of these (not so very) secret, hidden spots might secretly house a portal to another world; that she might wander into a once-cultivated copse or crumbling stone circle or through an ancient arch — all that remained of a long-collapsed bridge over a now-dry stream — and find herself in an alternate universe when she wandered out again.

Andromeda (the middle sister both Bella and Cissy avoided talking about after she ran away with a muggleborn the summer before Aster started school) had shown Aster, Reggie, and Narcissa this spot when they were tiny, but Aster hadn't often come here. It was no good having a secret hidden place all to yourself if your annoying cousin and little brother knew about it too.

It was exactly as she remembered it, though — ducking and wriggling through an opening just large enough for an eight-year-old or an elf to edge through easily to find oneself in an irregular, vaguely oblong 'room' (a bit close for all nine of them), a rough fire-pit at the centre of it, tangled branches blocking out patches of the sky and casting ominous shadows as lights moved on the other side of the 'walls'. Zee cursing about her hair getting stuck coming through the 'door' and de Mort being all smug about how, well you really should learn to shadow-walk, shouldn't you? detracted from the atmosphere, a bit. Enough to make the ceremony of the whole thing seem a bit silly and pretentious.

This was why Aster made a shite ritualist. She just couldn't take the whole thing super seriously like Evans clearly was, an awed little smile on her face even as Bella faffed about with the fire-pit, shifting its stones to one end of the 'room' to give them a bit more space, and Zee conjured light globes and stools because, oh, for fuck's sake, Thom, I'm not being disrespectful to the womb of the Earth, it's dark, and I'm not going to sit on the ground! There could be insects! And what the hell are you even talking about, we're not even underground! (De Mort also took everything too seriously, saying shite like womb of the Earth with a straight face.)

"It's fine, Thom," Bella assured the pouting, snake-faced man, no longer maintaining his glamours because the only people here to be shocked by his appearance were Snape and Moony, and it wasn't like it was sunny. (Though his general sparkliness might have been why he objected to Zee's lights.) Either that or glamours were as offensive to the womb of the Earth as chairs. (That actually sounded kind of plausible; she dismissed the magic-filtering charm on her eyes, just in case.) "He is right about the lights, though," she told Zee, lighting a dozen or so candles Aster hadn't noticed perched on gnarls and twists in the branches of the 'walls' with a flick of her wand, and killing the too-bright globes.

It took a moment for Aster's eyes to adjust to both the sudden reduction in light and the fog of magic, which remained even when she closed her eyes entirely. She 'watched' with magic more than sight as the participants and witnesses rearranged themselves. Technically, Aster was a participant, but she wouldn't be needed for a few minutes yet — Bella was going to designate Cissy and Reg as her heirs first — so she found herself shuffled off to line the walls with the rest of them, give her cousins a bit of elbow room.

Next to Remus, who was so stiff and uncomfortable it was almost contagious. "Alright, Remy?" she said, bumping his arm with her shoulder (tall bastard).

"No, Sir– Aster! I am not all— You just called Bellatrix your mum!"

"I did, yes."

"And– And— With the blood, and the snogging, and— Did you have to snog her?! What were you thinking?"

"Reflex-snog, mate, didn't really think about it at all."

Not that she wouldn't have done it if she had had the presence of mind to make a conscious decision, there. In which case, the thought process would probably have been limited to: Would I like to snog one of the sexiest witches I know, who I've admired and fantasised about pretty much my entire life, and who just very publicly claimed me as her daughter, as in declared before Magic that she accepts me and cares about me and wants me in her life? What kind of bloody stupid question is that? Of course I'd like to snog her — very much so, in fact!

Remus barely paused long enough for her to respond. "And you told me he's a snake, but he's actually, you know..." he hissed, maybe even quietly enough that de Mort hadn't heard.

"Snakey, yes."

"And– And Lily's going to— Severus, you can't— They—"

"Can't what, Lupin?" Snape drawled (quietly) on Remy's other side. "Want her to be happy?"

Remy's voice dropped even lower. "Want her to get mixed up with them!"

Given that Evans and de Mort were standing together at the other 'end' of the 'room' being very serious ritualists together, Aster thought that ship had already sailed.

Bella interrupted, before Snape was forced to come up with a response (which would probably just be, I want her to be happy, Lupin, anyway). "Quiet over there in the peanut gallery! Narcissa! Regulus!" She beckoned them forward, holding out her hands for theirs.

Narcissa looked like a princess. Of course, Narcissa always kind of looked like a princess, but she'd dressed up for tonight especially — all silver and white and hints of palest blue; sapphire ornaments glinting in the elaborately pinned curls and plaits of her silver-charmed hair; her skin had been charmed pale and flawless, doll-like, frozen perfection; her eyes, still their natural deep blue, were almost shockingly dark in comparison, the only part of her that looked alive. Well, that and her magic, tracing her skin in ethereal not-light, making her glow in Aster's Sight. Like the Light Princess of the Sidhe Court of the Moon or an ice sculpture come to life, or maybe a star in human form — beautiful and strange; cold and calculating and distant. The effect was ruined only by the fact that she couldn't quite keep a straight face. After Bella had announced their betrothal (before they'd mysteriously disappeared), her eyes kept creeping over to Reggie, her fingers into his hand, and a slightly-disbelieving smile onto her face.

He was every bit as obviously besotted with her, and every bit as stunned about the sudden announcement of their engagement. Aster presumed Bella had asked him whether he wanted to, but even if she hadn't he clearly approved, happier and prouder than Aster had ever seen him, standing beside their cousin, the night to her star. His midnight blue robes, she noted with amusement, had been cut to make his shoulders seem a bit wider than they actually were, and of course he was wearing another of those bloody stupid cravats, this one edged with silver lace. (She'd noticed that on the way here, but not the robes under his cloak.) The candlelight made him seem positively ruddy in comparison to Narcissa's charmed paleness, the sharpness of his cheekbones and the hollows of his eyes highlighted by shadows, a study in contrasts rather than the almost imperceptible subtleties defining Cissy's face. Aster suspected that Narcissa had been intentionally trying to make them look as little like close cousins as possible, drawing attention to the most distinctive differences in their appearances while still signalling that they belonged together — complemented each other, like.

Bella, by contrast, didn't seem to be sending much of a message with her appearance at all. She actually looked surprisingly mundane tonight. Physically, at least. Hair held back with little silver and garnet pins, rather than plaited into an elaborate crown, solid black hose and a tightly-fitted overrobe. That had a few little silver details here and there and was cut asymmetrically, with the back significantly longer than the front, which was barely tunic-length, and the blouse beneath it, which she'd worn without the overrobe for most of the evening, was sleeveless and lacy down the middle, the frills spilling out of the deep-cut neckline of the overrobe. Generally speaking, though, it was relatively unobtrusive, no elaboration and very little ornamentation, and no jewelry beyond the hairpins and her communication mirror-locket. As soon as Aster took the charm off her eyes, though, she realised exactly why Bella had dressed so simply. The Family Magic was dancing with her, playing around her hair and fingers, bright not-light drawn most strongly to the runes in her skin and the protective enchantments worked into her overrobe, but surrounding her in general less densely, a field of patterns and textures which swirled around her and through her every time she took a breath or made the slightest gesture — somehow simultaneously sharp and amorphously fluid, it was absolutely mesmerising, like a dress made entirely of sequins or fringe. Aster could barely look away.

Granted, there were probably only a handful of people at the party who were capable of seeing her this way, but that would hardly matter to Bella. The idea of trying to improve on the beauty of magic putting on a show like this of its own accord with metal and sparkly rocks and clever use of cloth and thread seemed entirely absurd.

When Cissy and Reg took Bella's hands, the magic swirled around them, too, making its way up their arms and slowly engulfing them as Bella spoke — in Welsh, because tradition. "Recognise them, Magic." Huh, Aster had wondered how the Family Magic was meant to be directly addressed... Apparently exactly the same as Magic Itself. "She is Narcissa Zaniah, your child in magic and spirit, even if not in blood. He is Regulus Arcturus, trueborn child of the House, and the heir our former lord would have chosen. They are blood of my blood, and soon to be bound in body and soul. They will be my chosen successors, a lord and lady to lead the House in partnership as equals, to continue the promise of eternity, and when the time comes to support you together in my stead, do you find them acceptable."

Translation: Reggie isn't fit to lead the House, and Cissy isn't fit to support the Family Magic. You get both or neither. Also, there aren't a whole lot of options available, so take that into consideration. That would be the continue the promise of eternity part — they were pretty much the only Blacks left who were likely to have children to carry on the name. Or rather, the only Blacks left who considered carrying on the name their absolute first priority. (Though Aster was fairly certain Bella's birth-control curse wouldn't wear off Cissy until her birthday, which wasn't until the summer. So while mysteriously disappearing did demonstrate a certain degree of initiative, it was, at the moment, really just practice-boning.)

Aster probably could lead the House — she had been trained to, and she suspected that if she ever did have children they'd be bastards, and therefore Blacks by default — but... Well, she really had no interest in settling down and running a House any more than Bella did. It did sting slightly that Bella had never really considered pointing the Family Magic to her, but Aster didn't have a great relationship with the Family Magic — forgiven or not, her magic was still too light for it to easily communicate with her, hence its possessing Bella to do so — so she wasn't really surprised. Granted, she doubted that the Family Magic would be able to do...whatever it was doing with Bella right now with Reggie — he was well above average in terms of his channelling ability, but he wasn't a sorcerer or a black mage or even just as intuitively willing to work with Magic as Aster — it probably wouldn't be very happy with her fobbing it off onto a clearly inferior Head of House. But he was much more interested in history and legal precedence and so on, and Cissy was by far the best politician out of the four of them. Aster wouldn't be entirely surprised if Bella just delegated all the boring legal Head of House and Wizengamot shite and baby-making to them and kept being the magical heart of the House pretty much forever.

Aster...wasn't really sure where she fit in that picture. Wherever Evans ended up, obviously, she just didn't know where that would be. Probably in New Avalon, if it ever got off the ground, but talking to her... She knew the shite Bella and de Mort did didn't bother Evans the same way it did her. Maybe it was doing human sacrifice rituals every year, but Aster couldn't quite seem to not see other people and their lives as being fundamentally the same as herself and valuable simply for their own sake. (If they weren't, you might as well sacrifice a fucking acromantula or something else no one would miss.) But she also knew Evans didn't actually approve of that sort of thing, either. Killing people. Especially just for fun. Persephone didn't approve of that sort of thing. So Aster was pretty sure Evans intended to try to get Bella to focus more on shite like visiting the moon or building an island or time travel than antagonising the Aurors. She definitely approved of Aster's plan to try to get Dumbledore to see reason and at least get a ceasefire in place.

(They still hadn't had that talk yet. Aster suspected Dumbledore was waiting until she could be properly healed before he called her back up to his office, because he felt guilty that she'd gotten hurt fixing a problem that James and ultimately Dumbledore himself were responsible for. And she wasn't exactly keen on getting into an argument when she couldn't even pace properly. But Sunday. She could talk to him on Sunday. Maybe run her arguments past McKinnon tomorrow, first...)

If New Avalon didn't work out? ...Maybe she could talk Evans into becoming a travelling cursebreaker with her? Just seeing more of the world sounded nice. Or maybe she'd tour the Americas while Evans worked on a mastery at Miskatonic, or something. Whatever, not really important now. Point was, she was perfectly fine with not being tied to the House of Black. (She had kind of tried to get herself kicked out of it a couple of months ago and all...)

And the Family Magic was apparently, at least provisionally, okay with that, too. It must have agreed with Bella in some way — how it might have communicated that, Aster couldn't tell — because after a short pause, she nodded. "Very well, then. Narcissa, Regulus, do you take on this responsibility, you must be prepared to uphold the duties of the Head of the House of Black in public and in private, in all matters magical and mundane, should you be so called upon."

There was a bit of discordance in their response, the unison off because one of them said I am prepared to do so, and one of them said we. Aster suspected that Reggie had said I, because Cissy glared at him.

Bella smirked slightly. "You must be prepared to dedicate yourselves to the priority of ensuring the continuation of the House before all others."

This time, Reggie got with the program. "We are prepared to do so." (Heh. Of course they were...)

"And of course, you must be prepared to support the Magic, providing a haven for it should I become unable to do so." So, basically if she died. Aster couldn't think of any other circumstances she wouldn't be able to support the Family Magic herself.

"We are prepared to do so."

"Then the Magic and I are of an accord. I hereby designate you as my chosen successors." The Family Magic withdrew from them, returning to Bella for the most part, though Aster thought a part of it might have gone into strengthening Cissy and Reggie's bonds to the House, just in case.

"Wait. That's it?" Reggie asked, a hint of something disapproving and maybe a little disappointed in his tone. "When Pater– sorry, Uncle Arcturus talked about officially appointing me as his Heir, he made it sound like it was more...involved. Ceremonious."

"I probably could have drawn it out for another hour or so, but I really don't think we need to go through all your duties to the House, individually. Yes, Archie did make me agree to them all specifically, but I was seven. I assume he wanted to make sure I really understood what it meant, being his heir. Well, either that or he wanted my word I would continue to serve the House, and didn't want to wait until Lammas to make me renew my vows." She flicked her fingers dismissively, magic sparking at her fingertips. "Hardly matters, now. What does matter is you know what's expected of the Head of the House — I'll go over it with you both at some point just to make sure, but you have been learning these things all your lives — and the Family Magic has agreed to seek you out if I do something really fucking stupid and get myself killed, which, you know, not likely, but." She shrugged. "Next up?"

"I believe that would be Asphodel," de Mort said.

Evans practically skipped the three steps to Bella, far too excited to really understand what this process entailed. Yes, it was a big deal being adopted, she should be excited, but Evans was a bloody wimp. It wouldn't hurt her soul like the Dark had hurt Aster when it was turning her into a girl, and the adoption ritual drew on the magic and energy reserves of the adoptive mother too, so it shouldn't be nearly as exhausting, and while the changes to her blood would be just as thorough as Aster's, the changes in the expression of various traits wouldn't be, necessarily — changing sexes was really major — but it would still hurt.

It would probably hurt worse than anything that had ever happened to Evans before.

Aster had tried to explain that, but she couldn't bring herself to use any of the really bad pain curses on her so she'd have something to compare it to, so Evans had just brushed it off — "It can't be that bad, Aster. Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

"I'm ready!" she said, bouncing on her toes like a little kid.

Bella laughed at her. Remus didn't. "Lily— Are you sure about this, Lily?

Lily gave him a beatific smile. "Of course I'm sure, Remus. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, it's— It just seems like...fast? I mean, Aster said you only found out you were adopted a couple of weeks ago — by your parents, I mean, and—"

"What Lupin is attempting so incompetently to say is that this is out of character."

"Er. Yes. Thank you, Severus. It's— You've changed, Lily, and... Have you even talked to anyone about this?"

"Of course I have, Remy."

"Anyone not in this room? Er. Tree...thing?"

Her eyes narrowed. Apparently a little friendly concern was fine, but only if he didn't really mean it and was willing to just immediately concede that of course Evans was right. She ignored the question, because the answer was no, she hadn't. "I know what I'm getting into. And the only thing that's changed about me is that I'm not pretending anymore."

"Are you sure? Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you and Aster have both lost your bloody minds! This is the same Bellatrix who kills little kids in nursery schools, yes? And the Dark Lord who's trying to take over Britain?"

"I'm not trying to take over Britain," de Mort corrected him, before Evans or Bella could respond. "Why would I want to rule this horrid cesspool of corruption and misery? Why does everyone think I want to rule this horrid cesspool of corruption and misery?"

Zee chuckled. "I imagine it's because most people have an absurdly difficult time imagining living in a society very different from the one in which they were raised."

"Well, obviously, but—"

"Can we maybe focus?" Evans interrupted. "Yes, Remy. Bellatrix is of the opinion that the idea of a war crime is very silly, and Thom would like Britain to acknowledge his organisation as an independent political entity, to which end they have been conducting a war against Magical Britain. And none of that matters, because they actually understand me. I don't have to pretend to be light around them, or that I'm not dedicated to my Lady — I belong with them."

"But—"

"Remy, mate, she's not going to change her mind."

"No, I'm not. And if you can't be happy for me, Remus, you can leave."

"Fine. Fine! I still think you've lost the plot, and this is a terrible decision, but fine, I'll shut up. Not like there's anyone else sane around here, so sure, I guess you do fit right in."

"That's the spirit!" de Mort said brightly, the tone contrasting oddly with his snakiness, as did his lipless smirk. "This is a blood alchemy ritual, though. Painful. Messy. You may want to leave anyway."

"I'm a werewolf, Monsieur Voleur. I'm plenty familiar with painful, messy transformation rituals, thanks very much."

De Mort held his hands up in mock surrender. "Don't say I didn't warn you, then."

"Bella. Aster. Can we please start the ritual?"

Bella nodded. Aster stepped forward to stand beside Evans. They'd gone over the ritual at least half a dozen times now. It should go fairly quickly and smoothly. She hoped. Emphasis on the smooth, with no more interruptions from Remus or de Mort or the fucking Dark showing up to meet Evans before they finished the thing. Well, de Mort probably wouldn't actually interrupt a ritual once it was already in progress. Remus and/or the Dark, though, very well might.

Snape, if you're eavesdropping, it's your job to make sure Remus doesn't fuck anything up while I'm distracted.

He's not. I'll take care of it, de Mort thought at her all amused, even though her expectation that any legilimens in the vicinity was always eavesdropping on everyone was based mostly on his behaviour. I appreciate the irony of you simultaneously characterising me as a snakey fucking weirdo, and also expecting other people to act like me.

...Piss off, de Mort, she thought back, with as much dignity as she could muster. I have a ritual to initiate.

There were four roles in the Black Family adoption ritual — Mother, Child, Midwife, and Head of House — and it required at least three participants. Only a woman could serve as an adoptive parent, harkening back to the days when the House had been primarily matrilineal. There were elements of symbolic resonance in the idea of the bond between mother and child being inviolate, and females being the half of the species who actually did the work of producing children, but Aster was pretty sure the parent role in this ritual being the Mother was really more for historical reasons.

The Child role was fairly self-explanatory — the primary subject of the ritual. The Midwife (or "Father") wasn't really, in the traditional sense. They were normally closely related to the Mother and familiar with the Child — a sister or natural child or husband or consort or whatever — and stood as a sort of sponsor to the adoption along with the Mother. Their role in the ritual was largely peripheral, assisting in its implementation, but if it went wrong in some way, or the Mother and Child didn't have enough energy between them to pull through the transformation, they would sometimes be required to dump more power into the ritual. And of course the Head of the House had to be involved, formally bringing anyone into the Family, whether by adoption or marriage.

The Mother and Midwife had to be different people, but the Head of House could serve in either role, if they so chose. Obviously Bella would be fulfilling the role of Head of the House as well as that of the Mother. Aster was the Midwife which, among other things, meant that it was her job to get this show on the road.

The first actual element, of course, was invoking the Family Magic, but before that, even, the Child and Mother needed to disrobe. There were blood runes that would need to be drawn directly onto their skin, and the transformation tended to be, as de Mort had warned Remus, messy as well as painful. They were also doing a minor purification thing (just for the Child and the Mother, Aster was still allowed to be profane because she wasn't actually a subject of the ritual), because Evans was a Very Serious Ritualist, and that was What One Did before a major working.

"Let us begin," she crooked a finger at Evans, beckoning her closer and helping her off with her robe — another of Aster's, actually, because all of Evans's clothes had zippers or buttons or other annoying features that made them difficult to remove gracefully. This one was much simpler, the translucent golden overrobe laced loosely down the centre of the bodice, and the emerald under-robe was basically just a single large piece of fabric with a couple of ties that wrapped around a certain way to form a simple, ankle-length garment. Muggles would probably consider it a dress, albeit a rather slinky, form-fitting one. It was almost as easily removed as the overrobe, held in place as it was by a single knot. Aster took both pieces from her, hooking them on a convenient branch.

Bella's very fitted hose and blouse were held in place by dozens of tiny buttons, but they were also enchanted so she only had to unbutton one to undo them all, so she managed to strip almost as quickly. She joined Evans in kneeling in the centre of the space for Aster to recite a minor ritual banishing external influences over them. Which she did, with probably more pleasure than she ought to have done — the flash of light magic which burned through the space in response prompted Bella to pull a face at her. Still, it was over quickly.

Bella retreated a few steps, taking on the role of the Head of the House, leaving Aster and Evans to face her as petitioners, asking her (and the Family Magic) to accept Evans into the House.

"I speak as a child of the House of Black, as one who would be kin to the woman before me. Hear me, Magic, and witness!" Not that it wasn't already paying attention, but its presence strengthened, drawing on ambient energy — dark, of course, enough to make Aster at least as uncomfortable as the purification ritual had made Bella, focused on her specifically as it was, given that she was the one who had called it — and spreading to surround not only Bella but the entire room. Right, there wasn't actually a circle, aside from the natural one defined by the trees. Everyone else would be involved peripherally then, as Witnesses. Not that that was a problem, these things used to be witnessed by as much of the House as possible, back when they used to do adoptions all the time.

After calling the Family Magic, they had to establish Evans's willingness to become a member of the House, with all that entailed. "Lily Irene, would you, upon your magic, swear to put it at the disposal of the House of Black and your newfound kin?"

"I would." The magic began to focus a bit more on her, rather than just Aster, which was a bit of a relief.

"Would you swear, upon your life, to place the wellbeing of the House of Black before it, or that of any other individual?"

"I would." A grin crept across her face as she anticipated the next question. They hadn't discussed the specifics of the ritual before their last visit to Cokeworth, but Evans had been more than a little pleased with the timing of her impulsive dissolution of her relationship with her parents when she realised that she would have had to forsake them now regardless.

Not that giving the House primacy over her loyalty meant that she could never speak to them again, but since Evans had really only been keeping up her act with them out of some weird sense of duty, and this was her explicitly giving up her obligations to her natal House, it did kind of make sense, Aster guessed. "Would you swear upon your honor to place your duties to the House of Black and your newfound kin before all others, including the House of your birth and the family who raised you?"

"I would."

Runes were funny things. Their meaning was kind of like an incantation or a wand-movement. Arbitrary. They didn't really inherently mean anything, just, a lot of people believed they meant something, so Magic sort of just...agreed that they did. As far as Aster knew, the runes used in this ritual, and a handful of other Family rituals and some of the oldest wardstones at Ancient House, weren't used at all outside of the House. Which meant they should be less effective than normal runes with more widely-known and accepted meanings, but because they were only used in a few very specific contexts, they were actually much more precise in communicating the purpose of a given action and thereby shaping it...as long as they were used in those contexts. If she tried to use the shapes that defined truth and reveal in this ritual outside of a Family ritual, they probably wouldn't do much of anything at all.

Since she was using them in this ritual, reveal painted in Aster's blood over Evans's heart, and truth in the centre of her forehead, they served to tell the Family Magic to examine Evans's willingness to do as she'd said she would, to examine Evans's intentions and judge her worthiness as a candidate for adoption into the House. She did have to say the words, "Let the magic of the night and the space between the stars judge the truth of the intentions of this woman who would make herself kin to the Eternal House," to start the process, but the concepts and intent distilled into the meaning of those shapes over the past ten or twelve centuries actually defined it.

The Family Magic dove into Evans's soul, seeking out any hint of deception, any desire to harm the House. It wasn't gentle about it, either. There were really very few occasions which called for gentleness in the eyes of the House of Black — testing the character and resolve of a would-be adoptee, some as-yet-inferior person who believed themselves worthy of joining the Family, was not one of them.

Evans gasped, falling to her hands and knees, eyes clenched shut and fingers digging into the earthen floor, breathing far too quickly, as though trying not to scream. Aster bit her lip. It was supposed to be fairly quick, she thought. Not more than a minute or so. An aborted "Li—" drew her attention back to Snape, with a grim expression to match her own, and Remy, who was apparently frozen, somehow, his mouth still open. His limbs were immobilised halfway through taking a step toward the three of them, but even as Aster watched he stepped back into his place, assuming a very parade rest sort of posture — shoulders straighter than they ever were (Remus had a tendency to slouch, as though afraid to draw too much attention to himself), hands folded neatly in front of himself. He was glaring furiously at de Mort.

Had he...

I did tell you I'd take care of it, didn't I?

I thought you were going to tell Snape to use a body bind on him or something, not turn him into a fucking puppet, you sick freak.

This is less disruptive to the ritual. On the subject of which, are you not supposed to be attending to Asphodel?

Oh, the testing was over, wasn't it. Evans had managed not to scream, but there were tears glistening on her cheeks, and she seemed a bit too unsteady to make it back to her feet on her own. Aster offered her a hand, raising an eyebrow in silent question. Evans nodded firmly, which she took to mean keep going.

Alright, then. "Magic has judged the candidate's intentions to be true. I, Bellatrix Asteria, First Daughter of the House, do stand beside the candidate as a worthy kinswoman."

Bella actually looked surprised at that — not Evans passing the test, Aster claiming to be the First Daughter of the House. She was pretty sure she was within her rights to do so, though. Bella was the Head of the House now, she couldn't exactly be the ultimate authority figure in the Family and also the person who was meant to tell adult authorities to piss off when necessary. And Narcissa, for all her eyes narrowed on the opposite end of the 'room', didn't actually want to take on the responsibility. Unlikely as it seemed that Bella would forget her duties to their few younger cousins, Cissy didn't have the moxie (or lack of self-preservation) to stand up to her if it ever actually became necessary. Besides, she'd be getting married to Reg in about a month, anyway.

After a long moment, Bella smirked and nodded. "Very well, then. I speak as a woman of the House of Black, as the one who would claim this child as my daughter. Hear me, Magic, and witness my claim. I offer guidance, fulfilling a mother's sacred duty to shape her daughter's future. I offer protection, as a mother needs must support her child against the dangers inherent in her life. I offer identity, family, and a place in this world, the bond between mother and child unassailable and recognised by all. In return, I would that my daughter trust in my guidance, repay protection with loyalty, and respect myself and the name which she is offered this night. As it is agreed, let it be so sworn," she declaimed, the full, un-paraphrased version of the vows she and Aster had used earlier.

Evans's response wasn't specified, though obviously she had to re-state the terms and swear to keep up her end of them. Since she knew the Mother's lines, she'd written and memorised her reciprocation ahead of time. "Trust for guidance; loyalty for protection; respect for identity and a place in this world. As my newfound mother does keep her word, so too shall I. This I vow before friends and family, before my Lady Persephone and Magic Itself, by the movements of the stars and the waters of the Styx. Twice and thrice-sworn, let it be so witnessed."

There was a ripple in the magic around them, almost entirely distracting from the way the Family Magic wove itself around Evans, binding her to Bella, a twisting, stomach-twisting rift of dark energy briefly appearing before them. Or rather, before Aster. She expected that to almost everyone, it looked like the innocent-looking, freckle-faced embodiment of evil that was Angelos Black had stepped out of nowhere between Zee and de Mort to tuck herself under de Mort's arm. "Ooh, swearing on the Styx, are we? How dramatic!"

Her original draft was much longer and even more dramatic. Aster was glad she'd convinced her to cut it down. Swearing on the Styx was still a bit over-the-top, but for a dedicant of Persephone it did make sense. Especially since Bella was also a dedicant of Eris. That whole pantheon had a thing about the mythological border-river.

"Hi, Thom."

"Angel. You're late," de Mort said, all dry and disapproving, as though he couldn't feel the tendrils of dangerous, dark energy wrapping themselves around him. He had to be able to, though, he let his own aura expand to envelope her as well, like a weird, evil, magic hug. "And you're interrupting."

She grinned up at him. "And you still haven't come up with a fate worse than death for me," she said, as though that was...somehow related? "Mimi, love, you look delicious, as always."

Zee leaned over to kiss the terrifying creature on the forehead like a favoured younger sibling. "Angie, darling, you haven't aged a day."

The immortal Dark giggled. "Well, of course not. Aging is just so...passé. And Bella, my pet! You're all sparkly!"

Angelos was...kind of the opposite of sparkly. Not that her magic, or the magic of the Dark that was possessing her, was entirely different from the tone of Bella's, but where the energy surrounding Bella was glittering and playful and celebratory, the power curling off the avatar of the Dark was more...sinuous. Smoke-like and dangerous. And terrifying. Almost overwhelmingly so. If Aster had been able to see her aura when they first met, she thought she might have run screaming from the prospect of letting that thing anywhere near her soul, mad or not. As it was now, she simply froze, desperately wishing she weren't right in the middle of the room and trying not to draw its attention. Cissy, Reg, Remy, and Snape appeared to be on the same page, lurking at the edges of the room variously wide-eyed and overly-still.

Angel twiddled her fingers at her, which Aster had no response to, given that running screaming into the night wasn't really an option. She'd have to wriggle out of the tree-fort first, not exactly swift.

She is terrifying, I'll grant you, de Mort thought at her, giving the top of the head of the demonic creature snuggled up to him what might have been the reptile equivalent of an exasperated look. And she finds your obvious fear of her incredibly amusing. But she has no intention of hurting you tonight.

"Yes, I finally stripped the Family Magic from old Archie. It's delighted, as I'm sure you can tell." Evans cleared her throat pointedly, drawing Bella's attention back to her. "Ah, yes. This is Asphodel, I know you're aware of her. Asphodel, this is Angel — if you recall I mentioned she might drop by at some point."

"We were in the middle of something," she hissed back even more pointedly, glaring furiously at the Dark for interrupting.

"Yes, yes, adopting you into the House. That's why I'm here," she grinned. "Witnessing. As family. And/or Magic. Go on, you're just about to get to the fun part."

The horribly painful blood magic part, she meant.

Bella grinned at the still-obviously-annoyed Evans. "As you become my daughter, Lily Irene, you also become a daughter of the House of Black. Would you swear homage to it, submitting yourself to its protection and acknowledging the authority of its Lord?"

"I would."

"Would you swear loyalty, placing the honour and wellbeing of the House of Black above all others?"

"I would."

"Would you swear fealty, bound by blood to the will of the House and the authority of its Lord?"

"I would," Evans repeated a third time, the annoyance fading from her voice as they fell back into the ritual pattern.

"Then do so."

This vow was a formal, set thing. Evans had memorised it ahead of time, of course. She knelt, raising her hands in prayer-like supplication. Bella clasped them between her own. "I swear before magic, my would-be kinsmen, and the stars to be true and faithful to the House of Black; to support the Family as asked of me; and never, by word or deed, do anything to harm the wellbeing of the House; and that the House shall hold my highest loyalty. I swear unto the House of Black my wand, my honor, and my will, that I might be recognized as a full member of the House, with all the rights and responsibilities entailed therein."

"As Lady Black, I accept your vow, Daughter. Rise and seal it, as it is so sworn."

Evans did — her kiss of homage was much more chaste than Aster's, a quick brush of lips against lips. The Family Magic washed over her again, recognising her as a daughter of the House. She wasn't really a part of it yet, though. Not really.

Bella grinned. "So shall it be. And as you would be my daughter and a daughter of the House in mind and magic, so must you be also in body. Asteria?"

She had to re-open the cut she'd used to paint the runes for the testing earlier. It stung, but that was nothing compared to the pain Evans was about to experience. Aster circled around to trace a series of runes down her spine, loyalty and fidelity, belonging and trust, mutual support and reciprocity, the chain completed by a symbol whose meaning Aster only knew as House of Black. Maybe ours, or something like that. Maybe family, in a broader sense.

"By the blood of she who would be your sister and the beating of your heart, I bind you in brotherhood to the House of Black."

The Family Magic lashed out, forming a bond between the three of them with an almost-tangible snap, more distantly to Cissy, Reg, and Angelos, and more faintly yet, an awareness stretching beyond the immediate space to include all the members of the Family not present here tonight.

She offered the little silver knife to Bella, who grinned, quickly carving the life rune just above the dark curls of her pubic hair, then painting child over Evans's navel and becoming over her heart. A sort of umbilical of magic spun itself into being between them, binding their lives as one in much the same way as Aster had thought to bind herself to Morgen to support the old werewolf, even as Bella murmured, "By the blood of she who would be your mother and the magic in your bones, I bind you in body to the Family."

This was immediately followed by another rune on Evans's forehead, an elaboration of the truth symbol which Aster had drawn ages ago, re-shaping it to mean being — magic or soul. What I am. "By the blood of she who would be your matriarch and the fire in your soul, I bind you in magic to the Family."

The Family Magic was already fairly well focused on Evans, but it took hold even more deeply in anticipation of the incipient transformation.

"You know your line," Bella said, smirking broadly.

Evans did. She hesitated slightly, there was an edge of nervousness in her tone suggesting she actually had heard some of Aster's comments about how badly this would hurt, but after a second, she said it. "Body, magic, and soul, I bind myself to the House of Black."

The runes flared to life, attuning Evans's magic to that of the House — hardly as dramatic a transformation as attuning herself to the dark or the light, but noticeable. To Aster and definitely to Evans. She gasped as she felt the Family Magic surrounding and suffusing her begin to resonate properly.

"Again," Bella prompted her.

There were three repetitions of the binding dedication. The first brought her into alignment with the Family Magic, the second integrated the Mother's blood into the Child, and the third established a proper connection between the new member of the House and the Family Magic, bringing them into the blood wards and consequently making them part of it — part of them.

The second step was the hardest, but there was no going back at this point. Evans's face grew grim, her posture stiff, as though bracing for impact (which would do absolutely nothing to help her weather the transformation). "Body, magic, and soul, I bind myself to the House of Black."

For a long second, it was as though nothing happened. But then, just as Evans began to relax, the magic struck.

She gasped involuntarily, stiffening in pain, eyes squeezed tight against it, before falling to her knees and then to the ground, shivering and twitching. Her breathing grew too fast, her own magic flaring erratically as that of the Family surrounded her, wrapping her in a sort of cocoon of raw energy, delving into her body and changing it.

Aster had kind of thought that this wasn't going to be that big a deal, that the changes would be relatively minor, but she hadn't taken into account Evans being far too sturdily built for a daughter of the House of Black. Even if her internal organs didn't have to be re-structured, she was still shrinking, her bone-structure becoming more delicate, and that affected practically everything. Flesh seemed to melt and twist as bones shifted and shrank beneath them, blood and that same weird, ectoplasm-esque goo that Aster had woken up in a puddle of after her own transformation seeping out of every orifice, including her eyes — that couldn't possibly be good, could it? More and more magic was drawn through Bella (who was also lying on the ground breathing too fast, but looked like she was about to come, rather than as though she was in excruciating pain) into the process, not unlike whatever had happened when she took on the role of the Head of the House, the connection between them glowing so brightly Aster would be shocked if it wasn't actually visible.

And it just kept going. Aster didn't know how long, but longer than she felt it should, certainly.

Hey, de Mort, is this right?

He laughed at her, silently. Oh, yes. Your own transformation took nearly an hour. This should only be a few more minutes, I think.

Evans's hair fell out, only to grow back in much darker. She seemed to almost dissolve before them, becoming nearly as gaunt as Aster as the puddle of whatever the hell that was spread around her. After a minute or so, her eyes snapped open, glowing brightly, still that same vibrant, killing curse green, and she started coughing and retching. Aster knelt quickly to tip her onto her side as she brought up yet more goo. Seriously, what the hell—

It's a byproduct of shrinking, excess cells killed and purged.

Oh. Ew.

You asked...

Yeah, but now I know I'm kneeling in a puddle of dead Evans slime.

I repeat: you asked.

Aster had no response to that, and since Bella seemed to be coming around as well, which meant they were almost done, she didn't bother trying to think of one. The umbilical between the two of them snapped, the last of the energy dispersed. Bella's eyes fluttered open, an ecstatic grin plastered across her face as she turned to look at the two of them again.

"Third time pays for all, Daughter."

"I— Body, magic, and soul, I—" Evans cut herself off, coughing again. She seemed barely conscious.

"Come on, Evans," Aster whispered, pinching her in an effort to keep her awake. "You can do it..."

She had to do it. If she stopped, if she failed, now, she would die. She had to be folded into the blood wards so they could help her heal, help her pull through...

"Body, magic, and...soul, I...bind myself. To the House of Black."

Yes! Good!

Magic, the Family Magic which had withdrawn slightly as the transformation waned, dove into her with renewed vigor, flooding through every inch of her body, reinforcing the bond between the blood which now flowed in her veins and the House as a whole. Aster could feel her, not only physically but in her soul, another flame set alight in the endless sea of the Dark, the Family Magic shifting as the web of interconnected people and spells adjusted to the presence of a new soul in its midst, recognising her as ours, drawing her into the circuit that was the living House, both tying her down and lifting her up...

Okay, that was really fucking cool.

Evans obviously thought so too, giving her a weak but genuine smile. You should probably stop calling me Evans now, she thought, the mental contact more hesitant than de Mort's, but just as subtle.

Aster wasn't even surprised. Out of all the things that Evans could have gotten out of this, her awakening as a proper mind mage was definitely at the top of the list. Don't be ridiculous, Evans, you're still you, she thought back, though she wasn't sure Evans caught it.

Granted, she didn't quite look like herself anymore. Her eyes were the same piercing green, a little too wide and a little too intense, as always, but her hair was darker now — auburn, maybe, there wasn't enough light to tell — and wavier, like de Mort's (or like the illusion she presumed was based on the face he used to have, back before he turned himself into a sparkly lamia princess), and her face more heart-shaped than the thin oval it had been, chin sharper, cheekbones starker, and forehead broader (though that might've been the lack of fringe, hard to tell). Her lips were a little fuller, too, though her mouth, when she gave Aster a tired grin, was still a little too wide for her face.

She still had hips and breasts that actually warranted the name, so clearly Bella's blood hadn't influenced that too terribly, but her build in general was slimmer now, shoulders narrower, making her proportions more childlike. (Aster was well aware that she looked younger than she was, mostly because her head looked a little too large compared to her chest and shoulders.) It was hard to say how much she'd shrunk, lying not even flat on the ground, but curled on her side and half in Aster's lap as she was, but Aster was certain she'd lost at least a couple of inches. She was probably still taller than Aster, though. De Mort was a whole head taller than Bella.

Aster probably shouldn't admit that she found her new sister even more attractive, now, but she didn't really care. She also didn't really care how it pulled at her stitches, bending down to press a soft kiss to Evans's lips. "Welcome to the Family, Sister."

Angel clapped delightedly, breaking the moment. "Perfect! Congratulations, Bella. She's adorable. What are you going to call her?"

"Mmm, Asphodel?" she suggested, offering Evans a hand up. "I suspect she's accustomed to the names she's been using for the past sixteen years."

Angel pouted. "But I wanted a namesake."

"Well, you should have said something about sixteen years ago, then," de Mort told the evil goddess masquerading as a teenager, which did not stop her pouting.

"Want to officiate the conpatres ceremony, since you're here?" Zee offered.

"No, that's between you and Bella. I will do the handfasting, though." She made an excited little squee sound. "We're all going to be one big, happy family!"

De Mort sniggered. "Didn't you kill your family?"

"Not all of them, obviously," she said, pointing at Bella, Aster, and Evans. "Aaand...oh, yes, those ones, too. Hi, I'm your cousin Angel," she said, introducing herself to Narcissa and Reg.

"Our...cousin," Cissy repeated. "Angel... I confess, I don't recognise your name. How are we related, exactly?"

"Well, more aunt, about thirteen times removed, really. Or fifteen. My parents were one of those intergenerational things, shortly after the Covenant was established. And I had to kill them, Thom. Mummy tried to poison me because Daddy started liking me better than her after I made the Choice. And Daddy tried to stop me killing her. And well, I didn't realise how addicting murder could be before I tried it, so I might've killed a few dozen peasants and burned their village to the ground and had to flee Britain and lie low for a few decades after that. Anyway, you all are descended from Mummy's brother Mors."

"Ah." Cissy didn't seem to know what to say about any of that.

Bella giggled. "Cissy, Reg, this is Angelos Melinī, Avatar of the Dark." The lovebirds froze, obviously unnerved by casually being informed that they were in the presence of the Dark Itself, and entirely uncertain what to do about it. "Angel, you know Cissy and Regulus through the Family Magic, of course. This is Asphodel's pet, Severus—" He gave her a somewhat jerky bow — not a bad response, it hardly ever hurt to be polite to creatures that might drive you mad for their own amusement. "—and the boy who looks to be having a fit is our newest werewolf recruit, Remus."

Remus did, in fact, seem to be freaking out a bit, gibbering (silently, probably de Mort's doing) and pressing himself back into the living walls as though he could claw his way out of the circle through sheer desperation. Aster could sympathise with the desire to run and keep running until Angel was a bad but very distant memory, but she really couldn't let Bella's introduction stand, even if it did mean potentially drawing attention to herself. "Remy's not a recruit, Bella! He's not going to be a Death Eater, or a member of Fenrir's pack, he's just hiding here until it's safe for him to go join Starlight!"

"Much can change in a few months' time," de Mort observed, which had better not be a hint that he was going to convince Remy to change his mind about the Death Eaters.

It's not. Simply noting that it has been less than two months since you were as wholeheartedly opposed to associating with Bella and myself as young Remus.

Yeah, well... Shut up, de Mort.

He didn't, though he did stop thinking at her. "In any case, I suggest we continue with the night's ceremonies before the excitement of her adoption catches up with Asphodel. I understand blood alchemy rituals can be quite exhausting when the high of the magic has worn off."

"First me, then you?" Zee asked.

De Mort made a sort of after you gesture toward the three of them at the centre of the circle. As Zee glided forward to join them, Aster retreated. She wasn't needed for this one, and she really should try to assure Remus that he wasn't about to actually die, because he was kind of acting like he was.

Of course, that was easier said than done, especially distracted as she was by the Family Magic binding Zee to Evans, and through her to Bella. Remus flinched away from her when she tried to lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder, unable to take his eyes off Angel, but almost equally terrified of and repulsed by Aster.

That hurt.

It really, really did.

Especially since she wasn't nearly as scary as the bloody Dark Itself. For fuck's sake, Remus!

She poked Snape in the shoulder, eyes flicking toward Remus, then the entrance in a silent help me get him outside.

Snape frowned, shaking his head slightly, and jerked his chin toward the quiet drama of the godparenting. I'm staying here, Black.

Fine, but could he at least jam it through Remus's thick bloody skull that he was being excused, since he didn't seem to want to go anywhere with— Oh, never mind, she thought, as Remus abruptly stopped struggling, sidling toward the exit with a sudden calm suggesting that he was no longer in control of his own body. Again.

Do take him up to the house. His desire to flee to the arms of a figure of authority and security is giving me a headache.

So, take him up to the house and get an elf to sit on him until he calmed down, because if Remus fled to the arms of authority — probably Dumbledore — he'd be executed as a dangerous werewolf fugitive before he could so much as accuse them of black magic. She was supposed to play a part in the little handfasting ceremony for Bella and de Mort, though.

Narcissa can stand in for you.

But—

Oh, for the love of the Dark, Asteria, I'll send Asphodel up with Severus when they're done here. If Angel's officiating the ceremony, that means Mira can witness for me, and the girl's half-dead on her feet anyway.

Aster pouted at him across the 'room'. Just because she didn't want to leave Evans wasn't the only reason she didn't want to miss the handfasting. It was important to Bella, she wanted to be there for her.

Amusement rippled through her. Important, yes, but I would hardly call formalising my relationship with Lady Black and your Family Magic meaningful or especially significant to Bella. She and I have been bound to each other since she accepted my Mark — under terms, I might add, which are far more equitable and reciprocal than many marriage vows. Go.

She went, but only because she did have to concede the fact that Bella probably didn't care as much as Aster was crediting her, given that she and de Mort were practically married already.

Well, that and she was actually concerned about Remus having a serious breakdown or something, with de Mort repeatedly turning him into a fucking puppet on top of the difficulties thinking around the oppressive aura of dark magic that Angel had brought with her. Aster might not be comfortable around that kind of power anymore, but she was familiar with it, at least. She could function around it, rather than gibbering incoherently and trying to claw her way through a bloody palisade without taking her eyes off the witch at the centre of it. Remus, clearly, not so much. And suddenly finding his body out of his control had to make this even more like some horrible nightmare. (At least being Imperiused felt nice while it was happening. Puppeteering, not so much.) He hadn't particularly been comfortable with what they were doing even before Angel arrived.

They probably shouldn't have invited him, but he was one of Evans's oldest friends, probably second only to Snape, and she hadn't wanted to exclude him, especially when he was already here. And Aster had honestly thought he'd be able to handle it. He was, after all, friends with Evans and Aster, he should be used to them occasionally coming out with disturbing shite by now. And how many opportunities did anyone have in this day and age to witness a blood-alchemy ritual of any sort? She could think of at least two-dozen people who would literally kill to be invited to a Black Family Ritual. Remy was enough of a Ravenclaw-ish nerd, she'd expected him to be thrilled, even for just academic curiosity. Something to cheer him up and distract him a bit, since he was still so down over his entire life being a complete shambles at the moment.

She jerked her head toward the small break in the circle, indicating fine, de Mort should get Remus the fuck out of here, and turned to follow. Bella caught her eye for a brief second in the midst of her ritual and nodded, either permission for Aster to go or acknowledgment of the fact that she was leaving. Either way, she didn't seem particularly annoyed. Angel doubtless was aware of what was going on, but she was clearly just amused, twiddling her fingers at Aster in farewell. Aster, uncertain what the expected response to such a gesture might be, nodded warily, slipping into the short passage.

A moment later she emerged into the crisp coolness of the night air. Devoid of smoke from the candles and the warmth of too many people in too small a space and overwhelming dark magic, it felt thin. Refreshing. A little bit like being exiled from a feast, when you knew all the excitement was happening inside, but also a little bit of a relief, like being given an excuse to step out when you weren't really in the mood for a party and the excitement was a little overwhelming.

De Mort's area of influence was, Aster thought, hindered by the de facto circle formed by the trees. She could see the traces of his magic on the air when she looked in just the right way, and they stopped abruptly at the edge of the copse.

Of course, the fact that Remus stumbled as soon as he escaped its clutches, looking back briefly with an expression of horror, and then took off running in completely the wrong direction — the only thing that way for at least half a mile was an old orchard and an abandoned cider mill — also kind of gave away the fact that his mind was his own again.

Aster tagged him with a tripping jinx before he got more than twenty meters or so away from her, followed by a sound-softening charm to quiet his incoherent shrieks of anger and fear, and a nifty little light charm aurors used to calm witnesses (and everyone else used on children who'd just woken up from particularly bad nightmares, according to Cassie). By the time she caught up, he was kneeling with his head down, breathing heavily, but no longer screaming, so she lifted the sound charm.

"Sorry, Remy. Not exactly fit for playing chase at the moment. If you want to run off screaming in terror Sunday night, I'll be happy to join you — been a while since I've gone for a nighttime jog — but until then, please restrict all panicking to a moderate walking pace. Cheers."

"You're—" He panted for a moment. "—not funny."

"Nonsense, I'm hilarious, ask anyone."

Remy glared up at her. "What — the fuck?! You— He— That snake-faced bastard, he—"

"Took over your body, because he's a twat like that, yeah, I know. I already bitched at him for it. He, as usual, gives approximately zero fucks about my opinion on him being a total creep. I'd say we can go back so you can have it out with him, but he is in your mind when he does that. He already knows how you feel about it. Pretty sure he gets off on horror and violation, so I'd just as soon deny him the pleasure. And also, we'd be interrupting."

"No, we— I... I just want to wake up. I want to wake up," he repeated more urgently.

"Er...Remy, mate? You are awake."

"No, no, I can't be, it's all— With the— I couldn't control myself, Siri! I couldn't move! And Lily— That was— It was horrible! And that thing, that evil, evil thing— You snogged Bellatrix! You called her your mum, and you snogged her! And the— Before that, my life, that poor woman— I can't— Siri, I can't, I just..." he trailed off, sniffling. Aster knelt beside him rather gingerly, mindful of the painful twinges from where she'd fallen to her knees beside Evans earlier, unthinking. "Please, just let me wake up..."

"You are awake," Aster repeated, suddenly very aware that she was completely out of her depth here. She was far more comfortable on the having a mental breakdown side of this sort of thing, thanks ever so. Trying to hold the hand of someone who didn't even want her laying a hand on his shoulder — he shrugged her off, again — while he came to terms with the fact that his nightmare was actually real life, and there was nothing to be done about that, was not a thing she had ever done, and didn't even sound like the sort of thing she could do. She was definitely going to fuck this up...

...Or...

Yeah, that seemed like a much better idea — on his knees only an arm's length away, Remus didn't even have a chance to register her silent sleeping charm, let alone dodge it. He slumped to the ground, entirely unconscious. Good. Now she just needed to make sure that someone more capable of dealing with his nervous breakdown would be on hand when he woke up, which probably wouldn't be until daybreak, so. Problem solved.

And just in time — she heard Evans and Snape struggling free of the copse, already engaged in a sleepy argument over whether they should try to go back to school tonight. Snape, of course, was attempting to be the voice of reason, insisting that they stay here and let Evans sleep off the transformation, while she claimed, almost incoherently, to be perfectly capable of maintaining an illusion of her former features and sneaking back into the school.

"So, she definitely got Bella's complete lack of awareness of her own limits," Aster giggled (ow), levitating Remy across the lawn to join them.

"I'm torn between questioning the notion that the Blackheart has limits, and noting that Lily has never had much respect for her own anyway, Black," Snape said, drily as ever.

"Oh, shush, you. What happened to Remus?"

"Shush yourself, Evans. He was exhausted by all the excitement. And don't be stupid, you're staying here tonight."

"But Aster, I'm fine..."

Snape stole Aster's idea, hitting her overtired sister in the back with a sleeping charm as well. "Don't give me that look, Black," he said defensively. "It was for her own good. And you have no room to judge." He raised a very pointed eyebrow in the general direction of the hovering, unconscious werewolf.

"Look? What look? I'm not giving any look. Clearly Evans was equally exhausted by all the excitement. And that post-metamorphosis crash can be a total bitch, coming on out of nowhere — almost like getting hexed in the back." She really couldn't help the smirk that accompanied her words.

"Oh, piss off. I presume there are beds to spare in that ridiculous, sprawling manse?"

"What a stupid fucking question. Of course there are. Come on." She continued leading the way toward the building at the infuriatingly slow pace which was the fastest she could comfortably manage at the moment. New moon could not come quickly enough.