“Hey Remus... can I talk to you?” Isabella poked her head into the kitchen.
“Of course. Anytime,” he answered and gestured for her to sit down at the table.
She chose a seat across from him and sat down, crossing one leg over the other and resting her head on the palms of her hands and her elbows on the table. She was glad Remus and as well as Tonks had agreed to come over for dinner that night, in fact a lot of people would be coming over in “celebration” of Harry and Trisha’s baby, though many were none to happy about it. Remus had arrived early to help set up and catch up.
“You know I hold you in the highest regard and you’re like a father figure to me, right? And I appreciate how you... how you took care of me after...” Izzy asked. She couldn’t finish her last sentence.
“After your father die... I mean disappeared. Yes, I know and you know I’d do anything for you and your brother,” he smiled a little at her. He and others had learned through out the past few years not to use the word died or dead in front of her since she refused to believe Sirius was gone.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Look, I know everyone things I’m a nutter for refusing to believe that he’s dead, but I’m convinced he’s still alive. I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the night in the attic,” she said, referring to her encounter with her mother and her father.
“Yes, William filled me in.”
Isabella nodded. “Of course he did. I know it’s ludicrous since we all saw me take down Celia, but it’s very possible she could be alive. Merlin only knows what she was or is capable of. As for my father and that veil, no one saw his body, no one knows what’s behind it or where it leads to.”
“Valid points, but you can’t honestly say that deep down in your heart you believe they’re alive,” he said.
“But I can. I know it, but I didn’t want to talk to you about the possibilities of them being alive or not, but rather what their relationship was like. How did they meet? How did they fall in love? Everything.”
“I always wondered when you’d ask me this. I suppose no one knew them, besides themselves of course, better than me. You’re a bright and curious girl, well woman now, and I’m glad you came to me rather than someone else,” he clasped his hands on the table.
“That’s why I came to you. I know you’d tell me the truth, no matter how ugly it is.”
“It wasn’t always ugly, their relationship I mean. As you know Celia was a Hogwarts student, Slytherin, but she was nothing like the rest of them. She never followed the crowd or did what others told her to do,” he started off.
“Hmmm... funny how that changed so quickly,” Isabella cut him off. “Sorry....”
“Despite what you know of her, she wasn’t always the way she ended up. Now I can continue, but only if you let me tell things the way I remember.”
“Fair enough, go on.”
“Alright, I start from first year. Of course you know how your father, James, Peter and I met and became friends, so I won't bore you with that. I can still remember the first time we all laid eyes on your mother. First class of year one, Herbology, we were all goofing around waiting for Professor Sprout...”
“Wow... she was around back then too? Gosh, she must be ancient now. Er, sorry Remus,” she smiled a little sheepishly.
“Yes, Isabella, she was. So we were waiting for Professor Sprout and in walked this girl, this stunning girl. She turned every head in the room. Her uniform was too big for her, her books were second hand and her shoes scuffed but the way she carried herself with her head held high was something else.”
“Wait a minute, Voldemort was her father, couldn’t he afford to get her a proper uniform a new books?” Isabella asked, her fingers absently twisting her hair around a finger.
“True, he probably could have, but when your grandmother, Celia’s mother, found out about Voldemort’s ways and views she took Celia and went into hiding.”
“And he couldn’t track her down?”
Remus shook his head. “No, your grandmother is spectacular witch, with talents that could have easily matched or beaten Voldemort himself. That’s why Voldemort chose her to be the mother of his child. He found the best candidate, wooed her and then had a baby with her. He figured he’d be able to create the next generation of himself and continue his legacy.”
“But Dumbledore always said Voldemort was more of a loner, but liked to have minions, so to speak, to do his dirty work for him,” Isabella said.
“True, but he was a narcissist to the very core of his being. He wanted someone else like him. But, as I said, when Angelica, your grandmother found out, she took off with their daughter and into hiding. She provided the best that she could and when she felt they were safe enough she sent Celia off to Hogwarts. Celia was always quiet, also quite a loner, none of the Slytherin students wanted anything to do with her because she wasn’t like them. None of the students in the other houses wanted anything to do with her because she was a Slytherin. Even in first year, where everyone was awkward, she never was. She floated rather than walked and she had a grace to her that no one else in the school managed to have. Despite all the teasing and rejection by her peers she always kept her head held high. And despite her quietness she still managed to get a reputation, and I know you won't want to hear this, but she was called an ice queen.” Remus stopped and studied Isabella for any reaction.
“Number 2093 why Celia and myself are sooooooooo much alike,” she put sarcastic emphasis on the word “so”.
“I know you hating hearing it, but it’s true. Both of you faced ridicule day after day after day at school and never once snapped, instead you raised your heads higher and carried on, never showing for one minute that it bothered you. It’s admirable. I thank Merlin everyday that you didn’t inherit your fathers hot headedness, his stubbornness on the other hand is a different story,” he winked at her.
“So people teased her cause of her clothes and books, because she had no friends and because she was frosty? Why not tease her about the fact she had a raving lunatic as a father?”
“Because no one knew who her father was. It wasn’t until seventh year that we all found out, including herself. That’s right, just like you the ones who cared about her and loved her wanted to shield her from the truth. He mother never told her who her father was, just like you were never told who your mother was.”
“It’s hard to find out like that, you know? You almost feel betrayed by those around you, those who knew but never told you. I understand the whole wanting to protect us, but the truth always comes out and when it does it hurts us a lot more,” Isabella never thought she’d feel sorry for her mother, and yet here she was relating to her.
“We can only do what we think is right at the time and learn from our mistakes. We are, after all, only human. But I am sorry. I guess everyone felt that you knowing your father was in jail for murder was enough of a burden for you to carry on your shoulders. I remember how cruel the kids were to you in your third year when Sirius escaped from Azkaban, yet you never wavered, always claiming he was innocent.”
“Dad used to write me letters every week from prison, and every week since I could write I wrote back to him. I knew somewhere inside of me that a man who was capable of writing such kind letters could never be guilty of what he was accused of. And even though I never met him until I was thirteen years old I felt I had known him my entire life because of those letters. I still have the letters he sent me hidden away in my room and at night when three AM seems to last forever I pull them out and reread them and I don’t feel so alone,” she glanced down at the table as she spoke, the words getting caught in her throat.
“You’re never alone, your father once said that the ones who love us never really leave us, and it’s true,” Remus reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
Isabella nodded and then changed the subject. “You said she found out in seventh year, it must have been horrible, at least when I found out about my mother I had my friends to lean on. Celia had no one.”
“Not true, because by seventh year she had your father. By fourth year Celia blossomed. And it didn’t go unnoticed by a single male in Hogwarts. Her eyes were enchanting, she could either melt polar ice caps or refreeze them with one single glance. Again, much like yours. By fifth year Sirus was absolutely intoxicated by her. When he showed interest in her and asked her out, she turned him down,” Remus said with a smile, reliving the memory. “She knew of his rep with girls and didn’t think he was, excuse the bad pun, serious.”
Isabella giggled a little. “I bet he got that a lot... the bad pun I mean.”
“Naturally. She thought he was being put up to it by his friends. But he wasn’t prepared to give up, no, he was going to fight for her. So, he came up with a plan on how to win her heart and get her to be his date to the Yule Ball.”
“Wicked.... I remember how nerve wracking the bloody Yule Ball was when I went. So much fuss was made about who was going with who and who was wearing what,” Izzy said, a small smile gracing her lips.
“I bet you had boys lined up to ask you out. Who did you end up going with?” Remus asked.
She shook her head. “No, not a line up. I was a late bloomer, Remus. Very awkward and painfully shy that year. Ah, yes my date, the one guy to asked me. It was Seamus Finnigan who asked me, and we had a blast,” Isabella said. “ Now, not to be rude, but can you continue please?”
“Of course, of course. Right, where was I? Ah yes, the Yule Ball. Sirius had a plan and it included myself, James and Peter of course. He sent me to find a way to get Celia into the Great Hall. I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to convince her that someone had written something nasty about another one of the girls and that Celia was being blamed. She came quickly to clear her name, but instead of writing on the wall she got Sirius with a bouquet of orchids, lilies, daisies and tulips, your mothers favorites, and he sang to her.”
“He sang to her? You’re joking right. That is so corny,” Isabella wrinkled her nose.
“She didn’t find it corny. It bloody well worked for him. She went to the Yule Ball with him and after that they were pretty much inseparable. She helped him with his homework, and he taught her to smile, to laugh, to love and most of all he melted her cold exterior.”
“Yet another thing that sounds so familiar to the story of my life. My father was her Harry.”
“Your father was her Harry,” he repeated. ” She taught him things too. She never tried to tame his wild ways, so to speak, but let him spread his wings and fly and be himself. They brought out the best in each other. When we graduated from Hogwarts they married with in the year, very young, only eighteen years old. With in the next year she became pregnant and had your brother the day after her twentieth birthday, you of course were born a year later.”
“I don’t understand. How could people two people so much in love end up so far...” she broke off. “Never mind, I do understand.”
“I know you do. I think you might know the rest of their story, but please let me finish. When you were three months old your mother had you and your brother to Diagon Alley, you were kidnapped from your pram. We searched for days and days, we had Aurors on it. Your father nearly went mad and your mother inconsolable. You were mysteriously returned three days later on the door step of your parents house, unharmed, but you had a mark on your arm.”
“The mark of protection...”
“Yes, the mark of protection. Like an unbreakable vow, it cannot be broken, but like so many spells and curses it has loopholes, ways to undo what’s been done. Of course it was only later on in your life did we know what it meant and why you were branded with it,” Remus let his eyes drift down to Isabella’s lower right arm. Her mark of protection was quiet beautiful now that it had been broken. When the spell was still in effect it was an all black lotus flower, much like a tattoo, but now that it was broken a vibrant burst of blue was eternally on her arm.
Isabella looked at her own arm. At one time in her life she was self conscious about it, never wanting anyone to find out who had given it to her and why. Just like a Patronus, everyone's took a different form. She liked hers and what it meant. She knew that the lotus grew out of the muddy depths of the Nile River and rises to the surface towards the sun. She had risen above all odds and she was still standing, blossoming, and beautiful.
“Your mother became obsessed with finding out who had given this to you and why. She started a search, using all the resources she had. When she returned from her search, she seem changed, distant and troubled. One could only assume it was because she had found what she was looking for.... Voldemort. I think deep down in her heart she always knew who it was. Whatever he said to her or done to her to convince her to leave her family behind no one will every know. With in a month of her coming back the Potter’s were murdered and your father sent to Azkaban for it,” Remus let a frown cross his face.
“And the rest is history,” Isabella said solemnly, then fell silent, taking in everything she had just heard. “Did you know right away what the mark was on my arm when I was a baby?”
“No, we didn’t. We found out the night your father was murdered,” he saw Isabella flinch. “Sorry. We only found out when one of the Death Eaters fired a killing curse and it hit you in the back and you didn’t die.”
“I was hit with a killing curse and no one bothered to tell me? I thought it was some hex that sent me to the ground in a fit of agony, but no, it was just a killing curse. Wow. If you had known from day one why I was protected would you have told me?”
Remus shook his head. “How can you tell anyone that? Isabella, I’m so sorry, you have no idea. But can you honestly tell me you’d tell someone you love like your own child that she’s one of the Horcruxes? Had I known I honestly don’t know what I would have done.”
“I can’t say either. I’m almost glad I found out myself, rather than from someone I trusted. And I’m even more relived to hear that no one knew. Only Voldemort and then myself.”
“You handled it all with dignity, Isabella. We were all so proud of you, and if Sirius was still around he’d be your biggest fan and the most proud of you,” Remus had to blink away tears.
“It wasn’t easy. I had a piece of Voldemort’s soul living inside of me for more than eighteen years. And when I found out it explained so much, things I felt that I can never put into words. I have a lot to think about and a lot to process.”
“Izzy, you’ve never told anyone how you found out or how you destroyed...uh....”
“That part of me?” She finished his sentence for him. “I know I haven’t. Listen, I appreciate everything you’ve told me tonight. I know it was hard for you, he was your best friend, and you were all betrayed by someone who your trusted. But now you have to trust in me and know I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
“Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here. We all know it changed you in ways we can’t imagine, but you’re still you. Your eyes are the same, I can still see your soul behind them,” Remus patted her arm and she stood up.
“Thank you,” she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. She walked to the kitchen door and opened it and then looked back. “I am still me, I just don’t know where I’m hiding.” And with that the door swung behind her and the sound of her going up the stairs faded out.
House of Leaves by elegantlytwisted
Chapter Notes: Ah, chapter 6. I enjoyed writing this one because I was finally able to fill in some missing pieces that I had created and some questions that had been asked. Enjoy, and sorry if it's boring.