Lia understood then why her mother had lain down. She wasted no time locking Hermione’s arm in a tight grip. Questions bombarded her mind and she sputtered for several seconds as her tongue tried and failed to keep up.
Her mother laughed wearily. “One at a time.”
“Wasn’t he the one who tried to kill Professor Dumbledore?”
“Yes.”
“He nearly killed Uncle Ron.”
“Yes.”
“He’s a Death Eater.”
“Was.”
“You slapped him in third year.”
“Yes.”
“He always called you a Mudblood.”
“Used to.”
“What happened?”
Her mother took a deep breath. “You know we weren’t planning to return to Hogwarts for seventh year because we’d rather search for the Horcruxes. But we believed one was at Hogwarts, so we still went. Besides, Uncle Harry wanted to talk to Professor Dumbledore’s portrait. The plan was that once we find the Hogwarts horcrux, we leave.
“But then the Ministry fell just when we were all ensconced in school. It was as if they waited until we were there. Professor McGonagall was ousted as Headmistress and replaced by Professor Snape. This was before we knew Professor Snape was really on our side.
“Anyway, under Voldemort’s control, the ‘Ministry’ passed new laws. One of these laws was that Muggleborns should prove ””
“Having at least one wizard or witch in their ancestry or else be imprisoned for stealing magic. I know all that, Mum. Where does Da ” my father ” come in?”
“Well, he captured me””
“What?”
Hermione held up a hand to signal her to be patient.
“I lifted the Anti-Disapparition jinx in the Gryffindor common room. My first attempt isn’t as sophisticated and strong though; the undoing could last only one minute. We could tell by the weak yellow light that glowed for a second around the room after I made the incantation. And even if it did last longer, the alarm raised would allow no time wasted. We Disapparated, your uncles and I. But in my haste and desperation, I dropped the charmed little purse where all of our things were. It was indispensable and it was unthinkable to let it fall to Death Eater hands because of the book about Horcruxes there, so I came back ””
“And Dad caught you?” The word was out before Lia could stop herself. But she found she liked it. “How did D-dad know the password? Wasn’t he a Slytherin?”
“Yes, no, well, my Stunner was there to meet him. The Fat Lady has sought refuge somewhere. Your father blasted through the portrait hole. Now, I’ve been studying Legilimency since our fifth year when your Uncle Harry was being intruded on by Voldemort. I used what I knew then. I performed Legilimency on your ” your father, while he was Stunned, hoping I would see escape routes in his mind or a room where there aren’t Death Eaters. You can’t undo the Anti-Disapparition jinx in one room twice in one day so the common room was useless to me just then. The Floo was long sealed. I tried to find a way out from your father’s mind. Only, I found more than I bargained for.”
Lia drew in breath. When her mother only continued to stare over Lia’s shoulder however, Lia wriggled childishly. “Mum! So what did you see in his mind? How do you do Legilimency anyway?”
Her mother shook her head as though to clear it, and then shook it again, this time at her. “It’s deceitful magic, Lia. Legilimency is to trespass someone else’s mind. Occlumency is shutting your mind to such an invasion. They’re magic for snakes and liars. Your Uncle Harry failed dismally at Occlumency because he’s honest. I only resorted to Legilimency because ””
“You were desperate. I know, Mum, go on. What did you see in D-dad’s mind?”
“His own desperation. And his hate, toward me and those like me and to the master he serves.”
“Voldemort?”
“Yes. Your father was as fanatical about pureblood superiority as ever but he hated Voldemort.”
“So...?”
“He woke up just when I was about to leave and he bound me. I told him that if he harmed me, I’ll tell everyone that he wanted Voldemort defeated and killed by Harry. He was horrified, not because of my threat, but because of what’s now in my mind, too. Anyone, especially Voldemort, could Legilimens it out of me. So he hid me.”
“Wow... but wait, couldn’t he have just Oblivated you or something?”
“Clever girl. Oblivi-ate, hon. And no, Legilimency, combined with the persuasion of the Cruciatus, can break through memory charms. And of course, Voldemort is a connoisseur of both curses.”
“So what did he do?”
“He stuffed me in my own purse.”
“What?”
“He stuffed me in my own purse,” Hermione repeated with a laugh. “I dropped it again; he heard the sound, and put two and two together. The purse was a silly little beaded thing, and I wouldn’t have been carrying it around if it wasn’t important or useful, see. So after its heavy thud, he surmised it was magically expanded and stuffed me inside. Don’t look so appalled, love, it was roomy in there, I wasn’t the least uncomfortable, if you didn’t count my fear for your uncles and frustration for my situation.”
“And fury at D-dad?”
“Yes, that, too.”
“But you assured me he didn’t rape you and you had me so your fury must have evaporated some time.”
“Stop smirking, Thalia! You give me the shudders.”
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Lia hugged her mother’s arm. Hermione looked at her ruefully and then her eyes glazed over, as though she went back in time. Lia stilled, careful not to startle her mother from the memories. How Lia had waited for this recount. Ever since she was four, when she had wished for a Dad and was told she already had one, only far away, like a star, there but not to be had.
“He was a prat, Thalia, but he can be courteous, you know. He just didn’t deem me worthy of it before. He could have starved or suffocated me to death in that purse, but he didn’t. And at night, he let me out so he can vent his frustration on me. He was vicious with words, but he never laid a hand on me. He hated me because I was another secret he had to hide. And then, one day, his mother was ‘accidentally’ cursed. We were no longer at Hogwarts this time, understand, but at Malfoy Manor. So Professor Snape, whom your father trusted, was out of reach, and Voldemort was away, too ” there was no one who knew how to heal Narcissa ””
Lia gasped in spite of her resolve to be still as a mouse. “That’s her name?”
“Yes.”
“It’s pretty.”
“She’s as pretty, love.”
“I wish I could see her.”
Her mother blinked and took a deep breath. “Where was I?”
“There was no one to heal Narcissa. What happened to her?”
“I don’t know. But your father said there was a gash on her arm, she was bleeding. Your father asked me if I might know what to do. I had essence of dittany with me, I gave it to him. It fixed her. From then on, your father was less vindictive to me.”
“And you fell in love?”
Her mother winced. “No. Not right away. But we’ve gone through enough things to be less than enemies... And... it started from there.”
“What started from there?”
“Thalia.”
“Go on, Mum, the sooner you finish the tale, the less you’ll ruin my bedtime.”
Hermione gasped and made to leap from the bed. But Lia had her arm in a vise-like hold.
“You vixen, let me go. Like your father did.”
“He did?”
“Yes. On more than one occasion.”
“What do you mean? Were you captured again?”
“Thalia, it’s time you went to bed.”
The tone was cool, and Lia knew better than to argue when her mother used that tone. The tone which meant she was furious or fighting not to be furious. This was the first time Lia had been the recipient of the tone. It had always been either one of her uncles, or that idiot Mr Menis, never Lia. Her mother never seemed to lose patience and love for her.
As Hermione tucked her under her summer coverlet, Lia saw the rapid way she blinked.
“I’m sorry, Mum.”
“No, I’m sorry, Lia, please””
Her mother plopped down by her side and smothered her cheeks with kisses. Lia rolled her eyes but didn’t squirm away. “I shouldn’t have tempted you with the tale, eh? I’ll finish it, I promise, just not now. Not yet. I didn’t realise I’m still a little””
“He must have really hurt you, didn’t he?”
Across the channel, hundreds of miles away, another eleven-year-old girl with the same inquisitiveness and the same yearning for a parent as for a star, asked her father, “You really hurt Mum, didn’t you?”
“How did you come to that conclusion?”
“Well, she won’t see us! And you go so pasty when I suggest seeing her or even just mention ‘England’” see?”
Was it her imagination or did her Dad almost turn to look at his reflection in her dressing mirror? Callie bit her cheeks to smother a grin. This talk was supposed to be serious. She patted her folded hands primly on top of her light duvet and regarded her father as sombrely as she could.
“How about just expanding on your theory instead of casting aspersions to your father’s complexion, which, might I remind you, is your complexion, too?”
“Oh no, my complexion is more like Grandmother’s. Peaches and cream, not ” not mere cream.”
Her father roared with laughter. “Yeah, yeah, peaches and cream. But it’s more your mother’s than your grandmother’s, I reckon.”
Callie refrained from gloating. They were back on her mother. “See, you even talk quite fondly of her, so how could anyone conclude she hurt you?”
Her father lost his smile. “But she did.”
Callie gasped. “Daddy””
He was next to her in an instant. “No, love, don’t squeak like that. It’s scary.”
“She hurt you?”
“It’s complicated. But if you ever see anyone named Zabini, give him or her hell from me, got it?”
“What ” Who?”
“Just kidding. I suppose you should give everyone a chance.”
“Father, you’re talking in riddles.”
“I’m afraid that’s the only way I can talk. And you love riddles.” He mussed her hair. Callie recoiled.
“I just brushed it!” she moaned, smoothing it back down with her fingers. “So you won’t tell me her name, right?”
“Right.”
“So tell me your story instead.”
“Your bedtime will be ruined, and your grandmother will have my hide if you’re late two mornings in a row. Young ladies should always be early to bed and early to rise””
“I’ll settle for the short version.”
“Really? You promise you will settle? No questions asked afterward?”
Callie considered it. She might lose this. “The short version should be at least ten sentences. And you’ll allow me... three ” no, five ” questions subsequently. And you can’t lie to me!”
“Only subsequently. You shan’t interrupt my ten sentences.”
“At least ten sentences. Feel free to go overboard.”
Tapping a finger on his cheek, her father added, “For every interruption, you forfeit a question.”
Callie grabbed a pillow and held it tight over her lower face.
“Don’t choke yourself.”
Exasperated, Callie thumped him on the belly with the pillow. “I won’t! Just begin already, Dad!”
“Your mother and I were enemies””
“You mean she worked for Voldemort or was she in the Ord”?” Callie trailed off and moaned.
“Forfeit! Where was I? Your mother and I were enemies. We had a... reckoning. But the reckoning was more on my part. She wasn’t the vengeful type, as proven by your grandmother’s presence in your life ””
“What do you mean”?”
“Forfeit. You ought to control your compulsions, Calliope, not the other way around. That had been our mutual motto, your mother’s and mine.” Here, he paused, but with a glare Callie bit her lips shut. He grinned.
“So where was I again?” He counted off his sentences. “Your mother and I were enemies. We had a reckoning. But the reckoning was only on my part. Her ” hmmm, ehem, she wasn’t the vengeful type, as proven by your grandmother’s presence in your life. From then on, we were no longer enemies as we once were. I respected her. And then I loved her. She loved me back enough to trust me with... well, her honour.” At his pause, Callie nodded to signify she understood. And then her father sighed.
“But she didn’t trust me enough to believe me when my honour became in question. And that is why we’re here and they’re there.”
Callie only stared at him.
“I’m done, love. You can talk now. You have three questions.”
Callie swallowed. A million questions were vying for her mind to grasp and for her tongue to utter but she plucked the one that stunned her. When she’d first heard it, her heart had done some sort of jig, like when she just knew she had come upon some subtle, but giant clue in a mystery novel.
“They?”
Her father blinked. He shrugged a tad too casually, it didn’t look casual at all. “Oh, I meant your mum and her family and friends.”
Somehow, that answer, though perfectly plausible, didn’t satisfy Callie. But she didn’t press. “Was that Zabini person the one who put your honour in question?”
“You’re so sharp, Callie. Yes. And don’t attempt to ask your grandparents or Aunt Pansy about him. They won’t tell you a thing.”
“I’ll find that out for myself, thank you, Father.”
“You’ll only waste effort and time. Why don’t you ask me instead?”
“No, I only have one question left. And it’s this: My mother’s name doesn’t start with ‘Her’ or even ‘Herm’, does it?”
Lia’s Notes: Shame I didn’t get more out of my Mum, isn’t it? But everything will come to light, I’m sure. It will be boring if the little mystery’s uncovered this early. Perhaps I can find out more when I get to Hogwarts. I know my Dad’s name now. Who knows what else I will find through knowing it?
Callie’s Notes: I wonder how my Dad will get out of my question, haha! I’m almost afraid of his answer. Because there’s this well-known English witch with an unusual name that starts with ‘Herm’! I’ve never seen her though. It’s only her name I know from the papers. I wonder if she has brown hair.
Joanna’s Notes: Introducing my new notes. You like? And happy New Year and I hope you had a wonderful Yule, too, lovies! I did! It will be even more wonderful if you leave Callie and Lia a review. *hugs*