The Avery Women
Mar. 3rd, 2007 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morgynleriSeries Title: The Avery Women
Title: Grace
Word Count: 3484
Status: In Progress
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, references to child abuse
Commentary: Plot, characterization, appeal.
A Bigger Monster
"I'm not a child. I'm a monster."
Grace curled up on the bench hidden in the back garden by a vine-covered arbor, wrapping thin arms around her knees. She could feel the tug of the moon overhead, waxing towards full, making her blood sing with a sensation she'd never felt before. She whimpered, pressing her face against her knees, wishing she had Niobe sitting next to her like she had for so many years, to chase away the demons. To comfort her, and tell her that everything would be all right, no matter what the world thought of her.
But Niobe got to go to Hogwarts, had left almost a month ago while Grace sat locked in the room the twins had shared since their mother had brought them to the north country. Locked away from the world, and told she would never have the chance to be a normal witch, to see the wonders of Hogwarts. Even more than being barred from the parties, from shopping in Diagon Alley, the separation from her sister had driven the loss home.
She froze as something moved in the hedges, raising her head just enough to look out into the darkness, her whimpers stifled by a sudden surge of irritation at whoever had disturbed her. A chuckle came from the darkness to one side, and Grace shifted, crouching on the cold stone of the bench with her hands curled into fists.
“Who’s there?” Her voice trembled slightly, though she couldn’t tell if fear or anger was the greater cause.
“You’re a brave child to be out this late, so close to the full moon.” The voice rumbled from the shadows, distinctly male, and gravelly. “Shouldn’t you be safely tucked into your bed, dreaming of your Hogwarts letter?”
“You’re trespassing on private property. And I’m not a child, I’m a monster.” Grace glared in the direction of the voice. “What are you doing out so close to full moon?”
“A monster?” The man chuckled again. “Not a very frightening one, from where I’m standing. All blunted claws and milk-teeth, pup.”
Grace growled, baring her teeth. “I’m not a puppy!” She stood straight, lowering her head to tuck her chin against her chest. “I am a daughter of the Avery house, and you are trespassing on my lands. I demand to know who you are!”
“Well now, a daughter of the Avery house, are we?” Something shifted in the shadows, moving along the path in the hedges, coming closer. “And if I say I don’t believe you, pup?”
“Than you are a fool.” Grace fixed her gaze on the movement, baring her teeth again, refusing to back down. “This is my land, my garden, and I did not invite company.”
“You don’t really have a choice, pup.” The moving shadow resolved itself into a hulking form of a man, his eyes on level with Grace’s, even with the bench boosting her height. “And I don’t plan to leave.”
Grace scowled. “Who are you? No one comes here, not at night. Ever. They know there’s a monster here that will tear out their throat if they get too close.”
“You won’t tear out my throat, pup.” The man’s voice came out in a growl, and Grace jerked away instinctively. “You can’t hurt another monster. Especially a bigger monster.”
“You.. A bigger monster? You’re a werewolf, like me, aren’t you?” Grace felt the fear and anger flow away, to be replaced by a sense of curiosity. “What’s your name? Why are you here?”
“Who are you, pup?”
“I asked first.” Grace lifted her upper lip in a snarl, meeting the man’s eyes in a silent challenge. Her territory here, not his.
The man chuckled again, and reached out to grab her by the arm, lifting her from the bench to set her on the ground. “Amusing, pup. I might even let you live.”
“The last werewolf I met is dead, you know.” Grace continued to give him a boldly challenging look. “The one who bit me. Who made me what I am now.”
“You have protective parents, then.”
“My parents were at a party.”
“Were they now?” The man raised an eyebrow. “You’re a strong little girl.”
Grace smiled proudly, ignoring the twinge of guilt for leaving Niobe out of the story. It felt nice to have someone admire her, even a little, for a change, instead of the scorn and wary fear she got from her parents, or the pity she sensed from Niobe.
“Fenrir Greyback is my name, pup.”
“Honoria Grace Avery.” Grace waved a generous hand at the bench. “And since you have introduced yourself, I invite you to join me in the garden whenever you wish.”
“Even on the full moon?”
“I’m never out on the full moon.” Grace sat on the bench once more, the buoyant feeling from finding someone who approved of her fading under the gloomy reality that in two more days, she’d be locked into the basement, to claw herself bloody trying to leave, to run free under the moon.
Fenrir crouched next to the bench, bringing his eyes level with hers once again. “Do you want to be outside when the moon is full?”
“I always do. But mother won’t let me. She doesn’t want a monster in her garden then. She doesn’t even want a monster out here, where it can’t bother her.” She scowled, shooting a glare at the manor house that stood on the hill above her.
“Why don’t you leave?”
“Because I have.. had a sister. She left for Hogwarts on the first. She left me behind because you don’t let monsters go to school. You don’t take them out shopping, you don’t take them to parties. You lock in them a room, and you never let them out when someone outside the family can see them.”
“I don’t lock monsters up. I can show you how to run free, like you should, pup. Free under the moon, where your real sisters, and brothers, are always there for you.” He held her gaze, scrutinizing her. “If you’re not too human to accept it.”
Grace looked up at the house again, hesitating slightly. “Why did you come here tonight? Mother isn’t a blood traitor, and there aren’t any Muggles for miles. Nothing for a werewolf here.”
“Except a pup who wants to run free.”
“You didn’t come just for me. Unless you know father. He’s a Death Eater, you know. And he hates me, because I’m a monster. He wouldn’t care if I died, or disappeared.”
“Call it a favor he owes me.” Fenrir’s lips curled up in a smile that looked almost frightening in the moonlight, and strangely comforting.
Grace looked up at the manor house again, briefly. “They’ll miss me in the morning, when they check on me. They’ll look for me. And mum will write an owl to Niobe. She’s my twin. She’ll know what happened. She’ll know I’m alive.”
“Why worry about the humans, pup? They’ll never find the pack, never find you.” Fenrir’s eyes narrowed. “Or are you just a tamed dog, a little puppy that begs for table scraps?”
“I’m no puppy!” Grace glared at Fenrir. “And I don’t care what they want.” She stood, looking down the path, then up at Fenrir, redirecting her anger towards the house and its occupants. “A monster doesn’t listen to anyone but another monster.”
Of Pups and Wolves
"Your daughter never stood a chance."
Grace stretched and yawned, blinking sleepily as she woke up. It took her a moment to recognize her surroundings, the smells in the dark cave very different from those she was accustomed to. She sat up more as she heard someone shift, sniffing the air to catch a whiff of the person moving.
“Go back to sleep, pup.” The rough voice of Fenrir came out of the darkness, moving as he moved around.
“Where are you going?” she asked curiously, getting to her feet to follow him, ignoring his command.
“None of your business, pup.” Fenrir paused, waiting for her to catch up to him. Grace felt his hand fist in the front of her nightgown. “And I told you to go back to sleep. Don’t follow me.”
Grace scowled, glaring up at where she thought his face would be. “I’m not going to stay here all the time, even when the moon isn’t full. And you can’t tell me to stay if I don’t want to stay.”
“You listen to a bigger monster, pup, and you stay here until I come back.” Fenrir shook her roughly, rattling her teeth in her head. “Safer for a pup like you with the pack.”
~ ~~ ~
Fenrir could smell the defiance on the child, her small jaw clenched as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. He liked it, and wished he had the time to indulge in the ideas that floated up at the edge of his mind. Perhaps later, once he’d dealt with the idiot who’d thought he’d set a werewolf on another, particularly the one who dangled from his fist.
He gave her another brief shake as he sensed her preparing for a lunge, probably to bite his hand. “I’ll be back soon enough, pup.” He crouched down, letting her feet touch the floor, bringing her close to his face, drawing a breath through his nose to fix her scent in his mind. Sweet, young, and just starting to ripen towards maturity. “Go back to sleep, and dream about what you’ll do when the moon comes up, and lets the monster inside of you free to run.”
Grace went still a moment, and then he felt a small hand touch his wrist, delicate fingers curling around him tightly. The gown still clenched in his hand shifted, tugging downward as he heard her feet shuffle on the ground. Her weight leaned against Fenrir for a brief moment before he let her down, her knees thudding on the stone. She didn’t whimper, and Fenrir twisted his lips up in a mockery of a smile.
“I’ll wait here, then, until you come back.” Her voice had that same haughty tone as it had the night before in the garden. Assured of her right to command, to control, no matter that she’d never had the chance to take that position. As if she did as he told her because she was granting him a favor.
Fenrir snarled silently, releasing Grace’s gown to settled his hand at the base of her throat. “Watch your tone, pup.”
Fear sharpened her scent, and he waited a moment for it to build before standing, and leaving her to think about what he might do when he came back. If anything at all.
~ ~~ ~
Outside the cave system that served the pack as a den, Fenrir glanced up at the sun, judging the time from where it rested in the sky. He nodded to himself, preparing to Apparate, appearing in a dingy alley that ran along the back of several buildings. He followed the scent trail from his last visit to these streets to a blank stretch of wall, rapping on the section where the tingle of magic alerted him to the current position of the door to the Avery town house.
A long moment later, he heard the faint creak of wood, stepping forward through the opening door into the dark entryway. The house-elf looked up at him fearfully, shuffling its feet against the stone floor as it closed the door behind him.
“Master Avery is in the study, sir. He says he does not want to be disturbed, sir.”
“Then Avery will have to be disappointed.” Fenrir curled the corners of his mouth up in an amused smirk, ignoring the squeaking protest of the house-elf as he sauntered down the hall. The door to the study stood cracked, as if the owner hoped that hearing the happenings outside the room would give him the edge over anyone trying to disturb him.
Fenrir pushed open the door, staying to the side of the entrance, chuckling as a curse came flying out to impact the far wall. “You know I’m not stupid enough to step in the path of whatever you care to throw at me, Avery. I’m not letting you wriggle out of paying me.”
“Is it dead?”
“Your daughter never stood a chance.” Fenrir leered to himself. She’ll make the perfect little bitch. You won’t recognize her when you see her again, if you are that lucky.
“What did you do with the body?”
“Took it home. You never said I had to leave it there.”
An irritated sigh came from the study. “You could have at least left something for them to find. The mother thinks it just ran off. Not what I wanted.”
“Should have said that when you hired me to kill the girl,” Fenrir snarled, his temper fraying. “She’s dead now, so pay up.”
“Bring proof it’s dead, and I’ll pay you the rest of the fee.”
“Proof?” Fenrir nearly laughed. All this for a child Avery said he didn’t care about. Two hundred galleons, and something to show that he’d done what he’d been paid to do.
“If you haven’t devoured all of the body, a hand or a foot. Or whatever it was wearing when you killed it, if there’s nothing left of the body.”
“Fine. I will bring you your proof.” Fenrir’s lips curled up in a smirk as he sauntered away, towards the front door. “And don’t even think about trying to hex me when I come back, Avery,” he called out over his shoulder. “Or I’ll rip your son’s heart out before I kill you.”
A Letter From Home
"No one can know."
Niobe looked up as the owls delivered the morning post, a smile breaking out on her face when she saw the familiar tawny feathers of her mother’s owl among those of the school owls.
“What do you think she’s sent you?” Andromeda Black lifted an arm for the small barn owl she owned to land on, feeding it a bit of her bacon after taking the Daily Prophet from its beak.
“It looks to be a letter. Oh, I do hope Grace hasn’t thrown another tantrum.” Niobe took the creamy envelope from the owl, mimicking Andromeda in her choice of treat. “It’s really not mother’s fault she’s not allowed to go to Hogwarts.”
“Strange, though, that your twin is a squib.” Andromeda leaned in as Niobe broke the heavy red seal on the back. “And doesn’t your mother usually use blue for her seal?”
“Red’s for the family,” Niobe murmured as she scanned the short letter, her face going pale. “I’m sorry, Andromeda, but I really must go.” She folded the letter quickly before the older girl could see it, scrambling from the bench. Ignoring the calls from her friends, she fled the hall, tears blurring her sight.
“Salazar’s promise,” she choked out when she reached the door to the Slytherin common room, hurrying past the startled faces of some of her house-mates in favor of the silence of the sloping corridors and empty dorms. She bit back an angry sob as she closed the door to the room she shared with three other girls.
“How could you, Grace!” Niobe threw the letter onto her bed, clenching her fists as she struggled to rein her temper in. “How could you do this to us? Could you not for a moment think what running away from home would do to mother, or to me?”
She shook her head, her hands curling tighter, nails biting into her palms. “Who else was there, Grace? Who lured you away from the only home you know? Away from your family, away from the safety of our home?”
“Niobe?” A tentative knock on the door accompanied Andromeda’s voice. “Niobe, what happened? What did your mother write that has you so upset?”
“Nothing!” Niobe bit her lip, hurrying to hide the letter in the bottom of her trunk.
“It’s not nothing, Niobe!” The handle turned, Andromeda sticking her head in. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” Niobe met Andromeda’s eyes with a steady gaze. “It’s none of your business what mother wrote to me.”
“Niobe…” Andromeda gave her a pained look. “You’re my friend, and if there’s anything I can do to help..”
“No.” Niobe shook her head. “There’s nothing you can do. It’s a family matter.”
Andromeda sighed, the fifth year sitting on one of the other beds. She knew well enough what those words meant, but she couldn’t just leave the younger girl to work herself into a state. “So you need someone to cover for you for a couple of days? Go home, find out what’s going on?”
Niobe shook her head violently. “No. I can’t. Not now. It’s too dangerous. Tomorrow’s the full moon, and there have been werewolves spotted on the moors. I’d never get home.” She sighed, sitting on her bed, her shoulders slumping. “I can’t do anything, and I hate feeling like this.”
Andromeda shifted, resting a hand on Niobe’s shoulder. “There are some things money and family can’t change, no matter how much you wish they could.”
“They can get you anywhere, if you know how to use them. And they can destroy you if you don’t.” Niobe shifted away from the comforting hand, trying to think of a change in subject she could attribute her sour mood to. “I wish my sister was here,” she murmured softly, turning her head to look over at Andromeda. “Nothing kept us apart until I got my Hogwarts letter, and she didn’t.”
Until father told mother he’d divorce her if she tried to send Grace to Hogwarts. And every full moon since we were six, because mother couldn’t bear the thought of both her precious daughters being werewolves, no matter how much I begged her to let me go to Grace.
“She’s a Squib. There’s nothing you can do to change that, Niobe. And she can’t come to Hogwarts without magic.” Andromeda gave her a small smile. “At least your parents didn’t kill her when they found out she had no magic. Mine would have.”
“Because they’re uncouth upstarts.” Niobe bit her lip, looking down at her hands, feeling the heat rising in her face at her rudeness. “Sorry.”
“You’re right.” Andromeda shrugged. “Even though they’re pure-bloods, even they know they don’t have the clout to hack it in the sort of circles your parents do. Which technically means you and I probably shouldn’t be friends, should we?” She smiled, and Niobe giggled, a wave of relief rushing over her at the successful change of subject.
“Probably not. But if I had to associate with only those in my social circle, I’ll be forced to talk to people like Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange!” She wrinkled her nose, shaking her head. “I don’t like Cousin Rodolphus. He’s irritating at the best of times.”
“My sister would disagree with you.” Andromeda shrugged, chewing on her lower lip. “If you want to talk later, you know I won’t betray a confidence.”
“Really, Andromeda, there is nothing you can do, and I don’t want to speak of that letter again.” Niobe stood, moving away from the other witch, keeping her back turned so she didn’t have to keep the pain and anger that wouldn’t subside out of her expression. “Leave it be, and let me deal with it on my own.”
“Niobe…” Andromeda paused, a soft sigh escaping her. “Talk to someone, at least. To Professor Jemsen, if no one else.” Her robes rustled as she stood, and Niobe felt Andromeda’s hand touch her shoulder briefly before she left.
“I can’t,” Niobe murmured to herself, shaking her head as she curled up on her bed once more. “No one can know.”
~ ~~ ~
Andromeda looked over her shoulder a moment as she paused near the entrance to the common room, a frown creasing her face. She knew Niobe didn’t like to talk about her family, and their internal dynamics, like any other aristocrat she’d met, but she didn’t like this. Something felt very off.
“Andromeda, whatever are you doing?” Bellatrix interrupted her thoughts, black eyes meeting the grey of her sister’s with a glint of curiosity in them. “You look concerned about something.”
“Nothing that would concern you, Bellatrix.” Andromeda narrowed her eyes as her sister opened her mouth to speak. “Nor would I recommend pressing the issue, unless you have a desire for mother and father to know what you and Rodolphus Lestrange make use of his dorm room for.”
Bellatrix paled for a moment, before her expression twisted into a snarl. “Watch yourself, little sister. You may enjoy their favor now, but one of these days, you will be the one in disgrace, and I will have their regard.”
“Think as you wish.” Andromeda pushed past her sister, heading for the office of her head of house. She had to let someone know to keep an eye on Niobe. No matter what it was in that letter that bothered her.
Chapter 4
Title: Grace
Word Count: 3484
Status: In Progress
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, references to child abuse
Commentary: Plot, characterization, appeal.
"I'm not a child. I'm a monster."
Grace curled up on the bench hidden in the back garden by a vine-covered arbor, wrapping thin arms around her knees. She could feel the tug of the moon overhead, waxing towards full, making her blood sing with a sensation she'd never felt before. She whimpered, pressing her face against her knees, wishing she had Niobe sitting next to her like she had for so many years, to chase away the demons. To comfort her, and tell her that everything would be all right, no matter what the world thought of her.
But Niobe got to go to Hogwarts, had left almost a month ago while Grace sat locked in the room the twins had shared since their mother had brought them to the north country. Locked away from the world, and told she would never have the chance to be a normal witch, to see the wonders of Hogwarts. Even more than being barred from the parties, from shopping in Diagon Alley, the separation from her sister had driven the loss home.
She froze as something moved in the hedges, raising her head just enough to look out into the darkness, her whimpers stifled by a sudden surge of irritation at whoever had disturbed her. A chuckle came from the darkness to one side, and Grace shifted, crouching on the cold stone of the bench with her hands curled into fists.
“Who’s there?” Her voice trembled slightly, though she couldn’t tell if fear or anger was the greater cause.
“You’re a brave child to be out this late, so close to the full moon.” The voice rumbled from the shadows, distinctly male, and gravelly. “Shouldn’t you be safely tucked into your bed, dreaming of your Hogwarts letter?”
“You’re trespassing on private property. And I’m not a child, I’m a monster.” Grace glared in the direction of the voice. “What are you doing out so close to full moon?”
“A monster?” The man chuckled again. “Not a very frightening one, from where I’m standing. All blunted claws and milk-teeth, pup.”
Grace growled, baring her teeth. “I’m not a puppy!” She stood straight, lowering her head to tuck her chin against her chest. “I am a daughter of the Avery house, and you are trespassing on my lands. I demand to know who you are!”
“Well now, a daughter of the Avery house, are we?” Something shifted in the shadows, moving along the path in the hedges, coming closer. “And if I say I don’t believe you, pup?”
“Than you are a fool.” Grace fixed her gaze on the movement, baring her teeth again, refusing to back down. “This is my land, my garden, and I did not invite company.”
“You don’t really have a choice, pup.” The moving shadow resolved itself into a hulking form of a man, his eyes on level with Grace’s, even with the bench boosting her height. “And I don’t plan to leave.”
Grace scowled. “Who are you? No one comes here, not at night. Ever. They know there’s a monster here that will tear out their throat if they get too close.”
“You won’t tear out my throat, pup.” The man’s voice came out in a growl, and Grace jerked away instinctively. “You can’t hurt another monster. Especially a bigger monster.”
“You.. A bigger monster? You’re a werewolf, like me, aren’t you?” Grace felt the fear and anger flow away, to be replaced by a sense of curiosity. “What’s your name? Why are you here?”
“Who are you, pup?”
“I asked first.” Grace lifted her upper lip in a snarl, meeting the man’s eyes in a silent challenge. Her territory here, not his.
The man chuckled again, and reached out to grab her by the arm, lifting her from the bench to set her on the ground. “Amusing, pup. I might even let you live.”
“The last werewolf I met is dead, you know.” Grace continued to give him a boldly challenging look. “The one who bit me. Who made me what I am now.”
“You have protective parents, then.”
“My parents were at a party.”
“Were they now?” The man raised an eyebrow. “You’re a strong little girl.”
Grace smiled proudly, ignoring the twinge of guilt for leaving Niobe out of the story. It felt nice to have someone admire her, even a little, for a change, instead of the scorn and wary fear she got from her parents, or the pity she sensed from Niobe.
“Fenrir Greyback is my name, pup.”
“Honoria Grace Avery.” Grace waved a generous hand at the bench. “And since you have introduced yourself, I invite you to join me in the garden whenever you wish.”
“Even on the full moon?”
“I’m never out on the full moon.” Grace sat on the bench once more, the buoyant feeling from finding someone who approved of her fading under the gloomy reality that in two more days, she’d be locked into the basement, to claw herself bloody trying to leave, to run free under the moon.
Fenrir crouched next to the bench, bringing his eyes level with hers once again. “Do you want to be outside when the moon is full?”
“I always do. But mother won’t let me. She doesn’t want a monster in her garden then. She doesn’t even want a monster out here, where it can’t bother her.” She scowled, shooting a glare at the manor house that stood on the hill above her.
“Why don’t you leave?”
“Because I have.. had a sister. She left for Hogwarts on the first. She left me behind because you don’t let monsters go to school. You don’t take them out shopping, you don’t take them to parties. You lock in them a room, and you never let them out when someone outside the family can see them.”
“I don’t lock monsters up. I can show you how to run free, like you should, pup. Free under the moon, where your real sisters, and brothers, are always there for you.” He held her gaze, scrutinizing her. “If you’re not too human to accept it.”
Grace looked up at the house again, hesitating slightly. “Why did you come here tonight? Mother isn’t a blood traitor, and there aren’t any Muggles for miles. Nothing for a werewolf here.”
“Except a pup who wants to run free.”
“You didn’t come just for me. Unless you know father. He’s a Death Eater, you know. And he hates me, because I’m a monster. He wouldn’t care if I died, or disappeared.”
“Call it a favor he owes me.” Fenrir’s lips curled up in a smile that looked almost frightening in the moonlight, and strangely comforting.
Grace looked up at the manor house again, briefly. “They’ll miss me in the morning, when they check on me. They’ll look for me. And mum will write an owl to Niobe. She’s my twin. She’ll know what happened. She’ll know I’m alive.”
“Why worry about the humans, pup? They’ll never find the pack, never find you.” Fenrir’s eyes narrowed. “Or are you just a tamed dog, a little puppy that begs for table scraps?”
“I’m no puppy!” Grace glared at Fenrir. “And I don’t care what they want.” She stood, looking down the path, then up at Fenrir, redirecting her anger towards the house and its occupants. “A monster doesn’t listen to anyone but another monster.”
"Your daughter never stood a chance."
Grace stretched and yawned, blinking sleepily as she woke up. It took her a moment to recognize her surroundings, the smells in the dark cave very different from those she was accustomed to. She sat up more as she heard someone shift, sniffing the air to catch a whiff of the person moving.
“Go back to sleep, pup.” The rough voice of Fenrir came out of the darkness, moving as he moved around.
“Where are you going?” she asked curiously, getting to her feet to follow him, ignoring his command.
“None of your business, pup.” Fenrir paused, waiting for her to catch up to him. Grace felt his hand fist in the front of her nightgown. “And I told you to go back to sleep. Don’t follow me.”
Grace scowled, glaring up at where she thought his face would be. “I’m not going to stay here all the time, even when the moon isn’t full. And you can’t tell me to stay if I don’t want to stay.”
“You listen to a bigger monster, pup, and you stay here until I come back.” Fenrir shook her roughly, rattling her teeth in her head. “Safer for a pup like you with the pack.”
Fenrir could smell the defiance on the child, her small jaw clenched as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. He liked it, and wished he had the time to indulge in the ideas that floated up at the edge of his mind. Perhaps later, once he’d dealt with the idiot who’d thought he’d set a werewolf on another, particularly the one who dangled from his fist.
He gave her another brief shake as he sensed her preparing for a lunge, probably to bite his hand. “I’ll be back soon enough, pup.” He crouched down, letting her feet touch the floor, bringing her close to his face, drawing a breath through his nose to fix her scent in his mind. Sweet, young, and just starting to ripen towards maturity. “Go back to sleep, and dream about what you’ll do when the moon comes up, and lets the monster inside of you free to run.”
Grace went still a moment, and then he felt a small hand touch his wrist, delicate fingers curling around him tightly. The gown still clenched in his hand shifted, tugging downward as he heard her feet shuffle on the ground. Her weight leaned against Fenrir for a brief moment before he let her down, her knees thudding on the stone. She didn’t whimper, and Fenrir twisted his lips up in a mockery of a smile.
“I’ll wait here, then, until you come back.” Her voice had that same haughty tone as it had the night before in the garden. Assured of her right to command, to control, no matter that she’d never had the chance to take that position. As if she did as he told her because she was granting him a favor.
Fenrir snarled silently, releasing Grace’s gown to settled his hand at the base of her throat. “Watch your tone, pup.”
Fear sharpened her scent, and he waited a moment for it to build before standing, and leaving her to think about what he might do when he came back. If anything at all.
Outside the cave system that served the pack as a den, Fenrir glanced up at the sun, judging the time from where it rested in the sky. He nodded to himself, preparing to Apparate, appearing in a dingy alley that ran along the back of several buildings. He followed the scent trail from his last visit to these streets to a blank stretch of wall, rapping on the section where the tingle of magic alerted him to the current position of the door to the Avery town house.
A long moment later, he heard the faint creak of wood, stepping forward through the opening door into the dark entryway. The house-elf looked up at him fearfully, shuffling its feet against the stone floor as it closed the door behind him.
“Master Avery is in the study, sir. He says he does not want to be disturbed, sir.”
“Then Avery will have to be disappointed.” Fenrir curled the corners of his mouth up in an amused smirk, ignoring the squeaking protest of the house-elf as he sauntered down the hall. The door to the study stood cracked, as if the owner hoped that hearing the happenings outside the room would give him the edge over anyone trying to disturb him.
Fenrir pushed open the door, staying to the side of the entrance, chuckling as a curse came flying out to impact the far wall. “You know I’m not stupid enough to step in the path of whatever you care to throw at me, Avery. I’m not letting you wriggle out of paying me.”
“Is it dead?”
“Your daughter never stood a chance.” Fenrir leered to himself. She’ll make the perfect little bitch. You won’t recognize her when you see her again, if you are that lucky.
“What did you do with the body?”
“Took it home. You never said I had to leave it there.”
An irritated sigh came from the study. “You could have at least left something for them to find. The mother thinks it just ran off. Not what I wanted.”
“Should have said that when you hired me to kill the girl,” Fenrir snarled, his temper fraying. “She’s dead now, so pay up.”
“Bring proof it’s dead, and I’ll pay you the rest of the fee.”
“Proof?” Fenrir nearly laughed. All this for a child Avery said he didn’t care about. Two hundred galleons, and something to show that he’d done what he’d been paid to do.
“If you haven’t devoured all of the body, a hand or a foot. Or whatever it was wearing when you killed it, if there’s nothing left of the body.”
“Fine. I will bring you your proof.” Fenrir’s lips curled up in a smirk as he sauntered away, towards the front door. “And don’t even think about trying to hex me when I come back, Avery,” he called out over his shoulder. “Or I’ll rip your son’s heart out before I kill you.”
"No one can know."
Niobe looked up as the owls delivered the morning post, a smile breaking out on her face when she saw the familiar tawny feathers of her mother’s owl among those of the school owls.
“What do you think she’s sent you?” Andromeda Black lifted an arm for the small barn owl she owned to land on, feeding it a bit of her bacon after taking the Daily Prophet from its beak.
“It looks to be a letter. Oh, I do hope Grace hasn’t thrown another tantrum.” Niobe took the creamy envelope from the owl, mimicking Andromeda in her choice of treat. “It’s really not mother’s fault she’s not allowed to go to Hogwarts.”
“Strange, though, that your twin is a squib.” Andromeda leaned in as Niobe broke the heavy red seal on the back. “And doesn’t your mother usually use blue for her seal?”
“Red’s for the family,” Niobe murmured as she scanned the short letter, her face going pale. “I’m sorry, Andromeda, but I really must go.” She folded the letter quickly before the older girl could see it, scrambling from the bench. Ignoring the calls from her friends, she fled the hall, tears blurring her sight.
“Salazar’s promise,” she choked out when she reached the door to the Slytherin common room, hurrying past the startled faces of some of her house-mates in favor of the silence of the sloping corridors and empty dorms. She bit back an angry sob as she closed the door to the room she shared with three other girls.
“How could you, Grace!” Niobe threw the letter onto her bed, clenching her fists as she struggled to rein her temper in. “How could you do this to us? Could you not for a moment think what running away from home would do to mother, or to me?”
She shook her head, her hands curling tighter, nails biting into her palms. “Who else was there, Grace? Who lured you away from the only home you know? Away from your family, away from the safety of our home?”
“Niobe?” A tentative knock on the door accompanied Andromeda’s voice. “Niobe, what happened? What did your mother write that has you so upset?”
“Nothing!” Niobe bit her lip, hurrying to hide the letter in the bottom of her trunk.
“It’s not nothing, Niobe!” The handle turned, Andromeda sticking her head in. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” Niobe met Andromeda’s eyes with a steady gaze. “It’s none of your business what mother wrote to me.”
“Niobe…” Andromeda gave her a pained look. “You’re my friend, and if there’s anything I can do to help..”
“No.” Niobe shook her head. “There’s nothing you can do. It’s a family matter.”
Andromeda sighed, the fifth year sitting on one of the other beds. She knew well enough what those words meant, but she couldn’t just leave the younger girl to work herself into a state. “So you need someone to cover for you for a couple of days? Go home, find out what’s going on?”
Niobe shook her head violently. “No. I can’t. Not now. It’s too dangerous. Tomorrow’s the full moon, and there have been werewolves spotted on the moors. I’d never get home.” She sighed, sitting on her bed, her shoulders slumping. “I can’t do anything, and I hate feeling like this.”
Andromeda shifted, resting a hand on Niobe’s shoulder. “There are some things money and family can’t change, no matter how much you wish they could.”
“They can get you anywhere, if you know how to use them. And they can destroy you if you don’t.” Niobe shifted away from the comforting hand, trying to think of a change in subject she could attribute her sour mood to. “I wish my sister was here,” she murmured softly, turning her head to look over at Andromeda. “Nothing kept us apart until I got my Hogwarts letter, and she didn’t.”
Until father told mother he’d divorce her if she tried to send Grace to Hogwarts. And every full moon since we were six, because mother couldn’t bear the thought of both her precious daughters being werewolves, no matter how much I begged her to let me go to Grace.
“She’s a Squib. There’s nothing you can do to change that, Niobe. And she can’t come to Hogwarts without magic.” Andromeda gave her a small smile. “At least your parents didn’t kill her when they found out she had no magic. Mine would have.”
“Because they’re uncouth upstarts.” Niobe bit her lip, looking down at her hands, feeling the heat rising in her face at her rudeness. “Sorry.”
“You’re right.” Andromeda shrugged. “Even though they’re pure-bloods, even they know they don’t have the clout to hack it in the sort of circles your parents do. Which technically means you and I probably shouldn’t be friends, should we?” She smiled, and Niobe giggled, a wave of relief rushing over her at the successful change of subject.
“Probably not. But if I had to associate with only those in my social circle, I’ll be forced to talk to people like Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange!” She wrinkled her nose, shaking her head. “I don’t like Cousin Rodolphus. He’s irritating at the best of times.”
“My sister would disagree with you.” Andromeda shrugged, chewing on her lower lip. “If you want to talk later, you know I won’t betray a confidence.”
“Really, Andromeda, there is nothing you can do, and I don’t want to speak of that letter again.” Niobe stood, moving away from the other witch, keeping her back turned so she didn’t have to keep the pain and anger that wouldn’t subside out of her expression. “Leave it be, and let me deal with it on my own.”
“Niobe…” Andromeda paused, a soft sigh escaping her. “Talk to someone, at least. To Professor Jemsen, if no one else.” Her robes rustled as she stood, and Niobe felt Andromeda’s hand touch her shoulder briefly before she left.
“I can’t,” Niobe murmured to herself, shaking her head as she curled up on her bed once more. “No one can know.”
Andromeda looked over her shoulder a moment as she paused near the entrance to the common room, a frown creasing her face. She knew Niobe didn’t like to talk about her family, and their internal dynamics, like any other aristocrat she’d met, but she didn’t like this. Something felt very off.
“Andromeda, whatever are you doing?” Bellatrix interrupted her thoughts, black eyes meeting the grey of her sister’s with a glint of curiosity in them. “You look concerned about something.”
“Nothing that would concern you, Bellatrix.” Andromeda narrowed her eyes as her sister opened her mouth to speak. “Nor would I recommend pressing the issue, unless you have a desire for mother and father to know what you and Rodolphus Lestrange make use of his dorm room for.”
Bellatrix paled for a moment, before her expression twisted into a snarl. “Watch yourself, little sister. You may enjoy their favor now, but one of these days, you will be the one in disgrace, and I will have their regard.”
“Think as you wish.” Andromeda pushed past her sister, heading for the office of her head of house. She had to let someone know to keep an eye on Niobe. No matter what it was in that letter that bothered her.
Chapter 4