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Chapter Text

There are some villains that work in the darkness of night, using the shadows to their advantage. There are other villains, however, that work in the brightness of day and light, manipulating the glare of the sun to hide their actions.

A hero works from a sense of love and duty, a desire to protect others, a willingness to take on suffering if it keeps others safe. They use their aggression for noble purpose; they develop self control and an ability to do the harder thing when it is the right thing to do.

A villain has only desire for power, they think nothing of making others suffer, so long as they gain advantage. Their aggression is destructive because they lack empathy, because they made choices for emotional coldness - those infinite paper cuts to the soul. The villain wallows in their own sense of victimhood rather than using their pains as part of their emotional education toward an empathic self. As such, a world of power only benefits the development of villains, heroes would work hard everyday for others and consider it an honour to have the chance to do so.

So I ask you, dear reader, who is the villain of this story and who is the hero?

Chapter Text

Midnight was fast approaching but Hazel couldn't seem to find it within herself to care. Sitting atop the astronomy tower, a thick blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, Hazel could think of nothing more than the stars in the sky and the tournament that had finished the day prior. And what a way for it to finish.

She thought back to the first task and still couldn't hold back the disbelieving laugh that bubbled up from her throat. Bloody dragons! If she hadn't been convinced that the universe had it out for her before, she certainly was convinced of it now.

Hazel sighed and shifted in her position on the hard floor of the tower. Any other witch or wizard would've cast cushioning and warming charms before sitting on the floor. As it was, Hazel had bigger things to worry about other than how uncomfortable the floor was. Like how Ron wouldn't speak to her, or how she couldn't go into the dorm room without Hermione glaring daggers at her, or the pained cries of Cedric's father once they returned from that damned graveyard, Hazel breathing, Cedric not and how Draco bloody Malfoy of all people kept sending her glances from his place at the Slytherin table.

Hazel was pulled out of her thoughts by a wood owl landing on the floor in front of her. The owl hooted once and cocked its head to the side before sticking out its right leg to present the letter, stamped shut with Gringotts official seal.

Surprised, Hazel stroked the soft feathers of the wood owl as she untied the letter from its leg. She apologised for not having any treats and the owl hooted once more before flying off into the night. Hazel watched it go until it became nothing more than a little speck amongst the blanket of stars above.

Turning her attention to the letter in her hands, Hazel carefully broke the seal and nervously pulled out the letter. She took a deep breath before she cast a weak lumos, enough so that she could read what the letter contained.

Hazel blinked in surprise. No one had told her about this. Not even Hermione. Regardless of whether they were on speaking terms or not, Hazel was sure Hermione wouldn't miss a chance to show off her knowledge.

Hazel sighed and pocketed the letter. She would go to Gringotts in the morning. Due to the way the tournament ended, classes were cancelled for the foreseeable future which gave her ample time to go to Gringotts and back and not even be missed.

And hey. Even if this was a hoax and she imploded attempting to portkey to Gringotts. Well. Then the universe would have won.

Chapter Text

Hazel sat at the Gryffindor table early that morning. Despite getting back to her dorm room at 1am she didn't get a wink of sleep and found herself getting dressed in a warm, thick jumper and jeans before heading down to the Great Hall at 6am, a whole hour before breakfast would be served.

As classes had been cancelled students had gotten into the habit of sleeping in on weekdays, something staff tried to discourage but couldn't really put a stop to. Hazel had also been doing it up until the tasks started. Now she was more often than not one of the first to enter the Great Hall. No one was ever earlier than the Ravenclaws she noted. Though she supposed the Ravenclaws didn't really count in that aspect. They were always there, reading as they distractedly ate their food.

Hazel halfheartedly chewed on a slice of toast, eyes wandering the length of the hall as more students filtered into the hall to tuck into their own breakfasts. Something in her heart still pinched painfully when Hermione and Ron entered the room, glares hard in her direction and sat as far away from her as possible from her while still being seated at the Gryffindor table.

Half an hour and a now stale, half-eaten slice of toast later, Hazel decided she didn't want to have to deal with the undisguised looks of disgust on the faces of those she considered to be her best friends. She knocked back her glass of pumpkin juice before standing up and purposely avoided looking in Ron and Hermione's direction, already knowing what she'd find within their expressions.

As she walked passed the Slytherin table she once again noticed that Malfoy was looking at her. Deciding she had had enough she stopped and looked him dead on, blinking in surprise when he flashed her a small smile, barely a lift in the corner of his lips, and a discreet nod. Confused, Hazel hesitantly nodded back before rushing from the hall to the grounds out by the Whomping willow.

Here she took out the Gringotts letter that was in her back pocket and read it over for the sixth time before she pulled her wand out from where it was keeping her copper hair in a messy bun at the back of her head. As her hair fell down her back and around her shoulders in long, wild curls she thought about Lily. Everyone had always told her how much she looked like her mother. Down to the pattern of freckles on her nose. Really the only resemblance she bore to James was found in the unruly behavior of her hair and the need for glasses.

Taking a deep breath to try to calm her nerves, she tapped her wand to the parchment. She spoke the word "gold" clearly before she felt the tug behind her navel that she had felt only once before when attending the Quidditch World Cup. She still hated the crushing, tube like feeling of portkeying. She imagined it to be what being sucked up a straw would feel like.

The portkey spat her out ungracefully on the floor outside of Gringotts main entrance. Onlookers watched her in pity as she groaned on the floor before stumbling to her feet and attempting to right herself. Taking a steadying breath to try and chase away the nausea, she made her way into the massive building that was Wizarding Britain's Bank.

Walking into the building, there seemed to be a sudden hush, the overall expected chatter dulled to quiet whispers and quick, weary glances her way. Hazel sighed and dipped her head, allowing the sea of her red hair to shield her burning face. She should be used to it by now. She had been looked at all her life, as far back as she could remember. She hated it but short of going around plucking out people's eyeballs there was little she could do about it. 

Shaking the nerves off she quickly made her way to the first available goblin, trying not to cower under his gaze she politely curtsied as she had learnt to do three years prior. The goblin grunted in a way only a goblin could. Hazel sighed and shook her head slightly. 

"I am here to speak with Ludlig" Hazel said, noticing how every goblin's head turned to look at her, despite how quietly she spoke. She presented the letter she received as proof to the goblin, whose eyes opened impossibly wide before he nodded frantically and scrambled down from the stool.

"Follow me", the short creature rasped to Hazel before he lead her to a partially concealed door. The door lead to a single cart, similar to the ones used to get to vaults, only this one was painted a deep blue, almost black and had cushioned seats. Hazel carefully climbed in after the goblin and as soon as her rear touched the cushion they were off, the speed pulling the air out of her lungs and whipping her hair around her head.

The tunnel, dimly lit and perfectly straight, appeared to have always existed, as if the stone of the walls simply happened to have a wide artery. The tunnel was long, very long, but the goblin magic made it so you were in the cart for minutes rather than hours and soon the cart stopped in front of a set of large, imposing double doors. 

The goblin scrambled out of the cart, nearly falling in his hastiness, before nervously knocking on one of the doors.

It was silent for a while and to Hazel it felt like an eternity had passed before a voice boomed from behind the doors.

"Enter." 

Chapter Text

Hazel found herself being shoved through the doors before they slammed closed behind her with a resounding BOOM. She chanced a glance behind her and found that the goblin had not followed in behind her. She took in a deep breath before making her way further into the room which she could now see was a large office.

Hazel doesn't know what she had been expecting when she first stepped into the room but what she saw made her stop short.

The office was huge to put it simply. Floor to ceiling bookshelves lined two of the walls, balconies cutting across the middle of both bookshelves, the far wall was what Hazel assumed to be enchanted windows displaying a beach view and if she stared long enough she could see the image shifting, a mirage one could say. Here there was a singular bookshelf with a split staircase leading to either balcony. The floor was made of deep mahogany wood, buffed and polished to the point of being able to see your reflection. A large rug covered majority of the floor and an unlit fireplace sat beneath one of the balconies. 

A large plush sofa sat in front of the staircase, a leather armchair off to the side of it and a circular coffee table in the centre of the room. 

A cough brought Hazel back into the present and she blushed, finally remembering she wasn't alone. Hazel looked to the large desk at the apex of the room, laying eyes on who she assumed was Ludlig for the first time. To her surprise he wasn't full goblin. He seemed to be half human, standing much taller than other goblins and a more human face with more hair on his head. 

The only features of his that eluded to him having goblin blood was his ears being that of a goblin's and his fingernails being impossibly long and sharp. Looking closer now, Hazel could see he also had a slightly larger than average nose but it wasn't misplaced on his face, she just thought it looked closer to Professor Snape's nose than that of a goblins.

She curtsied slightly and the man? Goblin? Before her smiled in what would be a gentle manner had his teeth of not been as sharp as his nails. Hazel just smiled back slightly.

"Ms Potter I assume?" Ludlig asked, and Hazel nodded. "Please take a seat, we're going to be here a while I'm afraid, we have a lot to go through".

Hazel made her way across the room and sat on the plush sofa, finding it to be as comfortable as it looked, and watched as Ludlig rounded the desk and sat on the armchair, that she could now see was made of a dark green leather, contrasting beautifully with the almost gold yellow of the sofa. Hazel noticed that Ludlig had brought with him a small stack of parchment and a small, opulent penknife.

Ludlig placed the items on the small side table that stood between the sofa and the armchair before shifting to be seated more comfortably, crossing one leg over the other and steepling his hands, elbows resting on his thighs and then looked at her. Hazel tried not to shift under his gaze. Being closer to him now, she could see more of his goblin qualities and found his eyes were interesting to say the least. While his left eye was that of a goblin's, completely black with only a sliver of white to distinguish the iris, his right eye was a bright blue and definitely human.

"To start, Ms Potter, I want you to prick one of your fingers and allow three drops to fall onto the parchments"

Hazel nodded and picked up the penknife, briefly turning it in her hands and watching the colours in the mother of pearl handle shift, before she dug the very tip of the knife into her index finger, watching the blood pool to the surface with a stony expression and dropping the three drops onto the parchment stack as instructed. 

Hazel healed her finger without fuss and turned to Ludlig, question on her lips.

"What now?," she asked.

"Now," he replied, "we wait".

Chapter Text

And wait they did. While they waited for the parchment to do whatever the parchment needed to do, Hazel had drank through a whole teapot of tea summoned by Ludlig, spoken to him about her schooling and her aspirations for the future and had even taken a thirty minute nap, with Ludlig's permission of course.

Eventually Ludlig scooped up the stack of parchment and made his way back to his desk, donning a pair of thin rimmed glasses, sitting down and looking through the previously blank sheets of parchment. Hazel watched the miniscule changes in Ludlig's facial expressions. They flicked between confusion and disgust before landing on pure rage. 

"My dear, please, come to my desk', despite his angry expression, his voice remained calm, the quiet before a storm. 

Ludlig summoned a highback armchair and a thick, tartan blanket that reminded Hazel of Professor McGonagall for some reason. Maybe because the stern but fair woman was Scottish. Sitting down and pulling the blanket over her small frame, Ludlig waited for her to be comfortable before he spoke again. 

"The information I'm about to show you is very... troubling to say the least and I would like to go over everything with you before we decide on any action. Do you agree?"

Hazel nodded, confusion clouding her features. Ludlig nodded before handing over the first piece of parchment.

"This is a copy of your birth certificate"

Hazel took the parchment with hesitant hands and took a deep breath before beginning to read;

Hazel, or should I say Hyacinth?, rapidly read and re-read the document before her. How? How was any of this true? Before she could utter a word she was being handed another sheet of parchment.

"This is a copy of your vault transactions. I can assure you this will be dealt with swiftly".

Not understanding Luglig's words, Hazel bit back comment and started to read, the information presented to her making her heart drop;

Hazel looked to Ludlig with confused eyes. 

"How is this vault mine if the Potters illegally adopted me?"

Ludlig steepled his hands on top of the desk before he spoke; "you are the owner of multiple vaults, most of which you wouldn't of had access to yet had you of not taken part and won the tri-wizard tournament. As such, despite being illegally adopted by the Potters, they still died with you as their sole beneficiary which left their vault and by extension everything within it to you", he explained. Hazel nodded before she took a third sheet of parchment.

"What's this one?", she asked. Even to her own ears, she sounded drained. This day had been a lot and it was still not over yet. Despite this, Ludlig was impressed with her decorum. She was taking all of this very well.

"This one is the most worrying of all. It's a list of spells and compulsions cast upon you and who each one of them is keyed to".

Hazel's form shook with sobs as the reality finally set in. These people, people she had called family who she had loved with all her heart had only ever used her.

Ludlig silently stood from his chair and rounded the desk to stand besides her, slowly rubbing soothing circles into her back. 

"My dear, I am going to request your mother's presence. He is going to want to be here for you"

Hazel looked up at Ludlig with tearfilled eyes that probably didn't even belong to her. Those eyes, so alike to Lily's were most likely a mirage, just like his windows.

Chapter Text

Severus sighed deeply as he donned his cloak before heading out of his quarters and to the front gates. Here, Argus opened the gates with an ugly grimace on his face. Severus remained impassive until the caretaker had hobbled away taking his mangy cat with him. As soon as he stepped outside of the school grounds, Severus apparated on the spot and was spat out outside of Gringotts Bank.

He had been summed by the head of the bank directly a mere ten minutes prior and he had had no choice but to get the headmaster's clearance to leave school grounds immediately. The last thing one should do is leave a goblin waiting.

Brushing invisible dust from his shoulder, Severus swooped into the bank finding a goblin waiting for him, merosley. Silently, the goblin gestured for the man to follow him and Severus found himself on the same cartride that Hazel had been on only an hour prior. Once they stepped from the cart, the goblin, a different one from the one that had taken Hazel to the office, confidently knocked one of the doors and promptly stepped back.

A short pause later and Severus was walking through the now open door only to be greeted by a half goblin and a crying Potter. Severus grimaced. Not only does he hate Potter, but he hates crying children. Why of all people had the bank summoned him? Surely, Minerva would have been the better option here.

The half goblin stood from his seat and summoned a second highback chair, this one black leather, and gestured for Severus to sit. Severus did with great displeasure. He really did not want to be there.

"Professor Snape thank you for arriving so promptly, I am afraid that we have found some... troubling discrepancies within Ms Potter's banking history which I feel you should see." The bank's head goblin said. Severus had heard rumours about the head of the bank. Nobody, not even the banktellers has ever seen him. Severus wonders if the fact that he's only half goblin has anything to do with that.

"And, pray tell, what does her banking history have anything to do with me?" Severus asked, with thinly veiled annoyance. He had better things to do than sitting around talking about one of his students silly spending habits. He noticed that Potter had gone quiet. He chanced a glace over to her to find that she had stopped crying and had gone scarily still and pale. She was hardly blinking and was simply staring into space, an odd tear falling from her eyes every now and again. 

He raised an eyebrow. It was serious then.

The half goblin sighed deeply before he spoke, "All will become clear when you read these documents,' was all the half goblin said, handing him over four sheets of parchment. Severus grumbled, pulling a pair of reading glasses from his inside pocket before reading the documents handed to him.

Severus only managed to read her birth certificate before a sharp pain stabbed through his brain, cold, like ice. Severus gasped and clutched his head, the documents fluttering to the floor in some sick imitation of celebratory confetti as he heard an audible snap in his head. Memories of bringing his baby girl into this world flooded his brain and he sobbed as he remembered the day she was taken from their family home. The day she was literally ripped from his arms.

Severus stood so forcefully he nearly tipped the chair but he didn't care, he needed to get to his baby. His Hyacinth.

Scooping the small girl into his arms, Severus sat and placed her into his lap. He could only sob into her hair and repeat needless apologies as he rocked them back and forth in the chair she once sat in.

Ludlig could only watch on as the scene played out before him. He summoned tea to the room and poured three cups while he waited, wanting to give them the time and space they so desperately needed.

Once everyone was calmer, cups of tea in hand, Ludlig stood from his chair and went towards one of his shelves. Here he pulled a potion, iridescent in colour and made his way back to his seat, placing the potion on the desk in front of him. 

"This potion will remove the glamour and take with it most, if not all, of the compulsions, spells and charms. I must warn you though, Ms Riddle-Snape, that it will hurt. You may pass out from the pain. Would you like to remove the glamour" Ludlig asked, the severity in his words heavy in his voice. Hyacinth nodded silently.

The trio moved to the couch where Hyacinth sat. Severus  sat next to her, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder while Ludlig sat on the armchair he sat in earlier. Severus took the potion bottle from Ludlig and gently coaxed Hyacinth to drink. The taste of the potion made her grimace and it took effect immediately. She screamed. A gut wrenching, agony filled scream that had Severus nearly crying again.

She thrashed in Severus' hold and he found he had to stand up and move away from her. She screamed again, tears rolling down her cheeks from tightly closed eyes, before she promptly passed out. 

Chapter Text

Hyacinth woke up an hour later. Every part of her ached. A bone-deep ache that she had never felt before. Not to mention the pounding headache she now had. She groaned as she sat up from her lying position on the sofa, catching the attention of Ludlig and who she guesses she must now call mother. She wondered if Snape would allow her to call him something else. She would have to ask him.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a gasp from Snape. She glanced over at him to find his hands over his mouth and unshed tears shining in his eyes. She realised now that she had never seen Snape cry and today he had cried more than she ever would've believed.

Ludlig smiled slightly and conjured a standing mirror to stand at the end of the sofa and nodded to Hyacinth. She slowly stood and hesitantly made her way towards the mirror. Before she made it in front of the mirror, she screwed her eyes shut. What would she see staring back at her?

She took a steadying breath before she opened her eyes and moved into the view of the mirror. What she saw made her gasp.

Her hair had lengthened down from her mid back to her hips and was now a deep black from the roots down with the very ends of her hair being a slightly lighter brown. Her eyes were now the signature black of her mother's eyes with a ring of ice blue at the very edges of her iris. Where her skin had once been slightly tan, she now had pale, porcelain skin, free of the freckles that once littered her nose and cheeks. 

She had also grown about 5 inches, now standing at 5ft 7 instead of the small 5ft 2 she previously had been. She realised that her nose was only slightly larger but it still fit in with her new, sharper facial features. Her face once soft and rounded was now longer and thinner with cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass and a more defined jawline. Her lips also had a more pronounced cupids bow.

She realised belatedly that she wasn't wearing her glasses. She found them twisted and broken on the floor but realised that she no longer needed them. Looking back to the mirror she realised that she must've looked more like Lilly with the glamour on because she looked most like her true mother underneath it.

She could pinpoint the few features she must've gotten from her father, such as the slight brown at the ends of her hair and the ring of blue around her iris but she was more alike to her mother than anyone else. She grinned and turned on her heel, noting how her clothes were now uncomfortably short but not caring as she threw herself into her mother's arms, surprising him and nearly sending him to the floor.

And then she heard something she had never heard before. Snape's laugh. Deep and full and joyful. A true belly laugh. She smiled into her mother's chest and hugged him tighter. Finally, she had a family, no matter how small that family may be. Ludlig smiled and checked his watch, noting the late lunch hour and decided that whatever else that may need to be done could wait. 

The two before him had been apart for 14 long years. Nothing else mattered in that moment. It could wait another day. He told the two as much and they both sent him matching grins before Snape sidealong apparated the two into Hogsmede to have a much deserved lunch and to get his daughter new clothes.

Snape grinned to himself. His daughter. Home. At last.

Chapter Text

The two took lunch at The Three Broomsticks. Severus had Shepherd's pie while Hyacinth had a bowl of soup. The pair had gotten odd looks from their waitress, she had probably noticed the resemblance, but she had made no comment. She knew better than to get on Severus' bad side. It was better, and safer, to stay quiet.

 Severus noticed how Hyacinth barely ate, simply swirled her spoon through the liquid and occasionally sipped the broth. She was quiet too. Unusually quiet. Severus knew they had things to talk through, but a packed wizarding pub was not the place for it. Listening ears and all.

Sighing, Severus threw up a silent Muffliato and a quick Disillusionment Charm.

"You're quiet. I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet," he said, lightly teasing the girl before him.

She shot him a slight, fleeting smile before she answered; "I'm just thinking," came her quiet response.

Severus chuckled slightly "That's dangerous," he joked. His heart swelled with pride when his daughter giggled. She shook her head slightly.

"What do we do?" She asked. Severus cocked his head to the side.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I clearly don't look like Hazel Potter anymore. How do we explain Hazel Potter's disappearance and my subsequent appearance?" She explained, hand movements frantic and eyes worried.

Severus hummed slightly. "We could place the glamour back on you. Hide you in plain sight" he suggested but Hycinth immediately shook her head in the negative. "No?" he asked.

"No," was the firm answer, "I've spent 14 years in a body that turns out wasn't my own, a face that wasn't mine. I don't want to go back to that now I know I'm somebody else. I hated that life. The abuse, the expectations. This. This is a new start" Severus' eyes widened. 

"Abuse? What abuse?" He demanded.

Hyacinth sighed. "I was living with the Dursley's" was the only explanation and it was all the explanation needed for she could see the rage in her mother's eyes.

Severus didn't answer her. Instead the rest of their meal was spent in silence as Severus stewed in his anger and guilt. He wished he had known. Even if he didn't know that Hazel Potter was his daughter back then, if he had known that she was living with Petunia of all people he would've fought tooth and nail to get her out of there. 

After their meal, Severus took his daughter to a dressmakers and had her properly measured and fit for new clothes. They left with her wearing a new outfit specially made, the rest shrunk and tucked away in his inside pocket alongside his reading glasses.

Once they exited the dressmakers they took a quiet walk and decided to sit under a tree along the path to the shrieking shack. Severus shuddered remembering the true history behind the name of that building. 

"Hyacinth, I was thinking. We don't have to put the glamour back on you but I do have an idea. It requires some of your blood and me going to the Dursley's" He spoke lowly, despite there being nobody around.

He bent to whisper in Hyacinth's ear and slowly a grin grew on her face. As he pulled back from whispering in her ear, she whipped her head around to face him, frantically nodding her head in agreement. 

Chapter Text

The news spread fast. Of course it would. Anything and everything to do with the Chosen One spreads like wildfire, first around the school, then to the parents, the parents friends and family. Before you know it everyone and anyone knows the full story of whatever Hazel Potter had done. This time was different though, this time a sense of dread followed. For the Chosen One was missing. Not only was she missing but she was presumed dead.

Frantic whispers pierced the air of the great hall. Severus watched from his place at the high table with a barely hidden smirk as children and teachers alike panicked over the whereabouts of the girl who lived. He couldn't hide the disgusted expression that took over his features when he saw the crocodile tears coming from the Granger girl and the fake worried expression on the youngest Weasley boy's face. 

Severus silently sipped his coffee as he picked up his morning copy of The Daily Prophet and smirked behind his cup. There was nothing better than a good news story with his breakfast in the morning.

Skeeter really did a great job. He had paid her a tidy sum to word the article in the way that she had but he found he couldn't fault the article. She would come in handy in the future so Severus planned to keep in her goodbooks. 

Severus surveyed the room, his eyes landing on the extremely worried face of his godson sat at Slytherin table. Catching his eye, Severus raise a questioning eyebrow. Draco shook his head and mouthed the work 'later'. Severus inclined his head in a slight nod and went back to his coffee and breakfast. 

He was much more relaxed that morning knowing his daughter was safely tucked away at his home with his house elf, Zospy, taking good care of her. His house elf was a loyal and caring creature and she had been so happy to see the return of her 'Little miss'. He knew he could trust her to take care of her.

Finishing his meal, he rose from his seat, and noticed Draco standing from his own seat and rushing out of the doors. Knowing his godson would be rushing to his chambers to speak with him, Severus hastened his stride and left through the staff door, hidden behind a garish purple and green tapestry that Severus found tacky and painful to look at.

Sweeping through the halls with long strides, Severus parted the sea of students like Moses parted the Red Sea and made his way to his chambers where he found Draco waiting outside his chamber doors, impatiently pacing back and forth and biting at the nail of his thumb.

"Do stop pacing, Draco, you'll wear a hole in the floor," Severus said dryly, "and stop biting your nails. Your father would have a stroke if he knew."

Draco scoffed and glared at his Godfather. He gestured for him to open the door and refused to speak until the door had closed behind her and Severus had cast a Muffliato.

"Ok. What do you know about Potter's disappearance?" he asked as soon as the charm went up. Severus raised his eyebrow.

"What makes you think I know anything?" He replied, trying to keep the surprise at his godson's observation out of his voice. Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes in a way only a Malfoy could.

"Please, you are far too smug to not know something" he said, snarkily and Severus had half a mind to clip him round the ear hole for it. But. Even he knew he couldn't punish someone for being right and he sighed before telling his godson the events of the day before. Draco's mouth hung open unattractively by the end of his godfather's story and Severus tutted at him. 

"Close your mouth, Draco, it's unbecoming" He scolded and Draco snapped his mouth shut and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry", he muttered and took a pause and furrowing his brow in thought, "You say Pott- er Hyacinth is hiding out at your home, correct?"

Severus nodded the affirmative. 

Draco shook his head. "Bring her to the Manor, tonight" he demanded and Severus reeled back in shock at the firmness in his voice.

"Why?" Severus asked, sure his daughter would be safe at his home. Draco seemed to disagree however because he threw his hands up in frustration.

"Your home is the first place they will go looking for her. Dumbledore especially. He knew Hazel Potter was your daughter, there's no way he couldn't have. The first person they're going to look at is you, Severus". 

Severus' face blanched before panic took over. Draco calmed him with his next words, however.

"Just bring her to the Manor either this afternoon or early this evening. I'll get in touch with father and let him know, just make sure she's prepared and ready by 12 pm at the latest" he explained, and Severus nodded. Before Draco could rush out Severus thanked him. Draco smiled and nodded to him once before rushing out of the room. 

Severus stood and walked to his fireplace, picking up a handful of floo powder and calling out his address. He needed to get his daughter prepared.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth shrunk down her clothing and placed them in her trunk next to the rest of her belongings. She no longer felt weighed down. She and her mother had gone back to the bank to see Ludlig where she had learnt she was heir to four houses, Potter, Black, Riddle and Prince. She had only accepted the title of the first three, believing that her mother should keep his title as heir Prince. 

She still wasn't quite sure why she was packing, nor where she was packing for. Her mother had simply come bursting through the floo while she was curled up peacefully on the sofa reading, and told her that she wasn't as safe as he had originally thought and that she needed to pack so he could take her elsewhere. 

She wasn't particularly sad nor happy to be leaving her mother's home. She simply hadn't been there long enough to form an opinion on the place. So she silently packed her few belongings and made her way back downstairs where her mother was waiting for her. 

"We can't use the floo. It can be traced. Take my arm, I'll side-along with you" her mother's words were rushed, panicked even. She had never seen him like this in the four years of being his student. She really must not of been as safe as he had once believed.

Hyacinth grabbed hold of her mother's hand and moved in close to him, not wanting to get splinched. She had heard the horrors of splinching from the Weasley twins. Her heart pinched a little at the thought of them. To her the twins had always seemed to genuinely care about her. While she could now look back and recognise moments when each Weasley was secretly betraying her, she hadn't been able to find a disingenuous moment with the twins. She wondered if she could harbour a friendship with the two again.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt her feet hit solid ground and if it hadn't of been for her mother's steadying grip she would've fallen. Her stomach twisted from the sensation of apparation and she found herself having to take a few deep breaths to fight off the urge to bring up that morning's breakfast.

Her mother placed a comforting hand on her back and she finally managed to stand up straight and survey their surroundings.

It didn't take her long to recognise that they were on the grounds of Malfoy manor. She had seen the grand building in the prophet a year ago when Draco's mother had suddenly died. No one knew the cause of her death and if the Malfoy men knew they were giving nothing away.

Her mother urged her forward with a firm hand on her lower back and she followed without complaint. As they walked up the staircase, the grand double doors swung open and revealed a house elf.

"Master bes expecting yous. Master sent Himmy to fetch yous while master does important work. Himmy is to take yous to yous rooms and bring yous down for dinner at dinnertime. Please Professor Mister and Little Missy follow Himmy" the small female elf spoke with an adorable lisp and Hyacinth suspected she wasn't very old. Maybe about 90 which in elf years was like being a young teenager.

Hyacinth nudged her mother, "Professor Mister" she giggled "I like it."

Severus chuckled "She refuses to call me anything else" he said "I got used to it"

The two followed the small elf who led them to Severus' quarters first where Severus entered to decompress from the day's events and take a nap before dinner. Himmy gently took Hyacinth's hand and led her further down the hall. Himmy opened the door on the wall opposite to her mother's rooms and led Hyacinth into the room. Hyacinth couldn't help the gasp that escaped her mouth.

Long, thin windows were on two walls except for one where two doors stood, one leading to an ensuite and the other leading to a walk-in closet big enough to fit two football pitches in. The floor was a dark black wood, most likely ebony. In the centre of the room, between two of the windows stood a four poster bed big enough to fit three people, four at a push. 

All of the windows of which there were four had mauve coloured curtains blowing gently from the breeze of a few open windows. The walls were a deep blue with black patterning barely visible unless you were really looking.

The fourth wall consisted of a large fireplace with a roaring fire and two sets of bookshelves either side. This part of the room had been turned into a small seating area with a large fluffy rug, a large corner sofa and two armchairs, a coffee table in the middle just between the fireplace and the sofa.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" a woman's voice asked. Hyacinth's eyes shot up to the portrait above the fireplace where none other than Narcissa Malfoy sat. The oil painting of the beautiful woman smiled down upon her and it took everything within her not to gape.

Snapping out of her little daze, Hyacinth nodded frantically.

Narcissa's smile widened "come closer to me my dear, let me take a look at you"

Hyacinth rounded the sofa so she stood just before it looking directly up into the painted eyes of the woman. Narcissa gasped and she could've sworn she saw her eyes fill up with tears. 

"My, how beautiful you are, my flower. You're so much like your mother. Tom would be so proud" she lamented. Hyacinth reeled. 

"You knew my father?" she asked, curiosity filling her voice.

"Oh yes," she replied, nodding her head "Tom and I were good friends. He was a mess the day you were taken. Took a joint effort between Lucius, my sister Bella and myself to calm him. We ended up spiking his firewhiskey with dreamless sleep" She chuckled sadly, her painted eyes dimming slightly and the paint losing some of its vibrance. Not much but enough to notice.

"What was he like? My father? Mother refuses to speak about him. Says it's too painful" Hyacinth asked.

Narcissa nodded morosely "I can imagine it would be painful for him my flower. Not only did Severus lose you that day, Tom went missing shortly after. He may of not remembered that until recently but I would imagine that would make it all the more painful for him"

Hyacinth nodded. She understood now why it was so painful for her mother to talk about his husband.

"Your father was a fierce and passionate man. Passionate about politics, the future of the wizarding world, but most of all he was fiercely protective of those he loved. Severus especially.

"Tom was older than your mother by a few years, he knew how Severus was abused at home and bullied at school. He was privy to all of your mother's vulnerabilities and he protected your mother as if he would shatter at the slightest touch. You were born in the manor, I delivered you. I will never forget the way your father scooped you up the first chance he got.

"He cried the first time he saw you. Before that I had never seen him cry. He picked you up in your little bundle of blankets as if you too would break and he looked into your eyes with so much love I felt it just by watching"

Hyacinth nodded and swiped a few stray tears from her cheeks, "thank you" she whispered, voice tiny and full of longing, pain and happiness all at once. Longing to have her father with her, pain of not having him there and happiness of knowing something about him finally.

"You're welcome my dear. Now. Show me your dresses, beautiful. We must prepare you for dinner" Narcissa chirped, managing to lighten the mood with as little effort as a duck to water. 

Hyacinth giggled and made her way to her trunk that had been brought in by Himmy while she spoke to Narcissa and began to pull out and unshrink her clothes.

Chapter Text

Narcissa and Hyacinth had laughed and joked and simply had a fantastic time getting to know each other as Hyacinth got dressed and ready for dinner. Narcissa had even given her a list of names of people who could help her in the field of work she wanted to do. She had decided early on that she wanted to be a healer and Narcissa was more than happy to help.

Hyacinth finished applying the last bit of her simple makeup before she turned to Narcissa who gasped and clutched her chest.

"My flower, you look stunning" she gushed, wiping away unseen, play tears, faking a sob as a cherry on the cake. 

Narcissa had spent a total of 30 minutes looking through every article of clothing Hyacinth owned before she had paused, gasped and then shrieked at a stunning deep blue dress robe that twinkled with glitter when the light hit the garment just right making the dress resemble a night sky of stars.

Hyacinth had paired it with a pair of deep blue heeled sandals and a thin pale blue belt around her midsection. 

Narcissa had talked her step-by-step on how to style her long hair and it now lay half up half down, the half up being braided around her head and secured in place with a silver leaf hairpiece. 

She had kept her makeup light and simple choosing to accentuate her eyes that had become her favourite feature.

A knock on her door startled her and Narcissa giggled in her frame. 

"Come in", Hyacinth called, sticking her tongue out at the cheeky woman in the picture frame. Narcissa feigned being shot and fainting in response.

The door opened and Hyacinth's mother stepped in, surveying the room before his eyes fell upon his daughter who was putting away her makeup and hadn't seen him come in.

"Merlin, sweet girl, you are a vision" he said, his deep voice startling her slightly, making her jump and drop a lipstick that rolled on the floor until it hit Severus' foot. He bent to pick the lipstick up before crossing the room to meet his daughter, handing her the item of makeup.

Hyacinth blushed at the compliment, not used to getting them. "Thank you, mama." She rushed the word out. She had only referred to Severus as her mother to Narcissa. She had yet to call him by the title to his face and she wasn't sure how he would react.

Severus bit back a sob and grinned, pulling his daughter into a tight hug. 

Narcissa cooed softly from her view in her picture frame. "It's lovely to see you two together again, Sev"

Severus pulled back from the hug, placing his daughter's hand in his own and smoothing her hair with his other hand, a tear fell from his eye.

"I can't believe I have her back, Cissy" came his tearful response. 

Narcissa tutted sympathetically "Believe it Sev" she said as she stood from her painted chair, ready to move on to a different frame in the house in order to give the two some much needed privacy. She didn't miss the kiss that Hyacinth placed on her mother's cheek though, nor did she miss the kiss to Hyacinth's head that Severus replied with.

She was happy for them. It was about time Severus had something other than his potions to focus on. 

Now she had to go and find her husband and make sure he was actually alive in the mountain of paperwork he had been given.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth and Severus were the first people to go down to dinner. The two were led to the dining room by Himmy. Severus had gumbled that he "knew how to get to the dining room just fine, damnit" only quieting when Hyacinth 'accidentally' stood on his foot.

The dining room was smaller than she had expected but given the size of the manor it would've only been one of many dining rooms. The table was still larger than necessary, with a total of sixteen places available. Four candelabras, each with three unlit, white candles stood equal distances apart in the middle of the black table. The brown walls had lit candelabras giving the room a soft sort of glow. A large chandelier of lit candles hung above the table brightening it but not extending past the borders of the snakeskin patterned chairs, their wood matching that of the dining table.

The tap of Hyacinth's heels were stopped by the carpeted floor of the room. She noted that four places were set for dinner and she looked at her mother with curious eyes.

"Ah," he said, "Draco must be joining us", he concluded. The slight nerves Hyacinth had been feeling leading up to dinner bubbled up slightly and she had to take a steading breath.

Her mother took his place at the table and gestured to the chair next to him that he had already pulled out for her. Hyacinth straightened her shoulders and took her seat next to her mother. Maybe if she feigned confidence they would believe her to be.

Hyacinth's eyes widened slightly when she saw Narcissa slip into a vacant picture frame on the wall across from her. Narcissa winked at her and she had to disguise a giggle behind a cough as the doors to the dining room opened once again and in came Draco Malfoy, his father a few steps behind him.

Hyacinth's eyes locked with Lucius' for a brief, fleeting moment before she found herself having to look away, head ducked down, her face burning up. There was no denying that Lucius Malfoy was an extremely handsome man. The newspaper's didn't do him justice really. The black and white grain of the moving photos never quite captured him right. Seeing him in person solidified that fact. 

Draco was sat directly across from her and he caught her eye when he ducked his head to make eye contact with her, an impish grin on his face. While he had inherited the famous Malfoy hair and eyes, everything else was gifted to him by his mother. The softness in his face, the cheeky, playful grin. It was evident that he truly was his mother's son.

The adults in the room exchanged quiet greetings before Lucius turned slightly in his seat to look at Hyacinth directly, making her cheeks warm up all over again. She chanced a glance up to Narcissa, to beg for help but found the woman seated on the painted armchair rather unladylike. Her back was pressed against one arm whilst her legs were thrown over the other, stifling laughter behind a perfectly, manicured hand. 

Hyacinth suppressed an eye roll.

"My, my," came the deep timbre of Lucius' voice, rumbling from deep within his chest, "you do look like your mother, Hyacinth. I believed my wife to be exaggerating when she told me" he said as food appeared on the table. 

Hyacinth busied herself with taking a sip of pumpkin juice trying to chase away the dryness that had suddenly made itself known within her throat. Noticing his daughter's discomfort and chalking it up to her not knowing how to act in front of the formidable Malfoy heir, Severus distracted Lucius with questions about work, allowing Hyacinth to breathe out a sigh of relief.

She stuck her tongue out at Narcissa who actively had painted tears rolling down her face as she tried to stifle her laughter at the young girls expensse. Draco noticed and turned his head to shoot his mother another impish grin.

Dinner remained a quiet affair, the soft murmurs of Severus and Lucius' conversation being the only thing other than cutlery against fine china plates to break the silence. Severus noticed that Hyacinth was still barely eating, simply rolling her peas around her plate with her fork. It seemed that he wasn't the only one to notice as he saw the concerned look on his godson's face.

Draco suddenly coughed in order to get his father's attention before he spoke, "If I may, could I show Hyacinth the gardens father?" he asked. Lucius finally noticed the young girls mostly untouched plate of food and hesitated slightly.

"If she agrees to it then I see no issue in it, the weather is still agreeable. Just make sure you're back before you have to head back to Hogwarts, Draco", he said, finally. Hyacinth nearly jumped from her seat when Draco stood from his, walking as fast as her heeled feet could take her as he lead her out of the dining room.

Narcissa watched on, her mirth lost watching Hyacinth barely touch her food. 

"She isn't eating properly, is she Severus?" she asked.

Chapter Text

The walk to the gardens were silent, the echoing tap of Hyacinth's heels in the halls being the only noise to break the tense, awkward quiet of the two students. She didn't know how to approach a conversation with the boy next to her. How does one hold a conversation with their former enemy? Were they still enemies? Hyacinth just didn't know.

She wasn't one to let a silence grow too thick, however, finding it prickly and uncomfortable and she geared herself up to speak.

"What time are you due back to hogwarts?" she asked, voice only slightly louder than that of her heels. Draco rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before replying. 

"This way," he directed gently, turning one last corner before opening the doors to the gardens "Dumbledore wants me to return before nine at the latest. I believe Severus has asked for a week's leave so he should only be at Hogwarts for five days before we break up for Yule" he explained.

Hyacinth nodded absentmindedly as she took in the beautiful gardens around her. They were surrounded by flowers, some she knew, most she didn't. The perfume scent of flowers overtook her senses and she found herself drawn to one particular flower.

They grew in bell shaped bunches, dozens of purple, lavender and white flowers coated an entire section of the garden, spanning 10 to 15 feet. She gently touched one of the flowers, the petals soft and waxy beneath her touch. Draco quietly came to stand besides her. 

"I see you've taken to your namesake" he said, a chuckle behind his words.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"These are Hyacinthus, more commonly known by hyacinth" he said, noting the surprise behind her eyes. He gently placed her hand in the crook of his arm and directed her to a different section of the gardens.

These flowers were brighter than the hyacinth's, bright yellow transcended into a small section of blue which bled into a soft purple, fading into a pale purple at the edges.

"These," he said " are irises. I hear that your father insisted that Iris be your middle name since your mother got to choose your first."

Hyacinth took a moment to examine the irises, taking in its powdery floral scent. 

"What do they mean?" she asked, "I know that all flowers have meaning but I'm not sure of them. I'd like to know the meaning behind my name. Maybe it would give me some insight as to why my parents named me as they did"

Draco smiled and lead her further into the gardens  to a pond full of lily pads and water lilies, the whole scene tied beautifully together by a weeping willow. 

He led her to a bench where the two sat and basked in the brisk early winter sun. 

"The hyacinth is the flower of the sun god Apollo and is a symbol of peace, commitment and beauty, but also of power and pride" he said, knowing the flowers meanings due to his knowledge of potions. "An iris is more complicated as each colour has different meanings. The ones we have in the garden are symbols of faith and hope but irises can symbolise courage, wisdom and admiration" he explained with Hyacinth's full attention.

Meanwhile back in the Manor, Severus, Lucius and Narcissa were having a very tense conversation.

"I don't know how long she hasn't been eating Narcissa. I suspect it has something to do with those muggles. I have plans to bring a healer to see her, if I at least know what she is suffering with I will be able to help her" Severus stressed.

Narcissa nodded "I will come to you later with a list of healers that I know and trust" she said. Severus nodded in thanks.

"Are you sure going back to hogwarts is wise, Severus?" Lucius asked. Severus shrugged.

"I don't have much choice in the matter. If I suddenly hand in my resignation, Dumbledore is going to start to suspect things" he explained, ignoring Narcissa's fake retching at Dumbledore's name.

Lucius smirked slightly, "I may have an idea, leave that to me" he said cryptically. 

Chapter Text

Albus Dumbledore screwed the parchment up in a tightly clenched fist and tried to keep his rage below the surface. Three. Three howlers he had received from the insufferable Molly Weasley. Four times he had had to turn away her brood of equally insufferable children. Though he suspected that the twins were asking after her out of true concern for her wellbeing, the rest of them couldn't care less.

And now one of his other pawns in this tricky game of chess had been stolen away from him while he was distracted. Severus had been approached by the ministry to be their sole potions master and the fool had accepted the position!

Albus was losing control fast.

Elsewhere Hyacinth and Draco had made fast friends in the peaceful spot in the gardens. He had made her cry with laughter with stories of his mother and she had divulged to him details of her life that she knew would get to her mother. She didn't mind that however, she found it easier to tell Draco these things. Not that she didn't want to tell her mother,  she just didn't know how he would react.

She couldn't make it make sense in her head. So she chose not to. Instead she laughed as Draco nearly fell in the pond. He laughed with her, open and free and took her to visit the peacocks. In true Malfoy fashion, the peacocks were pure white and Hyacinth instantly fell in love and so did one of the peacocks it seemed because one came up to and sat next to her, cawing in disagreement when she stood up to leave.

This particular peacock allowed Hyacinth to stroke it's beak, much to Draco's surprise and slight jealousy, as she whispered promises to visit again soon.

That night the two shared a friendly hug as Draco readied himself to floo into Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. Severus had swept into the room, dramatic as ever, with Lucius following behind, less swoopy robes and dramatic entrances, but still impactful nonetheless and Hyacinth found herself making eye contact with the floor in order to not look him in the eye.

She wasn't sure what it was about Lucius Malfoy, but he affected her in ways she couldn't find the words to explain. 

"Remember, Draco," Severus had said, "The headmaster knows legimency, keep your walls up and the eye contact to a minimal" he reminded.

Hyacinth's eyes shot up to her mother, "What's legimency?" she asked to no one in particular. Her mother looked at her worridley. 

"I'll speak to you about it tomorrow, love. You should head to bed. It's been a long day" He had said. Wanting to argue but feeling the tiredness that had seeped into her bones, Hyacinth agreed without a fight and made her way to the doors. 

"I shall see you up there, my flower," she heard Narcissa say and she shot the painted woman a grateful smile. She turned to the room and surveyed the people in there. 

"Goodnight" she said kindly, earning a chorus of 'goodnights' in return. She then turned and left the room, calling Himmy on her way up the staircase to lead her back to her rooms.

Chapter Text

Lucius sent word of Hyacinth's return to one Bellatrix Lestrange through his lawyer in the form of a letter, the contents of which carefully charmed to only be seen by Bellatrix's eyes. Should anyone with ill intent get their hands on it, they would subsequently lose both hands via a very powerful and painful curse. Anyone else that tried to view the contents would simply come face to face with a blank piece of parchment. 

As it was the letter arrived safely to Bellatrix, tucked away in her second floor, highly secured Azkaban prison cell.

Bellatrix broke out precisely three days later. She stormed through the Manor doors a week later, hair a birds nest, dress a ripped imitation of a piece of clothing, eyes wild and teeth rotting. Lucius rushed from his office, glasses askew and disbelief clouding his eyes.

"Bella-" he started only to be stopped by a sharp nailed hand waving in his face and a fierce glare he knew not to mess with.

"Where is she?" she demanded, voice hoarse and croaky from disuse. Lucius half noticed Rodolphus slowly entering through the wide open door and heard the soft click of it closing behind him.

"Princess suite" Lucius rasped, affected by the wild look in her eye and the blackened, rotten tooth grin.

Without a word she raced up the stairs, cackle loud and echoing. Hyacinth truly did not know what was coming to her. Lucius sighed, rubbed his temples and invited Rodolphus back into his office for a much needed drink. Something told him he'd be needing more than just tea, however.

Upstairs, Hyacinth was vaguely aware of the commotion but chose to remain in her room. What she wasn't expecting was her bedroom door to be swung open with such ferocity that she felt the breeze of it move her hair from where she sat across the room studying at her mother's request. 

She looked up and towards the door at the wild figure in her doorway. For a few tense minutes all was silent as the two surveyed each other before Hyacinth finally cracked under the quiet. 

"Hi" she squeaked.

The woman grinned, a quite grotesque grin, all things considered and rushed forward to gather Hyacinth into a tight, rib crushing, lung puncturing, breath stopping hug.

"My Cythie, my Cythie, my beautiful little Cythie" the woman chanted. Over her shoulder Hyacinth made eye contact with Narcissa who seemed to be welling up.

"Who?" she mouthed to the painting.

Narcissa smiled "My sister" she mouthed back "your godmother". Hyacinth blinked in recognition and visibly relaxed in the woman's hold. Bellatrix chuckled and pulled away from the hug, keeping Hyacinth close by cupping her face with two bony hands.

"Let me get a look at you" she rasped, breath in all honesty repugnant but Hyacinth ignored it. From what Narcissa had told her, Bellatrix had spent fifteen long years behind bars, the smell was to be expected. 

Narcissa had told her with great sadness how Bellatrix had not been granted permission to attend her funeral and how she feared Bellatrix would go insane trapped in her cell.

Hyacinth noticed the slightly glazed look in Bellatrix's dark eyes and smiled softly.

"Hi aunt Bella" she said, words hushed to a gentle whisper. Bellatrix barked out a laugh, drawing her hands away from Hyacinth's face.

"Just call me Bella, I beg of you. Aunt makes me sound old and if there is one thing I'm not, it's old" she joked, eyes gaining back their previous sparkle.

Hyacinth laughed and conceded "Ok, ok" she said, good-naturedly, "Just Bella" she finished, smile wide on her face. Bellatrix gasped.

"Oh you look so much like Severus but that smile. That smile is all Tom"

Chapter Text

Severus found Hyacinth curled up, tucked into Bellatrix's side as they perused through an old photo album of Narcissa's sitting on Hyacinth's sofa in front of the healthy fire. Hyacinth had been taken by three pictures, one of each sister back in their school days.

A moving picture of Narcissa was first. Severus remembered it fondly as he had been the one to take the picture. Narcissa stared up at the camera, a soft look to her face before she broke eye contact with the camera and looked of to the side, probably at Bellatrix, and a wide smile broke the seriousness  of her face, her eyes scrunching closed as she laughed.

The next was a picture of Bellatrix, stony faced and eyes hard, she seemed to look up from something and to someone and began to say something, words probably full of the venom Severus knew she could spit before the picture stopped and restarted itself.

The final picture was of Andromeda. This picture seemed to of been taken with a muggle camera for it didn't move. Severus wondered if it had been Ted who had taken the picture. Severus knows that Andromeda had kept in contact with Narcissa for a short while after being taken out of the family line so maybe that was how she came in possession of the picture of her sister.

Hyacinth looked up at Bellatrix's face from her position curled up next to her and noticed how much she still looked like her younger self. She also noticed how much she had physically changes as well. How life had taken Bellatrix and tried to beat the soul from her body no matter how hard she fought against it. 

Narcissa had stayed much the same if her portrait was anything to go by. She hadn't faced the same things Bellatrix had faced though time still showed itself in the smile lines on Narcissa's face that appeared even in her portrait. 

As for Andromeda, well, Hyacinth had never met her, hadn't even known of her existence until a mere fifteen minutes ago so she really could not compare. What she could compare, however, was how much the three sisters looked alike and how much they didn't look alike. Once thing was certain and that was they were forsure most definitely sisters, no doubt about it. 

"It's good to see you, Bella", Severus' voice nearly sent Hyacinth sprawling on the floor as she pressed a hand to her chest in her shock. Bellatrix's laugh was more of a cackle than anything else and Hyacinth shot her a betrayed glare.

"Good to see you too, Sevvy" she replied, voice less hoarse now that she had ample amounts of tea and water and other beverages at her disposal. She nudged Hyacinth discreetly as she used her little nickname for Severus, more to embarrass him in front of his daughter but also for the nostalgia of it all.

Severus rolled his eyes, not even bothering to argue with the woman over her incessant use of that blasted nickname. He tried not to smile as he heard Hyacinth giggle. Anything for his daughter. 

"Get ready for dinner you two. Lucius expects all of us to be there, said he has a surprise " Severus punctuated the sentence with dry sarcasm, an eye roll and jazz hands. Hyacinth burst into laughter, standing up and tugging on Bellatrix's arm. 

"C'mon Bella, you can help me pick out what to wear"

Chapter Text

Bellatrix, always one for the dramatics according to Severus who was sat in Hyacinth's armchair, one leg tossed casually over the other and a finger of fifty years aged scotch, vetoed half of Hyacinth's wardrobe before she settled on an outfit for her goddaughter. 

The outfit she picked out was an off the shoulder bell sleeved cream top with dark brown leaf detailing paired with a high waist pair of light brown trousers into which Hyacinth tucked in her top. She wore high heeled camel brown boots and gold jewelry to finish the outfit off.

Her makeup was kept to only eyeliner and a little mascara for her eyes and a clear gloss for her lips. Her hair she let Bellatrix style and Bellatrix wanted her hair to be a surprise so she kept her eyes closed the entire time.

When she opened her eyes her hair was in two braids that led into a rose shaped bun that sat low at the nape of her neck.

Hyacinth grinned and thanked Bella. Bellatrix bathed and changed into one of Narcissa's old dresses, deciding to leave her hair wild and free. In typical Bellatrix fashion, the dress she had chosen was classy and black with bell sleeves that Bellatrix rolled up to her elbows. The dress had a slightly lower neckline and ended at Bellatrix's ankles.

The three of them joined Lucius for dinner at precisely five pm and they ate with quiet conversation. Lucius stood and tapped a spoon on the side of his wine glass to draw everyone's attention. 

"I found Nagini" was all he said and Hyacinth was confused until she heard the hissing. Hissing with an undertone, something she couldn't hear but knew she could understand. Hyacinth hesitantly stood from her chair as the hissing grew closer and the doors opened to let a gigantic snake through.

The snake, who Hyacinth assumed to be Nagini, surveyed the room before the yellow serpentine eyes locked onto Hyacinth. The snake slithered over to her with great speed and Hyacinth felt a calm rush over her. 

"Master. I can smell my master on you" the snake hissed and it took Hyacinth a few seconds to answer.

"Who is your master?" she hissed back, ignoring the shocked gasp from Bellatrix.

"Tom" was all the snake replied and Hyacinth understood.

"My father" she said and could've sworn the snakes eyes lit up before she circled her, forcing her to sit and settled her head on Hyacinth's lap.

"Oh little hatchling" and if a snake could coo Hyacinth expected Nagini would be doing as much.

"Your father is alive, you know" the snake said, surprising Hyacinth "I wouldn't be alive if he wasn't. He's alive. Just lost" Nagini finished and promptly fell asleep as Hyacinth stroked the scales of her head and back.

Without looking up from the snake she spoke up. 

"We need to start looking for my father"

Chapter Text

Since Hyacinth's declaration at the inner table of her want to find her father, the occupants of Malfoy manor had scarcely left the Malfoy library. The library, to an untrained eye, looked like a small reading room until you walked down an aisle and found many more aisles that would be difficult to leave had the magic not of been cast so once it sensed your want to leave, would spit you back out at the very beginning of the aslie you started at.

The room had been done in deep browns and reds that reminded Hyacinth, unfortunately so, of the gryffindor common room. Where the Malfoy library and the gryffindor common room differed, however, was in the way the colours were used. While gryffindor's common room used garish golds and blinding, fire truck reds, the Malfoy manor had been done with the deepest shade of maroon possible and soft, autumnal browns, leaving the room feeling more welcoming and homely than the gryffindor common room had ever been.

As such, Severus, Hyacinth, Lucius, Bellatrix and sometimes even Draco spent a total of three days before they came up with something fruitful.

Hyacinth had come across the passage of text purely by accident, had picked up the wrong book even but decided to thumb through the yellowed pages of it anyway and there it was. Somehow, this one particular page called to her despite the small amount of information. 

The contents of the passage made her feel queasy but it made sense. She knows now that the awful scream she heard from her father's childhood diary she stabbed with the basilisk fang would've been a horcrux. Now all they needed to do was find out how many horcruxes her father made.

"Seven" Severus said, morosely staring into the lit fireplace against the far wall, slouched in his chair, head resting on a closed fisted hand.

"What makes you think it was seven, Severus?" Lucius asked, looking up from the passage of text he was reading over Hyacinth's shoulder. He seemed not to realise his long hair was tickling the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders, nor that she was bright red in the face at his closeness. Bellatrix did though and tried not to smirk.

"It was his favourite number. Not to mention the magical significance the number seven has." Her mother explained. A tense silence settled over room as they all thought what no one wanted to say.

How do they find six other horcruxes?  

Chapter Text

She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming, it was the only logical explanation. How else would she be in an unknown garden when moments ago she had been in her room at Malfoy Manor? Everything around her was hazy, as if she were perceiving her surroundings through Pilkington textured glass.

She walked over the frosted grass, her bare feet not even prickling with the cold she should've felt. Something was calling to her, encouraging her further even as her mind hesitated. She walked faster, slowly gaining momentum and before long she was sprinting through dense forestry, her feet splashing through small streams, the dirt and dampness not sticking to her feet and bare legs, her lungs not feeling the crushing weight of the need for air.

She kept running in the direction the 'something' was calling her in, following the feeling and trying to grasp onto it as if it were a string being pulled away from her. She followed it until it told her to stop and she found herself in a clearing. She noticed how the season differed in the clearing, while the surrounding forest was still very much in the throes of winter, her little meadowy clearing was thriving in summer.

She noticed belatedly that she was not alone in this meadow, a lone figure sat beneath a large oak tree. She knew immediately that she was looking at her father, albete a much younger version of her father, he looked how he did in his diary, perhaps a little bit older. She watched in awe as he glanced up from writing in that very diary, a grin on his face that echoed her own and she went running, running as fast as her legs would take her until she could throw herself at the man before her.

Tom chuckled, deep and hearty as he stroked her hair in a soothing manner. 

"My my, little flower, how you have blossomed" he said, voice filled with pride. It was with a great strength that Hyacinth kept the tears at bay.

"Where are you, papa?" she asked, voice thick and choked with tears. Her father shushed her calmly, sweeping a hand from shoulder to lower back and back again in attempt to soothe his daughter.

"I think you already know that I am not at liberty to tell you that, little blossom. I know you are close to finding me, however, and that is all that matters. We shall be together soon, little one. Of that I'm sure" He placed two fingers under her chin, so that their eyes met. With a loving smile he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and the meadow around her started to blur and fade. 

It was with a panic that Hyacinth realised that she was beginning to wake up. She tried to hold onto the image of her father as he too began to fade and she sobbed as he slipped from her fingers like sand. 

"Soon, little one" she heard whispered like the wind and then she woke up. Gasping in lungfuls of air she let out one loud sob before she cast a Tempus. 5am. Throwing the blankets from her body, she ignored Narcissa's concern and ran from her room in nothing but her nightdress to the library. She needed to find him. Not only for herself but for her mother whom she knew missed him more the longer they were apart.

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Lucius found Hyacinth an hour later, curled up and sleeping like a cat in one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace in the library, a hearty fire casting light and shadow across her face in an imitation of a dance. A heavy tombe lay open in her lap, her hands slack around the edges of the pages as she breathed softly. 

He took this time to look at her properly. At the way her lashes tickled her cheeks, how her cupids bow followed the sharp lines and angles of the letter v, how her hair almost looked blue in the dim light. He gently took the book from her, placing it pages down on the table next to her seat before covering her with a throw blanket from one of the other armchairs.

He took the seat next to her, content in listening to the crackle of the fire and her soft, snuffly breaths. He had found a soft sort of amusement in the girls obvious crush on him but had quickly come to realise that her feelings weren't totally one sided. He wasn't completely sure what exactly he felt for her but he knew it was more than just amicable friendliness for his best friend's daughter.

Thinking on it, he felt slightly sick. This was a girl his son's age. Sure it wouldn't be illegal should anything happen since she was now technically an adult but even so. Lucius shook his head and picked up the tombe she had been reading, noticing it was a very old book, probably belonging to one of his ancestors, about dark magic. He read the passages on the pages she was reading before flipping the page and reading those as well.

As he read, it slowly dawned on him what he was reading.

The writing was small, handwritten he suspected and faded making it difficult to read in the low light. Lucius cursed not having his reading glasses with him. He cast a low Lumos and reread the passages of handwritten text. 

He stood from his chair abruptly, quickly checking that he hadn't woke Hyacinth before he rushed from the room back to his office in order to write down the instructions for the ritual, chant and spell knowing that it should be needed once they had found the items in which Tom's soul fragments occupied.

*Pulvis et umbra sumus - We are dust and shadows

**Vivamus moriendum est - Let us live for we must die

***Acta deos numquam mortalia fallunt - Mortal deeds never deceive the gods

**** Anima revincire - to win back the soul

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It took a while but they eventually found all of her father's Horcruxes. Some were harder to find than others; the diadem, cup and locket for starters and getting the ring from Dumbledore was a tricky game that Lucius took great pleasure in playing. It included a bait and switch and Lucius had always loved a good bait and switch. 

In total they had six horcruxes. The seventh Hyacinth destroyed in her second year after the whole chamber of secrets fiasco. They realised belatedly that he had made Hyacinth's baby blanket one of his horcruxes and Hyacinth felt her eyes well up at the sentiment as she held the softy yellow fabric in her hands.

Lucius had found a small unused room to place the horcruxes in until the time came to use them and placed them on a large round table made of deep green geode.

The weeks leading up to Yule were tense and Hyacinth found a welcome reprieve in the company of Draco when he returned home from school. This also meant that they had the correct amount of people for the ritual. The two spent many hours in the gardens, wrapped up warmly in thick jumpers and coats, scarfs, hats and gloves. They spent time with the peacocks as well much to Hyacinth's delight. Draco usually kept them at arm's length as they were "snappy buggers" as he so claimed. 

Christmas day remained a quiet affair. Usually the Malfoy's would hold a party something akin to a gala, however, since Narcissa's passing, they hadn't much reason for such large celebrations. They kept it simple, the decorations kept to one room as opposed to in every single corner of the manor and celebrations were kept to just Hyacinth, Lucius, Severus, Draco and Bellatrix. 

Hyacinth was shocked to find out that Bellatrix and Rodolphus had parted ways, amicably so. Something about a marriage of convenience rather than love. Hyacinth assumed Bella had married him because it was what was expected of her. 

On the evening at around 5pm, they all gathered in the tea room to begin exchanging gifts. For her mother, Hyacinth had ordered a specialty potions ingredients kit with rare and slightly illegal ingredients including Acromantula venom which came at a hefty price for its rarity. 

For Bellatrix she had brought custom made jewelry and robes imported from France. There weren't many robes, four in total but they were versatile in that they could be worn for multiple different occasions and really the jewelry was the star of the show. A set composed of a necklace a pair of earrings and a bracelet; all matching and all beautiful in their own right. The jeweler had used Kashmir Sapphire, a rare and expensive precious gem and had set them into pure silver. The cornflower blue glinted enticingly in the low light of the fire.

For Draco she gifted him new ink and quills. Five new inks and five new quills, the stem of which were made of solid gold with charms cast upon them so that they would never leak. The inks were all different colours ranging from deep sapphire blue, to emerald green, ruby red, gold and finally black.

Lucius had been the hardest to find a gift for. She had debated gifting him the same as Draco but found that the idea didn't sit right with her. She spent weeks thinking on the matter before finally caving and asking Narcissa what he liked. The woman had smiled softly, a knowing glint in her eye, and said "Music".

That had left her in an even bigger conundrum. How could you gift someone music? And then it hit her. She had asked Narcissa for his favourite piece of music and upon learning that it was "you are my sunshine" something he had sang for Draco when he was a baby, she requested the song be put into a music box by a bespoke woodworker in muggle London. 

The finished box was something of delicate beauty, with hours of craftsmanship going into the piece. The box arrived just a day before, complete with a spinning brass angel and a key and after checking that it worked, Hyacinth wrapped it as neat as she possibly could.

Hyacinth really didn't expect to be gifted much for Christmas. She found more joy in the giving than the receiving. But what she did receive left her speechless. 

From her mother she received a journal that would only open to her magical signature, the cover a soft leather that had been dyed an aqua blue. Each page had flowers along the outer edge that would bloom and shift under her touch.

From Bellatrix she received something simple, since being a fugitive she couldn't leave the manor. Three small jars each hand painted with flowers, one pink, one blue and the last one yellow. She had spelled little lights to flicker in the jars in an imitation of fireflies.

Draco had gifted her specialty candles, he told her that their scents would change depending on her mood.

Finally, Lucius handed her a carefully wrapped gift. Through the wrapping she could feel from the softness that it was an item of clothing but nothing could prepare her for what lay beneath the layers of stiff wrapping paper.

As she pulled away the paper, slowly the garment was revealed. She heard a gasp as the paper fell away but did not register it as her own until much later. She fingered the soft silken layers of the emerald green ball gown that lay, pooled in her lap from her position on the floor. Her wide eyes shot up to look at Lucius, her lips slightly parted in an awestruck expression. She searched his eyes for something, what she didn't know.

"I thought you could wear it at your coming of age ball, after we find your father" he offered, almost shyly. Hyacinth found herself mutely nodding in agreement.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth slipped into the garden through the backdoor that was accessed through the kitchens. No one ever really went into the kitchens other than the house elves so with it being late at night and well past dinner time the kitchens were completely deserted, the elves having cleaned the surfaces to the point of being able to see one's reflection before they retired to bed. 

Which is where Hyacinth should've been. However, she found she was too restless to sleep. It was 10pm on the 29th of December 1994. Meaning she had two hours before they would be performing the ritual that would bring her father home. 

Hyacinth pulled her winter coat tighter around her body as a bone deep chill ran through her. It hadn't snowed that winter but was still extremely cold, almost to the point of frostbite cold, leaving the gardens with a fine layer of frost everywhere. The flowers were under a preservation charm so that they were in bloom all year long she had learnt from Draco a few days prior.

Hyacinth slowly walked the gardens, indulging in the sound of the crunch of the grass under her winter boots and the chilly wind that bit at her cheeks. Soon she found herself at the very edge of the gardens that broke into a dense forest of evergreen trees. She stopped and looked up, following the trunks of the tall trees, past the frostbitten leaves and up to the star filled sky.

She stood there for a while trying to find and identify constellations finding herself falling short on recognising or naming any. She never was good at astrology, she found she could never stay awake long enough to learn anything significant. She sighed and looked back into the trees, the dark, impending and mysterious.

Hyacinth wondered what it would be like to be a bird in that moment. Pictured herself leaping off the frosty floors, falcon-winged, to soar over the wooded hills, following the stars into morning until they bled into morning. 

She started at a voice behind her, deep yet comforting.

"What brings you out here at this time of night?" She turned to face Lucius, a small almost guilty smile on her face.

"I couldn't sleep. You?" she asked watching as he came to stand beside her, his much taller height almost dwarfing her, yet she felt safe.

"Much the same it would seem" he replied, looking up to the inky blue-black of the sky dotted with its 200 billion trillion stars. It was odd, she thought, how something dead could be so bright and beautiful.

She blushed suddenly, remembering she was only in a thick coat and her nightdress and she started stuttering out an excuse to leave before he turned to her, a knowing but kind smile on his handsome face.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" he asked and she nodded a shy smile on her reddened face. She only hoped he would think it was the cold that had reddened her cheeks.

Chapter Text

The ritual room was located deep below the manor, and was cold, a different cold to the winter temperatures outside. This cold burrowed its way under your skin to settle amongst every bone in your body. Warming charms were not an option down in the ritual room for any magic could tamper and distort the ritual magic, rendering the whole endeavour useless.  

Hyacinth stood barefoot and shivering in a long, flowing white dress with bell sleeves and a boat sweetheart neckline.

Bellatrix wore a matching dress while the men wore black, short sleeved hooded robes that reached the floor. They too were bare footed.

Hyacinth felt a chill run up her spine as the first toll of Midnight sounded in the dimly lit room and she stepped onto the apex of the pentagram, drawn in the centre of the room, the remaining Horcruxes placed in the very centre of the pentagram. The rest of the manors occupants took their places at the pentagram, and Hyacinth began to chant.

"Pulvis et umbra sumus,

"Vivamus moriendum est,

"Acta deos numquam mortalia fallunt" 

The others followed suit and Hyacinth felt the magic in the room begin to stir, causing a wind to gain momentum. After the fifth chant, Hyacinth pointed her wand at the pile of Horcruxes in the centre and with a clockwise motion of her wand, recited the spell "Anima revincire" while the rest continued to chant.

The Horcruxes began to glow and shift, warping as if made of water before they began to hover above the ground. They stayed there for a while, still warping and glowing before the glow grew brighter and brighter before bursting with a blinding light.

The occupants of the room shielded their eyes from the light until the room dimmed again. Each person hesitantly looked to the centre of the pentagram to find that where the horcruxes once were had been replaced by a very naked but very much alive Tom Riddle.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth sat alone in a tea room that was once reserved for when Narcissa hosted guests. The room was tasteful and comfortable but Hyacinth found herself on edge. She had been ushered into the room soon after the ritual was over, her mother, Draco and Lucius rushing to her father's side while Bella swooped her out of the ritual room, up into the main foyer of the manor and into the room she sat in now where she had remained for the past two hours.

Truly she only knew she had been there for two hours due to her incessant and constant tempest spells, it was with a belated shock that she realised she was still barefoot in her ritual clothing. With a sigh she pulled her feet up onto the sofa, hugging her knees close to her chest with one arm and tucking the extra fabric of her dress under her bare feet with her free hand before bringing that arm up to meet her other arm.

She placed her head delicately on the tops of her knees and simply drifted, not sleeping but existing in the inbetween, the plane between the conscious and unconscious, the awake and dreaming. 

She was brought out of her dazed state by the soft click of the door opening and she glanced up to see her father, now clean and dressed, walk in. He hesitated in the doorway briefly before seeming to make up his mind, one way or the other, and he closed the door behind him before making his way to the space next to where Hyacinth was sitting. 

Hyacinth scrutinised her father's face, much to his discomfort she noticed with disguised glee. He looked around her mother's age, perhaps a bit older with high, regal cheekbones made more pronounced by slightly sunken in cheeks leading to a sharp as broken glass jawline. 

His eyes, she noted with interest, were a pale, almost ice blue and yet they had a ring of blood red around the outer ring of his iris.

She was pulled out of her staring when he cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable at her intense stare and she nervously pulled her legs from their positioning at her chest. She felt tempted to hug him but something held her back, as if something in her knew the hug wouldn't be welcomed.

"I won't say that I will be able to jump back into being a father like one would to riding a broom, too much has happened for that, I have spent too long in my own brand of insanity, my own brand of hell for that to ever be possible. But, from what I have been able to piece together from my jumbled memories of... everything, I know I love you." Her father's speech brought tears stinging her eyes.

She turned to him and met hesitant blue-red eyes and plastered a wobbly smile across her face.

"I-" she started, stopping when her voice cracked and taking a deep breath before starting again," I want to be happy, there's something inside me, no matter how deep it is, that screams I don't deserve it. No matter how hard I try to ignore that, it has always been the same" Her sentence ended in a sob as the days events and exhaustion finally took its toll on her.

Her father sighed, and placed an awkward yet comforting hand on her shoulder, large and warm and real.

Chapter Text

It was with a great display of strength that Dumbledore flipped his desk, the papers and trinkets, glass and quills falling to the floor with clatters and the shattering of glass jars and ink bottles. Fawkes cawed in surprise, swooping from his perch where it stood at the end of the now overturned desk, up onto the top of the tallest of the headmaster's bookshelves and out of the path of its owner's fury. 

Fawkes watched Dumbledore's rage from his high perch with a distant and unfeeling gaze. This man Fawkes held no affection for. In fact Fawkes despised him with his whole, ever eternal life. This man had stolen him from his true familiar mate, the only person Fawkes had ever bonded to, so no. Fawkes held no love in his heart from the monster who occupied the headmaster's quarters of Hogwarts. In fact, if Fawkes had been gifted hands he would've strangled the self proclaimed leader of the light long ago.

The reason behind the headmaster's outburst had been a rather tense encounter with Professor McGonagall. The curt, stern faced woman had arrived at his office, uninvited, tired of the headmaster avoiding her questions at mealtimes and demanded to know what he was doing to find Hazel Potter.

"I don't know what rock you have been living under Albus, but the whole school population is scared about You-Know-Who's return, one of their classmates is believed to be dead and you're doing nothing about any of it", the woman had proclaimed, Scottish dialect heavy and much more pronounced with the stress of trying to do Dumbledore's job for him

"Minerva, please, I am not doing nothing. I assure you I am doing everything in my power to find Ms Potter so if you could lea-"

Minerva McGonagall cut him off with a tightly clenched fist that slammed down hard on the desk, the rage in her eyes evident to everyone up to the portraits up on the wall who's hushed gasps punctured the silence.

"It sure doesn't seem like it. Sort it Albus. Before I do things my way. And I can assure you, you won't like things my way" Came the harsh, whispered threat of the no-nonsense teacher before him. 

Her lips pursed as if she had been sucking on a particularly sour lemon drop, before she turned heel and promptly left the office to pen a carefully worded letter to one person in particular.

And that had led them to where they were now, Dumbledore stood in the center of his office, desk upturned and glass splayed around the room, tiny, crystalline splinters posing a threat to bare feet and hands.

With a sigh and a wave of his wand, the desk righted itself and the trinkets reverted back to their original state as the old man slumped in his chair. Fawkes watched on with thinly veiled amusement at his keeper's distress.

Elsewhere, at the manor, Hyacinth was awoken by Bellatrix swooping into her room, a flurry of wild hair and long sweeping flutters of black lace.

Hyacinth groaned as the woman opened every curtain at once with the swish a wand Lucius had obtained from a less than legal wand dealer in Knockturn Alley. 

Bellatrix tutted and began to pull back the covers that Hyacinth had buried herself under.

"Come on" she declared, "Up. Its nearly noon and we haven't seen neither hide nor hair of you all day. It's time you ate something" she lectured.

Narcissa sighed gaining the attention of her sister.

"Give her time, Bells. Last night's ritual has left her magic levels rather low. The poor girl's exhausted" she explained gently, voice filled with sympathy, watching the realisation flash across her sister's face.

"Oh. Oh of course. Ignore me dear. I'm just pleased that your father's home. I got overly excited. I'll let the others know that you'll be resting and I'll send an elf with something light for you to  eat later" she said, brushing Hyacinth's hair back from her face with a loving hand as the girl drifted back to sleep.

Bellatrix noticed with some worry that Hyacinth seemed to be running a slight fever. She decided it would be something she would keep her eye on and she drew the curtains closed once more with another wave of her wand, shutting out the winter sun and dimming the room.

Before she left, Bellatrix pulled the blankets up to Hyacinth's chin and placed a kiss upon her warm forehead.

Chapter Text

Humanity is a role-modelling mammal. We learn most by observe, imitate, practice, master. As such character comes so much from what we observe in others. This we can change with our own choices. Who should our role models be? What do we want to see? Who do we want to be more similar to? Whom do we respect the most?

Hyacinth had once observed in herself so much of others that she lost herself in them. In herself she saw Ron's confidence, Hermione's bookishness, the twins mischievousness, Neville's love of all things herbology, Luna's quirky love of the world.

But in observing that in herself she also failed to find anything that was purely hers. She had come to the conclusion that in sitting alone with herself, she couldn't look at herself and see a person she wanted to be in, ten, twenty, thirty years from now and as such decided she needed to carve out a new person from herself. One that was better, stronger than what stood before her now.

When one is not fed love from a silver spoon, one learns to lick it off of knives and that was exactly what she had been doing since the moment she could walk. Walking on eggshells in order to not anger her supposed relatives and accepting Ron and Hermione's own brand of friendship because that was all she thought she deserved. 

Hyacinth read over the passage of text in the old tombe she had pulled from the library; "The Wonders of a Witch" Narcissa had taken one glance at it from her vantage point on the wall and gasped in delight.

With her eyes still stuck to the words in the book Hyacinth asked a question that had been in her mind since she saw Narcissa's reaction to the book.

"Why did you gasp when you saw the book?" She asked, finally dragging her eyes away from the subject of her question to look at Narcissa, who sat on a chaise longue, a painted glass of wine in a delicately painted hand. Narcissa looked up from her glass, a serene smile across her flawless painted face. It struck Hyacinth how a magical portrait could work so much like a horcrux and yet be so different for a magical portrait needed a piece of the subject's soul to work and yet would only work once the subject had crossed the veil.

"It has been so long since a girl resided within these walls, Hyacinth. Centuries even. I was the first woman to even set foot in the manor since Lucius' mother died. Abraxas practically forbid it after Medusa's death until Lucius married me and even then we had to wait for Abraxas' passing before I moved into the manor. The first two years of our marriage I was still living with my parents." Narcissa rolled her eyes but still spoke of the past with a soft sort of fondness.

"I brought that book with me when I moved in, at last" The last part was said as a kind of sarcastic afterthought that had Hyacinth hiding a giggle behind her hand. "But I was taught the ways of a pureblood witch with that book, as were my sisters, with the aid of an etiquette teacher of course. Ms Astor was a colossal bitch let me tell you but.. she did a damn good job" Hyacinth openly laughed now, shocked at the upstanding witch's use of such a frowned upon word.

Hyacinth thought Narcissa's words for a while before she asked her next question, treading lightly with her words as if approaching an angry bear. Why she was so hesitant she didn't know, perhaps it had something to do with her upbringing.

"Could you teach me?" came the hesitant question. At Narcissa's questioning look she elaborated. "Could you teach me the ways of a pureblood witch?" She rushed out an explanation before Narcissa turned her down, failing to notice the soft smile on the paintings face. "I know I'm not a pureblood witch but I'd like to learn how to be more Pureblood in the eyes of those that don't know me. If that makes sense. All my life people have looked at me and all they saw was their saviour, something that Dumbledore turned me into. Now I'm no longer that person. I'm Hyacinth Iris Riddle-Snape. I'm no longer Hazel Potter, the wizarding worlds saviour and I want to become something more befitting of my name, more befitting of my family."

Her words were rushed and clumsy and Hyacinth cringed slightly, turning her face away and hiding behind her hair. Her eyes snapped back to Narcissa once she heard her soft chuckling.

"I would be honoured, Hyacinth" Narcissa's hands were clutched at the center of her chest above her heart and Hyacinth could've sworn she saw Narcissa's eyes swimming with tears.

Chapter Text

Lucius read over the letter with varying degrees of amusement much to Severus' annoyance.

"Please Lucius, if you could stop smirking, I came to you form your input." Severus remarked, tone flat and unamused.

Lucius chuckled, placing the letter on the desk before him. He stood from his chair and walked over to the small table near his window that held three glasses and a decanter of whiskey. Pouring a finger of whiskey into two glasses he passed one to Severus and kept the other for himself.

"It would seem that Minerva has decided to take matters into her own hands. Whether that will be a good thing, only time will tell but I do believe we would all benefit if she knew of Hyacinth's... story" Lucius observed, returning to his seat behind the desk.

Severus sighed before voicing his concerns, worry painting his features, contorting the usually sallow, stern face into something more human.

"How do I know she can be trusted with that information? She has worked under Dumbledore for nearly twenty years. How do I know that this isn't one of his tricks?" he questioned, making Lucius lean further back in his seat as he thought.

Lucius clicked his fingers an idea springing to mind.

"We hold audience with her, hear her out and if we find her to be credible we swear her to secrecy, make an unbreakable vow even and then and only then do we tell her. I'm sure as a friend of her's she'd be willing to allow you to use Legilimency on her, and if not I know a man with Veritaserum, we could slip it in her tea," the last part had been a joke, an attempt to lighten the mood, though Lucius did really know a man who could supply them with Veritaserum.

Severus shifted in his seat and sighed. He worried what this could do to his daughter. She still wasn't eating much and he had yet to get a healer out to see her, the majority of Wizarding Britain's healers were fully booked due to a sudden rise in dragon pox amongst young children.

He considered his options for a moment. It would be good to have another person on their side and while it is possible it was one of Dumbledore's games, its not like the conversation could get back to the old colonel blimp, and if things went south well, obliviate was certainly an option.

"I wish to speak to Hyacinth and Tom first. If Tom disagrees, I may be able to talk him round but if Hyacinth is against the idea then the answer is unequivocally no" The black clad man decided. Lucius smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

"Understood, old friend"

Chapter Text

Hyacinth read the letter again a few times. She had spoken over the plan with both her mother and father, knew the ins and outs but couldn't help the nervous butterflies that turned her stomach. She shifted the pressed flowers that her old professor had decorated the edge of the letter with under her fingers and tried to make sense of it all in her head but came up short.

While part of her wanted to trust the stern but good-natured Transfiguration professor another part only saw the trusted friend of Dumbledore, someone who had worked with him for decades. While she couldn't quite place all of her trust in Minerva McGonagall, she knew her mother had all of her trust and so she waited for her mother to send the elf that would bring her down to the tea room to be presented before her old professor for the first time as Hyacinth Iris Riddle-Snape, daughter of Severus Tobias Riddle-Snape and Tom Marvolo Riddle-Snape rather than Hazel Potter, girl who lived.

While she waited, Hyacinth took to making herself presentable for company as a way of distracting herself. She had had her first lesson in pureblood etiquette the day before with Narcissa, Bellatrix joining to fill in any gaps that while unlikely could crop up.

She had learnt that a witches power lay in their hair, and as such should be protected. A witch should always keep their hair up, to avoid the risk of it ever being cut and it must be brushed daily, twelve strokes with the brush on each section of hair. The longer a witches hair, the more powerful the witch, Narcissa had said. Hyacinth had jotted it down on the first page of the journal her mother had given her on Christmas. 

She was surprised to note that her hair now reached mid-thigh whereas only a few weeks earlier it sat at her hips. Summoning the special ritual brush Bellatrix had dug out and gifted her, Hyacinth took her time in sectioning her hair into three parts before brushing each section the required twelve times. 

The brush was an opulent one made from ivory and gold with a gold intricate rose in the centre of the ivory backing.

After brushing her hair she pulled her hair back into a tight bun at the back of her head, smoothing down flyaways with her hands and a small amount of rose scented hair oil made by a hard to come by Romanian witch who specialises in hair care.

From there, Hyacinth moved to her walk in wardrobe where Narcissa popped into a frame that hung on the wall farthest from the door. 

"You want to look smart, my dear. A lady never under dresses. Don't go too fancy but not too casual either. Sit in between those two categories" came the ever fashionable woman's advice.

Hyacinth thought on her words before she moved to pick out an outfit. Her first two choices didn't meet Narcissa's approval but they both agreed that her third choice was the right choice when it came to clothes.

The chosen outfit was a simple black dress with pearl-like buttons running down the centre, stopping early allowing the rest of the material to flow and split just above the knee before continuing down to mid calf. The back of the dress was high to make space for long sleeves and Hyacinth paired the dress with black heeled shoes with pearl anklets that tied at the back of the ankle with black ribbon. She finished the look off with a pearl necklace and matching earrings.

Narcissa gasped in delight at the whole picture the girl before her created. 

"You look wonderful, my dear. You look the picture of Pureblood society. Now, chin up, shoulders back" she ordered, sounding much like an army commander Hyacinth remembered seeing on the TV once while she dusted. 

Hyacinth's mask of confidence nearly crumbled when she heard the telling pop of an elf appearing in her room but she kept Narcissa's words in mind. 

Chin up, shoulders back.

Chapter Text

The walk to the visiting room felt entirely too long and too short at the same time. The house elf, Himmy, hummed a little tune happily as she skipped slightly ahead of Hyacinth. Hyacinth wanted to smile at Himmy's jubilant attitude but found that the anxious butterflies flitting around in her stomach wouldn't allow it.

When they reached the visiting room, Himmy turned to Hyacinth and tugged on her hand until she bent down to the small elf's level.

"Wait here, Little Missy" the sweet elf whispered in her ear, winking with one large eye before she tottered over to the double doors on short legs.

The elf opened one of the doors with a quick click of her fingers, a display of the true power a house elf held.

Himmy stepped into the room and with a great air of importance cleared her throat to gain the rooms attention.

"Himmy be's presenting to Master's guest, Himmy's Little Missy" Hyacinth suppressed a wild giggle that bubbled her way up into her throat before stepping into the room through the open door.

She surveyed the room, her mother sat on the lounge opposite to the door looking strained and tense, her father stood behind him with a supportive hand on his shoulder. Her father was looking off to the side away from the door but even from where she stood she could tell he was incredibly uncomfortable.

Lucius was sat rather uncharacteristically on a pouffe to the side of the only armchair in the room, occupied by a shellshocked and drained looking Minerva McGonagall.

Hyacinth ducked her head and hurriedly took her seat next to her mother where her father placed his free hand upon her shoulder. She felt something inside of her warm at the automatic show of affection and support. She regretted to realise that she had been spend barely any time with her parents. She wasn't entirely sure why.

Her mother sent her a look that was a definite sign of "we'll talk later" and she once again ducked her head and folded her hands in her lap.

"Well", the transfiguration professor broke the silence, "I think I need a glass or two of firewhiskey"

Lucius agreed, glad to be given something, anything, to do and quite frankly very happy to get up from the pouffe. He had regretted sitting there the moment he had sat down.

It didn't occur to him until much later that he could've simply transfigured it into an armchair for himself. If asked later he'd blame it on being distracted.

While Lucius busied himself with pouring four glasses of firewhiskey and getting a house elf to bring a pot of tea for Hyacinth, Minerva took her time in studying the young girl who, only days ago had been the girl who lived and her student, the girl who always found trouble.

Something within her twisted disdainfully as she remembered what Severus had told her, what Albus Dumbledore had done. She knew leaving her with those muggles was a bad idea, she just never truly recognised how bad of an idea it was.

Looking at the young, scared and withdrawn girl before her she now realised that leaving her with those muggles was the most criminal thing she had ever done. Minerva McGonagall would never forgive herself for it. But she would fiercely protect Hyacinth from that day forward.

A lioness always protected her cubs.

Even if Hyacinth was no longer a Gryffindor, she was still one of Minerva's cubs. And she would treat her as such.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth languished in a milk bath infused with rose oil, flowerheads and leaves floating around and allowed the anxiety that had plagued her that day to roll off her in waves. She hadn't been privy to the conversations Professor McGonagall and her parents had had, before or after her arrival, and to be quite honest she didn't really care to know. She assumed her presence was only needed as proof of her existence. 

Hyacinth had had enough of being a child and yet being expected to have adult conversations about things she didn't understand such as war. She was glad to leave the adult talk to the actual adults for once.

She remained in the bath until her fingertips wrinkled and the milk started to become cool and after washing her hair in her neroli scented hair products she got out of the bath and wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel, putting her long hair into a towel turban before exiting the bathroom into her bedroom where she found Draco.

Hyacinth gasped and tried to hide behind the bathroom door so he wouldn't see her state of undress making him laugh.

"No need to worry, Hyacinth, I'm gay." he explained, mirth in his voice causing he cheeks to burn in embarrassment. 

She scurried into her walk in closet to find something comfortable to wear and called out into the bedroom.

"What brings you here Dray?" she asked, surveying the shelves and hangers. 

Draco seemed to hover in the doorway before he made his way into the closet, picking up a large cream cable knit jumper and black slacks before handing them to Hyacinth. She smiled at him gratefully as he stepped back into the bedroom and out of her line of sight, giving her privacy to change.

"I was just wondering if you would like to accompany me to Hogsmede tomorrow afternoon?" he asked from her bedroom. "The Weasley twins have left school and opened a new joke shop. From what I hear they have disowned their family" he elaborated making Hyacinth's eyes widen in surprise. 

She hastily dried her hair with a nifty spell Bella had taught her that left her hair dry and smooth before she speedly pulled her hair into a braided bun and rushed into her bedroom.

She looked at Draco, skepticism in her eyes and he sighed, rolling ice blue eyes at her reaction.

"Look I know you feel like you can't trust the Weasley's but I think them disowning the rest of the family speaks volumes. Besides that, the twins weren't too bad, they seemed to be the only genuine ones out of the whole lot of them" he said and Hyacinth squinted her eyes at him in suspicion, "What?" he asked, noticing her squint eyed stare.

"What has you singing their praises?" She asked a slight teasing lilt to her voice causing Draco's usually pale skin to flush a bright red.

He sputtered for a moment before answering "I just think that we should go see what their deal is. Besides, they were practically Slytherins with some of the pranks they pulled. At least they made school a little less boring" He rambled and Hyacinth hummed in doubt. 

"Ok" she said, "I'll come with you, it's not like I'll be recognised anyway" 

Chapter Text

The trip to Hogsmeade was blissfully simple. No longer was she having to deal with the adoring stares of people who didn't even know her and yet idolised the idea of her. They had all a carefully crafted image of her in their brains that they had put on a pedestal so high that in their minds it must be true.

No longer walking the streets with a face that wasn't hers, she found getting around much easier. In fact, the hardest part of the trip had been convincing her father to allow her to go. And even that had been much easier than Hyacinth initially thought it would be. 

The further she and Draco walked, the more the amount of people began to become more concentrated around one particular spot. A vibrant and bright place with a notably ginger mannequin, spelled to move and tip its top hat at new customers as they entered. 

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was sprawled across the top of a turret looking window in bright gold that glittered in the sun. On the wall was a crude spray painted dark mark that had Hyacinth laughing in shock. Even Draco got a chuckle out of it as they gently pushed through the growing crowd of those that wanted to go in but for whatever reason didn't.

Inside was somehow even more chaotic, packed with people and oddities. Staircases leading to more stuff on large, balcony-esque ledges all while magical fireworks exploded at random. The whole place had her staring, open mouthed before she suddenly turned to Draco who also had a look of pure awe on his face. 

We can't let Bella come here. She'd cause absolute chaos"

Before Draco could respond, two in-synch voices piped up from behind them.

"Ah, but chaos is our middle name" the twins proclaimed, and Hyacinth tensed up with nerves before she slowly turned to face them. The twins took one look at her and then shared an unreadable look before they each took her by a hand under her armpits, promptly lifting her into the air and then marching off, both chanting 'left, right, left, right' as if army men.

Draco stared after them in shock for a while before it dawned on him that the two trickster red heads had essentially kidnapped his friend and he ran to catch up with them, not even having to elbow people out of his way as he went as the sight of the two students turned businessmen carrying an unidentified clearly confused girl clearly had its perks in clearing a path.

The twins didn't put her down until all four were situated in a spacious backroom, shelves high with Merlin knows what kind of pranks, the main shopping area separated from the room with a thick velvet curtain and wards.

"Hi Hazel." one twin, George said. 

"Or should we say not Hazel" Fred fired back, shocking Hyacinth and Draco. Hyacinth sighed, figuring that fighting it would only egg them on. 

"How did you know?" she asked, slumping against one high shelf and the twins both shrugged at the same time. 

"Your magic" they said in time with each other, "we'd be able to tell that magic anywhere. Besides that, Hyacinth" Fred continued, surprising her at the use of her true name because, how could they possibly know that? "We took a trip to Gringrotts and it turns out you're our soul sibling" the red head grinned, a cheeky thing that Hyacinth always found somewhat endearing despite who it was attached to.

"Wait, what's a soul sibling?" she asked. She had never heard of the term and Draco looked just about ready to pass out at the mention of it. 

George pulled four chairs from seemingly nowhere and all four sat down before he took the initiative to explain.

"From what the manager of our vault said there's two common cases when it comes to soul siblings. One is a lot more brutal than the other. Someone who does have siblings, but does not feel like they are part of the family or don’t feel like they are safe among them, will reach out, searching for magic to comfort them. That soul sibling bond usually forms in early childhood. In this case the guardian of the first to discover the bond will receive custody of the child or children. Someone will automatically be sent to receive the children the moment that the bond is known. That's not what happened here, obviously"

Fred picked up the explanation as George seemed confused as to how to describe their unusual case. "In our case it seems to of happened while we were in our fourth year. It must of been triggered by you, Hyacinth as it takes only one child to form this type of soul sibling bond and it must be an only child. The only child who desperately wants a sibling, subconsciously reach out with their magic attaching onto someone, causing a Soul bond." he explained and understanding washed over Hyacinth as well as a overwhelming sense of guilt.

"I'm sorry" she muttered, lowering her head to hide the welling tears in her eyes and missing the matching looks of concern and confusion on the twins faces.

"What are you sorry for?" they asked in tandem, voices laced with worry.

"I've put an unwanted bond on the two of you" she offered as explanation, not knowing how to elaborate any further. The twins shared a look that Draco thought looked akin to the look someone would give to a kitten before they both lunged forward and pulled Hyacinth into a tight embrace.

"It was surprising yes. But we saw you as a little sister the first day we met. You were the first ever person to be able to tell us apart and that was because you took the time to see past the jokes and actually pay attention to us." George said before Fred continued.

"Even our own mother couldn't look at us and tell us apart. Growing up in the family we did, if felt like there was never enough love to go round. Mum never paid us any mind and dad was always at work. We started pranks to get attention but all that got us was spankings and no dinner. This soul sibling bond was a surprise sure. But is not unwanted for either of us. Your magic latched onto ours because it recognised that we wanted a sibling too" He finished, wiping tears from Hyacinth's face and placing a loving, brotherly kiss at the crown of her head.

Hyacinth took a deep breath and a moment to compose herself, conjuring a mirror to remove any mascara stains before she turned to Draco. 

"I have a lot of explaining to do to mum and dad" she said.

Draco just nodded, mute and still in shock. The twins shared a secretive look that neither Hyacinth nor Draco noticed.

Chapter Text

Severus surveyed the four teens before him, three looking out of place and concerned while Draco just looked slightly bored.

He sighed and rubbed his temples feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on.

"How did this happen?" he asked the room but glaring at Draco as he attempted to speak, knowing already what his Godson was about to say. "Yes Draco, I know magically how it happened but you already know that's not what I'm asking".

Draco huffed and slouched in his seat in a way his mother would've slapped him around the back of the head for with a newspaper, sulking slightly but smirking when he heard the twins trying to hide laughter.

Hyacinth sighed, bringing attention to herself before she started to speak, voice meek and quiet.

"It was in second year. Ron, Hermione and I had gotten into an argument over something so utterly stupid that I can't even remember what it was about, but it ended with them not talking to me until the week before we left for the summer holidays. They completely ignored my existence and it reminded me of being back at the Dursley's so much that one day I ended up having a panic attack in one of the alcoves during dinnertime. All I could remember thinking was how much I wished I had a big brother to lean on, someone who would comfort me" Her admission was quiet. So quiet even that they had to strain their ears to hear her.

From a shadowy corner of the room they all saw Tom swipe a hand down his face, his expression looking heartbroken that his daughter felt so alone that her magic created a soul sibling bond.

Fred and George, who were sat either side of her each placed a firm and reassuring hand upon each of her shoulder blades.

Hyacinth sniffled slightly and wiped a stray tear from her face before she continued.

"I remember feeling something, it kind of felt like a water droplet sliding down my back but I chalked it up to being sweat and thought nothing of it. I remember feeling the need to sit closer to the twins for a while during mealtimes but that didn't last for more than two weeks and by that time Hermione and Ron had started talking to me again so I forgot all about it"

The twins nodded at the same time, both looking more serious than they ever had in the past. Fred began to speak.

"It was more intense for us for a little while. Being away from her during the summer made us uncomfortable. Almost like an unreachable itch. It got so bad that we convinced Ron to go with us to break her out of her relatives place. I remember he complained about her the whole journey there and I had to actually hold George back from hitting him all whilst trying to keep the car flying in a straight line." Everyone, even Severus, chuckled slightly before the room sobered and became serious again.

George leaned forward in his seat, clasping his hands in front of him on his lap while Fred's hand remained on Hyacinth's shoulder. She was crying softly remembering that summer. That was the summer Petunia had held her hand on the hob of the oven, the dial turned on to full until her hand blistered and bled.

"When we got there, there were actual bars on her windows to prevent her from getting out. I remember that Ron actually laughed and then I really did punch him. Mum went barmy when she saw his bloody nose but no one ever told her how it happened. We had to use our hands to pull the bars free so she could get into the car through the the window. She got in just as a massive bloke barged into her room. Mum took one look at her when we got home and tutted. She acted concerned but we could tell she didn't actually care because it was the same kind of inattentive 'care' she gave us throughout our childhood. She provided food and drink and blankets and stuff but there was no comfort to it. Like she was just going through the motions of it" he finished off and Fred picked up again.

"But we felt better having her closer. I think that summer she spent more time with us than she did Ron and Ginny" He looked at her for confirmation, and she nodded, eyes red and puffy from crying but no longer producing any tears. Fred smiled sympathetically and wiped a tear from her cheek before he continued. "She read with us and even helped with some of our pranks. Professor Snape, I regret to inform you that the pink hair prank we pulled on you was the genius mind of your daughter"

There was a loud "That was you?!" from Draco before he dissolved into uncontrollable laughter, only quelled by Severus' bone chilling glare.

"After that though, things went back to what I would call normal at the time. Ron got jealous at me spending so much time with the twins, Ginny kept trying to put me off spending time with them and Molly would sometimes even physically pull me away from them with stupid excuses like she needed help with washing the dishes. I didn't realise at the time that they were trying to keep me away from them" Hyacinth finished the story and leaned her head on Fred's shoulder, emotionally drained from the story and the crying.

Severus swiped a hand down his face, the shaking of it not going unnoticed by the occupants of the room. Tom stepped out of his shadowy corner to place a reassuring hand on Severus' shoulder, something he seemed to do a lot Hyacinth had noticed.

"Himmy" Severus called, voice sounding strained and tired. The small elf popped into the room, and frowned in concern at Hyacinth's swollen eyes. "Please bring me Hyacinth's Gringott's paperwork; the birth certificate and the vault information. Also bring a headache potion for me please and possibly one for Hyacinth as well"

The worried elf nodded and with a quick curtsey popped out of the room only to pop back in seconds later with everything she had been asked for. Severus and Hyacinth both downed their headache potions first, Hyacinth grimacing at the bitter taste but relaxing once the potion took affect.

Severus paused for a second, before asking Himmy to also bring him two calming draughts. He had a feeling he'd need to force them on the twins after he showed them the paperwork.

Chapter Text

The twins hadn't needed the calming draughts although Severus had respectfully disagreed with that notion after they had seen the documents because both twins had, in Draco's words, "secretly flipped their fucking lids".

George's rage was more outward and presented itself in the clenching of his jaw and the balling of his fists. Fred's rage was more inward, only seen in the tense line of his shoulders and the blank, stone like expression that took over his face.

It was Severus' opinion that they had only kept their calm due to Hyacinth's presence for which he was grateful. The last thing he wanted to be dealing with was a trashed room and the last last thing he wanted to deal with was Lucius' temper tantrum at a trashed room. Nothing was as bad as a Malfoy Meltdown. Draco was proof of that.

After going over some arbitrary questions from the twins, Severus leaned back in his chair once the four teens had left and nursed a glass of firewhiskey in his hand, Tom pacing behind his chair like a lion ready to pounce. Severus sighed, growing annoyed at the constant back and forth of his husband's pacing.

"Tom, sit down please" he sighed, bringing a hand up to rub at his temples. Tom immediately stopped pacing and sat down like a little child who was about to get into trouble. Severus leveled a look at him, one that spoke louder than any words "I'm not mad Tom, just tired"

Tom nodded before his face crumbled and he looked close to tears, Severus leapt up from his seat, glass of firewhiskey discarded on the floor with no mind to the mess and he gathered Tom in his arms.

"She's been through so much Severus. So much and she was on her own. She had to do it on her own just like we had to. When she was born, I promised her that she would never live like us. That she would grow never wanting for anything because anything she wanted, we'd be there to give her" Tom sobbed, pain heavy in his voice and Severus bit back tears "But we weren't" Tom finished in almost a wail voice full of heartbreak at his own perceived failures as a father.

They both looked up at a noise near the door, shocked to find Hyacinth stood in the doorway, her own eyes filled with tears. She let out a loud sob before she rushed them, a small firecracker of a thing that nearly bowled them over as she flung herself at her parents.

"It's not your fault" she whispered, "It was never your fault" and they cried and grieved together for what their lives could of been.

Chapter Text

After a very cathartic crying session with her parents, Hyacinth tried to broach a subject with them, something that was weighing on her mind. She had already spoken to the twins about their thoughts on the matter and now she just needed her parents opinions.

"I wanted to talk to you both about the possibility of you guys blood adopting the twins? I know that you're probably going to need some time to think about it or even say no outright and that is completely understandable but please hear me out first. The twins have never properly had a family, like me in some respects. From the day they could walk Molly treated them as an afterthought. They started the pranks for the attention they desperately wanted from their parents but it only got them punishment. It's not even for my own benefit that I'm asking this of you, although the prospect of two older brothers is very appealing to me, but more so I want the twins to have the chance to have a proper family" 

Hyacinth's voice was still thick from crying, her words cracking and slightly fumbled but she managed to get her thoughts out rather well she thought. 

Severus shared a look with Tom, one that was soft and full of pride at the young woman their daughter was becoming. Tom lifted her with ease and placed her on his lap, wrapping a steading arm around her back and pulling her into an easy hug. No matter how old Hyacinth grew, she would always be his little girl, Severus thought with a soft smile.

"Little blossom, that sounds like a brilliant idea. The twins have already disowned their family all but officially, it would be easy with a trip to Gringotts for them to disown the Weasley's and for us to officially adopt them" Tom said, placing a kiss to his daughters cheek causing her to grin prettily at the affection. 

"When should we get it done?" Severus asked, smiling at the picture his daughter and husband created, his family together at last and they were going to expand too.

Tom looked up at his husband, face awash with a youthful glow that Severus hadn't seen since his school years, and shrugged a single shoulder.

"You always used to say no time like the present, Severus. Why not do it now?" He asked, grin wide and matching Hyacinth's.

Severus rolled his eyes playfully at Tom's words. They were the same words Severus had used the day Tom had asked him to marry him all those years ago. He chuckled and stood with some effort from his position on the floor, his knees not enjoying the prolonged crossed position his legs were in.  

"I'll send Himmy with a message for Ludlig" Severus said. At Hyacinth's confused look he elaborated "Ludlig has appointed himself in charge of everything that regards you, including your accounts. Everything that you are involved in in regards to Gringotts will be dealt with by him" He explained and Hyacinth nodded, cuddling slightly further into he father for a moment before she carefully got up.

"I better go and tell the boys then and get ready for a public appearance" the latter was said with some disdain as it was a well known fact that Hyacinth did not enjoy being in public. Both her parents chuckled and before she left she turned to face them, a watery smile on her face. "Thank you" she said and left as quietly as she arrived.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth kept her outfit simple, a thin, light grey sweater and a knee length chocolate brown skirt with a skinny brown belt, a shade or two lighter than the skirt. She paired it with a pair of long grey socks that were thick and warm for the still chilly weather and a pair of chunky black boots. On top of her outfit she wore a pristine white fur lined coat that flared out and was heavily inspired by Draco's white winter coat and was in fact made by the same designer.

She meticulously brushed, braided and coaxed her hair into an intricate up-do, one that was seen on many pureblood witches around the world but mostly in Sweden she had learned from Bellatrix and Narcissa. She decorated her hair with tiny pink rose buds that Draco brought to her from the garden, charmed to last, at least for the day. 

She met the twins in the hallway where they waited for her outside the rooms Lucius had made up for them that were situated a few doors down from Hyacinth's room. They each had their own spacious room, something they had never had the privilege of having growing up. They had changed into suits borrowed to them by Lucius and George wore a short, modern cloak while Fred wore a tailored, form fitting long coat that cinched in his waist and made his already broad shoulders look even wider.

The red haired tricksters both jokingly bowed to Hyacinth and she giggled and jokingly curtsied back and linked arms them, one twin either side of her like a pair of well dressed bodyguards.

"You two shape up nicely" She said, a wide grin on her face and the twins both blushed slightly, matching red cheeks to go with their hair. 

"You don't look to bad yourself lil sis" George complimented, Fred nodding in agreement at her other side.

The trip to the entrance hall was short and Hyacinth's face lit up at the sight of her parents stood together at the door waiting for them. Her mother wore his typical all black getup with dramatic swooshy robes and cravat while her father wore a suit, with a deep purple shirt and matching tie embellished with silver swirling designs along the bottom of the shirt, on the cuffs of his sleevers, on his collar and  down the centre of his tie.

"Ready?" her father asked as they reached them and Hyacinth nodded.

She split off from the twins as they went to her mother and placed a hand on each of his arms and silently they apparated from the entrance hall.

Hyacinth stepped closer to her father and linked her arm through the crook of his elbow and they too silently apparated from Malfoy Manor, landing at the bottom of Gringotts steps where her mother and the twins were waiting for them. 

Given that Tom was technically a wanted criminal, Severus quickly cast a glamour on him to change the shape of his face and make his hair darker and closer to black than its usual medium brown.

Uncomfortable at some of the looks they were getting, no doubt the sight of the feared ex-potions professor with three teenagers, two being the new students turned businessmen and obvious Weasley's while the third was unknown but clearly the potion master's child, Hyacinth gently pulled her hood up to shield her face until they could be in the privacy of Ludlig's office.

Noticing her discomfort, Tom ushered them quickly up the steps and into Gringotts where he immediately asked the first available goblin to take them to Ludlig, stating that they were expected and they didn't have to wait long to be escorted to his office. 

Chapter Text

Ludlig leaned back in his chair as the disowning of the Weasley family by the twins finalised. With a quill made of solid gold he scratched a bold line across a piece of parchment which subsequently disintegrated. 

"Now comes the blood adoptions. I legally have to give you all potions before we begin the adoptions, it just checks for any spells, charms or potions that could be influencing the decision for the adoptions and makes sure everyone is a consenting party." Ludlig explained, summoning four bright blue potions in thin vials.

Severus, the ever cautious potions master he was, dutifully sniffed the potion first to the amusement of Ludlig. Tom just rolled his eyes. After deeming the potion fit for consumption, Severus tipped his head back and drank the potion in one go, smacking his lips at the tangy taste. 

After nothing happened, Tom, Fred and George all took their potions one after the other and waited a few seconds. 

Ludlig clapped his hands, satisfied that they were all consenting parties and summoned two pieces of parchment and a savage looking dagger, the blade made of a blue-black metal, at the hilt there was a silver bat. The handle was made of shell and at the very top stood a crescent moon, the ends pointing upward.

"Fred, place two drops of blood on this parchment", Ludlig requested, pushing forward one piece of parchment that was tinged slightly blue. Fred did what was asked of him, using the dagger to slice a small cut onto the pad of his middle finger. 

Ludlig then pushed a piece of parchment that was tinged slightly purple towards George and gestured for him to do the same. Fred passed over the dagger and George sliced the same finger his brother had, hissing slightly at the sting. 

After that had been done, Ludlig vanished the dagger and produced a twin daggers, these the blade was made of silver, two crescent moons at the hilt facing away from each other and a pentagram at the top of the handles. 

"Tom, Severus, I need you to place three drops of blood onto both parchments. May I suggest that one does one while another does the other and then switch? It allows the parchment to differentiate between the blood" Ludlig said, placing the daggers on the desk before him.

Severus shuffled forward in his seat as Tom walked from behind Severus to stand before the desk. Each picked up a dagger and sliced across their palms, Severus allowing three drops of blood to fall to the blue tinged parchment while Tom did the same for the purple tinged parchment. Ludlig then switched the parchments so that the blue parchment was before Tom and the purple parchment was before Severus. 

They then allowed three more drops of blood to fall to the parchment before they each healed the cuts on their palms.

Everyone in the room watched with their full attention as words appeared on the parchments.

"Ok that's all set" Ludlig said, a savage smile on his face. "Now we can do one of two things, we can either pull up the twins birth certificates to ensure the name changes or activate the blood adoption with a potion. The potion will take about an hour to take affect so I leave the choice to you" he explained. 

The twins looked at each other before replying in unison "Birth certificates first please, we'll take the potion after" and Ludlig nodded, summoning two more pieces of parchment, these the usual brownish yellow colour, and the same dagger Hyacinth used the very first time she visited only this time he produced two.

"Three drops on the parchment please" Ludlig said, and the twins sighed at having to use a dagger on themselves again. 

Hyacinth sighed in relief seeing that the blood adoption had been accepted. Each twin chuckled and placed a kiss upon the crown of her head. 

"Can we do the potion now? The one that activates the blood adoption?" Fred asked, George nodding in agreement and Ludlig nodded summoning two potions that were bright orange in colour and looked slightly radioactive.

"Fair warning", Ludlig said passing the vials over to the twins "it doesn't taste very pleasant. I've heard it been likened to the earwax Bertie Botts jelly bean" he explained, his grin taking on a particularly savage edge at the grimaces that took over the twins faces.

The twins shrugged, uncorking the vials before both drinking the potions down in one shot. They both shuddered and gagged slightly at the taste, sticking their tongues out at the aftertaste. Ludlig supplied them with glasses of water that they drank eagerly. 

And now all was left to do was wait. 

Chapter Text

The potions took longer than had been initially expected, so much so that at some point Hyacinth had silently crawled into her mother's lap and promptly fell asleep, much to the occupants in the rooms amusement. 

As time passed, while Hyacinth slept peacefully, those that remained awake started to notice subtle changes in the twins, like a change in their face shape and their eyes darkening. As time drew on the changes grew more drastic with the freckles on their faces fading until their skin was free of them and their hair darkening from the telltale bright Weasley orange to dark brown almost black. 

While Fred's eyes remained blue they had darkened considerably so that they more resembled a stone grey. His jawline had also sharpened slightly allowing his chin to become more pointed. His hair was very akin to Tom's, laying in neat curls atop his head but it had taken on Severus' dark colouring. 

George on the other hand while still looking like a copy of Fred in some ways, had changed a lot more and it made it much easier to differentiate between the two. His hair had taken on Tom's dark brown colouring and his jawline had also sharpened and become more pronounced. His eyes were still bright blue but looked more similar to Tom's eyes than those of the Weasley's. The biggest difference was the length of his hair. While it held Tom's curl, it was much longer than before, sitting just above his shoulders.

Fred laughed in shock looking at his brother, someone who he had grown up with who had always been the spitting image of him. 

"Looks like you're gonna have to start tying your hair up Feorge" He said, jokingly nudging his brother with his elbow. George looked confused for a second before Ludlig handed him a hand mirror and he too laughed out loud at the sight of his long hair.

'I think you're right Gred" He replied, summoning a black ribbon and tying his hair back and out of his face. With the hair out of the way he reverted back to being a total copy of Fred so Tom and Severus were silently glad that they would have something that they could use to tell the two apart unless he started cutting his hair. 

Severus gently shook Hyacinth awake, silently cooing at the way she stretched like a kitten in his lap as she slowly took the time to wake up. Once fully awake she surveyed the room, gasping in shock at the sight of the twins.

"You guys look great!" she exclaimed running up to hug them. They both gathered her into their arms, a loving three way hug and all three felt all was right in the world now that they all had each other. 

Elsewhere, in a crowded, crooked house held together by magic on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon, two names on the family tapestry suddenly blackened as if singed by fire. 

Chapter Text

1390 miles away in Romania, Charlie Weasley stared at his copy of the family tree with all sorts of varying emotions running through him. The most notable emotion was confusion. What in Merlin's name had happened to the twins? Surly they couldn't have died? No, he would have had a letter by now if they had. So what had taken them off the family tree?

For a brief moment he considered writing to his parents but he didn't want to put his owl through that and it would take a while to get a response knowing his mother so instead he pulled himself out of his chair and began to get dressed. He had to see someone about an international portkey.

Back in Britain, the family of now five sat around a table at a high-end restaurant in muggle London, the twins pouring over a shared menu while Hyacinth merrily swung her legs slightly under the table, only narrowly missing kicking her mother's legs. At Severus' shocked expression at the near miss, she stopped and shifted in her seat.

"Have you chosen what you want, little flower?" Tom asked, taking a sip from his glass of water. Severus had taken his glamour off in the alleyway where the apparation point had been so her father looked like himself again. She found herself not able to answer his question and realised she hadn't actually looked at the menu. She shook her head and took the offered menu from her father.

Looking at the options listed, Hyacinth felt her stomach twist uncomfortably at the thought of eating. She wasn't completely blind to her reality. She knew fine well that her time spent with the Dursley's had caused her to develop an eating disorder, and the way Molly had basically force fed her to the point of bursting had not been any help at all and had in fact complicated her relationship with food even more.

The twins noticed her discomfort, a part of the sibling bond caused them all to be able to pick up on strong emotions from the others. Fred scooched his chair closer to her's, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm not all that hungry, sis. Do you wanna share with me?" he asked and Hyacinth smiled at him gratefully but shook her head no nonetheless.

"Actually, Fred, I think I'll have some porridge with some fruit. But thank you anyway" She said and Fred smiled down at her, smile full of pride. He ruffled her hair and moved his chair back to its original spot next to George who was now trying to fold his napkin into an origami crane.

They chatted quietly while they waited for their food to arrive and throughout their meal. Hyacinth was shocked to discover she had managed to eat over half of her porridge and fruit and classed it as an achievement in her books.

Severus was also pleasantly surprised to see her close to empty bowl but told himself he would still find a healer to aid her in her journey with food.

After their meal, the family of five walked around Muggle London and did a bit of shopping. Hyacinth had been surprised to learn that Narcissa had brought a lot of muggle branded clothes and had expressed interest in buying some muggle clothes herself.

Tom had insisted on buying all of her clothes stating he had a lot of birthdays and christmases to make up for and wouldn't take no for an answer because, quote, "If I can't spoil my daughter, who can I spoil?"

The twins had jokingly piped up with "us" said in unison and Tom had rolled his eyes. He still brought the twins a lot of clothes too but nowhere near as much as Hyacinth.

They shopped in high end fashion stores of course. Places like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Chanel and Christian Louboutin where Hyacinth fell in love with the classic red bottomed heels. She had balked at the price however and put them back, not wanting anyone to spend that much money on her, even if that someone was her father.

Tom secretly brought them for her anyway. Needless to say that Hyacinth was over the moon with them but still lectured her father about the price anyway. She stopped when she started to sound like Hermione even to herself.

They arrived back at the manor at four pm, bags shrunken and in pockets. Hyacinth took her bags from her parents, kissed them both on the cheek and with the help of the twins went to go and put her stuff away and get ready for dinner.

Chapter Text

Narcissa watched Hyacinth dutifully brush her hair from her vantage point high in her frame. She noticed how quick her hair had been growing and it now reached her knees. Soon she would need help with brushing it but that would come later when she would have to pick a chosen, a trusted male to brush her hair every morning and night. 

She wore a dark red dress with a black mesh overlay, causing the dress to look even darker. there was a dramatic split in the dress that caused the fabric at the apex of the split to crease in an attractive way.

She had paired the dress with the Christian Louboutin heels that put four more inches on her height making her stand at 5'11 making her much taller and closer to Fred and George's heights of 6'3. 

Hyacinth hummed a nameless tune as she began styling and pulling up her hair, securing it in place with a beautiful headpiece of enamel leaves and flowers. 

"You look beautiful dear" Narcissa called from her portrait and Hyacinth whipped around in shock as she hadn't realised she had been there. 

She blushed at the purebloods words, turning back to face her vanity mirror. 

"Really?" she asked, sounding unsure. Never in her life had she really felt pretty, let alone beautiful. She had always thought herself too plain looking in the past, brought on by the Dursley's constantly putting her down.

"Darling, you are stunning. Why do you doubt that?" Narcissa said, exaggerating the word stunning to get her point across. Hyacinth shrugged with one shoulder, hooking a pearl earring into her ear. 

"I don't know. Don't get me wrong the clothes and stuff I find exceptionally beautiful but never felt that that beauty extended to me" she explained quietly, carefully brushing mascara onto her long lashes and dabbing on some perfume. 

Narcissa sighed and sat in her painted armchair. "I understand. Probably more than most" she said causing Hyacinth to pause. 

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning to face the woman again.

Narcissa shrugged, looking defeated in her frame. "A lot of the time I felt very much the same as you do now. Malfoy's are famous for wearing their masks in public so I was trained to do the same. But beneath the emotionless mask I wore in public I was very much insecure in my looks. Growing up I was the plain one, Andromeda was the pretty one, classic beauty, Bellatrix was the wild beauty, despite the lessons she never once kept her hair up and in a sense she gained a lot of respect for it. I was just the plain mousey one. It wasn't until I married Lucius that I started to feel even marginally good in myself but the insecurity never fully went away. I died before I could ever fully gain confidence in myself" Narcissa explained, looking small in a way Hyacinth had never seen her before. 

"I don't mean to pry" she said softly "but how did you die? You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable" she asked, locking eyes with the portrait of the once feared pureblood. 

Narcissa smiled slightly "I don't mind telling you sweetheart. It was cancer. Breast cancer actually. By the time we discovered it, it was too late to treat it and I went quickly after the diagnosis." She explained, somewhat aloofly.

Hyacinth wiped a stay tear "I'm sorry" she whispered and Narcissa smiled. 

"Its ok, little one. I feel as though my life is bathed in golden sunlight. And the really wonderful thing is that I know it. I lived a good life"

Chapter Text

Charlie landed in Britain's Ministry of Magic in the late afternoon, hair askew from the portkey and a little more than slightly dizzy from the journey. He was greeted by many people, some surprised at his return but most just happy to see him. He took the lift to the head of the misuse of muggle artefacts office to visit his dad.

Arthur looked shocked to see him which Charlie thought was reasonable considering he was meant to be in Romania with the dragons. He slipped his hand into his pocket and felt for the small blue dragons egg, no larger than a chickens egg. He had smuggled it with him after its mother had passed away after laying just the one egg. It was unusual for that breed to only lay one egg but she had already been dying so it came as no surprise.

"Charlie!" Arthur's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he removed his hand from his pocket "What are you doing here, son?" Arthur asked, voice laced with surprised confusion. Charlie pulled his copy of the family tree from his rucksack and placed it on his dad's desk.

"Where are the twins?" he asked, a demand in his voice and Arthur's face drained of all its colour.

The man stuttered on his words for a while, trying to form an answer before he finally gave up.

"I don't know" was the simple answer and Charlie felt a rage build in him.

"You don't know?!" he hissed, face thunderous "and you're doing nothing about it?!" he demanded, his dad's mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"You're mother didn't think it was a big deal" he excused and Charlie slammed a fist down hard on the desk.

"Not a big deal?! They've been removed from the tree" he shouted, snatching the family tree from the table and marching out of the office, ignoring his father's calls for him to come back. For too long he had sat back and watched the twins, his younger brothers, get treated like second class family members but no more. If his family weren't going to figure it out then he sure would.

It took him a while but he eventually found the twin's joke shop that they had mentioned in a letter about two weeks prior but was confused to see that it was nothing like how they had explained it to him in the letter.

Instead of the ginger man tipping his hat, the statue had brown almost black hair that switched between long and short. The name was different too. No longer was it Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes but Riddle Me This that glowed gold in the sunlight.

Charlie had a heavy feeling in his gut as he pushed his way through a small crowd and made his way into the store. He looked around for a while trying to spot his brothers but couldn't see anyone that looked even remotely like them. Surely he would be able to recognise his own brothers?

And then he saw them, at the very top of the stairs. They had changed. Drastically. But he could tell that they were George and Fred just by their aura. They still looked as mischievous as ever but he just couldn't understand it. What had happened?

Chapter Text

Charlie could pinpoint the exact moment the twins noticed him as their expressions changed, it would be unnoticeable to anyone else but due to the fact that he spent quite a while of his life living with them he saw the moment their eyes widened and they went slightly slack jawed.

Slowly edging his way through the slight crowd of the early evening rush, Charlie reached the bottom of the spiraling staircase and made his way up. It was a strange feeling looking at them face to face. The same faces he grew up with and yet... not. He looked at them for a long moment, committing their new faces to memory before pointing to one.

"Fred?" he asked, his question aimed at the twin with the shorter hair and he swore he saw sparks at the brightness of the resulting smile he got at getting the right twin's name.

"How did you know?" George asked, surprised because even when growing up, Charlie had struggled to match the correct name to the correct twin and now here he was after three years of being away, getting their names right first try.

Charlie shrugged his shoulders, an awkward hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"I dunno." He replied, "just a gut feeling"

They stood for a short moment, an awkward silence between them as customers moved around them.

"Why are you here, Charlie?" George's voice wasn't cold by any means but it was slightly detached, like he was talking to someone he wasn't particularly close to and Charlie supposed he was in a way.

"I, uh, I wanted to figure out what had happened. I saw your names blacken on the family tree and I worried, you see" Charlie said, slightly taken aback by George's almost aloof tone.

The twins looked at each other, the same way they usually did when having a silent conversation. They had done it so often as kids that he and Bill swore up and down that they could talk to each other using only their thoughts.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Fred speaking, tone of voice defeated as if he had lost an argument even though no words were exchanged.

"Follow us" he said, turning and walking to a far corner where a door stood, hidden behind a heavily warded curtain. They stepped through, Charlie expecting to walk into a stock room but instead found himself in a spacious office, the walls painted a charcoal grey with shelves built into the wall itself. The most surprising thing about the room was the man sat behind the desk because why in Merlin's good name were they standing in Lucius Malfoy's office of all places?

By now Charlie's confusion was more audible in the surprised gasp and mild stuttering and mumbling he was doing. It caught Lucius' attention, drawing his eyes away from the legal documents he was reading and to the trio that had just entered his office.

His eyes widened marginally and he made eye contact with the twins. He cringed slightly in sympathy with the twins and what was going to be a very long and awkward conversation for them before he quietly stood from his seat and backed out of the room.

Charlie was pulled from his confused inner monologue at the sound of the door clicking shut. Then all his questions overwhelmed him and spilled out like water in a bucket. Only the bucket had a very large hole in it in the shape of Charlie Weasley's mouth.

"Guys what the shit is going on? Why in Morganas name are we in Malfoy manor of all places? They hate us. You do know they hate us right? Or did you both get a bump to the head and forget that somehow? And why do you look nothing like what you should be? Is this a breakdown? Are you both having matching mental breakdowns?" The questions were rambled off in quick succession and George nudged Fred with his elbow. Fred nodded before pulling out his wand and firing a quick lip-locking jinx at the dragonologist.

Charlie, now not being able to talk, had a vary offronted expression painted on his face as he slowly raised both his middle fingers towards the twins. It was something Hazel had taught the twins and they in turn taught him. They both laughed and fired middle fingers back at him before they sobered.

"Sorry Cheesecake" Fred said, using an old nickname the twins had for him when they were toddlers.

"But we need the time to explain everything without the chance of being interrupted. We'll remove the jinx if you promise to stay quiet until after we've finished" George finished.

Charlie considered for a moment before nodding solemnly. He had a very bad feeling that he was not going to like what the twins were about to tell him.

Chapter Text

The good thing about being in Lucius' office when Charlie's temper exploded, because who wouldn't explode when faced with the reality of their family being horrible people?, was the access to the whiskey Lucius kept on a desk in the corner for his business guests. George poured some into a glass, casting an Aguamenti charm and quickly following with a Glacius charm to freeze the water. The result was a perfectly round ball of ice that fit into the glass of whiskey.

He passed  the glass to a fuming Charlie who barely glanced at him in acknowledgment. The dragon tamer stewed for a few tense, silent minutes, simply staring into the amber liquid in his glass, swirling it around in the glass. 

"How could they?" his voice was barely a whisper, his hand clutching his glass tighter. He had yet to drink from it. 

Fred shrugged from his place behind Lucius' desk, feet crossed one over the other on top of the school governor's desk.

"That's something we're still trying to figure out I'm afraid. I think a lot of it was just greed. Not even greed for money but for fame" Fred answered truthfully and George nodded in agreement. 

Charlie sighed and finally drank the whiskey down in one gulp, wincing at the burn in his throat. 

Fred studied his older brother for a while, taking in the man he had become. His hair was longer than he remembered it being before, he looked a lot like Bill, just slightly younger and with a slight beard. 

He was brought out of his thoughts by his twin speaking.

"Charlie?" George asked quietly, "What are you going to do now?" the question was hesitant in its curiosity and Charlie's face betrayed his answer before he even uttered a word.

"I don't know, George. I mean. I want to make them suffer. All the shit they've done they deserve to. But as of right now, I don't know" He said, and the venom behind his voice as he spat the word suffer out surprised both twins. 

They knew he had met Hyacinth when she was still Hazel but they didn't know he cared about her like this. Then again Charlie cared for anyone and everyone. Someone has to have done something especially heinous to earn Charlie's hate and they suppose the remaining Weasley's had. Excluding Bill of course.

All three men were surprised at the voice of Lucius coming from the doors. He must've re-entered his office without them knowing.

"If I may, gentlemen, I may have a way for you to... exact a bit of revenge shall we say?" he said, a slightly dark smirk on his face that the twins matched perfectly. It had never occured to Charlie before how evil the twins mischievous smirks could sometimes look, especially when their pranks took on a slightly darker twist, like that time they came up with the puking pastilles. 

 Charlie hesitantly spoke up, "What would that be?" 

Lucius smiled softly, a look that was foreign to Charlie on the face of the usually cold, emotionless Lucius Malfoy, and he shooed Fred from out of his seat. 

"Well that would depend" he replied cryptically and Charlie almost rolled his eyes at the Malfoy lord's purposefully cryptic nature.

"On what?" Fred asked, taking a seat next to Charlie

"How do you feel about telling William about your family's... misdeeds?" The smirk on Lucius' face was enough to frighten a troll. 

Charlie blanched. What in Merlin's name had he gotten himself into?

Chapter Text

Dumbledore watched as the newspaper burned in his fireplace with little satisfaction. Where had he gone wrong? How is it that his secrets were being pulled out of his shadow and cast into the light for all to see? For so long he had been the one to control the narrative, tug on the puppet strings and now. Now it was all crumbling down before him and he didn't know how to piece it back together again.

His face twisted into an ugly sneer at the thought of the oldest Weasley brat. He had always kept Bill out of his plans, a move he was now deeply regretting, keeping everything between himself, Molly and the two youngest of her offspring and he half wished he had used a different family instead.

But the Weasley's were oh so easy to manipulate, all he had to do was dangle some money in their direction and they fell at his feet. Pitiful really.

The Granger girl was easy to get under his thumb as well. A showoff with the need for attention at all times. Dangle a new book at her, a chance for her to once again know something others don't, and she would flip on anyone to get it. 

He kept the rest of the Weasley's out his plans for good reasons. Bill was a stick in the mud with strong morals and would've spoiled everything before it even started, Charlie was already halfway across the world and was too soft hearted for what he would be needed to do. The twins, they would've come in useful as sometimes they could be downright vindictive with their pranks and ideas but they too had a strong moral code and would've been more trouble than they were worth and Arthur barely knew what day it was half of the time and would've been useless.

Molly was easy to manipulate, naive but with just the right amount of vindictiveness in her that she was able to get her youngest two on board with his plan.

Molly had been dousing Arthur with love potions since 5th year so Dumbledore knew she had it in her to do what he needed of her but now his plans were backfiring and he had no ammunition to fire back. He was at a loss.

At Malfoy Manor, Hyacinth watched as Charlie, Fred, George and Draco played quidditch 2 v 2, Fred and Draco against Charlie and George. They had asked her if she wanted to join but she declined. She had had enough of Quiddich. It was something else she had done out of the expectations of others. 

Instead she read the Daily Prophet, a smile brightening her features at the main story. She had been curious to know how they had proven the stealing and it turns out that if you pay Ludlig enough he can work a little goblin magic to alter the details of an official Gringrotts document without notifying any authorities. Not technically legal but he was more than happy to help, or so the twins had said. 

Hyacinth sipped at her tea and smiled happily at the sight of all four of her boys playing quiddich. And she didn't miss the bright blush on Draco's face when Charlie brushed passed him on his broom.

Chapter Text

The months leading up to Hyacinth's 15th birthday and her subsequent coming of age ball were uneventful, the mundane only broken by her passing all of her ministry required exams earlier than anyone expected of her and the countless articles speculating on who the remaining two that had been stealing from "Hazel Potter" were. Rita Skeeter had even started a poll every week. For now Dumbledore and Hermione were leading the poll at 50% and 35% respectively with Gilderoy Lockheart following behind at 15% for some odd reason.

Hyacinth's hair had grown down to her ankles at an alarming pace, so much so that it was becoming a struggle to brush on her own. That is when Narcissa explained the concept of a chosen to her.

"A chosen" The painted woman started, "is a trusted male in your life, has to be trusted because remember they are literally holding the source of your magic in their hands, who will dutifully brush your hair for you morning and night. It's a bonding experience, especially if the male is related to you. With the length of your hair it would take around an hour and half for it to be brushed properly each time it is brushed so it leaves ample time for deep conversations with your chosen. You can have more than one chosen at any given time but I suggest only having one for now, it saves confusion"

Hyacinth nodded and jotted down Narcissa's words in the book her mother had gifted her on Christmas which was becoming full with all the lessons Narcissa and Bellatrix had been teaching her on pureblood etiquette.

She thought for a moment.

"Do I have to choose someone straight away?" she asked to the painting of the woman who in recent months had become her most trusted confidant. Narcissa smiled and shook her head slightly from her place in her painted armchair.

"You don't have to, but I wouldn't recommend leaving the decision for too long, with the rate of your hair growth it will become a strenuous task to brush it alone" She advised and Hyacinth nodded in her agreement.

"I will take a couple of days to think on it before I make my final decision" she replied and Narcissa nodded before they were both distracted by a knock on the door.

The door opened slightly and the twins heads popped from round the corner of the door. They grinned cheekily at her before Fred spoke up.

"Hey lil sis" he said, stepping fully into the room and gathering her into a hug. Hyacinth loved the hugs the twins gave her. They were gentle and loving and made her feel like everything was good in the world.

"Fred and I were wondering if you'd like to go on a shopping trip with us. We wanna spoil you since your birthday and coming of age ball is coming up." George said, pulling her into another hug once Fred let go of her.

Hyacinth nodded; "where will we be going?" she asked and the twins smirked at her.

"That's for us to know and you to find out. Just know we're using international portkeys" Fred said as he began to back out of the room.

"Well. What are you waiting for? Start getting ready. We leave in an hour and half" George instructed, following his brother and shutting the door behind him with a soft click. Hyacinth shared a look of fond annoyance with Narcissa before she shuffled off into her closet to pick out an outfit.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth had taken a leaf out of her mother's book and dressed in all black with a black satin corset shirt, black cotton, wide leg trousers and platform boots to add a few more inches to her height. She paired the outfit with a black velvet clutch purse and a crescent moon necklace with matching earrings.

The portkey was just as bad as she remembered it to be, even worse when taking in the international aspect of it. It took her a few minutes to gather her bearings and not faint before she could recognise where they were. Paris. They were in wizarding Paris, a place she had only read about in books and seen in wizarding magazines. 

She looked around, mouth agape for a moment before George closed her mouth with a carefully placed finger under her chin. He looped her arm around his, Fred doing the same on her other side before they gently began guiding her through the busy streets of wizarding Paris. 

They slipped off down a discreetly placed alleyway located between a patisserie and a jewelers and emerged in a tightly packed outdoor market. The place could only be described as organised chaos with stalls lining a very narrow street either side, tightly packed together, nearly on top of each other if not for the few small, red bricked shop buildings that seperated the stalls every so often. 

There were stalls for anything and everything. Dresses, shoes, makeup, food, lengths of fabric, jewellery, books. You name it, it was probably on sale. George suddenly broke away from her and she made to follow before Fred pulled her back. She looked at him confused.

"It's a surprise" he whispered to her so she just watched as George went to a stall selling lengths of fabric and slipped the merchant a slip of parchment. She saw the merchantt nod vigorously before George made his way back to his siblings, a wide, cocky grin on his face.

"Ok Cinth, where do you want to look first?" George asked, slipping a nickname she had never heard him use before. He had only ever called her sis or Hyacinth before this, so hearing him use an actually nickname for her warmed her heart.

"Cinth" she repeated, "I like that. Those pastries look real good" she finished beginning to walk in the direction of the stall selling all sorts of delicious looking fresh French pastries until something caught her eye.

It was tucked away, a little more tucked away than the rest of the brick buildings in the street and its logo was of the phases of the moon with a woman's hand cradled underneath.

"Hey guys," she said, not looking away from the building, "how old do I have to be to get a tattoo?" 

The twins smirked.

Chapter Text

Turns out that one could be any age over 10 to be able to get a tattoo, as the wizarding method required no sharp objects like the muggle method, only a wand and a design was needed and as long as the one doing said tattoo was fully licenced to do so then everything was above board and legal.

Needless to say that Hyacinth emerged from her trip to Paris and JAPAN!! Japan! with more tattoos than she had anticipated from both countries along with being ladened down with bags of just... Stuff. 

She had three tattoos done in Paris and four done in Japan, all painless and all equally as beautiful. 

The first tattoo she chose was a dainty butterfly with roses that sat on her right collarbone as the rose was her birth flower and she felt a strong connection to butterflies due to their ties with change and transformation.

The second was on the fleshy part of her hand in the gap between the thumb and index finger and was the Unalome symbol as it represents the journey to enlightenment which Hyacinth felt she went on after getting that first letter from Gringotts.  

The third and final piece done in Paris were the words "Sad birds still sing" across her right rib just under her breast to remind her that no matter what hardships she faces, to carry on living.

In Japan she went bigger and bolder, loving the idea of decorating her body as if she were a blank canvas. She got on well with her Japanese tattoo artist, Yuki, better than the artist in Paris as well. Yuki was bright and bubbly and welcoming while her Parisian artist didn't even give her his name and was silent throughout the whole ordeal. 

Yuki, who's name Hyacinth was delighted to learn meant snow, sat down with Hyacinth and really helped with the decisions she came to on each tattoo designs and Hyacinth left the Japanese tattoo parlor extremely satisfied with her tattoos.

The first was a large piece on her right thigh of a bright turquoise Japanese dragon wrapped around sakura flowers. The dragon, according to Yuki, was to represent bravery, wisdom, and strength and the colour was to represent Hyacinth's ties to nature while the sakura symbolised love, beauty and new beginnings. 

The second was of a kitsune on her right forearm to represent intelligence and wisdom as well as just being downright adorable. Hyacinth thought that Yuki more suited the definition of adorable but Yuki had insisted that the kitsune suited her perfectly.

The third was of the Japanese red spider lily. This one had been chosen after Yuki had insisted on Hyacinth consulting Yuki's elder. The twins were instructed to remain in the main area of the tattoo parlour while Yuki led Hyacinth through a beaded curtain off to the side of the room. The room they emerged in was dark and deathly quiet and smelt of tea. Yuki instructed her to sit, kneeling on a cushion on the floor in front of layers of different colours of thin fabric. Everything was silent for a long moment when suddenly a slip of parchment was pushed under the makeshift curtain with a red spider lily drawn on it.

Yuki explained to her while doing this particular tattoo that throughout Asia, the red spider lily is known as the "flower of farewell." It is often given to people who are about to embark on a long journey, as it symbolizes death and the cycle of rebirth. In other words, a final goodbye translates to the death of someone or something. Hyacinth took that meaning and applied it to her old identity. In a way, that part of her had died. 

Her final tattoo done by Yuki was of a lotus flower on an omamori, a Japanese amulet sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. The tattoo ran half the length of her spine. The lotus represented purity and rebirth, as lotuses rise from the mud, unstained, while the omamori offered protection against evil even in its tattooed form. 

Even Fred and George had been taken in by Yuki and both ended up leaving with a tattoo each. Their tattoos matched their personalities perfectly, Fred's eluding to his more outgoing and brash personality while George's mirroring his more quiet and gentle nature. 

Fred's was of the lower half of an oni mask with a dagger through its mouth and crudely drawn stars where the eyes should've been on his left bicep. He later explained to her that oni masks ward off bad omens.

George's tattoo, on the other hand, was Japanese writing meaning Padayon which was a Japanese verb meaning continue, keep going, or move forward down the right hand side of his neck. He told her in secret that when he gets really low in his mindset he repeats the phrase Padayon over and over again as a reminder that he must continue. Hyacinth had hugged him tight and thanked him for being so open with her. 

Once back in the manor, Hyacinth cringed slightly when her mother noticed the only tattoo she had visible, the one on her hand. He shot her a surprised and slightly offronted look. Her father noticed the look, then the tattoo and subsequently burst out laughing. Severus' glare turned to his husband.

"You can't be mad at our girl, Sev, when you yourself had fifteen tattoos by the time you were sixteen" Tom revealed, causing Severus' face to go crimson. 

At Hyacinth's shocked face, Severus sighed and removed his cravat to reveal a tattoo of doves and filigree that covered his entire throat.

George piped up from the doorway; "Is this a good time to mention she has six more?"

Chapter Text

Hyacinth looked at the woman before her shyly, with an impending sense of dread settled in the lowest part of her stomach. The woman was a healer and she was there to talk about Hyacinth's eating or lack thereof.

The woman was nice, Hyacinth couldn't pretend that she wasn't, she didn't make her feel ashamed for her complicated relationship with food, but there was just something so uncomfortable about talking about it in such a clinical manner.

The woman, whose name Hyacinth had not been given, had already weighed her and taken her measurements and now was the tricky, sick-inducing part of discussing her eating habits and why they were so complicated. The healer had been sworn to secrecy about what would be revealed to her and so Hyacinth told her. Everything from the abuse to the forced eating from Molly.

The healer had the grace to hide her shock behind a mask of professionalism but Hyacinth could still see it in her eyes. The healer scribbled in a notebook, spider-like handwriting across a page that Hyacinth had no hope in reading the right way up let alone upside down from where she was sat across from the healer.

Silence permitted the room while the healer wrote and Hyacinth distracted herself by watching the dragon tattoo on her thigh dance and shift, sometimes hiding behind her thigh, its tail flicking across and around her knee.

She had taken to wearing clothes that put her tattoos on display, simply so she could watch the magic tattoos move across her skin like water. The downside of this was in doing so, she finally noticed how thin she really was, how her ribs jutted out just slightly too far and how she could wrap all of her fingers around her wrist and still have some room. It was what prompted her to ask for a healer.

She looked away from her leg to fight back the urge to dissolve into tears like she had done previously while looking in the mirror. Instead she looked out of the window of the visitors tea room and watched as the peacocks hopped around each other in a beautiful flurry of pure white feathers.

Her eyes were drawn away from the window, hearing the soft voice of the healer begin to speak.

"Miss Riddle," she started, "I want to begin by saying how sorry I am that you had to go through this, and how proud I am of you speaking so candidly to me about it. It couldn't have been easy for you and I thank you for putting your trust in me. As for treatment, I believe that the best thing for you as of right now, would be to build up your appetite." She explained, voice as level and professional as it were since she walked in.

Hyacinth nodded prompting the woman to continue; "there are a few ways we could do this but the most successful way I have seen personally is through an appetite potion" she said and noting the concerned look on Hyacinth's face rushed to continue. "It's nothing to be concerned about, there are no other consequences to taking this potion other than improving your appetite for food and bringing your weight up. Once we have some therapy sessions together and you have a better approach to food we can start to slowly reduce the amount of potions that you take until you can stop them all together" she explained, quelling Hyacinth's anxiety.

Hyacinth considered for a while. The thought of regular potions left her stomach twisting uncomfortably but what other option did she have? It was either that or never have a healthy relationship with food and slowly waste away. Besides, her mother was a potion's master and was damn good at it too, he wouldn't allow her to take a potion that could harm her in any way.

Hyacinth took a deep breath before she nodded; "Ok, I'll take the potions. What do I have to do?" She asked and the healer smiled, pulling a medical bag from the side of her chair and opening it before checking her watch.

"Has the household had breakfast yet?" She asked, looking up at Hyacinth from her bent position over her bag. Hyacinth shook her head 'no' and the healer nodded, pulling three medium sized vials and two smaller, all containing the same milky white liquid.

The healer held the potions out towards Hyacinth and she took them with hesitant hands. The healer pulled out a slip of parchment and a quill, explaining as she wrote.

"The larger one to be taken before every major meal; breakfast, lunch and dinner, the smaller ones are for in between the meals and are for snacks. It's important that you snack between meals, nothing too fancy or extravagant, maybe fruits or vegetables and hummus" she explained, handing Hyacinth the slip of parchment with what she could only assume was instructions. She would have to try to remember the spell that would make handwriting legible.

The healer checked her watch once more, clipping her bag shut again and making to stand up.

"I will talk to your parents about the therapy sessions and organise for tomorrow's potions to be delivered via early morning owl post tomorrow morning. Before I go though Miss Riddle, I am legally obligated to watch you take your first potion. This will be the first and last time I will need to see you take it as after the first potion is taken, it will automatically go into our records every time you take it" she explained gently and Hyacinth sighed slightly. So much for having her mother check the potion over before she takes it. Although, the healer had come at Narcissa's suggestion and she trusted her even if she was only there through portrait alone.

She shrugged and uncorked one of the larger bottles, pausing to take a cautious sniff, surprised at the cinnamon scent that invaded her nose. Shrugging once again, under the watchful eye of her healer, she brought the vial to her lips and drank it down in one big gulp.

Chapter Text

The potions worked wonders for Hyacinth. A month on from the first initial meeting with the healer, whose name Hyacinth had learnt to be Madame Sage Dempsey, and she had gained a significant amount of weight. Whereby she was originally 93lbs she now weighed a healthy 130lbs and couldn't be happier about it. Her attitude towards food was also changing, Instead of feeling guilty or wrong for eating she had begun to enjoy the act of eating and had even started cooking all the meals on Fridays and the weekends, which gave the kitchen house elves three day breaks every week. 

The first time she cooked the kitchen house elves had all beaten themselves with shame, thinking they had done wrong by their masters and had begged at Lucius' feet for him to forgive them but they then bore witness to how much fun their little missy, as they called Hyacinth, cooking and so they grew to accept the change, using the days off and the money they earned to buy new cookbooks and find recipes for Hyacinth attempt at making. 

The therapy sessions she was having were helping too, and she couldn't help but feel different, happier. They had even started weaning her off of the daily potions both agreeing that she now had a better outlook on food and eating. Madame Sage was incredibly happy about Hyacinth's progress and made sure to tell her as such, recognising that Hyacinth seemed to light up in a beautifully shy way when complimented. 

Because she had won the triwizard tournament and become an adult in the eyes of magic, her coming of age ball would age her approximately one year older than she already was. The thought was odd to her, turning 16 a month after turning 15 but she had found peace with the concept and had plans to announce who she wanted as her chosen the night of her coming of age ball. 

The morning of her ball, Hyacinth woke up and was extremely reluctant to get out of bed, her blanket surrounding her in a cocoon of soft warmth that she didn't want to leave. She dragged herself from the bed, however, knowing she had a lot to do but stopped in her tracks noticing Bellatrix stood just under the frame that Narcissa occupied, both had matching, sly, secretive smiles on their faces and Hyacinth began to worry. She knew Narcissa was just a portrait but Bellatrix wasn't so there was no telling what they were up to. 

"What are you up to?" She asked, not sure she truly wanted to know the answer to her question, her face saying as much. 

Bellatrix chuckled a little and pressed a finger to her lips and shaking her head so her curls shook wildly. 

"It's a secret, Cinthy, just go have a bath. Everything will be ready by the time you're finished in there" She said, walking over to Hyacinth and ushering her into the bathroom, giggling all the way. 

"Okayyy" Hyacinth said, confusion in her voice but she simply accepted her fate and went to draw a bath. 

She made sure to use soft fragrances in the bath water opting to use rose oil and lemongrass oil. She pulled her nightgown over her head and unwound her long hair out of the plaits she had slept in, admiring the loose pretty curls that just grazed the floor and framed the skin of her body that was now soft and pliant under her hands instead of pulled tight over her bones. 

Her hands traced her new curves, over the sportswear she wore under her sleep clothes with a gentle touch. She couldn't deny that she felt sexy and just good about herself. She grinned at herself in the mirror before she pulled off the sportswear and lowered herself into the bath that was the perfect temperature to relax in. 

So as to not get her already clean hair wet, she gathered as much of it as she could and threw it into a very messy, but practical for its purpose bun. What she couldn't get into the bun, she draped over the side of the bath and simply sank slightly lower into the tub and relaxed. 

She drifted off for a while, the warm water and fragrances lulling her into a light sleep. She was woken up by an incessant knocking on the bathroom door. Bellatrix swooped in in a flurry of ferocious curls and black swooping lace. 

"Up, up up and out, little one, your surprise is here" she demanded, clapping her hands and waving in a come hither motion. 

Hyacinth slowly stood up and stepped out of the bath, allowing Bellatrix to sweep her up in a fluffy bathrobe before she was ushered into her bedroom with great urgency. 

She froze and pulled her robe around her a little further, shocked to see two women she didn't recognise, sat on her sofa, drinking tea and chatting to Narcissa's portrait. 

One was a beautiful black woman, with a smooth and flawless complexion and a face that looked like it belonged on a magazine. She was elegant looking, regal from the way she sat to the way she held her teacup.

The other woman was just as beautiful. She seemed to be slightly younger than the other woman, with a tanned complexion and startling blue eyes. She too, held herself with grace and poise.

She was pulled out of her observations by Narcissa speaking up. 

"Ah ladies she's here. Darlings I want you to meet Hyacinth Riddle-Snape" Narcissa introduced and the two women turned in their spots on the sofa to face in her direction. The black woman smiled sunnily at her whilst the other woman offered her a ghost of a smile and a slight nod in greeting. 

Hyacinth smiled back, confusion behind the smile and in her eyes. To alleviate her confusion Bellatrix spoke, introducing the two women to her. 

"Cinth, this is Constance Zabini," she gestured to the black woman and Hyacinth tried not to gawk, this was Blaize Zabini's mother, "And this is Noémie Dubois" she finished, gesturing to the tanned woman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hyacinth" Constance said, standing from the sofa and surprising Hyacinth by how tall she was. At least 6ft 5. She swooped Hyacinth into a gentle hug which considering the height difference should've felt more awkward than it actually did. Instead it felt comforting. 

"We're here to help you get ready for the ball" Noémie spoke up, approaching Hyacinth with an extended hand for a handshake. She had a notable and heavy French accent. 

She looked to Bellatrix who grinned at her, her teeth no longer blackened and rotting. Hyacinth had a feeling she was in for a long ride.

Chapter Text

After initial introductions and idle chit chat for a while, Hyacinth was swooped up into a flurry of makeup, powders, fabric and perfumes as Constance and Noémie transformed her into their own mannequin for the next few hours.

They began by removing her from her bathrobe and Hyacinth couldn't help the fierce blush that warmed her from her cheeks to the tops of her breasts. They rubbed beautiful, soft smelling lotions into her skin, from the top of her forehead down to the bottoms of her feet. Slowly she felt less and less embarrassed about being completely naked.  

Constance then pulled a bag from her pocket that once on the floor enlarged to a size that nearly dwarfed Hyacinth. From it she pulled out a rolling cart of makeup, hair products and brushes, as well as an extending clothes rail full of womens lingerie all in Hyacinth's size. Constance stared at the lingerie for a while, considering before she turned to Hyacinth.

"What dress are you wearing tonight, dear?" she asked and Hyacinth grinned, happy to finally show the dress Lucius brought her to someone that didn't live in the manor. Constance gasped at the dress, fawning over the intricate beaded pattern over the entire dress. Even Noémie seemed impressed.

Constance turned back to the rail and taking note of the off the shoulder straps of the dress, pulled from the rail a matching, strapless white lace set that she instructed Hyacinth to get into before she put a silk robe around her.

From there Noémie ushered her to her vanity where she gently pushed her into the chair and began working on her makeup. She told Hyacinth with a cheeky little smile that she wasn't allowed to see anything until they were completely finished and flipped the mirror around so that only the grey backing could be seen. 

While Noémie worked on the makeup, Constance made a start on her hair, gently tugging the elastic away from her hair and freeing it from the messy bun. Once it was finally free the two woman suddenly paused and an audible gasp came from both of them. 

"Cissa. Her hair..." Constance trailed off, voice full of wonder and surprise. Narcissa hummed from her frame.

"I know, Connie, her hair growth has surpassed anything I ever expected. She truly is a powerful young witch" Narcissa replied, lying comfortably on a deep purple chaise longue. Hyacinth blushed, unused to being under such scrutiny. Sure, she had had attention on her before, she was the chosen one, it kind of came with the territory. However, she had never had attention like this before. Attention that was on her but also not. It was a weird feeling. 

Constance seemed to suck in a sharp before she slowly pulled her hands away from Hyacinth's hair. Noémie took a step back, making room for Constance to stand in front of Hyacinth and look her in the eye. 

"Do I have your permission to touch your hair, Hyacinth?" She asked, voice weighty with seriousness and Hyacinth nodded, confusion written across her features. Narcissa coughed slightly, drawing Hyacinth's attention to her. 

"I'm sorry, darling this is an oversight on my part. Constance, I apologize for not forewarning you. Constance needs your verbal permission in order to touch your hair from this point onward. Her touching your hair before this point is ok because she was unaware of its length and therefore your power. Now that she knows and has asked you for permission, you must verbally consent or refuse" Narcissa explained dutifully, the same way she explained things in their etiquette lessons. 

Hyacinth nodded and turned back to face Constance; "You have my permission to touch my hair" she said and was surprised to feel a tingle of magic travel down her arms. Constance smiled beautifully and moved back behind her and began styling, gently tugging and twisting and pinning.

She sat there for what was probably hours only taking breaks for breakfast and lunch as well as the occasional toilet break where she was strictly told to avoid the mirrors. Hyacinth, worried she would accidentally catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror, got Bellatrix to go into the bathroom before her and cover any reflective surfaces with towels. Bellatrix had done so, giggling the whole time. 

By the time they had finished on her makeup and hair there was an hour and a half left before the ball would start. Constance slipped a pair of emerald green heels onto Hyacinth's feet as Noémie slipped the silk robe off of her arms. Bellatrix pooled the dress onto the floor so that Hyacinth just had to step into it and she did, Constance and Noémie each holding one of her hands to keep her stable as she stepped into the dress. 

Constance then pulled the dress up over Hyacinth's chest, allowing her to slip her arms into the arms that settled on her biceps just below the curve of her shoulders. The dress that had been made to her smaller size, automatically shifted and resized itself to her new curves so that it fit her comfortably. Constance busied herself with clipping a necklace around her neck and placing earrings into her earlobes while Noémie sprayed a sweet smelling perfume on her wrists, behind her ears and the inside of her elbows. 

The women stepped back from her and Narcissa gasped from her high vantage point in her frame as Hyacinth turned to face her. Narcissa clasped her hands over her chest.

"You are a vision, darling" she said, sounding slightly choked up. Hyacinth smiled sweetly at her and blew her a kiss. She was gently guided to stand in front of a full length mirror that had been turned around. Bellatrix counted to three and Noémie turned the mirror so that Hyacinth could see her reflection and she gasped in shock. She could barely recognise herself. 

For her makeup, Noémie had focused on a flawless base and bold eyes, using black and brown eyeshadows on the outer corners of her eyes and a bright metallic green on the rest of her lid with a pop of gold on the inner corner. She had painted her lips a beautiful pinkish nude, defining her lips with a slightly darker lip liner. 

Her hair had been curled into tight ringlets that made it appear shorter and sat at her lower back instead of her ankles. Constance had braided part of her hair around the back of her head and had places small silver butterflies that fluttered in her hair along the braid. 

Round her neck was a gorgeous intricate and rather large necklace consisting of thirteen lager emeralds, ten smaller emeralds and countless small white diamonds. 

The earrings were obviously not from the same collection that the necklace was from but still worked together. They were made up with five deep green emeralds and a singular white diamond.

Hyacinth stared at her reflection for some time, in shock at what she saw, and was only pulled away from looking at her reflection when the door opened and in walked her mother and father. It was time for her to be presented to her families friends. 

Chapter Text

She stood at the top of the stairs, her parents either side of her. From where they stood she could hear laughter and talking along with soft music to set the tone. At the bottom of the stairs she noticed Fred, George, Charlie and Draco waiting for them. When Draco noticed them at the top of the stairs he smiled at her and walked to the doorway of the ballroom, casting a Sonorus to draw attention to himself.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my greatest pleasure to present to you, Lady Hyacinth Iris Riddle-Snape." He announced, prompting them to begin walking down the stairs. At about midway down, Tom turned to look at her, taking in the almost aristocratic planes of his daughters face with pride.

"You ready for this, darling?" he asked, drawing her attention to him. She smiled, something he likened to the sun breaking through rain clouds. He felt his heart swell at the sight. Their relationship was still delicate, something that they approached with gentle curiosity and he wagered a guess that it was a similar situation between his husband and daughter.

All three of them had terrible pasts but if they could agree on one thing it was that they all three were determined to be better than their past and they all strived to love each other and themselves better.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready, Dad. But for what it's worth, I'm glad I have you both by my side as I do this" she said, voice soft and calm, nothing betraying the nerves she felt. Tom smiled back at her, catching the eye of his husband on the other side of her and sharing a soft look.

"You look beautiful, my dear" Severus spoke up, breaking the very brief lapse of silence as they drew closer to the end of the stairs. From where the stairs were situated the people in the ballroom kept catching glimpses of her dress and Hyacinth smiled at the gasps of awe at its beauty.

"Thank you, mama," she replied, "I have Constance and Noémie to thank. I hope they were invited to stay tonight, I would like to cook for them in thanks tomorrow morning" she pondered and Tom hummed.

"I'm sure that can be arranged" he whispered to her as they stepped off the final step, leaving them just out of view of the ballroom door. Fred and George flashed matching, impish grins at her and took their place next to their parents, just slightly behind them. Charlie and Draco had already entered the ballroom.

Hyacinth took a steadying breath before she nodded to her family and they made there way into the ballroom to shocked gasps. A stunned silence swept over the room before someone, most likely Bellatrix, whooped and started a loud applause that went on for quite some time. Hyacinth curtsied to her audience, looking every bit the noble, pureblood woman she was learning to be.

She surveyed the room, taking in the faces of people, some she recognised, most she didn't know. Her father had explained to her that everyone in attendance were Knights of Walpurgis, loyal friends to himself and her mother and that all had been put under a Fidelius Charm and some had even taken Unbreakable Vows. As such she was comfortable telling her story.

As the applause and cheering died down, Hyacinth cast her own Sonorus before she began to speak.

"I would like to start by thanking all of you for attending tonight. My reunion with my family, my true family, has been a long time coming. I am told that everyone here is a loyal, trustworthy party and as such I feel it is of utmost importance that you all know my story.

"The girl you see before you hasn't always existed as you see her now. I was lied to and led to believe that I was the chosen one, destined to be the catalyst of a war and to kill Voldemort," at her father's wince at the name she reached out and held his hand, "All my life I have been looked at, so much so that I have learned to differentiate the meaning behind their eyes, could see the pity or the love, anger, hate, jealousy. But what I failed to truly see was the true intentions behind the eyes of the people I once considered as family. Those same people lied to me, manipulated me and stole from me, I'm sure you read the papers" she quipped, drawing out a strained chuckle from the crowd.

"While that is now in the past and I now have my family, my real family, I can assure you their time will come and I hope that when that time comes, some if not all of you will help me in taking my revenge" she announced, pride and a dark glimmer behind her eyes and someone shouted a loud 'Of course we will' from the back of the room. Hyacinth giggled at that, something that was amplified by the Sonorus and echoed around the quiet room.

"Thank you. Alas that time is not yet so for now, a toast!" She said, picking up a flute of champagne from one of the floating serving trays in the room and raised her glass high, watching as the rest of the room followed. "To true families" she declared, before silently cancelling her Sonorus charm as the room repeated her words back to her. In two hours she would need to announce who her chosen would be and an hour after that, the ritual to age her up one year would take place, after which they would continue the ball well into the late night.

For the time being she busied herself with mingling and familiarising herself with the people who had attended. She was quite surprised to see Amelia Bones in attendance and once catching her eye, made a beeline for her.

"Madame Bones," she greeted with a curtsey, "I must say, I was not expecting to see you tonight." she said, curiosity lacing her words. Amelia smiled, something that was rarely seen on the face of the formidable politician.

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises, Miss Riddle-Snape" she replied and Hyacinth hid a surprised laugh behind a polite cough.

"Please, Madame Bones, call me Hyacinth, the formalities make me feel older than my years and, like my Aunt Bella likes to say, if there's one thing I'm not its old " Hyacinth joked, drawing out a laugh from the woman before her.

"Ok, Hyacinth," she replied, making sure to use her name "but you must call me Amelia in return, at least outside of the Ministry. I must say, that news article came as a great shock to me. May I be so uncouth as to ask who the other person was that was stealing from you? I may be able to get something started in the Ministry" she asked, moving in closer to Hyacinth's side and lowering her voice slightly.

Hyacinth considered for a moment, if she were to do this it would shake the wizarding world to its core. She smirked, she was always one for the dramatics. She got it from her mother.

"I won't tell you here and now, but the information, proof and some other juicy details will be on your desk first thing" she promised and Amelia grinned, something akin to a shark. She nodded to Hyacinth and Hyacinth odded back before the two parted ways.

Life is nothing without a little chaos to make things interesting.

Chapter Text

Time trickled by, and before she knew it, the time for her to announce who her chosen was had snuck up on her. Draco gently pulled her away from a conversation with someone who, to be quite frank, she couldn't remember the name of. He had an impressive moustache paired with a thick Russian accent and was a very entertaining conversationalist. 

"Who was that?" she whispered to Draco as he gently pulled her through and around the crowd. He chuckled.

"That was Igor Kozlov. He's the ambassador for the Wizarding Republic of Russia if the accent didn't give it away," he joked, "Fun fact, his last name means goat."

Hyacinth burst out laughing, drawing the attention of those standing nearby. They didn't look annoyed at her outburst, however. Instead, they smiled at her, seemingly happy at her happiness. 

It took a while of dodging ambassadors and pureblood nobility before they reached her parents, who were waiting at the base of a small stage. Her father took her hand and helped her onto the stage, keeping hold of her hand to steady her and simply for the comfort it brought both of them. 

Slowly, guests began to notice her standing on the stage and gave her their attention. Once she was sure she had their attention, she cast another Sonorus. 

"As some of you may have heard, tonight I will be announcing my chosen. In fact, I have two to announce to you." She said cryptically, smiling a little at the confused faces around the room. In a frame at the back of the room, she noticed Narcissa throw her hands up in exasperation and hid a giggle behind a slight cough. 

"While I know it isn't usually advisable to have more than one chosen at the same time, I understand that it is a bonding experience. As such, I want to ask Mother, Father, will you do me the honour of being my chosens? The prospect of you both being my parents is still something that I am unused to, and I would like to use the bonding experience that this concept will give us as a chance to get to know you both. Would you be willing to allow me this? Will you allow me to learn how to be your daughter?" Hyacinth asked, her voice thick with emotion as she locked eyes with her parents. 

With their eyes filled with tears, her parents nodded frantically as Tom pulled her off the stage and into a tight embrace. The room was quiet for a few seconds as the crowd looked on at the emotional scene before someone started a round of applause. 

Hyacinth cancelled the Sonorus and nodded towards Bellatrix, who was standing nearby. Bellatrix approached them and handed Hyacinth two matching, opulent boxes. Bright red roses were on every face of the box. They were a pink pearlescent colour with gold around the edges and gold filigree in the corners and by the edges of the box. 

Inside the boxes were matching wooden backed hair brushes, each hand-painted with pink roses with a pink bow at the hilt of the handle. 

Hyacinth handed a box to her mother and one to her father with a watery smile. 

"Thank you", she whispered, and they pulled her into a gentle, loving hug, planting a soft kiss on the crown of her head. 

Hyacinth suddenly got whisked away by the twins as they pulled her into the centre of the room and began dancing with her. Her parents watched on with tears in their eyes as their daughter glowed as she danced, her dark hair fanning out as she spun in time to the music. Her laugh rang out through the ballroom as the attendees watched on. 

Tom likened her laugh to the sound of tinkling bells. He smiled. All he had ever wanted was for his child to be free, and here she was, laughing and dancing in a way that only one that was free could do so.

A half-hour later and Hyacinth got gently pulled away from dancing by Bellatrix. Her Godmother led her to where Constance and Noémie stood, holding a flute of champagne each. Once Constance noticed the pair drawing nearer to them, she silently took Noémie's flute and placed both on a nearby table.  

"Oh, congratulations, darling," Constance gushed, pulling Hyacinth into a comforting hug, "A chosen is a big deal in the magical world, but I'm sure you already know that. We have half an hour to prepare you for your ageing up ceremony. Come." 

The three women silently led her out of the bustling ballroom and back to her bedroom. She was secretly glad for the break. Her social battery was seriously beginning to drain. 

Constance and Noémie helped Hyacinth out of her dress, placing it on a mannequin to return to later. Constance then pulled out her ritual dress, a floor-length white silk dress with a white lace overlay. 

Constance used her wand to remove the butterfly clips from Hyacinth's hair with one quick flick. Noémie took the time to help Hyacinth out of her heels, for she had to be barefooted for the ritual. 

As they helped her into her ritual dress, Hyacinth posed a question. 

"Constance, Noémie, I wanted to ask if you would both stay the night. I wish to make you breakfast in the morning as thanks for tonight. Constance, I know your son is here tonight, and I would like you to know he is also welcome to stay the night." Was her question as they busied themselves with arranging her dress so that it fell around her gracefully. 

Constance paused and smiled, "I would love to, darling", was her reply before she looked to Noémie. 

Noémie seemed to ponder for a while before her face split with the biggest and brightest grin Hyacinth had ever seen. The usually stoic woman nodded frantically and replied in French. 

"J'aimerais beaucoup, Hyacinthe. Tu es un ange sur Terre," The French woman said. Hyacinth had minimal knowledge of French but managed to get the gist of what she had said and gathered from the frantic nodding that Noémie had done that she was happy with the proposal. 

Hyacinth smiled. "That's settled then," she said, "Once I'm done with my ritual, I will speak to Lord Malfoy about having some rooms made up for you both." 

Hyacinth looked up at Narcissa's portrait at the telltale sound of the woman's laugh. At Hyacinth's confused look, Narcissa sighed slightly. 

"My dear, you are allowed to call him Lucius. He hates being called Lord Malfoy. It's what his father demanded to be called." The woman explained, causing Hyacinth to blush something fierce. 

She nodded mutely although she knew speaking to Lucius Malfoy would not be easy on her or her growing crush on him. Oh, Gods, she was in trouble. 

Chapter Text

Before she knew it, Hyacinth was back in her gown and mingling with the attendees. Only her family had witnessed the ritual, as anyone else being there would've tampered with the ritual magic. She had to lie on a large flat stone, shivering at the coldness it sent rushing up her spine, as her mother, father, and brothers set out and lit tall white candles around her.

They chanted the spell for the ritual, and Hyacinth remembers feeling a tingling sensation shoot up her arms and legs. The ritual didn't change her features, as she was only aged up one year. Had they aged her up to 18, they would've seen drastic changes to her features.

She turned from talking to a woman named Lady Nancy Drew, a high-standing witch of pureblood nobility when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She didn't recognise the man behind her, but he smiled brightly at her, and she smiled back.

"Forgive me for intruding, Ms Riddle; my name is Magnum Mayweather. I was wondering if you would do me the honour of dancing with me?" he asked, holding his hand out invitingly.

She hesitated for a second, studying his face. She didn't know what it was, but something within her told her not to accept his offer. There was something cold and unfeeling in his eyes. She glanced behind her, crestfallen to see that Lady Drew had slipped off to talk to someone else, meaning Hyacinth didn't have an out.

She sighed slightly, turning back to him with a hesitant smile before she curtsied to him slightly before she accepted his offered hand gracefully.

They danced to the soft music ringing throughout the ballroom, their steps gentle and practised.

Lucius stood in the corner of the ballroom, watching the two with thinly veiled jealousy, his hand tightly wrapped around his whiskey glass with a white-knuckled grip. Bellatrix sidled up beside him.

"My dear brother-in-law, you won't have a glass left if you continue to hold it like that", she teased, slipping the glass from his hand and drinking the whiskey herself. Her eyes followed his line of sight, "Ah", she sighed, placing the glass down, "Lucius, go ask her to dance; she is clearly uncomfortable; she'd probably thank you for it." She encouraged, and Lucius looked at her with wary eyes.

"Lucius, one would have to be blind not to see your feelings for her. Now go," she demanded, giving him a slight push both metaphorically and physically with a firm hand on his back.

He slowly picked his way through the crowd and reached them right as the piece of music ended. Before he could speak, though, the man leant down to whisper something in Hyacinth's ear, and he watched as her face fell and her panicked eyes met his own.

Before he could decipher what was happening, the man that just moments ago had been dancing with Hyacinth had whipped out his wand and fired a silent spell right at her stomach. Lucius moved to catch Hyacinth as she fell to the floor, feeling as though he was moving in slow motion despite getting to her within seconds.

The man tried to flee but was blocked by attendees of the ball, and Tom had his wand against the man's throat before anyone could utter a word. Gasps rang out throughout the ballroom, and Lucius returned his attention to the unconscious girl in his arms. She was bleeding. A dark, sticky substance darkening the fabric of her dress. It wasn't something anyone would notice unless they were where Lucius was, but he could see it.

"Severus", he called out, bringing the potion master's attention to them; the man ran over to them as soon as he saw the panic-stricken face of his best friend. He noticed the blood quickly, shock and panic taking over his body. He rushed to help Lucius pick her up in a bridal-style carry and promptly created a path through the crowd.

Once they reached the ballroom doors, Severus stopped, turning to his most trusted friend with fury in his eyes.

"Take her to her room and call for Healer Sage Dempsey. Do not leave her side." He instructed, his distracted eyes trailing towards where his husband stood, wand at the man's throat and a rage ready to boil over. "I will help Tom deal with our... guest", he finished darkness to his words.

Lucius nodded, looking down at the unconscious girl in his arms, her blood now staining his white dress shirt. He paused before he left the ballroom, turning to Severus with a dark look in his eyes.

"Make him pay" were his only words before he rushed from the ballroom to Hyacinth's chambers.

Severus turned back to the crowd, who seemingly got the message from the look in his eyes alone as they all silently apparated out of the ballroom one by one until the only people remaining in the room were himself, Tom, the twins, Draco, Charlie, Bellatrix and the man who was squirming at the tip of Tom's wand. He could feel the crackle of angry magic in the air as he slowly stalked towards the coward of a man.

Before anyone could blink, seven wands were aimed at the man whose eyes filled with panic and tears at the predicament he had gotten himself into. It was now he realised that this had been a trap. The person that had put him up to this had no intentions of saving him. He had been doomed from the beginning, and now he would die.

Chapter Text

Lucius looked down at the unconscious girl he had laid on the bed covers. She seemed so small at that moment, and he fought back the tears as he waited for the healer to arrive, praying to any deity that was listening to allow her to live. His tie and suit jacket lay in a heap at his feet, the first two buttons of his bloodstained dress shirt unbuttoned and his hair a birds nest from the number of times he had ran his hands through the long tendrils. He knew he looked a mess. He simply didn't care enough to do anything to change that. 

She was breathing but barely, breaths shallow. Her bloodstained dress dwarfed the bed, forever tainted and ruined by a stranger. He looked up at the sound of the Healer apparating into the room, promptly followed by two other medi-witches. She wasted no time for pleasantries and automatically got to work on stemming the bleeding and figuring out what she had been hit with. Lucius remained silently stressed in the seat he had dragged to the bedside; he only moved the seat back a few inches to make room for the bustling medi-witches around him. He never once looked away from Hyacinth's face.

Despite the blood that stained her dress and his shirt, she looked peaceful, her facial features soft in the forced sleep. She was much paler, though, so pale he would've feared she was dead had it not been for the shallow but steady breaths she was taking.

After what felt like an age, the Healer, Madame Sage Dempsey, stood back with a sigh. Her face was morose yet satisfied, an expression Lucius didn't quite understand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his late wife slip into the frame above the fireplace, painted face awash with grief and desperate concern. 

The Healer began to speak, turning to face Lucius. "She's been hit with a modified diffindo. This version of the spell goes far deeper than the original and can cause much worse damage than its counterpart. Thankfully though, she will pull through this. I am unsure how long that will take as the spell has done some extensive damage." the healer explained, and Narcissa whimpered at the words 'extensive damage'.

"What type of damage?" Lucius rasped, finally tearing his eyes away from Hyacinth's face to meet Madame Sage Dempsey's eyes. The two medi-witches silently moved to stand at the foot of the bed.

The healer sighed, her eyes becoming downcast before she answered.

"The spell cut into the lining of her stomach and one of her kidneys. It narrowly missed her intestines." The healer hesitated before continuing, "The spell targeted other parts of her body, but I am afraid I cannot divulge what those parts are until Miss Riddle is awake and I can discuss the matter with her." she finished, and Lucius' eyebrows furrowed. 

He shook his head silently before his eyes trailed back to Hyacinth's face again, his face becoming emotionless and his stare blank. Madame Sage Dempsey turned to the two medi-witches at the foot of the bed to give her instructions. 

"Healer Hutton, please get Miss Riddle into some more comfortable clothing?" She asked, and one of the medi-witches nodded and slipped into Hyacinth's walk-in closet. The act felt violating for everyone involved, but it needed to be done. 

"Healer Draper, once Miss Riddle has been changed, please hook her up to an I.V of glucose, a strong painkiller and insert a feeding tube. I fear it may take a while for her to come round," Madame Sage Dempsey sighed heavily. She had become quite close to Hyacinth during their sessions together, so seeing her in such a pitiful state brought pain to her chest. 

The four occupants in the room looked up at the sound of the door opening and shutting. Tom looked at his daughter, distraught written all over his face at the sight of his daughter looking so close to death's door. The healer made her way to him, talking to him in a whisper as the medi-witches helped each other to get Hyacinth changed into warm fleece pyjamas. 

They gently lay her back on the bed, this time pulling the blankets up and over her, leaving her arms out to be hooked up to the I.V that one of the medi-witches was setting up on the opposite side of the bed while the other medi-witch set to completing the rather disturbing act of inserting an Orogastric feeding tube. Lucius had to turn away. When he turned back, he nearly cried at the sight before him. 

She looked far younger than her now 16 years; her face was deathly pale and sickly looking. She looked small and vulnerable, and Lucius wanted to snatch her up and run to a place where she'd never be able to be hurt again. 

Tom came over, dragging a chair lifelessly behind him, sitting at Lucius' side. Lucius had never seen Tom like this. He was worse than when Hyacinth was taken as a baby, but Lucius supposed that Hyacinth wasn't sitting on death's doorstep back then. Now she was. 

"Where is the bastard?" Lucius asked, voice void of emotion as the shock of the night's events settled in. Tom didn't look away from his daughter as he answered, staring at her as if should he look away, she'd be gone when he next looked. 

"In one of the cells in the dungeon", came his reply, voice as emotionless as Lucius'. Narcissa sobbed quietly in her picture frame above the fireplace. 

"Is he dead yet?" Was Lucius' next question, turning to look at the side of Tom's face. Part of him wanted the answer to be no, he hadn't had his turn yet, and Gods, did he want his turn. But another part of him wanted the answer to be yes, because to have his turn, he'd need to leave her side, and he didn't want to do that. 

"Not yet," Tom whispered, slight bitterness lacing his words, "I wish he were. But Hyacinth deserves that pleasure. Doesn't mean he won't suffer in the meantime, though." His words took on a darker tone, eyes remaining on his daughter as she lay unconscious in bed. She would have her revenge. He'd make sure of it. 

Lucius turned back to look at Hyacinth again, being struck with the realisation that he was in love with her. Deeply.

Chapter Text

Hyacinth woke up a month later. Lucius had been the only one in the room when she woke up, her eyes so sensitive to the light tears streamed down her face. At first, the tears were only because of the light sensitivity, but then they became actual crying at the pain she was in, which then turned into a full-blown panic attack because she didn't understand what was happening. Lucius sent a rushed patronus to Healer Sage Dempsey before he gently pulled Hyacinth into his arms, slowly sliding into the bed underneath her so that her back was pressed against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, slowly rocking her from side to side.

"When Draco was little," he began talking, voice low and rumbly, the effects vibrating against her back, "he had nightmares; he would wake up every night with panic attacks. It was a lot for his little five-year-old body. This was the only thing that could calm him down so I do hope you don't mind" he finished, noticing her breathing beginning to level out.

She tried to speak but choked, only now noticing the tube down her throat. She sobbed, a heaving, gut-wrenching sob, slowly turning her sore body so that she could bury her face in Lucius' broad shoulder as she cried, the memories of what should have been a happy, fantastic night, rushing back to her, tainted by how it ended.

Madame Sage Dempsey arrived promptly, the same two medi-witches from before soon following her and Lucius gently coaxed Hyacinth into sitting up. He carefully slid out from under her and onto the edge of the bed. He attempted to stand up to leave the room but was stopped by a hand catching his own. Hyacinth's pleading eyes told him all he needed to know, so he remained seated on the edge of the bed, warm hand gripping tightly onto Hyacinth's cold, clammy one.

"Hyacinth, I am so sorry, darling; this is going to be uncomfortable as all hell, but I need you to bare with me while I take the tube out. I need you to relax for me as much as possible. Can you do that for me?" The healer asked, and Hyacinth nodded hesitantly, her grip on Lucius' hand becoming tighter. Sage coaxed the teen to lean back slightly and slowly began to remove the tube.

Hyacinth screwed her eyes shut, tears leaking out of the sides of her eyes, and she gagged as the tube was finally removed, heaving and spluttering all while she sobbed heavily, coughing uncontrollably as she shivered from cold due to the shock.

Lucius wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his side and rubbing her arm over the fabric of her fleece sleepshirt, trying to get her warm. The medi-witches busied themselves with removing the I.V as Sage wiped at Hyacinth's spit-slicked lips with a cloth and wiped at her tears with warm hands.

After a while, Hyacinth slowly pulled back from Lucius' side and flopped back against her pillows, body exhausted. She wanted to go back to sleep despite being bed-bound for a month. She tried to speak, but nothing came out; her throat parched and rendered silent from misuse. Lucius handed her a glass of water.

She slowly sipped at it, the cold water soothing her sore throat and tried to speak again.

"Why does my body hurt so much?" she asked, her voice still rough from not using it for a month. It was something she figured would go away with time. Sage sighed and sat on the opposite edge of the bed.

"Your soreness is partially due to being bed-bound for so long but also partially due to the attack you suffered. The spell you were attacked with was a modified Diffindo; this one cuts far deeper and does more damage, I'm afraid. You are lucky to be alive right now." the healer explained, nodding her thanks to the two medi-witches who nodded back to her and apparated out of the room.

Hyacinth braced herself. "Lay it on me, doc", she joked, trying to lighten the serious mood in the room and failing, "what damage was done?"

Sage sighed, making eye contact with Lucius. He knew what the healer was going to say; he had heard it weeks before. Still, he wasn't sure he was prepared for Hyacinth to hear it.

"Well. The spell cut the lining of your stomach rather severely; thankfully, the damage wasn't so extensive that it did irreversible damage; I will advise you to eat smaller meals in the meantime while your stomach heals. The spell also cut into one of your kidneys. Unfortunately, we could not salvage that, but you shouldn't have any nasty side effects of only having one kidney." The healer tried to joke. Her smile faded as she moved on to the next piece of medical information.

"The spell bypassed your intestines completely, only narrowly missing them. Unfortunately, by bypassing your intestines, the spell went directly into your womb. My darling," she trailed off, grasping onto Hyacinth's free hand, the one not occupied by Lucius' own, "there is no easy way to say this, but there is no possible chance of you having any children in the future. The spell did too much irreversible damage to your womb. There are chances, slim as they may be, that you will fall pregnant, but it is my job to make sure you understand that there will be no chance of those pregnancies being brought to term" she finished, grip tight on Hyacinth's hand.

If Hyacinth's voice box had permitted it, she would've screamed there and then. Instead, she settled for a silent scream, her face contorting with pain and grief, and Lucius choked back tears as she threw her body forward, burying her face into the bed's comforter, which wasn't bringing anyone in that room any comfort.

Heavy sobs wracked her body as she grieved something she wanted so badly but now would never have. Sage knew how much this would wreck the girl. Many of their sessions featured Hyacinth's want to become a mother. Many sessions focused on building her up and instilling confidence in her that she would be a wonderful mother.

Sage stifled a sob behind her hand. She had been the one to tell Hyacinth that she would one day make a beautiful family, and now she had to be the one to rip that away from her. And she cursed whatever Gods had bestowed this burdensome fate upon the young girl who sat sobbing into her blankets, grieving a life that could've been but will now never come to fruition.

Chapter Text

"I want to see him."

Those were the first words Hyacinth had uttered in two weeks. It had been two weeks since she learnt she would never have children—two weeks since she had spoken a single word. Lucius spent every waking hour with her, reluctant to leave her side, fearing she would do something to herself while he was gone. 

It wasn't like Lucius was the only one, either. When the others weren't taking turns torturing their plaything, they were at her side. Bellatrix seemed to be the one there the most. Bellatrix had long since known of her own infertility. She had learned of it in her late teens after she had contracted gonorrhoea that went untreated. The infection led to pelvic inflammatory disease, which caused scarring that blocked the fallopian tubes. Everyone in their school year knew that Bellatrix was going through a deep depression at the time but not the root cause of it. 

Lucius looked at Hyacinth and saw a mirror image of Bellatrix back in school, and his heart broke for her just as it did for Bellatrix all those years ago. 

"Are you sure that is wise?" He asked calmly, placing the book he had been reading down on her nightstand to look at her. 

She hadn't pulled her eyes away from the window she was staring out of. They had built in a window seat for her months prior, and for the past two weeks, she hadn't moved from it, not even to sleep. She sat there day and night, silently staring at the grounds of the manor.

She hummed quietly, considering his words before finally, finally pulling her eyes away from the view outside to look at him. Her eyes were glassy and glazed, full of the silent grief she had endured for the past two weeks. 

"Maybe, maybe not. But I'll never know if I don't see him," came her reply, voice monotone and emotionless. He sighed and nodded, conceding to her wishes. He watched as she slowly stood from the window seat, wincing as she went, her internal wounds still healing and her body stiff from staying in the same spot for so long. 

She silently shuffled into her walk-in closet to choose a change of clothes for the first time in weeks. She emerged holding a pile of clothes and took them into the bathroom, where she bathed and washed her hair for the first time in what felt like forever. Lucius silently picked up his book, continuing where he had left off while waiting. 

An hour later, she exited the bathroom looking miles better than before. She had changed into a solid black fitted three-piece suit forgoing a shirt, simply wearing nothing under the waistcoat and finished it off with black heels. 

She had pulled her freshly washed hair into a messy, basic bun, secured into place with a large claw hair clip. She had forgone makeup, the bags under her eyes prominent and stark against her pale skin.

He sent a sympathetic smile her way as she once again winced at the pain centred around her lower abdomen. He met her halfway, looping her arm with his own as he supported some of her weight while they walked. 

"Are you completely sure about this? It is quite the walk down to the dungeons, and I don't want to risk you hurting yourself," He asked as they slowly exited her bedroom and gradually tackled the stairs.

Lucius was gifted with a smile from Hyacinth, something she hadn't done in over a month that he found he greatly missed. It was a small thing, a slight lift to the corners of her mouth. But it was a smile regardless, and he stored the memory away where he could look back on it as a small victory. 

"I'm sure, Lucius. I need closure, and I feel like this is the only way I will get it," she replied, her cheeks and voice regaining some of their previous brightness. 

The rest of the walk was spent in silence until they finally reached the entrance to the dungeons. Lucius paused here, unlooping his arm from hers to place his hands on both of her arms, ensuring eye contact with her. 

"I have to warn you. What you are about to see won't be a pretty sight. Not only are the dungeons themselves simply a disturbing place to be, but the people in this manor care for and love you deeply. Every one of us suffered when we saw you in pain, so we returned that suffering tenfold, do you understand?" He asked, voice quiet with seriousness, the weight of his words hanging between them. Hyacinth nodded firmly, solidifying her understanding.

Lucius nodded back to her before turning back to the entrance to the dungeons, a steady, supportive hand planted firmly in the centre of her back. She wasn't alone, and he would make damn well sure she knew that.

Chapter Text

Trigger warning for graphic descriptions of torture and death. Read at your own risk.

Lucius hadn't been lying when he said the dungeons were unpleasant. They were dark and cold, the only light being cast from sconces between each tiny cell; the sconces cast a sickly green hue. A strange metallic damp smell invaded the nose, the floors were slick with dampness, and Hyacinth would've slipped had Lucius not been holding onto her arm.

All of the cells were empty, but the place was like a maze, there must've been hundreds of cells, and Hyacinth felt discomfort creeping up in her chest.

"Why does the dungeon even exist? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't strike me as the type who would want a dungeon." She asked, attempting to quell the discomfort she was feeling. Lucius chuckled beside her, deep and rumbly, like thunder. 

"No, you're correct. This place has been here far longer than I have been alive. When Grindelwald was rising in power, my great-grandfather, Armand, was one of his followers. The Manor doubled as one of Grindelwald's many bases, so the dungeons were built about 15 years after the manor was built." He explained, jaw clenching at the thought of his great-grandfather. 

Armand was not a kind man to his father, nor was he kind to Lucius when he was a mere toddler. The man died shortly before Lucius turned 4, already in bad health when he was born. But Armand was the root cause of most of Abraxas' abuse towards Lucius. It would take a miracle for Lucius to find it in himself to forgive the two men. 

Finally, they found the man who had attacked Hyacinth in the last cell. He was chained upright, his arms raised above his head and chained to the ceiling, his feet connected to short chains on hoops on the floor. He had been rendered unconscious, and Hyacinth took the time to look him over.  

It was not a pretty sight, to say the least, but Hyacinth couldn't find it within herself to feel anything but hate towards him. He had been stripped naked and whipped all over, the tell-tale striped welts marking his body, some partially healed, others still bleeding. 

He no longer had any hair on his head. However, his head hadn't been shaved free of hair but had instead been burnt off. Where there once had been dark, cropped hair, there was now patchy raw burnt skin, bright red with large, yellow pus-filled blisters. 

She noticed that a strip of skin had been precisely cut from the top of one of his feet. A perfect square shape of flesh was now missing, revealing the inner working of his foot, the fatty tissue, veins and bone underneath. He had been forced to eat it if the drying puddle of vomit was anything to go by. A gross mix of stomach acid, partially chewed slimy flesh, and sticky blood congealed on the floor near his feet.

Hyacinth spied a bucket of water in the corner of the cell, so she pushed the barred door open and tested the temperature of the water with a finger. Ice cold. Perfect. She picked it up and threw the contents over the man that attacked her. He awoke with a scream as the freezing water hit his ruined body. 

He blinked the water stinging his eyes away, and froze in fear when he saw Hyacinth walk around him to stand in front of him.

"What is it?" She asked sarcastically, "You look like you've seen a ghost", she quipped nastily, a sneer that matched her mother's, marring her pretty features. She walked over to the wooden table on the far end of the cell, littered with fierce-looking tools and weapons.

Her hand ghosted above the table, the tips of her fingers grazing the handle of a straight blade, the word 'Death' engraved on the blade. She smirked to herself. 'Soon', she thought.

She had questions first, so instead, she picked up a mace and chain, testing the weight of it in her hand by swinging the chain slightly. 

"Now, Mr Mayweather, if that is your name, you're going to answer my questions, and if you're good and answer them truthfully, then you won't get the mace and chain to the back. If you don't or I find you to be lying to me, I will practice my swing. Now trust me, I'm sure you don't want that. I used to play Quidditch. I was Gryffindor's youngest seeker, after all. Do we have an agreement?" She asked, voice void of emotion as she continued to swing the chain slightly, the metal clank hitting metal echoing in the cell. 

The man shuddered at the sound before nodding silently, hot tears stinging the backs of his eyes. Hyacinth smiled. "Good", she said, "who sent you?"

The man took his time to answer, and Hyacinth was preparing to send the mace barrelling into his back when he croaked out an answer. 

"Dumbledore, it was Dumbledore" His voice was dry and croaky from dehydration and screaming. Hyacinth hummed, going back to slowly swinging the chain. 

"That was a bit of a dumb question, I suppose," she said, amusement in her voice, "I guessed that the moment you pulled your wand on me, but it's nice to be proven right." She swung the mace and chain far behind her before bringing it down onto his back, the spikes of the mace digging deeply into his skin, blood streaming down from the wounds.

He screamed something horrible, and she scrunched her nose up in annoyance. "Sorry, I lied. Except I'm not really all that sorry. Do you realise what your little spell did to me? Go on, take a guess," she whispered, moving in close so her lips grazed his ear as she spoke. 

The man stuttered, weeping and sobbing as his wounds bled heavily. 

"Cat got your tongue?" She asked, pulling back from the man, moving towards the table, and finding a large kitchen knife. She gripped the handle tightly, her index finger placed on the sharp tip of the knife as she twisted it, watching the dim light glint off the blade with rapt attention. A small bead of blood gathered on her finger. 

"You took from me the one thing that mattered to me. Tell me. Do you have a family? Children?" She asked, turning back to the chained-up man. His head had dropped downwards, struggling to hold its weight, but he nodded, half-conscious. "You took the chance of me having my own family away from me. So I'm going to take you from your family. That sounds like a good exchange for me. My family for yours."

As she finished her sentence, she drew her arm back, plunged the knife deep into his stomach, and twisted harshly. He choked, gurgling up blood. He brought grey, pleading eyes to meet hers before they glossed over, and he breathed his last breath. Hyacinth wiped a spot of blood from her cheek before turning her back on her now-dead attacker and returning to Lucius' side.

He looped her arm with his own, and together they made their way out of the dungeon.

Chapter Text

The day after killing her attacker, Hyacinth woke up early. She had a job to do, and she didn't want anyone to be awake to stop her. She took her time bathing and choosing what to wear. She wanted to ensure she looked impeccable; she didn't want a single flaw to be perceived. She snuck under Narcissa's frame, where the woman slept on a chaste lounge, painted heels kicked off onto the painted ground. 

Once again, she dressed in all black, a short black velvet cheongsam with a small slit, exposing her dragon tattoo. She added a black garter belt to her leg over the dragon, a silver heart in the centre. She watched as the dragon struggled to escape from under the garter belt.

She pulled on and laced a pair of black-heeled boots that gave her extra height.

She spent a long time on her hair and makeup, perfecting the small details and even spent time painting her long nails. She pulled her hair into a simple yet difficult-to-execute bun, ensuring every hair was in place. 

She did her makeup very differently, opting to use deep dark eyeshadow with a pop of silver in the inner corners of her eyes and painting her lips a deep matte red.

She painted her nails a glossy black, meticulously filing them to sharp points.

She grabbed a large, warm fur coat, slinging it over her arm before grabbing her handbag and the sizable file off her vanity table. With a quick glance at Narcissa's portrait to ensure the woman was still sleeping before she slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. 

She opted not to use the floo, choosing to slip outside into the front of the manor and apparate to her destination. An unpleasant sensation and a dizzying landing later, she looked up at the British branch of the Ministry of Magic. She eyed the logo with a scrutinising gaze. Ignorantia, juris, neminem, excusat. In other words, 'Ignorance of the law is no excuse'. Hyacinth chuckled to herself. Did they genuinely believe that?

She sighed and pushed her way through the doors into the mostly deserted lobby. She made her way to a free desk; a kind-looking older woman sat behind it, scribbling on a piece of parchment. Hyacinth ensured she held her high, slipping on her version of the Malfoy mask she had learnt from Narcissa. 

She cleared her throat slightly to gain the woman's attention, and once she looked up, she regaled Hyacinth with a bright sunny smile. Hyacinth offered her a polite, close-lipped smile in return. 

"Hello, deary, what can I help you with?" the woman asked. Now closer to the woman, she appeared to be in her early 60s with gorgeous white-grey hair and a kind face full of smile lines, evident in the wrinkles around her mouth and the corners of her eyes. Her eyes were kind, a cold shade of blue but full of the warmth of a well-lived life. 

Hyacinth gave the woman a small curtsey, the picture of Pureblood nobility. She sent a silent thank you to Narcissa for the lessons. No one would know she was the child of two half-blood parents unless they knew her personally. 

"Good morning, ma'am", she greeted, the polite close-lipped smile back on her face as she shifted the weight of her handbag to her other hand, the brown Manila folder tucked securely under her arm. "I was hoping you'd be able to tell me if Madame Bones was here this morning, and if so, could you find out if she'd be willing to meet with me?" Hyacinth asked, her voice polite but warm towards the woman. 

The woman looked confused and mildly taken aback. Hesitantly, she pulled out her copy of the sign-in book. Every public-facing worker at the Ministry had their own copy of the sign-in book. The main one remained near the employee entrance. Once an employee signed in, it would automatically be logged into the rest of the copies in the building—a different page for different days. 

The woman scanned down the list of sign in's, quickly spotting Madame Bones signature. She hummed. "Yes, dear, she is here this morning. Is she expecting you? I can't really see her seeing you unless she is expecting you," The woman explained, looking back up at Hyacinth. 

Hyacinth smiled before replying. "No, she is not expecting me, but she is expecting the contents of this file. Please let her know Hyacinth Snape is here with the information she requested a month ago. I'm sure she will understand and will be willing to see me," Hyacinth explained, not missing the widening of the woman's eyes at the mention of her last name. She didn't want to risk using her full name. 

The woman sighed slightly, "I'll try, darling. Though it may take a while if she's in a meeting." She explained, picking up the handset of the rotary phone before her and dialling a number Hyacinth couldn't see. She admired the phone, however. It was smaller than most rotary phones she had seen before, most likely an older model, but it was beautiful nonetheless. 

After a few rings, the woman behind the desk perked up as someone answered on the other end. "Good morning Madame Bones; I have a Miss Hyacinth Snape here in the lobby for you. She says she has the information you asked for a month ago," the woman explained, surprised she even got an answer. Madame Bones was notorious for being difficult to reach.  

"I- yes, of course. Right away," The woman stuttered, baffled at how saying what the young girl before her had told her to say had worked. She placed the handset back onto the base of the phone, looking somewhat shell-shocked. 

"Follow me, Miss Snape; Madame Bones wishes to see you straight away", the woman said, slowly standing from her seat and rounding the table to lead Hyacinth towards the elevators. Matching pace with the woman, Hyacinth noticed with some amusement that she was much shorter than herself and would still be much shorter than her should Hyacinth take her heels off.  

They entered an elevator, thankfully being the only two to enter, and the woman pressed an unmarked button, setting the elevator in motion. The elevator groaned and juttered before moving at a sickeningly fast pace, throwing them in all directions, the only thing keeping their feet to the floor being the carefully engraved runes around the edges of the elevator walls. 

Finally, the elevator groaned and juttered one final time before stopping completely, the doors sliding open smoothly, allowing them to step out. Hyacinth slipped on her own brand of the Malfoy mask once more. She had a job to do, and she was determined to get it done.  

Chapter Text

Madame Bones' office was smaller and darker than Hyacinth had imagined it to be. It took a few seconds of her eyes adjusting to the low light to even see the ever-tense presence of the woman she wished to see, slumped over paperwork on her desk. Hyacinth waited for the woman from the lobby to leave and shut the door behind her with a barely audible click before she politely cleared her throat to bring Madame Bones' attention from her paperwork.

Madame Bones' head whipped up from being bent over her desk and her pinched face relaxed into a relieved smile at the sight of the young woman before her. It was a great soother to her nerves to see her in the flesh, alive and well over simply hearing about her through sparse letters from the Malfoy household.

"Hyacinth" she breathed out, happily, as Hyacinth dipped in a slight curtsey. "It's so good to see you well, my dear" she continued, as she stood from her desk and rounded it to bring Hyacinth into a warm and gentle hug.

"It's good to be here, Amelia. I thought it was about time I made good on my promise ad give you the information I said I'd give you at the ball" Hyacinth said, pulling back and holding out the Manila file to Amelia.

Amelia took the file, an excited gleam behind her eyes as she gestured to a comfortable, plush armchair for Hyacinth to sit in. Hyacinth did so, placing her handbag on her lap and crossing her legs at the ankle.

Amelia distractedly opened the folder as she went back around her desk to sit again, her eyes flicking up to Hyacinth after reading the name Hazel Potter where Hyacinth Iris Riddle-Snape should've been.

Hyacinth raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, leaning over to take a glance at what Amelia was looking at.

"Ah," she hummed, a slight smirk on her red lips, "A little goblin magic, I hope you don't mind, I wanted it to have more impact once it was released to the public," Hyacinth explained and Amelia hesitated slightly before making her mind up that she really didn't care about the slightly less-than-legal use of goblin magic to falsify legal documents.

Amelia placed the file, open on her desk, before summoning tea and biscuits for the two of them, quickly returning to the sizable file before her, almost frothing at the mouth at the information the young woman before her had supplied her with. She was begging to feel a little bit like Rita Skeeter.

For decades now she had been looking for a way to knock Dumbledore down a peg or two. In fact that personal mission had started the moment she became Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. There were simply too many unsavoury rumours about the man for her to not pay it any attention. And it definitely didn't help his case that she had witnessed the "beloved" headmaster Obliviate the previous Medi-witch that was on Hogwarts staff while Amelia was still at school there.

Amelia slowly closed the Manila file, looking up at Hyacinth once more, a look of unbridled excitement in her eyes.

"Thank you, Hyacinth, truly," the formidable woman said, voice soft. Hyacinth smiled and dipped her head in a nod before taking a sip of her tea.

"My pleasure, Amelia," Hyacinth said, not knowing of anything else she could say. She didn't know why Amelia wanted to cause trouble but she believed that the enemy of her enemy was her friend so she wasn't going to complain about it.

She noticed Amelia hesitate slightly as if she wanted to say something but didn't know if she should or not.

"What do you wish to say, Amelia? I shall not judge you" Hyacinth reassured although her tone was rather unfeeling and distant which was what Amelia wanted to ask Hyacinth about. There was no doubt that Hyacinth had gone through something traumatic, but Amelia had always been the curious and inquisitive type and while that was a hindrance to some, that aspect had served Amelia well.

"I don't want this to come off as pushy or rude but, what happened to you, Hyacinth? You feel distant, you've changed drastically in the month that you were... indisposed. I am not asking for details. Just an explanation if you are agreeable to that" Amelia asked, placing her clasped hands on top of her desk.

Hyacinth smiled a pinched smile, one that was akin to McGonagall's. She considered the words for a while, debating on how to answer.

"You must understand that the attack at the ball was coordinated by Dumbledore. The attacker has been... dealt with but he took something irreplaceable from me that night and while he was simply the puppet, the puppet master still hasn't received his punishment." Hyacinth explained and Amelia nodded in understanding. While she didn't know what had been taken, she knew it was not her place to ask.

And so the two were enveloped in silence, both thinking of how they were going to deal with Dumbledore for very different reasons.

Chapter Text

After tea and a pleasant conversation, Amelia walked with Hyacinth back to the elevators and then to the lobby. They drew many stares. Most likely for two reasons. One that they had never seen Madame Amelia Bones smile so much. The girl walking with her brought out a sunniness in the usually stoic woman. The other reason being that the girl was undoubtedly Severus Snape's daughter.

One stare felt off, however, and it had Hyacinth pausing in discomfort. Amelia walked a few paces ahead before she realised that Hyacinth was no longer in stride with her and so she turned back to look at her, the happy smile fading into a confused one at the look on her young companion's face.

Amelia followed Hyacinth's gaze, the smile melting from her face at the person at the end of Hyacinth's glare. Albus Dumbledore stood there, in all of his outrageous, velvet robe glory, a look on his face not much different to the look one would get after sucking on a particularly sour lemon drop.

There was no chance that Dumbledore didn't know who she was. She was the perfect blend of her parents. Hyacinth schooled her features to an unreadable mask before dipping into an ever so slight polite curtsy towards the Headmaster. He reluctantly bowed back, not wanting to cause a scene in such a public place before she promptly turned from him, looping arms with Amelia and briskly walking with Amelia to the sign-in and sign-out book.

Amelia hurriedly signed her name to sign out for a few hours before she whisked Hyacinth out through the employee door, something not usually allowed but due to her position in the ministry she had clearance to do.

Amelia side-along apparated with Hyacinth into Hogsmeade where they got brunch at Brews and Stews Café. After her brief but remarkably unpleasant encounter with her old headmaster, Hyacinth had little appetite and settled on a simple chicken sandwich while Amelia chose a pumpkin soup. Hyacinth wrinkled her nose up in dislike of pumpkin.

Once their food had arrived Amelia threw up strong privacy charms and a few notice-me-not's for good measure. She leaned in towards Hyacinth over the table.

"Are you ok, Hyacinth?" she asked, concern laced in her words and Hyacinth felt her heart warm slightly at the display. She nodded slightly, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"I'm alright," she replied after swallowing, " a little shaken up but I'll be ok". Amelia stared at her for a moment, looking for any signs that the young girl was lying before she acquiesced.

Amelia sipped at her soup for a few moments, and Hyacinth had almost finished half of her sandwich before her company spoke again.

"I mean no ill intent and please don't hesitate to put me in my place should you feel I am overstepping. But why did you react that way to him? I know he had been stealing from you, but you looked at him as if you were terrified of him while simultaneously looking like you wanted to kill him there and then" Amelia asked, concern and curiosity bleeding through her words.

Hyacinth sighed, using a napkin to wipe at her mouth, resigned to the fact that she will have to re-apply her lipstick before she left, before folding her napkin between her hands. She chose her words carefully, not wanting to say too much.

"The attack was orchestrated by Dumbledore" she replied, voice low and words slow. Amelia's eyes widened in shock. "I didn't include that information in the file as I did not want my identity leaked to the public. It's one thing to accuse the man of stealing from The Girl Who Lived, it's a whole different can of worms to then explain Hyacinth Riddle-Snape to the wizarding world." She explained and Amelia nodded, her soup now forgotten.

Hyacinth thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to word her next statement.

"I'm not sure I will ever tell the wizarding world my story" at Amelia's confused expression, Hyacinth elaborated. "Part of me just wants to leave the past me dead, presumed dead in a robbery gone wrong. Another part of me wants to expose everything Albus Dumbledore did to me and send those that put Hazel Potter on a pedestal into a mental breakdown. But for now, neither want outweighs the other, so I guess only time will tell" she finished and Amelia nodded in understanding.

There was a comfortable silence between the two as they both returned to their brunche's. It seemed, however, that Amelia couldn't stand long lapses of silence unless she had work in front of her because she soon piped up with another question.

"So," she started drawing Hyacinth's attention to her as she was mid bite of her sandwich, "Has Lucius started courting you yet?"

A sly grin took over the usually serious woman's face and Hyacinth choked on her sandwich, her face going beet red as Amelia practically cackled across from her. She was as bad as Bella.

Chapter Text

My ADHD has really been messing me up lately. Nobody is as surprised as me at how FAR I have taken Snakes & Ladders. For years I would start a story, get a few chapters in and then completely abandon the whole thing. Just full-on delete whatever I had written before it could ever see the light of day, so believe me when I say this will break my heart.

Snakes & Ladders is my baby, it became my passion project, something I looked forward to writing. But, with the way my mental health has been declining and my ADHD amping up in the wake of that, the absolute Goliath that Snakes & Ladders has become has been a huge source of stress to me lately.

To put it into perspective, without A/Ns and the like, there are 59 chapters of Snakes & Ladders. This is the longest thing I have ever put out there and this kills me to say, but I've lost the passion for it. I try to think of ways to move the story along and come up with nothing. I completely lost the whole HP x LM aspect of the story somewhere along the lines.

With a heavy heart, I announce I am ending Snakes & Ladders as it stands now. I will no longer be adding any more updates or chapters. If anyone wants to take up the [honestly near impossible] task of continuing the story, please DM me on Wattpad under the username @KindaFeelsLikedying as it will be really hard for me to watch this go to waste.

On a more lighthearted note, I am working on a few other (hopefully) shorter fics, all centred around the beautiful world of Harry Potter. The first should be ready to be published in full in a few months. I hope you can all understand and forgive me. I know a lot of people have come to love the little world I had created here and it truly warms my heart that this reached so many people.

So, at least for a little while, I will be sort of MIA while I work on other fics to put out for you guys to read.

I am sorry.

I love you all.