✧RIGHTLY ACCUSED PT.1✧

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Aurora had stayed home for three full days before Rabastan forced her back to the labs. And although she fought in staying the full week as she had planned, the brothers had already taken everything of their mother's that they wanted. Orion had been disturb at the overlay of the argument, but never the less he showed his sense of pride when he fawned over his little light.

Having lived and faced Walburga's taunts and arguments for most of her life brought her to fight with a coat of armor. But it was the first day in Rory's return that had Rabastan repeat all that Rory had fought with.
And the painting wouldn't stop laughing.

"Sir, your daughter packs a punch."

"But broke his jaw! Oh sweet Salzar give me strength, the only time I recall having this good of a laugh is when she blocked her mother's curse!" The husband recalled that incident, it was just after the time Rory had been able to use magic without the trace of underage magic.

So how many times had Walburga used the curse on Aurora?

How many times had his Rory been under any curse?

"My daughter's inheritance will be enough if your father decides to shun you from the will. But Gringotts usually takes their time to update, however I doubt he will. With your children it rises your station over your brother. Even if he does miraculously have children, yours are the eldest." Rabastan finally understood part of the relationship his wife had with her father, it was drastically different than the one he had with his own.

But then again, he was closer to his mum.

"Is everything else alright? Has she returned to work?" The wizard nodded to the portrait.
"She wanted to stay longer, but I—I know the wedding is coming." Orion sighed, nodding his head to a certain beat as he was agreeing.

"I do not mean to bring up difficult topics Rabastan, but had my daughter died in childbirth...You would've been—"

"I wouldn't have remarried, the twins were perfectly fine at the time." Orion disagreed. 

"The world keeps spinning Rabastan, Rory has moved on from my death. She's accepted it. You will get there just the same." The young father had chuckled, a smile erupting on his face.

"I know we were never close when you were alive sir, but you certainly know what to say."

"That is because you were dating and then married to my daughter, do you believe you will be close to Halsey or Cara's husband?" Orion watched in amusement to see Rabastan grow angry to the idea of his little munchkins being with someone.

On the other end of the spectrum, Aurora was welcomed back with a careful approach by her colleagues and aided her even though she simply worked on her own fluently.

Otto watched in worry as she was less social the first day of her return, and it hadn't changed on the second or third. He couldn't imagine how her manor was acting when she returned home after work, but he always offered his help.

He made sure she knew it as well.

However it was the one day that took Rory by a storm, one of her tasks was to dissect what is being used as an attempted cure and remedy today.

Rory had been a few minutes late as she was talking to Zane, he had gotten a job in a different location and branch within the building.

It was nice to run into him, she needed a good addition to this week.

When arriving to her station she looked in confusion to the small vial and looked to Travis. "Mr.Handson agreed with Lucas' theory, we're looking at the construct of other apothecaries' products." She nodded for a moment and pipette a bit out onto a slab.

"Did the apothecary change their potions recently?"

"No ma'am, I believe this is the same...Mate, do you know if they changed?" Her question had been passed around, and Otto held a smile to see that she conversed first with the partners around her...But a frown continued as the apothecary had not changed anything of the potion.

Otto watched as Aurora had placed the bottle down and turned to his direction. "Sir, I need to check something...I promise I'll be—"

"Go. Owl if you're still away." She smiled and hurried off, apprenting the second she was able to and beginning her descent straight to an extra room.

"Cassi? Is everything alright?" One look gave him the summary that everything was not alright, so he nodded and allowed her to continue without stopping to give a proper explanation.

All the belongings of the late Clarissa Lestrange was left to be hidden away off in the summer home that Rabastan and his wife resided in.

Aurora wasn't surprised to find it locked, though the password wasn't all to hard to guess.

Charging in was she deeply reminded of the woman that she considered to be her second mum. It was an array of loud scented flowers, small bits of artworks littered the floor as well as a couch or two.

Aurora knew that sooner or later it would end up in the attic, but for right now it was a harmonious feeling. Like she is just saying with us...

Rory had sat down to the likes of Clarissa's beauty box, shifting through the endless cosmetics that the witch favored, most unused as there was no limit to a wealthy witches' stock.

It took some digging but the potions mistress finally found the vial she had been searching for.

The shade was completely different than the one at the labs.

Grabbing the five or so that she managed to snatch did she return to the labs, once again going straight to Otto and asked to use the private labs.

Her mind running too fast to really notice the odd stares that she was receiving off the given way. However Otto returned his team back to their task as he joined Aurora and looked to what she was up to.

"This wouldn't be that personal project you were hinting about for the past few weeks is it?" Tearful eyes looked to her professor as she shook her head.

"Sweetheart, what is it?... If this is too much then you are allowed to go home. Today's work is simple enough to—" She held up the vial that Clarissa had been being treated with, and he frowned in taking the damned thing with the same level of confusion.

"What is this?"
"What my mum was taking to battle Dragon Poxs...But Travis and the rest had said that the apothecary never changed their potion." Otto asked an abundant of questions, all that she had answered to herself before contemplating her next few actions.

She was going to test what the hell her mother had been taking.

"Rory, allow me to—"
"I need to do this." He didn't deny her the right to that, but he wouldn't allow her to uncover it on her own. Instead he settled another station beside her, it was indeed the same base.

The same core ingredients.
The same scent.
The same response to the previous bits.

But either agreed that something was off.

And either agreed once again that bringing another mind into this would cause for ministry attention. It was better to keep private before bringing others into this mess, but as Aurora continued to stare at the bottle in wonder, she tried to recognize the silent agent.

For whatever reason it was starting to change colors, had it been sitting too long?
Did it need another additive to hide the real coloring?

Had the heat or cold been detrimental to an affect, had Clarissa simply been taking a bad batch from the apothecary?

"Aurora we've tried all the possible sceneries, there is something added...If I could just ask—"

"The more people involved the more this gets out, please Otto...Give me more time." He eyed his pocket watch and frowned, the team was already cleaning up to head home.

Course Travis had dropped a few of the silver spoons, it caused Aurora to smile. Simply because her brother and James were sometimes that carless when it came to Potions class, and either had only taken NEWTS level because she herself was in it.

But then it hit her, it caused the mistress to pinch the brink of her nose as it was on the tip of her tongue. She remembered experimenting one day before an exam, trying to find a balance between two—She groaned again.

"Best to speak out loud when having an idea," The elder's smile caused her to return it.

"I just remembered NEWTS classes, sure my brother dropped dozens of spoons...But it was—It was something I discovered when experimenting, I just don't bloody remember what it was." She returned her chin to connect to the desk, and so he offered a hand to her shoulder.

"Perhaps you wrote it down? You had a knack for recording anything you managed." She shot up and called out that she would return, and when Otto had finally been left alone he shook his head to the potion.

The Lestranges were dangerous, he wasn't naive. Nor was he blind to know what his star pupil was involved with, but part of him knew that she herself wasn't as deep as her husband or the rest of her family.

Orion and he were raised by the same generation, Otto knew the callings of what it meant to be a pureblood in the scared families, he simply hoped that his teachings and offers would bring her away from the inner circles of that horror.

But anything about or related to the Dark Lord was far from Rory's mind at the moment, instead she stormed towards the shelf housing her Hogwarts notes.

Ripping out those that were unuseful did she strip those off and to the floor, the commotion surely alerting her father who was just a few shelves away.

"My little light, surely whatever is happening can have the moment of a simple breath." She ignored him, and he huffed impatiently. But when she was like this it was best to let this pass.
Something was burning a sensible rage in her eyes.

Aurora had packed all the books retaining to potions and added a herbology manual that combated with NEWTS potions.

"Cassiopeia, when you find your answers...Please tell your worrying father. Even in death, my children are still my concern." She nodded.

"I promise father, but I won't be home tonight...If Raba comes could you tell him?" The father agreed, perhaps later would be a decent time to share the conversation that he and Rabastan had prior.

But now was not the time to distract her.

Otto hadn't rightly moved, instead he was working on another theory off to the side. Only to rub one temple in seeing the stack of books that she dumbed onto the free part of the table.

"I grabbed it all, usually my notes are organized but I believe it was close to the end of the year and I just wrote wherever I could." He nodded, taking one of her manuals and beginning to skim through. Her handwriting and thoughts gracing him with a few smiles here and there, but nothing of an experiment that turned poisonous.

Not until she slammed her personal potions notebook to the table before him. He began to digress the trials, his chair skidding down as he stood up with an expression of disbelief.

This was it.

The deadly poison that happens when one adds an additional amount, merlin it was brilliant. Whoever wanted the woman dead was basically giving the Dragon pox and reverting everything positive to the healing factors.

It was as if Clarissa had no numbness to the symptoms or the pain.

However Aurora was building a few theories, it was easy enough to understand that Senior Lestrange added them to all of the stocked potions and they finally did change shade...And finally had they caught on with the amount, this certain root was sensitive to the darkness and emulated this pinkish glow.

But to a sick witch and a paid-off healer, nobody would know the difference. Nobody would call out a failed dosage, not until now.

"He pushed her to death."

"Aurora, it isn't wise to point fingered without the full evidence to—"
"Otto he is getting remarried, he's already welcomed the woman into his home. He's all but admitted it." She was right, this was lining up too well...

"And Rabastan? What is your plan?"

"Justice, especially since we're off the will..." Otto reached out to clasp the likes of his pupil's shoulder, even though she shrugged it off did she turn to meet his gaze.

"I have to do this."
"He deserves Azkaban, yes. But what will happen further down the line? You going to him now will give him time to—" 

"He's a lawyer Otto, he has the law in the palm of his hands. But if I get to him now, I have the power in my hand." She let her words compute to her mentor before he sighed.

"Are you going to stop me?" 

"Not at all darling, I have faith in you." She smiled, but it dwindled far too quickly as she collected her things and carried on her merry way.

Otto himself had taken the liberty of locking all the information in his office. If this was going to be placed before a court he surely didn't want a fraction of it lost.

Aurora, on the other hand, had been so fueled on adrenaline that she had almost missed the sound of screaming and tears within her home.

Having Salem's ears enact did she pinpoint where in the manner it was. Only to find Bella abusing the living lights out of Lydia.

"Is the little princess going to cry now?!"

"Bella." Aurora had been fairly stern in a greeting, but this was something that Rory had despised to see in the likes of her own manor.

"Cassi! I found her snooping around the manor and—" The board expression was paired with a pausing hand into the air, whatever Bella was going to say was now rendered under the mistress' of the manner's scrutinizing.

"Take your hands off the child Bella...Lydia, are you alright?" The child had been completely taken off guard as she looked to her soon to be sister in law, but realistically she hadn't rightly understood what her mother was telling her just the previous days, instead she was introduced to her father.

If anything, she was taken by surprised the most. All her life was she a Selwyn, but now her brothers and sister were rightly disregarding her vocally as her last name was dictated to change.

Even if Aurora had directed a question to the young witch, the conversation was pushed to see how red the eldest Lestrange female had become.

"Bellatrix, I understand the rage, but this is my house, and under my roof, there is no child mistreatment to be had." Her cousin was beyond furious, but there was a part of Rory's soul who recalled the torture her own mother had given...

If someone else had given her this torture, she would've lost herself ages ago.

However, while Bellatrix had risen her wand in a threatening tactic, it was Aurora who remained perfectly still and prepared.

"That is more than unwise." She spoke, her arms wrapping over one another and if all could make it worse was that Aurora had rolled her eyes directly to the witch before her.

"Would you harm an unwilling component?"
"Have you lost our ways sister? She's a bastard!" Aurora hummed and allowed her arm to push Lydia further behind as she would take whatever punishment before watching a child cursed.

"She's a child and I am a mother." It faltered Bellatrix's aim for a moment as she twirled and fastened her wand, shooting a spell to move her cousin in an attempt to give Lydia a dose of pain.

However, it failed as Rory simply waved her wand to either of the two spells casted. And while Lydia stood in complete awe, Bellatrix stomped her foot in displeasure.

"Before you are off the will as well, sister. I suggest you leave, unless you wish to act against myself again. What would Halsey think?" It had finally been the voice of reason against Bella's cold soul as she thought of her godchild.

Her sweet and innocent niece.

Was Aurora's words finally clear on how she felt about child abuse?
Or was Bellatix's selfish actions on wanting a test dummy simply coming to life?

Whatever the case may be had the woman nodded her head before continuing out of the manor without the need of exiting the property line.

The mistress had taken a solid breath out before turning to look to Lydia, the young girl was still sporting a fountain of tears. Her hair a complete mess due to the tugging that her soon to be the eldest sister had managed.

It was then that Aurora noticed the small cuts and scrapes, causing a hissed swear to come out of her throat without warning.

Lydia jumped into her arms and tugged at her dress. Usually Aurora would make a joke that she smelled like a cauldron, but if anyone...anyone was having a difficult time with this new family addition, it would be the girl wishing for affection at the moment.

Rory whispered a small spell as she made the girl weightless and picked her up in order to bring her to a spare room.

"Daisy, I want a first aid kit, a kettle on the stove of my calming tea and some biscuits."
"Right away mistress!" Daisy had barely gotten the order, but looking to the young Ms.Selwyn they knew that something was utterly wrong.

Relief flooded Rory when she saw an elf carry the kit into the room and hand her the box, Lydia sat patiently on the bed as she twiddled her thumbs, her eyes blinking each and every direction.

And to make matters worse, she couldn't control her shaking hands. Nor her sobs, even if she attempted to quiet them down.

"What were you doing here?" Her question, though flat and demanding...Counted as such a drastic difference between the Black daughters, but it only caused Lydia to cower once again.

"I...I—I was looking f-for you...I just—I wanted to know what is happening...Why am I moving to the L-Lestrange manor?" The woman closed her eyes and bowed her head forward, this entire situation was downright agony to everyone involved.

And the last thing this witch needed was to be traumatized by likes of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"It was very foolish of you to come here, I doubt my husband would be as kind to you either. It's—"
"But why? Have I done something wrong?" Aurora cupped the girl's cheek and shook her head.

"You haven't done a damned thing wrong, we are all at the pit of this mess. I will not hurt you, but my word can only do so much...I wish I could promise that it will get better, it's going to get worse." The potion mistress had started to dab the small cuts with sap, and it followed by the given few sips of tea that Lydia had given a taste test to.

She rather liked this brew.

"I am going to drop you off at the Lestrange manor and speak to your mother...Before that I have to collect a few things, stay in this room." The girl nodded and continued to sip her tea, almost like a trained doll ready for the next order.

It caused Aurora to pick up her pace to her study, but the witch couldn't manage any further. She burnt out right before her father's painting and it caused him to shift uncomfortably at the view.

"My precious light, tell me please...What has happened to make you feel this way?" Aurora had taken a seat against the side of her desk as her knees rose, silent tears streaked the likes of her cheeks.

"He killed Clarissa...He—He tampered with her potions..." Orion Black had now taken a stance off his seat, something that Aurora hadn't thought he could possibly do. But she saw the man calculating.

"What exactly have you found?"
"We were working on the current antidote that's out, and I thought it strange it was a different color than the one C-Clarissa was using. So I took the extras from her beauty boxes downstairs. Otto can confirm to it all, we tested it all day." Once again had the room gone silent, too silent as it was suddenly filled with Aurora sobs. Her hand pressed against her mouth as she felt weak.

Utterly weak.

"Cassiopeia please, there is nothing left you can do for Clarissa. But what you can do is give Senior Lestrange a second punch to the jaw for what he is doing."

"They aren't telling anything to Lydia either! She just knows she's moving into the manor with her father who's just claimed her." Her own father sighed once again, taking a seat back onto the chair behind him as he ran a hand through his hair.

An action similar if not mirrored to Sirius.

"I am not surprised Cassi, Lydia is what? Eight or nine now? There is little I told you when you were growing up. What are you going to do to Senior Lestrange?"

"I am going to drop Lydia off and show him the potion." Her father frowned, and she smirked. "I saved his daughter from Bella and am withholding evidence of his murder. We'll see what he'll do to earn my silence and support." 

"And Rabastan? Are you simply not going to tell him about his mother?" The witch had been caught off guard, she had the beginning steps of a plan and then—poof.

She had forgotten about Rabastan and Rodolphous' involvement, to know their father basically sentenced their mother to death.

Aurora swallowed and leaned her chin further to her knees.

"What do you suggest?"
"Take this chat to their father, claim the will back to your children and remind him that you are not just a Lestrange." A confident grin rallied on her face as she wiped the tears away and settled to her feet, a final nod had ended the conversation with her father as she went in search of Lydia once more.

"I'm taking you home, come." She ordered, and the girl hopped off the bed and continued to follow the elder witch throughout the home and to the nearest exit as Aurora still had trouble in getting reused to the floo system.

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Date Posted: 11-18-19

Time: 11:26

Words: 3860

I don't like where this chapter left off, so double updates:) Stay tuned, I'm editing the next chapter right now!