𝐢. THE THREE FATES
▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER ONE ▬▬▬▬▬
REGULUS LOOKED UP FROM HIS book of Medieval torture methods to address his daughter's woes, "I think you did the right thing," he affirmed. "Sirius was being foolish trying to stay and fight—and after hearing you describe what happened to the mortals during that battle, well, he should be glad he didn't stay around."
"That's what I told him," Esmerelda moped, looking close to tears. French For Beginners laid ignored across from her. The war had made her more sensitive then before, Regulus noted. Poor thing. "But he's still upset that I used the Mist to make him leave the country. He didn't like that I pretty much charmspoke him."
"To be fair," Nico spoke up from his position on the beanbag chair, a book about different types of funeral arrangements on his lap. "People don't usually like being mind-controlled, especially if it's from someone they're supposed to trust."
Her father had taken the news of Nico being Esmerelda's pseudo-son with stride if you excluded the minor mental breakdown he had when they told him. He didn't treat it like a big deal, unlike everyone else she knew... And by everyone else, she meant practically everyone else.
Percy, because he had witnessed the truth in his dreams, had told Annabeth, who talked about it to her siblings in passing because she was curious about the subject of reincarnation, and one of her half-brothers, Malcolm, had told Lou Ellen, who told her newfound girlfriend Mabel from the Demeter cabin, who told Katie, who told Travis, who told his brother, who then told the entire fucking camp.
So yeah. Everyone knew. Except maybe her relatives from the mortal side. It depended if Sirius bothered to read her letters or not.
Now back to the conversation:
Regulus furrowed his brows. "But Esmerelda was clearly trying to keep my idiot brother safe."
"Well yeah, but she, uh, shouldn't be mind-controlling him though. Even if it was necessary," Nico explained. Did Esmerelda's father seriously not understand the emotional turmoil that would come with being contro—he stopped his thoughts when he spotted a book title So You Think You're A Sociopath on top of a pile of finished books.
Oh, he realized. That actually explains a lot.
"He hasn't replied to any of my letters," Esmerelda grumbled. "And all his text replies are super short. Sometimes he even leaves me on read!"
She knew what she had done was wrong, but what other choice did she have? She had just seen the gruesome ghosts of her siblings—all of them had died in an instant and her circle of living loved ones had drastically shrunken. She couldn't protect her friends since they were forced into the war alongside her, but she could at least keep her uncle safe.
She did what she had to do.
Had she not have done that... he would've fallen victim to Morpheus' sleep spell. He would've been put in an extremely vulnerable position and the amount of mortals that had died—the amount of mortals she had killed when she broke that bridge—was devastating. And then when the mortals woke up? She hadn't been down there but according to Nico plenty of innocent people had been killed in the crossfire.
There were so many ways Sirius could've died. Why couldn't he just understand that she had done it to keep him safe?
"Is he still staying in our old home?" Regulus asked with a scowl.
She nodded. "Yeah, they've been keeping him inside. Dumbledore's orders..."
Nico frowned. "I thought Sil—the Aphrodite kids gave him a makeover so that he'd be unrecognizable from his mugshot?"
Esmerelda pretended not to notice the slip-up as she replied, "Yeah, but apparently Dumbledore feels like it's safer to keep him inside despite that. Sirius has been roaming around freely in Wizarding Britain for over a year now but some people in the Order believe it's best he 'stays in'."
And Snape had been all too happy to agree with the Headmaster about that too. Figures.
"What idiots," Regulus said darkly. "No wonder Sirius is in a bad mood. He hates that house, Esmerelda. Our parents were awful, but they were especially cruel to him since he didn't follow their beliefs. He must be miserable in there, so don't take his aloofness towards you to heart."
Esmerelda mumbled something incoherent in response. She had a pretty good feeling that even if he wasn't stuck in that house, he'd still be plenty upset with her.
"I'll be traveling back to Britain tomorrow," she sighed. "Hopefully I can talk to him or something..."
She doubted it would be that easy though. Sirius was extremely stubborn, something Regulus had complained to her about a hundred times and something she had noticed through her own experiences.
The watch around her wrist beeped, indicating that it was time to leave.
"Ugh," she groaned, raising to her feet. "I'm supposed to go to this meeting with Hades, he wants to talk about unruly ghosts or whatever... My mom's supposed to be in that meeting too." She said the last part with a scowl.
"I hate that wretched Titaness," Regulus spat. "She's really back?"
Same dad, same, Esmerelda thought.
"Unfortunately," she muttered. "None of the Underworld deities are really mad with her except for Hades—but she's come back to take her stupid palace."
She no longer lived there. She hadn't been kicked out or anything, but she could hardly stand being anywhere near Hecate's vicinity, let alone in the same house. It was annoying the way Hecate would try to speak with her. She wanted nothing to do with the goddess who led her siblings to their deaths and one to banishment. And sure she had saved her and Ethan, but one good thing wasn't going to erase all the other horrible things her mother had done.
"Wonderful," Regulus drawled, but anyone could see the rage simmering in his eyes. "So she's here. Right now."
"Yes—" She answered just as her watch beeped again. She sighed and looked guiltily at her father.
"Go," he dismissed her. "I need... some time to think."
Nico and Esmerelda nodded, and quietly left the cell. They didn't speak again until they were completely out of the building.
"Does your dad know about Ethan?" Nico asked curiously.
She paled. "No. Definitely not. Dad—he hates Ethan. Like really hates him. Hates him to the point he might even try to escape the Underworld to strangle him in his sleep."
Nico nodded as if that was a perfectly understandable reaction.
"How's Ethan been lately?"
A dopey smile crawled over her face. "Oh he's been doing great! He says that everyone in school is super annoying, but he hasn't killed anyone yet so I consider that as a win. Oh! He also joined the debate club and he said that they'll be doing some debate tournament in Albany next month!"
"They actually hold tournaments for that? And isn't that technically cheating? I mean, he's the son of Nemesis, I doubt he's actually capable of losing in an argument," unless he was arguing against Essie, Nico internally snickered. Ethan always folded when it came to her. It was hilarious to watch.
"Ethan wants to be a lawyer," she sighed dreamily. "He said something about wanting to ruin bad people's lives. Isn't that so sweet of him?"
"Sure," he rolled his eyes. "Meanwhile, my father's forcing me to be schooled too. He's bringing a bunch of smart dead people to tutor me, like Albert Einstein and Harper Lee."
She gasped, "Really? That's amazing, Nico!" She squeezed the boy into an affectionate hug, positively bursting with joy. "Ohhhh, you're going to be so smart! A little genius! I'm already so proud!"
He blushed. "I haven't even started with any lessons yet..."
"You'll be the smartest demigod ever!" She cried out happily.
"Essie...!" He mumbled in embarrassment.
"I can't wait to tell Ethan!"
He dipped his head back. "Why do you have to tell him? He's just gonna call me a nerd the next time we see each other."
"That would be hypocritical of him," she huffed. "Percy and the Stolls told me he spends his entire lunch time at the library studying and doing homework. He doesn't socialize at all unless it's to verbally beat someone down."
"I'm surprised he hasn't beaten anyone up," Nico muttered in amazement. "Or that the Stolls haven't set the place on fire."
"Percy and Ethan have been working together on keeping them in line," she explained.
"Which is even more surprising," he added. "Since Ethan stabbed Annabeth and all. Did he even apologize for that?"
"I forced him to," She deadpanned. "They're still pissed I'm sure, but I think Percy's more cautious since Ethan knows his Achilles Heel and all..."
But despite that, Percy had still helped Ethan out in the end by letting him go to school with him. He was so generous and Esmerelda couldn't be any more grateful towards him. She knew Ethan was grateful too, but he was a little more begrudging about it so he would never express his gratitude out loud other than a simple 'thanks'.
She hoped, one day, that they would get along... maybe... sort of...
Once she was completely done with her shift, she bid Nico a goodbye before Mist traveling back home. It was already four o'clock now, so Ethan and the Stolls should be back from school too (unless they had club meetings to attend).
Ethan was the only one home and, like the good little nerd he was, he was doing his homework on the floor, his things scattered over the Jason Voorhees coffee table. In front of him, the television was blaring his favorite show, Law and Order.
"Aww," she cooed, plopping down beside him. "You're such a good student. Doing your homework the second you get home."
He grunted, "Shut up. I'm only doing this because I know I won't get any peace once the Stolls get back."
"Where are they?" She asked.
"Work." He said with a crinkled nose.
They had been on high-alert once the Stolls announced that they had decided to get a job. It was the most mundane thing to ever come out of their mouths so it was pretty understandable why Esmerelda and Ethan grew suspicious. Apparently they were working over at Cold Stone in a nearby mall which sounded innocent enough, but the couple had a feeling they were secretly robbing the place—of money and ice cream.
They spent the next hour on the floor with Esmerelda babbling about Nico while he worked on his homework, occasionally adding an input or two. Somehow, he managed to finish it all within the hour and since he was such a studious kid, his answers were probably all correct (keyword was probably, he was still dyslexic after all).
"So," he pulled her between his legs and held her close. "You're leaving today."
She rested her head against his chest and hummed in confirmation.
"And you talked to your dad earlier too? You didn't, uh..."
"No," she answered. "He still doesn't know. I'm too scared to tell him. He really hates you."
"Wonderful," he sighed. "And I guess your uncle's on the same page then?"
She shrugged miserably. "I don't know. We haven't been talking much."
Ethan quieted down. He had been told about the reason why she and her uncle weren't on friendly terms anymore. Yeah it sucked to get mind-controlled, but Esmerelda did the right thing. Her uncle really could've died in the Battle of Manhattan. Kronos didn't care about mortal lives and sometimes he even encouraged the army to attack them because he knew the demigods siding with the Olympians would get distracted by trying to save them.
But anyways, Ethan did not like seeing his girlfriend so upset.
An idea came to mind.
"Hey," he said. "Since I'm pretty much done with everything, how about I go with you and drop you off? Maybe we could even walk around London as a date."
Her eyes lit up. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah sure. Come on, let's go get your things..."
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The date had been wonderful. After dropping off her things at Grimmauld Place (which Ethan commented as 'creepy as fuck'), they walked around London and explored the place. They got attacked by monsters a few times, but that was easily handled. Then they went to grab some dinner before it was finally time for her to go back.
"You should have fun at school, maybe make some friends," she suggested as they walked back, hands intertwined and swinging due to Esmerelda's excitement.
"No," he said flatly. "Everyone's annoying. Do you know how many people asked me why I have an eye-patch on the first day of school? One person even accused me of pink eye."
"I hope you didn't hurt them..."
"No, but they did fall down the stairs a few minutes after that. Totally had nothing to do with me." He grinned 'innocently'.
She snorted. "Right. Now look, if you, Percy, or the Stolls get expelled or arrested—"
"—IM you so you can bail us out." He finished. "I know."
"Actually, I was going to say to IM me only if either you or Percy get arrested. The Stolls can get out by themselves," she clarified. "But anyways, if Nico comes over—"
"—Make sure he gets fed and his bedtime's at eleven, I know, Essie." He rolled his eye. "You gotta stop babying him."
"I am not babying him!"
"You are. You coddle that kid too much, no wonder he's such a spoiled brat. Let the little shit be independent for once."
"He is twelve!" She gasped dramatically, horrified at the idea. "What are you expecting from him, Ethan? To be able to do taxes or something?! To—to get a full-time job?!"
Ethan wondered if being drama queens ran through the family or something. "No, but I think he's fully capable of cutting his own food and wiping his face. Give him some tough love."
"Tough love!" She fumed, disgusted by the very word. "Absolutely not! Nico does not need 'tough love', he's already getting more than enough of that from his own father! You better not treat Nico like that when I'm gone!"
He put his hands up. "No, no, of course not."
"Ethan..." She warned.
"Essie, I'm all down with making sure the kid's fed and shit, but I am not doing everything for him." He said. "If he asks for help then I'll help him. But that's it. I'm not gonna 'give him a warm blanket if he looks cold', he can do that himself, and I'm definitely not gonna cut the crust off his sandwiches. With the amount of times he's threatened to stab me, I'm pretty damn sure he knows how to work a knife."
"Hmmm," she thought about it, frowning slightly. "Fine. Just be kind to him, okay?"
"I'm always kind to him," he grumbled, but Esmerelda highly doubted that.
They finally reached their destination once the conversation was over. Esmerelda was a little sad that their date had finally ended and she probably wouldn't see Ethan and her friends again until break came, but at least now she can speak with Sirius face-to-face.
"Stay safe," she told Ethan, leaning up to kiss him.
"You too, angel," he murmured against her lips before pulling away. 'Angel' had been one of the nicknames he had grown fond of calling her. According to him, she was his sweet little angel, and she had nearly melted like a puddle when he first called her that.
He watched her enter the building before walking away to head back home.
Esmerelda walked through the creepy foyer of the creepy manor before coming across Tonks, who had just toppled over an ancient looking vase.
"Hey Tonks," she greeted before fixing the vase with Reparo. "Have you seen Sirius?"
"Hey, welcome back, and uh..." Tonks trailed off awkwardly. "You just missed him actually. He already went up to bed about half an hour ago..."
She was perfectly aware of the feud between the two thanks to Remus and her parents telling her what had happened. She preferred to stay on neutral ground (though she understood why Esmerelda had done what she did, but she still thought it was still wrong of her to do it). Meanwhile, her parents sided with Sirius about the incident along with Remus, who vehemently believed Esmerelda was in the wrong.
"Is he really?" Esmerelda asked, her face falling. She was pretty suspicious of that. She did tell him beforehand that she would be arriving today, she wouldn't be surprised if he decided to stay up in his room just to avoid her.
"He really is," Tonks replied truthfully. "Or... at least I think so...?"
She heaved out a sigh. "Alright, thanks."
She went to her father's room—which she would be using as her own (and she got permission from him too).
"What the heck, dad..." She muttered, doing a 360. "Slytherin overload, much?
His bedroom was entirely decked out in Slytherin's trademark colors of emerald and silver. She could even spy a couple snake-related furniture and personal touches. There were snakes engraved into the wooden poles of his four poster bed, snakes carved on the door of his closet, and he even had a small little snake figurine.
The Black family crest was also painted over the bed along with the family motto: Toujours Pur (which was French for 'Always Pure', something she learned through one of her many Duolingo lessons).
On one of the walls was an old Slytherin Quidditch team photograph featuring her father, the Seeker, sitting in the middle of the a crowd of Slytherin students. On the other wall was a wide bookshelf that was full of books and old looking tomes. Some of them looked so old they could probably be sold to a museum.
What was worse was the newspaper cuttings about Voldemort that he had made into a ragged collage. Remembering her father's request to burn that, she set it on fire before tossing the ashes into a trashcan.
"It's so dark and dreary..." She frowned to herself, and then with a snap of her fingers the room was all tidied up.
Time to get to work.
In less than an hour she managed to redecorate his room. The green drapes that were set over the poles of the bed were turned into a shimmery, deep purple. The walls were turned white and lavender, all the creepy snake features were redesigned into something more cuter like puppies and butterflies, the photographs of her father were properly framed, etc. etc. In the end, she was completely satisfied.
"That's better," she said to herself, before her slipping on her pajamas.
Maybe I can talk to Sirius tomorrow... She thought before finally drifting off.
Going to sleep without the assistance of a dreamless sleep potion turned out to be a big mistake though.
In her dreams, she was laying on the ground, rubble all around her. It was a familiar scene, akin to a darker version of Olympus when Kronos attacked it.
"Get back here!" A voice snarled. Something snatched her ankle and dragged her back.
A face came to view and she let out a terrified scream.
Alabaster.
His face was covered in blood and she had no idea who it belonged to. It definitely wasn't his though, since he looked perfectly fine. He was donning golden armor with not a scratch in sight. His sword was nowhere to be found, but she wouldn't doubt that it was covered in the blood of his enemies.
"You think you can get away with what you've done?!" He seethed, getting on top of her.
"No, no, no—!" She pleaded with him, but he slapped her across the face.
"SHUT UP!" He roared.
"Ally, please, I'm sorry!" She tried to tell him.
"I SAID SHUT UP!" He wrapped his hands around her neck and cut off her pleas.
"You deserve to die," he spat at her face, his glowing green eyes full of madness. . "I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!"
She choked, trying desperately to pry his vice grip off of her. His skin felt like marble, and her nails stung as if they were about to fall off her fingers with every time they scratched him.
"Hckkk...! Ngaaah...!" She gasped pathetically.
He leaned his face closer and began to scream profanity, his fingers tightening around her throat. She could hardly hear what he was saying because fifteen familiar faces circled around them.
Her dead siblings were shouting, their eyes hateful as they glared at her.
"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" They cheered Alabaster on.
Alabaster laughed hysterically, and Esmerelda could feel his nails ripping through her throat as if her flesh were made out of paper.
CRAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!
The sound of things clattering to the floor was what woke her up. Her hands began grasping at her unmarked throat like she was trying to pry away invisible fingers. Her eyes darted around and took in the scene. She was back in her new bedroom, her siblings were nowhere to be found.
Shakily, she sat up and grasped the bed sheets, feeling something lodge itself in the back of her throat—her own sobs, bile, or whatever, she didn't know anymore.
Through the dark, she could see that some objects in the room had fallen on the ground and some had completely shattered from the collision. She could feel a light throb in her head that faded away in a matter of seconds.
No, she thought despairingly. Not again.
Ever since the war ended, her nights had been full of fitful sleep. It was so bad that it had started to affect her magic during those nights. The worse her dreams were, the less control she had on her magic. She remembered the worst incident so far: she had a nightmare about Alabaster and Ethan had shaken her awake because she ended up breaking all the windows of the Icarus Tower in her sleep.
She had never once lost control of her powers in her sleep before. It wasn't a very good sign.
Breathing deeply and slowly, she waved her hand and every broken object repaired itself and flew back to it's original spot.
According to the clock, it was still one o'clock in the morning.
No more dreams, she pleaded to herself before lowering back down to the bed.
She burrowed herself deeply into her blankets, wrapping them around her in a pitiful attempt of impersonating a warm hug as she forced herself to quiet down her sobs. She tried to push out the image of Alabaster and the hate in his eyes out of her mind, but that was all she could think about.
She missed her brother, but she was also scared of him. Alabaster wasn't the brother she knew anymore, but then again, everyone had changed ever since the war began.
She was no longer that happy nine year old girl surrounded by her family and loved ones. Now she was just... this disgusting excuse of a person.
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"Seriously...?" She sighed in defeat after Remus told her that her uncle had went up to the attic to groom Buckbeak and wanted to be left alone.
"Yes. I told him not to, but..." The ex-Professor let out a sigh, before his face turned into a stern expression. "I hope you understand why he's upset with you, young lady."
"I do," she replied. "I broke his trust and used the Mist on him."
"And you know you were wrong to do that, don't you?" He questioned.
She frowned, "What? No. I mean, yes it was wrong of me to do use the Mist on him, but I had no other choice! It was the right thing to do, he could've died if he stayed any longer!"
"Esmerelda," he said quietly, staring at her with a mix of pity and concern. "Do you really think that? That it was the right thing to do? Would you... would you do it again?"
Esmerelda didn't answer, because she knew he would only be even more disappointed in her.
She would do it again. If a dangerous situation arose and it was something she knew Sirius wouldn't be able to handle, she would use the Mist to make him leave. It was the right thing to do... wasn't it? The right thing would be to keep him safe, so...
"Esmerelda," Remus' face fell. "You can't abuse your powers like this. I get that you wanted to keep your uncle safe, but what you did... it wasn't the right way to go about it."
"But he wasn't going to leave...!" She argued. "No matter what I said, he was always adamant on staying and after..." After her siblings died, she realized how easily she could lose her mortal uncle too. She couldn't let Sirius die like she had done with them.
"Sirius won't be staying up in the attic forever. So in the meanwhile, just... think about this," Remus told her, before walking away.
Esmerelda no longer felt comfortable in Grimmauld Place, so she left in order to get fresh air. The first destination that came in mind was Harry's place, so she Mist traveled right outside his house.
"He's not here," was what Petunia Dursley said when she knocked on the door and asked to see him. The woman's eyes narrowed, "And who exactly are you? You're not—not from his lot, are you?"
"Forget it. Go back inside and forget this conversation ever happened. You were real useless by the way," she muttered in annoyance before walking away from the front porch.
Great. So Harry was out and now she had to try and find him.
She walked around in hopes to find him only to stop when a chilling sensation permeated the air around her.
Dementor.
Fuck, she thought, breaking out into a sprint. Once she reached Magnolia Crescent, she heard Harry's familiar loud voice screaming: "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
She turned the corner and saw Harry standing before the motionless form on his cousin, his wand aimed up at an approaching dementor.
An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand; its antlers caught the dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backward, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the dementor swooped away, bat-like and defeated.
She was about to call out to him in relief until she spotted a second one swooping from behind.
She didn't hesitate, blasting it away with her magic and killing it instantly. Harry jumped five feet in the air when the dementor was suddenly ripped apart by a ball of green magic. He whirled around, eyes wide when he saw her thundering forward. He stumbled back, nearly tripping over Dudley's unconscious body.
"E-E-Essie...?!" He stammered. "How did you—where—?"
The deadly look on her face disappeared.
"Are you okay?" She asked in utmost concern, grabbing a hold of his arm. She didn't notice it, but Harry did; her hand was trembling and her grip was vice, like she was too scared to let him go.
He continued to gape at her. "Where did you...?"
After scanning him from head to toe, she slowly released him.
"I came here to visit, but your aunt said you were out, so I decided to look for you," she replied, before glancing down at the unconscious Dudley. She grabbed on one arm and looked expectantly at Harry. "Come on, get his other side. I'm taking you back home. I should probably alert the others of what happened."
"The others?" Harry groaned as he heaved half of his cousin's weight. They began walking back to Privet Drive. "What do you mean, what are they going to do?"
"I'll tell you once we get inside. I don't want any potential eavesdroppers."
Naturally, all chaos erupted once they came back to Harry's place. Petunia and Vernon looked ready to strangle the both of them for 'harming their precious son', but Esmerelda used the Mist to make them shut up and brew Harry some calming tea.
"Alright," she muttered once they were alone. "So there's thing organization thing Dumbledore made called the Order of the Phoenix or whatever, and they basically work to defeat Voldemort."
"How's that going?" He asked.
"Uh, not very well," she answered. "To be fair, I just came back from New York so I have no idea what's been going on—oh and I also don't think I was supposed to tell you this now? Whatever. So anyways, that's why Ron and Hermione haven't been replying to your letters, because of the Order and also because Dumbledore told them not too. Same with Sirius and—wait, have I told you all this before?"
"Everything except the Order thing," he answered. "How long has this been going on?!"
"Oh since the beginning of summer," she said airily. "Also, I think I gotta tell Dumbledore what happened? Maybe? I honestly have no idea how this works, but I do know that this dude—Dung or whatever—was supposed to watch you so—"
"—Watch me?!" He repeated angrily. "They've been watching me?! The entire summer?!"
"Oops. That wasn't supposed to slip out." She said sheepishly. "But yeah, they've been watching you and stuff. Dung was in charge of that today, but I guess he left. Anyways—"
Before she could finish her sentence, a screech owl flew in from the opened kitchen window and dropped a letter on Harry's lap.
"What does that say?" Esmerelda frowned. "I don't have my reading glasses on..."
Harry read it aloud for her, growing more angrier by the second:
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm at twenty-three minutes past nine this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.
The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.
As you have already received an official warning for a previous offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on August 12th.
Hoping you are well,
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
"Well..." She said in a tiny, nervous voice. "That, er, doesn't sound good."
"This is terrible!" He cried out. "I'm going to be expelled! They're going to break my wand and everything!"
Esmerelda wanted to say something about expulsions not being the end of the world, but thought that her opinion wouldn't be very much appreciated at the moment.
Another owl came, a dazed and unruffled one. It dropped a letter at Harry's awaiting hand, who stared at it in dread.
"This is from Mr. Weasley...!" He exclaimed. "It says: 'Harry, Dumbledore's just arrived at the Ministry, and he's trying to sort it all out. Do not leave your aunt and uncle's house. Do not do any more magic. Do not surrender your wand.' What does this mean? How's Dumbledore going to fix this? How much power does he even have in the Ministry?"
"Apparently, not enough to give my uncle a fair trial," Esmerelda said bitterly before saying in a more chipper tone, "But look on the bright side! You're not getting expelled!"
And then a third letter came.
This one said:
Dear Mr. Potter,
Further to our letter of approximately twenty-two minutes ago, the Ministry of Magic has revised its decision to destroy your wand forthwith. You may retain your wand until your disciplinary hearing on 12th August, at which time an official decision will be taken.
Following discussions with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Ministry has agreed that the question of your expulsion will also be decided at that time. You should therefore consider yourself suspended from school pending further inquiries.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
"See?" Esmerelda beamed. "You'll be fine."
"I still have to go to court," he said, swallowing thickly. "Have you ever been?"
She grinned in amusement. "Of course not. I'm a law-abiding citizen."
He gave her a doubtful look. "Right..." He looked up to see a fourth owl come in.
Esmerelda rose a brow in amazement. "Oh wow, you're popular huh?"
"It's from Sirius," he muttered.
Esmerelda tensed up.
"It's so short! All it says is to stay home! No way am I gonna do that! I want to get out of this place and join the Order!" His voice rose.
"It'll be okay soon, Harry," she assured him. "Something tells me that Dumbledore won't make you stay here for too long."
"You'll update me then, won't you?" He asked her desperately. "About when I can leave?"
She nodded. "Yes. In the meanwhile, go to bed. I'll make sure your relatives take it easier on you."
"How are you commanding them anyways?" He asked her curiously. "At first, I thought it was the Imperius Curse, but that's... against the law, so..."
She just smiled. "Don't worry too much about it, Harry."
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"Thank you for helping Harry," Sirius said stiffly once she finally approached him in the attic. Buckbeak was deep asleep in the far side of the room, and Sirius was standing before an opened window that showed a plain view of the streets outside.
"So now you talk to me," she mumbled, shutting the door behind her quietly. She moved over to stand to his right.
"Do you even understand why I'm like this with you?" He asked, finally turning to face her.
"Everyone's been telling me. You're upset because I broke your trust and—"
"—And you don't even seem guilty about it." He cut her off. "You think you did the right thing."
"What other choice was there? You wouldn't listen to me no matter what I said! If you had stayed, you would've DIED, do you get that?! Thousands of mortals died in that battle, you would've been one of them!"
"That's not the point!" He cried out. "The point is that you took matters in your own hand! You controlled me without my permission! You forced me to leave because you thought it was best! I'm your uncle, Esmerelda, I'm in charge of you not the other way around!"
"I would never force you to do anything, but I draw the line in your safety. You were about to make a decision that would've ended your life." She spat. "I had no other choice but to take matters in my own hands."
"You can't do this anymore, Esmerelda," he told her quietly. "You can't just abuse your powers—"
"—I did it to protect you!"
"I am your uncle!" He roared. "I do not need your protecting! And I especially do not need you making the decisions for me! You're—" He choked out. "You're becoming so much like Regulus."
And that was exactly what he feared.
As much as he loved his brother, Regulus was not a good person. Even before he became a Death Eater, he was cruel and callous. Esmerelda was none of those and hopefully she never would, but there was one thing she had in common with him:
He had watched his brother fall more and more into the darkness and did nothing to save him. Regulus had been forced to live in a cruel environment and as a result, he grew up too fast. He became an adult when he was still a child. Made dangerous, sometimes reckless decisions. Took matters into his own hands and didn't accept help from anyone. Thought he knew the best. His moral compass was completely shattered and he became a crueler, darker person then the little brother he once knew.
And now he was watching the same thing happen to Esmerelda. And just like with Regulus, he had failed to save her too.
He was terrified that she was too far gone and he couldn't pull her back—just like with his brother.
But unlike with Regulus, Esmerelda was still kind. She was still sweet, friendly, and caring.
She still had hope.
"...So that's the real problem here," she realized. "What's wrong with being like my dad?" She asked defensively.
"I need you to stop this, Esmerelda," he told her firmly. "I am your uncle. I'm supposed to take care of you, not the other way around. You can't go around doing what you want anymore without any regard for others. You cannot control me again, understand? I won't have you ending up like Regulus, not if... not if I can help it."
"But—"
"—No," he said harshly. "I'm putting my foot down. You're turning dark, Esmerelda. Do you think I haven't heard about how Barty Crouch Junior got his throat cut open in St. Mungos? I know that was you."
He had received the news just a few days after Esmerelda forced him out of America. Crouch had been found murdered just two days after the incident with the Third Task. There were no reports of a break-in, no other evidence found at the crime scene, but Sirius knew. The second he found out what happened, he knew Esmerelda was the one behind the murder.
He knew Esmerelda had killed before, but all those instances were in self-defense. Crouch was harmless... What she had done was cold-blooded murder.
She furrowed her brows. "So what? He deserved it. Plus, he was going to die anyways and end up the Fields of Punishment. He wasn't a good person, why keep him alive?"
"He was still a person!"
"And so is Peter Pettigrew," she said coldly. "Once upon a time, you wanted to kill him too. I'm sure a part of you still does."
He stared at her, unable to reply.
"You killed someone," he stated, and it was as if he could see the ghost of his brother standing tauntingly behind her. "Will you do it again?"
He feared that he knew the answer.
"If I have to," she answered honestly, and the image of Regulus smiled in approval before Sirius pushed him out of his mind.
"You cannot do this anymore," he said shakily. "You can't..." His words suddenly died out.
Esmerelda furrowed her brows in confusion before following his line of sight. Something out the window had caught his eye.
She looked outside and felt her blood run cold.
Three old ladies were standing across the street, illuminated by the moonlight. And they were staring right back at them.
The lady on the left was holding one end of a piece of electric blue yarn that was so bright it was practically glowing. The lady on the right was holding the other end, while the one in the middle stood behind it.
The three pairs of eyes never wavered. It felt like they were staring right into their souls.
Then the most horrifying thing happened: the one in the middle took out a pair of scissors; large, golden and silver and shaped like shears. Esmerelda watched with a hitched breath as the two long blades snipped through the yarn.
Beside her, Sirius began to shake.
Esmerelda stepped away from the window and screamed.
— author's note —
Essie: *is dreaming*
Alabaster:
Sirius' biggest issue isn't that she used the Mist on him without permission, it's that she's becoming like Regulus. Sirius loves his brother and all, but he knows Regulus was a cold-hearted, callous person who would kill without hesitation. He doesn't want that for Essie, but he's starting some similarities between them especially with how she killed Crouch Jr and how nonchalant she is about using her powers on people.
Here's where some of the people stand when it comes to the Sirius-Essie debate:
Regulus: Fully sides with his daughter and approves what she had done. Cannot comprehend why Sirius is so upset (probably because he would lowkey do the same thing lol)
Ethan: Sides with Essie and approves of her actions, but understands why Sirius is upset, but also doesn't sympathize
Nico: Sides with Essie and approves of her actions, but understands why Sirius is upset and can sympathize
(Those three guys are extremely bias though, so it's only natural they would side with Essie)
Tonks: Neutral ground and sees both points
Andromeda: Sides and sympathizes with Sirius, but understands why Essie did it (and lowkey approves because she fears that Sirius really could have died had he stayed)
Ted: Sides and sympathizes with Sirius, but understands why Essie did it
Remus: Sides and sympathizes with Sirius, understands why Essie did it but is appalled by her actions
Also, if you're wondering if Essie will do the same to her demigod friends like she did with Sirius, the answer is no. I've told you before back in book four that Essie is prejudiced against mortals. It's not like the same prejudice like the Purebloods have for muggles, she still likes mortals, she just sees them as weaker. To her they're people that need to be protected especially when it comes to the godly world.
She's absolutely traumatized and guilty over what she did back at the bridge, and that only fueled her belief that mortals are weak because it was so easy for them to fall victim to Morpheus' sleep spell, it was so easy for her to kill them. Her demigod friends though, she doesn't worry as much about because they're like her, they're used to that harsh life and they know how to handle those sort of situations.
But mortals are different. They're bodies are weaker and they always get hurt by the divine world, so she wanted to try and keep Sirius away from it, hence her overprotective nature when it comes to him and other mortals she's close to.
Now that dream tho... :) don't you guys love a traumatized, self-loathing Essie??????? Cuz I sure do!
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