CHAPTER THIRTY TWO:

ANATOMY OF A FAMILY DOWNFALL

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      Nova could do nothing but stare silently as the Death Eaters surrounded them. They were covered in their normal garb, that of black robes and an aura of fear and destruction. Nova had never seen her father in the ceremonial black costume he and his fellow Death Eaters seemed to wear, but it didn't make him look any less frightening. If anything, the black contrasted starkly with his pale skin and made him seem even more nefarious. 

      "To me, Potter," Lucius Malfoy instructed, holding out his hand with the palm up. Nova's lips trembled, for once at a loss of what to do. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that she wasn't getting out of this scenario alive. She knew what kind of magic her father could pull off. Would a few measly lessons with the D.A. possibly be enough to save her life if her father decided he wanted her dead? Nova wasn't sure. 

      But she would try. For Theo, she would do anything.

      "To me," Malfoy repeated, his drawling voice sounding so much like his son's in that moment that Nova shivered. 

      "Where's Sirius?" Harry asked, suddenly regaining the power of speech. Nova heard the guffaw of her father from somewhere behind Lucius, the same cold and cruel laugh she had heard all her life. The same laugh he had used when she had finally learned Occlumency and had been on the floor in pain, screaming at him and begging for it to be over. He had laughed at her then, in the same laugh he was using now. She despised the sound of it.

      "The Dark Lord always knows!" She heard her godmother's voice announce triumphantly. 

      "Always," Malfoy answered, his voice soft as if Harry was a baby deer they didn't want to scare away. "Now, give me the prophecy, Potter."

      "I want to know where Sirius is!"

      "I want to know where Sirius is," Bellatrix mocked. She was close enough to Nova now to reach out and twirl a lock of Nova's hair around her fingers. "I bet you didn't fall for that, eh Konstantinova? I bet you were smarter than all of them." Ron stirred beside her, ready to defend her if needed, but Nova squeezed his hand tighter to try and let him know that pissing Bellatrix off was not the best course of action at that particular moment. "You had so much... potential," Bellatrix continued. "So much wasted."

      "Wasted? Would you have me as one of you? A Death Eater?" Bellatrix sneered and gave Nova her answer. "Be honest, Aunt Bella. You didn't want me. You never trusted me. But you knew you needed me to get to Theo. Did you have to promise him my protection?"

      Bellatrix simply sneered again, but didn't answer. A tell that Nova's words were correct. Nova felt like some of the weight from her shoulders was lifted. Theo had joined the Death Eaters in the promise that Nova would remain safe. She didn't know if his promise would ring true if a fight did break out at that very moment, but previously, his intentions had been the same as Nova's herself. Keep their twin safe.

      "You've got him," Harry said, breaking the concentration from Nova and Bellatrix and bringing it back to himself and the issue at hand. Bellatrix latched onto Harry's words, giving a mocking smile. "He's here. I know he is."

      "The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo," Bellatrix mocked in a baby voice. Nova felt her fingers inch towards her wand, but Harry stopped her.

      "Don't do anything," he muttered lowly. "Not yet."

      Bellatrix let out a peal of laughter so loud that Nova saw Hermione and Ginny jump at the foreign sound. But Nova stood as still as a statue, her eyes locked on her godmother. "You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"

      "Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," Malfoy said in that same terrifying calm voice. It was the kind of voice that made you know a storm was soon to follow. "He has a great weakness for the heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."

      "I know Sirius is here," Harry said in a voice that suggested his chest was closing in and he couldn't breathe properly. "I know you've got him!"

      The Death Eaters around them laughed in the most mocking sounds they could muster. Nova saw her father, staring at her as if willing her to spontaneously combust. She straightened. I will not let you know I'm afraid, she thought, willing him to hear it. I'm done being afraid of you. If this ends how I think it will, then fine. But I'm done fearing you.

      "It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," Malfoy stated. "Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."

      Nova was already closing her hand around her wand, ready to protect her friends standing around her. Ready to protect the boy clutching onto her hand like she was the only thing keeping him from lashing out. 

      "Go on, then," Harry said, raising his wand to his chest. Nova took this as her cue to take her wand from her pocket, holding it out in front of her. She saw her friends around her do the same. They were willing to go down fighting for the people in this room. For the people they loved. Nova's heart felt like it was crushing in her chest, but even then, she knew. She would die for Ron Weasley. Somehow, he had sneaked his way to her heart and she cared for him just as much as she cared for Theo. And if it came down to it, she would suffer the same fate for the redheaded blood traitor.

      But the Death Eaters didn't move.

      "Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," Malfoy said calmly and coolly. Nova didn't believe him for a second. When Harry laughed, she realized she wasn't alone in the sentiment. 

      "Yeah, right!" Harry shouted, his voice tinged with just the slightest panic. "I give you this - prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"

      Bellatrix sneered at him before she started screaming, "Accio proph -"

      "Protego!" Harry countered. Bellatrix blinked in surprise. 

      "Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," she said, sneering at the group of Hogwarts students through her hood. "Very well, then -"

      "I TOLD YOU, NO!" Lucius Malfoy screamed with such conviction that it made Nova jump. Her eyes flitted back to her father, who was staring at her with utter most contempt. If she was scared before, she was absolutely terrified now. He was the only one who seemed to be able to elicit that response in her. "If you smash it -!"

      "You need more persuasion?" Bellatrix said to Harry, glaring so harshly that Nova was surprised he didn't shudder. "Very well - take the smallest one," she said gesturing with a head nod towards Ginny. Nova felt her hand move, ready to fight off any of the Death Eaters if they even thought about touching her. "Let him watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it." They started to close in around Ginny, but suddenly Bellatrix stopped, grinning wildly. "Or, how about our own little Konstantinova? I'm sure Edgar won't mind. He'd probably be happy to rid himself of the blood traitor," she spit in Nova's face, her saliva hitting Nova in the cheek. Nova didn't dare move. She just continued to glare. 

      "You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," Harry mentioned, slipping in front of Nova so he could be between she and Bellatrix. Ron squeezed Nova's hand, seemingly paralyzed with the fear that Bellatrix was going to harm her. Nova didn't care anymore. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?" Bellatrix didn't move. Harry continued to stand between his friends and the line of fire. "So, what kind of prophecy are we talking about anyway?"

      "What kind of prophecy?" Bellatrix repeated his words back to him, the sinister grin falling from her face. "You jest, Harry Potter."

      "Nope, not jesting. How come Voldemort wants it?" Nova felt Ron flinch at hearing the name. He wasn't the only one. The Death Eaters hissed, as if hearing Harry Potter speak the name of their Dark Lord was their undoing. 

      "You dare speak his name!" Bellatrix whispered in a deathly low voice. It was like the hiss of a snake before it pounced on its prey.

      "Yeah," Harry replied. "Yeah, I've got no problem saying Vol -"

      "Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix screamed. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare -"

      "Did you know he's a half-blood too?" Harry asked recklessly. Nova heard Hermione groan. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a with but his dad was a Muggle - or has he been telling you lot he's pureblood?"

      "STUPEF -"

      "NO!"

      Everyone in the room looked shocked. Not shocked that Lucius Malfoy had deflected Bellatrix's spell, but that both Lucius Malfoy and Nova Nott had spoken at the same time. In the time it took for Malfoy to block Bellatrix's spell, Nova had shoved Harry to the side to step in front of him. Ron protested weakly from behind her, but she just continued to glare forward, listening as crystal balls cracked under the weight of the deflected stunning curse. 

      Several pearly white figures popped up from the crystal balls that had shattered, but Nova's eyes were locked onto Lucius Malfoy's. She heard her father screaming at Bellatrix that they needed to keep Harry safe until they got the prophecy, but all Nova could focus on was Draco Malfoy's father. "Konstantinova," he said softly, his tone sugary sweet as opposed to the quiet whisper he had been using to try and coax Harry into giving over the prophecy. "You, who protect them so valiantly, should know that this is the best course of action. Tell Harry Potter to hand over the prophecy and we'll let you go. You can finally be free of your father. You think I do not know that is what you want? Hand over the prophecy and the Dark Lord will guarantee your safety. Your safety and Theodore's."

      Nova reached behind her a squeezed Harry's hand, her way of letting him know that if he was going to think of an escape plan, he needed to do it while she had Lucius Malfoy talking. "Theodore will never be safe. Not when he's in that house."

      "You think the Dark Lord doesn't know what your father does? If you pledge your allegiance, he will protect you. You will be safe. Your blood is purely magical. He does not wish to waste that purity." 

      Nova's lips trembled. "The Dark Lord cannot offer me protection. You know this, Lucius."

      "Are you willing to be the one to tell him, then?" Malfoy countered. "Are you willing to be the one to tell Harry Potter what the prophecy says?"

      "What?" Harry whispered from behind her.

      "Harry, if you want to know what it says, I'll tell you," Nova replied, keeping her eyes on Malfoy. "But don't you dare give him that prophecy. He doesn't care about you after that. After he gets what he wants, you're dead."

      "Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries? Your dear friend Konstantinova didn't tell you? She was raised on the story of Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. She was raised on the story of the Dark Lord's night at Godric's Hollow."

      "What about my scar?" Harry asked. While the Death Eaters laughed, she heard Harry whisper to Hermione to smash shelves when he gave the words. Nova twitched her wand in her hand and looked at Harry, who was nodding her as if he wasn't buying a word Lucius Malfoy was saying about her. She appreciated his sense of loyalty in her. "So he wanted me to come and get it, did he? Why?"

      "Why?" Malfoy sounded too delighted. "Because the only people who are permitted to receive a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made, as the Dark Lord discovered when he attempted to use others to steal it for him."

      "And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?"

      "About both of you, Potter, about both of you... Haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"

      Nova felt Hermione's hand pressing into her back. She assumed it was Hermione trying to tell her the plan. Nova nodded silently to try and convey that she understood. Then, she locked eyes with her father. He was glaring at her like he was willing her to dissolve into dust in that moment. This is your doing. You've pushed me away all my life. You've hurt me all my life. He flinched, as if he could hear the words in his head. She wished he could. You killed her. You killed her and you don't care. You didn't even blink. Theodore's going to die in your place. You're going to let everyone who only wanted love from you die because you're so selfish. Because you're sick. He's going to hate you. He's going to see you through my eyes. I gave up on you long ago.

      "NOW!" Harry shouted, and Nova immediately pointed her wand at the nearest shelf of orbs. She screamed "REDUCTO!" with so much force that the entire tower structure the crystal balls were on reduced to nothing but a smoking pile of dust. Nova held her hands above her head as glass and wood showered down on her like rain, cutting and slicing her skin. For once, she couldn't feel the pain. All she could feel was the need to get her friends to safety. To fight for them. To fight for Theo.

      "RUN!" Harry demanded. Nova crushed Ron's hand in her own and started taking off, keeping one hand above her head so the fragments of the Seer's predictions wouldn't hit her face. She felt her father before she saw him, and quickly ducked as he tried to grab the bottom of her robes. He fell forward, grabbing her ankle in the process. Nova felt her body fall and heard herself shout at Ron to keep going. When he didn't move, Ginny grabbed his shoulder and pushed him towards the exit. 

      Her father seemed to not realize he could resort to magic to harm her. His fist shot out and clipped her nose. She felt the blood coming on before a sharp pain in her nose told her it was probably broken. She screamed out and kicked her legs upwards to get him off her. His body flew to her right for a moment and she pointed her wand at him. "This is for Theo," she muttered darkly, throwing her leg back before slamming it against the front of his face. "STUPEFY!" she screamed, watching as his body flew backwards like a rag doll. "STUPEFY!" It was like her body was on autopilot, like it had been when she was in Umbridge's office. Unlike Warrington, she didn't care how many stunners she hit her father with. He deserved every single one. "STUPEFY!" 

      Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, rushing her down the rows of shattered crystal balls. She couldn't see Ron, Ginny, or Luna anywhere and started panicking when all she saw was Neville and Hermione. Hermione shot a spell at the door to lock the door behind them. Nova reached up and felt the blood on her nose, surveying the damage. "Where are the others?" Nova asked, barely contained rage in her voice.

      "They must have gone the wrong way!" Hermione whispered.

      "Listen!" Neville snapped.

      They all fell silent, listening to what sounded like footsteps. "Leave Nott, leave him, I say, the Dark Lord will not care for Nott's injuries as much as losing that prophecy - Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left, Crabbe and Rabastan, go right; Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead, Macnair and Avery, through here! Rockwood, over there; Mulciber, come with me!"

      Nova heard Hermione and Harry whispering for a plan, but her eyes were locked on the door. She pretended to follow behind them for a moment before she slipped away, hiding in the shadows of the room. Her ears were trained on the Death Eaters, listening to what footsteps were going where. And then, she let herself enter her father's mind, the only time she was ever thankful for his Occlumency lessons.

      She saw him, saw what he saw. There was blood dripping into his eyes and dripping from his mouth. She saw the tilted angle he was seeing, and realized his body was still crumpled on the ground. 

      Elizabeth Nott, she thought to him. She saw his body move, and she knew he could hear her in his mind. She was your wife. She was the mother to your children. She was hit with a spell sent by one of your people. And you couldn't bare the thought that you hated the Dark Lord, even for a moment. You couldn't bare that in that second she was hit, you wanted him to die. You wanted Harry Potter to succeed. And you killed her so you wouldn't have to live with that regret. Memories of her mother, of her warm smile, of her trips to Florean's ice cream shop, of her teaching her children how to ride broomsticks. That is the childhood you deprived me of. You deprived me of love. You deprived Theo of love. I've spent my entire life trying to earn your acceptance, but I'm done. You mean nothing to me. If that makes me a blood traitor, so be it. Because at least with these people, I've found what you stole from me. I found what I could never find from you.

       I want revenge. You'll pay for what you did to her. You'll pay for what you did to Theo. But most of all, I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me. And mother's going to be with me. Because if there's one thing she hated more than you, its whatever harmed her children. I have her on my side. And I'm going to make sure you're dead and gone.

      It was silent for a few moments. And then, she heard him. Konstantinova, the little weak voice whispered in her head. She was glad he sounded so vulnerable and weak. She relished in the pain he felt. You're dead to me.

      She didn't bother with a response. Instead, she moved along the shadows to try and find her friends, all along thinking about the downfall of her family. For once, she was pleased that she was the cause.

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NOVA GETTING REVENGE ON HER FATHER IS MY AESTHETIC OKAY