"Leisurely, lady Bellarose! Leisurely! Both legs to one side!" the Trunchbull roared in antagonism farther back into the tree line, but Audette was in no mindset to slow down her pearly mare horse, bolting through the forest at lightning speed.
Both legs on one side always resulted in her backflipping off when the horse was but crawling through a garden, ergo it was certainly not the sort of position for the velocity at which she was racing.
Her eyes streamed in response to a subzero chill that morning. Three days after returning to her home at Bellarose Castle the landscape had taken on a thin veil of snow in the outer rims of the vast property, of which she was riding through like a storm.
Magical spies flapped overhead, casting their feathery shadows threateningly and squawking into the wind.
Gilded hooves sprayed stones high into the air all of the way down the bestrewn ancient lane, the overdressed horse in a baby blue coat framed on each side by low polygonal masonry walls hundreds of years old, crumbling and gnarled with vines.
Escape.
It was the only word on her mind. Escape from her family, escape from her new fiancé...escape from herself, and what she had agreed to in the face of certain death.
Escape from the mistakes she had made when Theodore Nott tried in every way possible to provide hints that she should avoid the danger that was Draco Malfoy.
Both boys had attempted to keep their status as Death Eaters classified as long as possible, including her father's, their father's, staff members at Hogwarts, the Simulation Architect...who was next, Argus Filch the fumbling and unwashed janitor who kissed his mangy cat? Harry Potter? A House Elf?
But Audette was much too stubborn and impossible to accept secrets, and too impatient to accept anyone else's schedule but her own.
And although this would have bought her some stretch of time defined by peaceful ignorance, it was only ever going to end one way. Sooner or later, Audette would have been faced by a crimson moon swirling within that magical monocle, promising an Unbreakable Vow of silence.
She forced the horse to swing off the path, leaping treacherously high over the eastern wall to lose her governesses in the forest, the horse's back hooves barely clearing the highest boulder.
"She's taken that morbid shortcut to the sea wall again!" Audette heard Aine cry in frustration from her own horse, all three of them trotting along now with knowledge of where their young lady was headed.
Like humanoid claws, blackened branches scratched at her pale cheeks and tangled in her long loose braids, the sky above exceptionally dark for the middle of the day. It was as if the Bellarose Castle had become a magnet for shadows and evil, and in the three days she had been there not once had the sunshine broken out over the lake.
When she reached the crumbling sea wall she slid off her horse before even coming to a full stop, white robes swirling around her riding boots in the wind, her styled hair frenzied beyond repair.
The sea wall was an old and abandoned medieval outcropping of the first Bellarose castle built on the property during the thirteenth century, situated fatally along a sheer cliff abutting the inhospitable and freezing North Atlantic Ocean.
Sections had since crumbled into the water during storms and high tides, leaving behind the toothy skeleton of a once incredible defensive superstructure fallen into disrepair.
Despite being several kilometers away from the contemporary inland fortress, the sea wall was Audette's favorite location to mope when she was permitted to leave the biodome - and moping was not meant to be overlooked by a triangle of snooty governesses.
She tied her horse to a rusted metal ring with no lingering apparent purpose, jutting out of a tall wall segment which had once produced the podium to a tower similar to the one she herself possessed as a bedroom.
Tearing off her brown riding gloves she flipped her massive hood over her head and walked through the forgotten palace towards the ocean, her green eyes roseate and glittery from the horrific truths she had been digesting for days.
In some luckier segments of the acropolis where the ceilings had resisted total collapse, a mat of texture on the leafy stone flooring represented what was left of a thick purple carpet. Even more apocalyptic were the gargoyles and statues of bizarre design, and rotting magical paintings with holes missing in their faces, their eyes retaining freaky animation to crookedly follow prowling trespassers.
At the farthest elevation in which the unstable foundations clung to compromise against the carving ocean spray she halted, overlooking the water where the fortification was exposed to the whipping air.
For nearly ten minutes she allowed the snowy oceanic breeze to bite at her rosy cheeks and nose, hiding behind shut eyes in meditation.
Unfortunately some of the paintings which still possessed enough rasp in their voices to whisper were doing just that in a forgotten Gaelic behind her back, making the deserted palace read like a graveyard rife with judgmental ghosts.
Her hair blew back and forth, small whisps breaking free from the mass to tickle at her skin, and Audette fell deep inside of herself at that cliffside.
And there it was. The bloody cavalry had arrived.
The clacking of horse hooves arriving in the vicinity, Ms. Poison seething down the broken hallway whilst swatting aside draping spiderwebs, "That is it. Until the termination of your ungrateful stay, you shall be locked in the biodome Miss Bellarose, seeing as you have misplaced any sense of propriety!"
"No," Audette drove her chin over her shoulder in a venomous voice, half of her lovely face masked behind the white cloak, causing Ms. Poison to grind to a gradual halt.
"My ears must be stuffed with cotton, did you just resist my orders for a third time today?" she pulled her rouge gloves tight in preparation for an altercation, the other two governesses wincing in the background.
Now eighteen and of legal age to employ magic outside of school, Audette bravely whipped out her pink wand and directed it for the first time in her life at the Trunchbull, swiveling on the spot with a revised sense of insolence, "I said, no. You heard Lord Malfoy; your days of rule are over, and if you accost me I shall be passing along my grievance."
She took a step closer without dropping her weapon, feeling in that moment as if she were about to explode like a bomb under pressure, "Why, nowadays you're nothing but a decoration supporting my formal image in the public eye."
"Miss Bellarose, how acetose," Tierney clapped her riding glove over her mouth, her eyes bulging in absolute disbelief of Audette's spiky defense.
"Not to mention unlady like," Aine crossed her arms and lowered her face to the littered ground, kicking at a rusted sword which had been blending in with browning leaves.
Ms. Roisin dropped her fingers one at a time into her pale mauve dress to produce her gnarled black wand and meet Audette's confrontation, baring her razor sharp teeth like an overgrown Goblin, and Audette was briefly reminded that she was an absolutely godawful dueler.
Her scorned heart wished to weep alone by the ocean, but now she was trapped by a fleet of clingy and overbearing governesses yet again. If all three pulled out their wands Audette would have no choice at freedom other than to turn around and leap to a rocky plummet at the base of the disintegrating castle.
Before anything seriously regrettable could occur a melodic voice flitted over the misty atmosphere, "Stand down, Brona, ladies. I will take it from here, please wait by the fillies for our return."
Through the shadows of decomposing draperies Eloise Bellarose plucked her way forward, nodding to each governess with the gentleness of a daisy.
"Come, come," was all she said, waving her hand forward down an impressive corridor which was dangerously missing one wall to the ocean's unforgiving gnaw, some of the arches overhead with only one pillar in tact.
Audette lingered for a second in a corrosive staring contest with Ms. Poison, sensing that a turning point truly had been reached in her relationship with the foul, controlling witch who preached etiquette like it was a religion.
It was a battle Ms. Brona Roisin would never win in full; Audette would never truly be a lady.
Following her mother who's hood was also hanging far over her head to protect from the freezing air and spray, they wandered like gorgeous pastel ghouls, Audette pulling out of her pocket two flattening roses; one pink with little crystals, one black and velvety.
Eloise eyed down the contrasting flower clippings wistfully, "The Nott boy continues to pine after you, despite his obvious defeat. And you...you cannot let him go either, despite your tendered betrothal to Draco Malfoy."
Audette's eyes analyzed the creamy blush of the coral rose, which he had thoughtfully covered in white glitter, "I loved him, more than I knew I did."
"Hmm," Eloise stared off at a weeping marble statue in a distant courtyard, absolutely overridden with sea moss and invasive vines which had established in the base of it's mephitic fountain, "Do you know the meaning behind my maiden name, Fiadh, now suitably your middle name?"
They wandered into a large dining hall of sorts, where a throne like chair with steepled points sat at the far end of a monolithic, cracked stone table, impressive enough for a Lord of the land to rule underneath the King.
"No, you never tell me anything of your life before father," Audette quipped bitterly, barely avoiding bumping into some sort of dark magic that was occurring within a detached skull on a table, illuminated green smog foaming from it's eye sockets.
"Well for very good reason - Fiadh is an elder term for wild, and indeed, I see far too much of my younger myself in my daughter each time I look at her," Eloise rested her dark peridot gaze on Audette, not a single strand of her strawberry hair out of place in her braided bun.
In otherwise spotless composure, there were dark bags under her eyes from exhaustion and strain, "I once loved a sheep farmer's boy you know, before I was endowed to Montgomery Bellarose. He was much like Theodore; crafty, whole-hearted, with a dream to build his own home in a meadow and live a simple life. You can imagine what my father thought; a muggle boy no less, a proposed match as far from pureblood and noble as one could get."
Astonished at the rare honesty, Audette felt tempted to peer around the echoing chamber of the castle's great hall for another demiguise to be perched in curiosity. Perhaps she aught to pinch herself and awake from a certain dream.
She inhaled deeply, running the thumb of her thick riding glove over the wilting pink flower in her palm, "But Theodore is a pureblood. He is an aristocrat. He's far from disappointing in that regard, just as fitting as Draco. What are you trying to tell me, mother?"
He is not for you.
Eloise picked up a golden chalice in her glove, turning it over so that the ancient Bellarose family shield could be brushed clean and visible, "It is because of those qualities that your father turned a blind monocle to the courtship for so many years; allowing you the one slice of happiness he knew would keep you from a full blown revolt, but he was not fond of the boy due to his lack of membership with Excetra. You see sweet child, the Nott's were one of the few who followed the dark lord before his fallout, then foolishly turned their backs upon his return."
Closing her eyes, Audette opened and closed her mouth several times as her heart pinched in place, "Then...was it Montgomery's intention to separate us when the time came? Was this all an inevitable outcome?"
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
With a benign and mannerly thud, Eloise properly placed the chalice back on the grimy table's surface; as if it would make a difference if one single cup were upright amongst the dozens that were chipped and strewn.
She dusted her mitts off with a shrewd huff of disgust, her eyes glittering across the deranged room and the mothy banners hanging over broken stained glass windows, "No, not necessarily. As such, it was only a matter of time before he approached the dark lord to put Theodore Nott to the test for your hand. The Malfoy boy was already complaining of his task to repair the cabinet, and desired to shift his own responsibility to an idea he himself procured for the Quadrivial Tournament. This was well-received by Lord Voldemort, who saw the concept of two brilliant minds operating within the castle as an opportunity."
Eloise waved a hand and shrugged her shoulders, "However, unpredictably, once enrolled with Excetra Theodore Nott abandoned you, and even we did not understand why. Such a pity - it was his singular chance to sway Montgomery in his favor."
Anger boiled in Audette's veins as she turned away, her hands evolving into fists within her deep robe pockets, crushing both flower remnants in the process.
Theodore Nott never would have joined Excetra if Montgomery Bellarose had not devised such an atrocity in the first place - all so that he could secretly analyze Theo's merit to marry Audette. Ironically, it had only resulted in their division.
She could not help sensing that it was all her fault he was suffering and dying inside - that flame of creation and confidence within his heart snuffing out to be replaced with an unrecognizably desperate, lonely and livid creature.
Her mother went on with a narrow gaze, watching as Audette reacted with a hundred emotions at once, "As it is, word flies much like fowl across the landscape during migration seasons. Sooner or later your father caught wind of what had occurred; as the primary Death Eater apprentice, Draco Malfoy alone delegates the conditions for each young member to join Excetra for training over the summer. He grew the wiser of Theodore's apparent intentions to break apart from you until his task with the cabinet was complete. I could not say exactly what conniving conditions Malfoy set, but it seems it was along the line of a guarantee that Nott could not interfere with anyone else's attempts to involve themself with you until the cabinet was complete."
Audette took a wobbly step back into the table hosting the morbid frothing skull, a paw straight to her upset tummy, "He thought I wouldn't return Draco's advances let alone affections; he expected I would remain independent all this time."
"He presumed incorrectly that he might finalize his enrollment and task for the dark lord to save his family, then equally as cowardly as his parents, elope, with my daughter no less. At least, that is what your father suspects, however he has not mentioned this to anyone as of yet," clasping her hands behind her lavender robe Eloise dropped her face and shook it, her long reddish eyelashes batting disapprovingly through a deep sigh, "Without a doubt, if you were not both eliminated upon discovery you would have been ruined amongst the ton, a certain case of a spinster reject."
It was silent for a long time as both women looked to the ground, deep in thought, Audette's breath rattling and uneven. She could hardly move as if she'd been struck with Petrificus Totalus, only her eyelids twitching with flashing vivid images of the unprecedented year that had just transpired.
An acrid breeze from the ocean whistled in through shattered glass and between dividing mortar, sounding somewhat like an out of tune pipe organ was on it's dying legs in the Northern corner.
Carefully, Eloise dug in her robe pocket to produce a miniature wooden letter cabinet, which she then enlarged to it's full size with the tip of her wand cast over it. She stepped to Audette, who raised her cheerless eyes to her mother's serious expression, receiving the item hesitantly.
"Listen to me Audette; your father has withheld revealing his suspicions of Theodore Nott's traitorous mindset, on the premise that you are already dedicated to Draco Malfoy, whom he deems to be worthy of your hand. He will hold this threat over your head to see that the Malfoy marriage is fulfilled," Eloise released her grip on the box and sent Audette an incredibly imploring gaze, one tinted with a combination of warning and scarcely provided motherly empathy.
She nodded to the elaborate repository, "Given it was highly inappropriate at the time, your father collected these letters as they arrived over the years. Today, they are yours to read in full, and consider with great enthusiasm that Draco Malfoy will make a fine lord to you."
Audette popped open the wooden box which smelled of cherry wood and dust, to find it was absolutely brimming with ivory parchments all folded neatly, many of which had been sliced open already.
Draco's signature cursive was everywhere on the covers; Audette, A.B., Audette, Dear Audette...
"If you love them both as you say you do, then you have a chance that I never did; to marry as your heart desires. Forget the past, squash it deep down, consign to oblivion the one which is toxic to you," Eloise nodded solemnly at Audette, who had sucked in her lips in to avoid crying, sifting delicately through the letters dating as far back as 1993.
She picked a letter out near the front, unfolding it slowly where it had already been torn, seeing that they were all short and simple, characterized by hesitant brevity,
December 28, 1994,
Audette,
I resent you for forcing me to write this, ergo should you show this owl to anyone there will be severe consequences.
This may seem out of place seeing as "I am not the likes of person" you prefer to surround yourself with anymore. Nonetheless I cannot stand another month of this uncalled for animosity in the common room. Allow me to outline the misunderstanding at hand.
I asked you to the ball because you are special to me, not for any reason that relates to stinging ridicule. When you are ready to mature and discuss this matter, find me.
Draco
She put the box down, shaking her head in disbelief.
So many years had passed where Draco had been given a false impression that she was blatantly ignoring his efforts to reconcile their friendship.
It would have been quite a bit more effective to speak to her in person, but in hindsight, Audette had been exceptionally dismissive to Draco in almost every setting following his first Yule Ball invitation, evidently leaving him to resort to private letters which had grievously never made it through Montgomery's analytical intervention.
Moving on...
June 17, 1995,
Audette,
For what reason are you blatantly ignoring my owls, yet you have the gall to show up at my birthday like that?
No intention was in mind to trick or humiliate you on the deck. Quite the opposite.
You cannot say you did not feel what I felt when I kissed you.
I dare you to recreate the moment with me, and still claim disinterest.
Malfoy
Oh no - Montgomery and Eloise had been privy to Audette's racy little run-ins and never mentioned any of it. A tingle of humiliation ran down her spine as she took in the hearty volume of evidence in the box, detailing her teenage history from the perspective of a ruffian schoolboy.
It was a now a race to read them all at once even though there were hundreds, and her elegant mother was directly beside her keenly observing.
July 15, 1995,
Happy Birthday Audette,
D.M.
There were several "Happy Birthday's" and "Merry Christmas's" just like that one, year after year, no other words apparently needed.
She could just picture a tall figure in all black, in the shadows of an enormous and cold suite, tying letter after letter to a huge horned owl with undying faith that one day it would reappear with a response.
But a response had been as forbidden as his feelings for her.
She couldn't help but wonder how differently it all would have gone, how differently she would've felt towards him, had she received those letters as intended. The level of effortful communication on his part was gobsmacking to say in the least.
Would she have been struck then with the very butterflies currently flapping in her chest? It was hard to envision the endearing words not pulling at her heart strings, hard to imagine that in some way it wouldn't have made her question her relationship with Theodore entirely...
She skipped right to the end of the pile, just as her hyperactive mind did with every single novel she ever tried to read baring non-existent patience;
January 4, 1996,
To the disgruntled fair unicorn,
What happened at the New Year's party was a mistake and you bloody well know it.
I did not rip your ridiculous antediluvian skirt on purpose, although you must admit it was rather hilarious, and the look on your face was priceless.
Once again I know you will discard this owl like the rubbish you believe me to be, but it is critical that I defend myself, lest you run your prissy mouth off that I am some defiler.
I regret that that very assumption resulted in you weeping over the mild affair. Sometimes, based on the way you look at me with mistrust and resentment, I wonder if you bother to open my post at all before tossing it in the bin.
And if that is the case then it might as well be said, seeing as no one is reading this anyways; the truth is, I'm in love with you Audette.
Sincerely, the hideous beast.
Audette dropped the letter as if it were suddenly aflame, her jaw dropped. Had he really...proclaimed such a vulnerable admission that long ago?
Oh yes, the 1996 New Year's party, how could she let slip that traumatic event?
Audette had just emerged from a lavatory with Cosmos to find that the group of celebrating teenagers they'd left behind twenty minutes prior had graduated to a drinking game involving stripping.
In a bubbly bounce Guy had taken off, eager to join in, leaving Audette twisting her mittens together.
Immediately and by what felt like an accident her eyes had landed thirstily on Draco's shirtless form by the fireplace, snorting down at Pansy's latest embarrassing photographic capture of a chubby Crabbe in nothing but his disturbingly tight "tighty whities."
As if he had a fifth sense his baby blue eyes had shot straight to hers accusingly, and then in a flash he'd peeled straight for Audette, proceeding to push her by the shoulder arrogantly as a flirty smile overtook his features, "Well, well, look who's checking me out. Browsing for an upgrade, twinkle toes?"
"Actually, I see an ape in dress pants and a veritable downgrade," Audette had crossed her arms defensively, wishing he hadn't elected to stand a meager foot away, forcing her to crane her neck just to make eye contact.
For a second he'd simply raised an eyebrow, his handsome grin spreading rapidly, "But you were staring. You're still staring."
Audette was still staring at his flawless skin and fit form, entranced by some pheromonal response occurring deep at the center of her brain. She couldn't peel her attention away from the artery in his neck, pumping at a perfectly athletic rate.
"Anyone in there?" he whistled sharply and cocked his head sideways to meet her glazing eyes, and Audette's tummy fell clean out her bum.
Busted.
Suddenly aware of being caught red handed she swallowed and panicked, one massive splash of cool nerves shocking her into action.
With her voice pitching disingenuously she spoke far too quickly, eyes batting over and over dramatically, "Well one stares at a hideous beast with a hundred slimy tentacles in the same intrigue as one does a fair unicorn."
Draco jokingly looked left and right as if to check no competitors were lined up there, then shrugged his shoulders demurely, "Lucky me. Looks like I'm the only hideous beast around. And you must be the fair unicorn, then, because I can't take my eyes off of you either."
He winked at her, and Audette's face had scalded into a frightful furnace. The surface of the sun was effectively put to shame.
"Right then, precisely, I'm glad...I'm glad you...you know your place," she nodded dizzily and absently, her breath petering off along with all dignity.
Oh great heavens.
"Right," Draco nodded calmly, obviously suppressing a laugh, his eyes wide and humorous.
"Right," she nodded again for absolutely no fucking reason, feeling like every cell in her body was being wrung out.
"Right," Draco flattened his lips and raised his eyebrows entirely, clearly enjoying the game of taunt and tease.
The seconds ticked and ticked on without a care in the world for the effect they were having on her nervous system as they stared at one another.
If Audette let it pander on for another minute she would end up clownishly laughing out of sheer denial for what she was feeling deep down.
Right...escape.
Yes, and in that very discombobulated panic when she'd turned to run away neither Draco nor Audette in their inebriated states had noticed he was standing on her absurdly long dress train, and with a horrific tearing noise, a majority of the train ripped off up to her thighs where the most prominent seam line circumferenced the design.
"Ohhoho," Draco brought both hands to his nose to mask reactionary snickering but it was impossible to do so given how loud and obnoxious his laughs were, diamond eyes sparkling and devilish.
His entertainment only increased her panic as a million goosebumps spread across her exposed legs where his boyish gaze was travelling around at light speed.
"Malfoy now you've really gone too far! You boorish, good for nothing, scumbag bastard," Audette had gaped at him in classic outrage, even though it was an obvious blunder.
He'd bitten his lip watching her growl and collect the weighty shorn fabric off the floor, "Geez Bellarose, all you had to do was ask to join the strip party, not destroy your clothing in a frenzy."
"You, you..." Audette gasped in distress, her thin arms disappearing into puffy dress layers haphazardly.
There was something about interactions with him that left her heart ramming and her mind feeling crazy every single time.
"Alright, alright, easy there Captain Clumsy. It can be repaired," he'd digressed when she started to tear up, continuously losing fabric to her sweaty hands.
He tried to help her, bent even to assist with a hand on her back, but Audette had lunged at all of the textiles like a psychotic child to a festival teddy bear, balling the mess up and backing away as if he were a blood thirsty tiger, "No, no you stay away from me, Malfoy. Is that clear? I've had it with your nasty antics. Never again."
Never again indeed. Well, at least for a good year and a half, anyways...
Perhaps he'd taken the words too harshly, because that was where the letters ended; January 4, 1996. Perhaps his heart had been badly broken when nothing but silence had been returned after admitting to loving her.
Slowly, she opened her eyes in the abandoned palace, closing the cherry letter cabinet with a gentle click.
"There will be plenty of time to read them all in January - I'm sure this has already provided you with an alternative perspective," Eloise quietly advised behind her.
An alternative perspective being provided in the name of manipulation, otherwise, Audette very well may have gone an eternity without ever seeing Draco Malfoy's letters.
Audette faced her mother, sensing her forehead wrinkling in reflection of her growing inner concern, "What do you mean mother, by in January?"
Her mother began to drift back towards where they had come from, her pale, pristine robes brilliant in comparison to the putrid and dampened environment, droplets from the caving roof pinging off of her waterproof dragonhide attire.
From within her hood Eloise spoke dreamily, picking around wooden furniture shards and fragmented rock in silky little steps, "For your Mandrake leaf of course. Professor McGonagall informs us that you have all the necessary ingredients and training to progress your Animagus development, and we feel that January's approaching full moon will serve you perfectly to spend a month in silence and contemplation. You may do so here, so that distractions will be minimal."
January's full moon in 1999 was to commence on the second day, leaving her very little time to mentally prepare for four weeks of severe discomfort with a leaf in her mouth in a place which Audette felt utterly helpless with her voice, let alone without it.