The Aftermath (Sequel to The Fifth Marauder) (BOOK 2)

Twin curse

"Sunshine, what are-"

"Can't talk. Studying." I mumbled opening yet another book.

"Where did you get the books?"

"Don't ask. And don't touch them. Three of them have dark magic and I forgot which ones." I shrugged and placed the twins on my lap handing them one of James' old practice snitch. "This is called multitasking."

"Can Regulus be seeker? Please?"

"You were seeker, Sirius was beater and Jade wanted to be a chaser or a beater. We need a keeper."

"That can be Marlene. Baby Reg is gonna be seeker."

"It's obvious she's gonna be a beater."

"So no seeker?"

"Probably not."

"Fuck."

"Vix, I love you with everything I have and don't have, but every time you mention dark magic, you share the living shit out of me." Sirius said sitting down next to me and taking Lily's file. "You're not fancying the dark arts, are you?"

"No, but I won't hesitate to use it if someone crosses me. You know that my wand core is threstal hair, right?"

"Yes. And blackwood right?" I nodded.

"Threstal hair wand core is more suitable for the dark arts. Supposedly only wizards who are able to balance both light and dark have threstal hair as a wand core. But here's the thing, I never believed that. Why? There's no light or dark magic. Magic is pure, only the user has the power to corrupt it to its own personal benefits. When was the last time you saw me use my wand?"

"I dunno. Two months ago maybe? Why?"

"I mastered wandless magic at fourteen and nonverbal spells at fifteen, Padfoot. I don't have the need to use my wand except for when I'm using very powerful spells. For example, the time I crucio'd Bellatrix. I don't have to use my wand because I mastered magic without it, right? So here's the thing. I can use this, and dark arts, to my advantage and possibly bring this war to a close once Harry destroys the horcruxes. And kill Umbitch and Bella in the process." I explained and Sirius gave me a look.

"I'm still not following, sunshine. Didn't you promised yourself you wouldn't use dark magic? And how did we go from the runes on the files to you talking about magic?"

"Because I'm an idiot, that's why. These runes are nothing like the ones we studied, which means it's involved with dark magic somehow. I'm not saying that I'll fully use dark magic, I'm just saying that I won't hesitate to use it if they mess with my family. And guess what? I think I can do it without having my wand with me, which is a huge ass advantage for us. We have the one thing Voldemort doesn't have." I smiled and saw the wheels turning in his head. "Merlin's bloody ballsack, Padfoot. ME. You have me! Dumbledore's not around, thank Merlin, which means I can finally use my magic to my full potential. That's all I ever wanted, Pads."

"I know sunshine. But I worry about you. This has become an obsession for you. It's completely okay if-"

"Don't finish that sentence, Sirius Orion Black the third. It's the ambition trait in me. And it's my brother we're talking about, Sirius. There's something up here. Just ten more minutes okay? Bill, Charlie and Fleur are coming they volunteered to help me to crack this. Bill's a curse breaker, he's seen things like this before." Sirius sighed and nodded kissing my forehead.

"Fine."

...

"Auntie, I think I found something."

"Gimme." I yawned and took the parchment. "This is from Prongs' file?"

"The only one who has runes on it. It's still very odd and I've only seen these runes once and that was when I was training." Bill shrugged and handed me the book.

"But what does it mean?" Fleur asked handing us some coffee.

"According to this, it's a twin curse. Do you know something about that auntie?" Charlie yawned and I shook my head.

"Siri! Get your ass in here!"

"You called?" Sirius asked walking in and taking a mug from Fleur. "Finally cracked it?"

"What do you know about twin curses?"

"Not much. Skips generations but can be casted at any time, I think." Sirius yawned sitting down next to me.

"Well, I don't think that you two were cursed, auntie. I think that the two of you were about to be cursed and that's when James died." Bill said looking at the file. "The runes match those of a common curse. I've seen a twin curse before on some artifacts back in Egypt believed to belong to some twin pharaohs if I remember correctly. I've also read about it on some vampires but that's something completely different. The artifact worked kinda like a voodoo doll, which is what I suspect happened to those pharaohs. If James was cursed, whatever happened to him, happened to you. Luckily, and sadly, he was killed before it was casted."

"So if her brother had died after the curse was casted-"

"Auntie Jade would've died the same day and the same way." Charlie finished for Fleur.

"But why did Umbitch write that on the file?" Sirius asked holding my hand.

"Somehow she knew that you were going to get the file. She wanted you to find this. She wanted you to know what was about to happen to you two." Fleur said unsure.

"Auntie's getting that look in her eye, uncle Sirius." Charlie chuckled.

"Shit. Vixen, whatever you're thinking, don't-"

"I'm thinking about various ways to get Dolores Umbitch to suffer the dementor's kiss." I smirked.

"Okay, then. Think about that. Sorry Charlie, I can't do much when she's thinking about murder." Sirius shrugged.

"Can I help? She hates me because I'm a veela, French, married well, and don't look like an inbred toad." Fleur shrugged and Bill looked at her in shock.

"You have been spending way too much time with my auntie." Fleur and I gave him a look and he tensed. "Uncle Siri, I'm scared."

"I'm not. This is amazing." Charlie laughed.

"Fleur? I have a feeling you and I are gonna have a great bonding experience over Umbitch's body."

"I can't wait."