Nīpan

meetings and charms

Emerald spent the rest of the summer locked away in her room, only coming out for meetings and the occassional dinner. She didn't recieve any more letters, she suspected they were being taken from the owl as soon as it flew through the wards.

Fear was a constant in her heart, only being eased when Theo would crawl into her bed or Melody agreed to another round of chess. They made her feel okay, they made her feel normal.

On one particular day she was alerted that Barty Crouch Jr. had come to see her. The bastard didn't even give her a warning, simply popped in the Floo and ordered Melody to fetch her. Despite her aggravation towards his attitude with Melody, she did as he asked and invited him for a cuppa. 

"So it seems we'll be working together, should be interesting," Barty said over the rim of his china, carressing the saucer in his hand. 

"Much to my delight," she responded with a forced smile, sipping her own tea in sync. 

"I suppose you need to know what it is you'll be doing." She nodded because, obviously. Merlin this man was an idiot.

"Well you already know about the tournament and the portkey, but what we need to research is how to make sure Harry Potter's name comes out of that goblet." She nodded along as he explained. How they were going to do that, she had no idea. 

"You are obviously a much more experienced wizard than me, so why on Earth do you need my help? I'm sure you could figure it out on your own." Barty puffed his chest at her praise, licking his lips in that disgusting lizard-like way.  

"Well the Dark Lord's reasons are unbeknownst to me, but I would suspect it's a test of your loyalty. But, I can see that you won't be a problem!" Something about the way he said that rubbed Emerald the wrong way. Was she that great of an actress?

"Of course not, when do we start?" She wanted to get this over with.

"Well you're eager!" He gleefully observed with another lizard lick. Emerald shivered in disgust, nodding in agreement. 

"I want to serve the Dark Lord and complete his task as efficiently as possible," she droned. Play the part, keep Cedric safe. It was worth it. 

"Splendid, now," he set his teacup down, "I noticed you have a vast library filled with topics I can only dream about." She tilted her head in agreement. "Well if you will start reading those, maybe lending some to me so I can as well, we can cover more ground." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Everybody knows how sacred family libraries are, especially the Nott's. 

"I think I can handle the reading on my own," she explained. Emerald saw dissapointment in his eyes, but knew she couldn't budge on the subject. 

"Very well, I believe I have somewhere to be. Thank you for the tea and write if you discover anything." With that he stood up and waited for Emerald to show him to the Floo. Once gone, Emerald let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. All of this was beginning to be too much. Deatheaters considered her one of them. 

Nothing disgusted me more.

She huffed to herself and forced her feet to carry her to the library. She loved their library, she spent most of her days in this room as a child, eager to learn everything she could about the magical world. 

It was almost as big as the Hogwarts library, an extension charm had long since been placed to fit more books. Despite most of the books being on dark magic, it was very useful to see the notes in the margins of old potions or charms books. She began to run her fingers along the spines, dust collecting under her fingernails. 

Finally finding what she needed she gripped the thick book and placed it carefully on one of the many tables around the room. 

Advanced Summoning Charms by Larkin Locus

She opened it to a random page and started searching. Hours went by as she scavenged for annything close to what she needed.

She needed to find a way to control all the variables that would be in the goblet. There were only supposed to be three champions, but it might be beneficial to make Potter a fourth instead of the sole Hogwarts representative so he could have an ally in the tournament. 

For her plan to work they would need to be able to predict and choose the champions themselves, making them likely to lose against Potter so he will end up where Voldemort needs him. This way she could make sure the goblet didn't choose any loved ones, Emerald didn't know what Voldemort planned to do to the remaining champions, but it couldn't have been good. 

Exhaustion started to creep in and blur her vision, the candle she had lit some time ago now almost fully burned out. She watched the flame flicker and dance, unaware it was about to meet it's end. Slowly it became shorter and shorter until the only thing left was a blackened wick and a pile of wax. 

Tears stung her eyes once more. She did not want to do this. She had barely escaped being marked, what else did he have in store for her? She was a sixteen year old girl, not bloody Merlin. 

She almost jumped out of her chair when a hand fell on her shoulder. 

"Theo! You scared me half to death, what're you doing here?" 

"I heard you crying," sympathy filled his voice and he pulled out a chair to sit beside her. She wiped her eyes on her jumper sleeve, trying not to turn it into a soaking mess. 

"I'm just so tired Theo. We've spent our whole lives living up to the stupid fucking standards of a psychopath, and for what? For our pathetic father to show us an ounce of love? I'm done with it, I'm going to do something." 

"It's too dangerous, you have to play the part for now, please!" Theo begged her, hands shaking her shoulders. 

"I can't just be another chess piece in his game anymore, I'm going to save Potter, I'm going to save you, and I'm going to save Cedric." Grief struck his face. Emerald could tell he was battling something in his mind, something she wasn't sure would end in her favor. 

" I respect the hell out of you, Emerald, but I just don't know if I'm as brave as you."

"I'm not brave Theo, it's what needs to be done so we all don't die." 

"That's bravery; You know what you need to do to keep your family safe, and you're willing to do it no matter what. No matter the personal cost." 

"Well the sorting hat did want to put me in Gryffindor," she muttered under her breath. 

"It wanted to do what?" Theo's eyes bulged out of his head. Emerald laughed loudly.

"Can you imagine that? Stuck in the lion's den with Potter and his lackey's? I'm glad I convinced it to make the right choice." 

"Well shit," Theo said disbelievingly, "The Slytherin Princess has fur for scales!" 

"Shut the fuck up Theo, you can't tell anyone," Emerald glared. He mockingly made a lock gesture over his mouth and threw away the key. 

"You're secret's safe with me lioness," He said with a wink before sauntering away. 

She growled after him, but he was already gone. 

She was not a fucking lioness.