August 1995
Lilith didn't look up when she heard the cracking of the flames. It was deep at night but the lights inside her study were still on as she crouched over numerous parchments with a quill in her hand.
"Good evening, Dumbledore." she muttered without looking up and motioned towards the chair opposite her. "Take a seat."
"Good evening, Lady Farrow." she heard the heavy footsteps on the wooden floor, the creaking of the chair as it was pushed. After that, she finally looked up. Dumbledore was indeed sitting opposite her, leaning back into his chair with his hands folded.
"Lady Farrow again? Well, I guess at this hour this can't be a visit on behalf of my wellbeing." she put the quill down, covered the parchment with an empty one next to it and mimicked Dumbledore's position.
"Sadly, no. My visit here is about..."
"Harry Potter." she interrupted him. The way his eyebrows furrowed told her she hit a bullseye.
"You know?" she reached for a parchment at the end of the table and lifted it.
"You're about four hours too late with that information." she put the parchment back, avoiding Dumbledore's eyes. She reached towards an open cigarette case and lit one.
"You have good sources." she shrugged and blew out a small cloud of smoke.
"What are sources for if they aren't effective?" she leaned back into her chair. "What does this have to do with me?"
"Lady Farrow," Lilith saw the discomfort in his face when he had to address her by her title. Good. "I was hoping, given your position, that you'd have some information about the matter." Lilith didn't answer immediately. She enjoyed having Dumbledore in this position. Was this so intoxicating to her father? Having the all-mighty Albus Dumbledore come to him?
"Maybe." she patted the cigarette, watching as the grey ash fell into an ashtray nearby. "Although there is a condition."
"What condition that might be?" Lilith's eyes finally met his but this time she didn't feel insecure or vulnerable under his piercing stare. She leaned forward, resting her folded hands on the table. She mirrored his gaze perfectly, giving Dumbledore a taste of his own medicine.
"Even though I let my siblings live in the Order's headquarters, I'm forbidding you or anyone else in your organisation to ever try to recruit them or let them join." the frown on Dumbledore's face deepened but reluctantly nodded.
"That sounds reasonable."
"Good." she leaned back and took a drag. "Then you should know there will be no hearing."
"What do you mean?" Lilith chuckled humourlessly.
"Please, do you truly think that Fudge would let this slide with a simple hearing? That might've worked a year ago but now? Potter claimed that Voldemort came back, and Fudge is a coward trying to salvage his reputation. Now he has an opening. Potter already has a record of underage use of magic, and Patronus is a highly advanced spell." Lilith shook her head, a small smirk still on her face. "No, there won't be a simple hearing. This will be a full-fledged trial in front of the whole Wizengamot." emotions were hard to pin-point on Dumbledore's face but when she looked into his eyes, she saw the shock.
"Wizengamot? Are you sure?"
"I am. Fudge put the process into motion the second he heard about Potter and controls who gets the information about it. He wants to sink Potter in every way." she continued smoking, watching Dumbledore as he processed the information. "If I were you, I'd search for a reliable witness, quickly." Dumbledore was silent for a moment before leaning forward in his chair.
"If it truly is in front of Wizengamot, do you still hold your position?" Lilith raised her eyebrow, gears in her head already running a thousand miles per second. She knew where Dumbledore was going with this, so why not use it?
"Contrary to you, I do." she could feel Dumbledore poking into her mental walls but they were as strong as titanium. "How about a quid pro quo?"
"Where are you going with this, Miss Farrow?" Lilith chuckled.
"So it's 'Miss Farrow' now?" Dumbledore sighed.
"Where are you going with this, Lady Farrow." it was the small details that brought joy to Lilith. She continued to smoke, leaning back into her chair, enjoying that moment. Maybe the power was intoxicating after all.
"I'm just saying, a simple quid pro quo." Dumbledore sighed and rubbed his temple.
"What is it you need?" the corner of Lilith's lip turned up in a small smirk.
"What I want, is that lovely Owle Bullock you have hidden in your office." she watched as Dumbledore's back straightened, the horror that passed his face for a second.
"Lady Farrow, I cannot..." Lilith leaned forward, glaring at Dumbledore.
"Either that Dumbledore or I'm not lifting a finger." the silence was impenetrable as they stared at each other, analyzing. Dumbledore's attempts at her mental shield were stronger by a second but Lilith didn't bulge.
"Lady Farrow, Secrets of the Darkest Arts is an extremely dangerous book."
"Knowledge is knowledge, no? You should know by now that my family values that above anything. And these are dark times." Lilith leaned back, watching Dumbledore who sat silently in his chair, his eyes travelling from Lilith to the parchments to the bookshelves lining the walls. "So what will it be?"
"I have to admit, I haven't had a headache like this since I was dealing with your father all those years ago." he murmured as he stood up. "I'll have it delivered to you in a few days."
"Then we're set. Pleasure doing business with you, Dumbledore."
"Not the words I'd use, Lady Farrow. Good night."
"Good night." with that Dumbledore threw a small amount of powder into the fireplace, whispering the location before disappearing in the green flames. Lilith put out a cigarette before standing up. She tugged her jumper closer to her body. Even though it was an unusually warm summer and the fire roared inside the fireplace for hours, she felt cold creep into her bones.
She walked towards one of the bookshelves and pulled out a second book from the right. The entire bookshelf moved, revealing shelves full of neatly stacked piles of parchment with small tags under them. Indeed her words were true albeit not wholly. Knowledge was knowledge, yes. But that knowledge was also power. And in the right hands, that paper power was real power. Lilith walked towards the tag with July 1995 under it, taking the first parchment into her hand.
"This will be fun." she muttered, sighing as she started to read through the document.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hermione was nearly in tears, Ron's face was flushed in embarrassment and Harry's anger was slowly dying down after his outburst as he paced around the small room. He was frustrated with them, angry at Dumbledore, angry at the Ministry, angry at the whole world. They couldn't understand what it was like being stuck in Privet Drive ever since he stepped off the Hogwarts Express. At least they were together, closer to the centre of things. They weren't isolated. Order of the Phoenix.Secret society. Even if they weren't allowed at the meetings, they still knew something was going on. They didn't have to read every newspaper they could get their hands on, praying for an article that would suggest a non-muggle accident. Sure, the whole Grimmauld Place was old and dusty so Hermione wasn't kidding about the extermination but they still could've tried to tell him somehow.
His outburst must've been really loud because in a matter of minutes, not only Fred and George apparated into the room, giving everyone a slight heart attack, but also Ginny appeared at the door, smiling brightly at him.
"Oh hello, Harry! We thought we heard your voice." Harry blinked in surprise as a second figure popped up behind Ginny.
"Boys, it's a no-go with Extendable ears. Your mum put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door." Aveline Farrow leaned against the doorframe, looking at the twins, only sparing him a brief nod. Fred sighed, looking between his twin and Aveline.
"Shame, I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to." this piqued Harry's interest.
"Snape? Is he here?"
"Yeah," said George, playfully shooing Aveline from the door before carefully closing them and sitting down on one of the beds. Fred and Ginny followed while Aveline sat down on the floor, leaning back against it. "Giving a report. Top secret."
"Git," said Fred idly. Hermione frowned at the word.
"He's on our side now," Ron snorted.
"Doesn't stop him being a git. The way he looks at us when he sees us. . . ."
"Bill doesn't like him either," said Ginny.
"Neither does Seb." Aveline commented, picking at her fingernails, uninterested.
"Wait, your brother's here too?" Aveline didn't even look up from her nails, only nodded. "So your sister is a member?" Harry caught Hermione's look too late. She was shaking her head furiously, telling him silently not to start on that topic but it was too late. Aveline barked out a laugh, shaking her head before looking up. She also grew up a little bit over the summer. Her features got sharper, making her resemble her older sister even more than before. Especially when she shot him a look that Lilith Farrow was famous for. The one that made him uneasy in seconds.
"I wouldn't know that, would I? I haven't seen her since June so if you see her, ask her for me, would you?" she probably would have continued but a knock interrupted her.
"Avy, Molly found your little trap." he didn't know Sebastian Farrow much but he recognized his voice. Aveline sighed before standing up and giving the group a mock salute.
"Don't wait for me." with that, she was out of the door. Fred let out a whistling sound.
"You nearly blew the fuse, mate."
"What just happened?" Harry was confused as he looked around the room. Ron's siblings avoided his eyes, and Ron suddenly became too interested in a tear in his blanket. Hermione was the one to speak up.
"If anyone can relate to you, it's Aveline and Sebastian. Lilith sent them here straight from the station, no contact whatsoever." Harry's eyebrows narrowed. He tilted his head, silently asking Hermione a question to which she answered with a wordless 'No'.
"If you think you were loud, you haven't heard Aveline yell yet." he saw George wince at Ginny's comment.
"Yeah, if I were you, I'd avoid any Lilith-related topic."
"So nobody's seen her?" Fred shook his head.
"Not since June. If she were a member, she'd show up here by now. She's not replying to anyone, Avy said that she was even ignoring Fleur. It's a sore subject so better thread lightly around it." Harry watched Hermione from the corner of his eye, noticing how her shoulders sagged, how she bit her lip nervously and fiddled with her fingers. His anger was rising again. Aveline and Sebastian weren't the only ones affected by Lilith's silence, it was clear that Hermione was also at her wit's end but he was the only one to know about that. He suddenly wanted to find Lilith Farrow and strangle her.
Harry kept an eye on Hermione all through the following conversation but it seemed that Hermione tried to put her own feelings aside as she animately joined in once the topic changed. He even tried to talk to her alone after dinner but it seemed she was avoiding him. It didn't help that Mrs Weasley put them all to work. The whole house hadn't been properly cleaned in ages, and all of them worked separately on different tasks the whole morning. What was interesting to see was the dynamic between Sirius and the old house-elf. Harry pitied the elf at least a little bit. He was old and not right in mind and Sirius seemed to hate him with passion. But Kreacher seemed to hate everyone in the house, muttering curses under his breath every time he passed them. Well, everyone except Aveline and Sebastian. Harry found it weird but once he was standing next to Sirius, examining the tapestry of the The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, he had to do a double take to make sure what he saw was real.
"You had a sister?" he asked as he stared at the name Pandora Black 1949-1981 next to Sirius's black hole and Regulus' name. At this, his godfather's face softened. The previously bitter demeanour he had when he talked about his brother changed into sadness as he looked at the name.
"I did, she was older than me by a decade but was more of a mother to me than our own mother." Harry looked back and saw Pandora's name linked with other names. A double gold line linked her to Cassius Farrow and three gold lines directly under them linked to three separate names.
Lilith Farrow
Sebastian Farrow
Aveline Farrow
Harry gaped at the sight as he looked back at Sirius.
"So Sebastian and Aveline are..."
"My nephew and niece," Sirius said, nodding. "Pandora was the only member of this wretched family, apart from Andromeda, that I didn't hate. She kept me sane, and supported me financially when I ran away." he sighed. "She might've been the only one on this tree to marry for love and not be disinherited." he shook his head. "I'm sort of glad she passed away before I was sentenced to Azkaban. She had a weak heart since she was a child and Regulus' death really did its damage on her. She was the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement so if she was the one to oversee my trial... she wouldn't have survived it." It was sad hearing his godfather speaking in such melancholy. He only used this tone when he spoke of Harry's own father. "That's why those two are here. They don't know much about Pandora so Lilith thought it would be a good idea for them to spend some time with me." he looked around the untidy room and shot Harry a small smirk. Harry noticed how he puffed out his chest in pride. Ever since he saw his at Grimmauld Place, he looked more put together, more youthful than he ever did. The connection to his nieces and nephew seemed to brighten him, bringing out the joy that Azkaban suppressed for so long.
"Well, Aveline certainly took after you." Sirius chuckled at his comment and winked at him.
"You can't hide Marauder's blood."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ever since Harry woke up, he could feel the pit in his stomach that had been growing for days. It was still dark outside when he put on the clothes Mrs Weasley prepared for him. Ron was still asleep as was almost everyone at Grimmauld Place when he made his way downstairs. To his surprise, the kitchen wasn't empty. Once he pushed the door open, he saw Mr and Mrs Weasley, Sirius, Lupin and Tonks sitting there. What made him stop in his tracks was Lilith Farrow standing near an open window with a mug in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other, dressed in a checkered, black and grey three-piece suit. She didn't seem to be engaged in the conversation but once she heard the door open, she looked up to meet Harry's startled eyes.
"Morning, Potter." she greeted him, tiredly, making others in the kitchen notice him. Mrs Weasley immediately leapt to her feet, her wand in hand, asking him what he wanted for breakfast but Harry's stomach was so clenched from the nerves, he only asked for a toast. Tonks greeted him half-yawning, going back to their previous conversation while Mrs Weasley gave him his breakfast, fussing over him like a worried mother-hen. Harry's eyes went back to Lilith who put out her cigarette, closed the window and sat down next to Sirius. He almost choked on his toast when he finally looked at her under the lamp's light. She was way paler than he ever saw her, her sullen cheeks made her cheekbones very prominent, and deep blue circles resided under her eyes. Even her suit which was probably tailor-made to fit her perfectly was almost hanging on her frame. Ever since he last saw her in June, Lilith withered away drastically. He noticed that Mrs Weasley also sent her concerning looks but Lilith seemed to ignore them as she sipped from her mug.
"How are you feeling?" Mr Weasley asked and Harry shrugged, his eyes leaving Lilith and settling back on the toast that tasted more like a rug than bread.
"It'll be over soon. In a few hours, you will be cleared." Mrs Weasley tried to reassure him but Harry's stomach was still full of knots. Mr Weasley cleared his throat and leaned forward, making Harry look up to him. The man tried to look at ease but Harry didn't like the look on his face.
"Harry, there have been some last-minute changes."
"Changes?" Harry's heartbeat picked up.
"Yes. The circumstances have changed so I won't accompany you to the Ministry." Harry almost dropped his toast.
"B-But how...?"
"I'll be going with you." Lilith spoke up almost uninterested in the subject. Harry's eyes nearly popped out.
"What?!" Lilith sighed and put her mug down. She interlocked her fingers on the table and looked at him.
"Potter, I know you might not trust me but you have to work with me on this one. I can promise you that everything will be alright, and once we're done, you will walk out of there, clear of all charges. All you have to do is say your part, not get angry or frustrated, and let me take care of the rest. Can you do that?" Lilith spoke quietly, her sure tone calming Harry's nerves a little bit as he gave her a hesitant nod.
"Good. Eat up. We need to get going soon."