The first thing Lys did when she got home was dig out a bracer and fasten it onto her left forearm. She still hadn't worked up the nerve to ask Severus where she'd flung her dragonhide bracer.
After all, the first time she'd seen Snape upon waking, he'd been holding up two clumps of glossy black hair, accusing her of ripping out his precious locks—and hitting him, too!
Taking advantage of Lys's guilt and muddled state, Snape had managed to secure promises for a trove of rare ingredients...
Lys sat restlessly, waiting for Snape and her mother to finish arguing over the potion formula. But to her dismay, the debate only grew fiercer—one insisted the ingredients had to be harvested under a full moon, the other offered a different opinion.
As Lys sat there, tugging on Gabon's tail, she suddenly remembered something. Peeking at her mother and Snape—who were still only on the fourth line of the formula and clearly had a long way to go—she simply set Gabon down and decided to head to Knockturn Alley for some shopping.
Snape, thoroughly exasperated, looked up from the materials Senna had laid out for comparison and warned her, "If you go out on your own, you might not make it back. Your brain still isn't fully recovered!" Then he went right back to debating with Senna. "The number of stirs here is crucial, Mrs. Black! I believe—"
Noah finished setting tea and snacks in front of them, then interrupted, "Excuse me, Mr. Snape, but what do you mean by saying Star's brain hasn't fully recovered?"
Lately, to better understand the many factors affecting potion ingredient prices, Noah had learned a lot about the outside world. The vague rumors he'd heard about Death Eaters had finally taken on a concrete shape in his mind.
So when he heard Snape's words, Noah was genuinely worried.
Snape lifted his head from the world of potions, his gaze landing on Lys, his expression complicated.
Over the years, aside from Lily, Stalys was the only peer he'd ever felt anything for. He'd learned much about her—bits and pieces from their school days, and later from the teasing comments about her background after she'd joined the Death Eaters.
He'd always thought Stalys wasn't clever enough, yet he admired her decisiveness and ruthlessness.
But in the end, this was her family business. How would she handle it?
Seeing the conversation finally turn her way, Lys perked up, abandoning her plans to go out. Her pride was practically overflowing.
She hadn't even been this excited when she'd scored all Outstanding on her O.W.L.s.
Senna was surprised, but set aside her potion ingredients to watch Lys clear her throat.
"I finally... killed Fenrir Greyback!" With that, Lys pulled out her little pouch and poured out the teeth inside.
After several days of drying and oxidation, the bits of flesh and blood on the teeth had shriveled and discolored, and there was even a faint stench.
But around the table, only Snape frowned in regret for not having left sooner; Senna and Noah's eyes went wide.
Senna's gaze was filled with savage satisfaction, while Noah's held both relief and a trace of pain.
He hadn't forgotten what Lys had said about her soul, or that line from the book she'd pointed out—
Any act of taking another's life is an attempt to shatter one's own soul.
But with Snape present, some questions were best left unspoken. Noah simply squeezed his wife's hand, closed his eyes, and swallowed his complicated feelings.
Senna's breathing grew heavier. She picked up a tooth from the table, held it up to the light, and smiled with dark pleasure.
She had no idea that, inwardly, Snape was in turmoil—the way Mrs. Black handled the tooth was almost identical to the way Stalys had acted during her recent madness.
Noah opened his eyes, red veins spreading quickly as he asked in a hoarse voice, "Then, Mr. Snape, could you please explain what you meant about Star's brain not being fully recovered?"
Snape glanced at Lys, then followed her gaze to Senna.
He narrowed his eyes, stood up, and abruptly excused himself.
Noah gripped Senna's hand with one of his own, the other clutching the armrest of his wheelchair. He didn't press further, but sincerely invited Snape to return another time to discuss potions with his wife.
Snape, standing at the shop door, replied earnestly, "It would be my pleasure, Mr. Black." Then he left.
"Stalys Black." As soon as Snape was gone, Noah called out Lys's full name, his tone stern.
"Tell me, what have you done? You didn't do something like that year—hurting your own soul again, did you?"
Only then did Lys snap out of Senna's look of satisfaction.
"Oh, I didn't."
Her gaze flickered evasively...
Noah took a deep breath, wanting to say something but feeling unqualified. He finally let it out in a sigh.
Senna ignored the undercurrent between Lys and Noah and said they should celebrate. She went to the Gringotts vault and fetched an ornate picture frame—apparently once used to display a Norwegian Ridgeback specimen, according to the label on the back.
But the specimen had apparently been sold off by Mrs. Rast or an earlier ancestor, leaving only the flashy frame behind.
Senna wanted to put the teeth inside and hang it next to the two paintings Lys had done, but Noah stopped her.
Seeing Lys's excitement, Noah was genuinely afraid—afraid that this kind of encouragement would push her to do something reckless again.
But with Senna and Star so elated, he couldn't say too much. He just put on a slightly melancholy face and asked Senna to put the teeth away.
While Lys was officially recuperating, the Dark Lord's movements grew more frequent. He even led his elite followers in a raid on what was believed to be the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, though they managed to escape.
Lucius was busier than ever. Some alchemical items had slipped through quality control and caused an uproar in the market.
Amidst his frustration, the French head of alchemy brought news that the defective items were the result of sabotage and had nothing to do with Lucius or his teacher.
Lucius, staring at the evidence, didn't trust anyone else to examine it—he feared that if word got out, the saboteur would realize they'd been discovered, and he also worried about being caught unprepared.
He asked Severus Snape, who was brewing potions in Malfoy Manor's basement, whether the tampering on these alchemical items might be curses. After all, there'd been a time when Snape had spent days poring over anti-curse books in the Malfoy library.
Snape lowered his eyes in thought. "The aura does feel curse-like, but I can't be certain. If you don't mind the possibility that it might stop working after I examine it, I can try to identify it now."
Lucius considered for a moment, then declined. He still needed the item intact.
"Stalys—her cursework at school was decent, and she's skilled at alchemy too. You could ask her." With that, Snape returned to his cauldron. This potion was crucial—the Dark Lord had specifically requested it, and Snape had to give it his absolute focus.
Lys, her left arm in a sling and a sweet in her mouth, arrived. She gave the item a quick examination with her wand, then hurried off to wash her hands, telling Lucius confidently:
"Borgin and Burkes used to sell candles made from giant's nape oil. They work similarly to what you've got there. If these things are appearing in batches, check who's been buying up that oil recently. It's not as useful as giant innards, so hardly anyone stockpiles it. The information should be easy to trace."
She hesitated, then reminded Lucius, "Lately, my usual channel's been getting harassed by the Thomas family's lackeys. Plus, some of the goods that went missing recently included a bit of that oil."
"You know me—I've never cared much about this business. As long as Mum and I have enough money and materials, that's all I need. I haven't bothered tangling with the Thomases, but I'm worried they'll try something against me, especially since my standing with the Lord is absolutely dreadful right now."
Dreadful enough that the Lord nearly killed you last time, Lucius thought, rolling his eyes elegantly—amazed this madwoman actually had some self-awareness. He put the items away.
With a lead, he could formulate a strategy. The Thomases, was it? Time to put that asset he'd promoted to use.
Looking at Stalys, Lucius had a sudden inspiration and extended an invitation she couldn't refuse. Lys happily agreed.
"If I get the chance and no one finds out, Senior, I'd be delighted." Lys nodded, sweet still in her mouth.
The Thomas family...
Lys licked the sugar from her lips, her expression turning cold.
Sitting in her little house in Knockturn Alley, Lys rubbed her aching head as her new contact handed over the accounts. It was clear the witch had tried to match Noah's abilities, but there was still a considerable gap. Lys decided to take them home for Noah to review.
Her arithmetic skills were as terrible as ever.
She'd previously asked the witch to help collect gallstones from snakes with magical bloodlines. Most people used them in nutritional potions for magical snake pets, but Lys had always used the rare material to line Gabon's bed.
This time, the witch handed over a small bag of tiny fragments. The material used to come from Albania, but with recent political tensions, trade between Albania and Britain had ceased, making even smuggled supplies difficult to acquire.
The quantity satisfied Lys—these things were smaller than beans, and this bagful must have come from countless snakes.
But when she returned to the reading room to line Gabon's nest, she lifted the snake bones and couldn't find the fist-sized stone that had been shrunk down. Puzzled, she simply spread the tiny fragments in Gabon's bed.
She checked Gabon's physical condition—perhaps because she wasn't as strong as before, Lys felt Gabon seemed unusually heavy.
That night, Lys received an invitation: Antonin Dolohov's daughter was marrying into the German Karkaroff family.
Running through what she knew about both families, Lys still couldn't figure out why she'd been invited, so she went to consult her senior. Lucius happened to have a new batch of contraband to sort through, and Lys's arrival gave him an extra pair of hands.
The crimes of dealing in Dark Magic items and smuggling banned materials were much the same—Lucius didn't mind Lys knowing.
As he sorted and catalogued the items Lys could identify, he explained the significance behind the two families' alliance.
The name Karkaroff stirred something in Lys's memory, but though her recall was usually excellent, she couldn't place it after thinking for a while and gave up, assuming she'd heard it somewhere in passing.
"Antonin Dolohov is a semi-openly known Death Eater among certain circles. This marriage is likely the Lord's way of testing the waters with German upper-class nobility—a potential trial run for future alliances and cooperation." Lucius bundled up the remaining dangerous items that Lys couldn't identify and stashed them in a black room hidden behind a tapestry, sealed with various runic wards and protective lines.
"And I'd like to ask you for a favor. I don't know if you—Junior? ...Stalys?" Lucius was closing the door when Lys blocked it, squeezing into the room.
This room contained dangerous items of unknown purpose—if something went wrong, his own magical abilities might not be sufficient to handle it!
"Stalys Black! Get out—everything in there is dangerous!"
But Lys acted as if she couldn't hear him, standing before a crystal box, whispering to someone Lucius couldn't see. Her voice was so low he couldn't make it out, and panic began to set in—was she having another episode from her injuries?
When Lys raised her lit wand and bent to pick something up, Lucius finally saw what it was and rushed forward to pull her away.
Propriety be damned—he grabbed Lys by the collar and hauled her out bodily.
The sudden disturbance, combined with the protective effect of the ouroboros ring on her hand, snapped Lys back to her senses. She slammed the door shut and glared at Lucius. "What the hell was that thing?!"
The feeling of being bewitched was far stronger than what she'd experienced with the original ouroboros ring in her fifth year—she felt she'd almost responded to some call!
Lucius glared at Lys, Lys glared at Lucius—until they both looked away.
From the moment Lucius launched into his evasive aria, Lys knew her senior was avoiding the truth. She simply cut him off, gripped her wand tightly, and left the Malfoy storeroom.
Lys couldn't understand Lucius's recklessness. Even if she was more susceptible to being influenced due to certain vulnerabilities, keeping such powerful Dark Magic artifacts at home was truly shocking.
Lucius, for his part, chose to ignore what had just happened and strode ahead in silence.
After all, he still hadn't finished discussing his original business with Stalys.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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