Back in the reading room, Lys assessed how weakened those few people were—they probably couldn't do anything for the Dark Lord anytime soon—so she suggested the family go play in the forest the next day.
But just as they were about to leave, Senna noticed new changes in her cauldron. Considering the little madwoman's increasingly severe muttering lately, Senna told Noah to take Lys by Apparition while she stayed behind.
The sooner she finished brewing the potion, the sooner she could sleep peacefully through the night.
She also reminded her husband, "Remember to check on those gorillas."
Senna recalled the Patronus Lys had summoned that night and couldn't help laughing.
Seeing Noah's helpless expression, Lys wasn't sure whether she should laugh or not.
Noah had taken Senna to that forest before, so although he Apparated to a somewhat remote location, Lys could still successfully find the silverback gorillas' territory.
The lead gorilla seemed to remember Crunch—it eyed them sideways and retreated far away...
The big fat snake could fly; better keep distant...
Over there, Noah watched numbly as a young gorilla tried to stuff fruit into his hands.
When Noah wouldn't take it, thinking he didn't know how to eat it, the little gorilla demonstrated: bite off a piece, eat the flesh, spit out the peel, swallow the fruit, then toss the peel back in its mouth and crunch away.
Seeing Noah still wouldn't eat, it offered him its straight stick to play with, wanting to take him into hollow tree trunks to catch bugs...
This time it was Lys's turn to tremble with suppressed laughter.
After leaving the gorilla territory, Lys and Noah found many strange plants and animals in the forest. Noah also collected some time-sensitive potion ingredients.
"For Senna," Noah said, gradually putting thoughts of those gorillas behind him as he began gathering.
Noticing Lys walking behind him had started muttering to herself, Noah quickly thought of topics to capture Lys's attention.
He told Lys about meeting Senna: "Senna had a terrible temper back then. The first time she met me, she hit me. Later she realized she'd hit the wrong person and delayed my business. Though she felt sorry, she refused to apologize or admit her mistake, following me around for days while I had no idea what she wanted. I thought she was looking for trouble."
Noah shook his head, brushing mud off his shoes. "Senna isn't good at anything except potions and wands, but in Britain, wandmaking is a very sensitive field. She could only brew potions and ask me to help sell them, but her English wasn't good either. Dealing with her then was simply a disaster..."
Lys squinted mischievously: "I'm going home to tell Mum you called her a disaster."
Noah's hand paused, his subsequent words much more careful. "But! But she helped me solve many troubles I didn't dare refuse or resist. After that, she became the brightest light in my eyes, a rose swaying in the thorns! That..."
"Dad, I was joking..."
"I know, but I'm serious."
By the end, Lys and Noah looked at each other and both laughed. Of course they knew what Senna had maintained all these years—with her clumsy magic, with her not-so-clever mind...
Senna was the most important figure in Noah and Lys's lives, because she had given and lost... everything.
Seeing it was getting late, Noah suggested going home. "Otherwise Senna might eat all of Cerebrold's nuts. Her recent tastes are really bizarrely strange... bird food..."
While shouldering his backpack, Noah gossiped with Lys: "You don't even know what your mum secretly eats in the bedroom—little stars, that's so weird..."
After Apparating Lys to the reading room door, Noah was still slowly removing his backpack, preparing to surprise Senna, when Lys suddenly darted straight into the shop, startling him.
Only then did Noah sense something wrong—the house was too dark. Senna never had the habit of casually turning off lights.
He followed closely behind Lys into the shop.
The shop was empty. The alchemical lamp overhead was shattered, the cauldron in the corner was emitting thick green smoke, viscous liquid spattering about with a strange burnt smell.
Chairs and cabinets near the bar were overturned, shattered books scattered about, and Senna was nowhere to be found in the reading room. The house was so quiet they could hear Lys and Noah's increasingly thunderous heartbeats.
Following Noah's gaze, Lys saw the crystal cluster from the center of the table had rolled to the floor and shattered, while on that dark green cushion lay the Ouroboros ring that Lys had placed on Senna's hand in fifth year and which had never been removed since—it even bore traces of blood...
Noah picked up a note from the side. After reading it, he looked at Lys, who lowered her eyes to read.
'Senior, some of your recent actions seem off. Are you being a traitor? Too bad you're not home—I think Mrs. Lestrange and I can only consult your mum about some questions first!'
"Bellatrix..."
Lys hugged her arms and spun around twice in place. Her first instinct was to find Lucius to learn where that madwoman was, but she dismissed all such thoughts. The wording on this note was extremely serious—
—Traitor...
Lys's gaze unconsciously swept toward the wall behind her medicine chest. The magic was intact, but Lys didn't relax.
The blood on the Ouroboros ring had already begun to discolor, congealed in those engravings. No matter how many times Lys rubbed with her fingers, she couldn't wipe it away.
Hearing Lys mention the name "Bellatrix"—Bellatrix, the star of Orion, the Black family child once called a Valkyrie—Noah fell silent, crouching down with two low, ragged breaths.
Black... always Black.
"Dad, don't... don't panic. I'll find Mum..." Lys turned to look for Lucius.
But what about Noah? She couldn't feel safe leaving Noah to go home alone. Many people had known that address long before she did, and with Dad's level of spellcasting...
Just as Lys's mind was in chaos, she suddenly clutched her left arm.
It was the Dark Mark's summons, but Lys didn't know what had happened. She pinched her thigh to force herself to calm down.
Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself, stuffed Crunch into Noah's arms, rushed to the fireplace, threw Floo Powder into it, and pulled Noah along shouting: "Malfoy Manor drawing room!"
Fortunately, Lucius had been receiving many Ministry officials lately, so the drawing room's Floo Network wasn't closed. After Lys tumbled out, she immediately shouted: "Fifi! Tell your master Stalys needs help!"
Even more fortunately, Lucius needed to maintain a dignified image and had just finished drinking a Glorious Elixir before preparing to Apparate.
Seeing Lys arrive in such distress, he asked in surprise: "What's this about?"
"Bellatrix says I betrayed them! She took my mum to threaten me—I didn't betray anyone, Merlin knows I wouldn't dare!"
Lucius's eyes narrowed as he suddenly realized this gathering might have deeper significance than he'd thought. His trip to Germany had delayed too many things, causing recent situations to slip beyond his control.
"Lucius, my physical condition won't allow Apparition, my dad doesn't know the location and shouldn't appear there—can you take me?" As she spoke, the Dark Mark's summons grew more frequent.
Lys had to speak clearly, ask directly. After all, Bellatrix's actions very likely represented the Dark Lord's intentions.
She couldn't hide it, couldn't fail to tell them the whole story, because this was a matter of life and death. Once it exploded, everyone she'd implicated would probably turn and kick her twice to prove their own innocence!
Lys couldn't take that risk. Moreover, Lys still hoped Lucius would give her a hand.
Lucius hesitated, wanting to refuse, but reconsidering that Stalys was still under his name, plus all those underground dealings that had helped him avoid trouble and the relationships that entailed, he agreed.
But he indicated Noah couldn't stay at Malfoy Manor.
A werewolf—Lucius's gaze unconsciously carried some disgust.
Lys understood Lucius's meaning but still swallowed that trace of hurt and expressed gratitude: "Thank you, Lucius!"
When Lucius brought Lys and the still-panicked Noah to appear at the gathering's manor, the place was filled with piercing screams and pleas for mercy, intermittently mixed with a woman's mad laughter.
Lys immediately used her cloak to cover her and Noah's faces, while Lucius also immediately distanced himself from Lys, leaving only two words:
"Be careful."
This meant he wouldn't help her again until she cleared herself of suspicion. Being able to bring her here was just to prevent her from being automatically condemned as a traitor for not appearing—otherwise he'd suffer too. With everything happening so suddenly, Lucius had no clues or ideas.
Lys pressed down Noah's worried hand that was gripping her arm, had him stand in the crowd, and walked toward the woman who was laughing madly because of the screaming person at her feet.
"Bella, where's my mum?" Lys was very calm, but the silver sparks jumping from her wand weren't cooperating—they scattered everywhere.
"Aha~ Isn't this our little traitor?! A filthy werewolf's brat! Your mum? Don't worry, I still have questions for her—she won't die for now~"
Bellatrix held her slightly curved wand horizontally in both hands, tilting her head at Lys.
"Traitor? What did I betray?" Lys took a breath. She feared it was the batch of potions she'd sold to the Order of the Phoenix that had been traced to its source.
After all, recently Bellatrix had been mainly investigating any resource channels that might have provided help to the Order of the Phoenix...
"What do you think? Let me think... those two Bones family brats who didn't die at Hogwarts! Fenwick, who could have been killed by you in battle, and Dumbledore meeting you at the Black Bar and St. Mungo's—I said I would..."
Lys secretly sighed in relief. Good, this could still be explained away.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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